Just Listen to Me (2)

Damp air clung to my skin, and the hall around me was a cluttered mess.

I knew this map.

Underground Prison, 131st Floor.

Among team matches, it was one of the maps that turned up in the Dungeon category. A so-called vicious map.

"Ah, come on—of all places, why here on the very first match!"

A Warrior who had entered ahead of me groaned and heaved a heavy sigh.

There was only one reason for a reaction like that.

The Underground Prison wasn't merely difficult. It was filthy beyond belief. Not in the sense of being packed with grime and stench.

Every kind of trap, savage monsters, and on top of that, snares that never stop deceiving the people who challenge them.

Every absurdity in the world had been gathered into this one place. That was why, when most players drew the Underground Prison, they didn't aim to clear it. They aimed to push as far as they could.

Even so, something here was off.

Didn't the Underground Prison only start appearing from Level 20 at the earliest?

It wasn't supposed to show up until Level 20 at least. Enter before that and you couldn't even clear ten percent of it, so the map was designed to appear only once a player had the experience, skill, and stats to make the attempt worth trying—from Level 20 onward. And yet...

Don't tell me Channel arbitrarily recalibrated my matchmaking.

It had only been two normal matches, but I'd won both by an overwhelming margin. If Channel had readjusted my level because of that, it wouldn't be hard to understand. The catch was that, until now, there hadn't been a single case of it happening.

"Ah, whatever."

Thinking about it any further didn't suit my temperament. I'd already turned back time and regressed. What did a trivial thing like this matter?

"Hello, everyone!"

While I was still sorting out my thoughts, some curly-haired guy came over with a bright, cheerful smile.

It was a team match, so sharing information was standard procedure. You could get a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rough idea from one another's gear, but multi-positions and certain classes couldn't be judged by looks alone, which made a proper introduction more or less essential.

"First, let me introduce myself. My position is Assassin—a multi-position of Warrior and Archer! I'm Level 24, and my class is Dagger Rogue."

He was a striking one, with bangs long enough to hide his eyes completely.

"W-wait a second... no way!"

The moment he finished, the eyes of a woman who looked like a Mage went wide as saucers.

"Are you Taeya, by any chance?"

"Ah, yes. That's me."

"Wow! I'm a huge fan! I watch your streams all the time!"

"Haha, now this is embarrassing. Thanks!"

Streams?

Oh, right. That was a thing too.

People who streamed their Channel play. The man she'd called Taeya seemed to be one of them. No wonder he stood out—his looks and his whole atmosphere were a cut above the rest.

"So you're streaming right now? Having my face ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out there sits real wrong with me..."

The Warrior narrowed his eyes, plainly displeased, and Taeya answered at once.

"Don't worry! The streaming system has an automatic mosaic, so everyone except me can hide their face and name in the settings. Personal information matters more than ever these days—of course I'd be careful about that~."

"That so? Well, then..."

The man scratched his cheek and started his own introduction.

"My position's Warrior. Class is Normal Sword User, Level 23."

The Mage and the Supporter spoke up in turn.

"I'm a Mage, and my class is Novice Mage. I'm Level 22."

"Supporter... Believer class. Level 21."

Once everyone had introduced themselves, their attention naturally swung to me.

"Hm."

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to just be honest. Better than lying for no reason.

"I'm a Warrior. I don't have a class yet, and I'm Level 6."

"...?"

"What?"

Every pair of eyes changed in the exact same instant. Half disbelief, half disgust—that was the only way to describe those faces.

"Hey. Even if this is a normal match, that kind of joke is a bit much."

"Please just tell us. We need to sketch out a strategy, even a rough one."

They clearly thought I was joking. Seeing once beats hearing a hundred times.

"I'm telling you, it's real."

I opened my status window and revealed only the section ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠listing my level and class to the others.

"W-what... it's real?"

"How did a Level 6 end up in the Underground Prison?"

"How should I know."

The almighty Channel matching system had simply thrown me in here.

"Damn it. Channel can glitch too?"

"The first match is already a mess. The Underground Prison is annoying enough, and now there's a bug matching us with a Level 6..."

The Warrior and the Mage didn't bother hiding their irritation. I couldn't say I didn't understand. In Channel, if you consistently posted bottom-tier results or contributed far too little, penalties followed—level drops, stat drops, and the like. Matched with someone as low-level as me, they must have assumed that clearing was out of the question. They wouldn't even be able to play properly.

"At least we have Taeya-nim, so maybe there's still some hope."

"Is he really that good?"

"Of course! He hit thirty thousand followers in no time, there's even talk of Eclipse scouting him, and also—"

The Mage, who was clearly a fan of Taeya, launched into a whole speech.

"Hahaha! I'm really not that amazing, honestly."

He said that, but the way the corner of his mouth twitched, as if every word pleased him, was a sight to behold.

"Then will Taeya-nim be taking the leader role this match?"

"I'm for it too. He's the highest level."

Now they were even deciding the team's leader among themselves. I could still put up with that much.

The next moment—

"Um, the Level 6... I'm sorry, but please stay hidden at the very back so you don't get in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way. We'll handle it ourselves."

Right up until they announced they'd slurp up my experience while they were at it.

