Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 91

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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 91

[Entering the Trial Layer]
「Trial Layer – Silent Mist Forest」

[Purify the magical particles saturating the forest – Purification Rate 10%]

It’s been a while since I’ve actually stepped into the Tower.
Nearly two weeks devoted to building my foundation, after all.
So this feeling is a rare one too.
The moment the Gate opens, all eyes pivot toward me—
‘I’ll never get used to this, will I?’
But why are there so many people at the Trial Layer?
Watching the crowd surge toward the Gate only to be blocked by Drones gave me the answer.
Click—click—
‘Journalists.’
Fair enough; there are Players among the press corps.
But once that sank in, the whole scene felt absurd.
They’re all journalists?
Cryle, Ar, and the others.
The Drones coordinating the perimeter the moment the Gate opened kept any sense of intimidation at bay, but it was still ridiculous.
‘Usually they don’t venture this deep into the Trial Layer, though.’
The reason needs no elaboration.
It’s dangerous.
‘The starting point is relatively safe, at least…’
And even if something went wrong,
we could bail out quickly enough.
Still, I didn’t expect them to hold position here.
A volley of sharp questions erupted from the journalists penned back by Cryle, Ar, and the Drones.
“Neia! Just a few quick questions!”
“Could you spare us a moment before you begin the Trial?”
“There’s considerable anxiety about the Trial! Are you still confident?!”
The journalist who asked froze the instant my gaze landed on him.
Probably because the Drone barrels swiveled in response.
Remarkable how the atmosphere shifted to ice in that single moment despite all these people.
Equality lives in front of a gun barrel, after all.
“I believe I’ve already addressed questions about the Trial.”
“So… you remain confident?”
“I do.”
I answered simply, then turned to the gathered journalists.
“Would you mind stepping aside? I have work to do.”
The crowd parted.
The journalists exchanged glances before splitting apart like the Red Sea.
I walked straight through their ranks with the humanoids at my side.
Baek Jin-seong caught up once we’d cleared the encirclement entirely.
“Hey there!”
“Ah, you made it through?”
Looks like the press had him cornered and he couldn’t break free.

[Player Baek Jin-seong requests to form a party.]

I accepted the party request first.
Then checked the Quest details again.

[Purification Rate: 10%]

“Didn’t you say it started at zero?”
Higher than expected.
“I hear it started accelerating rapidly from dawn yesterday.”
I hadn’t known that.
I’d been too busy with final preparations.
“Well, that works out.”
Either way, it meant my workload had dropped by ten percent.
I’d have needed to account for rescuing the vanguard if things went south.
But looking at the Purification Rate, it seemed I could spare myself that trouble.
“What about the broadcast?”
“Ah, I’ll turn it on now.”

– Oh… it’s Neia!
– Neia! Woohoo!
– If you were worried she’d postpone again, upvote this.

I spoke as I always did.
“Today, we’ll conquer the Trial Layer.”

* * *

At my words, the viewers erupted in cheers.

– That’s our Neia!
– Wait, what’s this? Why are there so many drones today?
– They’re still coming out of the Gate?

Up until the last broadcast, the numbers hovered around a hundred or so.
But this time, there were roughly a thousand in total.
If the chat didn’t react like this, I’d have been disappointed.
Still, with this many, getting out of the Gate was taking forever.
The journalists outside weren’t helping either.

– Huh? What’s that?
– There’s a new one too?
– Nice new weapon.

The Longhail Turtle’s debut.
Naturally, it drew intense viewer attention.
Tia also caught everyone’s eyes as she dozed sleepily among the drones before joining up.

– x, get out!

Tsk.
These people had no shame, daring to talk back to Tia, the core of our unit.

[…has been forcibly removed from the channel.]
[…has been forcibly removed from the channel.]
[…has been forcibly removed from the channel.]

The chat was cleansed in an instant.

– Still… she’s kind of cute, right?
– Look at that cuteness radiating through the goggles.
– Is she sleeping right now?
– So what’s the newbie’s name?

People were chattering back and forth about the Longhail Turtle and Tia when suddenly the chat’s focus shifted elsewhere all at once.

The Gate suddenly expanded to an enormous size.
Moments later, drones emerged from within, carrying something massive suspended beneath them.
As five drones clustered together to transport it, the chat exploded with speculation.

– Wait…
– Could that be a Crystal Tower?
– Why would they bring a Crystal Tower?

