Orc Settlement (3): Even Heroes Have Factions
Heroes have factions too. Even among college classmates, people naturally split into tight-knit groups—so imagine how it is for heroes. Especially when lives are on the line; those factions get divided even more rigidly.
Is that bad? Groups aren't inherently evil. I ended up alone eventually, but before that, I partied up with others, and that party was basically a faction itself. So I don't have much issue with people forming groups.
With one caveat: even if our personalities clash and we don't run together, when facing demons or the Demon King, we cooperate. Faction rivalries or conflicts can't turn into betrayals against each other. No sacrificing other heroes to make yourselves shine. No stabbing someone in the back while they're fighting hard, or begging the enemy to take your life instead.
I'm not saying carve flesh from your own body to help the struggling—I'm saying don't backstab those in the thick of it or throw away your life pointlessly. So when I heard Choi Yu-jin had formed a group called the Corpse Squad, I was a bit thrown off at first.
By the name. And then...
"The Corpse Squad's hunting orcs at an insane pace. They're looting the orcs' weapons to arm themselves, smashing every hatching den they spot."
By their actions.
"I don't know what went down in that arena, but they're all ruthless. Like they've actually killed people."
"......"
They're doing better than expected.
"You seem pretty decent yourself. If those orcs hadn't ambushed you, you could've taken them one-on-one."
"Ah, haha... If it hadn't been a surprise attack."
"How many'd you kill?"
"You?"
"Twenty-nine up to a bit ago."
"Whoa, badass. Me... well, twenty-one so far. Hehe."
And it wasn't just the Corpse Squad—even those who'd survived and cleared the Goblin Forest in twenty-four hours.
Did everyone fight this well from the start?
Suddenly, most of the 108 aspiring heroes in our Tutorial Factory felt like they had real hero talent.
In my first playthrough, did fewer people die like this?
Something felt too smooth. Or maybe some huge disaster was brewing, just not exploded yet.
How many dropped out in my first run?
I racked my brain. I could vaguely recall how many survived the tutorial event, but ten years of chaos had blurred the details.
Can't remember. I blasted through with three straight wins and got isekai'd immediately—no time to check on late bloomers who squeaked by like add-ons.
Clear three stages, and you're shipped off to the other world right away. Heaven had no patience for stragglers grinding extra stages after dying in stage three.
"Hyung. What about you?"
"Me?"
On the move through the forest. Kang Dae-han kept chatting me up.
If this were Corpse Squad or arena survivors, I'd snap at him for yapping loud enough to draw orc ambushes—but I let it slide with him.
"What about me?"
"That... you did it, right? Killed all those orcs."
"I did. That's how I saved your ass. Twenty-nine, remember?"
"As expected...!"
If arrows fly from his noise, he dies, not me—I can react.
"If you really solo'd that hatching den, we can escape this place!"
Right now, prying info from his excited blabber was key.
"You guys seem fine without me. Plenty of skilled ones like you."
"Ah... it's complicated right now."
"Complicated how?"
"Yeah. Our leader's... safety-first? Or just stubborn, maybe..."
Kang Dae-han scratched his cheek with an awkward grin. Backtalk's universal, but fishing for sympathy like this?
He wants me to sway the leader.
A powerhouse who solo'd a hatching den.
"Oh. Anyway, how'd you get so strong in the arena? We teamed with mercenaries—nice folks. Learned survival tricks from them."
"Flailing to stay alive."
"Ah..."
His eyes spun, hungry for my strengthening secrets and how to leverage my power for his gain. He tried hiding it, but a tenth-year hero's no fool.
"Kang Dae-han. Explain the 'complicated' situation. Concise, short. So even someone clueless gets it in three lines."
"H-Hyung, I—"
"You're misunderstanding something big."
I leveled the looted axe at him casually.
"Answer. Don't forget who's in front of you—the guy who solo'd twenty-nine orcs."
"......"
"Not just your college sunbae. The one who saved your life."
"That... I really am grateful."
He bowed his head. At least he knew I was his lifesaver.
"Then spill. No hesitation, straight up. I won't tell a soul."
Still reluctant—maybe fear of Choi Yu-jin or the Corpse Squad? I treaded carefully.
"What the hell happened?"
"...Jeong-ho hyung, you know Han Jeong-ho sunbae? Third-year."
"......"
"Ah, you don't remember. It's fine, most don't. One of the seniors who went to the army with you guys and came back."
He's our leader.
No clue. Never heard the name on the frontlines. Didn't ring a bell from the tutorial either.
"Good fighter?"
"More brains than brawn. Background knowledge... He's an expert on isekai fantasy."
"Ah."
Made sense. Frontline hero parties had a webnovel otaku too—not some LN weeaboo, mind you. The bespectacled mage bro who promised to read LNs post-Earth to grasp the difference.
He'd drag our party into cliched perils under "isekai tropes," but I got hints to deduce the Demon King's true nature from it.
"He briefed us. Main quest's the orc settlement, but clear every sub-quest. Farm everything you can."
"Solid advice."
I got it.
"And the big one: 'hidden pieces.'"
"Hidden pieces?"
"Yeah. Cheat items or skills. Magic, insta-kills with chants—he said find them no matter what."
"I see..."
Stage, not scenario, but close enough.
"Heard something from the angel before entering."
"What?!"
Angel mention halted him; he spun to face me.
"What'd she say...?!"
"We blitzed the arena, but the orc settlement's lagging behind."
Half-lie. Full fabrication, really.
"I-I see. Figures..."
Fabrication or not, it pried info from him.
"...We planned to rush too. But as we picked off orcs, side-quest clearers split us over progress."
"Side-questers wanted main goal nuked fast?"
"Yeah. Plus clashing views: can't leave the breeding victims, vs. max gains."
"Got it."
Makes sense. Some pity-driven to end it quick; others shelve empathy for survival.
"Two days ago, it was heated. Vote went about 50:30 for 'slow and steady.'"
"Until two days ago."
"Right. Then Corpse Squad—arena survivors—returned. Flipped everything."
"How?"
"Choi Yu-jin said... 'Fuck it, just kill every orc bastard, right?'"
"......"
Spot on. To spare the rape victims' suffering quick, to blitz side-quests—slaughter orcs fast is optimal.
"Jeong-ho hyung pushed hidden pieces, but they ignored. Thought they were hunting them separate, but nah—just methodically orc-hunting."
"Figures."
Arena hidden pieces? Shin Yu-hee and I snagged 'em.
Goddess Points. That's the hidden piece.
Knowing they exist is right; method's wrong.
This ain't a starstream channel for constellations' entertainment.
We're war pawns. Investments go to top pawns.
Hidden pieces aren't found—they're granted to the most aggressive demon-fighters.
"Hyung. Your take? Hunt hidden pieces first, or wipe orcs then search?"
I knew the answer but wouldn't spell it. I'd get roped into leadership.
"Dunno for sure, but wipe orcs first."
"Huh? But..."
"If Choi Yu-jin says so, it's right."
"......Pardon?"
"I suck at everything but fighting."
I hurled the axe forward with force.
Thwack! It buried in the skull of an orc hiding behind a tree.
"Told 'em to follow Choi Yu-jin."
Whatever Corpse Squad was, she was our leader.
"She said it, right? 'Fuck it, just kill 'em all.'"
"Y-Yeah, but..."
"Then do it."
I ordered it.
"Leader says jump, you jump."