The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 101

Swish-!

Crack-!

The battle against the monsters unfolded rapidly. Hanbit's wind-wielding sword sliced through ten lizards in a flash. Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde quickly dispatched the rest.

"Whoa..."

Kudran's jaw dropped at the sudden turn of events. Their movements were on a completely different level compared to his own struggles.

Crash-!

Hanbit's sword continued its deadly dance, mowing down the monster horde. The sheer number of monsters, far more than usually seen near Ifrit, was a clear sign that something was amiss.

Slash-!

With a final blow, a lizard's neck was severed in half. The dwarves, who had been standing there dumbfounded with their weapons raised, turned their gazes as one.

"Who are you?"

"We didn't know there were adventurers this strong?"

"Kudran, did you bring reinforcements?"

"What? You hired adventurers?"

Their rage and hatred toward the human race seemed to fade into the background. The relief they felt after escaping the imminent threat of death was overwhelming.

"I didn't hire them! They are..."

"I am Black Dragon, Kudran's acquaintance and an adventurer. I've come to ensure the safety of the village."

Hanbit interjected, introducing himself abruptly.

"Really?"

"You know adventurers like that?"

"Kudran has done a great thing!"

The dwarves' eyes widened at the mention of an acquaintance.

-A swift change of heart.

-???: What a dimwit.

-People are the same everywhere.

The crowd responded even more enthusiastically to Hanbit's statement.

Approaching the elder, Hanbit asked quietly, "How is it? Do you still think this is an irrelevant matter?"

The elder, who had initially dismissed the increasing number of monsters around Ifrit, could no longer ignore the danger after experiencing it firsthand. He realized that if they did nothing, they would be the ones in danger.

"...I see."

Looking around at the still-turbulent crowd, the elder nodded. "First of all, thank you for your help. If it weren't for you, we would have suffered a great deal of damage."

The elder also greeted Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde. His gaze shifted to the corpse of the lizard. "However, I'm not sure if the safety of Ifrit is closely related to this place. We don't live inside that wall."

"Ah, that's fine. It's a problem I can solve. After this is over, you'll all become true residents of Ifrit."

"What?"

The elder was startled by Hanbit's immediate and confident reply. Could an outsider really solve this problem? That was his first thought.

"Is that possible?"

"It's a simple matter. All we have to do is drive out the mayor who built this."

"That seems impossible..."

-He's going to lose his head.

-I can see Barres.

-Are you doing well in hell, JOAT?

-You're going to be executed even in hell.

They all looked up at the beautiful glass wall. Pirnen, the mayor who built it, was a powerful figure with a strong family background that made her difficult to touch. However, she was by no means invincible.

"Well, you'll see the results. It would be more certain if you helped me."

"...I'm worried about messing with the market, but it's clear that doing nothing isn't the answer. If we can protect our people, then of course we'll lend you our strength."

"Good. Then let's start preparing right away."

"What kind of preparation? I think repairing the wall should be the top priority, but it will be difficult to avoid the mayor's eyes."

"No, there's no need to repair the wall."

“Huh?”

Kudran's question was natural. To protect the city, it was important to keep the wall, which served as a shield, as intact as possible.

However, Hanbit brought up a different topic.

"Let's start by creating an evacuation site."

* * *

Approximately 1 hour later.

The three who had been helping with the work left the dwarven village for a while. The sky was already turning dark. Hanbit checked the message that had popped up earlier.

[Main Quest #3 completed.]

[Received 50,000 gold.]

[2 stat points awarded.]

[Experience increased by 30,000.]

[Level up by 1.]

[1 stat point awarded.]

[Progress increased.]

[Main Quest #4: Evacuation]

The dwarven village has been attacked by monsters.

There seems to be nothing that can be done with meaningless countermeasures.

Move inside the walls and find a way.

Objective: Devise an evacuation plan for the dwarves.

Reward: 100,000 gold

*Current progress: 8%

The crisis realized from the village attack.

Considering the increasing danger level in the future, it was necessary to prepare for the dwarves' safety as soon as possible.

"But wasn't the attack just now a completely separate event? Or does the number of main waves change too?"

"It was too small in scale to be called a wave. And there were probably very few players who progressed the story in the dwarven village."

Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde raised questions about the incident.

The attack on the dwarven village a little while ago was supposed to happen exactly at that time today.

The only difference was the absence of the guild master Jinuk's group.

If Hanbit hadn't intervened, they would have moved to the village after meeting at the monster corpse disposal site.

There, they would have discovered the anomaly in the forest and carried out the extermination themselves.

"There will probably be very few attacks like this. As you know, the three big waves are the main ones."

The structure of the story progressing in Ifrit is simple.

Three monster waves hit at intervals.

If you can withstand this and protect the city, and somehow defeat the boss, you will reach the end of the story.

It would be just as much of a failure if you focused solely on extermination and the city suffered damage.

"I heard the waves are pretty tough. Oh, but the first one is said to be easy."

"It seemed like the NPCs deployed were enough for the first one. But it seems better if we do our best to contribute ourselves."

-The first one is easy.

-Yeah, they'll block it on their own.

-It's a piece of cake, right?

-I came back after eating, and it was over. lol

Experienced players expressed various opinions.

However, the reason why they took the first wave lightly was simple.

About half of that wave, which all players experienced, was fake.

"Where are we going now?"

As they walked and talked, they were soon approaching the front gate.

