Chapter 92: Incarnation of the Battlefield (1)

Ding-dong!

<Welcome to Maslow’s Canyon.>

“What is this place?”

I looked around.

Dozens of massive marble pillars. War illustrations drawn on the walls, and so on.

It was like a grand temple straight out of Greek-Roman mythology.

Through the marble pillars, the scenery outside the temple came into view.

Three paths branching out from the temple entrance.

The upper path was a rocky cliff area.

Boulders kept rolling down the cliff made of gray rocks, and the uneven ground vibrated roughly.

The middle path was a snowy field.

A blizzard whipped across the frozen land covered in snow and ice, whitening the view.

The lower path was a cemetery.

Tombs, gravestones, and grotesquely shaped trees created a gloomy atmosphere.

A dense jungle filled the middle zone connecting the upper, middle, and lower paths.

I surveyed the terrain and thought.

……This is a direct copy of the warehouse’s training ground, isn’t it?

Morgue’s Magical Warehouse, the special training ground in the Observation zone.

While exploring the Observation zone, I discovered a hidden training ground.

The official name of the training ground was ‘The Great Senior Warehouse Keeper Pities the Dull Junior and Personally Sets Up a Zombie Extermination Special Training Ground’.

It was a training ground set up by Featherback, teeming with thousands upon thousands of zombies.

We had to spend days there, taking down zombies.

The entrance wouldn’t open until we cleared the zombies filling every direction.

Well, thanks to that, Jeanne and the Shadow Knights gained combat experience and built teamwork.

I looked around.

No one was there.

No people, no monsters, nothing in sight.

“Looks like I got separated from Jeanne. It really is random.”

In the safety desire layer, we stuck together, so I wondered if we’d land in the same spot this time.

Jeanne should handle wherever she is just fine.

I examined the opposite landscape.

A massive marble temple stood tall on the other side as well.

“As expected, there’s a temple on the opposite side too. Destroying that must be the goal.”

At that moment.

Ding-dong!

<Welcome to Maslow’s Canyon.>

Someone walked out from a subspace rift.

“Oh my— where is this?”

A gender-neutral voice that sent chills down my spine.

Bushy curly hair and pitch-black horn-rimmed glasses.

A rainbow-colored Hawaiian shirt and leopard-print shorts.

A muscular giant of a man shouted toward me.

“Goodness! Jag-ing! We meet again here! So glad you’re safe!”

It was HardboiledPC.

“Were you okay? I was so worried!”

“Ah, yes……..”

“A handsome guy like this dying. That’d be too sad, right? Oh, of course, a beautiful woman dying would be just as sad?”

“Ah, yes…….”

“No, no-yang. That was a statement open to misunderstanding. It doesn’t mean it’s okay if unattractive people die! Everyone’s equal, regardless of gender or age. You think so too, Jagi?”

“Ah, yes…….”

I couldn’t keep up with the energy.

Maybe because I’d never met this type of character in my life.

At that moment.

Ding-dong!

<Welcome to Maslow’s Canyon.>

This time, four people emerged from the subspace rift at once.

HardboiledPC exclaimed with delight.

“Yeobaek-ching! Seoha-ching! Goodness, even Seokdong-ajji!? Oh my my! What a surprise, what a surprise—!”

The faces of the people from the rift looked strangely familiar.

……They’re all A+ rank hunters?

A+ rank 5th, ‘Blue Mage Tower Lord’ Han Seoha.

A+ rank 8th, ‘White Mage Tower Lord’ Yoon Yeobaek.

A+ rank 11th, ‘World’s Strongest’ Ma Seokdong.

Each one was among Korea’s top-tier hunters.

That aside.

Who’s the last one?

There were clearly four silhouettes from the rift.

At that moment.

Kikik—clack! Kikikik—clack!

With the sound of metal friction, the fourth silhouette revealed itself.

That’s…….

An egg-shaped head with a flat face.

Limbs made of silver metal.

Machine guns where hands should be.

It was a humanoid android.

Soon, a female voice, as if made by AI, sounded.

[Hello. Korea Hunter Association affiliated E-rank 7th, Hunter Cha Hasang. You are personnel not summoned for the S-rank dungeon subjugation operation. Please explain in detail the reason and purpose for entering this location. If the response is deemed inappropriate, prior notice is given that detainment may proceed in preparation for contingencies.]

HardboiledPC blocked the android’s front.

“Hold on. Luddite, I have something to say to you.”

[Hello, HardboiledPC. I am not Luddite. This unit is Deus Ex Machina Company’s special combat android, LDX-3021…….]

HardboiledPC said with a displeased expression.

“Really! Isn’t this too much? Everyone’s risking their lives in battle! So why are you alone in a safe place doing whatever!? Sending toys like this solves everything!?”

[……Due to the current S-rank dungeon’s mana field, HardboiledPC’s message cannot be transmitted to Luddite. Please understand this point.]

“What!? Ugh, really! I don’t like it! What’s your master so busy with?”

