Chapter 193 : Chapter 193
Chapter 193
[Bord: Yo, this is dangerous. How about we scout around a bit before we go?]
[Muller: This isn’t good. Let’s get out of here. Let’s move forward.]
[Kazaks: We need to regroup. Is it time for my cooking skills to shine?]
[Adela: Insolent orcs…, they dared to lay a hand on me? Let’s go get revenge immediately!]
Except for Kazaks whining about wanting to cook, all the options were different.
“Whew!”
The cadet, muttering that he was glad the Martin option didn’t appear, chose Kazaks.
[Kazaks: Hmm! Regrouping is always necessary! If we openly light a fire and prepare, the monsters will be deceived by the feint and become suspicious! In the meantime, we will recover our stamina….]
[Martin: Tsk, they’re all thoughtless. Heads full of flowers. Do they think they’re here to play?]
[Character ‘Martin’ leaves the group!]
I squeezed my eyes shut and let the strength drain from my body. I slumped in my chair and let out a deep sigh. He deserted again.
The fate of cadet number 2 was not much different from Gilbert’s. While they were regrouping according to Prince Kazaks' opinion.
“…I’m saying this just in case, but I am not a fool who only knows how to cook.”
Because they were surrounded and wiped out in one go by the monster army that arrived.
Thanks to the overwhelming difference in military power, I could tell. They had to flee from the very beginning.
“Number 3?”
“Alright, my turn!”
It was Luri. Luri also defeated the Orc patrol and then chose an option.
[Elisha: It’s dangerous here. Anywhere is fine, so let’s get out of here for now.]
[Shuga: Ugh, annoying. Let’s rest for a bit before we go. Why an ambush from the start?]
[Luri: Forward march! Let’s head towards the objective and shake off the pursuers!]
[Kazaks: Is it time for my cooking skills to shine? Let’s regroup….]
“Forward march!”
Luri chose the character Luri’s option.
[All group members prepare to move swiftly.]
It was the first option where Martin didn’t desert.
[There are three paths.]
[Martin: Let’s go straight ahead. My intuition is calling.]
[Luri: I think left is the right way.]
[Anette: How about we try going right?]
[Kazaks: The path has split. It would be good to slowly regroup and think. Well then, is it time for my cooking skills to shine?]
Three paths. The difficulty would change depending on which one was chosen. Naturally, after careful consideration…
“Okay! I understand, Martin!”
“…?!”
Luri ignored her own opinion and accepted Martin’s. The party headed straight ahead.
What appeared before the party was a huge castle. Gasps followed from the cadets.
“Wow, if you go forward, a castle appears.”
“Isn’t going forward usually the normal way? Why did this only appear on the third try?”
“Seems like the first two weren’t normal…”
Anyway, a castle appeared. Since they knew a monster army was approaching from behind, getting the castellan’s help here would be fine. But…
[Adela: This is good. Let’s hear about the vicinity from the castellan here.]
[Kazaks: Since we’ve come this far, let’s rest a bit and regroup. Is it time for my cooking skills to shine?]
[Martin: So what if a castle appeared? The objective is beyond it. We must force a march.]
[Gilbert: My opinion is….]
“I understand, Martin!”
“…?”
At this point, everyone started to realize something was strange. The options? No. The person choosing the options.
But in conclusion, it was the right choice. Because not long after leaving the castle, they saw it go up in flames. If it couldn’t even last a single day against the enemy, it was obvious the result would have been the same even if they had lent their strength.
[Martin: This is correct.]
“Okay!”
[Martin: That is correct.]
“Okay!”
It was an absurd story. But it seemed like about half of the virtual simulation’s story proceeded smoothly. The cadet characters inside the simulator also thought something was strange.
[Elisha: Is this right…?]
[Gilbert: It feels like… Martin’s opinion is being accepted too much.]
Looking back, they also realized that those decisions were correct.
