Chapter: 135
◆Second Attempt
Tank: –
Ballista Operators: Luna, Envers, Selvier
Thunk. Thunk. The Ogre trudged through the forest, stomping around like it owned the place. The three hid among the bushes, whispering their plans.
“How on earth are we supposed to shoot a rampaging Ogre in this tree-filled jungle… with a ballista?”
“There’s a pattern, I think. Random, but still.”
Luna drew a rough outline of the Ogre’s path in the dirt.
“Shut it.”
“I didn’t say anything…”
Regardless of her vague drawing skills, the idea got across. The Ogre wandered in circles in the forest, while each ballista was positioned at 120-degree angles from each other.
“Whichever ballista we use… eventually, the Ogre will cross our line of fire!”
“But if luck is against us, we might have to wait a long time… Let’s just predict and fire!”
“It just passed there.”
Luna pointed to the Ogre’s footprints. Selvier rushed to the ballista to calculate the angle and aim for its head. Then came the waiting game.
After an absurdly long time…
Thunk. Thunk.
The sound of the approaching Ogre had the three of them holding their breath. As the Ogre passed by the designated tree, Envers fired the ballista.
Ting! Whoosh—!!
Thwack.
“Uuuuhh—!!”
“What?! It didn’t die?!”
With the ballista arrow embedded in its head, the Ogre staggered around, wide-eyed, starting to charge back toward where the shot had come from.
It was too far away. The ballista didn’t have the power to take it down in one hit!
Luna calmly ordered, “Reload.”
“Ah, got it. Reloading…!!”
“Hurry up, it’s already right on top of us…!”
“I can’t go any faster!”
By the time Envers fumbled to reload, the Ogre was already at the ballista.
Whoooosh—!!
The Ogre’s club came flying, smashing the ballista to pieces.
Because time-stalling in front of the Ogre wasn’t a strategy either, the challenge task was now beyond reach. Selvier expressed her escalating frustration.
“Ugh, seriously—!! We waited so long for this, and now we need a Firebomb!!”
BOOM—!!
A bright red fire arrow flew and exploded. The charred remains of the Ogre, minus its head, crumpled to the ground.
2nd Floor, Normal Clear.
===============================================================
Since they couldn’t kill the Ogre in one go with their current setup, they needed a new plan. How could they gain a clear?
“We can’t take it down in one hit from a distance, and we can’t lure the Ogre out of its path; what do you expect us to do?!”
“And if we fire once, we’re done for. Even if we train to reload, I can’t see us firing before it arrives.”
“We have two shots left.”
Luna raised her hand in a V shape. There was a reason they had two arrows left. Plus, there were three ballistae hidden around the forest.
“With every shot I take, hand them over to me.”
“…What do you mean by ‘hand them over’?”
“I’m talking about the ballista!”
“Right.”
They could shoot at an angle and then escape immediately. The enraged Ogre would smash the ballista, but the players would be long gone, thus staying undetected.
They would repeat that three times.
Selvier rolled her eyes at the thought of such a tedious grind.
“How much time are we going to waste…”
“Nevertheless, we have no other choice.”
“…If only there was another way?”
To avoid the long waiting times, Selvier quickly brainstormed a new strategy. They could enhance the ballista arrows.
“Whether it’s an enchantment or adding a scroll, all we need is one shot to take down the Ogre!”
“Dwarf. Stubborn old man.”
“True, I doubt he’ll easily agree. He’s been watching us ever since he came out of that hole…”
“Right. That Dwarf was hiding in the underground cavern before we even got to him!”
Selvier snapped her fingers. That was precisely her target.
After the start of the 2nd Floor, there was already an arrow loaded in one of the ballistae. It existed even before meeting the Dwarf, so it was an object ‘out of sight.’
“Let’s enchant an arrow in advance. Of course, exploding it would be impossible. If the arrow were to blow up, he would get furious, saying, ‘You meddled with my arrow!’”
“Then…?”
“We place a subtle, one-time enchantment that would fool the Dwarf completely… so he won’t find anything except the dead Ogre!”
“…………!!”
Luna raised her thumbs up quietly. This plan seemed feasible!
Envers’s expression brightened as well. After feeling lost, it felt like a light shone through. There were many more floors to conquer; they needed to climb up quickly. He wanted to prove his capabilities to his master.
“Then the enchantment is the issue.”
“Let’s ask the Gold Tower’s prodigy for the enchantment! He will definitely do it neatly enough so the Dwarf won’t suspect a thing. After that, we can say goodbye to this forest…”
“Question.”
“Huh?”
Luna looked around at her companions, carefully gesturing with her hands. She made a circle with her thumb and index finger.
“Do we have any money?”
