The Bus Driver's Talent

The Constellations' Game: [Laika]

Apparently, our bus driver's skills have improved quite a bit while I wasn't looking. Is this what people mean when they say someone's improved by leaps and bounds? No. This is so far beyond that level it's not even funny.

Sure, this was a hunting ground for players in their twenties, but the ghosts that spawned here were all above level 30. The only reason it was popular with twenty-something level-up parties was that the entry cap was set generously high. And yet, watching Leo now, he was cutting through the ghosts practically in a single stroke. Even though these were ghost-type monsters with a measure of immunity to physical damage, no less.

"That's all thanks to you, hyung-nim."

What on earth are you talking about now?

"Thanks to you, I can channel magic into my blade now."

How is that my doing...?

"And besides, it's because you granted it to me so freely that my Tempest Blader advancement succeeded, isn't it?"

Uh, well... technically, when you put it that way, I suppose it's true. Even so, the way he phrased it was way too much pressure. Embarrassing, even. Should I call it that—being complimented by a handsome junior just feels awkward?

"If you've done all that for me and I still couldn't carve up these flimsy things, that would be the real nonsense."

No, no. If one hidden class handed over was all it took to grow like this... then Job-Seeking Hero Lee Gunyul would have already slain the Demon King a dozen times over. Well, somehow or other, there did seem to be a pretty significant gap in raw talent between Job-Seeking Hero Lee Gunyul and Cash-Farming Hero Dave... but whatever. Point is:

"..."

Watching Leo casually spout lines that would have had thousands of ordinary players screaming flexer, take him down, I couldn't help shaking my head. So this is what they call having the face for it. No... a textbook example of it, maybe?

Frankly, though, none of that really mattered to me. As long as the bus driver drove well, who cared whether his personality was saintly or not, right?

Which meant that right now, I was thoroughly satisfied. At this pace, even the brutally tight leveling schedule I'd penciled in looked like it would be no trouble to hit. And judging by how fast the dungeon's progress was stacking up...

About time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I started earning my keep around here, no?

Zayd kicked the nearest tree stump in blind frustration. CRACK! Pulverized bark scattered in every direction from the toe of his hardened combat boot.

"Damn it all! A fish all but landed in my hands...!"

His usual easygoing grin was nowhere to be found, and a vicious aura of mana shimmered in the furrowed space between his brows. Sera, standing beside him, didn't look much better. If anything, she was in worse shape than her partner. Simply staying upright was a struggle for her right now—because when Sword Princess had appeared out of nowhere and unleashed that killing intent, it had been Sera, mid-cast on her attack spell, who had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠borne the full brunt of it.

A ranker among rankers. The very top of the top. In nearly seven years as a hunter, she had never once crossed paths with a being of that caliber. The price of meeting one head-on had been far steeper than she'd imagined. The moment her eyes met Sword Princess's through the mask, that hazy glow cutting through the dark, Sera had felt a terror like staring into the abyss itself.

Maybe surviving that... was the real miracle.

Even now, just recalling the fear made a throbbing ache bloom across her shoulders. The spot where Sword Princess's blade aura had grazed past her—if her position had been a hair lower, she might have lost an arm. Sera pressed her hand against the bruised, bitter wound and spoke in a low voice. It was less a statement than a bitter monologue to herself.

"We should never have assumed a rookie with unique equipment was just an ordinary player. We got too complacent, Zayd."

At her words, Zayd's expression twisted even further. He looked distinctly displeased about something.

"Fine, let's say that's true. But if Sword Princess hadn't happened to show up at exactly that moment—then wouldn't the Night Chaser be in my hands right now?"

"..."

Looking at his face, Sera let out a low, involuntary sigh. If she had faced Sword Princess's killing intent directly the way she had... such a thought would never even have formed. Musing on that, she studied Zayd's expression again—and another sigh escaped her. She knew exactly when that particular look appeared on his face. It was the face of a man in the grip of a voracious, consuming greed. And that was what worried her, because a greedy Zayd had precious little sense of when to stop.

And Sera's instincts were right on the mark.

"Zayd. Don't tell me you haven't given up."

"No matter how hard Sword Princess postures, somebody out there isn't going to let this go."

He'd dressed it up, but the meaning was plain enough: he had no intention whatsoever of letting go of that player, Dave.

"It doesn't have to be us who do it, does it?"

At Sera's worried voice, Zayd turned, bloodshot eyes flashing. But for some reason, his expression was calmer than it had been a moment ago.

"Obviously, with Varga making it that public, it'd be reckless for us to move directly. Duskport would clamp down on us too."

"Then what?"

A fishy, crooked smile crept across the face of a now-composed Zayd.

"But there's no way we could know what the 'dust' gets up to, is there?"

