Chapter 176  

As the darkness settled late in the night, Yu-Seong left the army camp with two knights assigned to him by Count Monte and a special operations team of 30 members.

In order to move secretly, they did not ride horses and walked quickly without a single word of conversation. They also kept themselves far away from the open field where both sides of the army were watching.

<The 9th floor of Tower of Heaven>

The Hidden-piece Mission has changed.

This special mission only opens when two people who have a similar contribution score in the Tower of Heaven and have a pre-existing friendship with each other on Earth choose different formations.

Through the confession of Count Monte, it was revealed that a Dragon Egg was abandoned in the deepest part of the Renton Mine. You can obtain the Dragon Egg and deliver it to Count Monte.

During the journey, Yu-Seong glanced at the message once again. His expression became subtle.

‘Hidden-piece, and a Dragon Egg...’

The original novel had given no information about how to acquire this hidden-piece. The most interesting part was the last phrase in the mission message.

‘You can deliver the Dragon Egg.’?

Contrary to Count Monte's intentions, the system message appeared to imply that delivering the Dragon Egg might not be necessary. With this in mind, Yu-Seong could recall someone who had made themselves known through this Hidden-piece in the original novel.

‘The villain, the Black Dragon Emperor, must have gotten the Dragon Egg here.’

He had appeared in Chicago, America, with a giant black dragon, causing a disaster and slaughtering people. After the incident, he had suddenly disappeared without a trace. In other words, there was not much mention of the Black Dragon Emperor in the original novel.

‘Since he appeared after the Tower of Heaven scenario had progressed considerably, the timing seems right. I initially thought he might be a major character in the second part of the scenario, but...

Anyway, Yu-Seong had gotten possessed by the novel before getting to see the second part. It was safe to say that he would never know the story of the Black Dragon Emperor in the original novel.

‘I may not know much, but if I can prevent the Black Dragon Emperor from committing mass slaughter, then the situation isn't too bad.’

Seeing how things turned out, Do-Jin's choice had worked out quite well.

‘It should be the luck of the protagonist that I’ve only heard about.’

As Yu-Seong chuckled to himself, someone walking beside him cautiously said, "Mr. Choi Yu-Seong, it seems that we have moved away enough from the camp."

It was Kyron, the knight who had competed against Yu-Seong. Although he had a large build, his long red hair and fair skin reminded Yu-Seong of the blonde protagonist from a classic comic book about the French Revolution that he had read a long time ago.

‘He must be what they call a pretty boy.’

Yu-Seong heard that, unlike other knights, Kyron had volunteered for this mission. Perhaps it was out of gratitude for Yu-Seong's fair fight in their previous duel.

‘Are we about 4 km away?’

As they tried to walk without leaving a trace, they had taken two hours to cover a distance that an average person walking at a fast pace could have covered in just one hour. If Yu-Seong were alone, he could have been a little faster, but with the two knights and soldiers following him, it was an inevitably time-consuming process.

"I think so too," Yu-Seong said. Yu-Seong thought that they could now have a conversation. With such a distance between them, their voices would barely reach the others, and they were in a dark, open field without even a single streetlight. Breaking through the four-kilometer distance and determining their location in this world, where moonlight was the only source of light, seemed almost impossible.

‘There may be superhumans who can handle such things with ease, but…’

Still, it was only on the 9th floor of the Tower of Heaven. It was too early for such beings to appear. Despite the short sighs coming from all around, Yu-Seong, who had been somewhat tense while checking his messages, also showed a relieved smile.

A moment later, Yu-Seong turned to his companions. "We can't let our guard down just yet."

"Of course not. The night fields are dangerous.”

"It's not just about that. It's highly likely that Count Chris has also dispatched a special operations team like ours," Yu-Seong said.

“Ah…?” Kyron, with a surprised look on his face, seemed to understand. He nodded.

Yu-Seong thought again about the mission on the 9th floor of the Tower of Heaven through the message window he had checked earlier. In fact, treasure hunting and monster hunting was a familiar task. However, there was one aspect that he needed to keep in mind.

‘Given the conditions of the Hidden-piece, I can assume that the person who received this mission is not just me alone.’

As Count Monte had said, Count Chris also knew about the existence of the Dragon Egg. Yu-Seong thought that Do-Jin might have been offered a similar mission, though in a slightly different way.

‘In this situation, Kim Do-Jin's choice is obvious.’

Just as Yu-Seong had done, Do-Jin must have taken Yu-Seong into consideration while listening to Count Chris' words.

‘He would have guessed that my choice would definitely lean toward this side.’

It wouldn't be particularly interesting for Do-Jin to receive Count Monte's surrender simply by performing well on the battlefield. When Do-Jin had chosen to side with someone other than Yu-Seong, the emotions conveyed by the Character Understanding were intense feelings of competitiveness.

‘He will definitely come after me.’

Also, Do-Jin would probably have headed toward the mine around the same time as Yu-Seong. Do-Jin had two choices here. Would he simply take the treasure of the mine, the Dragon Egg, and declare the mission a success, or would he obstruct Yu-Seong? This answer was somewhat clear as well.

‘He will definitely choose the latter.’

Based on previous experience, it was clear that Yu-Seong was more skilled than Do-Jin in searching, exploring, and hunting for treasure.

‘It's thanks to the skill 'Third Eye,' which is one step ahead of Insight.’?

