So Easy It's Hollow (5)

Crack!

The longer Shin Jaeha swung his hammer, the more the eyes of the Mage and the Archer behind him changed.

When he had first declared he would hold monsters of that size by himself, they had only half believed him. Bearing a Bronze-tier defense alone was something you could barely even discuss unless you were a Silver-rank Warrior. A fellow player from the same placement test managing it? They had been sure it was impossible, and they had gone along with the strategy already resigned, tears swallowed, to throwing the match away.

He's holding out better than I expected...?

No—this isn't just holding out!

He was truly stopping the monster wave alone, with no help from anyone. He had even wiped the first wave to the last. A defense only grew harsher the further it went, and the opening wave was the mild one by comparison—but a Warrior annihilating, single-handed, a wave built for five still blew past common sense by a country mile.

"Whoa..."

The two of them had gone blank, lost in Shin Jaeha's play.

"Collect yourselves!"

Cho Ikdeok slammed his crescent halberd down and snapped their focus back into place.

"Our elder brother is buying us time! We must make haste!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"We know!"

The Mage gathered a spell, and the Archer drew his bow. What they struck was not the monsters in front of them.

Boom! Crash!

The cliffs on either side. Just as Shin Jaeha had ordered, they poured everything into the rock rather than the monsters. Bursting mana and arrows that never stopped burying themselves left the strata unsteady.

"...Hmm."

Meanwhile Snake Eyes, seated in the rear and watching every bit of it, let the corner of his mouth crawl upward.

I wondered what grand strategy he'd trot out.

It was even less than he had expected. Holding the wave alone was impressive, sure—but everyone else was busy with complete nonsense.

So hopeless they're trying something, anything? Or else... aha! He's zeroing out the others' contribution and pocketing the score for himself?

Heh heh heh. He laughed, low and foul.

In truth, Snake Eyes was a player who had made quite a name for himself in this rank bracket as a vicious Troll-Poor. He had once dreamed of going pro, then quit after the talented ground him down—and afterward he nursed a snake's heart and made a career of maliciously sabotaging gifted players. That was why he had watched Taeya's stream and come to snipe it: to hinder, even a little, the rising of a new star called Shin Jaeha. Failing that, it would not be so bad to watch a future star offer up Credits and bow his head in groveling humility.

Luck had dropped him into the same match. They had chosen to clear it without him.

"Cocky talent, I'll give you that... too bad you'll be starting in Stones, or the very bottom of Iron. Keh heh!"

Thrash all he liked—with Snake Eyes in the game, he would never write a legend like Nam Siwoo's. The thought was so delicious he could have gone mad with it.

"Hoo...!"

In truth, Shin Jaeha was tiring, little by little. He had already stopped the third wave alone, not a single monster slipping past.

The next wave started at once. Twice as many monsters as the third.

Shin Jaeha clicked his tongue at the horde pouring in.

From this wave on, I can't stop all of them alone.

If he had at least had a class, it might have been possible. As it stood, he had all of two skills. A fourth wave that a five-man Bronze team had to spend everything to hold—shouldering that entirely by himself would be arrogance. So from this wave forward, the positions changed.

"Kahaha! At last this humble one's turn has come!"

Cho Ikdeok stepped into the gravity zone as if he had been waiting for it. His role this wave was, once again, Supporter—and a dedicated one, responsible for Shin Jaeha alone. A rather late entrance for someone meant to assist the main damage dealer.

Why throw that warlord getup in now?

The answer came from the skill Cho Ikdeok carried.

"Hwooooooop!"

He roared and triggered it.

In an instant the passage through the gorge became a great bridge.

Battle Cry was, at its root, a Supporter skill that laid an attack buff over nearby allies. Cho Ikdeok had forged a new derived skill that poured the whole of it into a single person.

"Brother Jaeha! Go forth!"

"Thanks!"

Strength flooded back into the arms and legs that had been failing him. A savage red momentum bled into the violet gravity, and the whole of it grew fiercer still.

A new entry had appeared on the buff window: Match for Ten Thousand. Its effect was simple. In proportion to the number of enemies he faced—

Crash!

—his stats surged.

The shape of a valiant general overlapped Shin Jaeha's body.

"None of you are crossing this bridge today!"

