Jun hated situations where he had to rely on luck.
That had been true of the life he lived as ‘Lee Jeong-jun,’ and the circumstances surrounding his life as Jun were far too unforgiving for him to place his hopes in luck either.
For most of his life, Jun had lived far removed from anything resembling good fortune.
But perhaps, this time, luck had decided to take his side.
He had no chance to look behind him, yet instinctively twisted his body and barely managed to avoid a vital point.
Even so, the horrific pain that stabbed through his mind caused Jun to lose consciousness against his will.
After exploring the dungeon with the frail body of a Mage and repeatedly pushing himself into Overheat, Jun's body had already reached its limit.
No matter how many Recovery Potions he drank, they could not erase mental exhaustion as well.
The Plant Undead's strike had been more than enough to sever Jun's consciousness.
CRACKLE—
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes to a comforting warmth was an orange glow.
“Mm…….”
“Ah, Mage!”
The voice that followed fully awakened Jun's consciousness.
“……Where am I?”
“Phew! Thank goodness you're awake!”
Jun turned toward the voice and saw Luke sitting beside the bed where he lay.
“The situation?”
“Wow. That's the first thing you ask the moment you wake up?”
“We don't have time to relax.”
“Hmm. Sorry. Fortunately, everything worked out. As soon as the Plant Warg went down, we took the Warp Gate straight back. I heard the rescue team succeeded too.”
“I see…… We were lucky.”
Jun briefly sighed in relief.
Then he felt someone's gaze and looked up to find Luke staring at him with a complicated expression.
“…….”
“What?”
“I was just…… wondering about something.”
“I have no idea why you're always so curious.”
“Haha, maybe you're right. Lucy's been telling me to curb my curiosity for as long as I can remember.”
“So what are you curious about?”
“Well…… Why did you ignore the Undead behind you and use your magic on the Warg instead?”
For a moment, Jun wondered whether Luke was joking.
But seeing the unusually serious expression on his face, Jun swallowed a dry laugh and answered.
“Because that was the choice that gave us a chance to survive.”
“A chance to survive?”
“If I hadn't killed the Plant Warg there, every future left to us would've been the worst possible outcome.”
Jun slowly explained what he had predicted.
The Adventurers' formation had already collapsed because of the Undead emerging from the ground.
The Warg had been moments away from striking Lucy, and no matter how capable a Level 3 Adventurer she was, her equipment was still only Level 2.
If she took a direct hit from the Warg, death was the only likely result.
If they stopped to clear out the Undead first, they would have had to accept casualties amounting to at least a third of their force.
Whether they could defeat the Warg afterward was beside the point.
Even if they somehow killed it, the subsequent operation to subjugate the Forest Guardian would have become unquestionably impossible.
Naturally, that would lead to total annihilation.
It was a conclusion ‘Lee Jeong-jun’ had reached back when this world was still merely a game to him, after being defeated by the Forest Guardian dozens of times as a new player.
“On the other hand, if I took on one Undead myself and managed to kill the Plant Warg, that was still a favorable trade.”
“……Didn't you consider that we might kill you?”
“Of course I couldn't completely rule out that possibility.”
From Azure Cloud's perspective, Jun was one of the people who had ruined their plans.
Naturally, some of them might resent him for it.
But choosing to kill him would have been one of the worst possible decisions the Adventurers could make.
Jun had already revealed everything he knew to the mercenaries.
He had also, however tenuously, become a focal point holding them together.
If Jun died, that fragile unity could easily collapse again.
Even if everyone somehow managed to move past it, the mercenaries' morale during the Forest Guardian subjugation would have been disastrous.
The mercenaries would undoubtedly have suspected something about Jun's death.
“In the end, if I didn't kill the Warg, my death was basically guaranteed. But if I killed it, there was at least the possibility that you people would choose to save me.”
Of course, Jun had not taken that gamble because he trusted the Adventurers' humanity.
He had simply been given two choices and placed his bet on the one that offered at least some chance of survival.
“It was a calculated decision.”
“I see…… So that's why you said we were lucky.”
“That was part of it. But why are you so curious about something like this?”
