While the aftermath of Doom Kaos’s eye appearance on the mainland was unfolding, the Awakened were taking the time to solidify their alliances around the leaders of each group in the stage of preparing for the Final Stage. Seong-Il’s group was no exception.
“I do not know what will show up, so we all should be careful and do our best. We won’t be able to close our eyes in frustration if we fail and die at the end,” Seong-Il said, looking at the group members sitting in front of him. There were exactly two hundred fifty members including himself, which was the size of ten attack units.
“After this battle, Saint Dragorin will truly be yours. No one will control you. The World Awakened Association is likely to let you go. Whether you sell drugs or do whatever in Dragorin, they will not care. This place is up to you. Those who want to be kings can become kings, and perverts who dream of having a harem can achieve more than they imagine.”
Seong-Il continued, “I am sure this will happen. Also, I don’t know how many of you still have attachments to the mainland, but if you do, remember this. The Reputation figure is there for a reason. It is an assessment of your contribution, and it will become important. It might be used as a qualification to access the mainland.”
He made eye contact with the members in the front and then added, “All of you should understand what I am saying by now. If the association has any control over you in the future, then it will only be the Reputation figures.”
Seong-Il was still making calculations during his speech. All groups were not composed of the same number of members, but on average… It seemed that the Awakened were divided into about five hundred groups.
It does not seem that our mission is to capture Elsland.
Then, Seong-Il looked at the Guide Lu-luah. Lu-luah shook its head.
After finishing his speech, he had a separate meeting with the attack unit captains. If there were any hard feelings among them, then he intended to sort them out within the given time, and he felt it was effective.
Suddenly, he heard Lu-luah speak.
[It is nice to see you caring for your subordinates, Mr. Caliber. But can you stop and pay attention now? The news you have been waiting for has arrived.]
The Guide Lu-luah flew to the center of the podium. Seong-Il noticed a small change on Lu-luah’s face. The Lusea tribe was skilled at putting on a bright face even when things were bad, but from Seong-Il’s perspective, he could see the fleeting change in Lu-luah’s expression.
[Be happy. Act One Preparation Stage and Act Two Final Battle. The Final Stage consists of only two acts. Are you relieved now?]
[It will not be as long as the Stage of Advent.]
“Let’s get to the point and stop beating around the bush.”
[Please give Lu-luah some time to prepare. Lu-luah has become an inseparable community of destiny with you all!]
[Awakened~ Do you remember the Stage of Advent, Act Two, Stage One? ‘Eight cities,’ ‘Night Raid,’ ‘Light Pillar,’ ‘Zone Eight on the Seventh Floor Barrier,’ ‘Build score.’ If anyone still does not remember after Lu-luah giving you hints, then you must be stupid (*Ծ﹏Ծ) ]
At that time, a bitter smile appeared and disappeared from Seong-Il’s face. Indeed, a dangerous mission was planned.
Act Two, Stage One of the Stage of Advent was one of the most vivid battlefields for Seong-Il. Even He had gotten weakened and nervous during that time. Seong-Il still clearly remembered the scene at the time, when the muscle under His left eye was always twitching.
One of the Awakened shouted, “Is it just us?”
[You are not complaining, are you? Even if other groups do, you guys don’t have the right to whine. You have the Caliber with you.]
[Anyway, the biggest problem back then was that every time the danger level of the Light Pillar increased, or the city was destroyed, the curse on you guys became stronger.]
[Danger Level 1: Decrease in Attack Power
Danger Level 2: Item Incapacitation
Danger Level 3: Trait and Skill Incapacitation
Danger Level 4: Incapacitation of all ability stats.]
[Many stages have failed to overcome this, and the most powerful ones among the light pillars are still intact due to the quest ‘Fight, Fight. Until the Only One Remains.’]
[That’s right. The Final Stage, Final Battle of Act Two is a repeat for you guys. You guys should remove the light pillars. Hey! Are you already scared? Do you want to see Lu-luah getting mad?! ٩(๑`ȏ´๑)۶ ]
The Awakened who Seong-Il made the vice-guild leader muttered, “This…this is difficult to succeed.”
Seong-Il patted his shoulder to calm him down, then realized that he was unconsciously imitating His behavior.
It was true that without having a mindset like Him, it would be difficult to endure with just about two hundred people. Although the Awakened were now stronger than before, they had started with seventy thousand people back then.
