Chapter 101: Serena’s Play [R-18]

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“Huuu…”

Serena lowered her bow after confirming the twin sisters’ defeat with her own eyes.

There was no point in providing covering fire anymore.

She had helped just enough—no more, no less—to ensure the twin sisters could fight the mage without being interrupted.

I’ve confirmed which side Oppa is on…

She had no intention of hurting her brother, not in the slightest.

But as fate would have it, they had been assigned to opposing factions.

The fact that her squad members, Sol and Sarika, were with Oppa was good news for Serena, but she couldn’t just run over and join them while wearing the Imperial Army’s insignia.

Serena decided to do her best from her current position.

She was sure Oppa would be proud of her for that.

“…Rena.”

But she couldn’t help the heavy feeling in her heart.

Even though she had aimed to miss so it wouldn’t be a direct hit on Oppa, still…

“Serena. Are you listening?”

“Ah. Brigid…”

Brigid, who had approached from behind, was a first-year student, just like Serena.

She was a girl armed in thick, heavy plate armor that completely obscured her school uniform.

“Let’s move to the main battleground.”

“Okay. You go on ahead. I’ll follow you.”

With the reliable defensive capabilities of Brigid by her side, Serena had been active as an Imperial Army player, earning over 100 PT in the second round alone.

She had been fighting all this time, hoping her brother was on the Imperial side…

But now that she knew he was on the opposing team…

Shhk.

Serena aimed her bow at the back of Brigid’s head.

“It’s not your fault the twin sisters just lost, so don’t worry about it. Everyone will be happy if we go back to the main force and lend them our strength.”

“Yeah…”

Brigid probably knew that Serena’s brother was Kim Sang-hyeok.

Yet she didn’t suspect a thing…

It seemed the thought that Serena might turn on her had never even crossed her mind.

Serena couldn’t bring herself to shoot the tanker who had placed such pure faith in her.

I can’t switch my role if it means hurting others…

She truly loved her brother, but it seemed this time, she had no choice but to resent the god who had cast their roles on opposite sides.

“…Haaa…”

“…Serena. You really love your brother, don’t you?”

Serena flinched.

“Y-You just… figured it out?”

“Yes. A tanker has to be the first to sense the signs of an attack.”

The warrior Brigid. Her database market value was 1.13 million Coins.

With a talent more specialized in “protecting allies” than anyone else, she had long since noticed Serena’s change of heart.

She had just been pretending not to know.

“Why didn’t you do it?”

“…You’ve been protecting me all this time, Brigid. I can’t… repay such kindness with betrayal.”

“Your brother must like you a lot, right?”

“…”

Serena’s cheeks flushed red.

“I hope he does… To be honest, we were at odds for a long, long time.”

“I’m jealous. I’m an only child, so I always thought it would be nice to have a dependable older brother.”

“…I’m sorry for having such bad thoughts, Brigid.”

“Don’t be. Family comes before friends.”

Family. The warm resonance of the word warmed her heart.

“It’s a good thing this is just a scenario, Serena.”

“Huh?”

“What would have happened if it wasn’t?”

Brigid spoke ominously as she walked ahead.

“If it was a situation where your brother would actually die unless you betrayed me, you would have had to hurt me, wouldn’t you?”

“…”

It was an incredibly sharp point.

While not all high-level dungeons forced faction-based rules, a terrible situation could arise where she might have to let someone she’d grown fond of die to save her brother’s life.

“Ah. Sorry. That’s just an old habit of mine…”

“It’s okay. I’m getting a little used to it.”

Brigid always had a habit…

Of thinking about the worst-case scenario.

She said it was the secret to staying calm when things went south.

“The cart is following, too!”

“Yes, Strategist Brigid!”

Serena and Brigid led dozens of Imperial NPC soldiers and a prisoner cart toward the main force.

A fierce battle was still raging there between the necromancer Kibele and the climbing master Hilaria.

Other students were fighting hard as well, but those two stood out the most.

The two of them were fighting like they were possessed, taking advantage of the unstable map with its chain bridges.

Brigid took out her heavy shield, held it tight against her body, and took a deep breath.

“Find a sniping point, Serena. I’ll protect you, no matter who comes.”

“…I’m sorry, Brigid.”

“Serena?”

Serena stopped, a sad expression on her face.

Sensing a different atmosphere, Brigid tensed up.

Having witnessed the power of her now-former ally firsthand, she couldn’t help but be nervous.

“So you’ve decided to go to your family after all?”

