Chapter 494: Why Do You Play the Game Like That 4


    Maybe it was because we''d spent that night in the northern cave and our psychological distance had shrunk dramatically. I could feel Han Se-ah treating me way too casually now.


    How should I put it - before, it felt like we were truly close companions with clear boundaries between male and female, senior and junior. Even in her conversations with viewers that I couldn''t hear, she maintained a basic level of respect while being comfortable.


    It''s a bit hard to explain in words, but using my helmet stand as an example... it was like going from the friendliness of a high school student hanging out and gaming with a young student teacher close to their age, to the level of ten-year friends calling each other bastards and hitting each other''s backs.


    There was no way she actually aimed at the dark knight and just happened to hit my back.


    "Ow, ugh, my skull''s cracked..."


    "Um, Roland? Don''t you think that was a bit too hard...?"


    As Han Se-ah knelt down trembling after bowing her head respectfully, Irene rushed over and gently stroked Han Se-ah''s crown with hands full of holy power.


    Han Se-ah naturally buried herself in Irene''s chest whimpering while Irene comforted her. But even Irene seemed to think this bomb had been a bit much, adding that Han Se-ah shouldn''t do it again while coddling her.


    Though I hadn''t taken any damage, the explosion behind me had completely blinded me for a moment, so it must have been quite startling.@@@@


    "No, come on, why the dramatics... Don''t you know Roland can crack Mom''s barrier just by pressing it with his finger? How could my skull be tougher than the sacred law of protection..."


    -Looking at how she acts, thought her head was made of titanium alloy lol


    -Charging through the game like a headbutting dinosaur then trying to act fragile now, who''s gonna fall for that?


    -Shouldn''t Teacher''s heart hurt more seeing a trusted teammate throw bombs at his back? Just saying lol


    -Damn that sound was crisp though, gotta clip it and make some ''Quiet please'' and ''Blasphemer'' emotes


    -So satisfying watching her get disciplined after always acting up lololololololol


    The chat threw in comments one after another, sensing their chance. Of course, those folks would have teased and nagged her even if she had accurately targeted the dark knight.


    "Alright, if we''re done cleaning up, let''s head out. Even if there are supplies left in this fortress, we can''t fit everything in inventory, and there''s no reason to take it all anyway."


    "Should we leave through the tunnel?"


    Han Se-ah got up grumbling at Grace''s urging, since I hadn''t hit her that hard. When we''d reached the fortress center, all that was inside were sleeping bags reeking of corpses and unused bombs, so leaving was probably best.


    We''d dug in from the front left side of the fortress at an angle. Given the polygonal star shape, there were at least five more unexplored sections, but none of us wanted to wind through those long corridors picking up bombs.


    None of us except Han Se-ah.


    "Um, Roland."


    They probably weren''t thinking about helping the hero party so much as wanting the honor and achievement of assisting in the hero''s battle. Honestly, having hired adventurers and mercenaries, they must have known the industry''s unwritten rules.


    "Get lost! You honorless bastards!"


    "Olek, stop. The hero''s here."


    "They should at least have the decency to- oh, oh, um. You''re already out, sir?"


    While Alisa tried to calm Olek, who was so caught up he hadn''t noticed our party crawling out of the tunnel as he blocked it with his family banner, everyone else fled with heads bowed low.


    Afraid we might remember their faces, they covered themselves with flags and shields as they ran, looking like celebrities fleeing from paparazzi - bowing wasn''t enough.


    Just as we''d recovered inventory items from storage, we regrouped with the Ice Cross Knights at the base camp in front of the floor 60 fortress. As we slowly descended floor by floor, our group kept growing.


    The people who''d fled hiding their faces must have spread rumors that "The hero defeated a Four Heavenly King in less than half a day!!!" because more people joined us each time we visited camps for supplies.


    "Hey, heard the news? The hero''s about to..."


    "Thought we had more time to profit, but this was faster than expected."


    "Any Imperial guys who haven''t heard yet? Want to squeeze in one last contract."


    It wasn''t because amazing things happened around the hero party - with both the mid-boss and boss monster defeated on floor 60, the Imperial commanders'' test would naturally end.


    The commanders had rushed to floor 60 seeking high scores, but with all the enemies gone, that meant the contracts were over. The contracts probably specified termination at either the end of the commander test or floor 60 completion.


    So people who heard our news naturally started descending, while some rushed ahead trying to squeeze in scam contracts before word spread.


    "Oh, hero! We heard what happened!"


    "Ah, thank you. But those people being tied up..."


    "Oh, these fellows? We caught them trying to commit fraud by disgracefully using your name."


    Of course, they just ended up getting caught by priests who were quickly moving between camps and dragged away. They probably thought priests wouldn''t get involved in ordinary fraud, but selling the hero party''s name meant selling the Goddess''s name, so of course they got caught.


    And so our group kept growing like a snowball rolling down a slope - the hero party, the contracted Ice Cross Knights, the Imperial trainee commanders following them, the mercenaries trying to scam them, and the temple forces arresting those mercenaries - all heading toward the city.


    ...How did it come to this?


    Enjoy the chappy!