Chapter 132

“Now that Yuki has joined, there are two of us….”Da-eun spread her hands wide.

“We only need six more.”

“…Only ‘six’ more?” Sёarᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Well, with Yuki as our strongest member, it’s fair to say we only need six more.”

“Ah, I get it.”

“….”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Was she always this shameless?

Come to think of it, if she weren’t shameless, she wouldn’t keep challenging Canaria even after getting rejected time and again.

She also wouldn’t have pulled stunts like ignoring the viewers’ complaints and running non-stop hunting streams for 24 hours without rest or communication.

And yet—

Thud!

“Ah! Why did you hit me all of a sudden?!”

“Your gaze was disrespectful.”

“…Judging someone guilty just based on suspicions goes against the principle of presumption of innocence, you know.”

Da-eun didn’t realize it.

That her reaction was only solidifying Yuki’s suspicions.

Yuki withdrew the hand she had used to discipline Da-eun.

“Do we really need to gather a full party? There’s no entry restriction, so wouldn’t two be enough?”

“Yuki, you’re strong, but that’s impossible.”

“…?”

Yuki tilted her head, clearly not understanding, which prompted Da-eun to sigh.

“You haven’t done any raids, have you?”

“I haven’t joined a party, but I’ve taken down plenty of bosses.”

“Not like that. I’m asking if you’ve ever done content classified as a ‘raid.’”

“…No.”

“I figured as much.”

The term “raid” is said to have originated from a specific MMORPG.

At first, it referred to when dozens of people banded together to tackle special bosses or dungeons. But over time, with the rise of various games, many different types of raids have emerged. Ȓ

Some people even debate whether certain things should be called “raids” at all, while others argue, “That’s not a raid!”

Whether people accepted them or not, many things carried the name of a raid.

“Silia Online’s raid system adheres to the principle that ‘multiple people must work together.’ It’s not something you can clear just because you’re skilled or high-level.”

Of course, being high-level and skilled would make it easier.

‘One day, if a player with power on Canaria’s level emerges, they might be able to solo low-level raids.’

Some games put systems in place to prevent that by capping player levels and stats, but Silia Online doesn’t have such a system.

“Six people need to stand on platforms, and the other two have to withstand a high-damage AoE attack. If you fail to counter this, it deals near-fatal damage to the entire map. Do you think two people can handle a pattern like that?”

As I mentioned before, if you had overwhelming strength to defeat the boss before the patterns emerged or had the defense and health to tank the damage, it wouldn’t be a problem.

But at their current level, neither option was possible.

“Doesn’t Joanie dislike combat content?”

“I studied hard.”

When your body is weak, you have to make up for it with your mind.

…Or was it the other way around?

Da-eun scratched her head.

Anyway, since it was information she had known for some time, Da-eun found it easy to acquire new knowledge.

“All the raid bosses, except one, worked like that. And….”

…That one eventually became the same too.

Da-eun held back her words and offered a bitter smile.

Yuki, who had been watching Da-eun with an unreadable expression, let out a small sigh.

“How do you plan to gather the remaining six people?”

“Recruiting them isn’t difficult.”

If Da-eun and Yuki asked their viewers, “Anyone want to join the raid with us?” they would rush in like a swarm of bees.

However, they couldn’t be sure about the skills of the people they gathered this way, nor if they might cause any conflicts.

This was the downside of a “pickup group,” or what some called a “public party.”

Since you had to gather whoever was available at the time, there was no way to know what kind of people you were teaming up with.

‘But what can we do? Neither Yuki nor I belong to any raid groups.’

When there’s no teeth, you have to chew with your gums.

“…Hm?”

That was when Da-eun received a whisper message.

***

“The atmosphere doesn’t seem too good.”

“Well, considering the timing, it makes sense.”

Da-eun agreed with Yuki’s remark, which she casually dropped while looking around.

It was an added surprise that she seemed to read the room.

“It’s probably because of the subjugation order. People would protest with both hands raised if you tried to build a landfill in front of their houses. So, would they be happy about having a bomb nearby? Especially when that bomb is almost certain to go off.”

“Can’t we just cut it down before it explodes?”

“…Are you being serious?”

“That was a joke.”

“It didn’t sound like a joke at all—”

“—But it was a joke.”

“…Let’s just say it was.”

If Yuki had said it wasn’t a joke, Da-eun might have seriously wondered if Yuki was some kind of cavewoman.

It wasn’t very convincing, but since she said it was a joke, Da-eun decided to believe her for now.



“So, where are we going right now?”

