A smile hung on Duke Yverone’s lips as he looked at the 130,000 strong army that he was leading. Duke Yverone, just like Eivelis Empire’s Marquis Brad, was hailed as the continent’s Spear Master.

He could not help but chuckle deeply as he watched the situation in front of him and thought, ‘Let’s Eat Sect is falling apart.’

He was sure that the Let’s Eat Sect would fall apart under the pressure of their 130,000 strong army. After all, Valhalla looked like they had no more troops that could fight against them.

‘Although most of the troops that I’m leading are just newly conscripted soldiers.’

Still, they could at least be useful as meat shields. After all, it would be ridiculously absurd for a measly amount of troops to stop their 130,000 strong troops.

Vwooooooooong—

The loud blare of the horn signaled the advance of the troops.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

The ground shook and trembled with every step they took. It was like a noose slowly tightening around Valhalla, with the loud thuds of their footsteps and their ever increasing momentum.

***

Ellie gritted her teeth at the number of enemies advancing towards Valhalla. That number meant that a single release of arrows and magic would send at least 100,000 attacks towards her.

‘Even if I use and release all of my power…’

It would prove to be difficult for her to defeat them. However, she did not stop cutting down the enemies that approached her. Finally, more than 100,000 troops shot their arrows into the sky. There were only 1,000 remaining troops around Ellie, aside from these, the remaining ones were in the rear waiting for reinforcements.

‘So I only have a thousand allies?’

Ellie’s face turned ugly at the sight of the thousands of arrows flying towards Valhalla. She immediately used a huge square shield and hid behind it to escape from the rain of arrows.

“Keuaaaaaack!”

“Aaaaaaaaack!”

“Ughhhhhh!”

‘That goddamn commander.’

The commander that was leading the enemy troops was foolish. They were about to win the war with the troops from Valhalla Fortress already on the verge of death, but they were still sacrificing their own allies. Regardless, the 130,000 troops were already fast-approaching.

“Can… I do it alone?” A wry smile grazed the corners of Ellie’s lips as she murmured to herself.

Just then…

“You’re not alone, Miss Extreme Hardcore Fan,” Genie said as she approached her. Genie felt extreme admiration and respect for the woman named Ellie. When all of them had given up, she stopped their enemies all by herself. Of course, the difference in terms of the number of forces was glaring, but she never wavered nor ran away, focusing only on stopping the enemies.

“You have us too.”

Genie, Crow, Abel, Alicia, Lucia, Ace, Ghost Spear Ben, Sword Saint Conir, Best Selling Author Aruvel, and Talmor Religion’s Head Corr were all left in a situation where they did not have much MP left to cast skills. However, they all decided to fight.

“Miss Extreme Hardcore Fan, I have a request.”

“A request?”

“Please lead Ben, Aruvel, Corr, Conir, and the citizens of Valhalla away.”

“…”

Ellie could understand what Genie was saying.

‘A foreigner’s life is infinite.’

Unlike them, the guardians’ lives would be over once they died in this place. Asking her this favor meant that they wanted to protect these people.

“We’ll open a path for you.”

Ellie looked at the members of Let’s Eat Sect. Genie was completely exhausted, blood dripping all over her body. Crow’s arm was injured and completely unusable. Lucia was also using a broken dagger, since she had no time to get it repaired before jumping in the fray again.

‘I did not expect that the foreigners and the guardians would be in great harmony…’

Ellie did not believe and trust the foreigners. But now, these foreigners were trying their best to protect the guardians, to the point that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for them.

‘Minhyuk, the kingdom that you are building is completely amazing.’

Ellie nodded slowly to show her acceptance.

“Hahaha. Lady Extreme Hardcore Fan, please take good care of our Conir, Corr and Aruvel,” Ghost Spear Ben said as he stepped forward. He looked tired but he was smiling and his eyes were still shining fiercely.

“I have to open one more path to save one more person.”

“Grandpa Ben.”

“I’ve never learnt the words back down,” Ghost Spear Ben said, ramming his spear down on the ground.

Meanwhile, the kingdom troops continued to narrow the distance between them. However, Ben believed that he would be able to stop the enemies’ advance for a moment if he gave up his life.

“Conir won’t go! Conir will protect hyung’s territory!” Conir declared as he stood beside Ben.

The same was true for Best Selling Author Aruvel. He stood beside them and declared, “I’m going to get good inspiration today and create a great work. A story about a knight who fell in love with the enemy. What do you think?!”

“I will free these poor and pitiful souls from hair loss!”

Genie looked at them with a bitter smile on her face and thought, ‘Thank you, everyone.’

But this was different. Even if they were very determined to stay here and fight, they had to survive and live another day.

[Genie: Ali.]

[Ali: Yes, Genie.]

