To Yujun's Question, Hong Yeji...
At Yujun's question, a meaningful look crossed Hong Yeji's face.
"Do you happen to know a game called War of the Gods?"
The name caught him off guard. He didn't let it show.
"War of the Gods?"
"Figures you wouldn't. You're a first-year, or a second at most... I'm a fifth-year player."
"And why does that matter?"
"Because more than half the fifth-years used to play that game. War of the Gods."
Yujun kept his face carefully blank, as if none of it meant a thing to him. Hong Yeji studied the expression, found nothing worth suspecting, and went on.
"Strictly speaking, they got a privilege."
"A privilege?"
"Anyone who played War of the Gods even once."
"They handed out privileges just for playing a game? How is that even possible? And what does that game have to do with the Tower of Infinity in the first place?"
"The Tower of Infinity itself was one of the locations in the game. A major one."
Yujun said nothing.
"And then, incredibly, the Tower of Infinity became real. We were dragged here."
"You're saying all of this happened because of that game?"
"Well, in a sense, yes. That's why fifth-year players joke about it sometimes. That some cosmic being might have made War of the Gods..."
"A god?"
"Right. The name alone is suspicious, don't you think?"
"Hearing it put that way, it does sound possible."
"Anyway, I've rambled. The point is that War of the Gods and this Tower of Infinity are very closely tied."
"Right, right. So?"
"People who played War of the Gods are as good as people who know the future, because they've already lived through the same situations. Plenty has changed since then, of course, but the overall framework is similar."
Having poured all of that out at once, Hong Yeji produced a canteen, took a sip of water, and opened her mouth again.
"I know who the commander is."
"Who she is?"
Yujun's eyes narrowed. He had played War of the Gods more than anyone, and he didn't know—yet Hong Yeji claimed she did? A thread of doubt stirred, but he decided to hear her out.
"In War of the Gods, I found a hidden dungeon once. That's an incredibly difficult thing, finding a hidden dungeon. I can only call it absurd luck."
She had a chatterbox streak.
There she goes, drifting off again.
"Could you just get to the point?"
He said it because the circling was starting to grate. Hong Yeji flinched.
"Y-you scared me. ...All right. The hidden dungeon I found was tied to the beastkin, and the boss of that dungeon was that commander."
"...You're certain?"
"Yes. The moment I saw her earlier, I knew."
"You only ever saw a game model. How can you be sure?"
"Her build, the scar on her face—the features are too distinctive. She matches what I saw back then perfectly. And a player's memory gets sharper, so I can't write it off as a mistake."
"But the setting is completely different. A faction commander in the Species Tournament and a hidden-dungeon boss seem awfully far apart."
"Maybe it's recycling?"
"Recycling?"
"The beastkin who appeared as that hidden-dungeon boss might have been modeled on a commander who already exists here in the Tower of Infinity. Or it could be the other way around."
Yujun was silent. It was a fairly convincing inference. And if it was true, it was a terrifying one.
Recycling... Then something approaching a god—or a god itself—might exist. And if so, what was the System?
He shook his head. There was no need to think about that now.
"Fine. Let's say the commander and that hidden-dungeon boss are the same person. How do we get her out of there? Is this something you need my help for?"
"I can do it alone. No—it's something only I can do. It's basically a gamble, though..."
"Then please get on with it."
They hadn't known each other for an hour, and he was already worn out. She talked far too much.
Well. A lot of it mattered, so he couldn't exactly complain.
Whether Hong Yeji simply had no caution, or whether she was deliberately sounding him out, she had spoken about War of the Gods without the slightest hesitation.
She started toward the tent and came to a stop directly in front of it. The players of other races nearby jumped.
"That human's lost it, hasn't she?"
"Didn't you see what happened to those players earlier?"
"Confidence is one thing, but this..."
"I heard humans were cowards."
"The commander said she'd kill them next time. Tsk. Reckless brat."
Hong Yeji paid their stares no mind at all.
"Hey! Get out here!"
She bellowed it, and everyone gaped. She didn't even look ready to run. She simply stood in front of the tent.
"She's insane."
"People sure find creative ways to abandon a mission."
"That's a fresh approach to suicide."
Thirty seconds passed after the shout.
Only the sound of players swallowing hard lingered over the square. Another ten seconds or so went by, and then the tent flap was drawn aside. A small beastkin girl stepped out.
