They believed me easily because they were anxious.
No, it would be more accurate to say that they wanted to believe me.
Whenever two or more people gathered, they created a leader.
It was an instinct as natural as the wilderness itself.
Imagine being lost in a forest at night, unable to see anything and trembling in fear.
How would you feel if a 119 paramedic approached with a flashlight?
Relief.
You would believe that the paramedic had come to rescue you and blindly follow wherever he led.
That was the role I currently occupied.
‘The beginning is what matters. If we protect the Guardian Stones from the Raiders on the first night, everything will become easier afterward.’
The first night was the most important part of Sentinels & Raiders.
That was when the Sentinels usually lost the greatest number of Guardian Stones. If they defended them successfully that night, their chances of survival would actually become higher than those of the Raiders.
‘However, people are creatures of suspicion.’
Even now, several people continued watching me without lowering their guard.
And it was not only me they distrusted.
When their lives were at stake, why would anyone trust and cooperate with people they had just met?
That was why the Sentinels were at a disadvantage in this mission.
Cooperation was essential for the Sentinels, but not for the Raiders.
The Raiders only had to seize the Guardian Stones by any means necessary to win.
Later, they would realize that working together improved their chances of survival and begin forming groups. For now, however, they would recklessly charge in under the belief that nothing else mattered as long as they did not die.
-Raiders must seize the Guardian Stones from the Sentinels.
-At dawn, anyone without a Guardian Stone will become an Incineration Target.
-Holding one or more Guardian Stones grants Points.
-The person with the most Points in the Final Score will receive additional Points.
They were probably waiting outside after receiving a message like that.
First, I explained what we had to do.
We had to protect the Guardian Stones scattered throughout the area from the Raiders.
I instructed everyone to form groups of ten with people they felt they could work with.
Most of them wanted to remain near me, but I told them that I could not join a team because I had to command everyone.
They began watching one another cautiously before grouping with the few people they had become somewhat familiar with.
The amusing part was that they instinctively understood which people would be the most advantageous to join.
‘As expected, the men are trying to group with other men.’
Once they learned that their lives could be at risk, they began favoring male teammates.
I personally assigned the two remaining people to the teams that appeared to be lacking members.
‘Two all-male teams, one mixed-gender team, one team composed of the elderly and infirm, and one team filled with everyone who did not fit anywhere else.’
Except for the two all-male teams, it was obvious that most of them had joined their groups reluctantly.
However, this was not something I needed to force.
Wanting to join the group with the highest chance of survival was a perfectly natural survival instinct.
“Everyone, none of you are weak.”
I gave them a single piece of information.
Although they differed in personal experience, none of them were physically inadequate.
‘At this rate, most of the teams will believe they are weak and become completely useless when the fighting begins.’
“You must have realized by now that this place is not normal. It is different from the reality we knew. You now possess Stats. Most of you should have values of 10. Some may have slightly higher values, while others may have one or two values below that. Trust those Stats.”
The crowd began murmuring and reading their Stats aloud.
“My Strength is 12, but my Intelligence is 8. Does that mean I am stupid?”
There were many different conversations, but most were similar to that.
More people were disappointed by their low Stats than pleased by their high ones.
“Any value of 5 or higher is within the normal range. First, let me ask you something. Did anyone suffer from a chronic illness?”
“Me! I have a herniated disc.”
“Try moving your back. Does it hurt?”
“No, it does not hurt, but… it might suddenly give out.”
His desperate tone made it sound as though he wanted to be excused from fighting.
I ignored him and extended a hand toward the heavily wrinkled old man sitting at the very back.
“You appear to be the oldest person here, sir. How does your body feel compared to usual?”
“Hm? Let me see. Strangely enough, neither my knees nor my back hurt. I cannot even remember the last time I was able to stand this straight.”
“Everyone here possesses a body stronger than that of an average man. It does not matter whether you are old or young, male or female.”
I climbed down from the wrecked vehicle, seized its front end, and lifted it with all my strength.
The vehicle, which obviously weighed a tremendous amount, rose with ease.
“Oh…!”
“Ooh.”
Everyone exclaimed in amazement at my extraordinary strength.
“You can do this as well. Someone come and try lifting it.”
They approached the wrecked vehicle with doubtful expressions and tried lifting it as I had.
“I-it really moved! I can actually lift this?”
“Let me try! Whoa! It feels like lifting a ten-kilogram dumbbell. Is this thing fake?”
“Try lifting something else.”
I instructed the man who suspected that the vehicle was fake to lift other objects, and everyone began testing their strength on anything nearby that appeared heavy.
Because their Strength Stats differed, not everyone could lift the objects with equal ease.
Nevertheless, I had conveyed my point perfectly.
“I really feel like some kind of superhuman.”
“That is correct. Compared to your former selves, you are superhuman. At the very least, your strength and speed are comparable to those of the greatest combat athlete in the world, regardless of your age or sex. That means you now possess the power to survive whatever danger comes your way. You are no longer weak. Do not rely on others. You must overcome these trials with your own strength. Otherwise, you will die before long.”
Everyone grew solemn when I mentioned death.
Their bodies might have been stronger than those of trained fighters, but their minds still belonged to ordinary people.
“Fight. Survive. If someone attacks you, strike them, block them, evade them, and kill them. Otherwise, your throat will be pierced, your eyes will be gouged out, and your limbs will be severed. Do you… want to die like that?”
