IBMATG 16

Chapter 16

The arrow tower had become an automatic defense turret, firing magic missiles on its own at any approaching enemies.

High stone walls surrounded the village.

The town hall had transformed into a fortress, bearing a towering spire at its center.

The men among the villagers were armed with enchanted magical armor and weapons.

The once small and shabby village, threatened by orcs, had suddenly turned into a massive fortress.

About 3 million gold to upgrade everything. And another 24,500 diamonds to complete instantly.

I poured money into it without hesitation.

For most people who made it this far, such an expense would be far too much.

Few would even have 3 million gold at this stage.

Even fewer would spend diamonds for instant completion.

That alone translated to 1.225 billion won.

Defense construction at least used gold, which only had value within the stage, so those who had nothing to buy from the black market could afford to spend it.

But instant completion was the least efficient choice possible compared to its cost.

Why spend expensive diamonds—one-time only, at that—when things would finish on their own if you just waited?

Besides, you could still clear the stage without spending diamonds.

Still, the reason I burned diamonds here was for the raid points.

[No matter how fast you pour in gold, there will always be a moment when the construction time lags, and orcs inevitably slip through.]

[Thus, Awakened must make strategic decisions. Will you gather the villagers in one spot, or scatter them? Which direction will you prioritize defending?]

[Even then, you cannot prevent all casualties. Make choices that minimize losses.]

So said the information note.

According to that, if you played normally, you had to accept losing raid points here.

But by using diamonds for abnormal play, you could secure every last raid point.

No one, not even the rich, would ever think of spending 1.2 billion won just to clear a stage.

But to me, those diamonds only cost 120,000 won, so I could spend them as much as I wanted.

If that bought me even a single point more than others in raid points, then it was practically free.

Boom! Boom!

Magic missiles fired from the top of the defense towers swept through the incoming orcs.

“Ready! Fire!”

Armed villagers on the walls loosed volleys of arrows, which tracked and struck their targets on their own.

Thanks to this magical gear, even inexperienced villagers could fight like veteran soldiers.

Throughout the day, the villagers repelled all the orcs attacking the village by themselves.

Choi Yoon-ah, Lee Jin-yoon, and I simply sat back and watched until dusk.

“Are we really just going to sit and watch like this?”

Choi Yoon-ah asked.

“Until tonight, yes.”

Of course, this easy freeloading would end soon.

Because the boss battle was about to begin.

While the defenses held back the lesser mobs, the Awakened would have to focus entirely on taking down the boss.

Midnight.

The defense towers still roared at orcs attacking from all directions.

Boom!

Another magic missile exploded, briefly illuminating the area—

—and a strange shadow appeared.

It wasn’t an orc.

It was a collection of souls, draped in tattered rags.

A Lich.

Bzzzzm.

It immediately cast a spell. Mana tendrils extended from its hands, forming dark clouds over the wall.

A moment later, lightning flashed inside those clouds—

Kwarang!

—and thick bolts of lightning crashed toward the ground.

“Uwaah!”

The lightning targeted villagers on the walls.

Crackle.

“Uh… H-Hero?”

But no one died.

Yoo Shin-woo had raised his Dragon Claw to the sky, turning it into a lightning rod, shielding the villagers.

“A-are you alright…?”

Thud.

Without answering, he leapt down the wall.

Then sprinted straight at the lich that had cast the spell.

“Gragh! Graragh!”

Other orcs rushed in to block him.

Shrrk! Slash!

With a swing of his Dragon Claw, he carved a path through them in an instant.

Any orc that blocked him was ripped apart without mercy.

Bzzzzm.

As Yoo Shin-woo charged with terrifying speed, the lich cast again.

Whoosh!

A hastily shot fire arrow.

But Yoo Shin-woo easily dodged it with a sidestep, then drove his fist forward with all his strength.

Boom!

The lich shattered into pieces, scattering like dust.

As an unstable spirit body, it lacked durability, making it even easier to kill than ordinary orcs.

“A-attack! Hold the orcs back!”

The lightning storm ceased, and villagers and magic turrets resumed their fire.

Rumble.

But now, on the southern wall—the opposite side of where Yoo Shin-woo was—the lightning clouds began to form again.

Another lich spell.

