Jun hated the very idea of relying on luck.
This was true not only in the life he had lived as Lee Jeong-jun but also because as Jun, the circumstances were far too unfavorable to depend on luck.
In most situations, Jun had lived a life far removed from good luck.
But this time, perhaps that unreliable luck had finally favored him.
Although he couldn’t see behind him, Jun instinctively twisted his body and barely avoided a critical hit.
Even so, the excruciating pain that pierced his mind caused him to lose consciousness against his will.
Exploring dungeons with a frail mage’s body and pushing himself into an overheat state multiple times had already driven Jun’s body to its limits.
No matter how many recovery potions he drank, the mental exhaustion wouldn’t simply vanish, and the Plant Undead’s strike was enough to sever Jun’s consciousness.
Crackle—
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes with the warm heat around him, was a crimson glow.
“Mmm…”
“Oh, Sir Mage!”
The voice that followed fully roused Jun from his daze.
“…Where am I?”
“Whew! Thank goodness you’re awake!”
Turning toward the direction of the voice, Jun saw Luke sitting beside the bed he was lying on.
“What’s the situation?”
“Wow, that’s the first thing you ask as soon as you wake up?”
“There’s no time to be relaxed.”
“Um, sorry. Fortunately, everything was resolved smoothly. As soon as the Plant Warg fell, we returned through the warp gate, and the rescue team handled the situation well.”
“I see… We were lucky.”
Just as Jun let out a brief sigh of relief, he felt a gaze and looked up to see Luke staring at him with a complicated expression on his face.
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just… I’ve been curious about something.”
“I don’t know why you’re so full of questions.”
“Haha, you might be right. I’ve been scolded by Lucy a lot for being too curious since we were kids.”
“So, what’s bothering you?”
“Well… why did you cast the spell on the Warg instead of dealing with the undead behind you?”
For a moment, Jun thought Luke was joking, but seeing the seriousness in his expression, Jun suppressed a bitter laugh and began to speak.
“Because it was the only way to survive.”
“The only way to survive?”
“If I hadn’t killed the Plant Warg then and there, the future that awaited us would have been the worst possible outcome.”
Jun slowly explained the outcome he had anticipated.
The adventurers’ formation had already been disrupted by the undead rising from the ground.
The Warg was poised to strike Lucy, and even though she was a level 3 adventurer, her equipment was only at level 2.
Allowing the Warg’s attack to land would have inevitably led to death.
When it came time to deal with the undead, they had to be prepared for at least a third of their forces to suffer casualties.
Whether they could even kill the Warg with that number was another matter, and even if they did, the subsequent mission to subdue the Forest Guardian would have been utterly impossible.
Naturally, in that case, they would be wiped out.
This was Lee Jeong-Jun’s conclusion when he first encountered this world through the game and got defeated dozens of times by the Forest Guardian during his rookie days.
“On the other hand, if I handled the undead on my own and managed to kill the Plant Warg, it would have been a good trade.”
“…Didn’t you ever consider that we might kill you instead?”
“Of course, I couldn’t completely rule out that possibility.”
To the Azure Cloud party, Jun was one of the reasons their plan had been ruined. Naturally, there would have been resentment toward him.
But from the adventurers’ perspective, that choice would have been the worst of the worst.
Jun had already shared the crucial information he knew with all the mercenaries, and he had become a focal point for them. If Jun were to die, their unity might have crumbled again.
Even if they managed to get through somehow, the mercenaries’ morale during the battle against the Forest Guardian would have been at its lowest.
Undoubtedly, the mercenaries would have harbored suspicions about Jun’s death as well.
“In the end, if I didn’t kill the Warg, I would die in the end anyway, but if I did kill it, at least the option to spare me would remain.”
Of course, it wasn’t because Jun trusted the adventurers’ humanity that he made such a gamble.
He had only two choices available to him, and he simply bet on the one with the highest chance of survival.
“It was a calculated decision.”
