“...Are you serious?”
“I don’t joke about things like this.”
After returning to base,
I told the squad leaders what I had gone through at the wall.
“...Huh.”
Then,
every squad-leader-grade soldier gaped in shock.
“That wall...”
“You mean you can cross it?”
“Yeah.”
The wall of black fire that had been blocking any advance into other regions.
From the test I ran,
that wall...
was not an absolutely uncrossable wall.
“So there really is no wall in the world you can’t cross.”
“I’m not sure that phrase is meant for times like this...”
Corporal Seo Suhyeok frowned.
“Still, this is absurd. I thought there had to be a hard lock so no one could ever cross.”
“Right.”
When I first heard about that wall,
just like with the [System],
I figured there was some rule we couldn’t touch laid over it.
“One of the reasons our guild poured so much «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» into occupying Gangwon-do was because of that.”
We assumed we couldn’t go to other regions anyway.
Since we couldn’t do anything else, we’d follow the System’s occupation war.
But—
“At the very least, it wasn’t a place made uncrossable by some law.”
It was just
that the difficulty of passage was far too high.
“I’d actually thought of it when the vampires said they tried sticking their arms in at first.”
When the vampires put their hands into that wall of fire,
the heat was so excessive their hands burned away on the spot.
However,
if that were truly an ‘uncrossable wall,’
“shouldn’t your arm not go in at all to begin with?”
That’s a reasonable thought.
To draw a straightforward comparison:
a place the System declares impossible to escape.
“In the case of dungeons, that’s how it actually worked.”
Once an escape-ban was declared,
the dungeon entrance changed into something you could not cross at all.
There was a wall no physical force could affect.
From the moment this wasn’t that...
it felt like maybe.
And when I finally tested it a short while ago,
“Come to think of it, the radio signal we transmitted passed through that wall.”
“Ah, true... Even if Sergeant Lee Minjae’s magic protected it, once radio waves pass the wall, it isn’t strange to think other things could pass too.”
So my guess was right.
“Then why does that wall exist in the first place...?”
Squad Leader Lee Sanga raised a question.
“It doesn’t attack people like monsters do, so what’s the point of it just being there...”
“Hmm...”
At that,
Sergeant Lee Minjae looked briefly pensive, then spoke.
“I do have a hunch.”
“Yes? A hunch about what?”
The soldiers’ eyes went to Sergeant Lee Minjae,
and he answered in a tone that sounded unsure even to himself.
“I’m not certain. But if there’s a reason something like that has to exist, only one thing comes to mind.”
“What is it?”
“Probably... to protect.”
At that,
“...Protect?”
“Protect from whom?”
Squad Leader Lee Sanga tilted her head as if the idea made no sense,
and Corporal Seo Suhyeok also frowned.
“N-no way! As in, outside there are monsters far stronger than us swarming everywhere...!”
Corporal Jeon Gwangil’s face went pale.
At his words, the other squad leaders also widened their eyes, wondering if that was the implication.
“No, that’s probably not it.”
“Sir?”
I had some idea of what Minjae hyung was getting at.
“Protect from whom?”
is actually
slightly off.
“You’re missing ‘whom to protect.’”
“It might not be us who are being protected.”
“...Sorry?”
From whom
and what is being protected... that’s the right frame.
“It could be trying to protect people in other regions... from us.”
“...What?”
“A beginner-protection system.”
[Beginner Protection System]
It’s a concept you often see when you play MMORPGs.
There are various users in a game,
but they can’t all be at a similar level.
Especially in games that allow PVP, that gap hits incredibly hard.
Users who haven’t grown enough yet
are inevitably vulnerable to other users’ attacks.
And
to keep those new users from being massacred by existing users,
there is the [Beginner Protection System].
“Tutorial maps. Beginner towns where PVP is impossible, or places that outright block entry by high-level users.”
Until the beginner grows enough to resist an existing user’s attack to some degree,
preemptive attacks are prevented.
If you apply this concept to real-world regions,
you get a rough answer.