"Mm."

Zayd's eyes narrowed. The lower levels of Duskport were crawling with unaffiliated low-tier scavengers. They'd do anything for money, no questions asked, no fire or flood too dangerous—and above all, they were manpower perfectly suited to operating in the same low-level zones as someone like 'Dave'.

"Come to think of it, we never needed to move ourselves. Anyone level 40 or so could snap the wrist of some rookie player like that without breaking a sweat."

That was pure hindsight talking. At the time, moving directly and cleanly seizing ownership of the unique equipment had been the obvious choice. But instead of arguing the point, Sera only nodded slowly. She had just felt, firsthand, that stopping Zayd's greed was closer to impossible than not.

"Hoo."

Having organized his thoughts, the light in Zayd's eyes burned sharper ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than ever. Ironically enough, now that a heavyweight like Sword Princess had been dragged into the affair, his obsession with the unique equipment had only grown larger.

"In any case... let's not overreach, Zayd."

At Sera's final warning, Zayd gave a slow nod. Greed might have him by the eyes, but mercifully, the last thread of his reason was still holding.

"Fine. I'm not planning to move immediately anyway. Even if we hire the dust, things need to cool down first."

But there was one fact that, at this very moment, was completely beyond Zayd's knowing.

That fact was this: scavengers in the level 40 range might well find it impossible to PK Dave.

The Ghost Aqueduct was a dungeon divided into five phases in total. Not that 'phase' was some grand concept here—it really just meant the flow of combat changed a bit. But the final phase, the one that began the moment you hit 80% progress, was genuinely special in a way the others weren't. No—more accurately, there was a way to make it special.

"Hyung-nim, I found it!"

Leo's blade carved a great arc through the air, spraying a gust of sword wind ahead of him, and the Ghosts of Pain lunging toward us collapsed and dissolved without a sound. Shaaaak—! In the wake of the sweep, a passage revealed itself in what had been pitch-black darkness, and from within it came a flood of gloomy, grotesque noise.

Uwaaaauu...Sshaaaah—

Dozens of elite monsters—Ghosts of Chaos—poured out from beyond the aqueduct, wailing in eerie unison. Their appearance marked the beginning of Phase Five.

Seureung—

Gunyul re-gripped the Moonlight Sword and scanned the direction of the filthy wastewater flowing along the aqueduct floor. It didn't take him long to find the dungeon's final gimmick: the four 'septic purification valves' installed at intervals around the underground waterway.

"Found the valves, Leo."

"Me too, hyung-nim!"

Now, if we'd been running a standard playthrough, locking these valves to stop the generation of toxic miasma would have been the top priority. The Ghosts of Chaos were deformed wraiths, born from poison that had accumulated after seeping through from the septic tanks—and their gimmick was that the more poison leaked out, the stronger they grew. But there was a hidden gimmick layered on top of that, and what I was about to do was precisely that.

Honestly, calling it a 'hidden' gimmick was almost embarrassing. The Constellations watching the stream clearly all knew about it—so how obscure could it really be?

"Leo, ignore everything coming from the center. Go smash the valves mounted on the walls."

"Excuse me? Not lock them—smash them, hyung-nim?"

Hmm. Seems like he doesn't know this one.

"It's a hidden gimmick. Turn them in reverse and they break."

"Ooooh!"

"We're summoning the boss, so do exactly as I say."

"Understood, hyung-nim!"

His face instantly alight with excitement, Leo shot forward and charged straight at the first valve in view. What on earth had him so worked up? He obviously knew the ironclad, eternal truth that activating a hidden gimmick raises a dungeon's difficulty... Maybe this kid was actually a pervert who enjoyed suffering in dungeons.

I had my reasons for everything I did, thank you very much. Skreeee—!

Having confirmed Leo's position, I intercepted the oncoming Ghosts of Chaos just enough to keep them off his back. And then—

CRUUUUNCH—!

The moment Leo wrenched the first valve in reverse, a heavy metallic shriek split the air and black, festering wastewater began cascading down like a waterfall.

Even with the alarms blaring around us, Leo just grinned that goofy, expectant-puppy grin at me—then bounded off toward the next valve without a shred of hesitation.

"..."

Does this kid really not worry about anything? We have no idea what the boss is going to be. What exactly is he trusting that lets him charge in so recklessly?

Whatever the case, while the Constellations grumbled among themselves, we came within a hair of completing the gimmick's conditions. It had been a while since we'd partied up, but our coordination felt surprisingly smooth.

And then, the moment Leo defiantly turned the last valve on the deepest septic tank of all—

KWA-BOOM!

Every valve across the waterway detonated in a chain of muffled blasts, and the floor of the aqueduct began to shudder violently beneath our feet.