Chapter 36: That Suspension Bridge Effect Is No Joke
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: That Suspension Bridge Effect Is No Joke
"Sancho! Behold that vast field! It seeks to deceive us with its plausible guise!"
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're on about, milord."
"Canst thou not see the swamp monster camouflaging itself to trick us? Thou hast a long way to go before thou art fit to be a knight!"
"Oh, heavens! How could a lowly man like me ever hope to fathom your noble intentions, milord!"
Don Quixote was exaggerating reality, and everything he laid eyes upon was manifesting accordingly.
There were a few conditions for him to turn objects into monsters.
"Magician Pleton, thou rogue! Where art thou hiding? Reveal thyself at once!"
"You scoundrel! Is this Pleton’s doing again?! If I catch so much as a glimpse of him, I’ll give him a proper thrashing, milord!"
The first condition was that Don Quixote had to perceive the object with his own eyes.
Even if he rambled about things he hadn't seen yet or things he planned to see, they wouldn't turn into monsters. In fact, Don Quixote often prattled on about dragons guarding princesses and such, but nothing happened unless they were right in front of him.
"Milord, it seems the youngsters dislike us... occasionally, their attacks fly our way as well..."
"Haha! Sancho! Have no doubt. Even if they truly are wicked monsters, they could never hope to catch up to this Rocinante!"
"As expected, Rocinante is the finest steed in the world, milord!"
The second condition was that Don Quixote could only transform objects that were originally part of the Gate.
I could tell because our forms didn't change even when he looked straight at us and called us villains or monsters.
"By now, those windmills should have merged to become a giant dragon... It seems Pleton’s skills haven't progressed that far yet!"
"That stupid magician! Why don't you stop hiding and show yourself before my lord!"
The final condition was that an object could not transform into a monster that exceeded its original physical limitations.
The windmills moved while maintaining their shape, and the sheep didn't suddenly balloon in size to become bears. The shepherd had become a warlock, but he didn't cast mass curses or rain down meteors like something out of a high-fantasy novel.
"Dammit, why is he so fast?! Melanie! Snipe Rocinante’s hind legs!"
"Sancho is the problem. He’s parrying every single shot."
As soon as the clear conditions were revealed, everyone had lunged for Don Quixote.
However, Sancho had sent everyone flying with incredible, swift movements.
"Coercion isn't working properly either. It’s likely because of Don Quixote."
It wasn't that we hadn't tried to deal with Sancho first.
In fact, we had beaten him to within an inch of his life before. But every time we did, Don Quixote would praise Sancho’s courage and spirit, and Sancho would grow even stronger.
We tried to take down Rocinante first to slow their mobility, but Sancho was perfectly blocking those attempts as well.
‘Their synergy is broken.’
Rocinante had long since shed the appearance of a scrawny pony and transformed into a warhorse fit for a supreme commander.
If we tried to catch Don Quixote, the distance widened in an instant, making it impossible. If we tried to catch Rocinante, Sancho blocked us. Even if we took down Sancho, Don Quixote would just revive him in a stronger form, so we couldn't resolve the situation sequentially.
"There's no end to them, no matter how many we kill. We've already smashed twenty windmills, and there's still half of them left."
"It looks like we have no choice but to go with the frontal assault we discussed earlier, Instructor."
"Ugh..."
This conversation had come up after we'd taken down about ten windmills and ferocious sheep.
At the time, the consensus was that blocking Don Quixote head-on would be too disadvantageous. We thought it would be more beneficial to thin out the monsters and aim for a surprise attack from the rear.
It was a strategy meant to minimize damage, but now that it had turned into a war of attrition, it was meaningless. We had to end this before the advantage of being a small elite force vanished.
Kim Seok-gu and Lee Min-jun exchanged a brief look.
The moment Kim Seok-gu gave the word, Lee Min-jun would teleport ahead to block their path.
‘Don Quixote... If it’s Don Quixote...’
I kept ruminating on the story of Don Quixote. It looked like a complete mess, but this Gate followed its own narrative logic.