Luke had acted similarly when they entered Corpse Flower Depths.
Jun could not understand what Luke was trying to learn from asking questions like these.
“I was just curious. About how you could make a decision like that in a situation like that. And…… I wanted to thank you too.”
The Plant Warg's final target had unquestionably been Luke's twin sister, Lucy.
Remembering that, Luke gave a bitter smile and left the tent.
Jun watched his back for a moment before getting himself together and stepping outside as well.
Fortunately, his condition was not particularly bad.
‘Potions are one of the few things this world has over modern society.’
The power of potions would have made them legendary medicines had they existed in the modern world.
Of course, their side effects varied enormously depending on quality, but fortunately, the potion Luke had given him was a high-quality Intermediate-Grade Recovery Potion.
Perhaps the brief sleep had helped as well.
By the time Jun stepped outside, his body felt at least somewhat lighter.
“Senior!!”
Aiden had finally returned.
At first glance, Aiden did not look particularly different from before.
There was only one obvious change.
His weapon.
His old iron sword had been moved to his side, while the place it had previously occupied was now taken by a dark gray sword.
“You made it back safely.”
“Yes! Senior, are you all right? I only just arrived, but…….”
Perhaps startled by the bandages wrapped around Jun's chest, Aiden's eyes shook with alarm.
“Well, quite a few things happened while you were gone.”
An absurd amount had happened for events spanning only a single day.
Especially considering that Jun had barely slept at all throughout it.
“All that happened while I was gone…… Wasn't that extremely dangerous?!”
“I can still move without any problems.”
His internal injuries had not healed completely, but Jun was not someone who fought on the front line anyway.
This was enough.
“So, what happened to you?”
“Ah, I…….”
Aiden began explaining.
After being trapped inside the Barrier, he had entered an illusion and met a Beastman who introduced himself as Pride, Knight Commander of Herlinte.
Then he described the realization he had gained during Pride's trial.
“It was…… a truly mysterious experience.”
It was not something he could describe as merely moving his body and receiving someone's instruction.
Aiden said it had felt as though Pride's own experiences had seeped directly into him.
‘Good. He got the skill too. And he brought the weapon out properly.’
The sword Aiden had brought back was called the ‘Cloudlight Sword,’ a weapon made from a material known as Cloudlight Stone.
‘The biggest thing is that it's Tier 6 Equipment, and Unique-Class at that.’
Tier 6 Equipment was good enough to remain useful well into the middle stages of the game.
And because it belonged to the Unique-Class, its performance was strong enough to be considered practically equivalent to Tier 5.5 Equipment.
‘Its versatility is another major advantage. This damn game really does favor Warriors.’
Ordinarily, high-tier equipment was useless to low-level Warriors.
They simply lacked the ability to use it properly.
It was the very definition of casting pearls before swine.
The Cloudlight Sword, however, was different.
For one thing, it had exceptional Mana conductivity, making it beloved by Warriors who constantly suffered from insufficient Mana.
Despite being made from an exceptionally light material, it also possessed a toughness that ordinary steel could not begin to match.
‘This is why Warriors were recommended to new players. Get this one sword in the early or middle game, and you can use it comfortably until the middle-to-late stages.’
Naturally, it was not a weapon one would use all the way to the end.
Later on, Warriors gained more breathing room with their Mana, and alternative equipment became available.
‘And Unique-Class equipment doesn't multiply just because a dungeon goes through a Reset, so it's highly scarce too.’
That scarcity made it enormously useful financially when the time came to purchase better equipment.
Aiden was following the most orthodox progression route imaginable for a Warrior player.
‘It's a good thing for one of my party members to grow like this.’
He had obtained a skill and even secured Tier 6 Equipment, something they could barely hope to see at their current level.
Jun would not need to make any major additional investments in Aiden for quite some time.
‘Though his armor still needs plenty of work…….’
Of course, that was something they could only worry about if they survived the current situation.
The two therefore headed straight toward the tents where the rescued Assault Force was being treated.
There were enough injured people that some were receiving treatment even outside the tents.