“A region lock so an overly strong faction in one region can’t devour regions that haven’t grown yet.”
“An overly strong faction...”
Right.
For example,
“us, who already took a quarter of Gangwon-do... and are considered just a matter of time away from the rest.”
“Ah...”
“Well. It’s not exact.”
We don’t know the outside situation either.
It could be that we’re the ones being protected from some other powerful faction.
You can’t guarantee there isn’t a faction our size in another region.
Anyway,
that wall of fire might be a barrier meant to stop an overly strong specific faction from invading other regions that haven’t yet grown.
“And the Corps Commander has become someone who can cross such a wall?”
“Something like that.”
“Huh.”
However,
it wasn’t a perfect escape.
“For now, I think I’m the only one who could do it.”
“Sir? Why is that...”
“Because the heat was that extreme.”
There are jobs with flame resistance
or flame affinity besides me.
But—
“Mm... right.”
“If Sergeant Shin’s hand ended up like that, it’ll be difficult.”
Not just in our unit...
Based on the intel our guild knows at least,
there’s no awakened in the surrounding area higher level than me.
“Though who knows about other regions.”
That’s not all.
The effect of Absolute Palate,
the time I drank Ariella’s blood,
the Essence of the Chef of Dasmur, and so on—
with multiple elements combined,
no one in the unit could match my stats.
Even Lee Hyunjin, who holds the next highest stats after me, has been falling behind again lately.
With stats at this level and flame affinity,
then stacking every dish that can block heat.
“Even after mobilizing all that, my arm still charred pitch black.”
“...”
“If I’d stuck my head in, I’d probably have died on the spot. I said I could cross, but to actually make it through, I’ll need much more preparation. And even then, taking massive burns is a given.”
“If you’re at that point, the others wouldn’t even be able to attempt it with their capability.”
“Yeah. We’ll conquer the whole of Gangwon-do faster than that.”
Even if it’s possible to cross,
in my case it’s the result of all kinds of coincidences lining up—
“unless you can assemble extreme flame endurance, it’s absolutely impossible.”
In normal cases, it’s not much different from a physically impassable wall.
If it really is playing the role of a beginner-protection zone, then making it impossible to cross is normal.
Me being able to do it makes me feel like a bugged character of sorts.
“No, it might not stop there.”
Maybe,
the very moment I cross that wall,
some form of sanction might come down.
That’s something you can’t know until you actually cross it completely.
“...So.”
Once the rough discussion wrapped,
and everyone understood the situation,
Sergeant Lee Minjae’s eyes
turned to me.
“Are you going? To another region.”
“...Hm.”
Right.
We’ve confirmed I can go to another region.
But that’s only that it’s possible.
Actually going to another region is a different matter.
“...”
“...Gulp.”
As I held back my words,
I felt the squad leaders’ gazes stab into me.
Oddly uneasy,
nervous, hemming and hawing while reading my face.
“They’re worried I’ll announce I’m heading for another region right this instant.”
And
their worry wasn’t baseless.
“To be honest, yeah, I do want to bolt out there right now.”
Of course I do.
This is Gangwon-do.
And until I enlisted,
I had so few occasions to set foot in Gangwon-do...
I was a man from another region.
“My family and friends... are in Gyeonggi-do.”
The people who were precious to me.
All of them were in another region.
While I’m standing here talking,
for all I know my family, who barely managed to survive this long, could be facing mortal danger.
“‘Go to another region,’ huh...”
I was dying to cross that wall right now, sprint to Gyeonggi-do,
and check on the safety of the people I know.
But—
“No.”
Even so,
I have to hold it in now.
“...Are you going to be okay?”
Minjae hyung looked at me with worried eyes.
I could guess what was on his mind.
He’s one of the few who really worry about me among the unit.
But what can I do.
No matter how desperate my desire to leave,
“I can’t leave this unit right now.”
“...That’s true.”
It’s true our unit is quite strong.
But we’re not exactly relaxed.
Especially...
“Right now, there are quite a few soldiers relying on the Corps Commander.”
“Exactly. Damn it, how did it end up like this.”
