Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Raffaello's Charge
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"What... what the hell?!"
"Why is this appearing here?"
"What the heck is going on?"
As the Goddess Statue, which the human faction was supposed to protect, suddenly appeared at the fortress entrance, no one could hide their bewilderment.
In response, the Players revealed their own misconceptions among themselves.
"The battle's dragging on, so is this the system's way of telling us to wrap it up quick?"
Hae-jin had moved it using the 'Statue Relocation Scroll,' but the Players all thought the system had relocated the Goddess Statue to the fortress entrance to speed up the boring fight.
In reaction, the Players vented their frustrations.
"Goddamn it! So they want us to just die?!"
"Shit!"
"Ah! Screw it! Protect it for now!"
"Yeah, protect it! We've got more heroes now—we can hold!"
"Right!"
"Speaking of, where the hell is Park Hae-jin?! If that guy was here, we wouldn't be getting pushed like this!"
"I don't know, damn it!"
Faced with the reality of becoming the losing faction, their language turned foul, and they all started blaming Hae-jin one after another.
Naturally, the ones thrilled by their reactions were the Players on the orc faction side.
"What? No Massacre?"
"He was slaughtering us like crazy earlier—where'd he go?"
"No clue. Good for us if he's gone."
"Can't argue with that."
The human faction was so annoyed by Hae-jin's absence that they dropped the "Sir Hero" honorific and just called him by name.
On the other hand, the orc faction had been dying nonstop to Park Hae-jin from the start, so they never needed to call him "Sir Hero" in the first place—and now, with him gone, they were excited at the sight of victory for their side.
In any case.
With the Goddess Statue relocated to the fortress entrance, the thrilled orc faction Players kept targeting only the Goddess Statue that the humans had to protect.
Seeing this, the human faction Players shouted.
"Protect the Goddess Statueuuuh!"
"Hold it!"
"Damn it, where's Park Hae-jin!"
"Son of a bitch! I don't know—block themmmm!"
As the odds of becoming the losing faction grew higher, the human faction Players kept calling for Hae-jin without rest.
Of course, no one could spot Hae-jin.
He had solo-invaded the orc fortress and racked up plenty of points, so he no longer needed to join the fight.
Thus, he simply spectated from the sky.
Seeing those below continuously calling his name, Hae-jin thought.
'The weak get weeded out.'
The weak get weeded out.
In this Trials' Arena, if Players didn't choose a faction and let time decide randomly, the system balanced the Players' levels on both sides.
As a result, Hae-jin's faction was bound to be filled mostly with weak Players.
After all, Hae-jin had swallowed up most of the zone's combat power.
Without him, the human faction was getting pushed back.
At least, whenever either side was at a disadvantage, more hero NPCs were added to balance things out.
But even that balance was shattered when Hae-jin used the 'Statue Relocation Scroll' to move the Goddess Statue's position.
Having tipped the scales, Hae-jin simply watched.
Waiting for the war to end.
'Hmm, which one should I pick?'
Raffaello da Vinci pondered.
He was already dwelling on it because, in the previous Trials' Arena, he alone had failed to achieve the hidden trial.
Hae-jin had warned that without the 'Statue Relocation Scroll'—the hidden trial reward from the last one—completing the hidden trial this time would waste far too much time.
So Raffaello asked Hae-jin.
『Then, without that 'Statue Relocation Scroll,' should we just give up on the hidden trial?』
Hae-jin had said the 'Statue Relocation Scroll' was necessary to achieve the hidden trial in the sixth Trials' Arena, so it seemed essential.
Hae-jin replied.
『Just go to the enemy faction early on, wipe them out without dying. But unlike me, you and the other party members aren't that strong yet, so you have to take out the first hero before the second one appears.』
He warned that if the second hero showed up, it might be tough to handle alone depending on their class.
And if the third appeared, death was almost certain.
That was Hae-jin's guideline.
Which led to Raffaello's dilemma.
He wanted to achieve the hidden trial this time too.
After much thought, Raffaello made his decision.
'Wait.'
Raffaello waited for the others in the zone to pick factions.
But no one moved.
Seeing this, Raffaello thought.
'Ah, even though I failed the hidden trial last time, my high rank has them watching me?'
Though Raffaello hadn't achieved the hidden trial like the other party members, he had taken 1st in the current zone.
Naturally, the other Players had no choice but to watch which faction he picked.
In the end, with Raffaello not moving, the Players who hadn't chosen factions.
Soon, the screen displayed a message.
[Factions will be randomly assigned in 5 seconds.]
The Players buzzed at the screen's message.
"What?! Random?!"
"No way, random?!"
"Right?!"
"Where's Raffaello going?"