“I won’t hurt you, Brigid. We’re comrades.”

“I’m not so weak that I’d go down from a pulled punch. So, what’s your plan?”

If Serena betrayed them, Brigid had only one thing to do.

She had to desperately hold Serena here to prevent her from sniping Kibele, the heart of the Imperial main force.

A tense energy crackled between them.

“You asked what would happen if this wasn’t a scenario, right?”

“Yes.”

“I know someone who would throw herself through fire and water for Oppa. I’m going to unleash her now.”

“…?”

Serena shot an arrow, blowing out the wheel of the smoothly rolling prisoner cart.

The cargo bed tilted to one side, causing the carelessly draped tarp to fall away. From within, a hooded female student stood up.

“Who…? There weren’t any Academy students in there!”

Brigid’s confusion was brief.

The female student threw back her hood, revealing brilliant blonde hair and red eyes.

Stella, her eyes meeting Serena’s, grinned.

“Serena. I’ve been patient for a long time…”

“You worked hard.”

Serena turned back to Brigid.

“You didn’t notice, did you? During the ‘Capture the Rebels’ operation in the first round, I secretly snuck Stella in.”

“You let a rebel in? You mean you were betraying the Imperial Army like a spy from the very beginning!?”

“Hah, don’t say that.”

Stella alone sparkled amidst the drooping, captured NPCs.

“I was originally unaffiliated, you know? From the start, I killed anyone I came across, whether they were rebels or imperials.”

Unaffiliated.

Stella was chaos, belonging to no side. There were students like her from time to time.

In a dungeon that forced a rule of fighting in factions, they were the ones who said, “Nope. I’m not joining either side.”

Possessors of an extreme rebellious spirit.

Team play was never an option for them, and during exchange events, they would sometimes burn themselves out in some strange, isolated place and get eliminated instantly.

Such a troublesome irregular was right here.

“This isn’t so much spying as it is…”

Serena smiled brightly.

“A sisterly alliance for our beloved Oppa. I told her I’d let her know whether Oppa was a rebel or an imperial, and then drop her at the best possible point.”

“…Th-Then…”

You’re going to release Stella here?

Brigid tensed up. She had heard of Stella’s reputation.

Wasn’t she an A-rank mage with magical power on par with Dihrit, one of the current Imperial generals?

If she unleashed such an asymmetrical threat here…

“So, Serena.”

Stella coolly blew apart the prisoner cargo bed with a release of magic and stepped out.

The Imperial NPCs all aimed their spears at her, but she didn’t even blink.

“Which side is our Oppa on?”

“The Rebels.”

“Aren’t you coming with me, Serena?”

“I’ve already taken my shot. I’m going to take responsibility and stay here until the end.”

Streeetch.

Stella stretched her arms.

“So diligent, Serena. You could just ignore all that and go help Oppa, you know.”

“…You keep saying ‘Oppa-ya,’ Stella. It’s cute.”

“Ah, ahem!! Orabeoni! I’m going to side with Orabeoni.”

“Stella, since we’re at an exchange event, shouldn’t you try to gather some PT?”

Serena said it for the sake of saying it, knowing she wouldn’t listen anyway.

Stella snorted as if she wasn’t interested.

“Siding with Orabeoni is my top priority. He may have gotten a bit stronger, but he’s still a D-rank Oppa. I can’t have him getting hurt somewhere.”

A straight line to Orabeoni.

The only thing she, who had been cast aside as unaffiliated since the first round, had been chasing with 0 PT was the embrace of her Orabeoni.

“See? Brigid.”

Serena knew.

“I’m going to unleash Stella, who will stop at nothing. That is my choice.”

“…Kgh.”

Even the great Brigid had no way of dealing with an A-rank mage.

The one thing tankers hated most was a mage.

Magic was fundamentally unavoidable, with a guaranteed-hit judgment, and its damage was so heavily weighted that taking it head-on meant you were guaranteed to get wrecked.

“You play your Imperial Army game, Serena. I’ll handle saving Oppa.”

“Go for it, Stella!”

“Alright, you get it, right?”

Stella wrapped her body in red lightning, erasing the blizzard and the snowy fields with her power as she declared:

“Move.”

“…I can’t let you pass. You’re planning to wipe out the Imperial Army.”

“You catch on quick.”

“And Serena plans to just stand by and watch.”

Nod.

Having unleashed a beast that only had eyes for her brother, Serena had no reason to get her own hands dirty.

“Yes. This is the best way.”

