I had a dream.
At some point, a gray fluffy cat had settled on my chest.
It looked tired and fed up with everything. It reminded me a lot of someone I know.
I spoke to the loafing cat.
“It’s been a while.”
Feels like you only show up around midterms and finals.
The cat glanced at me lazily, then half-closed its eyes like it was sleepy.
Just then, a puppy came trotting over from somewhere.
Its fur had a reddish tinge and it looked just as scruffy. That again reminded me of someone.
“Whimper…”
The puppy hesitated, watching carefully, then cautiously climbed up onto my chest.
To my surprise, the cat didn’t react at all.
I thought it used to swat with its paw the moment someone came close.
Now, the two of them just sat side by side, loafing quietly.
After a while, the puppy shifted slightly, like it was trying to sit more comfortably.
And in doing so, it accidentally bumped the cat off with its body.
The gray cat rolled off and tumbled to the ground.
It briefly opened its eyes, then settled down by my side, like it couldn’t be bothered to climb back up.
Seeing this, the puppy who had been anxiously watching suddenly perked up with a bright expression.
Its tail wagged wildly.
I watched the tail propeller spin faster and faster… then opened my eyes.
“……”
The first thing I saw was red hair and the top of someone’s head.
Hong Yeon-hwa was fast asleep, resting her head on my chest just like in the dream.
No wonder I felt so stuffy.
Seo Ye-in, for her part, was using my arm as a pillow, having pulled it to the side.
No wonder that felt numb.
My arm had lost so much circulation that I could barely feel anything now.
We were all lying normally before going to bed.
How did we end up all tangled like this?
They must have some pretty wild sleeping habits.
When I looked outside the shop, morning sunlight was streaming in.
[Campsite] would soon be lifted, so I decided to wake the others.
I gently shook Hong Yeon-hwa’s shoulder.
“Hey guys, time to wake up. It’s morning.”
“…Heeh.”
Instead of opening her eyes, Hong Yeon-hwa giggled in her sleep.
Was she having a good dream?
“Hehe, I’m… number one…”
“Number one? Congrats.”
“State-level… official wife. Hehe.”
“That’s impressive.”
“Hehe, right…?”
When I played along, Hong Yeon-hwa got even more excited, digging herself deeper into embarrassment for later.
Then, as if she sensed something was off, she slowly opened her eyes.
Her head was still resting on my chest, so when she looked up, our faces were just a handspan apart.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes went wide as she stared at me, and I gave her a warm smile.
“Looks like you’re awake.”
“Uh, mhmm. G-Good… uh… what was it again…?”
“Morning?”
“M-Mhmm. Good morning…”
She awkwardly pushed herself up and sat up straight.
Her eyes darted around, clearly thinking something over, before she hesitantly asked,
“Hey… um…”
“Yeah?”
“Well, um… did you… hear it…?”
“Hear what?”
“N-No! Nothing! If you didn’t, then that’s fine!”
Hong Yeon-hwa waved her hands frantically, then visibly relaxed and began tidying up her blanket.
I leaned in close and whispered meaningfully in her ear,
“…So you’re the one they talk about in rumors? The state-level official spouse, huh?”
“Waaahh!! No, I’m not!!”
Hong Yeon-hwa grabbed her face and writhed in agony.
One more piece of permanent blackmail material added to the list.
Thanks to that, I was now wide awake.
Next, I turned to wake up Seo Ye-in.
“Wake up, you lazy sloth.”
“Just a bit longer…”
“How much longer?”
“Two hours…”
“That’s not ‘just a bit’.”
Well, to be fair, the average sloth sleeps about 11 hours a day.
But last night, she only got about 8 hours which was the limit of the [Campsite] duration.
On top of that, with all the excitement over the Breath and the deal with the hooded man, not to mention getting woken up in the middle….no wonder she was short on sleep.
Honestly, I wanted to let her sleep a bit longer, but unfortunately, the situation didn’t allow for such luxury.
Unusual sounds were coming from outside.
Bwoong— Bwoong—
Doom… Doom…
A deep, resonant horn like a ship’s foghorn, and the sound of drums.
It meant new types of monsters had appeared, different from yesterday, and that their numbers were large enough to warrant the use of horns and drums.
At that point, even Seo Ye-in seemed to realize how serious the situation was, and she stopped being stubborn and got up without a fuss.
I handed her a slice of bread with jam, our breakfast.
Then I pointed upward.
“Let’s eat up there.”
It’d be easier to decide how to act once we had a clear grasp of what was happening.
Soon after, we climbed up to the roof.
It was only three stories high, but since the surrounding buildings were all about the same height, it was more than enough to see the area clearly.
The first thing that caught our eyes was the steadily advancing monster army.
As luck would have it, they were the very same ones we had fought in the dungeon just last week.
Orc Warriors.
In the [Land of Warriors], there were only one or two per group. Here, though, they were countless.
Not a single regular orc in sight.
Scattered among them were a few holding staves. Just like their appearance suggested, they were Orc Shamans.
Their rank was C+.
Go Hyeon-woo let out a low murmur.
“They’re the elite of the elite.”
“Fitting for Day 2 difficulty.”
If the ogres and trolls we saw yesterday were somewhere between Rank D and C, today’s wave averaged at least Rank C, with a few C+ mixed in.