Everyone silently shook their heads at my brutal words.
“The sun will set soon. Once it does, the Raiders will invade. Every Guardian Stone we fail to protect will reduce our numbers. And… for every Guardian Stone we lose, an Incineration Target will be chosen tonight. An Incineration Target will be burned alive, exactly as the name suggests. It will be extraordinarily hot and agonizing. No one knows which of you will be selected. And what if someone dies while protecting a Guardian Stone tonight? Tomorrow, we will have to fight an even harder battle with fewer people. The enemies will grow stronger with every passing day, while we will continue to weaken and become Incineration Targets.”
They finally understood the situation.
The realization that certain death awaited them if they refused to fight ignited their will to resist.
“As we weaken, more Guardian Stones will be plundered. Within a few days, every one of us will be dead. That is how most Sentinels die. Only the Raiders survive, growing stronger through continued plunder. This mission overwhelmingly favors the Raiders.”
Some of the more cowardly people naively asked whether we could simply run away.
“Run away? To where? We are trapped here. Unless we die—no, perhaps not even death will allow us to escape. I told you that an even greater hell awaits after death. You must survive. No matter what it takes, you must protect your life with your own hands.”
Everyone nodded with grim expressions.
With that, I had successfully left them no path of retreat.
Now they would fight, if only to avoid dying.
Of course, I did not trust them completely.
If they were placed in genuine danger, many of them would instinctively flee.
Still, what mattered was that they were currently willing to fight.
At that moment, someone cautiously raised a hand.
“Then… what kind of people are the Raiders? They are… human, correct?”
It was a good attitude.
Anyone capable of asking questions in this situation was quick to face reality and willing to struggle desperately for survival.
It was also a perceptive question.
“Fortunately, the Raiders are people just like us.”
Everyone released a deep sigh of relief.
“However, it is too early to feel relieved. Nothing in this world is more frightening than another human being. They are cunning, vicious murderers.”
“What?”
“As I said earlier, the Raiders tend to survive for a long time. That means they have committed a great deal of slaughter. They are Raiders who must kill others to avoid being killed themselves. They must also have earned a considerable number of Points, and their Stats will be high. We are at an overwhelming disadvantage.”
“Th-then what are we supposed to do? How can we fight murderers who are stronger than us?”
The time had come.
It was time to give them hope that they could survive by remaining united.
“Do not worry. As long as we work together, we possess a far greater advantage. There are three reasons.”
I explained the Sentinels’ strengths to them.
“First, there are only ten enemies. Second, they will not work together. Third, you have me.”
Everyone stared at me in confusion.
“Only ten Guardian Stones have been summoned, so only ten Raiders can enter. The rule is simple. Each team will handle one Raider. I will visit every team, inspect your Active Skills, and explain the appropriate tactics. Their greed will prevent them from working together, so defeating them one at a time will not be difficult.”
I went from team to team, checking everyone’s Active Skills and devising their strategies.
“There are more people with Combat Skills than I expected. Excellent!”
Surprisingly, each team contained a well-balanced number of Combat Skill users, and there were also many people with support abilities.
Not one of them lacked an Active Skill as I did.
Receiving only a Passive Skill without an Active Skill from the beginning was practically a curse.
I selected people who appeared capable of leading others, such as the short-haired woman, and appointed them as leaders.
They became Team 1, the Short-Haired Team; Team 2, the Information Team; Team 3, the Fireball Team; Team 4, the Steel Team; and Team 5, the Healer Team.
I named the teams after their respective leaders’ abilities.
I had already patrolled the entire area and identified the locations of the Guardian Stones and the Raiders’ likely infiltration routes.
“The Raiders will invade from here, here, and over there. Gather every Guardian Stone at this location, and defend against the invaders from the positions I have assigned you. The important thing is that once you defeat your enemy, you must immediately move to support Team 5. Team 5 has fewer members with direct-combat Active Skills. Without support, they will suffer the greatest number of injuries, which will place the Guardian Stones they are defending in danger.”
I had deliberately assigned the weakest team to protect all the Guardian Stones.
That was the only way to force everyone else to cooperate.
At that moment, another person raised his hand high.
“Excuse me, but there are only five teams. Did you not say that ten Raiders would be coming? What about the remaining five…?”
“Did I not tell you earlier? Our third advantage is that you have me. I will handle five of them alone.”
“…!!”
Everyone stared at me in disbelief.
‘I generously gave them five. The other five belong to me.’
I was different from them.
No matter how many Raiders appeared, I could survive.
However… there was no way for me to avoid being randomly selected as an Incineration Target.
‘If I do not want to die an absurd death, we cannot lose even a single Guardian Stone.’
The random selection of an Incineration Target was more frightening than the Raiders themselves.
I knew exactly how meaningless such a death felt because I had died that way before.
Therefore, if I wanted to survive, we could not lose even one Guardian Stone.
‘And I should secure my Contribution while I am at it.’
Although I did not possess a single Active Skill at the moment, dealing with the enemy would not be difficult as long as I knew how they would behave during urban combat.
“That concludes the meeting. Everyone, return to your positions and fulfill your roles. Remember this: if even one Guardian Stone is lost, no one knows who will die tonight. Do not entrust your life to chance.”
It was time to face the enemy.