I felt it during the contractor purge too,
but the reason the soldiers can survive this world now
is because of their reckless faith in me, their Corps Commander.
On top of that, facility upgrades in Vimana and so on—
there are more than a few things only I can do.
If I suddenly ran off to Gyeonggi-do saying I’m going to find my family,
soldiers in the middle of waging a clean occupation war—
what happens when they realize their Corps Commander has vanished?
“The troop morale I managed to keep in line would collapse in an instant.”
With no one left to believe in,
they’d end up relying on demons like those contractors did.
“I mean, I’m not going to lie. Honestly, I’m worried about my family.”
“...Youngjun. I get it, but the moment you leave—”
“I know. I do.”
By now I’ve grown attached to the unit too.
And now that I know just how much those guys rely on me,
“I’m not that good a person, but I’m not a scumbag who’d abandon soldiers who trust and follow me and leave without a plan either.”
No matter what,
I’m not at the level where I could irresponsibly dump them.
“Sergeant Shin...”
The squad leaders looked at me with a strange light in their eyes.
From their perspective, even though I’m worried about my family,
“You’re remarkable.”
“This is my hometown so I never thought about leaving, but others would want to go home right away.”
It would look like I chose to give up my family
and sacrifice myself for the unit.
But... hm.
How should I put this.
There was one more thought
I couldn’t tell them.
“...I never said I’m giving up yet.”
I have no plans to push into another region right now.
If I leave the unit, the unit is likely to fall apart.
Right.
“I’m not scummy enough to leave without a plan.”
And if you invert that statement,
“if I can make a plan, I am scummy enough to leave afterward.”
I’ve said it often enough to other soldiers too,
“Me— I’m not actually that nice a guy.”
I’m not leaving because I’m afraid the unit will collapse.
In that case,
the condition to resolve this situation is simple.
“If I gain confidence that this unit will run normally even if I vacate my post for a bit,”
then even if I suddenly take off—
no one can really say anything.
To make that happen,
hmm...
“I’m going to have to grind.”
The moment my next objective was set.
But
I didn’t bother telling the squad leaders.
“It’s a goal that would just earn me nagging if I say it out loud.”
As fast as possible,
I’ll get the unit prepared to the point that nothing goes wrong even if I’m gone for a short while.
And
the moment that prep is complete,
“I’m going AWOL.”
I’ll leave the unit during service without permission
and go to my hometown where my family should be.
Two days left to terminal leave: Senior Sergeant Shin Youngjun.
Decides to desert!
****
“...That said, nothing comes to mind right now that counts as readying that plan.”
After the talk about the wall wrapped,
our unit returned to normal operations.
“Expedition to Pyeongchang County, moving out!”
“Right, right. Off you go.”
Based on that punk Taejun’s prophecies,
the soldiers were carrying out combat ops with a vigor unlike before.
Other than a small security detail to guard the base, most combat-class awakened were included in occupation squads.
Other than those on leave and the guards, Vimana had only production classes left.
“Everyone looks busy.”
And while they were rushing off to fight,
what was I doing...?
“I’ll cook something delicious when you get back.”
“Oooh... I’ll look forward to it!”
In the kitchen,
I was in charge of meals.
“What. This is my original billet.”
While everyone else fought hard,
I did feel a tiny bit guilty about just cooking in the mess alone.
But what can I do.
“After we took down the contractors last time, I was bedridden for days...”
My combat method is fundamentally about buffs through Absolute Palate.
But when you use that method to gain strong power temporarily,
the side effects are too big.
“I’ve been lucky so far. If I mess up, I really could end up dead.”
Now that my importance has shot up too much,
if I suddenly drop dead, the whole unit will explode.
Unless it’s a case where we have to squeeze out every last ounce of strength,
it’s better I don’t step up if I can help it.
“As Corps Commander, the work is being handled by Minjae hyung and Lieutenant Kim anyway.”
Honestly, that Corps Commander work is the busiest and hardest.
I’m slacking off and dumping it on Lieutenant Kim,
so I get to focus on my main duty as a cook:
cooking.
