Monster Wave (1)
[That moment, northern Ludbekia Marquisate. 'Great Wall'.]
"Oh my~"
The stunning woman draped head to toe in black, Marchioness Ludbekia, stood atop the 30-meter-high wall, gazing north with a troubled smile.
"It's been almost ten years since monsters started rampaging like this—ever since he died and Regiph vanished."
Beneath her silkily narrowed eyes, pupils that had briefly gleamed red quickly reverted to obsidian black.
"This is troubling, really."
As Marchioness Ludbekia propped one hand against her cheek with a wry smile, black shadows began rippling across the fields toward the towering Great Wall.
"I have no idea what kind of monster it is, but there's no reason for a mass outbreak like this."
There had been no warning signs. No massive mana stone crashing from the sky for a nearby monster to devour and awaken as an A-rank. No ancient demon or S-rank beast unsealed from underground, driving the surrounding monsters into a frenzy of submission.
They had simply appeared, as if carried on a sudden gust of wind.
The site of the old northern Hapsderk County, once called the Monster Contamination Zone. The very place where the S-rank monster that forced her into mourning clothes had emerged.
With her husband definitively dead and her son missing from that exact spot, a massive monster wave erupting there left Marchioness Ludbekia no choice but to inspect the scene personally from the Great Wall.
"Back then, they cursed me out for building this thing, and now look—it's finally paying off. Hehe..."
The Great Wall itself had been constructed when she became marchioness, as the frontline against monsters.
After the S-rank beast vanished without warning, the monsters in the area scattered one by one. What was left were stragglers pushed out of territory disputes over time, barely clinging to life in that now nearly monster-free zone.
It had even been nominated as a 'training ground' by the academy, passing review to serve as a hunting site for cadet practical education—its danger level that low.
To prepare for any large monster or outbreak, they had built the Great Wall. And now, all that budget was finally shining.
Marchioness Ludbekia's wrist-mounted magitech panel lit up. With a familiar swipe, she activated it, waving lightly at the rectangular holographic screen that appeared before her.
"Hey there. Hi, sweetie?"
[You're not—]
"Out here as the marchioness, dear."
"Sweetie. No, Seya. Did you connect because you were worried about Mom? I'm touched~"
"It's fine, it's fine. Really fine."
Marchioness Ludbekia flashed a grin at the hologram, toward the wave of blackness blotting out the horizon.
"I've been waiting for a day like this."
A massive monster outbreak. It could stem from various causes, but in terms of the original Bread Academy game story, it was a kind of 'subjugation quest'.
"Defeat 20 tentacle frogs and the named tentacle frog!"
"Damn it!"
Back when I was training under Chang Yeom's orders from the demon realm.
"Why? These are all subjugation quests our dear 'Player' cleared!"
"Putting quest conditions for 20 B-rank monsters and one A-rank named boss, then spawning 300 C-rank spawns—what the hell!!"
I was hit with 'reality adjustment'.
Everything Chang Yeom created was illusions and fakes, but she tuned the in-game combat environment to fit this real Bread Academy world, spawning monster illusions accordingly.
"But this is reality, you know?"
For example, the A-rank named boss [Tentacle Frog] subjugation quest.
"In-game, it was 20 B-rank tentacle frog mobs, but the background combat area was swarming with hundreds, thousands of tadpoles!"
"That doesn't mean you have to implement them all!!"
I gained combat experience clearing these heavily reality-adjusted 'mass monster outbreak quests'.
"No choice but to AoE them down!"
No solid ground to step on. Every footfall squelched with a vivid burst, tiny mana stones inside their gooey innards grinding underfoot in a sensation too grotesque to describe.
And it didn't end there. If it had, I could've just stood still or burned a clearing.
But—
Gurgle-rurrr!
"Here comes the wave!"
"I don't need it!!"
As the adult tentacle frogs' chorus echoed, countless ones charged me across the ground.
Tadpoles with sprouted hind legs scampered like lizards with scarves; four-legged ones dragging tails sprayed fluids everywhere.
Hundreds of them. Each dog-sized, evoking an indescribable human revulsion.
"Hurry, or they'll 'regen'~"
"Don't say creepy shit!"
Chang Yeom teased from the side, like heroine or side character briefings in combat from the game.
"In-game infinite respawns meant duplicate EXP and mana stones—you loved it!"
"That was a game, this is reality!"
"Puhuhu."
Infinite respawn. In-game, mobs refilled per turn.
Now, it was real: eggsacs on their backs spawning life via mana. Enough to drive anyone mad.
"All magibeasts are ether-based life on mana stones~"
Chang Yeom chuckled leisurely beside me.
"They start as ether, absorbing terrestrial nutrients and materials to form proper biology."
Loath to get splashed with corpses or fluids, she hovered half in subspace like a duke of hell, chattering away.
"So, if you don't quickly take out the spawners and nameds..."
"As long as mana flows, the spawns multiply like a pyramid scheme!"
"Less pyramid scheme, more fractal growth. Puhuhu."
Pop, p-pop.
Tentacle frogs spewed eggs from their backs. Tiny mana stones gleamed in translucent sacs, absorbing ambient mana to morph into tissue, form, life.
"Come on, try it. Just mimic me!"
Chang Yeom giggled, forcing me.
"Nothing else. Close your eyes, strike this pose!"
She threw her head skyward, straightened rigidly.
"Praise the Sun!!"
⟨ Praise the Sun ⟩
Arms extended diagonally skyward like hailing the sun.
"What're you waiting for? Mimic me."
"......"
Standing still, tentacle frogs crawled up my shoes. Without them, I'd have glared at Chang Yeom forever.
"Hah, seriously. ...Do I really have to do this?"
"Obviously. Or should I yell Rat Thunder? But you're no squirrel, no lightning attribute."
"Ha."
Better to become something yelling Rat Thunder and blasting lightning. Concept might be tricky, but no way it'd spam AoE like this.
"No helping it."
I extended both arms skyward identically.
"...Praise the sun!"
Nothing happened.
"Hey, Master. What was that?"
"You need the exact incantation."
"Praise the Sun?"
"No. That."
"Ah."
I got it.
"Wait. That's..."
"Oh no, the tentacle frogs are mass-producing! Their backs are turning into hatcheries, spawning pools!"
"Sigh..."
Ahead, their backs were true spawning pools now, spewing endless frog eggs.
"If this were real, I'd be farming these hordes for mana stones, not wiping them."
Chang Yeom's mana-made virtual space. Clear skies, shining sun.
"Do ground-dwellers even know mana rains down with sunlight?"
"Less talk, more chanting."
"...Hah."
I reached toward the sun.
Blue Flame Array
Whoosh.
Blue flames erupted from me, engulfing the world.
An overwhelming AoE wipe spanning the entire battlefield.
The most effective counter to mass outbreaks—monster waves.
Fail to cull them fast, and they'd multiply endlessly by day.
"Meaning it's a prime chance to rake in mana stones."
"Hah."
"And the monsters that appeared..."
Yurha showed me a holographic image, pointing to the outbreak site.
"New species. Unidentified monsters."
"......"
That mix of black and mint reminded me of a certain pleb cat.