The Frontline Outpost
The front line.
By dictionary definition, it means the region where battle is fought, or the imaginary line drawn to divide such a place.
In English it is called the Front Line, but the official name of this place is the Outpost of the Human Frontline.
Yes—not the front line itself, but the outpost of the front line.
The moment the front line is pushed back, fighting could break out at any time, yet the atmosphere here is not as bloodthirsty as one might expect.
“Freshly butchered Iron Hog steel hooves and fangs for sale today! Also selling C-rank mana stones in bulk!!”
“Anyone got fresh Armored Lizard blood?! Twenty per liter—if the magic treatment’s perfect I’ll add another twenty and buy it on the spot for forty!”
“Chain Buffalo hides, twenty for a quick sale~”
“Oh, then I’ll go seventeen for a quick sale!!”
“What?! You bastard, you picking a fight right to my face?! Sixteen!! Top-grade Chain Buffalo hide for sixteen!!!”
“Ah, what can you do~ If you don’t like it, drop it lower. Fifteen over here~”
“Grrraaagh...!!!”
Well, that side is cutthroat in a different sense, but that level of haggling is everyday life around here, so I let it slide.
What I really want to say is this: front line or not, it’s all just leftover wreckage of the past. These days the place is nothing more than a black market bazaar.
Inside the massive, solid walls that had been raised naturally to hold back the enemy, this was originally a place of rest—somewhere for those who returned from battle to recover and replenish scarce supplies.
Think of it as a base camp built right in front of a ridiculously huge and dangerous dungeon.
But as time passed and the front line expanded, safety improved dramatically. The moment the scent of money hit the air, every kind of opportunist flooded in and started throwing up facilities left and right.
Auction houses, alchemy workshops, magic towers, master blacksmith forges—even entertainment dens for shaking off the fatigue and stress piled up on the brutal battlefield!
All sorts of things sprang up, infrastructure slowly took shape, and now the whole place feels like a tourist city that just happens to use a giant wall as its trademark.
Of course, being so close to the true front line means there’s always the risk of everything going to hell, but in the last forty years the line has never once been pushed back.
More importantly, proximity to the front line means you can buy the freshest byproducts. There’s even a saying that if you know exactly what you want, it’s better to come straight to the front line than settle for the degraded goods that trickle into the city centers.
Thanks to that deeply rooted perception, the trade the front line pushes hardest these days is none other than byproducts and spoils.
You risk your life on the true front line killing monsters and digging through ruins, then sell the haul here to stockpile cash. Along the way you can build a reputation and strengthen yourself—two birds with one stone.
At the same time, it is also the classic newcomer grinder that mercilessly shoves cold reality into the faces of anyone who arrives with overly rosy dreams, forcing them to wake up whether they like it or not.
In a way, this place might be the real inhuman hellscape.
Looks like business is booming these days.
It was just turning into summer, the season when insect-type monsters explode in number and the people who hunt them flock here in droves. Awakened and merchants all chasing a big score had poured in at once, which was probably why it looked even noisier than usual.
The longer time goes on, the worse this place gets—never better. Looking at the scene that made the words “this is the front line?” slip out on their own, I frowned.
Keep this up and some massive accident born of safety blindness will hit, and only then will they wail and scream. It might look ridiculous from the outside, but if this place collapses, holding the true front line becomes far harder.
No—beyond mere maintenance, we might even get pushed back from the ground we fought so hard to take.
The only reason this place is safe is because the Awakened who step onto the true front line are handling the “real” monsters beyond it. If we can no longer support them from behind, all this prosperity loses its meaning.
Even if they’re laughing and joking around right now, when the moment comes they are vital manpower who will stake their lives to defend this place.
Of course, how many of the ones standing over there would actually stay and fight instead of running is another question.
Forty years of peace and rapid development are more than enough to dull any sense of urgency.
“Good work.”
