Ch.22Decision

# 22. Decision

## Day 2.

We still hadn’t made it out of the forest.

To be honest, it wasn’t as tough as the marches I did in the military. I wasn’t carrying full combat gear, and I didn’t have a rifle clanking against me.

Of course, the armor was uncomfortable and the sweat was extremely unpleasant, but that couldn’t be helped.

And when you’re walking with two pretty women who aren’t hysterical, it can be quite encouraging.

“Unni, can I have some water?”

“Here.”

“Don’t drink it all at once. Sip it slowly.”

“Okie.”

The two of them had become close remarkably fast. Whether it was because they were already friendly within the raid team, or because they were similar in age, they looked like they’d been friends forever or like close sisters.

It was good for management and pleasant to see when raid members got along well.

Walking for long periods was boring, my feet hurt, and I was tired, but I could endure it well enough.

Above all, if those two were doing fine, I couldn’t be the one holding everyone back by complaining.

By the way, today Saex cried again while eating.

## Day 3.

On day 2, Saex strongly insisted on taking a turn at night watch, so our actual sleeping time increased.

It increased, but in the end, I couldn’t sleep properly.

I have somewhat sensitive ears, so I would wake up during shift changes, and…

“You should sleep with the blanket properly covering you.”

“The raid leader looks so young when he’s sleeping. Are you sure you’re not lying about your age? Wow, look at his skin.”

They were whispering during shift changes, thinking I was asleep.

It’s nice that they think of me as close, but as I thought before, if they get too close, this old man might get the wrong idea?

Anyway, fatigue was accumulating and the walking remained the same, so it was much harder than the day before. And it seemed the same for the two of them, as their conversation noticeably decreased.

Walking itself was tiring, and talking and responding also required considerable energy.

“Yuri.”

“…Yeah?”

“Have you ever measured your big three?”

“What?”

At times like this, it’s important to keep the mood from dropping.

I deliberately started a conversation.

“Ha, so the raid leader is interested in that kind of thing too?”

“Not really, but you said you worked out hard at the gym. I heard you’re famous for your 500 total. So I was curious.”

“Really? How much do you think I can lift?”

Is it just my imagination that her tone sounds like “How much do you think I weigh?”

I’ve only done home workouts, never been to a gym. So I don’t know much about it. Still, I know that the big three are bench press, squat, and deadlift.

With Saex’s strength… well?

“Hmm, 200?”

“Ooh.”

Saex chuckled and said:

“The last time I checked, it was around 260. But I don’t really like the big three. They’re good exercises, but they’re not a cure-all.”

“260? Is that really impressive?”

“Well… the average for women who don’t work out is about 60-70, I guess?”

So basically Saex = 4 women.

As I thought, my feeling that I’d lose to her in arm wrestling wasn’t just my imagination.

“I wouldn’t need to work out this much if it weren’t for my crazy brother!”

“Haha.”

Once the conversation started flowing, it became lively again. From Saex’s gym experiences to college life to my work life, the conversation kept branching out.

And on our third day of camping, Saex finally succeeded in eating without crying.

THUD-

“Ow! It’s bent! It’s bent!”

“Pfft! That’s hilarious! Hahaha!”

“Seyeon! Some healing please!!”

“Haah…”

When I teased her about it, Saex pretended to be angry and quickly caught me, trapping me in a soft yet firm prison. I barely managed to tap out and gentlemanly suggested arm wrestling, only to be utterly defeated…

## Day 4.

My body was tired, but mentally I was doing okay. That’s because after three days of continuous forest paths, we suddenly emerged to find a vast plain stretching before us.

“Finally, the Kairend Plains living up to their name.”

“This means we’ll reach the fork in the road soon, right?”

“That’s right.”

I had hoped it would appear sometime today, but it showed up shortly after we set out, which put me in a good mood. Now that we knew our pace and food portions were fine, we just needed to decide on a direction.

“If we think about the story progression, Albrant seems right. Even though it doesn’t connect directly.”

“Ah. But Albrant is kind of… If we’re thinking about leveling up, wouldn’t Tabs Gorge be better?”

“Inaren is actually the closest. The quests there are pretty efficient too.”

Even as I said that, I excluded Inaren. While it was a decent hunting ground base, it wasn’t that important of a location in the main story.

So it came down to Albrant or Tabs Gorge.

“That place is full of those insufferable elf bastards, enough to make even a gamer like me furious. It’s not just me—everyone complains about them. How annoying would it be to deal with them directly? Huh? We really need to think this through.”