[Genie: The moment I give the signal, use Mass Teleport and take them away from here. Please.]

[Ali: Not considering the fact that we’re ignoring their will, Mass Teleport will consume a lot of MP and using it now will slash half of my remaining MP, I need to recover more for me to do this.]

[Genie: We’ll stall for time. Please include Miss Extreme Hardcore Fan too.]

[Ali: Alright.]

Genie let out a trembling breath after finishing the conversation with Ali. The 130,000 strong troops were just around the corner. Ghost Spear Ben was the first to run out which signaled the start of the battle.

***

For the longest time, there was only one man that was considered the best BJ in Korea. He had been on the top of the rankings of Ztube and Paprika TV ever since the launch of the virtual reality game. His nickname was ‘Know-it-all Dictionary’ and the reason why he was loved by all people was because there was nothing that he did not know about the game that he was playing, hence the nickname.

And this very same Know-it-all Dictionary was speaking enthusiastically, “My dear viewers, can you see this? Let’s Eat Sect is making their final struggle in this fierce battle against the 130,000 troops!”

His body trembled at the sight. In an uphill battle against a 130,000-strong army, the members of Let’s Eat Sect did not back down. Then, at that moment, the mysterious Extreme Hardcore Fan stepped forward and cut down the enemies with her sword. Vice Guild Master Genie immediately followed behind her and used her whip to break down the shields that blocked their path. Ghost Spear Ben leapt up in the air before throwing his spear as hard as he could towards the enemy troops, killing them in one single blow.

What about the Best Selling Author Aruvel? He was also displaying his amazing spearmanship that was on par with Ghost Spear Ben’s own. Then, there was Ramyeon Boy Conir, he was cutting down his enemies with his sword and moving swiftly like a ghost.

“Wow…” Know-it-all Dictionary might be a BJ, but as an Athenae player, he could not help but look at them in admiration. Right now, Know-it-all Dictionary has ushered in his largest number of viewers.

[Let’s Eat Sect is so cool…]

[That’s what a real ranker is. Even though they are fighting against more than 100,000 enemies, they are still not backing down.]

[Their MPs have tanked out right? So, does that mean that they’re all holding out with their control alone…? Are they even human?]

[Don’t you think that it’s like watching a scene from a movie?]

The viewers were all in awe of their battle. They were clearly losing in the battle of attrition, but it seemed like their embers were still glowing and burning brightly. Of course, it was mainly because Extreme Hardcore Fan’s display of power and force was perfect right now.

‘I want to be on their side and fight together with them.’ Just when this thought flashed in Know-it-all Dictionary’s head, magic bombs began to fall down from the sky. Extreme Hardcore Fan split more than a hundred magic bombs with her sword. However, the ones that she failed to split fell down on the people behind her.

“Keuaaaack!”

“Aaaack!”

“Ugh!”

Screams were ripped out of the mouths of the members of Let’s Eat Sect.

‘What amazing defense?!’

Still, they kept on moving forward, despite the bombs that constantly fell on them. The members of Let’s Eat Sect not dying against the onslaught of the magic bombs was a terrifyingly amazing feat in and of itself.

“So, they’re trying to make a path for retreat.”

Know-it-all Dictionary looked worried. That was 130,000 enemies. It was not easy to open a path of retreat in the middle of 130,000 strong troops.

“To save their troops?”

In fact, they could just use Mass Teleport for the Named NPCs. The fact that they were willing to sacrifice themselves to try to open a path for retreat meant they were going to allow the citizens and soldiers of Valhalla to flee.

‘They’re truly amazing.’

However, opening a path for retreat was not easy at all. They could create a path to a certain degree, but the places where the soldiers died were quickly being filled in. Genie and Ellie gritted their teeth as they continued to fight in this battle.

‘Shit… We can’t open a path…’

‘Everyone’s exhausted. They can’t open a path.’

If they only had more MP then they could create a path by using AOE skills. Ellie wondered if she should use all of her power now. However, even if she did that, she knew that it would not work out well and would only bring a negative impact on Minhyuk and Let’s Eat Sect.

At this time, Ali, who had been using his snakes to fill up his MP, smiled lightly and said, “It’s enough.”

However, this also meant that the members of Let’s Eat Sect would be forced to log out soon. Everyone would collapse as soon as he sent the Named NPCs away. Ali swung his Staff of Despair the moment he saw Genie nod. But then…

[You have been trapped in a Mana Barrier.]

[You will not be able to use magic and your MP will be drained by the Mana Barrier.]

“…?!”

Ali’s face turned ugly as an old man wearing a white robe stepped forward. This old man was none other than Berion, the head of Barras Kingdom’s royal mages. He was known as one of the continent’s supreme mages. He was someone that had already retired, but he participated in the war at the behest of King Grain.

