Chapter 62 : Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Joint Subjugation (2)

To get straight to the point.

We somehow managed to succeed in cleaning up the Field.

As you could tell from the grim expressions of the people gathered around, it was by no means an easy task.

“First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kim Gyu-sik. If not for the method you taught us, the entire subjugation team would have been in great danger.”

As Seo Hye-in said that, Sepia and Jeong Woo-jin also nodded their heads.

“I thought you were strange before, but where on earth do you learn things like that? I’ve caught a lot of demonic beasts, but I've never seen them caught like that before.”

“It’s a trade secret.”

When I replied in a bored tone, Jeong Woo-jin, who had asked the question, also chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, I didn't expect much. It's not like you're a normal guy.”

He was treating me like some kind of suspicious person.

Even Sepia, who I hadn't had much interaction with, was cautiously nodding in agreement.

“Let's discuss the agenda. More than half of the Hunting Alliance's personnel are combat-incapable. How are the others faring.”

As Ms. Seo Hye-in started speaking with a sigh, Jeong Woo-jin and Sepia simultaneously shook their heads.

It was a gesture that meant their situations were roughly similar.

I heard that the difficulty of the solution I presented was so high that only a handful of people could execute it properly.

So in the end, the people gathered in this makeshift tent had to go around the entire Field to help out.

No, I don't get it.

Why couldn't they do it?

Did I ask them to parry a flurry of blows that came in over 100 times in a second with their bare fists with twisted timing, or did I ask them to split a final-tier skill like Meteor Strike with a single point breakthrough?

I wonder how they plan to survive in this harsh world without even that level of technique.

“...”

Beside me, Seo Ah-in looked at me as if I were trash, but I smoothly brushed it off.

No, but I didn't even say that out loud just now.

I'm starting to suspect this girl is using some kind of telepathy.

“...A subjugation as usual seems impossible.”

Seo Hye-in sighed and said, having read the heavy atmosphere hanging in the air.

As you could tell from the suffix ‘special-grade’, the demonic beast that was about to spawn was not something that could be measured by existing grades.

Of course, in terms of actual combat power, A-grade demonic beasts or those above them were far superior and more deadly, but the rank of a demonic beast was originally created assuming a team of 3-4 Climbers would face it.

On the other hand, a special-grade demonic beast was given its moniker because it forced the swarming crowd of people gathered here to gang up and beat it down.

It was a Field boss with simple and counterable attack patterns but ridiculously high health and defense, that's what it was.

“But we can't just not do the subjugation. The moment we announce we ‘failed’ the subjugation, the backlash will be unbearable.”

“It’s not just about being ridiculed for not being able to handle one thing even when major guilds team up... it will also become difficult to assert our rights for future subjugations. It’s not something that will end with just a business loss.”

Sepia added to Jeong Woo-jin's words in agreement.

The explanation was long, but in summary, it meant they were in a situation where they could neither move forward nor retreat.

“If it were on a similar level to previous special-grade demonic beasts, I would try to force it through with this number of personnel, but seeing the abnormal state of the current Field, the probability of that seems very low. What should we do about this...”

Ms. Seo Hye-in's voice trailed off with a dark expression.

Hmm. Right.

This is the perfect timing.

“I have a proposal.”

As soon as I said that, the gazes of the people around me flew to me and fixed on me.

Among them, there were even some who looked as if they had been expecting me to say something like that.

“Mr. Kim Gyu-sik's opinions have always been worth listening to. Would you please tell us?”

“No, this time it’s not exactly a constructive opinion.”

I continued speaking with a yawn.

“The gist of it is that I’ll take care of everything, so please handle the cleanup. You guys seem to have given up and thrown in the towel anyway, right?”

“...”

***

There are probably various images of witches.

There might be a cute image of a girl associated with a large cauldron lid, a flying broom, a pointed hat, and a cat.

And there might be the image of a mad old woman who tortures and eats children alive, the kind that medieval inquisitors would have tried to burn at the stake.

Unfortunately, the image of the witch in Conqueror was the latter.

And not just a mad old woman, but an old woman who spread a crazy passive skill that drained the health of all surrounding characters per second. And it was always active.

Was that all? If you let it sit for a while after it spawned, it would continuously scatter the Ectoplasm that the subjugation team members had just barely cleaned up, and as their numbers increased, powerful stacking buffs would be applied to both its offense and defense.

It was a creature that was always ranked among the top when it came to tricky Field bosses.

In the boss fight, the Witch would continue to fight while letting out terrifying screams at the player, to the point that after a character dies to this creature a few times, the player themselves would start making similar noises.

“...It looks dangerous. It would be better not to get close.”

This was the impression left by Mr. Kim Jin-gyu after seeing the Witch wandering around the depths of the Field, constantly making a sound like phlegm boiling.

Seo Ah-in was part of the same guild as me, so it didn't matter if she came along or not, but this person, who was nominally a member of the Hunting Alliance, insisted on coming to help.

‘Aren't we a team?’

He even used that as a pretext.

Seo Ah-in seemed quite touched by those words, but from my perspective, knowing what kind of person this was, it was just a laughable excuse.

Right. A team, he says.

I bet.

It's more likely that he came to... spy.

Curious about what kind of person I was, and what on earth I could do to cause such a scene.

“...”

Right. Well, if he wants to watch, let him.

I had no intention of hiding much anyway.

