338. [Phase 3: Hall of the Great Purge]
338. [Phase 3: Hall of the Great Purge]
***
"It's not exactly an even split. To be precise, it's divided according to how much each person contributed to the raid. If even one ultra-high-value item like a mythic item shows up in the rewards, the person with the highest contribution can't just take it outright. You hold a share equal to what you contributed. For anything beyond that amount, you either pay the difference, or if that isn't possible, it naturally goes to the auction house and gets settled according to your share."
Yujeong continued her explanation in a calm tone.
Hearing that the rewards were divided by individual contribution was intriguing.
'So it's decided by contribution...'
In content where multiple people gathered and cooperated, it was actually difficult for everyone to contribute equally.
Someone was bound to contribute more, and someone else inevitably contributed relatively less. While I thought the system itself encouraged competition, it also seemed reasonable to me.
You take exactly as much as you contributed. It was so simple, and what a good system it was.
"To use our current situation as an example. The Ancient Relic Chest in the rewards is worth a little over 500 million at current auction house prices. But if you, Rin, hold 50% contribution, then you could be considered to hold a share worth 250 million silver coins. If you paid us the remaining 250 million silver coins, you would gain full ownership of the relic chest."
I nodded at Yujeong's calm, step-by-step explanation, and then Sua spoke up.
"Like Yujeong said, it's distribution by contribution. But if we clear the raid, each person is guaranteed to receive a separate personal reward, so clearing it isn't completely meaningless. Even if your contribution is low, raiding together still has a certain level of meaning."
Once Sua finished adding her explanation to Yujeong's, I had a rough understanding of the reward system.
Simply put, you take as much as you worked for. It was fairly reasonable, and in itself a system that encouraged voluntary participation.
In RPGs, there had long been a tradition called "bussing." It meant a high-level user with good gear clearing content on behalf of a low-level user.
For example, clearing a difficult raid or killing monsters for them. Another World's reward system even felt like it was designed to prevent that.
It felt as though it was saying: if you really want the rewards of a raid, then put in the effort and do it yourself.
"Not bad."
I nodded thoughtfully, and Sua gave me an odd look.
"You're not going to hog everything, are you? Your raid reward share seems like it's going to be no joke today."
"Right? You did the most work against the Harpy Queen earlier too, Rin."
When even Yujeong chimed in as if agreeing with Sua, I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
"Well, you take as much as you work for, don't you? And I'll be filling up all the contribution from here on out too. You two are going to have to work a lot harder."
When I said it playfully, the two of them burst out laughing and then began preparing.
I also started getting ready, and before I knew it, I felt that the time to head to the next phase was approaching.
***
Phase 1 was a flatland covered in thick fog.
Phase 2 was the inside of a massive cave.
So where would Phase 3 take place?
With a small sense of curiosity, I left the safe zone and walked for about five minutes.
The space shifted abruptly, and the area spreading out before my eyes expanded endlessly.
Then a vast, boundless plain filled my vision.
Low brush covered nearly every inch of the endless space, and the blue sky at the edge of my vision looked almost as though it were touching the ground.
When the space changed, we stopped walking and took a moment to look around.
"...Huh?"
"This should be Phase 3 now..."
Just as Sua and Yujeong each voiced their confusion, I lifted my head for a moment and looked up at the wide-open sky.
'It's really clear.'
A blue sky without a single cloud. It was so clear that I wondered if the phrase "spotless" had been coined for a place like this. The sky was utterly, perfectly clear.
But I only looked at the sky for a moment. I lowered my head again, looked at Sua, and spoke.
"Is something weird about that?"
"Yes. A little... no, I should say it's very different from what I expected. You too, right, Yujeong?"
When Sua looked at Yujeong for agreement, Yujeong nodded emphatically.
"When entering Phase 3, I had anticipated several possible scenarios. But this space is something I truly never expected. I even doubt whether any other party has ever entered a wilderness like this in Phase 3. This is a background that barely even appears in Phase 4."
Listening to Yujeong's explanation, I grew even more confused.
Before starting today's raid, I had familiarized myself with the available information to some extent, but I had no memory of a place like this.
Moreover, judging from the two of them, it felt as though they had no idea why we had ended up here.
'Is this some kind of space that isn't supposed to appear?'
Just as I was wondering, a notification popped up.
Ding!
*
————
[Phase 3: Hall of the Great Purge!]
The leader of the imperial rebels, a being who will later cause a great upheaval, is moving across the vast wilderness.
A being destined to split the empire apart. You must stop him here!
Eliminate the rebel leader, Zernati, and remove the seed of the great catastrophe!
【Phase 3 Clear Condition: Eliminate the rebel leader, Zernati】
————
*
The hologram that had belatedly filled my vision was directly informing us of Phase 3's objective and direction.
As I slowly read through it, I couldn't help but flinch when I reached one particular phrase.
