I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 197

The next morning.

Two parties entered the dungeon.

Our main party and Kuilan’s five-person bandit group.

“Wait, wasn’t our job supposed to be fighting monsters on the castle walls?!”

Dragged into the dark dungeon, Kuilan’s face instantly turned pale.

“It’s damp! It’s dark! It’s creepy! Where is this place?”

“It’s a dungeon, a dungeon. The monsters’ lair.”

Lake Kingdom Dungeon, Area 3. [Outer Wall North].

I pointed to the dark, swirling depths of the dungeon.

“Here, we’re going to fight the next defense battle monsters in advance.”

“Th-this wasn’t in the contract, that we’d have to fight in a place like this!”

“Oh, come on~ What are you talking about? It’s written right here.”

I had brought the contract in advance, anticipating he would say that. I shook the contract I had taken out of my pocket.

“Here, in the corner, in slightly smaller letters. It’s clearly written, isn’t it? And your signature is here too? See?”

“Kuh… K-kuh?!”

Kuilan examined the contract with a dismayed expression. I grinned maliciously in front of him. You should have looked more carefully, my friend. Heh heh heh.

“Ugh… ugh, ugh… ugh!”

Kuilan alternated between looking at the inside of the dungeon and the safe zone with a pale face.

Watching Kuilan, the other bandits sighed and approached me.

“I’m sorry. Our boss is a bit of a scaredy-cat…”

“He’s more cowardly than he looks. Please understand.”

“No, how can the leader of a bandit group who was rampaging and fighting against the Imperial Army be a coward? It doesn’t make sense.”

The answer to my question was simple.

“Our boss looks down on even Imperial generals if they’re people… but he’s terribly afraid of ghosts and monsters.”

“Ah…”

There are people like that. People who are particularly weak against the occult.

“And he also hates narrow and dark places. But this place is narrow and dark, and it’s said to be the monsters’ lair…”

“So, that 2-meter-tall muscular guy is trembling in fear?”

I clicked my tongue.

Even Evangeline, the shortest in our party, and the skinny Damian, who are both younger and smaller, fight well without being scared. Act your size, Bandit King. And earn your salary.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of him.”

The other bandits bowed to me with a servile smile. Then, they ran to Kuilan and began to berate him.

“Get a grip, boss?! What a disgrace!”

“We’re in our probationary period in the penal unit! If we don’t do well here, we might be sent back to the execution grounds!”

“The opponent is that infamous executioner prince!”

“We have to hold out for six months to get a regular position! Be scared after that!”

After being berated by his subordinates, Kuilan finally seemed to have mustered some courage and stepped forward. Though his face was still pale.

“O-okay. Let’s go.”

“That’s the spirit, boss!”

“We’ll assist you! Let’s take them down together!”

Cheering each other on, Kuilan and the bandits took the lead and entered Area 3 with great fanfare.

And not long after walking,

Squelch! Squelch!

Slimes began to roll in.

[Outer Wall North – Room 1]

– Eliminate all enemies!

– Lv.12 Normal Slime: 20

Level 12 slimes with no special traits. About twenty of them.

This should be enough for Kuilan’s party to warm up. I watched them with a slight sense of anticipation.

And then,

“Aaaah!”

“It’s a monster!”

Four bandits simultaneously turned and started running away…

My blood pressure soared. I grabbed the back of my neck and shouted without realizing it.

“Hey, you ragtag bunch! What are you doing?!”

What happened to all the confident talk from just a moment ago! You were all encouraging each other like you could do it!

“B-but! We’ve never seen a monster like that before?!”

“We’ve never heard of it! Is that a Soul Drinker that absorbs souls in the swamp?!”

“No! It’s definitely a demon that sucks the brains of its victims! A Brain Drain!”

Don’t say scary things! Those are just slimes, slimes! Level 12! You’re in your 30s, you can just hit them with a strike weapon and they’ll explode!

But the bandits, terrified by the monsters they had never seen before, hurriedly ran back towards us.