The commander.
She looked at Hong Yeji and said nothing.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Why are you just sleeping? You're supposed to fight the other camp with us."
"That was your last chance. I told you clearly I'd kill you."
"I knooow, I knooow. But I've still got something to say, don't I? Cutie."
"C-cutie? You must be dying to die."
The commander stamped her feet, flushed with indignation. Strangely, though, she couldn't bring herself to attack.
"You can't kill me, can you."
Hong Yeji said it like a whisper at her ear.
"...What?"
Hong Yeji took a step back and unequipped every piece of gear she had on. Left in nothing but a novice's cloth clothes, she spread both arms.
"Hit me as lightly as you want right now and I'll still die. My Defense is about five, you know? And my Vitality is awful too."
"...And what exactly do you want me to do about it."
Hong Yeji smiled with perfect confidence, stepped in close, and spoke as if into her ear.
"Let's make a deal. I'll keep your secret."
The commander said nothing. She nodded.
"What do you want?"
"Don't stay in the tent. Keep your eyes on the person I point out. Favorably, if you can manage it. That man."
Hong Yeji's finger indicated where Yujun stood. The commander stole a glance at him and nodded.
"...That's all?"
"Obviously! Oh, and think a little better of me, too."
"No. I already hate you enough to want you dead."
"Well, you don't actually have to grant the second one. I'll be sticking with that man the whole time anyway."
A grinding sound escaped the commander's teeth. Hong Yeji smiled, satisfied, and put some distance between them. Sullen-faced, the commander cleared the wall in a single leap.
For a long moment, no one spoke. Most of the players could only stare at the scene, struck dumb.
"What?"
"Did she just talk the commander around?"
"What did she do?"
Having cleanly drawn the commander out of the tent, Hong Yeji came over to Yujun. Curious himself, he asked.
"How did you do it?"
"I exploited her weakness."
"Her weakness?"
"We agreed to keep it secret, so—one moment. Shall we talk through messenger?"
Someone might be listening in. That was why Hong Yeji opened a messenger exchange with him.
A dry laugh escaped him before he could stop it. Dying here didn't mean actually dying, so the plan had been possible—but she was brazen all the same.
"Forming a party was worth it."
Hong Yeji smiled, thoroughly pleased with herself.
"That's a relief, then. From here on, it's your— I mean, it's Yujun's turn to shine. I'll help from the side, but... I'll only be good enough not to get in the way."
"Leave it to me."
And then, as if the timing had been waiting on them, a powerful tremor rolled in from beyond the wall. Thud. Thud-thud-thud. It wasn't something striking the stone. The ground itself was shaking. Players drew their weapons.
The Pride camp had arrived.
Climbing the wall to look, they found an army of players—thousands, by the look of it—advancing. Seen from above, the pressure an army carried was no joke. They were nothing but a mob without order or discipline, and yet every one of them had already stepped beyond the realm of mere superhumans. Across that vast plain, the sight carried the thick atmosphere of an apocalyptic war.
"Whoa... there's so many. Why do they look like more than us?"
"Their side's just bigger."
"You're right. I can see a lot of orcs and trolls over there. Those two are complete opposites, though..."
"In a war, the side holding the walls should have a huge advantage. Why are they attacking first?"
"Huh. Now that you say it, yeah."
The players of other races weren't the only ones who found it strange. Hong Yeji spoke first.
"In a war where abilities run wild, the difference between holding a fortress and storming one is enormous."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. There haven't been many things in the Tower of Infinity you could really call wars, but as far as I know, the side on the defense wins overwhelmingly."
"So the other camp charging now is an obvious loss."
"Right? Their orc ratio is high. Orcs show their real strength on an open plain, but putting them out front and charging like this is plainly the worst possible plan. Are they trying to use the orcs as meat shields?"
"Impossible, unless their commander has lost her mind."
"Maybe there's a scheme? Something to lure us into letting our guard down..."
A faint smile touched Yujun's mouth.
"No. I told you. It's impossible unless the commander is out of her mind."
"What?"
"Their commander must not be ordinary. The way ours wasn't."
"...Don't tell me."
"We're Sloth, and that side is Pride... so their commander's personality..."
Yujun finished, his tone perfectly flat.
"You don't even have to look."