Chapter 23 - Welcome, Heroes! (2)

[Normal stage reward.]

[Blessing: The War God's Protection is bestowed upon you!]

[You can view maps of the Tower from floors 11 through 20.]

A translucent map smoothly materialized before my eyes. A sort of minimap, I supposed?

Red and blue dots filled the map, tangled together in a chaotic jumble. Judging by the terrain, the red dots seemed to represent monsters and the blue dots the human army.

"Tsk, tsk... Yep. I knew you'd get some broken perk!"

The attendant spirit grumbled, scowling.

"While everyone else crawls along the ground, you'll just be watching from up in the sky, huh? Ugh, sure. Don't bother steadily building your skills. Just keep coming up with clever little tricks. This Tower's no different—the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The guys who get a share keep getting more, and the successful ones get even..."

But he couldn't continue his old-man lecture.

[Hidden stage reward.]

[Blessing: The God of Humanity's Protection is bestowed upon you!]

[You can view the names, stats, and locations of all NPCs on floors 11 through 20.]

"... Huh?"

Because the perk notifications weren't over yet.

[Hidden stage reward.]

[Blessing: The God of Commerce's Protection is bestowed upon you!]

[Select one item that exists on floors 11 through 20 and take possession of it.]

SHRRR!

Lists unfurled side by side beside the minimap. One was a long list of NPC names and stats. The other laid bare the names and effects of items.

"..."

We were speechless.

"Kill them! Stay calm and push them back!"

"Aaaagh! Th-the goblins are throwing spears!"

Up ahead on the front lines, the hunters were fighting hard. Orcs roared, and human soldiers bled. Amid the noisy battlefield, silence settled only between the attendant spirit and me.

That silence soon broke.

"Ah, what an amazing, skill-based game..."

"What kind of fucking luck-based garbage game is this?!"

With an admiring sigh and a scream that were polar opposites.

Themes.

The Tower's floors each had a set theme.

Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I called them genres instead.

Floors one through ten were literally the [Tutorial].

There were hunting grounds laid out, and even a city where you could rest to your heart's content. Think of it as the stage where beginners got used to the Tower.

And floors eleven through twenty...

'A Demon King invasion story.'

Or a hero-versus-Demon-King story.

Since you were protecting humanity's empire, you could also call it a defense story.

'You beat back the Demon King's army as it swarms in like packs of dogs.'

In any case, the important part was that the nature of combat changed from what we'd experienced so far.

Monsters no longer wandered around one at a time as they did in the beginner hunting grounds. They formed groups. Organized units. Built armies.

There were only two ways to defeat a monster army.

'Either become a one-man army powerful enough to chew through an army alone...'

I looked toward the front lines.

The Sword Star was slaughtering monsters, scattering blue aura everywhere.

'... Or lead an army of your own into battle.'

I grinned.

'This time, I'm choosing the latter.'

I'd just received these perks, after all.

Wouldn't it be a waste to leave such tremendous privileges unused?

Of course, I had no talent for commanding an army. That was only natural, since I'd never commanded one before. But if I lacked a talent, all I had to do was acquire it.

I had every confidence that I could develop a new talent.

"Status window."

Before throwing myself fully into the battlefield, I first checked my current situation.

Name: Kim Gongja

Rank: E

Skills (5/5)

1. I Want to Be Like You (S+)

2. Regressor's Clockwork Watch (EX)

3. Sword Constellation (A+)

4. Goblin High Society (F)

5. Fire Safety, Day and Night (A)

※The War God's Protection is active.

※The God of Humanity's Protection is active.

※The God of Commerce's Protection is active.

Good.

With a smile on my lips, I said,

"Excuse me, Mr. Sword Emperor. Did you just call this a luck-based garbage game?"

"Yeah, I did! You shitty zombie!"

"Let me show you why I called it an amazing, skill-based game."

First, I called up the NPC list.

With the God of Humanity's Protection, countless NPCs lined up in a long list.

[Enju] Status: Conscript / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

[Karia] Status: Regular Soldier / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

[Sort] Status: Serf / Location: Floor 13, Barony of Panbasa

[Rafa Casabella] Status: Noncommissioned Officer / Location: Floor 14, Horome Barrier Gorge

[Dof] Status: Blacksmith / Location: Floor 12, Imperial Capital of Hakamnia

A list of tens of thousands—perhaps hundreds of thousands—of people appeared.

For now, it was nothing more than a jumbled mess.

But...

"Display only NPCs located on floor eleven."

As though it understood my instructions, the list began moving on its own.

All the miscellaneous names vanished as if deleted, and a new list appeared containing only what I'd requested: NPCs located on floor eleven.

[Enju] Status: Conscript / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

[Karia] Status: Regular Soldier / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

[Kort] Status: Noncommissioned Officer / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

[Amalgam] Status: Conscript / Location: Floor 11, Port City of Kungur

I continued without pause.

"Sort by highest-ranked skills. Top one hundred only."

"Hah!"

The attendant spirit let out a short gasp. He must have caught on to my intentions. Until now, he'd merely been sulking, but genuine urgency now crossed his face.