“Are you really going to hunt that? No matter how I think about it, it seems impossible with just us.”

“If we weren't going to, there would have been no reason to come here, right?”

“...Alright. Just tell me the method and I'll help you somehow. My skills are lacking, but I'll do my utmost to-”

“Just watch.”

The slightly stunned Mr. Kim Jin-gyu paused for a moment before answering.

“Pardon?”

“I said I'll catch it by myself. In the first place, just me and that white thing over there were enough.”

“...But that special-grade demonic beast seems to have a trait that inflicts damage just by getting close. How do you plan to catch it alone? You know that special-grade demonic beasts only take damage when the battle is within their territory, right?”

There was such an annoying restriction.

It was a device to prevent players from using tricks.

But.

We always find a way. As we always have.

Do not ignore the power of collective intelligence that wants to take it easy, you developers.

“Well, as you said, I do have to go inside its territory to hit it. But it's also a troublesome fellow that inflicts damage upon getting close.”

“...And yet you speak as if you absolutely must approach it?”

“I need to test the waters a few times.”

That's why I brought this one.

When I looked back at Seo Ah-in, whose face had turned pale, her expression, having realized her fate, became almost completely white.

“...Me?”

“Yes. You.”

“...What am I supposed to do?”

“Hit that thing once and run. At full speed.”

“...”

I pushed the crying girl into the Field.

As Seo Ah-in hit the Witch once, the Witch's eyes rolled back, and it screamed as it chased after Seo Ah-in.

Seo Ah-in also screamed no less as she ran away. It seemed she shed a few tears in the middle.

Field bosses basically only move within a set area. That's why they're Field bosses.

Aggro is automatically dropped on targets that go outside a certain range. Instead, there's the restriction that they only take damage within the aforementioned territory.

And, if you use such habits well, you can utilize the essence of veteran-level secret techniques.

In other words.

It means you can cheese it.

“Here... about.”

I marked the spot where the Witch lost interest in Seo Ah-in and returned to the Field.

To specify the exact spot, I made Seo Ah-in repeat the same act a few more times.

The ground around became damp with the tears she shed.

“...You treat your colleague, uh, very... uh... roughly... no, efficiently? Is that the word? you handle her?”

Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, who saw my skill in handling Seo Ah-in, left such an impression with a look as if his brain had broken down, but I ignored him and calculated the Witch's range of action.

Right. This should be just about right.

I took out the rifle I borrowed from Jeong Woo-jin. It was the rare-grade rifle I had used on the 11th Floor. I was starting to like it, maybe I should just ask for it after this is over.

I manipulated the gun with a familiar motion and placed my foot on the spot I had just marked.

First, a single shot with a fully charged rifle mixed with two attack skills.

--!!!

When the Witch, hit by the attack, screamed and tried to rush towards me, I quickly pulled my foot back from the marked spot.

This is where the subtlety of the system comes in.

The moment I pull my foot back and go outside the ‘boundary line’, the Witch recognizes me as a non-existent entity.

But the damage I left by shooting it is still valid.

‘Well, it's over.’

Anyone with good comprehension would have a rough idea of what I was trying to do here.

“...Uh. No way. Such a trashy idea...?”

Seo Ah-in, who had been hanging around me often, seemed to have caught on already.

“Hmm.”

I let out a snort and dragged over the things I had prepared.

Two folding chairs. Including a cushion to comfortably rest my feet on.

And a radio. A tumbler filled with hot coffee.

These were items that would be more fitting for a campsite than a Field where demonic beasts appeared.

“...?”

Leaving Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, who was filled with suspicion about what on earth this guy was trying to do, I sat on one of the unfolded chairs and placed the gun on the other.

“What... is this...?”

“Standing for a long time is tiring.”

Since such a system was set up in the first place, all that was left was just repetitive work.

If you're going to do repetitive work, you should do it as comfortably as possible. These were the items I brought for such an occasion.

I took a sip of coffee, stepped on the mark on the ground, and fired the gun.

Once again, the mana bullet flew fiercely and embedded itself in the Witch, and the Witch screamed and charged towards me.

And when I pulled my foot back again, it returned to its original position, looking bewildered.

“Ah, this is tiring.”

I repeated this until all my mana was depleted, and when I started to feel tired, I put the gun down on the chair next to me and picked up my coffee cup.

When I was bored, I would also fiddle with the radio and listen to broadcasts.

I would rest like this sufficiently until my mana was replenished.

After that, it was an infinite loop.

Shoot. Rest. Shoot. Rest.

The Witch was just getting beaten one-sidedly without being able to put up any resistance.

It would probably fall after about half a day of this.

“...”

And the expression of Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, who had watched this spectacle from beginning to end, was becoming more and more of a sight to behold.

“...Climber Seo Ah-in. Is... this person. Always like this?”

“Today is a little more extreme than usual. But honestly, it's not that different, right?”

At Seo Ah-in's flat voice, Mr. Kim Jin-gyu's expression became even more bizarre.

I felt like a strange sense of empathy was forming between the two.

“This is, I don't know whether to call it amazing, or to be glad that Climber Seo Ah-in hasn't been tainted, but...”

Mr. Kim Jin-gyu, who had been pondering how to express what he was thinking, finally concluded his words in a lamenting voice.

“...This is really atrocious. In many ways.”

“Right?”

Yes.

They're both noisy.

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