Momentum restored, Shin Jaeha brought the hammer down.

KRA-KOOM!

The air detonated. The bridge heaved. Monsters broke apart and flew. A dizzy omnipotence ruled his whole body. He drove mana and flesh without rest and slaughtered the incoming tide one-sidedly.

Far from collapsing on the fourth wave, Shin Jaeha took to the air again, and the chat reeled and roared.

The skill climbed a rank at precisely the right moment, and the gravity zone pressed down heavier than before.

Strengthened gravity, and a new ability besides. From here on he could tune the range and intensity of that gravity with far greater ease.

"Nice timing!"

What had been only a field had grown into a barrier, and the gravity zone closed in on itself all the tighter. And for Shin Jaeha, the Ruler of Gravity, this place was—

"Yahoo!"

—nothing short of the finest battlefield there was. With Match for Ten Thousand and the evolved skill under his feet, he brought the fourth wave to a clean end. By any ordinary measure it should have been impossible.

"Cleanup's done!"

Shin Jaeha had made it possible anyway.

"Hrgh! Finely fought, Brother!"

"I told you to stop calling me brother."

They had pulled off the feat of holding through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fourth wave, but optimism was still premature. The fifth wave was coming—the last, and the worst of the legions.

The final wave brings a boss monster with it.

Even if Snake Eyes suddenly saw the light and joined in, this team's level could never stop it.

"Let's fall back. Before the last wave hits."

"Understood!"

He released the barrier at once and they returned toward the Statue of the Goddess of Hope. By now a fair amount of damage ought to have piled up on the cliffs. After that, the clear should come easily. At least, that was what he thought.

"You've returned, Brother Jaeha?"

Until he saw the scene.

"Urgh... ngh..."

"Agh..."

The Mage and the Archer lay face-down on the ground, wounded.

"R... run...!"

The Mage, his glasses shattered, reached out and forced the words through.

"The moment the fourth wave started, he just attacked...!"

Before he could finish, Snake Eyes ground a foot into the Mage's head, crunch by crunch.

"Well, well~ I really didn't think you'd hold through a fourth wave. I was genuinely moved."

"You—don't tell me...!"

"I got to thinking, at this rate you might actually clear it. I talked all that trash up front, and if you really clear the thing without me..."

Snake Eyes bulged his eyes and crumpled his face.

"I'd look like a fucking idiot."

So he had attacked the Mage and the Archer. Whatever scheme they were cooking, if those two went down, Shin Jaeha's plan would come to nothing.

"I went easy on them. See? If you'd just handed me the Credits, none of this would've happened."

"......"

"Say something, come on~ Right now I'll let it slide for ten thousand Credits and you on your knees begging."

Shin Jaeha dropped his head. His shoulders shook.

A genius Warrior who had stopped four waves alone, seething and despairing because of him! A thrill of pleasure shivered through the backs of Snake Eyes' knees.

"B-Brother..."

Even Cho Ikdeok faltered, and was just about to pat his back—

"Heh heh heh..."

Laughter brushed their ears out of nowhere. Thinking he had misheard, he listened harder.

"Hahahahaha! Kyahahahaha!"

Shin Jaeha threw both arms wide and burst into mad, booming laughter.

"You know how it works, right? In a team match, attacking an ally on purpose drops a nasty penalty. But do you know the one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moment that clause makes an exception?"

That moment was this.

"When you hit the bastard who hit the team first!"

Snake Eyes had attacked the Archer and the Mage on purpose, to ruin the game. In a word, he had become an Outlaw. People liked to picture an Outlaw as some romantic wanderer living beyond the law. The reality was simpler.

Kill this bastard and the law won't touch you, so have at it.

And Shin Jaeha had been waiting for exactly this. The moment that Snake Eyes became an Outlaw.

Clack!

The instant he took up the hammer, Snake Eyes raised his fists and unfolded his mana.

"You want to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fight? I'm a higher level, and I've even got a class. You're exhausted on top of it. There's no way you can beat me...!"

"Man, you do love the sound of your own voice."

He took a single step forward, and in the same breath—

"Annoying."

Violet light unfolded into a barrier.

This time he did not spread it wide. He drew it viciously tight—tight enough for exactly two people. The gravity inside, as a result—

"Grrrrk?! Aaaaagh!"

