Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 81

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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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Chapter 81

Sermin endured the relentless barrage with everything she had.
At first, she had weathered Ar’s bombardment without a scratch.
But time was not her ally.
Ar’s onslaught showed no sign of letting up, and Sermin was being driven steadily into a corner.
Normally, the Shock Wave would have finished charging by now—she should have counterattacked ages ago.
But that wasn’t possible.
The Successor, an absolute being, had issued direct orders otherwise.
Bitterness welled up in response to the unreasonable command.
‘What in the world is the point of this…?’
Sermin swallowed the surge of emotion, burying it deep.
What good would it do to harbor resentment toward the one she had sworn to serve with her life?
‘Even so… this really is dangerous….’
She was reaching her limit.
She didn’t want to die.
Yet that damnable younger sibling showed no sign of stopping.
Perhaps venting accumulated grievances.
Or maybe, like her, simply following the Successor’s orders.
It could have been both.
But one thing was certain: she was truly at her breaking point now.
Her energy output couldn’t keep pace.
“What are you doing to me…?”
Sermin’s teeth clenched.
Truth be told, there wasn’t no way out of this situation.
She simply didn’t want to take it.
Because it meant facing an unpleasant memory from the past.
Whirrrrr—
She felt her core beginning to overheat.
Given the current restricted power output, this might have been an inevitable scenario all along.
Death, or a solution she didn’t want to use.
At the crossroads between those two choices, Sermin finally made her decision.
“I really didn’t want to use this….”
Boom—crash!
As the rain of explosions receded, a colossal blue-gray frame rose into view.

* * *

About fifteen minutes had elapsed since Ar’s fierce bombardment began.

‘Master Kang Seon-woo, a message has arrived from Lieutenant Ar.’

“Ignore it. Tell her she can’t stop.”
I didn’t need to read it to know what it said.
She was almost certainly asking whether the bombardment should cease.
Unlike when I first gave the order and she began striking her reliable older sister with renewed vigor—
Now was the point where even she would think this was getting genuinely dangerous.
Crash—boom-boom-boom.
Even at this considerable distance, the flashes hurt my eyes and the thunderous barrage left my ears ringing.
Shouldn’t it be about time to show it?
Boom-boom-boom—boom—
But it seemed like a bit more time would be needed for my plan to work.
She didn’t seem inclined to bring it out anytime soon….
‘I didn’t want to push it this far either, but there’s no helping it.’
I decided to make my resolve—that I wouldn’t budge—known to Ar once more.
Despite having already issued the order through Neia, I transmitted new instructions to Ar again.
“Continue the assault! If you’re considering insubordination, be prepared for the consequences, Lieutenant.”
Sermin was being driven into a corner.
Of course, I’d known it all along.
Neia had pointed out Sermin’s Core Overload problem less than five minutes after the bombardment began—there was no way I couldn’t have known.
But there was a reason I kept pushing her forward so relentlessly regardless.
“I’ve always been curious, you see.”
Sermin is a Hero Unit.
Which means she was born with the Drone Form from the start.
And yet, I’d never once seen Sermin’s Drone Form deployed.
Looking back on it now, there was that time.
When we shielded our forces from the Seisrunner’s meteor barrage—a perfect moment for her to use it, and yet Sermin didn’t activate her Drone Form even then.
Was it because she had leeway?
No, that wasn’t it.
Judging by the situation, her reaction, and the atmosphere afterward, it had to be something else entirely.
The circumstances were such that one wrong move could’ve inflicted additional casualties on our side.
Which made the current situation feel distinctly odd.
Why was she holding back like that?
Even if I plugged in what I knew about Ar.
The Drone Form demonstrably has superior performance—so why refuse to use it?
Honestly, I couldn’t say for certain.
It could’ve been simple pride.
Or there might be another reason entirely.
But one thing was absolute.
We couldn’t keep going like this.
Sermin is, without question, our unit’s strongest asset right now.
So I had to see it.
Sermin unleashing her full power.
Sermin’s Drone Form.
Crack—
And then, at last.
“You’re serious now, Sermin.”
I watched something vast rising from the heart of the bombardment, swelling larger with each moment.
A thrill ran through me, and my lips curved upward unbidden.
But then…
“This is… how far…”
Does it keep growing?
The smile that had been clear on my face faded gradually, then vanished entirely in the wake of the shock, leaving no trace behind.
And for good reason—what I ultimately witnessed was a fortress suspended in the sky.
It was so overwhelmingly immense that anyone looking at it would come to the same conclusion.
The Seisrunner?
No—accounting for distance, it looked to be easily ten times that size.
‘A Drone…?’
But what Sermin had become now was something far beyond even that.
A battleship.
Yes, that seemed like the more accurate way to describe it.
Boom—pop-pop-pop—
I’d learned this only later, but…
I’d thought Ar’s bombardment had stopped, but it hadn’t.
It was simply that the Barrier’s range was so vast and expansive that the impacts became inaudible.
Since I’d unknowingly entered within Sermin’s Barrier, I’d gotten the false impression that Ar’s strikes had vanished.
Boom—pop-pop—
Ar’s bombardment slowed, then ceased entirely.
But by then, it had ceased to matter.
My attention had converged entirely on Sermin now.
“That’s… insane.”
The moment I’d uttered such an inadequate expression, overwhelmed beyond words.
The massive silver-blue frame that had cast a giant shadow over the entire region began to shrink, transforming back into a small girl.
I greeted the approaching Sermin with delight.
“Ser—”
But Sermin ignored my greeting, shuffling past me without a word.