“Grrrr~”
I dismounted at a suitable spot and dismissed Kallion. All that remained beneath him was the black box he had been carrying.
I tapped it a few times to release the seal, and the burly men who had been hidden inside the shadows began to appear one by one.
They squinted as if the light stung their eyes and started working the stiffness out of their bodies.
Crack, pop!!
“Aaaah! Slept great.”
“Ugh, my whole body’s killing me.”
Their faces were already rough enough; seeing them all stretch like that at once made the intimidation factor ridiculous. They looked exactly like a gathering of guys fresh out of prison.
No point saying it out loud. These were the members of [Hot Hammer] who would be handling the job this time.
“Ohh... so this really is the front line.”
“Thirty minutes? No, not even twenty, and we’re already here?”
“We didn’t even take a separate gate. At this speed we could use it for transport work.”
While they each shared their impressions and straightened themselves out, the largest middle-aged man among them rose to his feet. My head tilted upward on its own.
“Heh heh, cut that out, you brats. This power isn’t something you waste on mere transport.”
A voice as heavy as a war horn instantly crushed the air around us. The men standing there were already big, yet the moment this one stood up it felt like some magic had been cast that made every other bulk look smaller.
The man who, by common consensus, had contributed more than anyone else to elevating [Hot Hammer] to S-rank. The madman who had been personally acknowledged by the giant race and become a true “giant.”
Further still, the man upon whom the system itself had bestowed the two epithets [Taishan] and [Upheaval].
“Brat. It’s true there’s a bastard here worth chewing up and spitting out, right?”
The man with dark, well-tempered steel-like skin—Harantz Granga—shouldered his beloved war hammer and asked me.
His chilling demeanor and massive frame made him look extremely threatening. But it was easy enough to tell that hostility was not aimed at me.
“Yeah. This one will give you the location, and this one will provide support. Your job is to thoroughly pulverize the target.”
I indicated Shiz and Hive in turn. Harantz’s blue eyes lit up with interest as he looked them over; then he let out his characteristic low chuckle and adjusted the war hammer on his shoulder.
“Good. Shall we get moving? You brats!!! It’s hammer time!!!”
““Uoooooh!!!!””
Thud! Thud! Thud!!
A bunch of thick, massive people stomping their feet in unison made it feel like an earthquake. I had deliberately set down a little farther away so we could move quietly, but this completely defeated the purpose.
See? The noise already had the sentries on the wall checking our direction.
I let out a deep sigh. Still, the job would proceed as planned. I would move on my own, and these people would move for their own purpose.
A perfect win-win ending for both sides.
I raised my mana and wrapped my entire body in shadow. Harantz, who had been watching every detail without missing a thing, furrowed his bushy brows and lowered his head to stare at me.
“...Just as a precaution, brat. This is the front line. It’s stabilized somewhat because we’re a distance from the true front, but the moment you stray even a little, one wrong step and your head can go flying. Keep that in mind.”
For all his threatening appearance, he seemed to be a man with a lot of heart. That was probably why the muscle pigs behind him followed him so loyally.
“You watch yourself too and don’t get hurt. Your body is my property now.”
Before he was a warrior, he was a craftsman. Every piece of armor he wore, every enchantment and rune letter carved into the leather—none of it had escaped his hands.
That was why he could trust his gear and throw himself into battle. And why he could accurately gauge his own limits as well.
Skill aside, the charisma and popularity that made people follow him were not things you could create overnight. Remaking a talent like him from scratch would take an extremely long time.
I don’t have that kind of time.
I had already decided to make Shirogane mine, so I had to drag these guys along no matter what.
“What was that—bwahahahahahaha!!!!”
When I shot back with that resolve, telling him his worry was unnecessary, Harantz looked like he had taken a solid hit and burst into booming laughter. His heavy muscles shook so hard the air itself trembled.
“What a cheeky little brat. That fierce little lady really did bite herself a wild one!!”
My expression twisted at those words.
