A Veteran Teaches Very Well - Chapter 51



part 51

It was a ridiculous notion.

“If news spreads that numerous S-class heroes have gathered in the Pacific, those b*stards will start poking around everywhere, right? You wouldn’t want that either. That’s why it was kept a secret.”

All the heroes nodded, seemingly in agreement.

The emergence of an SS-class dungeon.

And the intervention of SH.

The pieces of the puzzle regarding what happened in the game began to fall into place.

“This has gotten complicated.”

A rough scenario of why America ended up in such a state was forming.

Most likely, while the majority of American heroes were concentrated here, they were attacked by SH.

The Hero Association had sent only a portion of their forces back to the mainland to catch two rabbits at once, and ultimately, both sides were annihilated.

Then everything clicked into place.

For this reasoning to hold, there was a prerequisite.

Did SH happen to carry out a terrorist attack while, by sheer luck, the American mainland was left unguarded?

That was unlikely.

If they were foolish enough to gamble on luck and throw all their forces into the fray, they would have already been captured.

They moved with full knowledge of everything.

Someone within the Hero Association had clearly leaked information.

A traitor.

There was a traitor within the American Hero Association right now.

“Yeeun, you said only the executives of the Hero Association knew about the existence of the gate, right?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

The suspects have been narrowed down to a certain extent.

All the executives of the American Hero Association.

One of them is a traitor.

I wanted to find the traitor, but there were still too few clues.

Moreover, the information that the troops had already gathered in the Pacific would have been passed on, so identifying the traitor held little significance at the moment.

The reason for America’s defeat in the game was the dispersion of forces.

The Dungeon and SH.

One of them had to be resolved first.

For now, targeting SH was impossible.

If a monster dwelling in the SS-level gate were to emerge, the world would be turned upside down.

Then, by the process of elimination, I had to finish the Dungeon first.

I would conquer the Dungeon in the shortest time possible and then return to America immediately.

This was the best course of action.

* * *

Inside the command room of the aircraft carrier.

Here was the strategic simulator of the American Hero Association.

Unlike the half-baked version at the academy, this was a real strategy simulator where the conditions of the opponent could be set freely.

The commanders who would lead this raid, along with tactical experts gathered from various countries, were all present.

“I am Edeline, the commander of this expedition.”

Edeline introduced herself.

No matter how hostile the American Hero Association was towards unicorns, they could not afford to neglect Edeline.

Considering her symbolic significance, it was clear that morale would shift dramatically depending on whether she was in command or not.

“Nice to meet you. Expedition Commander, I’m Christian.”

“John Dickel. Likewise.”

Instead, the American Hero Association chose a rather petty method.

A three-person command system.

In name, they claimed it was to exercise caution with such a large expedition ahead, hence the three commanders.

Naturally, the underlying motive was to keep Edeline in check.

The other two commanders were heroes closely aligned with the Hero Association.

Even if Edeline pushed her opinions strongly, if the two opposed her, she would be suppressed.

In essence, it was a ploy to borrow Edeline’s name while leaving the actual command to those two.

“You’re being quite mischievous.”

In a situation like this, there was no way the meeting could proceed smoothly.

The first button had come undone.

Christian spoke.

“First of all, this is the personnel allocation we’ve prepared.”

In tackling S-rank dungeons and above, personnel distribution was crucial.

The inside of the dungeon was vast, and the monsters were powerful, so the basic strategy was to enter in groups, gradually and methodically conquering it bit by bit.

All the heroes checked the personnel distribution set by Christian.

Edeline asked.

“What is this foolish personnel allocation?”

The advance team.

It played a critical role in determining the rise and fall of the raid, yet it was the least rewarding position.

When an unknown dungeon appeared, it was standard for the advance team to gather information before the main assault began.

Naturally, it was an extremely dangerous role.

Entering a dungeon with no information was hardly an easy task.

That’s why everyone was reluctant to take on this role.

“Isn’t it standard for the advance team to draw personnel equally from each guild? This is clearly an unfair composition favoring the Unicorns.”

Christian replied.

“We divided roles based on ability. Splitting personnel among factions is far too inefficient. Wouldn’t it be better to group guilds that work well together?”

“This is a decision that unfairly harms a specific guild.”

John Dickel sneered.

“Commander Edeline is more selfish than she appears.”

“What?”

“With the crisis facing humanity, you’re worried about your own interests? It’s disappointing to see someone who should be a pillar of the raid acting this way.”

“Ha…”

Edeline was at a loss for words.

In a verbal battle, the most challenging opponent is one devoid of logic.

Edeline was a person with a strong sense of heroism.