“I told you I’d prepared thoroughly.”
Nemesis was finally assembled in full force.
Everyone except Neia, who remained at base, had gathered here.
“Then we’ll begin the assault.”
I called Neia first.
“Neia.”

‘Yes, Commander.’

Neia’s face appeared on the holographic monitor.
I gave her my orders.
“Execute the plan.”
Neia divided our forces into four equal sections at my command.
Three squads and one main unit.
Cryle, Sermin, and Ar each took command of a squad.

‘Deployment complete. Awaiting orders.’

I confirmed the three squads positioned at even intervals and gave the signal.
“Begin.”
At my word, the three units advanced with the Crystal Tower-bearing drones at the vanguard.
Of course, we encountered monsters along the way—
Boom! Boom!
The two Longhail Turtle cannons unleashed their fire.
Once their defenses were stripped away, concentrated fire reduced the monsters to nothing.
The viewers fell silent watching the display.

– What’s that accuracy rate?
– Who said monsters in the 70s weren’t viable targets?
– They’re just melting them.

Once the monitor showed the area cleared, I spoke.
“Deploy.”
Crash!
The Crystal Tower plummeted to the ground and embedded itself.
Moments later, the Purification Rate began to climb.

[Purification Rate: 11%]

– This is insane…
– I’ve never even imagined a strategy like this.
– Only Neia could pull off something like this.
– This is what war looks like…

Of course, amid the amazed comments came whispers of concern.
Everyone already knew that setting up purification towers was the easy part—what came after was the real challenge.

– Not just one, but three at once?
– Can they even handle that?
– After seeing this level of preparation, you’re still doubting them?
– Real talk, this is incredible.

The spectator was right.
Surely I should have considered that possibility.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Vibrations transmitted through the earth.
The Monster Wave had begun.
It was Tia who started unleashing fire at precisely that moment.
I’d been gathering energy to maximum capacity for this.
Bang-bang, bang-bang—
Crouched atop the Aegis Drone floating in midair,
Tia delivered a barrage at tremendous speed.

—A sniper, then…
—She’s fast.
—And accurate too?

Of course, monsters in the seventies wouldn’t die in a single shot….

—Hmm… though it might just be a rifle?
—The output seems insufficient.

And yet that alone was enough.
Those spectators simply didn’t understand Tia’s ability.
The thing about Tia was that she made existing wounds hurt worse.
“Sweep them away.”

Crack-crack, crack-crack-crack—

Concentrated assault on the sections I’d carved out with Morphological Adaptation.
With hundreds of rounds of firepower raining down, the Monster Wave was disposed of effortlessly.
The enemy forces called it a Wave—dozens per Crystal Tower.
But I fielded hundreds.
There was no way they could stand against us.
I gave orders to the battalions once maintenance was complete.
“Resume advance. Kill anything that gets in the way.”

* * *

The raiding party was taken aback.
It must have started about an hour ago.
The roar echoing through the forest never ceased.
Fire smoke, dimly visible.
And the Purification Rate climbing steadily with each detonation.
There was no mistaking what this meant.
“Neia….”
“Looks like she’s started.”
To be honest, I’d been dismissing Neia.
Seventies-level monsters.
The power gap would be immense—a twenties-level Player couldn’t possibly be performing as before.
Yet still, he was overturning the entire field.
I felt it vividly through the Quest window.
“We need to hurry too….”
That was when Yusera’s urgency was growing.
“Found it!”
A member of the raid party called out.
Yusera’s expression brightened.
“Blood traces!”

Rewind to the night before.
While we’d been pushing forward, planting Crystal Tower after Crystal Tower,
the creature we’d been searching for at last revealed itself.
As expected, it was clear the creature despised the Crystal Tower.
In any case, the battle that began this way ended in the raid party’s victory, but…
The problem arose when, just as they thought they’d cornered it completely, the creature fled.
‘I nearly lost it then. That was terrifying…’
Still, fortune smiled on them.
This time, they could track it by following the blood trail from the deep wounds it had sustained.
And as they pursued, the trail suddenly vanished—they stumbled about helplessly until, at last, they found it: this very situation.
Yusera began moving with the raid members, following the blood trail.
“Is that a cave?”
A cave nestled in the corner of the field where they’d finally arrived.
“Everyone, get ready.”
After establishing a thorough encirclement, they launched the true hunt.
“This time, we finish it for good.”

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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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