However, they would not have asked us to do it if it was impossible.
Seong-Il nodded after exchanging glances with the guide Lu-luah.
[The Final Battle will proceed in two cases. First, if you succeed in removing the Light Pillar, the successful guild will be moved to another guild’s stage. In this case, bonus points will be added to the reputation score depending on the round, along with the reward box. If you succeed again on the transferred stage, you will be moved to another stage.]
[Mr. Caliber seems to have noticed already, right? Yes, the more you succeed, the larger the guild size will be. However, increasing the size of the guild may not be the key point. Because the containment of the enemy camp will also be enhanced. How to adjust this is up to you, Mr. Caliber~]
[The second case is probably the story of other guilds. Under logical judgment, they will have to hold on if they think they won’t be able to reach the light pillar. They should manage the risk level while protecting the city, and wait for a guild with a challenger Awakened like Mr. Caliber to come to the rescue.]
[But with such a weak mindset, it will be obvious. Anyway, it is not relevant to Mr. Caliber, so I will pass it here. Pass~]
Then, one of the Awakened couldn’t stand it and spat out, “Are you telling us to succeed with just this number of people?”
[Gosh. You have a quick temper. I haven’t even started off telling you the good news.]
***
[Good news 1: The light pillar barrier, which is divided into eight areas on the seventh floor, is destroyed by the System’s power.]
[In the past, you had to destroy the barriers of eight areas to open the way to the next floor. After repeating such work, you could face the monster boss protecting the light pillar. However, not this time. The barrier will be removed from the start. All you have to do is climb up the open path and defeat the boss monster.]
[The current System is on your side, Awakened. Don’t even think about the wicked and petty System of the past. You guys are blessed.]
“What about the monsters and traps? And the night raid?”
[Ugh. Those are pathetic. ( ｰ̀дｰ́ ) But that does not mean that you can take it easy. This is your last warning. Do not interrupt me, Lu-luah.]
The Awakened looked at Seong-Il.
He said, “Fine, fine. I get you are worried but be quiet. There will be a Q&A session, okay?”
[If Mr. Caliber wants, we can have that time. But if you listen to what Lu-luah says, you won’t have any questions. You understand, right?]
“Keep going, Lu-luah.”
[Good news 2: You start with a sufficient build score.]
[This point is different from before, too. This was unimaginable under the old, mean System. Let me emphasize again. The current System is on your side, the Awakened. So, do not waste your build score recklessly, but consider how to use it effectively.]
[One of the reasons you had a hard time at the Stage of Advent was because you used the build score more in consideration of other factions’ cities than preparing for the night attack.]
[You have already experienced it once. And now, you are a community. So, think carefully about how to use your build score to effectively protect the city. Don’t forget that the Stage of Preparation is set for this!]
[The Stage of Preparation, Act One, is not meant to be a place for complaints, but for planning city defenses and light pillar strategies. Remember this.]
Lu-luah was passionate with its speech as the failure of the stage meant its downfall. That was the case for all of the Lusea tribe who were designated as guides.
Lulus positioned itself as if it was sitting on Seong-Il’s shoulder. Then, it continued with the support of Seong-Il’s authority.
[Good news 3: Opportunities for rearmament, trade, and store system opening]
[Private trade and store systems are available now. This will be an opportunity for those who have been working hard on collection quests, so find optimized weapons with the prepared coins. You can also exchange your current weapons with other Awakened, or sell to get coins to aim for higher quality weapons.]
[The transactions are due before the Stage of the Final Battle begins, so you better hurry! We hope you guys use the new system very actively! It goes without saying because it is directly related to the survival of the Awakened.]
[Why don’t you do a trade, Mr. Caliber? (๑☉ᴗ☉๑)]
“I did not get any notification yet.”
[It will pop up as soon as the briefing for the last stage is over. Hehehehe. Also, I heard that Mr. Caliber has lots of coins. It seems that the expectation of the honorable *** towards Mr. Caliber is very high.]
The Guide Lu-luah rubbed its face on Seong-Il’s cheek.
[And if there are any leftover coins, could you…give me some. Hehehe.]
Seong-il was not in the mood to react to its joke. Memories of the past were spinning furiously in his head. He clenched his fist, recalling the image of Him from the past.
I will try to be like you this time. Please watch me!
The soaring veins on his arms writhed as if they were alive.
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