Since liches weren’t bound to a single body, they could freely transfer to others.

The one that had just “died” had possessed another orc body on the southern front, casting spells again.

That was the nature of the Stage 3 boss: a lich that roamed the four directions, sowing chaos among the Awakened.

But Yoo Shin-woo couldn’t possibly reach the south wall in time. By then, the wall would be breached.

Of course, they weren’t helpless against its spells.

Choi Yoon-ah.

That’s why I’d brought a sniper.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. The lich-possessed orc’s skull exploded.

The shot had come from the top of the central village spire.

Choi Yoon-ah, with her Mosin-Nagant in hand, surveyed the battlefield.

The boss will appear at night. It casts powerful attack magic and keeps reviving by possessing other orcs. Yoon-ah, your job is to take position on the tower and snipe it.

That was why I insisted on bringing her into this stage.

A lich, like a bomb that could explode at any time and place, could be neutralized quickly from long range by a sniper.

This Stage 3 was tailor-made for Yoon-ah’s ability.

How does he know all this…?

She had no way of knowing how Yoo Shin-woo got the information note, nor how he had earned the gold to buy it.

She knew it was sold on the black market—but getting one required enormous amounts of gold.

And yet, to earn that much this quickly? Impossible.

Everything he did defied common sense.

…Focus on the sniping first.

She resolved to clear this stage first, then later dig into his secret.

Rumble.

Just then, thunderclouds formed again—this time on the western wall.

The third lich had appeared.

Damn it. I can’t see…!

The problem was the mass of orcs there, plus rocks and trees providing cover.

Her line of sight was blocked.

Where is it?

Yoo Shin-woo was running north toward the west, but too slowly.

The lightning cloud was about to finish charging, ready to fire.

Kwarang!

Fortunately, no one died—the villagers had learned from the earlier strike and hidden in roofed towers.

Then, the lich emerged from behind a boulder—

Whoosh!

—and hurled a massive fireball.

There!

Yoon-ah didn’t miss the chance.

{Authority <Hunter’s Instinct> Activated}

She pulled the trigger, and the Mosin-Nagant barrel aligned with the lich’s head.

An authority that made any aimed shot land true.

Bang!

The mana bullet pierced the lich’s forehead. The lich collapsed instantly.

The thundercloud vanished.

But the giant fireball it had released didn’t disappear—it kept flying.

Its target: a defense tower.

Crash!

“Uwaaaah!”

The fireball slammed into the tower, exploding violently.

The building collapsed, burying the villagers inside.

“Damn it!”

At that moment, Yoo Shin-woo’s earlier words came back to her.

We must minimize villager deaths.

If he’d emphasized that, it meant villager survival was part of the clear condition.

Even if it wasn’t, Yoon-ah didn’t want them to die.

Unlike others who dismissed the people of this world as “NPCs,” she saw them as no different from herself.

She didn’t want innocent people to die to monsters.

“Damn it!”

Thud!

She slammed her fist on the railing.

If only she had fired a second earlier.

If she’d sniped the lich before it cast the fireball.

Regret washed over her.

“Haa…”

But it was already done.

Letting her mind waver would affect her next shot.

Her sure-hit ability only worked when her will to strike was firm.

She couldn’t let stray thoughts shake her focus.

At least protect the survivors.

Steeling her mind, she raised her rifle again to cover the broken western front.

Slash!

Yoo Shin-woo had just arrived, cutting down the orcs by himself.

Then he gestured toward her.

“Not here… the other side?”

He meant: Leave the west to me. Keep sniping liches elsewhere.

“Ah, okay.”

She raised her arms in a circle to signal she understood.

Even in chaos, he’s calm…

Though their original plan had collapsed, he showed no panic, calmly dividing roles and adapting.

Yoon-ah admired his quick judgment and execution, thinking she had much to learn from him.

She turned her rifle to seek the next lich when—

Fwoom.

“Huh?”

From the ruins of the collapsed tower, a blue light shone.

“What’s that?”

The debris was pushed aside by the light, drifting away instead of falling.

Through the glow, the villagers emerged alive.

“They survived…?!”

The light was formed of hundreds of mana particles, resonating together into a protective barrier.

“Lee Jin-yoon?”

The one who had cast the shield was none other than Lee Jin-yoon.