Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 28

‘Definitely….’
From what I could see, the figure approaching slowly from the end of the corridor was unmistakably human in form.
The only people who would naturally be wandering this place were the raid party members.
Perhaps because I knew that fact, the chat window erupted at once.

– Blast them all!

“I already said we shouldn’t blast them.”
The viewers seemed to have already made up their minds about it.
Or maybe they were just joking.

– But there aren’t that many people, are there?
– Where did the rest go? There’s just this few?

Listening to the voice chat and checking again, it was true.
Even with the casualties the raid party had suffered, their numbers easily exceeded a hundred.
“Something feels off….”
Especially the way they were walking.
Now that I looked closer, something felt distinctly wrong about them.
That was when I felt a creeping sense of unease.
As the distance closed, their forms became clearer, and once I saw what they looked like, it made me click my tongue.
“Tsk….”
Their eyes were vacant, and it seemed all semblance of reason had already abandoned them.
Like zombies in a film, wandering aimlessly along the corridor.
Staggering… staggering….
And finally….
“Kaaaahhh!”
Upon spotting Krael, they shrieked and charged forward.
The Beam Cannons fired without mercy—a mercy I almost felt grateful for.
Each time, one by one, the players fell in futile defeat.
There was something deeply repugnant about it all.

– Uh…
– Hmm…
– Honestly, it is what it is, but…

The chat, which had always erupted in cheers whenever Krael fired the Beam Cannon, this time fell silent in a different way.

– Shouldn’t we try talking to them first?
– Did you see them charging just now? There’s no talking to—
– It’s just… awfully brutal. But what else can we do?
– It’s left a bad taste.

They were not monsters. They were unmistakably human.
Watching the dignity of one’s own kind trampled was hardly pleasant.
And that was when the mood had truly soured.

『Ugh… my head…』
『Where… am I?』
『Why are there only… these people?』

– Huh? What?
– They’re getting up just fine?
– Yeah, they are?

The people who had fallen helplessly under the indiscriminate Beam Cannon fire began to stir and rise moments later, groaning.
All of them had their limbs intact.
“Krael.”

“Yes.”

“I think we need an explanation of what just happened.”

“There were black mushrooms blooming on their bodies shortly before. I detected a suspicious aura forming around them and, concluding it was the cause, I removed it.”

“Mushrooms? There was something like that?”
Neither the viewers nor I had noticed it, but apparently there had been.
In any case, Krael’s judgment was correct.
Krael asked for my thoughts on what came next.

“Should we make contact?”

“I defer to your judgment. But prioritize safety above all else in your decision.”

“Understood.”

Krael repositioned the Combat Drone to the rear and the Hunter Drone to the vanguard, then approached them.
The survivors, who hadn’t noticed Krael’s footsteps until now, heard them belatedly, confirmed what they were, and terror gripped them.

“What is that…!”
“Is it a monster?”
“Agh! Don’t come closer!”

A magical blast crackles through the air.
Magic suddenly fired at Krael without warning.
But the defensive barrier deployed by the Aegis that Krael had positioned beforehand dispersed it harmlessly.
The viewers cheered at the Aegis’s performance, which they’d never seen before, and felt reassured.

– So that’s what that thing does—a defensive unit!
– Why are they attacking all of a sudden?
– This won’t do; we need to fight back!

My own impression, however, differed from the chat.
The Aegis’s barrier was indeed superior, but the players’ magic was also weak to begin with.
What’s this? They weren’t supposed to be an elite force?
And that wasn’t all.
Several of the players complained of dizziness or began breathing heavily after casting even modest magic.
As I was puzzling over this, Krael spoke up.

“It appears they’re suffering from the aftereffects of the phenomenon from moments ago.”

Meanwhile, the players who’d launched the surprise attack fell into despair at the sight of the unharmed Krael.
Just as they were retreating, intimidated by the overwhelming presence—

“Wait! Doesn’t that look familiar?”
“Isn’t that… Naia’s drone? Isn’t it?”
“But it doesn’t seem to be Naia herself, does it?”

