Chapter 16
—
The arrow towers became automated defensive structures, firing magic missiles at approaching enemies.
High stone walls surrounded the village, and the town hall had transformed into a fortress with a towering spire at its center.
The male villagers were now equipped with enchanted magical armour and weapons.
The once small and shabby village threatened by orcs had been turned into a massive fortress in an instant.
‘Upgrading everything cost about 3 million Gold. And 24,500 Diamonds for instant completion.’
I poured money into it without hesitation.
For anyone else, this would have been an exorbitant expense.
Not many would even have 3 million Gold at this stage.
And instant completion? That was even more unlikely.
The cost alone was equivalent to 1.225 billion won.
Spending Gold on defensive structures wasn’t so strange since it was an in-game currency. Those without better options at the black market might still justify spending it.
But instant completion was a poor investment for its cost.
Why spend such an expensive, one-time-use resource like Diamonds when everything could be completed by simply waiting?
Especially when clearing the stage was entirely possible without using Diamonds.
Still, I chose to spend Diamonds here for the Raid Points.
[No matter how quickly Gold is invested, there will inevitably be moments when orcs slip through during construction delays.]
[Awakeners must make strategic decisions: gather villagers in one location, spread them out, or prioritize defending specific areas.]
[Even so, losses will be unavoidable. Your goal should be to minimize casualties based on the situation.]
The instructions in the information notebook.
According to this, if one attempted to clear the stage using normal methods, losing Raid Points was unavoidable.
However, through the unconventional use of Diamonds, I could secure all Raid Points perfectly.
For most, the idea of spending 1.2 billion won just to clear a single stage would be unthinkable.
But for me, those Diamonds were only worth 120,000 won. I could use them as much as I wanted.
And if it meant earning even one more Raid Point than others, it was practically a bargain.
Boom! Boom!
The magic missiles fired from the towers swept through the advancing orcs en masse.
“Ready! Fire!”
The armoured villagers standing atop the walls loosed arrows in unison, and the enchanted arrows homed in on their targets with precision.
Thanks to this magical equipment, the previously inexperienced villagers could now fight like seasoned soldiers.
Throughout the day, the villagers managed to repel all incoming orcs with their newfound strength.
Meanwhile, Choi Yuna, Lee Jin-yoon, and I spent the entire day doing nothing but watching.
“Are we really just going to sit here and watch?”
Choi Yuna asked.
“Until tonight, yes.”
Of course, this idle luxury wouldn’t last much longer.
It was only a matter of time before the boss battle began.
While the defenses dealt with the regular mobs, the Awakeners would need to focus entirely on the boss.
***
In the dead of night.
The arrow towers continued to rain destruction on the approaching orcs.
Boom!
The explosion from a magic missile briefly illuminated the surroundings.
In that momentary flash of light, a peculiar shadow came into view.
It wasn’t an orc.
It was a tattered figure, a collective entity of souls.
A Lich.
Wooooooom.
The Lich began casting a spell, tendrils of mana extending from its hands to form dark clouds above the fortress walls.
Soon, flashes of light emerged from within the clouds.
Crash!
A massive bolt of lightning struck down.
“Aaaah!”
The lightning targeted the villagers on the walls.
Zap!
“Uh… H-Hero?”
Yet no one died.
Yoo Shin-woo had raised his hand to the sky, transforming the Dragon’s Claw into a lightning rod to protect the villagers.
“A-Are you okay?”
Thud.
Without answering, Yoo Shin-woo leapt off the wall.
He sprinted toward the Lich that had cast the spell.
“Grrr! Grrrrrraah!”
Other orcs swarmed in to block his path.
Slash! Rip!
He swung the Dragon’s Claw, carving a path through them in an instant.
The obstructing orcs were mercilessly torn apart.
Wooooooom.
As Yoo Shin-woo closed the distance at terrifying speed, the Lich hastily cast another spell.
Whoosh!
A flaming arrow shot toward him, meant to hit him at close range.
But Yoo Shin-woo wasn’t one to fall for such a low-level attack.
Twisting his body, he dodged the arrow and lunged forward with his fist.
Boom!
The Lich shattered into pieces, its unstable body disintegrating completely.
Its lack of physical durability made it even easier to defeat than the regular orcs.
“Attack! Hold off the orcs!”
As the thunderstorm subsided, the villagers and the magic towers resumed their counterattack.
Rumble.
But then, on the southern wall—opposite where Yoo Shin-woo stood—another dark cloud began forming.
Another Lich’s spell.
The truth was, a Lich wasn’t bound to a single body.
It could freely possess another body, even that of an attacking orc.
The Lich, the boss of the third stage, was an entity designed to disrupt the Awakeners by appearing from all directions.
It was now too far for Yoo Shin-woo to reach the southern wall in time.