“…………”
“…………”
Envers was effectively penniless since he had been shunned by his family. Selvier was a promising student getting some attention at the Red Tower, but she wasn’t yet a prodigy—plus, the funding she did receive had long been blown away on her research.
Selvier asked in a nervous tone, “Does Luna happen to have any money…?”
“…………”
Luna pointed to her clothing. The lightweight garments she was wearing were a sign of budget constraints.
If she had money, she would be wearing armor made from more expensive materials—something flexible—rather than parading around in ragged clothing.
The group of penniless young adventurers looked down at the ground with gloomy faces.
“…Should we keep planning?”
“Yeah.”
“It might be better that way…”
The meeting continued with a slightly damp atmosphere.
Ultimately, the idea of firing the ballista three times was chosen and set into action. However, Envers felt a strange unease creeping in. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about how things would go.
He had fought the Ogre numerous times while climbing the Tower of Trials. He didn’t have a precise sense, but through the experience left in his body, he had a vague feeling.
※ SYSTEM_INFO ———–
[Lost Ogre]
Health: Normal
Mana: Not Used
Strength: 4 / 10 (Upper mid-tier among students)
Agility: 2 / 10 (Lower mid-tier among students)
Intelligence: 1 / 10 (Lower tier among students)
Traits: Blood-soaked skin
=> The toughness of the skin increases as HP decreases.
※ —————————
This Ogre seemed to grow tougher as it got more injuries…
===============================================================
◆Third Attempt
Tank: –
Ballista 1 Operator: Luna
Ballista 2 Operator: Envers
Ballista 3 Operator: Selvier
Selvier fiddled with the trigger of the preloaded ballista. They had truly waited a very long time. She could only pray that this last arrow would end it.
“Have you fired Ballista 1 and 2? Got it. Yep, I can see it too. The Ogre now has two horns on its head. We need to make that three…!!”
Vroooom—!! Thwack!
The arrow soared through the air and struck the Ogre in the head. It began to stagger and bleed profusely. Selvier prayed desperately…
“Uuuuhhh…”
“Die, die, please!”
“Uh, uggh, uuuuhhh…”
“Just… die!!”
The Ogre didn’t die.
Somehow, the Ogre survived despite taking three ballista arrows to the head and grasped onto the value of survival! Envers, watching from a distance, couldn’t help but feel respect for its tenacity.
It should have been dying from blood loss, but its natural healing was outpacing the bleeding!
Selvier’s eyes narrowed in frustration at the malicious design of the 2nd Floor. Due to the Ogre’s passive damage reduction, it didn’t die even after taking all three shots.
Anger bubbled in her core and manifested through magic.
“Firebomb!!”
BOOM—!!
The bright red fire arrow flew and exploded. The Ogre’s head was burned black.
2nd Floor, Normal Clear.
===============================================================
The shooting-then-waiting tactic had failed.
The wait time combined with the passive effect, resulted in them being unable to kill the Ogre, even after using all the ballistae. What then was the solution to this nefarious design?
The insane magician watching the trio’s struggles from the control room lamented with the following words:
“Please pay attention to the story.”
You fools who skip the storyline—how could you just shoot arrows and rush off like that?
I didn’t ask for much. Just a couple of sentences out of courtesy would have sufficed.
“Since the Dwarf is the deciding factor, asking him about how this whole mess started, why he wants to capture the Ogre, could raise the affinity level and make the assessments easier. It could end warmly like ‘Thanks for taking it down…’”
Or…
“If you’re not interested in the Dwarf’s grudge, you can trick him. Since he’s watching with his telescope, you could knock him out and make it look like he got killed by the ballista…”
Or…
“He said he was chasing an Ogre with a scar on its eye, but the one in the forest is just a regular Ogre. This implies that the Dwarf is blinded by vengeance and has fixated on a harmless creature while the true culprit is long gone… We could help him get closure.”
The crazy magician rubbed his forehead. Yeah, he understood that the hints given to the trio were a bit lacking.
It should have been pointed out that the Tower of Trials’ challenges emphasized ‘narrative’ more than just the ‘clearing methods.’
But he had his grievances as well.
“Selvier…!!”
He had planned to drop some hints back on the first floor!
After the Orc had settled his grudge and, while dying, he would say how he had been dragged into this arena and wanted to fight to the best of his ability, thanking them for granting his wish.
He wanted to convey to the players that there was indeed some story behind this place.
But Selvier had skipped through those lines.
Consequently, the crazy magician got a bit miffed. It felt similar to when someone stole his favorite shirt.
Normally, he would gradually drop hints or perform real-time balance patches, but for now, he intended to watch them squirm and suffer for a little longer. There was another reason for leaving them be.
The GM typically intervenes when players have lost their bearings.
When they reach that moment of ‘Now what do we do?’ I have to show them the way forward. Conversely, intervening when players are trying their best to find a solution is rather unromantic, the insane magician believed.
