The Constellation's Game [Laika]

Rainer Bellic, a warrior at level 49, was a veteran player already in his sixth year since awakening.

Blessed with modest talent but forged by relentless effort, he now stood on the verge of his 2nd Class Advancement — and that advancement was his greatest, most cherished goal.

The moment he succeeded, his standing as a player would change beyond all recognition. What's more, fortune had recently handed him an opportunity worth its weight in gold.

'Me, discovering a hidden class…… So this day was coming for me too!'

To be precise, what he'd found was a quest chain leading to a hidden class — but he was giddy all the same. After all, clearing it was as good as guaranteeing the class change itself.

And if he pulled off the advancement into a 2nd-tier hidden class…… he would leap in a single bound into the upper echelons of players. A 2nd hidden class carried that much value. It was a concept on an entirely different plane from the essentially meaningless 1st hidden class.

'Once I advance to a hidden class, I can power-level my way to 60 in no time.'

Right now he was nothing more than one of the thousands of interchangeable level-40-something warriors out there. But a level-60 warrior with a 2nd hidden class? Guilds would fight over Bellic wherever he went.

Working as a risk-taking mercenary, he could pull in hundreds of millions of won a month; even playing it safe with a respectable guild, a salary in the billions was well within reach. That alone proved just how high the wall of the 2nd advancement stood — and how rare hidden classes were. And yet here he was, convinced that glory was already within arm's reach.

'So please…… just a little longer. Hang in there…….'

That was why Rainer Bellic was desperate — and frankly, it was the very reason he'd come to Lumentis Hollow with such a flimsy party. There was a special item he had to find somewhere inside this mine, and that item was the progression item for his hidden quest.

"We need to find something called the Rusted Mine Key, Novin."

"And what does that have to do with not recruiting outside party members?"

"Because if someone else gets their hands on it before I do… my quest progression gets blocked."

"Ah…."

"So I absolutely need people I can trust."

Unless the party was built entirely from people he could trust without reservation, information about the key could leak out. A normal party recruitment had simply been impossible.

'Thank goodness Novin was with me.'

If not for Seila Novin — his cherished little sister of a friend, a healer in the late 40s — he wouldn't have dared attempt this reckless expedition at all. And Rowell, the headstrong mage whose damage output was the one thing you could count on, was a party member he'd only secured through Novin's connections.

Whew.

And so, for those reasons, Bellic had recruited not a single additional party member all the way down to this deep underground level of the abandoned mine.

Which was how they finally succeeded in locating the hidden zone of Lumentis Hollow.

But that was when the real trouble began. Having fought their way down through the field at brutal cost, every party member was running on fumes — and the moment they set foot in the coal mine, the difficulty ratcheted up another notch.

So honestly, Bellic felt like raising a cheer when Dave appeared. If he refused to recruit anyone here as well, he would have to swallow his tears and tear a return scroll with the quest reward literally within reach.

Besides, the Rusted Mine Key was already in his possession — there was no longer any need to worry about quest information leaking.

'I have no idea how this Dave guy got in here without a key, but……'

With the key already sitting in Bellic's inventory, such trivia hardly mattered. What mattered now was seeing the quest through to the end, one way or another.

And so Bellic had no choice but to recruit the man called Dave. All he could do now was pray the man was decent, and a tank of at least some real skill…

…though he still had absolutely no idea what an evasion-counter tank was supposed to be.

"Alright, you can see the ghosts up ahead?"

"Yes, Bellic."

"Rowell, start preparing your casting slowly. Novin, you……"

But a moment later, when the first battle kicked off, the new party member suddenly sprang forward — and Bellic couldn't believe his own eyes.

"Excuse me a second, Bellic. Mind if I make a few requests?"

"Hmm… go ahead."

To begin with, the man abruptly named Novin's hidden class — one even she hadn't known she had — and started issuing spell orders.

"Healer. You're a Saint Keeper, right?"

"Uh… yes?"

"I need barriers more than heals, so cast Divine Shield on me first, and……"

……

Somehow, this "Dave" also knew about the most dangerous(?) skill in Rowell's arsenal.

"I'm not sure what your class is, mage, but seeing you use Flare Storm, you can handle Magnifire too, right?"

"I can!"

"No! She can't hit anything with that!"

"It's fine. Set your attack spells around Magnifire as your core."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Watching him bark orders like a seasoned raid leader, Bellic could only nod along as if in a trance.