“……”

The only one who didn’t run away and stood his ground was the party leader, Kuilan.

I blinked in surprise. He was acting like the biggest coward, but perhaps the name of Bandit King wasn’t for nothing?

“M-my…”

Then, Kuilan slowly turned towards us and mumbled with a tearful face.

“My legs… won’t move…”

“You’re too scared to move! You’re really something!”

At that moment, a slime that had approached Kuilan lightly bumped into him with a squishy sound.

Thud.

“Kuaaaak-!”

Then, Kuilan coughed up blood and flew all the way over here. Seriously, what’s with his durability?!

Kuilan, who had rolled and fallen in front of me, coughed up blood and mumbled weakly.

“Oh, I’m just unlucky today…”

“Get a grip, you glass cannon! Don’t faint just from getting hit once!”

But Kuilan lost consciousness just like that. Seriously. Is this a glass body with a stamina stat of 5?

“He fought pretty well before we recruited him, so why is he like this as soon as we recruit him…?”

“That’s why I told you, my lord. This is what happens when you recruit rootless bandits.”

Lukas, who had been watching this mess from behind, clicked his tongue.

“It seems this recruitment was a failure.”

“Kuh, kuh… !”

I think I understand how the front office of a professional sports team feels when they get criticized every year for bad player scouting.

But his performance was good! The data wasn’t bad either! How could I have known it would be like this from the first match?!

‘I didn’t think about it. The bandits are used to PVP [Player versus Player], but they have almost no PVE [Player versus Environment] experience!’

They might be used to swinging weapons at people and fighting against the Imperial Army.

But facing these kinds of genuine, monstrous creatures is practically a first for them.

It’s like a five-person rookie party suddenly thrown into a level 3 dungeon.

Yeah, it’s their first time seeing this sticky darkness, and it’s their first time seeing monsters, so they could be like this. They could be, but…

‘What I was expecting was a skilled party that matched their level…’

The road ahead is rough. As I sighed inwardly, Lukas and Evangeline stepped forward.

“We’ll take care of these guys for now, my lord. Please get ready.”

“Alright, I’m counting on you, knight duo.”

The two had quickly procured blunt weapons from the Crossroads blacksmith.

Lukas had a one-handed mace, and Evangeline had a long-handled war hammer. The grades weren’t high, but they would be powerful enough against slimes.

Lukas stepped forward with a rather cheerful expression, but Evangeline, who followed behind him, looked gloomy.

“Ugh… when will my dream of owning a house come true…?”

It seems she’s still upset about having her interior completely torn down yesterday.

Except for Evangeline’s room and a few guest rooms, all the interior had been restored to its original state. She’s been so dejected ever since.

‘……I should try to cheer her up later.’

But even in her depressed state, Evangeline’s PVE skills were already exceptionally high. Not to mention Lukas.

The two knight duo began to crush the slimes, swinging their respective blunt weapons.

Thwack! Thud!

Indeed, the battle itself was completely different from yesterday.

Lukas’s mace crushed the slimes, and Evangeline’s war hammer flattened them.

‘I was worried because they were both focused on their main weapon proficiency, but they handle blunt weapons well too.’

When they were hit with strike-attribute weapons, the slimes exploded easily, as if yesterday’s struggle had been a lie.

The bandits watched the scene in admiration.

“Wow… the knights are on a different level.”

“They’re taking down those scary Soul Drinkers and Brain Drains so easily…”

“It’s like watching a duel from a myth…!”

“No, they’re just slimes. You cowardly, pathetic fools.”

I sighed deeply and took out a potion from my pocket, pouring it on the unconscious Kuilan’s face.

“Wake up, you glass cannon.”

“Cough! Cough!”

Kuilan’s eyes snapped open. Perhaps it was because his HP bar was ridiculously thin, but he revived immediately after I poured a little bit of a normal potion on him.

“Hey, penal unit. Attention.”

When I growled lowly, Kuilan and the bandits quickly lined up in front of me.

“Listen carefully. This isn’t kindergarten. This is the monster front. And the reason I invested money in you is because I need combatants who can be immediately effective.”