Da-eun made a face as if she couldn’t believe Yuki’s question.

“…I told you earlier, we’re meeting someone who said they’d help.”

“Did you?”

“Somehow, I thought this would happen.”

Yuki’s reaction was like she was hearing it for the first time.

Da-eun felt like she was finally understanding what kind of person Yuki was.

Ignoring Yuki, who looked like she had a question mark floating over her head, Da-eun scanned their surroundings.

They had agreed to meet somewhere around here….

“Joanie!”

Da-eun’s head snapped around at the sound of someone calling her nickname.

A familiar face waved at them from a café terrace.

Da-eun grabbed the still-dazed Yuki and headed toward the man.

“How have you been? Wow, how long has it been since we last met?”

“It’s the first time we’ve met in person since the war.”

“Ah… I really appreciated your help back then. If it wasn’t for you, Pine, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

“…I don’t think that’s quite right. Even if I hadn’t stepped in, it wouldn’t have made much difference, you know?”

Pine gave a wry smile.

At the time, he had intervened because he didn’t like the other side picking a fight, but looking back, he hadn’t needed to get involved.

No matter what those small fries had to say, a single swing of the sword would have settled it all evenly.

But Da-eun shook her head, rejecting Pine’s assessment.

“Canaria said she was impressed by the way the fledglings stood up against the Imperial Army. If you hadn’t intervened, the Imperial soldiers wouldn’t have even bothered to come.”

“Wait, that’s how it was?”

“Exactly.”

Hearing it put that way, it didn’t sound entirely wrong….

“But that means, in Canaria’s eyes, our fight looked like a bunch of chicks chirping at each other, huh?”

“With that level of power, it’s not strange to see it that way.”

But still, Pine couldn’t shake off the strange feeling, leaving him with a somewhat awkward expression.

“Enough about the past.”

Yuki, who had been showing signs of boredom, jumped into the conversation.

“Just tell us what you mean by ‘help’ since we’re busy.”

“Can’t I even ask how you’ve been?”

“You’re watching me on stream every day, so what’s the point?”

“No sense of sentiment, huh?”

Pine clicked his tongue but quickly moved on to the main topic.

“After the subjugation order was issued, we took a vote on whether or not to attempt the raid. The result was split right down the middle.”

“Which side did you vote for, Pine?”

“I was, of course, against it.”

If Pine had been an ordinary player who simply enjoyed raids, the outcome might have been different.

But he wasn’t ordinary, and unlike Yuki, he didn’t have the luxury of ignoring public opinion.

“Huh. So why are you offering to help me if you voted against it?”

“Why not?”

Narrowing his eyes, Pine gestured for Da-eun to come closer.

Understanding his intention, Da-eun turned off the audio for the stream and leaned in toward Pine.

“…By saying I’m helping Joanie, I can maintain good public relations. It’s a win-win since I get to do what I want while earning some goodwill.”

“…Wow.”

Da-eun was genuinely impressed.

“You really are a scary person.”

“Hey now, just call it practical thinking. And even if that weren’t the case, I would’ve helped you, Joanie.”

“Why?”

“Because it benefits my stream. If things go well, I could even expect a trickle-down effect.”

“What? That’s the same thing in the end.”

As expected, it wasn’t pure goodwill that motivated him to offer help.

But Da-eun wasn’t disappointed.

‘Just because it’s not pure doesn’t mean it’s not goodwill.’

She was in a situation where she had to clutch at any straw, so there was no room to be picky about sincerity or practicality.

In fact, Pine’s transparency made him more trustworthy.

Having a clear reason like “It’s beneficial for the stream” meant she didn’t have to worry about being double-crossed.

‘Not that there’s zero chance he could be lying.’

If Pine did try to pull something shady, his stream would blow up like fireworks.

“What about the raid group you lead, Pine?”

“That’s what I wanted to discuss with you, Joanie. Earlier, I mentioned the vote being split evenly, right? Normally, I’d decide whether to go ahead or not and lead the group, but this time I decided to change the plan a bit.”

Four and four.

It was such an awkward number. *(4 is considered unlucky number in east Asian cultures)

Thinking that, Pine folded down the fingers on one hand.

“Those who don’t want to participate can sit it out, and only those who want to join will participate.”

With Pine, who initially opposed, now leaning toward approval, that left three slots open.

The number of raised fingers matched the available slots.

“So, how about it? Would you like to join as temporary members of our raid group? It’ll be easier than finding six people on your own.”



We’re a pretty well-known raid group, you know.

Pine smiled confidently.

—

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