“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I’m not particularly joining Shirogane.”
Rather, I was going to make Shirogane mine.
When I clearly pointed out the error, the middle-aged man’s lips curled into a grin.
“And that’s possible?”
“No reason it wouldn’t be.”
“Keh-heh-heh, Ichiros needs to see this punk’s face soon!!! Just imagining that bastard’s face crumpling already makes the liquor go down smooth!!! Right, you brats!!!!”
““Yes!! Exactly!!!””
BOOM!!!
He slammed the war hammer he was carrying into the ground, and for an instant my body floated up before settling back down.
...Just how strong was he to produce that kind of force? Thanks to Lee Se-rin I wasn’t shocked. I was just annoyed that there was always a higher peak above the one I could see.
What truly left me speechless was that after unleashing that kind of power, the ground didn’t have a single scratch.
What did that mean? It meant he possessed the skill to completely disperse his power into the surroundings.
The crude strength of a giant was perfectly fused with a craftsman’s delicacy.
I’ll be honest. He really was a monster.
This insane world never got boring—no matter how many layers you peeled back, something new always appeared.
Fuck. All I want is a peaceful life boring enough to feel boredom, so why the hell was I reincarnated into this deranged world only to live like this?
Separate from the lament, my mind raced, analyzing and examining the current situation.
I didn’t show it outwardly, but the Book of Investigation was a tremendous help.
So that’s a real <Mental Image>.
Probably... no, I was certain.
Having dipped my toes into it even a little, I could declare it. Something beyond mere physical force had just operated. And it wasn’t mana either.
It was a kind of “concept.”
...Did he insert his own thoughts into the surroundings?
He had struck hard enough to lift my body, yet the ground remained unmarked. His <Mental Image> had clearly exerted some influence.
The problem was that I still didn’t know exactly what it was. Even so, I felt I could understand the man named Harantz Granga a little better.
“From this moment we go to rescue our comrades!”
““Yes!!””
The sight of absolute stillness filled with grandeur was nature itself.
That was why he had been defined as [Taishan].
“Anyone with complaints, speak up right now!!! I’ll personally knock some sense into your skulls!!! Any objections!!?!”
““None!!””
Yet beneath that stillness, one could sense the seething magma ready to boil over at any moment.
Thus he had been named [Upheaval].
“Good! Then all of you, trust me and follow!! Raise your hammers and carve it clearly into the enemy!! Make them taste to the bone the true power of those they dared to touch!!!”
““Understood!!””
But before any of that, he was a warrior, a craftsman, and the captain who led them all.
Receiving an epithet was proof that the world had acknowledged and recorded his existence, but more than that, it was a kind of evidence that allowed one to glimpse his Mental Image in simplified form.
Then what about my own <Mental Image>? What was my fundamental root?
“...”
I clicked my tongue inwardly. No matter how hard I thought, I had no idea.
I couldn’t even properly distinguish whether this was reincarnation or possession, and I still didn’t know whether this world was based on a game or a novel.
The only certainty was that I alone was a foreign substance in this world.
The surroundings were so insane that it didn’t show, but as a human I was a complete defective product. You could grind down the rust and wear of age and try to repair it all you liked—it was still defective.
Even if the outside looked fine, the inside was still rotten.
That was what made it even more absurd. It meant this world was so crazy that someone like me could feel normal by comparison.
The world is mad, so am I sane? Or am I mad and the world is mad, so madness has simply become the ordinary standard of normal? Endless, deranged questions chased one another’s tails.
Why the hell was I even thinking about this?
It was completely meaningless. Mad is mad. What’s the point of denying it? I broke a long time ago, and this world is insane.
Just like Lee Se-rin. She went crazy once, spun around, and the degree was so severe she spun another full circle—so at a glance she almost looks normal.
But if you see a mannequin’s neck twisted 360 degrees and creaking, can you really call that normal?