『Shall I call her back?』

“No, I don’t think I should talk to her right now.”
It’s just a gut feeling.
There’s something dark and heavy hanging over her.
And truthfully, I’d half-expected something like this anyway.
Probably a trauma of some kind.
I’d hoped it wasn’t, but if it’s related to that….
I need to tread carefully from here on out.
Right after I’d stopped Neia from speaking.
Ar, who had shifted back into humanoid form, spoke up.
“That’s exactly what I was trying to tell you.”
“Do you know something about this? About her condition?”
Ar seemed to understand something about Sermin’s current state.
So I asked, and Ar answered.
“Sister shouldn’t hate her own Drone Form.”
“Why not?”
“I suspect it’s something like, how could something so massive look like a little girl, that sort of thing?”
Massive—yes, that was putting it mildly.
I’d stood staring blankly at it for a good while.
“But there was something moving about it….”
“The important part is that Sister doesn’t see it that way.”
So to sum it up, that was it, then.
I still didn’t fully understand.
Sermin, so sharp and rigid on the surface, harbored a delicate, girlish sensibility beneath.
And I’d exposed that vulnerability without even knowing it.
“…If that’s the issue, this is about the worst outcome possible.”
Because I’m an absolute fool when it comes to matters of the heart.
I have no idea where to even start.

* * *

Sermin’s situation had left me in an awkward spot for a moment.
But I didn’t regret what had happened.
There were two main reasons.
The first of them was….

[Learning Rate: 31%]

The theory behind the Learning Mode—my original objective—had been verified.
A truly overwhelming achievement.
What had barely been above seven percent had skyrocketed in such a short time.
Of course, in the process of doing so…….

『Power consumption was substantial. The City expended ten percent of its total energy reserves in that recent situation.』

A lot of power had been consumed, true.
A mock battle where Hero Units had exhausted themselves against each other.
The aftereffects were nothing to scoff at.
Looking at how much had been consumed in such a short span…
Even if I understood the principle now, it didn’t seem like I could use it frequently without some serious constraints.
And because of that…
I arrived at another conclusion at the same time.
‘I need to hurry things along.’
The development of Advanced Underground Resources.
Anyway, I was satisfied with the meaningful progress we’d made, so moving on to the second gain….
The point was that I’d now seen Sermin’s Drone Form.
Yes, it had created a thorny situation, but I couldn’t leave her Drone Form unused forever.
Sooner or later it was something I’d have to revisit and resolve, which made this all the more worthwhile.
Now we could move past this internal wound and grow stronger together.
“But how am I supposed to make this better….”
Good is good, after all.
But from here on, it was clearly a separate problem entirely.
To be blunt, I was hopeless when it came to understanding women.
So I was at a loss for how to even approach the matter.
That’s when Ar caught my eye.
As if he’d been waiting for this moment, he passed along some information.
When it comes to reading the room, he’s sharp.
He’s no fool, that much is certain.
“If you’re thinking of visiting her, I’d recommend trying to win her over with chocolate!”
“Chocolate?”
What kind of nonsensical advice was that?
Shouldn’t I be giving her something more impressive?
For a moment I thought as much, but then again—if Ar was saying it, maybe it really was something Sermin liked…?
“Lately she’s always stealing mine to eat. So I’m sure she’d be pleased with it!”
Ah, so it was just a simple preference after all…!
I glanced over at Neia.
Even though my intentions were obvious enough, I was asking her opinion on his suggestion.
In moments like this, there’s really no one else to trust but an AI, is there?

‘Gifts are best received when they don’t feel burdensome,’ came the search result.

“Well… even if I’m not thrilled about it, I’ve settled on chocolate as the gift, then.”
I spoke with a conflicted heart.
“Work out a proper plan for me, will you?”
But despite Neia’s search function pulling together a variety of information, I couldn’t find any hint that seemed promising.
After two hours of serious deliberation, nothing satisfactory emerged, and in the end, all I had to show for it was a plan to just go straight at it.
“Sigh….”
With the premium chocolate Ar had advised me to buy in hand, I went to Sermin’s door and pressed the doorbell.

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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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