“I see… When you said you were lucky, that’s what you meant.”
“That’s part of it. But why are you so curious about this?”
Just as when they first entered the Corpse Flower Dungeon, Jun couldn’t understand the motive behind such questions.
“I was just curious, about how you could make that kind of decision in such a situation. And… I also wanted to say thank you.”
Luke’s smile turned bitter as he remembered that in the final moment, the Plant Warg had clearly targeted his twin sister Lucy.
After a moment, he left the tent.
Jun who had been watching his retreating figure soon gathered himself and followed him outside.
Fortunately, his condition wasn’t too bad.
One of the few things better in this world than in modern society is definitely potions.
The power of a potion, which would have been called a miracle cure in the modern world.
Of course, the side effects varied greatly depending on the quality, but fortunately, the potion Luke had given him was a rather high-quality intermediate potion.
After briefly closing his eyes to rest, Jun felt slightly better and stepped outside.
“Senior!”
Finally, Aiden had returned.
***
There wasn’t much difference in Aiden after his return… except for one thing.
His weapon had changed.
The iron sword he had used before was set aside, and in its place was a sword of deep gray color.
“You made it back safely.”
“Yes! Are you alright, Senior? I just got here…”
Aiden’s eyes wavered. He seemed to be startled by the sight of Jun with bandages wrapped around his chest.
“Well, a lot happened while you were gone.”
It was hard to believe that so many things had happened in just a single day.
Things that had unfolded with barely any sleep.
“Such things happened while I was away… Was it serious?”
“There’s no problem with moving around.”
Though the internal injuries hadn’t fully healed, it was enough since Jun wasn’t fighting on the front lines.
“So, what happened to you?”
“Oh, I…”
Aiden started explaining how, after being trapped in the barrier, he had met a beastman who introduced himself as Pride, the Knight Commander of Herlinte.
He went on to describe how he gained enlightenment through the trials Pride had imposed.
“It was… really a mysterious experience.”
It wasn’t simply about moving his body or listening to someone’s teachings.
It felt as though Pride’s very experiences had seeped into him. This was how Aiden thought of that experience.
Alright, you’ve gained some skills, and you’ve come out with a good weapon too.
The sword Aiden brought out was called the “Meteorite Sword”. It was a sword crafted from a material known as Meteorite Stone.
The most important thing is that it’s a 6th-grade piece of equipment and part of the unique category.
A 6th-grade weapon was good enough to use until the mid-game. And since it was unique, its performance was nearly at the level of a 5.5-grade weapon.
It also has good versatility. This really is a warrior-friendly shit game.
Typically, high-grade equipment is useless to low-level warriors because they lack the ability to wield it properly.
It’s the perfect example of a pearl necklace on a pig, but that wasn’t the case with the Meteorite Sword.
First, its magic conductivity was exceptionally high, making it a favorite among warriors who always struggled with a lack of magical power. And even though it was made of an incredibly light material, it possessed a hardness better than steel.
This is why the warrior class is often recommended to newbies. Just getting that one sword early on can carry you through the mid-to-late game without much trouble.
Of course, by the late game, when mana becomes more abundant or alternatives appear, it wouldn’t be a weapon you’d use until the very end…
And since unique equipment doesn’t get duplicated when a dungeon resets, its rarity is also high.
This helps a lot financially when acquiring better gear later on.
Aiden was following the classic path that every warrior user eventually takes.
It’s a good thing to see a member of my party growing like this.
Aiden had acquired skills and even obtained 6-grade equipment, which was nearly impossible to come by at this point. For now, he didn’t need to make any additional major investments.
There’s still a lot to improve on the armor side, though…
But for now, that was a concern for another time.
With that in mind, the two headed straight to the camp where the rescued raid party was stationed.
Since there were quite a few of them, there were some being treated even outside the camp.
Outside, the healer who had previously received advice from Jun was treating adventurers in a similar manner as before.
“Ah, you’re here, Sir Mage.”
