Johann, the king of Saintra, surveyed the capital city Solaum.
Even though he was seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe it.
The invasion of Mortarion, the century's necromancer.
This was practically an unavoidable, predetermined apocalypse.
Knowing that was precisely why morale in the capital Solaum had been at rock bottom.
But not anymore.
"Move the elephant statue this way! A little more! Slowly!"
"The dragon statue can't go there! It's too lopsided! Move it over here!"
Holy knights and priests moved busily, fulfilling their assigned roles.
Their eyes were no longer dead.
Instead, they sparkled with hope that they could win.
"This is the first time. When the word 'dramatic' feels insufficient."
At Knight Commander Roberto's words, Johann nodded.
"I feel the same. And to think all this change is because of a party of less than ten people."
He slowly examined the members of the Hero Party.
He still couldn't wrap his head around it.
How to define them.
"Is this where you want it?"
"Yes, yes! Please!"
*Kuuuwoong!!!*
He wasn't particularly large, nor was he wearing any special equipment.
Yet he moved statues the size of houses as if they were sheets of paper.
Thanks to him, the placement work that had seemed impossible before the invasion was making incredible progress.
"Hey, young man? Come here for a second? This is a vitality potion — one sip and your work will be much easier!"
"Yes, yes!"
A rookie holy knight swallowed dry saliva at the bubbling potion.
Elia patted the knight on the shoulder.
"No need to worry, alright? We confirmed our... uh, master drank it and didn't die. So go ahead, down it in one gulp!"
"Understood! Here goes!"
The rookie holy knight immediately started dry heaving after drinking it.
His face turned pale, but thankfully he didn't throw it back up.
"Wh-whoa? My body feels light enough to fly!"
"Of course it does. It's a potion made by the great Star Alchemist. I made a lot, so take some and share it."
"I'll drink it gratefully!"
As the knight received the large bundle, Johann and Roberto instinctively turned their heads away.
It's not that they absolutely didn't want to drink that potion.
They just weren't tired enough to need it.
Really.
"A history where a small Hero Party stops a kingdom's apocalypse. I wonder if future generations will believe the records of today."
Johann finished speaking and shook his head with a wry laugh.
Future generations — the invasion hadn't even started yet, and he was getting ahead of himself.
That was how much strange power that Hero Party had.
The power to bloom a massive flower of positivity even in a swamp of despair.
---
"Sir Roberto."
"You've arrived, Hero."
Johann and Roberto immediately showed respect as Jinhyuk appeared.
Jinhyuk quickly bowed as well.
Even after experiencing it many times, this greeting still felt burdensome.
"The statue placement should be finished by tonight. How about the blacksmith's side?"
"We're making them in the same size and shape as the catapult ammunition you ordered. But there's a concern."
Roberto looked at the catapults positioned on the walls.
"Even if they're the same size, they'll be much heavier than regular rocks. I wonder if Saintra's catapults can handle it."
"Ah, I didn't mention it. We're not using catapults. We're going to throw them. Me and that goblin friend moving statues over there."
"Excuse me?"
Roberto reflexively questioned him, then shook his head.
These were monsters who moved statues like that with their bare hands in the first place.
Was throwing them really impossible?
Jinhyuk smiled and continued.
"It won't have the same destructive power as a catapult, but that's fine. The goal is to scatter them wide anyway."
Elia had said it.
Even if they placed golden statues around the castle, if Death Fog gathered excessively, it would be dangerous.
If possible, they needed to reduce the amount of Death Fog reaching Solaum itself.
So he decided to do shot put with Renya.
To both crush the approaching enemy forces and block their advance path.
"Let me know when they're finished. We'll handle the moving."
"Yes, understood. I'll inform you as soon as they're ready."
---
Jinhyuk gave a thumbs up and moved to a corner of the wall.
"Yaaaaaah!!!"
"The speed is perfect, Momo! Keep it up!"
Momo and Kancho were sitting in a corner doing manual labor.
Momo would take a belt from a rice sack and hand it to Kancho, who would press clay into it, and then Momo would move the finished product to a pouch.
*Crunch crunch crunch!! Squeeze!! Crunch crunch!*
As expected, the nimble-handed Momo.
Even handling two tasks, she was eating potato chips and drinking cola with incredible ease.
"What are you doing, Momo!! Don't eat alone, give me some too!!"
"Got it! Open wide!"
*Whoosh! Crunch! Whoosh! Crunch!*
Jinhyuk swallowed dry saliva.
Potato chips flying into Kancho's mouth without a single millimeter of error.
Incredible control.
If Japan has Ohtani, Korea has Motani.
He crouched down and put a straw in Kancho's mouth.
*Sluuuuurp!*
The cola bottle emptied in an instant.
"As expected from the Commander-in-Chief! My throat was... *crunch!* dry, but that was perfect!"
Jinhyuk smiled and gave a thumbs up.
The rice sacks that had been piled up like a mountain were already significantly reduced.
It looked like they could finish before those guys arrived.
*Crack.*
He stretched refreshingly and stared beyond the wall.
A tranquility and stillness that seemed far removed from war.
But in 24 hours, it would be covered.
With the deathly energy that the century's necromancer Mortarion would bring.
---
* * *
---
Seoul Central Player Hunter Agency.
As Cheon Se-yeon entered the situation room, Jin Yun-ho smiled.
"There's still 8 hours left."
"I was planning to sleep a bit and come in leisurely."