“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to escape.”

The remnants from what seemed to be a stone placed in Berion’s scattered in the air. Ali was fully aware of what it was.

‘Mana stone.’

A mana stone was an item that not only increased the person’s mana, but also doubled their INT and WIS upon usage. As a restriction, the user could only use one magic with double the power. In other words, Berion had predicted this situation and prepared everything in advance.

“God damn it! Guild members! Protect the NPCs!!!” Genie gnashed her teeth.

The guild members also realized the situation that they were in. The enemies would not let the NPCs escape easily.

“What do you mean by protect us? We’ll protect you!”

“You can’t!!! Please don’t be stubborn!!!” Genie pleaded with Ghost Spear Ben. Ben could hear the sincerity in her voice, but he never once backed down in his life, so he tried his best to ignore her words.

“Minhyuk… Minhyuk will be sad!!!”

“…”

Ghost Spear Ben gritted his teeth. That was his lord, the person that he treated like he was his own son! As his vassal, leaving this world without seeing him for the last time would be very unfaithful. Ben silently went back and blended in with the guild members. The guild members gave their all and threw everything away to protect the NPCs. But then, the kingdom troops began their full-scale attack. The knights sent hundreds of sword lights while the mages kept on sending magic bombs.

“Ugh!”

The guild members guarded the NPCs and blocked the enemy attacks with their own bodies. Crow threw himself in front of Ghost Spear Ben and blocked the arrow that was aiming for Ben, watching as it impaled his stomach.

Stab—

“Keuhaaaack!”

One of the knights’ spear pierced through Genie, while Abel and Lucia continued to fight desperately to create a path of retreat for the NPCs. However, one of the mage’s magic would reach Lucia and force her to disappear.

“Lucia!” Abel shouted in despair.

At the same time, one of the Pinnacle Strong Men aimed for Conir with his powerful sword strike.

Flaaaaash—

Abel immediately threw himself to block the sword light.

“Keuhaaaaaaaaack!”

Abel, whose body was split in half from the attack, slowly disappeared.

“Conir… Conir is sad… Abel… sorry…” Conir said, fat droplets of tears lining his cheeks.

“Protect them! Protect every single one of them! You can’t let any of them die!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

The guild members screamed loudly as they made their final struggle.

***

Joy Co. Ltd.’s president, Kang Taehoon, watched the video inside the conference room with the rest of the executive members. He felt his heart tremble and shake as the thought, ‘The Athenae that I dreamed of…’ flashed in his head.

A world where everyone accepted the NPCs as people and became friends with them, and not just consider them as some measly artificial intelligence. This was the world that he wanted to create. However, it proved to be difficult since most people only considered the NPCs as simple artificial intelligence.

However, on the screen in front of him, Let’s Eat Sect was making their final stand to protect these NPCs.

Regardless of their struggles, it seemed like they could not hold out any longer. They eventually collapsed. Genie, with a spear stuck on her abdomen, retreated while vomiting a mouthful of blood. Even Crow was covered with swords and slashes. However, they did not back down and even went so far as to rush forward.

The worst part? Ben had to step forward and fight too. But soon, he also could not hold out and was forced to kneel down on one knee.

‘My heart aches.’

Athenae was, after all, a dog-eat-dog kind of world. It seemed like Let’s Eat Sect would eventually collapse. Loki, one of the Pinnacle Strong Men, approached the collapsed Ghost Spear Ben and tried to behead him.

“…”

President Kang Taehoon shut his eyes. Ghost Spear Ben cherished Minhyuk like he was his own son, so he did not want to see him die.

“He’s going to hit…”

President Kang Taehoon unknowingly clenched his fists when he heard the voices of the executives around him. But then, at that moment…

Claaaaaang—

A clear and loud sound of iron meeting iron rang out loudly. Was it the sound of a sword blocking the attack? No.

“Where did that arrow come from?”

“A small arrow was able to block Loki’s sword?”

Hearing the commotion that started to brew among the executives, President Kang Taehoon slowly opened his eyes. What greeted him was the flustered Loki who was busy looking around trying to search for the enemy that sent the arrow. Just when Loki gave up on finding the source and was about to swing his sword again…

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—

…arrows appeared again and pierced his heart in quick succession.

“…?!”

“…?!”

“…?!”

The door suddenly slammed open while the executives were still trying to reel in their shock. Team Leader Park, with a messy head and red eyes, barged inside the room. His dead eyes, which looked strangely similar to Dongtae[1], was burning with life and determination once again as he smiled subtly at the monitor. He said, “They’re finally here...”

Everyone, including President Kang Taehoon, looked at the monitor as Team Leader Park continued to say, “…Player Minhyuk’s miracle.”

1. The protagonist of DICE, someone with very dark undereye ☜