—became more than enough to crush a low-Bronze player flat. Snake Eyes, suddenly locked in a passionate kiss with the floor, screamed.

"W-what is this...! I can't... move...!"

"What'd you set your sensory sync to?"

Inside the gravity barrier he rested the hammer lightly on his shoulder and walked over to where Snake Eyes was pinned.

"I'm really hoping it's under forty. Otherwise you're gonna be feeling this for a while."

"S-spare me!"

He lifted the hammer high in one hand.

"One!"

BOOM!

He brought it down with everything he had.

"Two!"

And again.

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

Boom! Crash! Crack! Boom!

Five swings of the hammer were all it took. Snake Eyes was eliminated and banished from the Channel.

"Hoo. That hit the spot."

Shin Jaeha swept his bangs back and smiled, thoroughly refreshed.

"Magnificent, Brother! Punishing injustice with your own hands—you were the very image of General Guan Yu from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms!"

"Heh... come on, not quite that..."

Caught off guard by the praise, he scratched his head, awkward.

"But what are we to do now? There seems far too little time to press on with the stratagem..."

As he said, Snake Eyes had trolled in earnest, and the plan had snagged. The one mercy was that the damage stacked on the cliffs was not yet hopeless.

Rumble...

Dirt kept spilling, and a thin crack had opened. A little more provocation and it ought to go—but the ranged damage, the Archer and the Mage, was hurt too badly to give it. There was no time to wait on Accelerated Recovery, and their Supporter was built for buffs, not healing.

Go in and strike it myself, and I'll get swept up for sure.

Get caught in that, and you died. No exceptions. Death in the Channel was defeat. Even in a team match, die and you were recorded as a loss no matter how the team finished afterward.

"This humble Cho Ikdeok! Should Brother command it, I would lay down even my life...!"

"Don't talk nonsense. I'm not throwing anyone away."

No help for it. Plan B.

The last wave had begun. A massive High Orc in steel plate led a monster legion at least five times larger than before.

"Chiiiiik!"

Whatever it was saying, it sounded roughly like vengeance for our fallen kin!

A higher specimen of the High Orc. The High Orc General.

Strong enough to be classed as a boss, but that was fine. If this gamble landed, he could finish it in a single blow. Shin Jaeha walked forward and drew out an item.

An item he had earned by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clearing Astria's quest. All he needed here was to draw an attack spell—preferably one heavy enough to provoke a cliff that was already nearly ready.

"Chiiiiik!"

"Kerarararara!"

"Eehee~!"

The monsters poured through the narrow mouth and reached the foot of the cliff.

Rip!

Shin Jaeha tore the scroll. Whether the spell he wanted came out was pure luck. He was not especially fond of fights that leaned on odds like these.

"This time, though, I've got something to believe in."

One slot on the buff bar. A buff everyone had been sure would help no one.

Fzzzzzt!

Mana spilled from the torn scroll and swiftly took the shape of a magic circle. What it made was this.

A sphere of flame, respectable in size. Among lesser magics, one of the higher tier.

Fwoom!

The fireball flew to the point Shin Jaeha had marked and struck home. A great explosion, and the cracks in the cliff yawned wider.

"Chiik?"

The High Orc General sensed something wrong and looked up. By then it was already too late.

A cliff that had already started to fall could not be stopped.

RRRRUMBLE!

"Chiik?! Chik!"

A landslide of stone and boulder crashed down over the panicking legion. A wave made of rock. A cloudburst of stones. A storm born of falling rock.

"Keeeek!"

"Kiririk!"

Rumble, crash, roar!

A moment later, the cliff was gone without a trace. What remained was a mountain of rubble, and beneath it the monsters—or what had been monsters.

A perfect clear, certified by the system. Cho Ikdeok, who had watched the whole of it from behind, gaped until his mouth was more than five times its usual size.

"Hah..."

Shin Jaeha let out an empty laugh of his own. He had seen it more than once, and he still could not get used to the sight—that staunch monster legion annihilated all at once.

The second placement match was over. With a record never seen before, of course. Which was another way of saying the chat had already begun to boil over as if a riot had broken out. The unnamed powers watching this broadcast were no different.