Additionally, among the randomly rewarded skills that Yu-Seong had acquired, many of them resembled the abilities of a thief-type character in an RPG game. This included pursuit, perception, trap evasion, and lock picking.

On the other hand, the random skills that Do-Jin had obtained included many types that were suitable for a warrior-type character, such as a charge, ground shock, and wall of protection. Furthermore, Do-Jin was boiling with intense competitiveness. Therefore, he would definitely choose to fight Yu-Seong no matter what.

However, Yu-Seong was also uncertain about where this battle would take place.

‘Inside the mine? Or somewhere in this plain?’

In fact, it was now the most cautious situation, as they were far away from both sides' military bases.

Yu-Seong explained the situation to the knights and special operations team, including Kyron, and asked them to move as discreetly as possible. As for himself, he headed toward the rear of the formation.

In other words, Yu-Seong chose to move with the hunters in the special operations team or mercenaries with various experiences. He was going to erase their tracks as they moved.

‘Kim Do-Jin is an offensive type. He will definitely chase our tracks.’

Naturally, Yu-Seong had no intention of merely defending. In the book ‘The Art of War’, there was a saying that the best strategy was to win without fighting.

‘I'll erase my tracks while tracking Kim Do-Jin's trail. Then, I'll utilize the boss monster in the mine to secure victory.’

There were only two enemies: the monsters and the soldiers led by Count Chris. In this situation, there was no better way than to use the tactic of ‘play somebody off against somebody.’ Yu-Seong believed that his decision was not completely wrong.

***

Yu-Seong had traveled approximately 8 kilometers away from the Renton Mine where the Dragon Egg was located, and about 10 kilometers east of their base.

‘What kind of bushes…? It looks like the Goblin Fortress.’

The bushes that had suddenly appeared seemed to be getting longer and now stood tall enough to obstruct their view like tall reeds. Fortunately, the object was not sharp or pointed, so there was no need to worry about injury. However, they would leave a trace more easily and have a harder time understanding the surrounding situation in such a place.

‘If we meet here, it will be the worst-case scenario.’

Thus, Yu-Seong made a simple choice.

"Let's split up here. You two intentionally leave excessive traces as you move, then return to the unit when the sun rises."

"Yes sir."

"Understood."

When Yu-Seong chose the two young men who were former hunters, they nodded lightly and dispersed in different directions. After confirming that they were moving away, Yu-Seong intentionally made the traces larger and gave instructions to move.

How long had they been moving like this? Kyron, who was walking at the forefront and responsible for the side, gave his position to another knight and approached Yu-Seong. He said, "We should be arriving at the mine soon."

Yu-Seong wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked around. Since entering the bushes, their pace had slowed down, and he felt that the surroundings were becoming slightly brighter.

“Fortunately, there was no ambush. Perhaps, we have been moving faster than we realized?”

"No, we might be almost caught up."

“You mentioned being friends with him, so it seems like you know quite a lot about him,“ Kyron surmised, guessing the origin of Yu-Seong's thoughts.

"Yes, I'm pretty confident knowing him," replied Yu-Seong.

In fact, if it was before, Yu-Seong would have claimed to know almost everything about Do-Jin. However, the more Yu-Seong got to know Do-Jin, the harder it became for him to understand Do-Jin’s thoughts.

"Thanks to the knights and soldiers who followed my orders well, we should be able to reach the mine entrance relatively smoothly. Have you been to the mine before? It would be even better if we had someone who knows the way…" said Yu-Seong.

When Kyron gave a strange smile in response to his question and shook his head, Yu-Seong, who had no high expectations to begin with, simply nodded calmly. Come to think of it, it made sense since the war had broken out over a mine that was located in an area where neither territory could enter easily.

"Everyone is following your orders so well because they all respect you."

"Ah...?"

"Not just the knights, but even the soldiers dislike following the commands of someone who is not brave or doesn't understand honor.”

“I assume the first duel we had together, Kyron, was helpful."

"I can't deny that, but... More than that, it's a gesture of respect toward your experience and skill. To be honest, none of us here have ever seen a skilled warrior like yourself sweating and doing menial tasks at the back like a regular soldier. I didn't mean anything negative by my comment, so I hope you don't misunderstand," said Kyron as he quickly waved his hands, his face turning slightly red.

"I won't misunderstand, but after hearing your words, I can't help but wonder... Wouldn't it make you, as a knight, uncomfortable to see me doing so?"

The world within the Tower of Heaven during the mission had a resemblance to the medieval era on Earth. In other words, although knights were not necessarily nobles, they were almost akin to that of nobility. Possibly from their perspective, Yu-Seong's actions could be seen as undermining the honor of a knight.

"I think that depends on the person. Maybe the knights of Count Chris might have been more uncomfortable, but I don't think there would be anyone among the knights who follow Count Monte who would misunderstand your behavior. Rather, taking on a difficult task alone will increase their respect for you."

Yu-Seong waved his hand at Kyron's unexpected excessive praise. He said, "I am flattered, I just did what I could do."

"Not everyone does what they can. Rather, most of them pretend not to know and do nothing. Maybe you will leave us after this mission, but..."

"Shh. Everyone, crouch down." Yu-Seong interrupted Kyron's words of admiration and lowered his body.

The knights and soldiers who had been attentively listening to their conversation also followed suit, their expressions tense. The atmosphere around them shifted.