After continuing to watch from the side, I came to one conclusion.
This team was hopeless across the board.
‘They aren’t a pro team, and they’re merely Level 20 Players I just met. Not that I can expect much.’
Even so, it was too much that not a single order given upon entering the fourth room had been sound.
At this rate, we would be wiped out before even clearing the fifth room, the midpoint of our bet.
“Mage, rest! Swordsman, fall back and get some care from the Supporter too!”
“Uh... Huh? Then these Ghouls...?”
“You’re not the only Warrior on this team.”
As I loosened up, I moved the Mana within my body.
Now that my Mana Attribute had risen to 7, the amount of Mana I could control had increased slightly.
For someone like me, who handled Mana with maximum efficiency, it was a substantial increase.
HUMMM...! BANG!
I kicked off the ground and gripped my club with all my strength.
“It’s fortunate that they’re Ghouls. Their attack power is fairly strong, but—”
CRUNCH!
“—their defense is pathetic!”
When I swung my club, a rotten torso caved in and collapsed.
As I rapidly dealt with several of them, new Ghouls quickly poked their heads out.
One of the bothersome things about Ghouls was their overwhelming numbers.
But even that was not a problem for me right now.
Undead with rotting bodies—
[Gravity Field] (D)
—could not be a better match for me.
RUMBLE!
A violet force field spread out, increasing the gravity around me.
Pressure weighed down on my body as well, strongly pressing on my shoulders.
But for corpse bastards with rotten muscles and joints, along with bones riddled with holes—
“Grrrgh...! Kegk!”
“Kaaah!”
—this gravity was far more lethal.
Unable to bear their own weight, the Ghouls crumpled one after another and were crushed.
After confirming that all the Ghouls around me had been incapacitated, I deactivated the Skill.
WHOOSH! CRACK!
Then I returned to smashing them with my club.
[You have dealt with numerous enemies in a single blow by swinging a blunt weapon.]
[E-grade Skill, ‘Swing,’ Has Been Generated.]
The newly generated ‘Swing’ Skill.
I could feel each blow of my club becoming slightly more powerful.
“W... Wow....”
“Focus. It isn’t over yet.”
“Y-Yes!”
When I said that to the streamer, who had been distractedly staring at me, he snapped awake and resumed hunting.
After silently beating down Ghouls for several minutes—
“Phew.”
I crushed the last Ghoul’s head and cleared the fourth room.
[Rooms Cleared: 4]
Only after confirming that the count had properly risen did I relax.
“Th-This is impossible....”
“Are you really Level 6...?”
The Mage, whose color had returned thanks to the Supporter, and the Swordsman, whose wounds had healed, stared at me with their mouths agape.
They could not believe that I had taken down that many Ghouls without assistance from the Mage, Supporter, or even the Archer.
‘Well, if the monsters hadn’t been Ghouls, it might have been harder than this. I can’t ignore the absolute difference in attributes.’
Still, I would not have lost.
My Mana Attribute was currently 7, but considering its efficiency and output, it was no worse than 20.
“Wow... Jaeha, sir. I really see you in a new light. Where were you hiding that kind of strength?”
Taeya approached with deliberately easygoing banter.
“Haha! If you’re that strong, you should have stepped up earlier. We almost got wiped out~.”
“I merely followed the leader’s orders. Wasn’t my role to do nothing and stay in the back?”
When I answered deliberately flatly, his lips trembled slightly.
“That was only because I didn’t know you were that strong, Jaeha, sir!”
“I clearly told you. I was matched here because I am on the same level as all of you. And when I took care of the ambushing rats in the third room, you should have realized that I wasn’t deliberately hiding my ability.”
I stared intently into the eye partially visible through his bangs.
“Why didn’t you reassign Positions in response to the change in our combat strength?”
“That was....”
“And as soon as we entered the fourth room, you abruptly changed your Position from Archer to Warrior as though announcing it unilaterally. A Multi-Position’s strength is that sort of flexibility, but a sudden change without consensus only compounds confusion. Because of that, the Swordsman was badly injured.”
“…….”
That was not the end of the points I had to make.
I approached the Swordsman and Mage.
“The way you handled the front line was a mess as well. Normal Sword User is a Class closer to a damage dealer than a tank. If you keep him too far forward and use him as a monster shield, its efficiency falls sharply.”
“Th-That’s right.”
The Swordsman nodded in agreement as though under a spell.
“Above all, the most shocking thing was the Mage.”
When I called the Mage, the woman’s shoulders jumped.
She lowered her head deeply, apparently mistaking my words for a rebuke.
“You knew that your magic casting time had been gradually getting longer midway through, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Yet you didn’t inspect the Mage’s condition even once.”
I approached the Mage and held out my hand.
“May I have your hand for a moment?”
“Huh? Ah... Yes.”
I carefully took her hand.
“Eek...!”
The Mage startled slightly, and her neck turned red.
Ignoring that, I continued.
“It’s cold. And it’s trembling slightly. It’s Mana Exhaustion.”
Mages, who relied on their Mana Attribute, suffered Mana Exhaustion when they ran out of Mana.
That was also why Mana Capsules had been invented in the world before my regression.