Faced with the shared task of conquering an SS-rank dungeon, she wouldn’t want to disrupt the atmosphere from the very start.

In the end, she kept her mouth shut.

“The composition of the rear guard is like this…”

“Rather than that…”

“I hear Roberto has been in great form lately…”

All that remained was a third-rate play.

They divided the prime spots for dungeon raids in order of their closeness to the Hero Association.

The heroes gathered from overseas grumbled.

But since the most arduous task force was led by Edeline from the United States, they couldn’t protest too strongly.

“Everyone, please confirm the final proposal.”

From noble mtl dot come

When gathered together, it was even more ridiculous.

The actions of heroes who were supposed to protect humanity were worse than those of street thugs.

Jo Seong-woong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, the Americans have really hit rock bottom. At this rate, Professor Cha will just end up being left out in the cold, won’t he?”

“We have to find a way to get involved somehow.”

“Oh, did Professor Cha also have the desire to make a name for himself?”

Desire?

If that were the reason, it would have been easier on my conscience.

Looking at the situation, if I just sat back, it seemed we wouldn’t just finish quickly and return to America; we were on the verge of failing the raid altogether.

“It’s nothing special. I just want to finish quickly and see the kids’ faces.”

SH is a terrorist group with the power to easily overthrow a small nation.

But the opponent is America.

Although many S-class heroes have gathered here, there are still quite a few S-class heroes left on the mainland.

Moreover, all heroes below A-class are still in good shape.

With that level of strength, defeating SH shouldn’t be a problem.

Yet America has failed.

The situation was serious enough to require the SS-class dungeon expedition team to be recalled to the homeland.

That means there’s something I don’t know.

It’s probably the intervention of the Evil God.

Once again, the Evil God is the problem.

Damn those b*stards.

“Let’s conclude the first meeting.”

Chairman Daniel announced the end of the session.

We stepped back out onto the deck.

“Professor Jo, what do you think?”

“What’s there to say? It’s a mess. Tsk, America is doomed. A hero should be someone who collaborates, not a rival fighting over scraps. This is why politicians shouldn’t meddle in the association.”

Jo Seong-woong’s expression looked bitter.

It was understandable; the strongest nation meant to protect humanity was in such disarray.

“It was different from what I imagined. Is this what a meeting of world-class heroes looks like…?”

My naive student sensed the atmosphere as well.

This meeting was that blatant.

“Professor Cha, what will you do? You’re also seen as part of Edeline’s people. No matter how capable you are, they won’t accept you.”

“If I prove my abilities, that will be enough.”

“Oh dear, you don’t get it. They won’t give you the chance to prove it! Even if you perform well in the strategy simulator, that doesn’t mean it’s flawless. They have plenty of reasons to reject you.”

“There’s no need to propose tactics.”

“Huh? Should I just go out and fight?”

The evil gods.

Now that they’ve intervened, this dungeon must be cleared as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t the time to be picky about means and methods.

“Professor Jo, please grant me permission to use just one of the labs inside the aircraft carrier.”

“Huh? What for?”

“You’ll see. Yeo-eun, you prepare too.”

“Prepare for what?”

“Right. Let’s do something fun together.”

Chapter 5. The Sleeping Giant

─Access approved.

In a lab inside the aircraft carrier.

Everyone was focused on the dungeon raid, leaving the lab empty.

True to its operation by the American Hero Association, it was filled with rare materials.

“Excellent.”

Lee Yeo-eun asked me.

“Professor, why did you come to the lab?”

“I’m trying to create something that could help with this dungeon raid.”

“Excuse me?”

Lee Ye-eun.

She is a genius.

In the game, there are countless NPCs that assist players.

As combatants, they may not provide much help, but in their role as supporters, they excel.

If I could recruit her as an ally, I would yield countless research results that would make the game much easier to navigate.

I was planning to borrow one of those.

“Ye-eun, I’ll start a brief lecture.”

“Yes!”

“Did you know that the expedition to the Lair of the Abyssal Dragon lasted a whole month?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that dealing with the monsters that emerge from the dungeon is a huge headache.”

That’s right.

When a gate opens, the biggest problem is that the monsters inside come out and attack civilians.

The longer the gate remains open, the more monsters emerge from within.

Moreover, at a certain point, the monsters inside begin to breed, increasing their numbers and making the situation even more troublesome, so it was crucial to complete the dungeon raid in the shortest time possible.

“Why do you think the Lair of the Abyssal Dragon dungeon took particularly long to conquer?”

“Um… because the inside of the dungeon is so complex and consists of many stages?”

Sending an advance team to gather information about the dungeon could not be overstated in its importance.

In the Lair of the Abyssal Dragon dungeon, they spent a full two weeks just investigating the inside.

