The Premature Patch and the Fallen Comrade

The third scenario had begun with a surprise. Shin Yugyeong, Ji Sehwa, and Kang Yerin, clad in the steel Deleter hero suits, were locked in combat against Epsilon, an executive of the Galactic Empire. Compared to the battles against Pegasus or Cancer, these three were significantly lower in power, even for executive-level opponents. But.

“Zeo, look at them.” Rua was watching the screen with a serious expression. The Dragon King Squadron was holding their own against Epsilon, almost evenly matched.

“Did they finish the Deleter? Or is it just a bluff?”

“Deleter?”

“That suit was originally meant to be an AI weapon.”

The Deleter was a mass-produced android that appeared in the third scenario. They were originally created by the U.S. military to keep superpowered individuals in check, but they fell into the hands of villains and went on a rampage. I had planned to get my hands on them once the third scenario started and have some fun with them. To think they’d been turned into hero suits instead.

In reality, using the Deleter as a suit would certainly provide a massive stat boost. It was effectively pulling an expansion pack patch forward. But they should have seen in the last battle that things don’t always go as planned. Yet, even as time passed, there was no sign of the overheating issues from before.

Just then, the Association President continued his announcement.

A table organizing the alphabet appeared on the screen.

I recognized what that was at a single glance.

“That idiot woman finally went and did it.”

『From now on, heroes and villains will use the same ranks based on the strength of their abilities! Furthermore, as the number of immeasurable powerhouses above SSS has increased, the Over Tier has been newly established!』

“Zeo, what does that mean?”

“It means that Rena, for instance, has become stronger than when she was first ranked SSS. But since there was no way to display that, they added the Over Tier. Rena will now receive a T1 rank. If she gets stronger later, she’ll be promoted to T2, and so on.”

“T…?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t measure danger; it purely measures the strength of the ability. Heroes use the same criteria, making it possible to intuitively compare the power of villains and heroes.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Is there a problem?”

“There are a lot of problems.”

There was a serious problem. This content was a patch for the game system. It was a rank-adjustment patch introduced with the start of the third scenario to manage power inflation. It wasn’t as if they could keep labeling the executive-level monsters of the Galactic Empire, who were stronger than SSS, as SSS+ forever. The problem was that this was supposed to be game content.

I had experimented before with what would happen if I applied these ‘future patches’ in advance. At first, the results were positive. The reason I was able to become an S-rank hero within six months of possessing this body was not just because I was well-versed in the game’s strategy or because of achievement perks, but also because I had applied this shortcut. However, the side effects were severe. You could call it causality, or perhaps the rules of the world. Thinking about it, the result was obvious. Technology that appeared faster than it was originally scheduled to appear in the world was also used by villains just as quickly. It became impossible to control, and collisions occurred, making it difficult to clean up the situation. After confirming those side effects, I refrained from abusing the system.

“What kind of problems will arise?”

“That is…” I couldn’t answer Rua’s question immediately. Even I couldn’t be sure. It was certain that the number of variables would increase.

『The ranks of the heroes, the Galactic Empire, and representative villains we have measured are as follows. You can trust the criteria for this measurement. We are using the same method as that ‘Year-End Ranking’!』

“Huh? I’m only SSS-rank?” Rua complained, annoyed. “Zeo, they’re just rigging the numbers, right? Does it make sense that that pathetic Dragon King Squadron is stronger than me?”

“Hmm.” I also thought it was just the Association President’s bluff. I didn’t know where they learned the measurement method, but I thought they were just imitating it—yet, the rank measurements for Cancer, Pegasus, and Ractor were bothering me. They matched the ranks from the original work exactly.

“Did they get their hands on Nameless?”

Nameless, an unaffiliated powerhouse who knows the information of every hero and villain. If they had him, it would make sense. I remembered the ranks of the Galactic Empire from the previous scenario after the patch in the original work. For that reason, Rua and Rena were expressed as SSS-rank because they didn’t have units yet, but they were much higher ranks when they appeared in the fourth scenario.

“Huh? But why isn’t Zeo’s name there? Same for Red Dragon…” Rua wondered. I had an idea why.

