I'll Raise This Team That Far
1.
The battlefield Gae-mangchi's team had chosen was none other than the Crystal Mining Area.
It was an escort-style map, and the objective was simple. Move the massive drill to each mining zone, extract the crystals, then return them to base.
You had to mine as many crystals as possible within the time limit. The moment either side's payload hit 100%, the round ended on the spot. If both teams reached 100%, whichever side had more time remaining took the win.
"Which mining zone are you going to pick?"
Aura asked from beside me after selecting her hero. She had, of course, locked in Phantom yet again. The woman was a genuine Phantom addict.
Phantom addict… that sounds kind of dirty…
I tapped the mining coordinate selector floating in front of me. Three zones bloomed into view.
A: Outer Mining Area — Deposit 20%
Lowest difficulty. Farthest from the enemy base with the shortest return route. Less crystal meant shorter mining time.
B: Central Mining Area — Deposit 40%
Middle-of-the-road difficulty. Distance from both spawns and the return path were roughly even and fair.
C: Deep Mining Area — Deposit 100%
Hardest zone. Close to the enemy base with a long return path. Underground layout made sightlines awful, and the narrow corridors were a death trap for ambushes.
"O-of course I'm…!"
I moved my finger and selected Zone A.
"The Outer Mining Area…."
This was our first scrim since the role swap. No reason to go gambling for no reason.
We don't need to hit 100%.
The real core of Crystal Mining Area wasn't filling the bar to 100%. It was securing more crystals than the other side. If you could lock in just 20% and completely wall the enemy off, that was still a win.
"Zone A? That's a surprise. The way you were trash-talking them, I figured you'd go for C."
Heukrangi had drifted over without me noticing, looking genuinely puzzled.
"W-what we need right now is a win…."
I answered like that, then swapped my hero.
Our other support, Momoru, locked in Jamal — the music-based hero who healed and buffed allies. An easy hero, that one.
The one I picked was Grace.
A sniper support. Hit an enemy and you dealt damage; hit an ally and you healed them. Unique kit. Highest difficulty among the supports by a mile, but if you actually had the hands, you could single-handedly flip an entire fight.
The poster child of anti-carry, I guess.
"Grace? You're seriously playing that?"
"Yes. I can see the whole battlefield from the back line, and she's versatile…."
"That's true, but you know if you can't hit your sniper shots your healing is straight-up zero, right?"
"D-do you think I picked her without knowing that…? I kept thinking it over and decided this one had the highest win rate…!"
"Whatever. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"…You say that after listing every single problem."
I grumbled and took my place in front of the base exit. Through the translucent glass, crystals glittered faintly in the distance.
"Huu…."
I drew a deep breath, packing air into every corner of my lungs. A sharp tightness squeezed around my ribs, and my hazy focus slowly sharpened into something crystal clear.
Nothing happened when we first left base. Of course not. The enemy team had only just started moving too. But the moment we reached the fork that split into A, B, and C, enemy silhouettes began appearing one after another beyond the cave mouth.
"Enemy spotted!"
Heukrangi's shout.
"Confirmed."
I answered in a low voice and spoke the word inside my head.
Activate.
A clear ding rang through my skull.
The hand on my mouse rose. The crosshair slid smoothly along the enemy's body.
Bang—
A round from my bio-rifle punched into an enemy torso and announced the start of the fight.
"Harumong, stick next to me and just hammer their energy barriers. Keep the pressure on HP and shields constant."
Once I had every enemy position locked, I started calling orders without a second of delay.
"A-alright!"
Harumong answered in a trembling voice.
"Aura and Momoru, rock them front to back and break their formation. Keep the pressure up until I mark someone. When I mark, that's the only target you hit."
I couldn't micromanage every little detail. I didn't have the mechanical skill for it, and I didn't feel the need either.
"Got it."
Aura replied.
"What about me?"
Heukrangi threw out the question.
"You only watch the tank in front of you. Do not lose him from your sight for even a second. Assume every incoming shot is yours to eat and play aggressive. That makes life easier for everyone else."
"Okay."
"I'll dump all the heals on you. If you think you're about to die, hug a wall and peel out. Just don't die."
Bang—!
Exactly as expected, Gae-mangchi's team poured everything onto Heukrangi. She tried to hold with her scrap-iron armor, but there was no way one tank could tank the full output of five people.
The second her health dipped into the danger zone I yanked out a bio-grenade and lobbed it.
Boom—!
The grenade detonated against her and her health skyrocketed. At the same time a healing-amp buff landed.
Bang—!
I swung the barrel around and poured heals into her without pause.
Heukrangi danced left, right, up, and down, dodging everything they threw. That made landing heals a nightmare, but not a single one of my bullets missed.
Her health scraped the floor and climbed back up, over and over.
Aura and Momoru are…
I lifted my view a fraction and caught the two of them carving into the enemy backline.
At the edge of my sight sat the enemy support, glued to the tank and pumping heals. So focused on keeping the front alive that she had zero awareness of what was happening behind her.
Chisshk—!
I whipped out the paralysis pistol and squeezed the trigger. The stun round slipped between the energy barrier and the enemy cluster and buried itself cleanly in the support's body.
‘Kurkuru (Gae-mangchi)’ has been paralyzed!
"Kurkuru—!!!"
"Confirmed—!"
The second I dropped the ping, Aura and Momoru crashed in together. The enemy spun around too late.
Bang—!
Darkness erupted from the shotgun and punched straight through Kurkuru's skull.
‘Phantom (Aura)’ has eliminated ‘Kurkuru (Gae-mangchi)’.
One support. Three people who needed heals. There was no way she could carry that alone.
Bang—!
"Push! Sandwich them!"
I kept the pressure on their front line. Caught between us, the enemies flailed, and one by one they dropped.
"Waaaaaah—!"
"W-we won!"
"That stun pistol was actually insane!"
Excited voices flooded through the headset. I forced the corners of my mouth back down and kept my tone cold.
"We haven't won yet, so focus. You can celebrate after the actual victory. It's not like it'll be too late."
"Oooh~"
"That was actually cool~"
I felt my face go scarlet.
The fork in the Crystal Mining Area.
We had selected A from base, but you could still swap mining zones one more time right here.
Looking at the movement the team just showed…
The switch lever locked onto Zone A. I yanked it hard.
Clank-clank, clunk—!
The rails shifted and the drill slid onto a new track. Its destination was none other than Zone B.
"You're changing the mining zone?"
"Yeah. After sizing them up, B looks completely doable. And if we keep tightening the coordination and just get a little better…."
"If we get better?"
"Deep might… be possible too?"
"I'd really love for that day to come. Honestly."
Aura murmured it low, expectation coloring her voice.
"It will."
I lifted the corner of my mouth.
"I'll raise this team that far myself."
People were losing their minds over my calls and my aim, but there was still one thing they didn't know.
I still had one more card I hadn't played.
Activate.
A clear ding—— rang through my skull. And things that had been invisible started to appear.
Time to become a real commander.