They hadn’t given up yet.
It seemed they had some sort of plan…
===============================================================
◆Fourth Attempt
Tank: –
Ballista 1 Operator: Luna
Ballista 2 Operator: Envers
Ballista 3 Operator: Selvier
In the forest where the Ogre prowled, the three gathered to brainstorm. They believed there had to be a way.
“Can’t we make more arrows? Like asking the Dwarf to craft some!”
“There’s no facility.”
“What if we try to beat the Ogre with a ballista?”
“No physical power.”
“Or, it doesn’t have to be just us three; we could bring a few more outside…”
They surely wouldn’t ask for the impossible. While Selvier actively brainstormed ideas, Envers’s mind began to wander.
This was also a form of martial arts, in a broad sense. It was a duel with conditions.
They could fire three times.
However, if they took too long between shots, they wouldn’t be able to defeat their opponent.
Because their opponent had high defense and recovery.
Hitting a rock required pinpoint accuracy.
To do that, just like the legendary archer in old tales, they would either have to show skill to the extent of splitting an arrow with another arrow…
Or, simply think.
“…What if we shoot all three arrows at the same time?”
“…………?”
“It’s possible. Theoretically.”
“Saying it’s possible is easy, but this isn’t flat ground; it’s a forest, remember?”
He was indeed aware.
The biggest reason for the repeat shooting and waiting was to find a precise moment—when the Ogre and ballista would be closest to each other to guarantee a hit.
“Then what about arching the shot? It won’t get caught in any trees.”
“You want to shoot the ballista in an arc at the Ogre? If that were possible, we wouldn’t be here holding swords! Plus, the Ogre moves randomly. Unless there’s a massive target hovering over the Ogre, how are we supposed to—?”
“…There is a target.”
The three simultaneously looked up at the sky.
A strangely nearby sun was drifting about. That sun had been used as a marker to locate the Ogre.
The Ogre would always be positioned “directly underneath the sun.”
“…Bring me a pencil-thin branch.”
“I’ll get it right away!”
The magician’s brain was whirring. After approximately three hours of calculations, Selvier jotted down several formulas that filled the earth beneath them.
There was hope!
“If this doesn’t work, I’ll just kill the Dwarf and… borrow some money from that Gold Tower guy.”
“If it comes to that, I’ll chip in what little money I have.”
“Me too.”
The three memorized the angles based on the sun’s position and scattered to operate their respective ballistae.
The first one to take a shot was the one farthest from the sun.
That was Selvier.
The past failures and hardships flooded back. After putting in the effort, it was time to check their outcome again. Her heart raced, and her hands were wet with sweat.
“Operation Name… Shoot for the Sun!”
Selvier steadied her sights on the sun and pulled the trigger on the ballista.
Vroooom—!!
Thwump, thwump—!!
The three arrows soared into the sky, each at staggered intervals. Flying in a dizzying arc, the arrows began to descend under the influence of gravity.
Whishhh—!!
The Ogre, wandering in the forest, squinted up into the unusually bright sun.
A small dot that he hadn’t seen before floated against the sun’s glow. The Ogre squinted, trying to figure out what it was, but death came faster than the answer.
And the three arrows struck in unison to its face.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
The Ogre didn’t even get to scream before it collapsed.
The Dwarf, who had been watching with his telescope, dropped his jaw. What did I just witness?
===============================================================
Thwack!
“I had no idea you were such accomplished archers. I apologize for making you use my shabby ballista. Thanks to you, I saw something exceptional…”
The grumpy Dwarf bowed his head to the party.
Selvier beamed, while Envers and Luna also raised their smiles. How much trouble had this guy caused them?
Nonetheless, it felt refreshing to have succeeded…
“That was totally badass.”
“…Yeah, it was cool.”
The satisfaction was immense. If possible, they wanted to preserve the Ogre’s corpse and show it off. The fact that they couldn’t left them slightly disappointed.
“Thank you for avenging my grievances.”
“Well… You did well too, Elder.”
“Now that the Ogre is gone, it would be good to come out and live freely.”
“Meat, not just mushrooms.”
Paaaaan—!!
A bright light emanated from the Dwarf’s chest, soaring into the sky, bursting forth with radiance like earlier with the Orc…
2nd Floor Clear of the Tower of Trials.
===============================================================
[Walking in the Rain Without Getting Wet: Clear the 3rd Floor after withstanding Jenny’s Phase 2 Opening Pattern for 10 Minutes]
“…How on earth are we supposed to clear this?!”
“I agree. What exactly is ‘Jenny’s true form’?”
“No clue.”
The 3rd Floor challenge began with a rocky start. Most of the students weren’t even aware that Jenny had a Phase 2.