[Mary: I-If we had helped that person back then, it would have been a disaster…! To think it was a transformed monster….]
[Lina: That’s a relief. Cadet Martin’s intuition was correct.]
“Will she really… clear this…?”
The Class A cadets looked at Luri with a mixture of hope and anxiety, but Hailey just smiled.
[Martin: Kkeuk!]
[Character Martin has died! Wiped out!]
“Eh…?”
They had been brutally killed by the mid-boss of the Time Chaos Dungeon, the strategist of the monster army.
[You ran looking only ahead. Wouldn’t the story have changed if you had rescued someone along the way?]
Luri’s challenge ended with the simulator’s advice.
‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
I knew that the character Martin was represented quite well, but it seemed inevitable that his performance dropped during the balancing process. My Wild Instinct and Know-It-All would have led to a better ending.
“Next, number 4?”
After that, other outstanding cadets came out and ran the simulator.
Even the cadets known to be smart like Elisha, Mary, and Kazaks couldn’t clear it to the end.
If you chose option 1, you’d be defeated by the monster army; if you chose 2, Martin, one of the core combat powers, would desert; if you chose 3, the main story would be blocked; and if you chose 4, you had to eat Prince Kazaks' cooking.
“No, so why does Your Highness only keep cooking?”
“Muller, that is not me. It is merely a character modeled after my form.”
“Your Highness, do you like cooking? Should I practice too?”
“Shuga, I told you it’s not me.”
Prince Kazaks was staring straight ahead with a displeased look on his face. And I was the same.
“There, there, Martin. Are you sulking because I didn’t listen to you?”
“Ehehe, Martin. I listened to everything you said, you know? How about it? How about it?”
“…”
And.
“Next, number 14?”
My turn came.
- Know-It-All (Lv 4) cheers that it has been waiting for this moment. It will analyze all the previous cases and select the best options!
- Wild Instinct (Master) declares that it will guess by feel and make the best choice no matter what situation or option comes up!
Naturally, it began with an attack by the Orc patrol.
[Elisha: I will sweep away the enemies with my arrows!]
Elisha in the simulator… as if her injury wasn’t reflected, was the flower of the battlefield, holding a red bow and firing a barrage of arrows.
As the Orc patrol was annihilated, options appeared as always.
[Adela: Now then, let’s leave this place at once. We move forward for now.]
[Luri: How about we search the surroundings? There might be hidden paths or treasures.]
[Anette: As I see it, dealing with those orcs would be a good idea.]
[Kazaks: Is it time for my cooking skills to shine?]
I didn’t even look at option 4.
“Number 1.”
[Adela: Yes, forward it is. I permit it. It is your honor to serve me.]
As everyone went forward, a forked path appeared. I declared before the options even came up.
“Right.”
We conquered the small dungeon there and recovered a considerable amount of treasure and someone’s lost key. With that, we returned to the forked path, then went to the castle on the central path and met the castellan.
[Castellan: Welcome, travelers. This castle is currently preparing for an attack by a monster army….]
“Hand over the key.”
The one to bring up that option seemed to be Bord, as he handed the key to the castellan.
[Bord: This is a key we found by conquering a dungeon.]
[Castellan: No, this is! The key that awakens the secret weapon from the ancient legends of the castle! Oh, the great gods of light must have sent you to save us….]
“Skip. We fight together.”
As expected, it was the option of the justice-fool Gilbert.
[Gilbert: We will fight with you. It may be a small contribution, but please let us lend our strength. I am confident in my skills, so I will not be a burden.]
[Castellan: Having seasoned heroes with us is reassuring! Just hold out until I awaken the secret weapon!]
The siege battle began. We had to hold out for 30 turns. The situation with goblins, orcs, trolls, and ogres swarming in was urgent, but with the castellan’s army and the castle walls as a shield, 30 turns were manageable.
[Gilbert: Ugh, did the attack miss!]
‘Damn it.’