By the time he arrived, the wall would already be breached.
But that didn’t mean the magic could go unchecked.
‘Choi Yuna.’
That’s why I had brought a sniper for moments like this.
***
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the head of the orc possessed by the Lich was shattered into pieces.
The bullet had been fired from the tall spire of the village hall.
Holding a Mosin-Nagant rifle was Choi Yuna.
She was observing the battlefield from atop the spire.
-A boss will appear in the dead of night. It’s a creature that uses powerful offensive magic and keeps reviving by moving between the bodies of other orcs. Yuna, take position on the spire and focus on sniping it.
This was precisely why Yoo Shin-woo had wanted to bring Choi Yuna to this stage.
A sniper was necessary to quickly eliminate a Lich—a volatile bomb that could explode at any moment—from a long distance.
This third stage was perfectly suited for Choi Yuna’s abilities.
‘How does he know all this…?’
Choi Yuna couldn’t help but wonder how Yoo Shin-woo had obtained the information notebook or the Gold needed to acquire it.
She knew that information notebooks could be purchased at the black market.
But obtaining one required amassing a considerable amount of Gold, which was no easy feat.
Earning that much Gold while progressing through the stages this quickly seemed impossible.
His actions defied common sense.
‘…Focus on the sniping first.’
She decided to concentrate on clearing this stage for now and delve into his secrets later.
***
Rumble.
At that moment, thunderclouds began to form again over the western wall of the village.
It was the third Lich.
‘Damn. I can’t see…!’
The problem was the sheer number of orcs in that area.
Additionally, there were obstacles like trees and rocks that obstructed her view.
‘Where is it?’
Yoo Shin-woo was running from the north toward the west, but his speed wasn’t enough.
The thunderclouds finished forming and released a bolt of lightning toward the ground.
Crash!
Fortunately, there were no casualties.
Having witnessed the earlier attack, the villagers had taken cover inside the defensive towers with covered roofs.
Then, the Lich hiding behind a rock emerged.
Whoosh!
It immediately unleashed a massive fireball from its hands.
‘There!’
Choi Yuna didn’t miss the opportunity.
{Skill <Hunter’s Instinct> Activated.}
As she pulled the trigger, the Mosin-Nagant rifle’s barrel aimed directly at the Lich’s head.
The ability ensured that the bullet would strike precisely where she intended.
Bang!
The mana-infused bullet pierced the Lich’s forehead, causing it to collapse on the spot.
The thundercloud dissipated immediately.
However, the enormous fireball it had launched before dying didn’t vanish. It continued hurtling toward its target—the defensive tower.
Boom!
“Ahhh!”
The fireball struck the tower directly, resulting in a massive explosion.
The structure crumbled, burying the villagers inside.
“Damn it!”
At that moment, Yoo Shin-woo’s earlier warning echoed in Choi Yuna’s mind.
-The villagers must be kept alive as much as possible.
Given his emphasis on the villagers’ survival, it was likely tied to the stage’s clearing conditions.
Even without that factor, Choi Yuna didn’t want anyone to die.
Unlike others who dismissed the inhabitants of this world as mere NPCs, she saw them as people just like herself.
The thought of innocent lives being lost to monsters was unbearable.
“Damn!”
Thud.
She slammed her fist against the railing.
If only she had pulled the trigger a little earlier…
If she had sniped the Lich before it launched the fireball…
Regret washed over her.
“Haa…”
But what was done was done.
Letting her emotions waver now would only affect her next shot.
Her ability to guarantee a hit depended on her unwavering focus.
‘Let’s protect the ones still alive.’
Steeling herself, she raised her rifle again, aiming to defend the now-vulnerable western side.
Slash!
Yoo Shin-woo arrived at that moment, cutting through the orcs swarming the area.
He gestured toward her.
“Not here… somewhere else?”
He meant that he would handle the western defense and that she should continue focusing on sniping the Lich in other directions.
“Ah, got it.”
She formed a circle with her hands to signal her understanding.
‘Even in situations like this, he stays composed…’
Despite the plan going awry from the start, Yoo Shin-woo remained calm, assigning the best roles for everyone.
Choi Yuna found herself admiring his quick judgment and execution.
Just as she turned her rifle to aim at the next Lich, she noticed something.
Flash.
“Huh?”
A blue light shone through the rubble of the collapsed defensive tower.
“What is that?”
The rubble, blocked by the light, didn’t crush the villagers but instead slid off to the sides.
As the debris cleared, the villagers became visible within the glowing barrier.
They had survived the collapse.
“Could it be…!”
The source of the light was hundreds of mana particles resonating with each other to form a protective shield.
“Lee Jin-yoon?”
The one who had deployed the shield was none other than Lee Jin-yoon.
—
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