I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-334 - Knights’ Valor Poem 4

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: Posted in discord

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The name of the Knights quickly drew a crowd.

People flocked to the 43rd floor, hoping to establish connections with the Knights or get hired and make some money. The situation was overwhelming.

When the Adventurers' Guild officially started recruiting, it took less than half a day to fill up with people, not even a full day. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝘯𝘰𝓿𝑒𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝑚

We didn't need to worry about gathering people; we needed to worry about filtering them. Han Se-ah even discussed with her viewers how to sift through so many people in just one day.

"Are we taking in everyone?"

"The numbers will sort themselves out."

Of course, there was no real need to filter anyone. If they were overly ambitious compared to their actual skills, the harpies' fierce spear attacks would filter them out for us.

Riding on the reputation of the Knights, the mission was to attack the harpy city and loot the mountains of jewels and ores. Neither the Knights nor the Adventurers' Guild intended to pay any advance fees, and the people flocking in were eager to gather and sell mana stones, not to demand money from the Royal Knights.

Thus began the blitz.

"Push forward! Don't stop!"

"Above! They're coming from above!"

"Rooftop at eleven o'clock!"

There were no tanks, mechanized infantry, aircraft, or airborne troops, but there were mercenaries and adventurers driven by gold, and 5★ characters who could cast wide-area buffs.

Human forces, eyes red with greed, rushed out of the caves toward the city, and the harpies, startled, took to the skies to meet them. Spears rained down from the sky, and arrows shot up from the ground, starting a chaotic battle.

Naturally, the humans had the upper hand. Although the harpies had superior numbers, they lacked practical experience, just like the city.

Some harpies, guided by seemingly smart commanders, put up proper resistance, but most harpy soldiers, without proper orders, floundered and fell to the ground.

And those few smart commanders...

"There! There's a commander over there!"

"Aim for the big ones, the big ones!"

"Even if you don't hit many, target the big one with the spear!"

Because they were much larger than the regular harpy soldiers, they became targets for magic and arrows. If they scattered, the aura-wielding knights would flank them. If they gathered, they were caught in the gusts conjured by intermediate-level mages.

In this unreasonable strategic mismatch, several mercenaries died, but dozens of harpies turned into mana stones. It was clear why mages, despite being holed up in the Magic Tower for research, were treated like nobles, respected by their superiors, and feared by their inferiors.

Not that mercenaries or adventurers didn't die, but that was their choice. If a intermediate-level adventurer without the skill went to the front lines, they had to risk their life.

"Wow... Seeing this makes me glad I chose to be a mage."

-See, this is why melee sucks.

-Look at that grunt panting and struggling behind, lol.

-When there are flying enemies, ranged characters are the real nobles... if they can hit.

-As the floors go up, the scale increases. Will there be army battles later?

-Scary story: There's a streamer with a hit rate below 20%, and people gamble points on it.

The intermediate-level mages hired by the Knights were somewhat accustomed to battle, able to synchronize their spells. It seemed they had experience collecting research materials from the tower, much like graduate students working under high-ranking mages.

They used Gust of Wind to pin down harpies from above, fired mud bullets to weigh down their wings, delivered light electric shocks, or flashed lights in their eyes to disrupt flight and make them fall to the ground.

"Hanna, take a good look. That's the most effective way for mages to fight."

"It seems so."

Useful magic wasn't necessarily lethal, but the way they divided roles to easily restrict the harpies' flight left Han Se-ah and her viewers in awe.

Even though she had a talent for controlling magic and a higher accuracy rate than other mage streamers, she couldn't match the applied skills of seasoned mages who had to earn their keep and endure the scolding from their superiors.

When the harpies lost their sight to the flashing lights or had their wings immobilized by rapidly hardening mud, they plummeted from the sky. Waiting below were armed robbers with eyes red from greed for mana stones and gold coins. Adventurers and mercenaries drove their weapons into the pitiful fallen harpies.

"...There doesn't seem to be anything special."

"That temple looks the same as the one on the 46th floor, but we should check it out, right?"