Once the players’ misunderstanding seemed to have cleared, Krael began approaching them slowly.

“I’ll attempt communication.”

Krael began conversing with the players.

“I am Krael, an operator assigned to explore this floor.”

He began with introductions, and by the end had progressed to observing and assessing their condition.
It seemed the title of “celebrity” had made it surprisingly easy to break through their guard.
Krael subsequently tried to extract information about the Main Force from the players.
But regrettably, he learned nothing of value.
They complained of gaps in their memory.

‘I remember moving partway with the Main Force…’
‘Yeah. Strangely, everything after that is blank, right?’

After tending to the players, Krael moved to a position where they couldn’t overhear and spoke to me.

‘Please advise on how to proceed.’

“What’s your assessment?”

‘Combat operatives… their condition makes them unsuitable for active service. Their stamina is severely compromised. Even if they accompany us, I don’t believe they would be of tactical advantage.’

The skin of the players, which I examined alongside Krael, bore blackened marks and deep-set wounds.
It seemed they were likely the sites of whatever that earlier business about the Mushroom had been.
The problem was that such damage made it unrealistic to expect them to function normally.
“…A difficult choice.”
Knowing the full circumstances, I found myself at an impasse.
If I continued the exploration with them in tow, it seemed I’d be burdening Krael.
But if I abandoned them and pressed on, it felt as though I’d be erasing Krael’s sense of conscience—a hard decision either way.
“Krael.”

‘Yes.’

“If I ordered you to judge this situation at your own discretion, what would you do?”
Though taken aback by my question, Krael soon offered the answer he truly believed.

‘Regrettably, one cannot look after everyone in the heat of battle. I believe they understand this and are present for that reason. They must protect themselves.’

I fully agreed with his assessment.
They possessed no useful information, and no combat ability.
Thus their utility was limited.
I would certainly face moral reproach.
But considering what lay ahead, there was no need to needlessly saddle myself with this burden.
“You’re content with abandoning them?”
‘Yes.’
Yet something nagged at me.
Krael’s expression.
A reluctance that belied his words.
In any case, his answer helped clarify my own thinking.
I chose to support not Krael’s AI-driven logic, but his inherent nature—his humanity.
What matters to a soldier is justification.
Provide him with adequate reasoning, and even if he knows it isn’t strategically sound, he’ll act with pride.
That’s the kind of soldier Krael is.
“Krael, we’ll protect them and continue exploring. Keeping them alive serves as good justification in case we later clash with the Main Force. Understood?”
Krael’s expression brightened.
He and Alang weren’t so different after all.
‘A wise decision. I stand in admiration.’
“Fine. Gather your team and resume operations.”
‘Understood.’
The voice chat in the channel exploded with commentary from those who had been watching the exchange.
But the tone was different from before.

– (Sniff)…
– (Soft smile)…
– Hehe…

“Well? Say something.”
I gave the order to Baek Jin-seong.
“Close the chat. These insolent bastards are getting on my nerves.”

– Please, just forgive Abong…!
– We humbly beg your mercy!

I could tolerate the curses, but the mockery was another matter.
I swung the iron rod.
“That’s better.”
Still, my mood wasn’t altogether bad.
Krael’s face, as she swiftly assessed the severity of the aftereffects and organized the teams, made me forget my irritation.

『I will proceed.』

Krael resumed moving.
I, who had been standing still, began walking again, following the map.

