Chapter 67

“Everyone get up now! Don’t dawdle! If you’ve eaten your fill, it’s time to work hard, right?”

Gwen woke up the residents who had been sleeping after gorging themselves on bread and wine until their bellies were about to burst.

The residents, who had been sound asleep, got up quickly as if nothing had happened.

It was a reaction forged by the constant threat to their lives in the underground life.

I nodded once as I watched them check their weapons as soon as they got up.

They were undoubtedly elite.

It was natural for those who had survived in such a hellish place until now.

They probably had the skills to slap around even the elite soldiers that exist outside and still have room to spare.

That’s why they were a precious force.

There was a need to descend to the lower floors with as little damage as possible and intact.

“Everyone, line up!”

The residents aligned themselves neatly at the command of their leader, Gwen.

In an instant, a fine unit was formed.

“That was fast.”

Annette murmured with admiration in her eyes.

She apparently had no idea that those who had been sprawled out on the floor sleeping could line up so quickly.

“People who survive in such places are different.”

Camian said.

“We are also those who have survived.”

I threw in a word with a meaningful smile.

“And of course, we will survive today as well.”

“Of course, senior.”

Annette nodded her head vigorously.

I opened my mouth to Camian , who was silently looking at me.

“Such experiences can only be had by us, even at the academy. Especially, the experience of fighting many against many with our lives on the line is special. That specialness will naturally become our strength.”

“Certainly, we couldn’t have such experiences just by being at the academy.”

“Yes, so take pride. Our party is special.”

Special.

There is power in that word.

The power to greatly boost one’s confidence and pride.

Even now, it was evident.

I could see the strength in Annette and Camian’s eyes.

That was exactly what I was aiming for with my words.

Now, the morale and enthusiasm of our party were at their peak.

‘I’ve been a raid leader in games for so long, this is a piece of cake.’

I smiled smugly to myself.

I am a leader.

An experienced leader.

So leading a party of just three was nothing to me.

“We’re ready on our end. We can move out anytime.”

Gwen said to me.

“We’re ready as well. Let’s go.”

We had already exchanged enough opinions about the strategy earlier.

Of course, I was naturally the one who led the discussion.

The Savior of the 10th Underground Floor

As the newly acquired title suggested, my position here was absolute.

“Alright. Let’s go, everyone!”

And so, we finally set off to annihilate the undead.

A frontal assault.

It was the strategy I had chosen.

Sometimes, it’s better to smash through with force from the front rather than trying some half-baked stratagem.

Now was one of those times.

If there is enough power, there is no need for petty tricks.

And I had judged that we had that sufficient power.

Of course, behind that was the information power I had gained from numerous experiences in the game.

‘That vampire isn’t here right now.’

The high-ranking vampire I had encountered when I first fell to the 10th underground floor.

The human hunter, Riel.

If it were as per my experience, she would now be with her master in their original residence on the 13th underground floor.

If I think about the flow of events at that time, it’s certain.

‘Besides, originally.’

This garbage floor, which only has moss, was a space of no interest to the residents below.

There is an elevator, the only exit, but everyone knows that it’s impossible to leave.

The only value is in the new human arrivals.

Monsters and undead target them as fresh prey, and humans replenish their forces.

But that too is a very rare occurrence, just an eventful incident that happens now and then.

In the end, the 10th underground floor was a place for their own fierce struggle for survival.

‘No need to worry about the dangerous ones then.’

My gaze shifted to Annette walking beside me.

Another reason why I confidently chose a frontal assault.

“Junior Annette.”

I spoke to her in a quiet voice.

“Oh, yes. Senior.”

“Have you ever fought the undead?”

“What—”

As expected, she had none.

While you might encounter monsters, undead are not beings you come across easily.

So it’s not strange at all that she has no combat experience.

But because of that, she wouldn’t know her hidden true value.

I was planning to draw that out here.

“Right. It doesn’t really matter. You can gain experience this time.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best not to be a burden.”

Annette was firming up her resolve.

I liked that.

“But you know.”

“Yes?”

“We’re going to arrange our formation like this.”

I roughly drew an inverted triangle in the air with my finger.

“Camian and I in the front line, and you in the rear.”

Two damage dealers and tanks.

One healer.

It was the best formation we could make with the three of us.

The easiest way would be to blend in with the group of residents led by Gwen, but we decided to fight as an independent squad for the growth of me and these guys.

We might seem laughable with just the three of us, but we were not a force to be underestimated.

I was sure of that.

As the leader, I was confident that I had completely transformed from a mere civilian to something entirely different.

“So I’ll be supporting from the back?”

“Ah, you’ll be supporting, but not just supporting. I’m planning to use you as one of the core elements.”

“Co-core?”

Annette blinked in surprise.

It seemed completely unexpected to her.

That’s because, as of now, her offensive abilities were below average.

But I knew.