Cheon Se-yeon clicked her tongue.
How could she possibly sleep?
After seeing that.
"The army was ridiculous."
Jin Yun-ho let out a deep sigh as well.
A little while ago, the system had shown them without warning.
The march of hundreds of thousands of undead troops converging somewhere.
Se-yeon plopped down beside him and bit her nails.
"It's not just that there are a lot of them. There are terrible ones mixed in."
Death Knights with excellent swordsmanship, Basilises that inflict mental status effects just by making eye contact, Draugrs with several times the physical strength of humans.
Individuals that would appear as floor bosses or named executives were swarming everywhere.
Even Skull Dragons, which randomly appeared in the final section, numbered over ten just in what was visible.
"Those Skull Dragons are really tricky, you know. I seriously considered dropping today's ticket and running away midway."
Jin Yun-ho slowly nodded.
Even Cheon Se-yeon, who had extreme compatibility, clicked her tongue at Skull Dragons.
Aside from their diverse abilities, they were infamous for being hard to kill.
Not just in Korea, but overseas, it was considered standard to give up on climbing the Tower that day if a Skull Dragon appeared.
Naturally, the Tower sites were in chaos.
---
@ What is that? Am I seeing this right? Over ten Skull Dragons?
@ Doesn't seem like they made it to be cleared? The undead monsters aren't waves, they're at tsunami level.
@ Is the runner who created the unique floor even real?
ㄴ Yeah, if you look at the Hall of Fame progress, it seems real. Who else would do something like this?
ㄴㄴ Agreed. Only someone with a hole in their head would do this.
@ I'm a runner. I saw the troops and ran away. No questions.
ㄴ Bro, you're about to get caught by the Player Hunter Agency for impersonating a runner and tortured. RIP.
---
"Does Jinhyuk know? About the scale of the troops."
"Hard to say. But even if he does, I don't think he'll run."
"Probably not, right? I can't even imagine Jinhyuk running."
Jinhyuk never wasted a single ticket.
With enhancement tickets, tickets, and even a unique floor creation ticket invested, he wouldn't run until the very end.
"That's why I'm worried. That he'll overdo it."
Se-yeon leaned back in her chair and ran her hand through her hair.
'What are you going to do? Without even holy-type abilities.'
The fact that he borrowed equipment from the Player Hunter Agency was proof.
It would be usable on normal floors, but against that kind of army, it was woefully inadequate.
"Let's wait for now. It's Jinhyuk we're talking about."
Jin Yun-ho handed her a warm coffee and looked at the remaining time.
He didn't even hope for a clear.
This wasn't about trusting Jinhyuk or not.
Anyone who had seen that video would inevitably reach the same conclusion.
So all he could do was hope.
That Jinhyuk would come out of the Tower safely without any trouble.
---
* * *
---
Dark night.
Four hours until Mortarion's arrival.
*Snap!*
Kancho, the deputy commander of the Yodel Rangers, stood up.
He went to the edge of the wall and surveyed the front.
Jinhyuk, who had also stood up, moved to Kancho's side.
"Commander-in-Chief! You're here!"
Jinhyuk picked up the twitching Kancho and placed him on his shoulder.
And waited for a moment.
*Swaaaaah...!*
The pitch-black ridge beyond began to tinge with green light.
A color that felt like terrible decay and filth just by looking at it.
"Commander."
"Yeah."
Following Kancho, Jinhyuk turned around.
It wasn't coming from just the front.
The sky behind them was also slowly staining green.
It seemed they had deployed aerial forces where the castle blocked the land route.
"They're coming from all directions."
Jinhyuk slowly looked around.
The green light spreading without missing a single spot.
If it was visible from this distance, just how many were coming?
His friends, who had been catching some sleep, also began to wake up one by one and walk to the wall.
"Whoa. That's disgustingly many."
The goblin Renya clicked his tongue.
The Rakshasa army they had faced before was cute in comparison.
Soon, the sound of horns echoed through Castle Solaum.
The quiet castle began to stir.
"Everyone wake up!! Mortarion's army is in sight!!"
"To your positions!"
"Check your assigned siege weapons and equipment!"
"Catapult check complete!"
"Spear of Goddess Garla check complete!"
Jinhyuk turned and walked to the rear of the castle.
He took out Kancho's heavy machine gun from his inventory and set it down.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
He drove steel stakes into the ground as supports.
As if waiting, Kancho took a belt from his bag and connected it to the heavy machine gun.
Even though this was his first time using it in actual combat, he handled it very naturally.
As expected of the Yodel Rangers deputy commander!
"How is it?"
Kancho grabbed the handle and did a final check of the sights.
"Perfect! Yodel Rangers Deputy Commander Kancho! Awaiting the Commander-in-Chief's orders!"
"Your job is simple."
Jinhyuk pointed at the green sky with his finger.
"Bring them all down. Every single one."
"Roger! Easier than cold pizza! Leave it to me!"
"What about the range?"
Kancho had set it up temporarily during the day, zeroed it in, and checked the range.
"At this speed, they'll be in range in one minute!"
A range as excellent as the materials and the maker.
Jinhyuk stared at the hourglass in the air.
There were still a few hours until they arrived, but he had no intention of following their pace.
He counted the time as he slowly stepped back.
And when one minute had passed.
"Kancho, fire."
"Roger!!!"
He pulled the trigger, signaling the start of the war.
----------
T/N:
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