“The best way? We’re the Imperial Army! We should be trying to stop this situation somehow.”

“Brigid, fighting a dangerous, unaffiliated criminal during a military operation would be a great loss for the Imperial Army.”

Serena re-emphasized that Stella was “unaffiliated.”

“If we do nothing, you and all the Imperial soldiers here will live. But if you block Stella’s path…”

“I’ll roast you all.”

“She won’t stop at anything. Why don’t we just step aside for a bit? We can just keep playing our Imperial Army role and earn some easy PT.”

“…Ugh…”

The Imperial Army gained PT for capturing rebels.

But Stella, a 0-PT unaffiliated criminal currently playing by her own rules…

From the perspective of a player trying to play the scenario properly, she was a bomb to be avoided.

Fighting her would mean immense losses, and even winning would yield no significant reward.

A bomb.

Even knowing that bomb was about to be dropped on the Imperial main force, Brigid had no choice but to accept it.

“I’ve lost, Serena…”

“What do you mean, lost? We won together!”

Serena squeezed Brigid’s hand.

“Let’s let Stella go and rest here for a bit, okay? We have to team up for the third round, too.”

Her gentle, pretty smile seemed to say, We’re still comrades♡, bewitching the other girl.

As if she’d been possessed by a cunning, liver-eating fox, Brigid unknowingly trudged out of the way.

“Good thinking, Brigid.”

“…”

This ability to orchestrate things… it was extraordinary.

Brigid realized that the most terrible situation for the Imperial Army had just occurred.

All by the design of a single girl with mysterious black hair, purple eyes, and a beautiful smile.

I’ve already fallen for her trap.

The Empire wasn’t a homeland Brigid had to protect.

It was just a country she’d ended up in during a role-playing scenario…

Therefore, she was forced into a structure where she had to realize, however reluctantly, that staying by Serena’s side and safely sucking up PT from the rebels was far more appealing than clashing with the A-rank thug, Stella.

In the end, Serena had managed to do it all, having prepared since the first round: remain a respectable player in Oppa’s eyes, avoid hurting Brigid, and indirectly help her brother by unleashing Stella.

Brigid couldn’t help but be continuously amazed as she looked at Serena’s innocent side profile.

“It took my brain a while to understand it all…”

“There are good things about it being a scenario, right?”

“Yeah.”

The one for whom it was a relief that this was just a scenario was none other than Brigid herself.

If she had been a warrior risking her life to protect her homeland, she would have fought Stella to the end and fallen.

The one who had been forced into a choice of death was none other than Brigid herself.

When she realized all of this, Brigid was so scared she whimpered inwardly.

…Let’s never make an enemy of Serena.

Stella charged onto the battlefield.

With a destructive bolt of lightning…!!

KUUUUUUUNG!!

“Kgh!?”

Kibele was flustered. The Imperial Army’s rear had been seized by an unknown, unaffiliated mage.

At this rate, I can’t pull back!

“Woohoo~ Did reinforcements arrive?!”

Hilaria laughed crudely and charged toward Kibele.

“Kibele!! Get ready!”

“Kh, kgh! Stay back!”

“If I win, I’ll pin you down and grope your tits!”

“I told you to stop your bullshit!?”

No matter how many undead legions she summoned, they were useless before the devil’s thunder.

“Brigid, where is Brigid?!”

Brigid’s unit didn’t move.

Kibele felt like she’d been had, and her vision swam.

It was at that very moment.

Kim Sang-hyeok returned.

“Rubber-Rubber Gatling!”

PAPAPAPAK!

[Imperial Army vs. Rebel Army Ratio Collapse]

[Victory for the Rebel Army.]

[Crown Holder – Kim Sang-hyeok]

[Moving to the neutral zone.]

“Hilaria!! Just you wait for Round 3! I won’t let you get away with this!”

“Haha! Our D-rank Seonbaenim is better than your general!”

“I just got stuck with the wrong team!”

The dungeon was being dismantled.

[Round 2 Contribution Rank 1: Kim Sang-hyeok]

[1st: Kim Sang-hyeok – 245pt]

[2nd: Quintia – 188pt]

[3rd: Serena – 133pt]

[4th: Brigid – 124pt]

……….

The contribution rankings were displayed, and finally, the lowest rank was revealed.

[34th: Stella – 0 pt]

“Why do I have 0 PT?! I just took down twenty Imperial soldiers! This game’s rules are so weird!”

Stella stomped her feet in protest even as the dungeon was collapsing around her.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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