The Healer whom Jun had advised earlier was outside, treating the Adventurers in much the same way as before.
“Ah, you've come, Mage.”
Perhaps because Jun's help had allowed him to treat the Vice Leader and because the Assault Force had subsequently been rescued safely under Jun's direction, the Healer greeted him with an exceptionally warm expression.
“How are the others?”
“Fortunately, aside from having their life force drained, there are no serious complications.”
“Really? What about inside?”
“A Priest is treating the officers.”
“A Priest…….”
It was an NPC-only class that players had been unable to select in the game.
Considering that the Holy Water the Healer used belonged to the Church of Ariclotos, Jun assumed the Priest was probably from the same Church.
Sure enough, when the Healer guided them into the tent, Jun saw a woman treating Azure Cloud's officers.
‘She looks rather unusual.’
In stark contrast to her pure white clothes, the Priest wore a black eyepatch over her eyes.
A soft, sacred radiance emanated from her body.
‘What a strange feeling.’
Perhaps this was what it felt like to truly comprehend that gods genuinely existed in this world.
‘I still don't know whether the reason I came to this world has anything to do with those gods.’
In any case—
‘Oh…….’
Her healing abilities were every bit as impressive as her unusual appearance.
The Fairy Queen's curse was so vicious that even Holy Water had difficulty dispelling it.
Most ordinary Priests therefore struggled to remove the Fairy Queen's curse.
Yet the woman's Divine Power was unmistakably erasing it.
One glance at how dramatically the injured people's conditions had improved was enough to tell Jun that she was a highly capable Priest.
“Lady Eleanor.”
At the Healer's call, the Priest finished what she was doing and turned toward them.
“This is the Mage I mentioned earlier.”
“Ah. You're him?”
Her rough manner of speaking contrasted sharply with the sacred light she had just been wielding.
The woman named Eleanor stopped her treatment and looked Jun over.
“You look pretty unusual.”
“……? I was about to say the same thing.”
“Really? Looks like we're thinking the same thing, then. Anyway, thanks. I heard what happened. Because of you, we managed to save innocent lives…… Ah, these people aren't exactly innocent, are they? Anyway, we saved everyone who could still be saved.”
“How's the treatment progressing?”
“You rescued them at just the right time, so there aren't any major problems. If they'd had their life force drained for another half a day in that condition, they probably would've been beyond saving. Me too, for that matter. So I'll take this opportunity to thank you.”
Despite saying that, Eleanor appeared to be in considerably better condition than the others.
“They still haven't regained consciousness? Can they be sent into battle immediately?”
“They'll wake up soon. I'm deliberately keeping them asleep right now for treatment. As for fighting…… Haa. They'll have to push themselves, but yes, they can fight. Don't expect them to be in perfect condition, though.”
“That's enough. They want to live too.”
“……True. Who doesn't?”
“Then keep treating them. We're short on time. They need to wake up within an hour at the latest.”
“That's a tall order, but I'll try.”
With Divine Power of that caliber, she was unlikely to be making an empty promise.
Reassured, Jun left the tent with Aiden.
A large group of mercenaries greeted them outside, with Colton among them.
Colton stepped forward first.
“Hey, Mage! Glad to see you're alive. I heard you got injured during the operation.”
“It's still uncomfortable, but not enough to stop me from fighting. What about your side?”
“We're fine. You took most of the dangerous work on yourself, so we've only got a few minor injuries.”
“That's good news.”
“We were about to gather everyone for a meeting anyway. Good thing you're here.”
Perhaps because events had proceeded reasonably close to plan, the mercenaries had begun to see a genuine possibility of survival.
Their emotions seemed somewhat less volatile than before.
Wanting to preserve that momentum, Jun accepted Colton's suggestion.
“Good. Then let's hold a short meeting before the Assault Force wakes up.”
They gathered in the meeting area with renewed determination.
How long had they been discussing the operation?
The meeting had finally begun taking shape, with Jun naturally at its center, when someone appeared and poured cold water over the entire discussion.
“A Mage?”
Benjamin Briston.
The Raid Leader of this Conquest Operation stared at Jun with unmistakable displeasure.