He hastily tried to stop me.

"Wait! Zombie! This isn't right. Please, let's get stronger step by step and then fight. Huh? Train steadily, build your skills, learn swordsmanship—wouldn't that be great?"

"I can do that later."

"Grr! No matter how much of a slippery bastard you are, this really crosses the line! Aren't you ashamed, with a name like Gongja—Confucius?!"

"Hmm. Nope, not ashamed."

Whatever the attendant spirit said, the list followed my instructions.

SHRRR.

The letters scattered individually through the air, then gathered and reassembled.

Once they finished, another updated list appeared.

[Rohan Panbasa] Status: Commander of the Panbasa Knights

[Sarbas Aegim] Status: Commander of the Kungur Front

[Jeshua Kamancha] Status: Senior Knight of the Imperial Knights

[Tormund] Status: Most Senior Soldier of the Shield Unit

There. Almost done.

Ignoring the attendant spirit's fit, I shouted,

"Display NPCs with troop command skills! Top three only!"

"Aaagh! Aaaaagh!"

Yes.

I had no talent for commanding military units.

But what was the problem?

If I didn't have the talent, I could just take it from another NPC!

[Sarbas Aegim] Status: Commander of the Kungur Front

[Rohan Panbasa] Status: Commander of the Panbasa Knights

[Sein Kamen] Status: Regimental Commander of the Shield Unit

The list that had contained hundreds of thousands of people was now down to three.

I gave it my final command.

"Mark the locations of these three on the map."

"You cheating bastard!"

The names displayed through the [God of Humanity's Protection] scattered. They turned into green lights and slipped into the minimap projected by the [War God's Protection]. Perfect. The locations of NPCs with command skills were now marked on the map.

"Okay. Mark my current location!"

Finally, my own location as well.

"An amazing, skill-based game, just as I thought. See? With even a basic ability to apply things, you can turn a fairly good perk into an incredibly good one. All thanks to me using my brain."

"Bullshit! Using your brain, my ass. You're just coming up with a shitload of sneaky tricks!"

"Hehe. Sneaky tricks are a skill too."

Preparations complete. There was no reason to hesitate now.

I found the closest NPC on the map and quickly ran over. Fortunately, he was right nearby: the general who had welcomed us with a cry of "Heroes!" when all the hunters were summoned. He was the NPC with the best command skill.

"General Sarbas Aegim."

"Hmm? Oh! Hero from another world. What brings you here?"

The general stopped giving orders to his aides and turned toward me. He had an impressive mustache. His skill would be impressive too, I bet.

"Run!"

The attendant spirit howled.

"Run, you dim-witted NPC! He's not a hero, he's a scam merchant! If he gets his hands on you, he'll suck you dry!"

A scam merchant?

This ghost had spent only a few days with me and already gone full Korean.

"Since you believe I'm a hero, General, I have a favor to ask."

"Please, speak! Thanks to all of you, we're beginning to see hope in a battle we had no chance of winning. If it is within my power, I will gladly grant it."

"Please kill me."

The general's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

"... Actually, I have a secret weapon. A sort of self-destruct ability. If my life is ended, a god's protection will descend upon the entire battlefield. Once that protection activates, the empire's victory will be assured."

I put on the most solemn expression I could. Acting with my face was surprisingly easy. All I had to do was recall the moment that bastard the Flame Emperor burned me to death, and my face stiffened and my voice grew solemn on its own.

"Agh! He's lying! This zombie bastard doesn't have any self-destruct ability!"

Sheesh.

Would the loser ghost who died in the Tower with only floor one hundred left please be quiet?

"S-such a blessing... No, but to take a hero's life? I cannot!"

"General Sarbas Aegim. Think about what matters more. Whether you draw your sword or not, I'm going to kill myself. It's the surest way to help the empire."

With a solemn face, I said,

"I'm asking you for a favor, General."

"A favor...?"

"You're the commander responsible for this port. You want the empire to win more than anyone. Rather than take my own life or die at the hands of an evil monster, I want to entrust my life to you, the general responsible for this battle."

"..."

"There's no time. Hurry!"

The general looked utterly miserable.

"Even if I must strive for the empire's survival, to think I must take the life of someone who went to the trouble of coming from another world to help us..."

"Hey, hey! You believe him? Oh, fuck! You believe this? Is there nobody else in the universe you can trust, so you have to trust Kim Zombie of all people? For real?"

"Oh, our world must surely be cursed. The coming of the Demon King, who existed only in legends, the endless hordes of monsters, and now the need to take a hero's life—all of it must be a curse..."

"The only cursed thing here is how stupid you are!"

"Ah, God. Do not forgive our sins..."

Lamenting like the protagonist of a tragedy, the general took hold of his sword's hilt.

SHING.

A very fine-looking blade emerged.

"... At least I will send you on your way painlessly, with a single stroke."

"Thank you."

I really was grateful.

I didn't mind dying, but I hated pain.

"Please, tell me your name."

"Kim Gongja."

"Kim Gongja... On behalf of the empire, I thank you. You are a true hero!"