Going as Far as Possible

Taejeong, having resolved to push ahead as far as he could, was on the verge of leaving the castle when he realized one glaring issue. If he departed, the place would be left completely empty.

"Hmm. It feels like a waste to just abandon it."

He had hoped that since he'd already claimed it, it might at least benefit his guild. Even if it was the smallest castle with the lowest score, holding onto one would still help with the rankings.

As he pondered what to do, a forgotten skill popped into his mind.

"Right, the landmines."

Landmines. According to Gerard, they were a type of ambush bomb. Buried underground, they detonated automatically under a certain pressure.

But he hadn't practiced the skill once, let alone used it. The same went for the recently acquired great radish seed mines.

The reason was simple. Compared to his rapid-fire heavy machine gun, which could unleash continuous barrages, the mines offered only double the damage at an overwhelmingly higher mana cost. In mobile field hunts, they were practically useless. In the time it took to plant and wait for them, he could kill hundreds or thousands more monsters.

Yet in the current situation, they might actually prove useful.

"Gerard, what's the info on the new skill and how do I use it?"

"Yeah. The original one barely had any destructive power anyway."

"Oh ho. So you're saying the timer starts from the moment it's stepped on, and once it runs out, it switches to constant reaction mode? Did I get that right?"

"That's way better than I thought."

Taejeong could tell this new skill was a massive upgrade from the old one. He'd assumed it just let him plant more mines, but it was practically an entirely new skill.

And rightly so—standard constant-reaction mines had a fatal flaw. They detonated immediately on contact, so if the front lines took damage, the rear could brace themselves. No idiot monsters would charge into unexplained explosions up ahead.

But if he could set the explosion timer arbitrarily? With good luck, he could wipe out an entire unit.

"Alright, let's plant some first. Gerard, what's the deployment range?"

"Let's go."

Taejeong climbed atop the castle wall and activated the Great Radish Seed Mine Deployment skill. A red targeting point appeared far ahead.

Moving it was easy—it followed his gaze.

Positioning it at the farthest point, Taejeong issued the command.

"Deploy."

No sooner had the word left his mouth than bright red dots scattered across a 50-meter radius around the target point. They sank into the ground instantly, leaving the earth pristine.

"Did that work?"

"Can't I set them all at once after planting?"

"Then let's blanket the whole area from entrance to interior and figure out the optimal timing."

With that, he liberally planted mines from the entrance all the way inside. Though invisible, over 500 mines now dotted the castle inside and out. The interior was especially thick—inescapable no matter where they fled.

Now for the calculation.

After a moment's thought, he asked Gerard.

"What's the max timer duration?"

"Good. Set them all to 30 minutes. We need time for the enemy forces to fully enter the castle."

Mines deployed, Taejeong gazed at the barren ground, thinking.

Once the timer ends, one wrong step and it'll be chaos. With mines at the entrance too, most fleeing will die there. The control tower's the problem—if even one reaches the occupation crystal before stepping on a mine, it's over. To prevent that... yeah, this'll do.

Boom!

A massive explosion collapsed the control tower's entrance in a heap of boulders and debris, sealing it perfectly. Clearing it would take considerable time.

Of course, even if they did, the post-timer mines awaited.

"Perfect. Unless they're top-tier, no one's surviving this. If they take it anyway, oh well."

With that, he summoned his Blaster and rocketed into the sky, heading straight for the main base.

Less than 10 minutes after departing, two castles entered his high-speed view. The nearest ones he'd spotted from the occupation site. From above, their garrisons looked sparse.

Plenty doable.

Time to descend.

He cloaked in a blind spot, summoning his mech and multiple rocket launcher—just 12 rounds this time. Half the previous barrage that had shredded a castle should suffice.

And it did.

Halved firepower still obliterated the garrison. The hunters vanished without a trace, just like the first.

The next took 10 rounds.

Kaboom! Boom!

"Why's the response so underwhelming? They just left scarecrows or what?"

The garrisons were pathetically weak. He almost regretted dumping all that mana in the first tense assault.

At this point, Taejeong couldn't tell if he was just that strong or if the enemies were trash.

Even as a Hidden class, was level 400 enough for this?

After snagging two more with just six rounds each, realization dawned.

The hunters here were all lowbies.

"Total scrubs."

* * *

Southwest District F-Zone respawn point.

Countless hunters were spawning in droves. Like a massive war had erupted.

Already six guilds clustered together. Kim Yong-tae of Plant Guild, the first to respawn among his deputy leaders, still couldn't believe it.

The explosion and screams echoing while eating in the control tower. He'd bolted out, only to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠find an empty plain.

Right here. Dead without knowing how.

"This makes no sense. How the hell...?"

Two hours later, he was still in shock.

Everyone agreed: a massive internal explosion. But no one saw what caused it.

Impossible. Explosions tied closely to magic—bigger the blast, more visible. Yet none of the surrounding forces spotted it.

"A battalion wiped out invisibly in seconds. That kind of power means at least B-rank. How did none of them see it?"

As frustration boiled, Han Myeong-sik—one of the commanders—approached with some men.

"Deputy Leader."

"What?"

"These guys have something to say."

"Spit it out."

One man hesitantly spoke.

"Uh... right before the explosion, we think we saw something."

"What? Why speak now?"

"It... didn't seem relevant at first. But maybe it's a clue...?"

"What'd you see?"

"It... was too fast for details, but like a pillar."

"Pillar?"

"Kinda like a utility pole or stone column... trailing smoke from the rear."

"Utility pole? Stone column? So a pole flew in and killed us all? You messing with me? I'll bash your head with a real pole."

"Gah! S-sorry! I must've seen things...!"

The man flinched back. Another jumped in.

"I-I saw it differently."

"Different how? Speak."

"Well... it looked like a giant..."

"Giant what?"

"Suppository."

"Suppository?"

"You know, the kind you shove up your..."

"You crazy bastard."

Staring in disbelief, Kim Yong-tae turned to Han Myeong-sik.

"Who the hell are these clowns?"

"Sorry. Severe shock—seems like mental breakdowns."

"Get 'em outta here. Headache."

"Yes, sir!"

Watching them stumble off, Kim Yong-tae tsked pityingly.

"Tch tch. Guild's scraping the bottom with idiots like that. No wonder we got wrecked."

His scorn turned to worry as he imagined the guild master's rage. He'd begged for this duty, boasting he'd handle it—and failed to hold even the easiest small castle.

Beyond reprimand, this could mean disciplinary action. With World War promotion on the line, a ranking drop would make him a traitor.

"Shoulda just stuck to regular shifts, showoff."

As regret hit, a small scream echoed nearby.

"Yowch!"

"Stand straight!"

"S-sorry!"

"Repeat it. What'd you see?"

"Uh..."

"Speak."

"Babies, the suppository up the... Agh! My bad!"

"Timing for jokes, asshole? Don't you see how serious ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this is!?"

"Sorry!"

Another guild's hunter kicking shins nonstop, furious officer glaring. Kim Yong-tae shook his head pityingly.

"Crazy one's over there too."