That when facing the undead, she becomes a completely different asset.

“Don’t worry too much. It won’t be that difficult. You just need to sing behind us.”

“Sing……?”

“Yes, you know. The Song of Healing.”

“The Song of Healing is for healing, but…………..”

Annette looked confused.

“I know. I know that.”

The Song of Healing.

It was Annette’s nickname and her unique trait.

Meaning it was a trait only she possessed.

Naturally, characters with unique traits are far less common than those without.

They exist for important or significant characters.

So unique traits are mostly openly beneficial.

Annette’s unique trait, the Song of Healing, was just like that.

Just by singing, she could perform healing spells around her, which was enough to make any average cleric blush twice over, but there was more.

When used against the undead, it has an area-of-effect debuff.

I didn’t know exactly what kind of debuff it was, but one thing was certain.

The undead become extremely weakened.

It felt like all aspects such as speed, strength, movement, reaction, etc., were reduced by at least 30%.

Therefore.

Annette was recognized by everyone as an A-class healer and a wide-area debuff machine specifically for the undead.

Moreover, since she was already a close and confirmed companion from the start, there was no need to painstakingly build a relationship.

Where else could you find such a sweet character?

It wasn’t for nothing that Annette was the default healer in every party.

However.

Of course, there was a problem.

The problem with Annette was that she tended to die easily.

Being a glass healer, she could easily be taken out in battle.

‘I still need to make her strong.’

I smirked to myself.

A precious healer who is weak and protected all the time is a character who will inevitably meet their end at a critical moment.

She needed to be made strong from the very beginning.

Just like I had been until now.

By diligently feeding experience to the protagonist in a small party, their eyes and mindset were already different.

This was the know-how that comes from experience.

“Trust me and try singing once. I’ve heard that holy power has a negative effect on the undead.”

“Is, is that so?”

“Yes. So there’s no harm in trying. Please, junior Annette.”

“Ah, yes-“

Annette nodded her head.

The effect of becoming a trustworthy senior through past events was showing here as well.

“Good.”

I smiled slightly.

Finally, the figures of skeletons guarding the entrance came into view.

There were two of them.

The choice was one.

Gwen glanced at my face and, catching my eye, nodded as if he understood.

And then.

“Chargeeeeee!”

He shouted in a resounding voice.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

“Let’s gooooo!”

“Sweep them all away!”

Responding to his call, the residents started their charge with a battle cry.

“Let’s go too.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Camian and I took the lead and we also ran forward.

Clatter.

Clatter.

The two skeletons at the entrance quickly took to their heels.

They were basically dumb lower-level undead, but even they could make such a basic judgment of the situation.

“Don’t lose momentum! Keep pushing forward!”

Gwen shouted again.

The residents, buoyed by the momentum, poured into the entrance one after another.

We entered as well.

Inside the entrance was a fairly large square.

All the undead were gathered there.

Of course, when I say undead, it was a collection of skeleton and zombie hordes.

A group of lower-level undead.

But no matter how low-level they were, their numbers were still sufficiently threatening.

In terms of sheer numbers, the undead were the largest force on the 10th underground floor.

This was because lower-level undead were the mainstay and it took the least amount of energy to maintain one entity.

At a glance, there seemed to be at least 200 of them.

In contrast, we were only dozens.

“Wait, isn’t that too many? Is it really okay to fight separately as planned?”

Camian said incredulously.

It seemed the larger-than-expected number was causing him anxiety and concern.

“Why? Are you scared? If you’re scared, you can just run away.”

“No, it’s not that I’m scared, it’s just that logically—”

I deliberately cut off Camian’s words.

“Logical is good. But how will you ever become strong if you only follow the easy and safe path? Can you even become strong? Sometimes you have to choose the painful and difficult path. That’s the way of those who become strong.”

The way to become strong.

There was no better way to get through to Camian right now.

He was struggling to become stronger by any means necessary.

So this time, my words hit home perfectly.

“Ugh.”

Camian’s mouth shut tight as he frowned.

His primary will to become stronger had ultimately won out.

If Camian’s mind was made up, there was no need to worry about Annette.

Wherever Camian went, Annette would always follow.

“Believe in yourself. And believe in each other. We can do this. Why?

Because we have been doing so until now. And we will continue to do so.”

I spoke calmly.

But there was power in my words.

Because they were sincere.

They must have felt that sincerity.

I could tell from the expressions of Camian and Annette.

Their expressions, firming up their resolve desperately amidst the tension.

“Avoid being surrounded on their left side as much as possible.”

Finally, we began to move in earnest.

Everyone might think of it as a weak flutter of a butterfly’s wings.

But it’s not just fluttering.

We will become the storm that will decide this battlefield.

My party and I will make it so.

Now we will show them.

“Increase speed!”

We were going to completely destroy the undead’s left formation.

Just the three of us.