I didn’t know. So I simply stopped thinking. What root could someone like me possibly have? Having nothing is my root. Both my previous life and my current one are just trashy existences.
...Yeah. Same as the ash that fell endlessly and pointlessly in my previous life.
Twitch.
“...?”
For an instant something moved deep inside me. It was far too faint and fleeting to grasp properly, yet something felt just within reach—almost catchable.
What was that? What just snagged?
Thud!!
As if to stop my confusion, a massive hand pressed down on my shoulder.
“That’s a little dangerous.”
“Kh...”
He had only rested his hand lightly, yet it felt as though something enormous was crushing me.
For a moment my mind went pure white, blank. Every thought except the need to endure and block that pressure was forcibly erased from my head.
I furrowed my brow and glared at the one who had placed his hand on me. He gave a bitter smile and withdrew it again.
“Cough... just now, what...”
“No need to rush. Someone like you will find the answer before long.”
“...”
I chewed on those words for a moment, then let out a short, hollow laugh.
“Is that advice from someone who climbed up first?”
“Hmm, think of it as the worry of an old man watching a child struggling to draw water from a well that doesn’t fit him.”
So he was fretting that I might fall straight in if I wasn’t careful. What a vague way of putting it. Still, I roughly understood.
Even so, nothing changed about what I had to do.
No—something new had just been added.
“...I’m not young enough to be called a child, so I’ll just let that slide.”
“Tsk tsk. Choosing such a hard path for yourself.”
I already knew. Everything I was doing right now was carving away at my own flesh.
...But listen. If I don’t do even this much, I can’t even get my hands on a means to oppose unreasonable bastards like you.
I’m stupid and dull, and on top of that I’ve caught the filthy, annoying disease called distrust. How hard do I have to work just to face shining people like you?
I should be running full tilt and it’s still not enough, yet you tell me to take it slow and easy? Don’t make me laugh.
What I have to do is already decided. In the end, the one who wins has to be me. That’s the only way I can get what I want.
For that, I have to keep moving. I have to surpass you and face the monsters sitting even higher. It’s an investment for a more peaceful future.
What the hell am I supposed to accomplish by holding back now?
I’ll do anything I can. For a broken defective product like me to face the ones who shine so brilliantly, the methods are already set.
Either thoroughly deceive and drag them down into the same gutter as me and bury them there, or burn even brighter myself and swallow their radiance whole until it turns to ash.
...Yeah. It’s one or the other.
“Planning on a short life?”
“What does it matter?”
I’ve already died once—what’s one more death? And dying isn’t that big a deal once you’ve tried it.
Maybe dying would even be more comfortable. Still, I won’t decorate the end with suicide like I did in my previous life.
It was an ending of sorts, but ultimately a bad ending.
In my previous life there wasn’t even a theoretical answer, so I made that choice. This life has a theoretically possible answer.
Kicking away a chance when you have one is something only a real idiot would do.
Keep it simple.
In short, I just have to chew everything up and sit at the top myself.
Round and round, it always comes back to the law of the jungle and the supremacy of the strong.
“Let’s go.”
Suddenly my head felt crystal clear. I had been worrying over pointless things. Time was too precious for that.
“Tsk tsk... the visage of an asura.”
He’d been chattering nonstop since earlier. Looks and name foreign, yet the speech pattern was vaguely like some Eastern historical drama—it felt off.
He’d suit tossing “yo” and “bro” at the end of every sentence and snarking far better than historical-drama talk.
Of course I kept that thought strictly inside my head. If I actually said it out loud, that hammer would probably reach my skull faster than the words.
When the weight class difference is this clear, talking back isn’t courage—it’s just suicide.
I floated Shiz into the air and headed straight into the dense forest with the front line at my back. Naturally the big guys trailed after me like ducklings following their mother.
...This world really is dizzying.
Even if I wanted to adapt, something new always popped out before I could, so a sigh escaped on its own.
No matter how I looked at it, this world was far too much for an ordinary civilian like me.