As for other tasks, there are about two.
One was to decode the [Astrology] Taejun sends and pass on what I figure out as if it were my own strategy.
The other...
[Entering Fortress Management Mode.]
[Mobile Fortress — Vimana (Lv.1)]
our Primary Base,
was managing the Mobile Fortress Vimana.
[Building List]
[Training Ground Lv.5]
[Blacksmithy Lv.5]
[Laboratory Lv.5]
...
...
“Ha. This swells the chest.”
Mobile Fortress Vimana.
When it was first summoned, there were empty lots all over the interior.
It was practically half-unmade...
a level you’d have to call an incomplete fortress.
But as we won occupation battles and our territory expanded,
the sources of Occupation War Points increased as well.
“And all those extra points... I’ve poured them entirely into constructing and upgrading facilities.”
Thanks to that,
there isn’t a single empty lot left inside the fortress now.
“This is surprisingly fun.”
It feels like those domain-building games I played as a student.
Back then I had no cash to spend, but now points are overflowing.
How could this not be fun.
We’ve built every constructible building,
and as for facility levels,
except for exactly one building, every single one had reached the current maximum attainable level of 5.
And then—
[Oh my, what is this!?]
[The workers’ passion and talent shine!]
[Facility level-up time is drastically reduced.]
Same story this time.
With the occupation of Hongcheon bringing in Occupation War Points,
I invested those points
into the one remaining level 4 building.
[Prison Lv.4 -> Prison Lv.5]
[The facility’s level has increased!]
I decided to upgrade the prison.
Probably a facility to confine prisoners...
“But anyone who could have been a prisoner so far has been ‘reformed’ through cooking.”
Unless they fell into another faction’s hands,
the prison had been pretty useless in our unit.
So the place I’d put off leveling to last—
the moment it reached Level 5,
—ding.
That now-familiar,
clear chime rang out.
[Congratulations!]
[All facilities have reached Level 5!]
“Eh?”
Right before my eyes,
a message I hadn’t even expected appeared.
[Condition fulfilled.]
[Construct all facilities and reach maximum level (1/1)]
KRRRRRRRRRRR...
The intact fortress
suddenly started to shake violently.
“W-what the—!?”
“All Legionnaires, emergency!!!”
With the sudden quake,
Legionnaires on standby in Vimana grabbed their weapons and bolted out.
“Accidentally turned this into an emergency drill, huh...”
Once the emergency hit, soldiers were out with weapons in under a minute, not five.
As Corps Commander, the sight made me proud as could be, but...
that wasn’t what mattered now.
[Condition fulfilled. Reward will be granted.]
[Fortress promotion commencing.]
[Mobile Fortress Vimana Lv.1]
“The fortress...”
“Is it getting bigger?”
The massive fortress floating on the river.
There was a bridge the engineers built to connect that fortress to the shore,
but—
SKR-R-R-R-RAPE...
as the fortress expanded in size,
the engineer-built bridge was forcibly shoved, torn, and shattered.
“Gaaah...”
“Do you know how hard we worked on that—!”
I felt sorry for the engineers,
but guessing what was happening wasn’t hard.
[Promotion complete.]
I had no idea how to raise it before,
but Vimana’s level—
[Mobile Fortress Vimana]
[Lv.2]
had reached 2.
And—
[Perk level has reached 2!]
[A Perk Quest is granted!]
[Quest: Grow the Fortress!]
[Condition 1 — All facilities in Vimana reach Level 10. (0/1)]
[Condition 2 — The ruling faction of Vimana possesses sufficient fame and influence. (16,842,583/10,000,000) (Complete)]
[Condition 3 — Activate Vimana’s operational AI. (0/1)]
[Condition 4 — Supply Vimana’s operational mana. (0/10,000,000)]
Along with a new quest,
the rewards for completing it:
[Reward upon completion]
[1. Mobile Fortress Vimana Lv.3]
[2. Facility — Activate Mobility Device]
“...Mobility Device?”
were presented.