“……”

“If you’re going to act like newly conscripted rookies, huh? There’s no reason for me to hire you convicts.”

If I were going to raise them from scratch, teaching them A to Z, I would just raise new recruits. There’s no reason to bring you, who were criminals, under the name of the penal unit.

“If you’re going to tremble in fear of monsters, pack your bags and go back to prison right now. I’ll make sure you pay your dues according to the laws of the Empire.”

“……”

“But if you don’t like prison and want to get a decent salary and a reduction in your sentence, then do it right. Show me the skills worthy of the name of the Bandit King and his personal guard.”

I clicked my tongue and pointed to the flattened slimes over there.

“Those slimes are much weaker than the Imperial Army you’ve been fighting. Don’t be scared and fight. Got it?”

An SR-grade fighter, two R-grade warriors, and two R-grade rogues.

If I can use them properly, they could be a useful party. I wasn’t planning on throwing them away just because they messed up in the first battle.

‘But at this rate, when will they become useful…’

Even with my scolding, fear remained in the eyes of the Bandit King’s party as they looked at the monsters. What am I going to do with these scaredy-cats…?

That’s when it happened.

Ding! Ding!

Suddenly, system notification sounds rang out in succession. Huh? I opened the system window, puzzled.

[Outer Wall North – Room 1]

– Eliminate all enemies!

– Lv.14 Normal Slime: 28

– Lv.15 Tricolor Slime: 16

– Lv.15 Acid Slime: 24

– Lv.20 Normal Slime: 30

Suddenly, waves 2 through 5 were updated at once.

“What…”

This [Outer Wall North] is a dungeon where you continuously fend off monster waves in a long, extended dungeon room. Usually, the waves come one by one in order.

Squelch! Squelch!

Four waves began to pour in at once.

Nearly 100 slimes poured in, crossing the walls from all sides. What is this!

‘Even if they’re low-level slimes, this number is…!’

Damian and Junior, who were standing on either side of me, immediately prepared for battle.

Damian drew two of his Cerberus swords in each hand, and Junior began to chant a spell.

Bang! Bang! Baaang-!

Flash-!

Magic bullets pierced and felled the slimes, and lightning magic struck the slime horde.

But there were too many slimes.

Moreover, since they were crawling up from below the walls, the angle of the magic guns and magic was not right, so we had no choice but to allow them to approach.

In an instant, the slimes surrounded us.

“My lord!”

Lukas and Evangeline, who had gone out to clear wave 1, were trying to rush back, but the two knights were also isolated, surrounded by the slime horde.

I gritted my teeth and swung my staff, summoning blades of magic behind my back. Damn it, I was careless because it was supposed to be an easy place…

Squelch!

The slime horde jumped towards us all at once.

Even if our souls weren’t absorbed or our brains sucked out, it was clear that we would suffer a terrible fate if we were swallowed by those things. Damn it!

At that moment,

Thwack-!

The glass cannon flew up.

Bang!

Pow pow pow!

Kuilan, who had leaped high into the air, unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks in all directions.

Every time his fist touched, the slimes were crushed like clay, and the slimes kicked by his feet exploded like fireworks.

In the blink of an eye, Kuilan had blown up a dozen slimes and landed lightly on the ground, spinning around.

His red ponytail swirled down in a circle, following his movement.

“Sh…it…”

A hearty curse escaped the Bandit King’s lips.

“No matter how scary it is, I have to protect our benefactor…!”

Thwack!

One fist in front of his chest, one fist extended forward. His center of gravity lowered to the maximum.

Kuilan, in his unique martial arts stance, shouted at his subordinates.

“Guys, get in formation! We need to earn money! We need a lot of money!”

At the party leader’s cry, the bandits bared their fangs and thrust their blunt weapons forward.

Watching them, I chuckled.

Well, it seems they’re not completely useless idiots after all.

“Let’s get our regular positions!”

Shouting, the Bandit King’s party rushed out in all directions, and the monster horde flew over their heads.