"Party leader, keep your distance from me and make sure none of the ghosts slip out the back……"

"Th-that… understood."

"Right then. Shall we begin?"

Tat-tat—

But the real shock started there.

"Wh-what, just like that?"

The scene that unfolded before his eyes once combat began was of a kind he had never once witnessed in six years as a player.

Teong—!

Kagang—!

Sword in one hand, shield in the other, the new party member churned through the battlefield like a fish in water.

'Aren't tanks supposed to be the heavy, immovable anchor position……?'

Moving far more flamboyantly than Bellic himself, a melee dealer, Dave dodged the ghosts' attacks like an acrobat mid-performance. Watching him, Bellic could manage exactly one thought.

'This… is a tank?'

I am a tank.

But against those ghost bastards, I cannot allow a single hit.

What kind of gimmick is that supposed to be, you ask?

A gimmick…?

Now that hurts my feelings a little. This isn't a gimmick — it's simply the one and only methodology by which I can perform a tank's role and live to tell about it.

"Right then. Shall we begin?"

Over there, the creepy ghost bastards had spotted us and were slinking closer.

Kieee—

If I let even one of their attacks land properly, I would be at death's door instantly.

Would my party members trust a tank who goes nearly dead in one hit? Obviously not.

Which means I must never, ever just eat an attack. What I'm relying on is extreme blocking and parrying — and nothing else.

Kkaang—!!

Kagagang—!!

You're asking if this is a strategy that makes any sense at all?

Well, against Lumen Ghosts, it's more doable than you'd think.

Thankfully, Lumen Ghosts traded all that attack power for notably slow attack animations. That made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the timing easy to read, which puts Perfect Parry and Perfect Block on the easier end of the spectrum.

That said, nobody can hold up under every single attack forever, so……

"Now!"

And this quirk made my plan all the more airtight.

Because it turned out that sharp-eyed little supporter was a considerably more capable player than I'd given her credit for.

Divine Shield — a barrier with durability approaching twice my entire HP pool! If I rationed it carefully until the cooldown came back around, I could pull off the illusion of a flawless tank to absolute perfection.

Well, honestly? He's not wrong that tanking is the easy job. Since I'm playing pure defense with zero thought of attacking, I can push parrying and blocking to this level in the first place. If I were a melee dealer who had to deal damage on top of everything else, this kind of extreme shield play would be impossible.

So really, what I'm doing right now — with my whole body — is proving that tanks have it easy.

Which means…

If the Divine Seat of the Silent Wall is already starting to sweat — that's an upvote from me, hyung-nim.

Upvote confirmed, hyung-nim.

But the show hasn't even started yet?

Now then — shall we put on a little impression of the Ghost Guardian?

"Casting's nearly done, Dave!"

At that high-pitched voice I glanced back, and a horde of massive spheres of flame was swirling violently in front of my party member, Elicia Rowell.

And frankly, I was rather impressed by the intense heat radiating off them.

'She actually knows how to use Magnifire properly?'

Magnifire was, by rights, a top-tier attack spell you couldn't even learn until your 2nd Class Advancement. So I'd assumed a 1st-tier mage who'd picked it up as a hidden class would fall painfully short on raw power…

…but at this level, at least the power portion was the genuine article.

'Which does mean one mistake could genuinely roast me alive.'

This mage, Rowell, had apparently traded control for the ability to unleash fire magic far beyond her own weight class — the hallmark of whatever hidden class she carried. Which was precisely why I planned to lend a hand with that control from here on out.

"You need to spread out NOW! Otherwise……!!"

So no matter how frantically the panicked healer waved me aside……

"Don't worry, just fire! I'll be fine."

…I had absolutely no intention of moving. Those fireballs had to come flying my way, or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the play I was setting up would never come together.

"Yessir!"

But how does this fire mage not hesitate for even a second? It's probably one of two things: either watching my play a moment ago won her trust…

…or she genuinely doesn't care whether I end up charcoal-grilled.

Could be both, honestly……?

Shwaaaaah—!

The instant Rowell swept her staff, an absurd number of fireballs came pouring down the field.

'Now!'

Confirmation received, I raised my shield and focused every last ounce of my concentration.

And the next moment—

Pung— Pabeobeong— Pung— Pung—!

I began whipping my shield around in a frenzy at every sphere of flame hurtling into my space.

And as for the expressions on my dear party members' faces as they watched…

…they looked exactly like the expressions of you fine Constellation hyung-nims.