"Bullshiiit."

My mouth moved first.

"...Excuse me?"

The Mage frowned as if she doubted her own ears.

"What did you just—"

"I said bullshit. Bullshit. Even if this is a normal match, unilaterally appointing a leader in a team match and informing someone to stick themselves in the back—if that isn't bullshit, then what is it?"

"How can you talk like that?! I was just being reasonable—!"

"Let's be blunt. It isn't that Channel glitched and placed me here. Isn't it more likely this happened because my level and yours are about the same?"

There had never been a single case of Channel's system causing a bug or an error. This wasn't a game to begin with. It was reality.

"Y-you're saying we're on the same level as you? A Level 6...?!"

The Warrior's face twisted.

"Channel matches people of similar skill. Let's say it isn't that your level is low. It's that mine is high."

"You little shit!"

He closed in on me, stride by stride, thoroughly worked up. Between us, the curly-haired streamer slipped in to mediate.

"Aigoo, both of you, please calm down."

"Do I look like I'm in any mood to calm down?! A mere Level 6...!"

After soothing and placating the Warrior, who was practically spitting fury, he sidled over to me and spoke in a lower voice.

"Um, uh..."

"Jaeha. Shin Jaeha."

"Ah! So you're Jaeha Hyung-nim."

He'd looked like he was fishing for my name, so I gave it to him, and he slipped into calling me hyung-nim as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I completely understand why you'd be upset, Jaeha Hyung-nim, but the mage wasn't entirely wrong, you know~."

Taeya smiled, playful as ever. Objectively, I couldn't call it a baseless claim. A higher-level player really did tend to have more stats and more experience than a lower-level one. Completely excluding me from this dungeon clear could be called a reasonably rational choice. Even so, arbitrarily sizing up a teammate and carrying on the discussion among themselves was a clear breach of manners. Depending on the case, it could even be classified as Teaming—forming a clique on your own to ostracize another player, or turn on them.

If I were trolling or refusing to cooperate, that would be one thing.

All I had was a somewhat low level. I hadn't done a single unreasonable thing. Being written out of the lineup on a whim and told to sit in the back and get carried was deeply unpleasant.

"I want to clear this Underground Prison. To do that, we need all five of us."

I said it while looking at every one of them.

"I'd like to take the leader role."

"Y-you? As leader...?!"

"A Level 6 leader? Ha! A dog passing by would laugh."

I knew it would sound like nonsense. If it were me, and some guy far below the average level suddenly volunteered to lead, I'd object first too. But I knew this place. Everything about this Underground Prison—hard, dirty, and vicious. I'd cleared it more than a few times on my way up to Challenger.

"I may not look it, but I'm fairly capable. If I become the leader, I'll take responsibility and clear the dungeon for you."

On top of that, becoming the leader in a team match and actually leading the team counted as a contribution, and extra experience and rewards were calculated on top.

"Jaeha Hyung-nim. That might be a bit..."

Taeya tried to talk me down. So I played my trump card.

"Then let's do it this way. You all said you wanted Taeya to be the leader, didn't you?"

"Of course."

"We've been saying that this whole time!"

I turned and looked at the entrance leading into the next room. This dungeon was simple in structure: fight through the monsters and traps in each room until you finally reached the boss.

"Taeya leads the next five rooms. After that, I lead the five that follow."

The way for a Level 6 to become leader was simple. Prove you were qualified.

"After we clear ten rooms in total, you choose the better leader yourselves. Clear time, the efficiency of the tactics, safety... judge however you like. Please pick whichever leader is better overall."

"Why should we do that?"

"If I'm not chosen."

I withdrew my credits.

Every last bit of the fortune I had.

"I'll give this to all of you. And I'll apologize to you properly."

Clink!

The moment they saw the heavy pouch of coins, the team flinched as one. More than ten thousand credits was by no means a small sum.

"In exchange, if you acknowledge me as leader, I'll take all the equipment that drops after we clear the boss."

"A b-boss clear...?"

"What do you say?"

None of them could easily get a word out. They only swallowed, again and again—until Taeya suddenly burst out laughing and clapped his hands.

"Khahaha! Puhahaha!"

"Well, well~! Our Jaeha Hyung-nim knows how to put on a show! This is next-level content!"

He nodded so hard it looked like he was genuinely delighted.

"I'm in favor. Strongly in favor!"

The person who might have had the most reason to be offended had agreed, and the other three began glancing around, taking the temperature of the room.

"If Taeya-nim is fine with it... all right."

"It's a chance to get credits for free. I'd be an idiot to pass that up. I'm in too."

"...Fine."

And so the contest for the leader's seat was settled.

"I trust you already know this, but a leader's words must be respected. And you have to give the clear everything you've got."

"I know. If someone deliberately gets in the way, they're the one who eats the penalty."

There was almost no chance they'd ignore me just to make Taeya the leader. Not unless they meant to sabotage the clear while swallowing the penalty outright.

"Then let's both give it our best, Hyung-nim!"

"Sounds good."

Taeya grinned and held out his hand. I took it slowly and smiled back.

Ten rooms from now—

"Let's give it everything we've got."

Because the one leading this team would be me.