“A Level 20 Mage is not at a point where they can use large spells repeatedly. Yet the leader pushed the clear forward without considering that at all, without giving her time to replenish her Mana.”
“But...!”
“Yes, correct. The Mage undoubtedly also bears responsibility for not informing the leader of her condition. However.”
Holding back my rising irritation and exasperation, I continued.
“A leader also needs the ability to grasp their teammates’ condition beforehand. The Mage had shown several signs that she was at her limit. You were the one who paid no attention to them.”
The problem in the first place was using a ‘One Mage’ strategy, something normally seen only around Silver Rank, in a Level range like this.
It was a strategy where the rest of the team bought time while the Mage prepared a large spell, then swept away the monsters in one blow.
It only became efficient after the Mage obtained a Second Advancement Class.
‘A Novice Mage’s Mana goes dry after two or three large spells.’
The streamer before me was the classic type whose standards were far higher than his own ability.
A typical case of someone who watched high-level League games and top-Rank matches, then got carried away into thinking he belonged at that level.
“You should have given more precise orders for the Supporter’s buffs as well. At the very least, in that last moment, it would have been better to concentrate the buffs on either the Mage or Swordsman.”
“…….”
I could have continued until tomorrow, but I only picked out a few of the biggest issues.
“Huh... You are quite scathing, sir.”
“I told you that I want to clear this dungeon. What I just said are merely the minimum conditions for clearing Underground Prison.”
“Okay! I admit it. It was a mistake in my judgment.”
I had expected Taeya to get angry or mock me, but he straightforwardly admitted it.
‘...No. It’s a little different.’
I knew this type of person.
The type who had confidence in their skill and took pride in it.
They appeared relaxed and composed, acting like ‘geniuses.’
But inside, they burned with a stronger competitive spirit than anyone else.
It was the same now.
His lips were smiling, and his behavior was light, like a child playing a prank, but—
‘The eye faintly visible through his bangs.’
His pupil gleamed with anger.
At least I could give him credit for somehow suppressing that emotion.
“Then why don’t you take over as leader from now on, Jaeha, sir?”
Originally, we were supposed to clear five rooms each. However, since we had cleared four already, Taeya proposed that I clear four as well.
“Then we can vote on who is more suited to lead. What do you think?”
“That’s fine, but....”
When I frowned slightly, he spread his hands and raised them.
“I don’t intend to troll or interfere on purpose. You haven’t forgotten, have you? I’m broadcasting right now. If I deliberately troll on stream, I’ll be ruined~.”
“If that is the case, I’ll trust you.”
Thus, leadership authority was finally delegated to me.
At last, I had the opportunity to rebuild this ragtag team.
“First.”
The first thing I did was—
“I’ll rearrange our Positions.”
—change their Positions.
I first addressed the woman who had been a Mage until now.
“From now on, your Position will be Archer, not Mage.”
“H-Huh?! Archer?!”
“And I will change Taeya’s Position from Archer to Warrior.”
Everyone else would keep their Positions.
The strategy I intended to use was—
“Three Knight (Three Knight).”
A strategy that deployed three Warriors and excluded the Mage.
“Three Warriors? Is that actually going to work?”
The Swordsman voiced his concern, but I had a clear basis.
“Underground Prison has a large number of monsters. The Sewer Rats and Ghouls did too. So it is safer to make the vanguard strong from the beginning.”
“I-I see... But is there a reason to change the Mage lady to Archer? We could leave her as a Mage....”
“A Mage is a Position akin to a cannon. They prepare high-firepower magic and detonate it all at once. But right now, we have no time to look after the Mage’s safety.”
An Archer, on the other hand, was a Position that could operate independently without help from teammates.
“Mage. When you advanced to Novice Mage, you gained the ‘Magic Arrow (Magic arrow)’ Skill, right?”
“Ah... Yes, I have it.”
“Unlike the magic you have used until now, it has far less casting time and consumes less Mana.”
“That’s right.”
“From now on, only use that Skill. Use it to harass the enemies and provide supporting fire. You must also watch for monsters approaching you and pay attention to your own survival.”
“...Yes!”
The Mage’s eyes sparkled as she nodded strongly.
“Supporter, focus your buffs on us Warriors. ‘Three Knight’ is a strategy in which Warriors take both offense and defense, so you need to support us as much as possible. The priority is me, then the Swordsman, and finally Taeya.”
“Understood.”
After that, I briefly determined our combat method.
‘Phew.’
Once everything was finished, I let out a breath inwardly.
This would be much more usable than before.
“You all understand, right?”
“…….”
“…….”
“...Hello?”
I called to the Swordsman and Mage, who had not answered.
“Why are you staring at me so blankly?”
“N-No, it’s just....”
“How do you know the theory so thoroughly? And you’re only Level 6! I thought you were at least Gold Rank.”
“That’s right! Some of it seems like it couldn’t come from simple study or analysis alone. I should say... I can feel your experience.”
It was a remark that hit far too close to the mark, so I could only smile bitterly.
“All right, let’s go.”
The first voyage after the captain changed.
The result was—
.
.
.
[Rooms Cleared: 5]
[Rooms Cleared: 6]
[Rooms Cleared: 7]
Along with a 70% reduction in clear time—
it was a continuous clear without a single injury.