"We're going inside the city, but... I need to talk to him over there first."

Hanbit pointed to the dark area under the wall.

There, Gorik, who had revealed himself, was slowly approaching.

"He has been following you since earlier?"

"Doesn't that mean he’s determined not to lose me?"

While the two were having a short conversation, Gorik approached a few steps closer.

Although his stature was small, he had the atmosphere of royalty.

"We meet again."

"Don't say it like it's a coincidence. I won't consider what happened earlier a debt."

"I don't intend to bring it up either."

Gorik mentioned the incident of drawing the attention of Jinuk's group.

It was a measure to preserve Hanbit's plan, but it seemed to have built up a certain degree of goodwill.

"Seeing you come here like this, have you changed your mind?"

"...I'm willing to listen. You said you had a deal, so what do you want from me?"

Gorik got straight to the point.

He probably had a change of heart after seeing the situation of his people.

Hanbit didn't bother to beat around the bush either.

"It's simple. Teach your dwarven metallurgy to my companion."

"What?"

Gorik's hot gaze moved at the blunt words.

His piercing gaze reached Kim Jaeha, who was standing next to him.

"Are you telling me to teach our royal craft to someone who isn't royalty?" Gorik asked in a sharp tone, after a moment of silence.

"I believe this token is worth it," Hanbit replied nonchalantly. "Oh, and I hope you'll help protect Ifrit as well. You wouldn't want to let all the people die, would you?"

"How dare you..." Gorik exploded in anger at the casual tone. The dwarven metallurgy was a precious power that they never revealed to outsiders.

Gritting his teeth, Gorik managed to calm himself. Glaring at Kim Jaeha once more, he offered an alternative. "I can't teach you the complete craft, but I can train you to become a decent blacksmith."

"That won't do. I need the dwarven metallurgy specifically."

"Fine. Then I'll train you to become a first-rate blacksmith..."

"I refuse," Hanbit cut him off firmly.

In that short time, Gorik's face had turned beet red. "Your arrogance knows no bounds!"

"It's not arrogance. Your people and Your Highness are on the brink of disaster. So stop causing unnecessary casualties and consider my proposal..."

"Enough! I was mad to even consider a deal with you!"

Finally exploding at the provoking words, Gorik turned his back, unable to retort.

Hanbit called out to him as he walked away. "You might want to keep an eye on the village tonight. If you change your mind, come find me."

"Don't make me laugh!" Gorik shouted before disappearing.

Ding-!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[Sub-quest #1 completed.]

[Sub-quest #2 unlocked.]

[Sub-quest #2]

You met with Gorik but the deal fell through.

Will you be able to meet Gorik again who left looking quite angry?

Objective: Wait for the next meeting with Gorik.

Reward: Sub-quest #3 unlocked

"Hey, I got Sub-quest 2 too."

Kim Jaeha seemed to have received a quest as well, having properly finished the Edlen episode. It seemed the first one was applied retroactively since they had already met.

"Didn't you go a bit too far? I could hear his teeth grinding."

"It felt like you were deliberately provoking him too. Is there a reason for that?"

-Yeah, right.

-He's basically begging you to leave.

-Actually, the dwarves are more annoying...

-Agreed.

The two who were listening to the conversation asked questions, and the viewers' reactions were divided.

Hanbit looked at the dark alleyway and said, "Gorik has a very thick wall around his heart. It's like a shock therapy."

Gorik was proud but not completely foolish. Rather, by hitting him with the harsh reality, he would objectively face his limitations. And there was still an event left that would truly move his heart.

"You two should return to the dwarven village. Please finish the work I asked you to do earlier."

"The underground shelter? But can you really build it so quickly?"

"They're dwarves, right? If they're determined, they can dig it up easily."

"That... that's right. If they want to live, they have to dig like crazy."

Kim Jaeha was surprised to hear that they had already started digging an underground space.

However, even without dwarven metallurgy, their manpower was unmatched. They would have given their all, knowing their lives were at stake.

"But are we the only ones going? What about you?"

"The first wave is coming soon, where are you going?"

The first monster wave would come at night. The people of the dwarven village would die then, but if they created an underground shelter, they could survive.

However, that was only a temporary solution.

"It's difficult to survive there in the long run. It's best to bring them inside the city."

"Huh? Is that possible?"

"Are you sure about that? The mayor will strongly oppose it."

The two reacted in surprise.

However, based on their experience, death was the only future outside the city.

"If we utilize that wall, we can create a room for negotiation."

"The wall?"

"Oh... I see. You have something in mind!"

Kim Jaeha looked up at the beautiful glass wall.

Avantgarde was excited about the new development.

'The negotiation has to happen.'

There was one thing the mayor didn't expect.

The problem is that if something happens to the wall, there's no way to repair it." Hanbit planned to create this situation and use it as a bargaining chip. "Anyway, please go back to the village. You need to make sure nothing else goes wrong and that there are no monster attacks."

"Got it! I'll go back and get ready right away! Kim Jaeha, let's go!"

"...Why are you so excited again? Whatever. Alright, we'll go back to the village."

The two returned to the dwarven village.

Left alone, Hanbit looked up at the wall.

'The first wave...'

Memories of the past naturally unfolded in his mind.

He had experienced the wave in various situations, but it was quite a demanding event.

Hanbit moved towards the gate and said, "Then I'll go in."

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]