『I believe many of you are feeling anxious seeing these rank measurements. As you can see, the Galactic Empire is strong.』

The Dragon King Squadron’s battle continued. Once the ranks were announced, their firepower became even more intense. 『But heroes do not fight alone. We become stronger through the bonds of our comrades! The Seoul Hero Association is mass-producing Deleters to strengthen all affiliated heroes! Please believe in us! We have the power to defeat the Galactic Empire!』

They got one over on me. The Deleter suit and the rank reorganization. The Association President might not have intended it, but he had pulled the strengthening patch elements of the third scenario, which were supposed to be months away, into the present, creating a result that forcibly strengthened Seoul’s heroes. I had mentioned the Deleter to Kang Yerin, and I had organized the rank-related information on my PC. To think it would come back like this. Then I should use the side effects to my advantage.

“Zeo, will it be okay?”

“No problem. As the heroes get stronger, the experience points I get for defeating them increase too. It’s a chance for us to grow as well.”

Still, the growth would only be in stats, and ability levels would be blocked by the cap of 10. The cap would only be lifted after the third scenario started. To use this efficiently… hmm? A notification popped up in my system window.

…What? I doubted my eyes. The system was clearly informing me that the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠third scenario had begun at this very moment. Was such a thing even possible? Two scenarios proceeding simultaneously. It must be a side effect. With the new ranking system and the appearance of the Deleter, it had started even though the Galactic Empire hadn’t been subjugated yet. In reality, it was likely that Washington and other heroes around the world, feeling anxious after seeing the Seoul Hero Association, had begun to move.

“I need to move faster.” I stood up from my seat.

“Zeo, which operation are you going to initiate?”

I turned to Rua and replied. “I’m going to raid the Association.”

“Clock Out!” Kang Yerin rotated the upper part of the switch to activate the Time Dragon’s ability. The sphere created around her swallowed the enemy, larger and more magnificent than before. Caught in her grasp, the Gladiator Epsilon, with his lumpy torso, stopped moving completely.

“Blue, Silver!” Following Kang Yerin’s signal, Ji Sehwa and Shin Yugyeong rushed in. The sword containing the blue dragon and the silver dragon’s rapid-fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strikes hit Epsilon.

“Time Up.” As time flowed again, the accumulated damage on Epsilon exploded all at once. The gladiator let out a low scream as he fell, kneeling before exploding.

“We did it, we defeated him!”

“Hmm. Excellent. Finally, I can try using the Galactic Empire’s switch.” Shin Yugyeong began rummaging through Epsilon’s corpse. Kang Yerin ignored her. The Deleter suit. This suit, finally completed, had drastically boosted the Dragon King Squadron’s power. It was enough to receive a rank higher than even El-Rena from Nameless, who only ranked fairly no matter how much the Association President threatened him.

‘With this, I can win.’ I can win against the Galactic Empire, and against the Villain Alliance. Kang Yerin began to see hope.

“What is this? Why isn’t there a switch?” Shin Yugyeong had been searching Epsilon’s corpse for a long time. Kang Yerin called out to her. “Stop it and let’s go back. The goal was subjugation.”

“Wait, the switch is important too! I saw the villains using Pegasus’s switch.”

That damn switch. Kang Yerin was sick of it.

Whoosh! Suddenly, a pillar of light descended in front of them. The three of them tensed up. What appeared was another monster.

“Heh heh. You poured so much magic power into it, yet it’s only this much. Inferior races are truly pitiful.”

A monster holding a giant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠staff. From the ominous aura he radiated, Kang Yerin intuited that he was executive-level. “Be careful! This monster, his aura…!”

“Don’t be so terrified. I only came to see the experimental results today. I must go back and write my thesis.”

The next moment, the monster had teleported in front of Epsilon’s corpse. “Ugh?!” Shin Yugyeong couldn’t react. The monster didn’t care about her at all and lifted Epsilon’s mangled upper body with telekinesis.

“Hmm, hmm. Was the vessel bad? I’m sure the red warrior said he was a strong one… were you not them?”

“You bastard, what are you muttering about!” At Ji Sehwa’s shout, the monster laughed heartily. “Heh heh. This body, the Great Sage Dorado, gave your comrades the glory of fighting for the Empire as you can see, but it seems it was a total failure.”

“Comrades…? What does that mean…?”

Dorado tilted his head, then began to laugh loudly. “Unbelievable. You didn’t know while you were fighting? To be of such low level. Asking the Archbishop for the vessel was a waste of effort.”

Dorado flicked his staff. Then, Epsilon’s corpse began to twist grotesquely, and his appearance started to change. It soon took the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠form of a human. Kang Yerin recognized the face and was horrified.

“…Arkshi?”

He was the new Red of the Dragon King Squadron, Arkshi, who was thought to have died in the battle against Cancer.