The windmills and the shepherd were powerful because they were actual elements from the novel, but the "swamp monster" hadn't appeared. As a result, Don Quixote’s descriptive power was lacking, and only low-level monsters had manifested.
‘It’s certain that following the flow of the novel produces powerful effects. Right now, Don Quixote is on his knight-errantry.’
The names that immediately came to mind were Princess Dulcinea and Don Quixote’s friend, Carrasco. If they appeared, they would undoubtedly wield immense power.
However, those two were closer to allies than enemies.
"Team Leader Lee Min-jun! Block the front! We’ll follow immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Melanie!"
"I know!"
Even as I deliberated, the situation was changing in real-time.
Deciding that sniping was no longer effective, Melanie summoned massive firearms to drastically increase her firepower. Her priority was to destroy the terrain in front of Don Quixote to slow his advance as much as possible.
"Young man! If thou resortest to such violent means, I shall tolerate it no longer!"
Finally, Don Quixote began to grow angry.
Until now, he hadn't lost his temper once, not even when we were beating Sancho to a pulp or relentlessly trying to kill Rocinante. But now, his face was flushed red because his path was blocked.
"Milord, leave these rascals to me! I’ve been itching to have a go at them myself!"
"I’ll mark this guy! You guys handle Don Quixote and Rocinante!"
Lee Min-jun shouted as he blocked Sancho, who had charged in without a moment's hesitation. It felt like the proper raid had finally begun.
‘If it follows this flow...’
In the original story, Don Quixote ends his knight-errantry after being defeated by Carrasco, who is disguised as a knight. Blocking the path now was no different from challenging him to a duel.
"Instructor! Only Kim Min-su should handle this part! Kim Min-su! You tell Don Quixote you want a knight’s duel!"
Without even asking why, Kim Seok-gu nodded. Min-su looked puzzled but moved immediately.
"Melanie, summon your heavy weapons and provide close-range support!"
The picture I had in mind was starting to take shape. Now, all we needed was time.
I focused on suppressing the monsters Don Quixote created while gradually closing the distance toward Melanie.
"Don Quixote! Stop all of this at once and duel me!"
Kim Min-su’s tone was awkward as hell; it was truly cringeworthy. I hadn't told him to act, but when I told him to introduce himself as Carrasco, he started roleplaying on his own. He was probably doing it naturally because he was taking the situation seriously, but that only made it more ridiculous.
"Ha! And who might thou be!"
"I, too, am a knight! My name is Kim Min-su!"
If you only heard the audio, you’d think it was a children’s school play.
But the situation was incredibly grave.
Steel giants were rising incessantly, and Sancho, now a hulking brute who had forgotten his days as a dwarf, was looming large. Rocinante glared at Kim Min-su, baring sharp teeth.
"Thou darest challenge me to a knight’s duel! How brave indeed! I, Don Quixote! With the Heavenly Great Sword passed down from my great-grandfather, I shall—"
"Hey, Kim Min-su! Just hit him already! If you challenged him, you should charge! What are you waiting for?!"
Every time Don Quixote added a flowery description to himself, his weapons and armor began to change color. I couldn't understand why Min-su was just standing there waiting for it to happen.
It was truly astonishing that there were protagonists who actually waited for the villain to finish transforming.
"Oh! Right!"
Kim Min-su immediately lunged at Don Quixote.
Kim Seok-gu and I poured all our strength into ensuring the monsters didn't interfere with him.
‘It’s not exactly like the original, but it’s following the original beats.’
The method to clear the Gate was becoming clearer. Everything made sense once I viewed Kim Min-su as the protagonist of this story.
‘Kim Min-su will never die in this Gate.’
There was no way the character Chubby Ahn had crafted with such care would die in his very first Gate. There might be crises, but they would merely be stepping stones to overcome. The reason the first Gate was Don Quixote was likely because, while it looked difficult, there was an easy way to clear it.
The boss battle, the offense, and the defense boasted staggering difficulty and overwhelming numbers. However, for a concept-type Gate where the clear conditions are known, the story changes. If everyone performs their designated roles correctly, it becomes the easiest type to break through.