* * *

A moment later.
Baek Jin-seong, who had been walking while watching the screen, muted his microphone and spoke.
He must have noticed the dark cast that had come over my face.
“Is something troubling you?”
“Ah. It’s nothing much.”
Really, it was nothing.
But there was something on my mind nonetheless.
Namely, the energy status.
‘Something feels off…’
Until now, the average drone operation time when clearing the tower had been around ten minutes.
In the tutorial tower it had been far shorter.
Even if it grew somewhat longer after that, it still averaged around the same.
But the 15th Floor was different.
I’d already summoned the drones and more than two hours had passed.
I’d even used the Ultra-High Energy Photon Cannon through Argelayer once.
The longer the time stretched, the more the power consumption weighed on my mind.
‘I did stock up quite a bit, though…’
By factory production standards, I’d accumulated over three hundred days’ worth.
During the rest period, with time to spare and taking care not to cause market fluctuations, I’d actively scraped together what I could.
But this time, with so many drones deployed and no way of knowing how much longer we’d be here, the worry wouldn’t leave me.
‘If only I could communicate with Naia right now…’
I was just considering whether to stop moving and slip away to a secluded spot to check the status when—
“But sir, if I may ask out of pure curiosity.”
“Hmm?”
“Do we really need to keep walking?”
Baek Jin-seong’s point was simple.
I understood in theory that our movement was meant to be ready to provide fire support from the surface to underground in case of emergency.
“Aren’t all the battles being handled by the drones anyway?”
He was asking whether he and the Projection Unit couldn’t simply stay in place.
It was a reasonable thought, so I explained.
“That won’t work.”
“So there is a reason, then?”
“Right. The Link range for the Projection Unit isn’t infinite.”
It’s about three kilometers.
Not short by any measure, but too uncertain to stand still and rely on it.
It was right after I made him understand that we needed to keep moving to be ready in case the Link was cut if the distance from Krael grew too great.

『With all due respect, that is not the case.』

Krael spoke thus.
“Not the case?”

‘Yes, that applies only to standard units.’

To summarize what Krael said, it amounted to this:
As a special unit, he operated under different rules.
He could maintain a Link with a marked target regardless of distance—a staggering revelation.
I realized the implications at once.
“Wait, then you can establish a Link with Naia too?”

‘Of course. Shall I establish it now?’

“Yes, please.”
Wheeee—
Krael’s eyes flooded with light, and a piercing wail erupted across the space; in the next instant—

[No Signal]

The noise subsided, and Krael spoke again.

‘The signal cannot be acquired. This should not be happening, but…’

It wasn’t difficult to puzzle out.
The gate was sealed at the moment.
“…Right, wait a moment.”
I took several Hunter Drones and moved alone to a secluded spot, where I opened a subspace.
“Gate open.”
Then I positioned some of the Hunter Drones I’d brought as gatekeepers and regrouped with the others.
“Try again, Krael.”
A familiar face appeared on the screen that moments before had shown no signal.

‘You called for me, Co—’

“Naia!”
Naia had begun her usual greeting, but catching sight of Baek Jin-seong at my word, she swallowed the rest of her sentence.
She’d nearly let slip his true name, but I’d trusted Naia’s sharp instincts—and she proved me right.

‘Yes, Commander.’

“Assist in the upcoming combat, focusing especially on Energy Status.”

‘Understood. I’m now sharing our current remaining energy reserves.’

An energy consumption window materialized before my eyes.

[Energy Status]
– Remaining Power: 240 days…

It displayed the current energy reserves,
consumption per minute,
and projected time until depletion.
The energy readout was remarkably clear.
“I’ve burned through quite a lot…”

‘Yes. Please exercise caution against overconsumption.’

Still, there was room to spare.
At the current rate of consumption, we could hold out for eight more hours.
Baek Jin-seong, who had been watching the exchange with careful attention, spoke with a puzzled expression.
The entity that appeared on screen was indeed an entity, but what mattered more was the name that spilled from his lips—Naia.
“Is this person also named Naia?”
Baek Jin-seong knew, of course, that his own name was an alias.
But to learn that Naia called someone else by that same name—it was impossible not to feel unsettled by it.
The chat window was closed, so I couldn’t hear what the viewers were saying, but surely they were thinking the same thing.
Probably showering me with praise right now—something like “How clever of you.”
As for how I should answer his question, I found myself at a loss.
Explaining Naia plainly was out of the question.
It would inevitably lead to discussion of the city, and even if I tried to deflect carefully, hints might slip through anyway.
On the other hand, I couldn’t be bothered to concoct a plausible cover story.
I decided to express my unwillingness to explain by giving a half-hearted answer instead.
“My wife.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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