"He's not going anywhere?"
"So we pray to get the same faction as Raffaello?"
"Random, so yeah?"
"Ah, damn it! Please, same as Raffaello!"
"Me too!"
Hearing they would be randomly assigned, everyone hoped to be with Raffaello.
Listening to them, Raffaello thought to himself.
'If you're in my faction, you won't survive...'
Raffaello had decided.
To achieve the hidden trial in this Trials' Arena.
Hae-jin had already told him how, so he just had to follow through.
No sooner had Raffaello thought that than his view shifted.
With the shift, he could see which faction he'd been assigned to.
'Red roofs, wooden palisade buildings.'
Hae-jin had already described the factions to some extent.
So even before this faction's soldiers appeared, Raffaello knew.
Which one it was.
"Orc faction, huh?"
Raffaello muttered upon seeing his randomly assigned faction.
Soon after, orc soldiers began to appear.
"Kuruk, time to hunt humans."
"Kurung, you got it!"
Orcs heading to attack the human faction.
Amid them, a hero orc appeared.
"Kurung, follow me, orcs!"
The hero orc Ork rallied them with a call to follow.
His shout boosted everyone's morale.
"Kuruk!"
"Kuruk, for the glory of the Orc God!"
The human faction protected the Goddess Statue, but the orc faction had to protect their Orc God Statue.
As the orcs moved toward the human faction, Raffaello recalled Hae-jin's words.
'He said I have to rush ahead, take out the first hero before the second shows, and sweep the regular human soldiers and Players?'
He didn't know exactly how strong the hero was, but the latter shouldn't be too hard.
That was his impression.
Since the last Trials' Arena, Raffaello had completely transformed by the time this one arrived.
Hae-jin had given him everything he'd obtained from the Tower of Job Change.
Items helpful for the scholar's path Raffaello needed to walk.
And to meet Hae-jin's expectations before this Trials' Arena began, Raffaello had trained relentlessly.
As a result, aside from Hae-jin, he had grown the strongest—even acknowledged by all party members.
How?
He could wield martial techniques and crafting with books and hammers, plus magic and alchemy, all at once.
Of course, there was still room to grow, but with his diverse skills, Raffaello could torment enemies using them all.
First, seeing the orcs heading to the human faction, Raffaello quickly opened his inventory.
Scanning it, he selected a few items.
'Pre-battle, so skip strength, intellect, health potions—pull agility and swiftness ones first.'
Thinking that, Raffaello took out every potion that could maximize his speed.
That wasn't all.
'Swap to gear with "Swift" prefixes too.'
Prefixes.
Sometimes gear had an extra name upfront, granting options or skills related to that prefix.
Raffaello had focused on gear crafting, pulling out every piece he'd made with a "Swift" prefix.
Why?
To reach the human faction first—before the orc faction Players and orcs—and rack up points by dropping enemies.
Maximizing his speed, Raffaello dashed forward.
Toward the human faction.
"Damn, can we win without Raffaello?"
Someone searching for Raffaello.
A Player from the same zone as him.
Also in the human faction for this Trials' Arena.
Most human faction Players were in despair.
They had no choice.
Raffaello, the zone's overwhelming 1st place.
He hadn't shown himself in the human faction at all.
No matter where they looked, he was nowhere.
'He's in the orc faction.'
Thus, the zone's Players had no choice but to despair.
They thought survival in this Trials' Arena meant being in Raffaello's faction.
But it wasn't all negative just because Raffaello wasn't there.
One human faction Player spoke up.
"Well, let's give it a shot. 2nd and 3rd are both in our faction, right?"
"Yeah! With 2nd and 3rd here, we might actually hold!"
That was when.
"It's tough..."
A man muttered quietly.
The man's name was Bade.
He was the 2nd place in Raffaello's current zone.
The other Players thought that even with 1st-place Raffaello in the enemy faction, they could win with 2nd-place Bade and 3rd.
But as the one right after 1st-place Raffaello, Bade knew better.
'Beat Raffaello? Even with 3rd and me, it's tough...'
He figured even combining forces with 3rd wouldn't make facing Raffaello easy.
Still, one possibility came to mind.
'If the rest join us too, maybe...'
Bade thought that while he and 3rd alone couldn't take Raffaello, with everyone else pitching in, it might be doable.
That was when.
"Hm?"
Bade saw it.
A single figure rushing toward them swiftly.
Soon, he recognized who it was.
The one charging into the human faction.
"...Raffaello?"
Bade couldn't comprehend.
Raffaello was charging in alone, as if ready to face them all by himself.
'The vanguard?'
Maybe, as 1st place, he'd taken point.
But no one followed behind Raffaello.
'...He came alone?'