I should have realized it sooner when they claimed they didn't know the story, but I’d wasted a lot of time.
‘Kim Min-su will definitely win here.’
In the original, Don Quixote is defeated by Carrasco disguised as a knight. Carrasco then forces Don Quixote to yield and makes him promise not to pick up a weapon for a year. Following this event, Don Quixote becomes bedridden but regains his sanity. Afterward, for a heartwarming conclusion, he atones for his mistakes and passes away in a state of grace.
Don Quixote was a protagonist destined to lose from the very beginning.
"Aaaargh!"
As expected, the conclusion came quickly.
Kim Min-su looked exhausted, but he didn't seem to have any major injuries. As Don Quixote collapsed, unable to speak further, Sancho and Rocinante began to lose their strength as well.
That mouth of his really was a disaster-summoning tool.
"Is it over?"
"The situation is settled here as well."
I inwardly applauded the cliché-ridden lines uttered by Kim Seok-gu and Lee Min-jun.
But Don Quixote wouldn't go down just yet.
‘There’s still one story left unfinished.’
Normally, there should be a part where he sends Sancho to deliver a letter and confess his love to Princess Dulcinea. But in this Gate, neither Dulcinea nor Carrasco existed from the start.
The reason was obvious.
‘Kim Min-su defeats Don Quixote, and Melanie will play the role of the princess.’
Melanie wasn't a perfect fit for Dulcinea from the start. The only thing Dulcinea and Melanie had in common was that they were both Westerners. According to the novel, Dulcinea was a woman with a larger build than most adult men.
"Sancho... Sancho is gone too... I haven't even told the Princess how I feel..."
The unhorsed Don Quixote scanned his surroundings with hollow eyes.
Kim Min-su, being the typical pushover protagonist, didn't deliver a proper finishing blow. He was looking on with sympathetic eyes, as if he were empathizing with the monster.
"Princess... My Princess Dulcinea... Ah..."
Don Quixote cried out the Princess's name, and then his gaze locked onto one spot.
"There thou art... My Princess..."
There was only one reason I had told Melanie to summon large firearms.
From a distance, it made her silhouette look larger. To someone whose vision was failing, she would look like one large mass.
"I am coming for thee!"
Don Quixote sprang to his feet, as if he had never been defeated. He moved with a speed so great that even Kim Min-su, standing right in front of him, couldn't react.
"Melanie, get out of the way!"
No matter how much Kim Seok-gu shouted, it was too late. Melanie had been summoning high-output firearms continuously, so she wasn't in a state to perfectly control her abilities. Lee Min-jun was tied up by the suddenly revived Sancho and couldn't provide support, and Kim Min-su was late in chasing after Don Quixote.
"Eject all weapons."
Now it was my turn.
Chubby Ahn probably wanted Kim Min-su to save Melanie by a hair's breadth. But as long as I was breathing, Kim Min-su would never get to flirt with another woman.
"Accept my heart, Princess Dulcinea!"
"Your role ends here."
[Coercion activated! Subduing Melanie!]
I used my ability on Melanie, who had lost control, and forced a Reverse Summoning on her firearms. I hadn't been moving toward her while watching the battle for nothing.
I was going to take every single scenario Chubby Ahn had tried to direct for himself.
I wrapped my arm around Melanie’s waist and pulled her into my chest.
Don Quixote brushed past Melanie by a fraction of an inch.
I caught a glimpse of her face; she was blushing, perhaps because it was her first time in a man's arms.
"Why! Who art thou to stand in the way of my reunion with the Princess!"
The version of Don Quixote that had lost to Kim Min-su was gone; in his place stood a figure that had tripled in size. This was likely Don Quixote’s true final form. The Gate event would have concluded with Kim Min-su completely finishing him off in this state.
‘Not happening.’
The weapons ejected from my case soared into the sky before stabbing into the ground one by one. Since no one had told me I could only take one, I had swept up everything that looked decent.
"I am the true knight, the hero come to punish you—Baek Tae-yang."
It was time to bring this story to its end.