Neither Know-It-All, Wild Instinct, nor I knew that Gilbert’s attack, which had a 99% success rate, would miss.
[Martin: Die.]
What was lacking was filled in by Martin. The key to this game was the attack success rate, and Martin’s was 100%, making him a very superior force.
…As long as he didn’t desert, that is.
[Boss Monster, Drake, has appeared.]
A drake here again? It was a monster that even ogres and wyverns would defer to.
[Castellan: Now, the guardian colossus of the ancient people has appeared!]
At that moment, the castellan arrived just in time.
The ancient secret weapon was a giant made of stone. It flew into the sky and crashed down on the drake’s head. Afterwards, it ran rampant on top of it and began to slaughter the monster army.
[Battle Victory.]
[Castellan: Thank you! May the blessings of light be with you on your journey! I don’t have much to give for your journey, but just once, when you wish it! The guardian deity will help you!]
We left the castle and went back the way we came. Past the initial location, we went to where the monster army had originally been, and there was an unidentified dungeon.
[Kazaks: Is it time for my cooking skills to shine?]
After resting and getting into perfect condition, we conquered the dungeon.
[This dungeon will be extremely difficult and arduous!]
So without a second thought, I immediately summoned the castle’s guardian deity and had it annihilate everything.
There, the monster army’s king had left behind his wives and an unopenable treasure chest. I killed them all and took everything.
The cadets were amazed at my management.
“Wow, there was something like that…?”
“That’s awesome. But if you do that…”
[The King of the Monster Army is enraged! He comes rushing towards you!]
“Isn’t that bad…?”
“Y-You’re right.”
And the party returned to the castle. As they waited there, the monster king soon arrived.
[Monster King: Oh! You cruel and ruthless ones! How dare you dishonorably touch the family of an empty house?!]
A countless horde. A tremendous military force. I smirked and decided.
“Threaten him.”
Character Martin walked out.
[Martin: If you want this back safely, let’s make a deal.]
[Monster King: No! Stop! Please!]
At that moment, the unopenable treasure chest clicked open, and a single, brilliant egg appeared. It was clearly the monster king’s egg from the circumstances.
[Martin: Promise you won’t attack humans as long as you live.]
[Monster King: I-I understand…!]
Just like that, anticlimactically, the ending came.
[A dishonorable and cheap act! The favorability between all characters plummets!]
[The Monster King’s world conquest has become a pipe dream! The Time Chaos Dungeon has been conquered!]
[However, the Monster King’s child remains! Peace will one day be broken. The way you saved the world might have been too convenient and simple. Ah, of course! This is a Time Chaos Dungeon, so it doesn’t matter!]
[Ending Number 99, Are you perhaps a multi-run player?]
[Achievement Unlocked, Disliked!]
Favorability, story, whatever, the game was cleared as if I had used a cheat. Looking to my side, Hailey’s expression was strange. She was frozen with her eyes wide open.
The cadets’ expressions were also like ‘what’s with him,’ ‘how did he do that…?’ and so on.
It seemed an explanation was needed. If I didn't, they would gossip about me for a while. The type I hated the most.
“It was a simple matter.”
The people around me stared with expressions that said, what’s so simple about it. I sighed and explained.
“In the first run, Gilbert confirmed the monster army’s base. In the third run, Luri found out that the entire army moves to a certain point in the mid-game. In that case, wouldn’t there be a need to explore the base again?”
We often called such places ‘hidden pieces.’ It was common for items or cheats that made the game progress easier and smoother to be hidden there.
“Also, through repeated playthroughs, we even heard rumors that the monster king had a child, and that disaster would come when it hatched.”
The degree would vary depending on the case, but that hidden piece sometimes contained the master key to end the game.
“It was just a simple solution derived from analyzing the information gathered through multiple playthroughs.”
The other cadets looked at me with dumbfounded expressions as I shrugged my shoulders.
Naturally, up to the 20th challenge after that. No other ending appeared.