Amid the chaos, we dealt with the harpies as we advanced. Our goal was not gold but progressing the quest.

And my damn awakening quest.

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Raei Translations

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47th floor, nothing special. 48th floor, nothing special. 49th floor, nothing special.

…Are we screwed?

It was smooth to the point of being suspicious, but we learned nothing new as we progressed through the tower. The cities grew larger, and the defenses became tighter, possibly warned by the fleeing harpies, but our progress was steady.

No matter how clever the harpies were, they were still hillbillies who peacefully herded goats in the highlands. Their only combat experience was sneaking into the dark underground to kidnap the weak stone dwarves.

If they could contend with the Royal Knights with that level of skill, the kingdom would have long since fallen to monsters. Some had tried to block our path by collapsing caves or setting up barriers, but we had the Vacuum Stone and the support of the stone dwarves.

"These things aren't even good enough to melt in a furnace. They dare call themselves an empire when they're just flappers? None of our customers who talked about the empire ever said anything good about them."

It seemed that a loose-lipped mercenary or adventurer had mentioned the pile of stones in the underground city in front of the stone dwarves.

Old Bobo, visibly angry despite having no facial features, followed the knights with the precious Vacuum Stone, breaking through passages, reopening collapsed caves, and pushing aside makeshift barricades.

"Following the Knights, we're already at the 50th floor. How can we clear a floor every two days? Is it because we don't have to wander outside when we use the Vacuum Stone? The speed is insane."

-We’ve been digging underground for days without seeing the outside. Is this okay?

-If there's a hint somewhere above the mountains, we're screwed.

-We can’t not follow a 6★ OP character pushing forward, lol. Gonna lose out on the last hit?

-Didn't it take less than a week to get to the 50th floor? Just follow along, yeah.

-Forgetting the last hit, if the Knights lose to the harpies, will the kingdom fall?

The game would be messed up if there’s a kingdom collapse scenario.

The fallen mercenaries and adventurers were replaced by those lured by the promise of gold, making their way up the tower. The Royal Knights, trained for war, wouldn't tire after just a week. The mages were replenished with new recruits as the higher-ups were satisfied with their performance.

The harpies' forces dwindled while human losses remained minimal as we reached the 50th floor. The only ones with dark expressions in the ruined underground city were two.

While everyone else was filled with visions of gold and dreams of glory to present to the royal family, the only two who couldn’t share in the joy were, naturally, Han Se-ah and me.

"But what are we going to do? We haven't found anything except two altars... Do we really have to search the city on the 50th floor? I already have a bad feeling that I've messed up the quest."

-Accept it, it's the fate of a frontrunner. If you've drawn in millions of live viewers with this, you should be ready for a headache too, lol.

-It feels like just yesterday you were celebrating 300,000, now you have millions of followers, damn.

-But seriously, we haven't found anything since the 46th floor. Are we screwed?

-There are identical temples on the 47th to 49th floors, but that's just the standard for each city, no hints there.

-If we fail, your strategy will just be in a guidebook five years later when someone finally reaches the 50th floor.

As the Knights advanced rapidly, there was no time to look around, making her expression increasingly dark, like a college student who drank the night before a final exam.

Feeling anxious, she kept repeating her concerns, more like muttering to herself than actually talking to her viewers. She probably thought that she could find a hint in each city to hunt the boss and complete the quest.

Viewers had mixed reactions to her repeated complaints—some were annoyed, while others teased her, hoping for her first quest failure. But I couldn’t laugh at it.

I had a quest too. Not one made by the game company, but one given by a transcendent being that turned human souls into NPCs.

'Awakening quest... Damn it, what do they expect from someone who can't even use aura without the Holy Sword or skills?'

We had arrived at the 50th floor so quickly that it felt almost surreal. Edward Aquitaine showed no signs of stopping, and seeing the bloodshot eyes of adventurers and mercenaries, there seemed no way to stop their advance.

So, the only thing left was to pray together with Han Se-ah.

You're a player, right…? Can't you find something for us?

Using the quest window and mini-map, please.