“Isn’t the most important thing to escape from here, rather than how annoying a place is? If so, I think we should choose the option with the highest probability.”

Once we chose a direction, there would be no luxury of changing course. There was no path connecting Albrant and Tabs Gorge.

“Leader.”

“Raid Leader.”

The casting vote naturally fell to me.

‘Actually, just doing what I’m told is the most comfortable thing.’

Outside, I was just a low-ranking employee, but here I’m the raid leader—the gap is too big.

Still, I made my decision.

“Let’s head toward Albrant.”

“No. Nooooooo.”

Keutjukiyeora smiled gently while Saex clutched her head.

“Whyyyyy!”

“I don’t want to go to that den of snobs either. It’s probably the first and last place that’s disgustingly beautiful yet not appealing at all…”

“Then why!”

“Because it’s likely to be a neutral zone.”

“Huh?”

When most things are uncertain, think of the most hopeful path or the most desperate one first.

That’s why I ruled out Tabs Gorge. It was just another field, not a city like Edengard.

Main story, neutral zone, possibility.

Considering these three factors, I selected Albrant as the first priority.

When I explained it calmly like this, Saex quietly nodded in agreement. Then, with a slightly flushed face, she quickly escaped to Keutjukiyeora’s side.

‘She’s acting her age.’

Cute.

I had to be careful, so I couldn’t say it out loud.

My steps felt lighter.

## [Animus]

[210]

“Let’s start this irregular meeting, whatever number it is.”

In a room barely big enough for three people, ten men and women found places on chairs, tables, beds, and the floor.

“I don’t think we need to go over what situation we’re in again, so let’s discuss what to do going forward.”

“Don’t we need to climb this tower place?”

“Everything reset except for class and nickname. No money, no equipment, no skills. No raid members, just the raid leader alone. What exactly are we supposed to do?”

“It’s not like we can help that…”

The room quickly grew noisy. Some just crossed their arms and watched, but since they were all accomplished individuals, they all had strong opinions.

Bang bang bang-

“Quiet, quiet! We won’t reach any agreement if everyone just says what they want!”

“Then does the Bunkerbuster raid leader have a solution?”

The Bunkerbuster raid leader, who had apparently arrived in Edengard first (excluding the possibly non-existent Veritas raid leader), sighed.

“You all think that if we reach the top floor, we can go back. That’s the vague assumption, right?”

“Well, that’s…”

“And you’re also expecting that, for a while, more raid leaders like us will continue to arrive, though we don’t know how many.”

After drawing attention with a brief silence, the Bunkerbuster raid leader sighed.

“Then you also realize that staying together like this has its limits.”

“Isn’t that why we’re gathered here? To think of a solution?”

“I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

He held up two fingers and continued.

“Everyone here is a veteran player and high-ranker, so we don’t need to share game information right now. I’ve thought of exactly two options.”

Every man for himself.

Form a raid alliance.

“Every man for himself? In this place where we have nothing?”

“By that logic, what about forming a raid alliance? Zero gathered is still zero.”

“There must be a reason why only raid leaders were brought here. It’s too strange otherwise.”

“Are you saying there might be a way to summon our raid members?”

“To be frank, none of us ten got an S rank in the Room of Beginnings or whatever it’s called. You might have received weapons, money, or skills, but you could also receive raid members. If raid leaders were brought here, raid members could be brought too.”

“That makes sense in theory, but still…”

“Honestly, we all entered around the same time and we’re gathered like this… but imagine how valuable it would be for someone operating alone or in a small group to suddenly gain companions?”

The Golden Wing raid leader, who had been quietly observing until now, let his imagination run wild at those words.

‘My presence here already breaks some conventional wisdom. Anyway, the Veritas raid leader is likely already out of Edengard and on a higher floor. If the raid member reward theory is true, then perhaps the Veritas raid leader…’

If it was that person who had maintained the #1 raid ranking for over a year, they would not only receive an S grade but might have already claimed the rewards in the ‘tower.’

“We can discuss more later, but let’s vote on what stance we should take.”

“What if it’s a tie?”

“Then we’ll postpone the decision and vote again tomorrow, including any newcomers. Alright. Raise your right hand if you prefer every man for himself, left hand if you prefer forming a raid alliance. Abstaining is not allowed. I’ll count to three, and we’ll all raise our hands at once. Three, two, one.”

All ten raid leaders raised their hands simultaneously.

Some sighed.

Some frowned.

Some observed the other raid leaders with expressionless faces.

5:5

It was a tie.