A familiar name. No, a name I had no idea why it was appearing here was sitting right there.
'Zernati.'
He had been the former commander of the Grandelia Imperial Knight Order in Black Ark. The leader of the rebels in its final days, a figure positioned at the very core. Seeing that being reproduced exactly the same way in Another World felt strange.
Even the setting of him being the rebel leader was identical, so I couldn't help but be surprised.
After checking the hologram, I looked at the other two.
I wanted to know if they knew anything about this quest. But the two of them, receiving my gaze, looked no different from me.
"Hmm. I don't know anything about this pattern either. Yujeong, do you happen to know anything about this?"
"No. It's a type of pattern I'm seeing for the first time today too. There must be quest patterns that still haven't been discovered."
As the two of them exchanged words, it became clear that this was an unfamiliar quest that wasn't well known.
I felt a sudden urge to check the chat window I had minimized, but I shook my head and activated the minimap instead.
Since this phase had a clearly defined objective, I wondered if it might even show the quest target.
'It actually does?'
I could see a being that appeared to be Zernati moving across the minimap, specially highlighted. Its speed wasn't fast, but it was currently quite far away.
"Hey, you two. Can you turn on your minimaps for a second?"
At that, the two of them immediately fiddled with their settings and brought up their own minimaps.
"It shows where the target is, so we won't get lost."
"Anyway, I have no idea how difficult this quest is going to be. Rin, do you happen to know anything about this being called Zernati?"
When Yujeong asked hopefully, I almost nodded for a second, but I barely managed to shake my head.
"No. I don't really know either. I just figured since there was a quest target, it might be marked on the map."
Judging from the two of them, Zernati seemed to be a figure who wasn't well known. And right now, I had no way to explain how I knew about him.
"Let's just think about it as we move. We're still pretty far from this Zernati person."
At Sua's suggestion, we naturally began walking through the wilderness while watching our minimaps.
A truly endless wilderness.
As we moved through it, I felt a small pang of regret.
'How nice would it be if I could ride a horse?'
Seeing the wide-open wilderness made me want to ride a horse, but I held back. Mounts couldn't be summoned from the moment we entered the raid.
"They're rebels, so the most effective approach would be an ambush? I think we should focus on taking out this Zernati, the one they call their leader."
"I agree. But shouldn't we divide up roles? The fact that they're explicitly described as rebels means there are probably a lot of soldiers. Fighting them head-on would be a huge hassle, so shouldn't we disperse the rebel forces first..."
I watched the two of them actively discussing the keywords written on the hologram without saying much.
Their opinions were more reasonable than I expected and worth listening to, and more importantly, since the opponent was Zernati, I figured an elaborate plan wasn't really necessary.
But fitting the name "Phase 3: Hall of the Great Purge," the point would be eliminating the rebels—and among them, killing Zernati.
And right now, the most suitable person for that was standing right in front of me.
With her brilliant blonde hair and beautiful knight's form clad in ornate armor, she was the kind of figure any knight would instantly take an interest in. And with Sua's main weapon being the rapier, there was no one better suited to facing Zernati than her.
I thought Zernati, the former Imperial Knight Order commander, wouldn't refuse a duel with Sua either.
Just as I was lost in thought—
"What about you? You've been especially quiet since we entered Phase 3. Is there something else on your mind?"
Sua looked at me and asked. Right after, Yujeong also turned her gaze toward me, and I slowly parted my lips.
"I think we should first get a proper grasp of how large the rebel forces are before making a plan. We still don't know exactly, right?"
I had thought about how to deal with him, but I couldn't just say it outright.
Right now, I was keeping a certain possibility in mind.
The possibility that Zernati might be even stronger in Another World than in my memories.
'Yeah, I still... don't know.'
My gaze was fixed on Sua, who was chattering away.
...
Across the endless wilderness, rocks and obstacles occasionally cast shadows, and the three women hid beneath those obstacles.
Then, looking at the overwhelming number of rebels visible beyond the rock they were hiding behind, the three of them couldn't say a word.
The scale they were now looking at far surpassed anything they had imagined.
They had thought rebels would number in the low hundreds at most—maybe one or two hundred.
The force now filling one side of the vast wilderness was nowhere near that level. It was a unit numbering in the thousands at minimum.
"...No, how can there be this many?"
Sua spoke in a stunned voice, and Yujeong nodded, letting out a heavy breath.
"At this scale, their leader Zernati is definitely going to be strong too, and there's a high chance we'll get isolated."
Listening to Yujeong, Serin couldn't help but wonder.
'Just how strong is he?'
The rebel force was abnormally large.
It felt as though the rebellion had already achieved some degree of success and grown in scale.
'Which means Zernati is stronger too.'
As I was thinking that, Sua frowned, staring at the rebels moving across the wilderness beyond.
Watching her, I felt a slightly complicated emotion.
Could Sua really handle Zernati?