Thanks to Jun’s earlier help in treating the vice leader and successfully rescuing the raid party under his command, the healer greeted Jun with an exceptionally warm expression.
“What about the others?”
“Fortunately, aside from having their life force drained, there are no major issues.”
“Is that so? How are things inside?”
“The priest is treating the leaders.”
“A priest, huh…”
It was an NPC-exclusive class that players couldn’t choose in-game.
Judging by the fact that the healer was using holy water from the Ariklotus temple, it was likely that the priest belonged to the same temple.
Sure enough, when they followed the healer into the camp, they saw a woman treating the leaders of the Azure Cloud party.
But she looks a bit unusual…
The priest, whose eyes were covered with a black blindfold in contrast to her pure white clothes, was emitting a faintly shining divine light.
What a strange feeling.
It felt like a tangible reminder that gods truly existed in this world.
I’m not sure if my arrival in this world is connected to those so-called gods, though.
Anyway.
Oh…
Her healing abilities were as remarkable as her unique appearance.
The Fairy Queen’s curse was notoriously difficult to dispel, to the point where even holy water had little effect.
Many priests struggled to cleanse the Fairy Queen’s curse, but her divine power was effectively extinguishing it.
The significantly improved condition of the injured made it clear that she was a highly skilled priest.
“Lady Eleanor.”
At the healer’s call, the priest finished what she was doing and turned her gaze.
“This is the mage I mentioned.”
“Oh, it’s you?”
The woman called Eleanor, who had been handling the holy light, now looked at Jun with a surprisingly rough tone. It was quite different from her earlier demeanor.
“You look pretty unusual.”
“…? That’s what I was going to say.”
“Is that so? It seems we both had similar thoughts. Anyway, thank you. I’ve heard the story. Thanks to you, many innocent lives were… Ah, well, these people aren’t exactly innocent. In any case, we saved who we could.”
“How’s the treatment progressing?”
“Thanks to the timely rescue, there’s no major problem. If their life force had been drained for even half a day more in that condition, there would’ve been no hope. The same goes for me, of course. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude.
Although Eleanor spoke those words, she seemed to be in better shape compared to the others.
“They haven’t regained consciousness yet? Can they be sent back into battle?”
“They’ll wake up soon. I’ve deliberately kept them asleep for treatment. As for battle… Haah. It’ll be a bit of a strain, but they can fight. It’s hard to expect perfect condition, though.”
“That’s good enough. These people probably want to survive too.”
“…. Well, who wouldn’t want to live?”
“Then, I’ll leave the rest of the treatment to you. Time is of the essence. They need to be awake within the hour at the latest.”
“That’s going to be tough, but I’ll try.”
A priest able to use such divine power wouldn’t make empty promises.
Jun felt reassured and stepped outside with Aiden.
Then, what greeted them was a large group of mercenaries with Colton among them.
Colton stepped forward and asked first.
“Hey, Mr. Mage! You made it out safe. I heard you got injured during the mission.”
“It’s still uncomfortable, but not to the point where I can’t fight. So, how are things on your end?”
“Well, we didn’t have much to worry about since you handled all the dangerous stuff. Aside from a few minor injuries, we’re fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“We were just about to have a meeting with everyone. It’s lucky you’re here, Mr. Mage.”
The situation seemed to be unfolding according to plan, so maybe the mercenaries had begun to see a glimmer of hope for survival.
The tension in their emotions seemed a bit less sharp than before.
Because of that, Jun decided to accept Colton’s proposal. He wanted to maintain the current momentum.
“Alright, let’s have a quick meeting before the raid party members regain consciousness.”
With their resolve strengthened, they gathered in the conference room and began discussing the upcoming operation.
But just as they were starting to establish some structure and Jun was leading the conversation, some individuals arrived to throw cold water on the meeting.
“Mage?”
It was Benjamin Briston.
The leader of this raid.
He looked at Jun with eyes full of displeasure.
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