And it wasn’t just the ranks. These guys showed a certain level of intelligence and were acting in an organized manner. That couldn’t be ignored.
Even that alone made them quite the challenge.
And we still have to worry about the Draconic Soldiers.
They hadn’t shown up yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Doom, doom…
The orc horde advanced down the main road, blowing horns and beating drums.
In the midst of it all, a shaman raised his staff above his head and began murmuring an incantation.
A wide wave of energy spread out from where he stood.
Watching this, Hong Yeon-hwa muttered to herself.
“Detection magic.”
As the name implied, it was a spell used to locate specific targets within a certain range.
And it was painfully obvious what they were looking for.
As if sensing something, the orc shaman pointed his staff toward several residential homes.
“Chwik, chwik!”
“Break it! Kill them!”
Immediately, warriors stormed the buildings.
Moments later, they emerged with bloodied axes and swords.
A harvest.
On the first day, they had isolated the city with a barrier and used a horde of mid-tier monsters to drive the civilians inward.
And now, on the second day, they were picking them off one by one.
Rummaging through every house would’ve been inefficient. So they relied on detection magic instead.
Once the area was cleared, the orc horde resumed their march.
Then they would stop again, cast another detection spell, and the warriors would pounce on any survivors found.
“Chwik! Over there!”
“Kill the humans!”
Those hiding quickly realized the grim truth.
At this rate, they were simply waiting to die.
People began pouring out from several homes, running blindly in the opposite direction.
Some tried to move cautiously, but it wasn’t nearly enough to fool the orc warriors.
The monsters caught up with frightening speed and began hunting them down one by one.
Among the hidden were mercenaries and students, some of whom chose to fight rather than flee.
But the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming.
We can’t just charge in like yesterday.
We needed to fight smart.
I gave the party a quick briefing.
“Our best bet is to take out the shaman.”
The detection magic was a critical part of their strategy, and there weren’t many shamans to begin with.
Dozens of warriors surrounded each shaman to protect them.
In other words, once taken out, they wouldn’t be easily replaced and doing so could slow the entire orc horde’s advance.
It seemed we weren’t the only ones who had come to that conclusion.
Swiiiiiiiish—!
With a sharp whistling sound, a volley of magic arrows tore through the air.
“Chwik, chwik! What is that?!”
“Protect the chief!”
Some of the warriors blocked them, others threw themselves in the way. But a few arrows still managed to pierce the shaman squarely in the chest.
I checked, and as expected, it was Cha Hyeon-joo.
She’s alive.
I’d thought she’d been taken out by the Draconic Soldiers’ counterattack on the first day, but looks like she managed to get away.
When our eyes met, Cha Hyeon-joo scowled sharply but didn’t attack.
At least she’s got her priorities straight.
Even a rabid chihuahua would go for the monsters before turning on a person.
The fact that the orc warriors were charging in like maniacs probably helped focus her, too.
Swiiishs—!
As Cha Hyeon-joo intercepted the oncoming enemies, Kang Hee-chan and other students from the Guild Union also began to appear one by one.
And they started clashing head-on with the orc warriors.
After a quick glance at the scene, I turned to my party members and said,
“You saw what Miss Cha just demonstrated? We’re going to do something similar.”
Take out the shamans with a snipe, then deal with whoever comes rushing in afterward.
But to make it more efficient, I planned to lay a bit of groundwork first.
I led the team down to the first floor.
Then I pointed Seo Ye-in toward the crow tree.
[Activated ‘Amplification.’]
[The rank of ‘Fickle Trap’ has increased. (C → A)]
[Duration: 00:29:59]
[Cooldown: 00:29:59]
“Now lay them out. Tight and dense.”
“Dense.”
Seo Ye-in set the traps.
Hong Yeon-hwa too drew her magic circles in advance.
Before long, the area around the building was packed with deadly traps.
With that done, we climbed back up onto the roof.
A rifle would work for sniping, but Seo Ye-in had something even better.
The thing Ahn Jeong-mi had left behind before she departed.
“Time for a test run of the new weapon.”
“The new weapon.”
Her gray eyes sparkled.
Seo Ye-in soon pulled the “new weapon” from her inventory and began assembling it piece by piece.
She set up a support stand like a camera tripod before placing a thick cylinder on top.
Then she attached various devices, including a scope.
What she ended up with was—
A mortar.
Seo Ye-in’s gaze turned to the distant horde of advancing orcs.
More precisely, to the shaman in the center of them.
She began fiddling with the equipment, as if adjusting her aim.
Looks like she actually read the manual.
Maybe all that nagging from Ahn Jeong-mi paid off.
Soon, Seo Ye-in finished calibrating and spread one hand wide.
Mana condensed into a large magic shell, which gently slid into the barrel.
Then, tilting her head as if wondering, “Is this right?” she pulled the trigger.
Thoom—
With a crisp sound, the shell soared high into the sky.
It traveled across the distance and fell squarely on top of the shaman’s head.
Booooooom—!
A blue explosion erupted, vaporizing the shaman and even the nearby warriors without a trace.
Even the ones a bit farther away were thrown into chaos.
“Ch-Chiik!”
“What was that?! Where is it coming from?!”
Seo Ye-in’s eyes gleamed.
“That was fun.”
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