“Exactly. That’s the problem. Since that vast amount of information is conveyed solely through human speech, it gets distorted and miscommunicated in the process. That’s why we had to abandon the expedition several times and send the advance team back.”

It’s common knowledge that electronic devices cannot be used inside the dungeon.

So, nothing could be used, including cameras.

A massive amount of information about the dungeon.

Having to convey that solely through words and writing must have driven the advance team to the brink of madness.

One reason players hold an advantageous position in the game is evident here as well.

They can clear challenges that would normally be impossible with their specs by coming back with strategies, making them incomparable to NPC heroes.

“Since we can’t leave any footage inside the dungeon, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Then here’s a question. If we could make that possible, how much faster do you think the raid speed would increase?”

“Excuse me?”

Lee Yae-eun made a face of disbelief.

“If that were possible, who would have struggled until now? Everyone is acting this way because it’s not possible.”

Originally, it wasn’t possible.

But one genius made it happen.

“It’s not that it can’t be done. It’s just that we haven’t found the method.”

In the future, magic that can capture images inside dungeons will be developed.

From that point on, players will unlock the ability to send NPCs as scouts to gather information.

Once you’ve seen the ending once, it becomes a feature you rarely use, but it was quite useful during the first playthrough.

“Do you know why the research has failed all this time?”

“…Well, I’m not sure?”

“The basic principle of a camera is to capture light reflected from objects onto film. The wizards also approached it in a similar way, and that’s the reason for their failure.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. They misunderstood it to mean that all human-made artifacts couldn’t be used inside the dungeon. Their approach was fundamentally wrong.”

Lee Yae-eun nodded.

But the fundamental question still wasn’t resolved.

“I understand why it can’t be done. But that doesn’t mean there’s a clear solution, right?”

That was a valid question.

I didn’t know the specific method either.

But I had an idea.

The ability to view the game’s setting guide, the teachings of Sethhet.

With just that, I could figure it out.

Zing—

My consciousness skimmed through a sea of information. It’s an unsettling sensation, no matter when you feel it.

Still, I found it without much difficulty.

“We read the memories held by mana.”

Lee Yae-eun asked back.

“Mana’s… memories?”

“Yeah. Mana’s memories. Mana knows everything. If you kindly ask mana, it will tell you what it knows.”

Using Sethhet’s teachings, there’s a brief aftereffect that leaves my mind a bit dazed.

So words spilled from my mouth without restraint.

And I regretted it.

Damn. What kind of nonsense is this?

Mana’s memory? It’s not even a spirit, why ask so kindly?

In the first place, there was no concept of spirits in this game.

It was a trash-like effect classified as a talent in the game.

Was it a metaphor for something?

Anyway, it meant that if I couldn’t interpret it, it was utterly useless.

“Professor…”

Lee Ye-eun looked at me with a complicated expression.

I felt like she would scorn me for making such a middle schooler’s remark, being a professor and all.

If there was a mouse hole, I wanted to hide in it.

“So that’s how it is! Ah! How did you come up with that idea?”

Oh?

Surprisingly, Lee Ye-eun’s expression was bright.

She started to chatter excitedly.

“Mana… Yes, mana! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this? Just like investigating land and seawater, mana is also a substance that contains information!”

I had no idea what that meant, but for now, I just nodded along.

“Right. As expected of my prized student. You understood my words perfectly.”

“With this, I think we can do it! Professor, let’s work hard together!”

I see.

Since it was the magic that Lee Ye-eun created, it made sense that she would understand it.

At first, I only saw her as a teaching assistant due to her youth, but now I felt like I had gained an army of a thousand.

Our research progressed very smoothly.

“How about we structure the magic formula like this?”

“I’ll fill this part with this.”

“I think an alt formula would fit better here than this one.”

The ideas were coming from the future Lee Ye-eun.

She led the research as well.

—

I shared one piece of advice left by the future Lee Ye-eun while watching the setup book beside me.

As expected, it was the best talent I possessed, reminiscent of Sethhet’s teachings. I have no idea which fool framed this as garbage.

…In fact, it wasn’t our research; it was entirely Lee Ye-eun’s work.

“It’s done! It’s complete!”

“Good job.”

The research wrapped up in half a day.

The issue was the concept; the actual development of the magic was simple.

Of course, from Lee Ye-eun’s perspective.

“Will this magic work well?”

“Of course.”

The magic was perfect.

The proof was in my skill window.

───────────────

＜Skills＞

▼ Magic Missile

: Offensive magic. It manifests a mass of mana and launches it.

.

.

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▼ Memory of Mana

: Support magic. It allows you to read and glimpse the memories of mana.