[Luddite is currently performing public duties. In place of the hunters deployed to the S-rank subjugation operation, she is handling 71% of the Korea Hunter Association’s A-rank missions. Instead of directly participating in this operation, Luddite has provided 80 combat-type AI units, 55 defense-type AI units, and 20 medical AI units, totaling 155 AI units. These units are all comparable to A-rank hunters…….]

Too much talking.

I turned my head to look at the others.

First, White Mage Tower Lord Yoon Yeobaek caught my eye.

Slender limbs and a small, petite build.

A face with baby fat still lingering and innocent eyes.

An appearance youthful enough to pass for a middle schooler.

Though her actual age is five or six years older than mine.

……They said her physical growth stopped after awakening at 14.

Next to Yoon Yeobaek stood a woman as tall and slim as a model.

Skin white as snow and eyes sparkling like ice.

Sharp jawline with neatly trimmed white short hair.

Features drawn like pen lines and perfect eight-head proportions beauty.

A+ rank 5th, Blue Mage Tower Lord Han Seoha.

She’s somewhat similar to Shin Sodam yet different.

The cold impression wasn’t similar, but the furrowed brow was identical.

Finally, a burly middle-aged man in military pants and a tank top.

A+ rank 11th, World’s Strongest Ma Seokdong.

A close-combat specialist who engages in hand-to-hand based on steel-like defense.

Appointed army lieutenant general in his mid-40s, an ace soldier, he commands the special hunter corps handling dungeon or monster-related incidents.

Soon, HardboiledPC’s voice came.

“This one too! No matter how much you explain, I’m totally clueless about machines! But those 155 or whatever robots, where did they all go? I haven’t seen a single one so far?”

[Among the units deployed to the S-rank dungeon, the only one currently operational is this unit. Numerous uncalculated variables were detected, and due to Luddite’s order to prioritize civilian rescue, the majority of units sacrificed themselves in your stead.]

“Ah, is that so? That’s…… a bit sad. Even if they’re robots, lives are precious…….”

Hardboiled and LDX-3021 seemed ready to continue the conversation for a while.

I looked over the members gathered in the temple once more.

Four A+ rank hunters.

And Mrs. Luddite’s combat AI robot, LDX-3021.

This was the most overwhelming force assembled so far.

At that moment, a resounding voice came from the air.

[Welcome to the layer of belonging needs.]

Looking toward the voice, a winged lion was flying in the sky.

Its head was covered in lush golden mane, bat wings on its back, and goat legs for the lower body—a monster.

[My name is Zahir. I am the manager of this place and the one who will bestow trials upon you.]

The belonging desire manager continued.

[This is the great training ground created by Lord Maslow for training the legions. From now on, you will engage in battle with Lord Maslow’s elite legion.]

Five silhouettes appeared in the opposite temple.

Pierrot devil, skeleton chef, Cherocherofly, giant mole, black sheep.

They were the managers from each layer we’d passed through.

Except for one.

What’s the black sheep? Was there such a manager?

HardboiledPC answered my mutter.

“Aha? You didn’t see it? That one, remember the room you can’t leave if you don’t do it? It’s the friend managing that! It came out because I tried to escape in a wee~rd way! So I gave it a stern scolding! Made it pay the price for creating a room you can’t leave if you don’t do it…….”

“Ah, yes…….”

At that moment, the belonging desire manager’s voice came.

[The victory condition in Maslow’s Canyon is simple. Each team forms a legion of five and wins by destroying the opponent’s temple first.]

Just as expected.

The victory condition is the same as Featherback’s training ground too. As I thought.

A simple rule: destroy the core structure before the opposing team.

Ma Seokdong, who had been silent until now, spoke.

“If it’s just destroying, it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Right-yo! If Seokdong-ajji and I team up, a temple like that, we’ll smash it easy as eating cake?”

HardboiledPC nodded, emphasizing his biceps.

Meanwhile, something bothered me.

Form a legion of 5?

The enemy on the opposite side is definitely five.

On our side…….

HardboiledPC, Ma Seokdong, Yoon Yeobaek, Han Seoha, Luddite’s AI robot, and me…… that’s six heads?

At that moment, the manager’s voice came.

[From now on, I will appoint a monarch. The monarch will directly command the legion and gain a third-person view to oversee the battlefield from multiple angles.]

It meant one of the six would be appointed monarch.

The enemy’s monarch is probably that lion flying in the sky.

Conveniently, we had someone perfect for monarch on our side.

Army lieutenant general and commander of the Ministry of Defense’s special hunter corps.

Who better for the monarch role than World’s Strongest Ma Seokdong.

But.

[……The monarch is designated as the individual who entered the 3rd layer first with outstanding performance.]

The manager’s final remark shattered my expectations.

The one who arrived at the 3rd layer first.

……?

Ding-dong!

<Cha Hasang has been appointed as the monarch of the ‘Climber’ faction!>

It was me.