Chapter 103 – Operation: Bro, Why Are You There? (5)

[Mr. Lee Shin-Woo has entered.]

[Lloyd H.K.: It's been a while. I'm glad you're safe.]

[Erian Ruparte: I'm glad you're safe.]

[Mentes Orun: Oh, you've come.]

The chatroom was the best when Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t move. Right now, he had to stay in position, so he turned to the chatroom to pass time even though it had been quite a while since he last entered. Like always, several of his seniors happily greeted him upon entrance. Lee Shin-Woo very naturally began to act and replied.

[Lee Shin-Woo: I'm glad you're all safe as well, Seniors.]

[Mentes Orun: What are you doing right now?]

[Lee Shin-Woo: I'm waiting for the right moment.]

That was right. Lee Shin-Woo was waiting for the right time to attack. Life was all about timing, and it was even more important against the undead. Right now, Lee Shin-Woo was beginning to learn how to adjust that timing.

[Mentes Orun: The right moment...?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Is it an ambush? That must mean you've figured out where the undead troops are going.]

[Lee Shin-Woo: Something like that. I have to ambush the undead troops since there are a little too many of them for me to tackle.]

It wasn’t actually a group of undead, but an entire city's worth of them; he would be attacking both the inner city and the outskirts simultaneously in a manner of speaking, not through physical means, but mental. His seniors wouldn't understand even if he explained, so he simply concocted a story for them.

[Silen Viesa: I've been hiding and picking off the undead one or two at a time. You're amazing, Senior!]

[Mentes Orun: Those one or two undead are at the same level as you; plus, they're elites. Man, it's been tough holding out over here, but I feel a lot better with such talented juniors joining us.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Now that you mention talented juniors, I met that girl from before. That newbie who entered the chatroom briefly and left. Don't be shocked, but she's now no weaker than me.]

[Erian Ruparte: ...That strong girl happens to be unnecessarily beautiful as well. You're talking about her, right?]

[Mentes Orun: Eh, why are you getting upset again, young lady?]

Lee Shin-Woo had already heard about it from Kratia. That she'd crossed paths with other senior heroes. She had found them troublesome, but nothing bad seemed to have happened thanks to the information Lee Shin-Woo gave her beforehand.

[Prince Altania: You don't think she’s level 7, do you?]

[Lloyd H.K.: I'm not sure, but I'm sure that she's either at my level or higher. Ah, and she's a mage, too.]

[Prince Altania: A mage... Hoo, we'll just have to see who's better sometime! Show her who's the boss, am I right?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Heroes shouldn't fight amongst ourselves, you dumbass.]

The conversation seemed to stop for a moment. Then the calm voice continued like a commander deciding whether or not he should press the nuclear missile button.

[Lloyd H.K.: Perhaps...we'll be able to take on the twelve generals soon.]

[Prince Altania: ...]

[Lloyd H.K.: Senior, you told us before. There are level 7s amongst the twelve generals. If that's the case, we should be able to take down one or two of them if we work together.]

[Mentes Orun: Don't be hasty, Lloyd.]

[Lloyd H.K.: ...Senior.]

[Mentes Orun: I've seen four level 7 heroes die all at once because they were as hasty as you… Become stronger while it's still safe. Don't be too hasty, nor too lax... We may still die.]

[Lloyd H.K.: ...]

[Prince Altania: ...]

Ah. The mood in the chatroom suddenly turned for the worst! They had finally gotten over Shino Rendu's death, but the effect it had on them never really went away.

Lee Shin-Woo softly sighed. Who would think of them as heroes when they act like this!? But then he received a message. Kratia had arrived.

[Kratia Melloi: We're in the middle of gathering them all and leaving... Shin-Woo, save me.]

"Nice work. You gathered them a lot faster than I expected. I'll get going too."

[Kratia Melloi: Wait, no. Help me first...!]

Kratia sounded like she was dying, but it probably wasn't from severe injury, but due to the difficulty of riding Jin without Horseback Riding or Assimilation.

Lee Shin-Woo grinned, picturing the beautiful, petite, almost doll-like Kratia banging her head atop Jin's back dizzily. Then he stood up, put some clothes over his now wrinkled and dirty flesh, and finally looked over at the broken mirror.

"Nice. It's perfect."

The mirror reflected the appearance of Kadinan's lord, Count Nellopa.

"Ah, aah. Aaaaah."

Disguise was also capable of changing one's voice. Lee Shin-Woo smiled after confirming that his voice had indeed turned into the lord's dreary and dismal one. As if reflecting his mood, the emaciated flesh in the mirror twisted around.

Why would I feel like I'm worse than this undead?

Lee Shin-Woo couldn't hide his misery or distress, but it didn't matter; the lord was dead. He would never ‘get up’ again in any way!

"Hoo... Nice, it's a lot better than I thought it would be. It's almost perfect."

He had somehow managed to raise his Disguise to level 4 in the past few months. When the skill was level 1, he could only assume the appearance of a target he was familiar with, but now he could turn into an undead of similar stature with only the information from one bone—partly because his Bone Reinforcement had improved as well.

However, Lee Shin-Woo had been uneasy, not knowing how Disguise would work with the Undead Commander; after all, he was of a completely different species... Unexpectedly, however, he had acquired two bones from the lord! At that moment, Lee Shin-Woo became certain that he'd be able to proceed with Plan A.

That's right. Lee Shin-Woo's Plan A of Operation - Bro, why are you there? is...

"As Kadinan's lord, I command you. All forces, assemble! To battle!"

[M-My lord!?]

[The lord came personally... What's going on...!?]

The outrageous plan A was to kill the Undead Commander, act as him, and commandeer Kadinan's forces!

[The Lord has given the command. To battle!]

[But wait...]

[Are you defying the Lord's order!?]

[No, of course not!]

The knights were flustered to hear the lord yell out his order right after exiting his bedroom. Even so, they couldn't defy the lord, and they immediately relayed his command to all forces. The once stagnant satellite city lurched into action in the blink of an eye.

[What about the soldiers charged with a mission...?]

[Call all of them back! It's the Lord's command!]

[Mages! Equip your magical devices and get ready to depart immediately!]

[But the leader isn't...]

[Wait, now that I think about it, the leader isn't here...?]

Only after creating a huge fuss did the undead realize that the Mage Leader was absent. Both the Mage Leader and the Knight Leader were missing, in fact, and the undead didn't know what to do; they shifted responsibility as if they were playing hot potato, but ultimately, one of the level 5 Elder Knights who had heard his command approached Lee Shin-Woo.

[My apologies, but wasn't the Mage Leader with you, my lord?]

This was the question Lee Shin-Woo had been waiting for. He couldn't tell them unprompted, but he could wait for someone to ask the question! Lee Shin-Woo sneakily took a deep breath and activated Acting and Instigate at the same time.

"The place we’re protecting... There was an intruder at the 'Sanctuary'. The Mage Leader was the first to notice and attempted to defeat them, but was defeated instead."

[As expected of the Mage Leader!]

The Sanctuary referred to the area the undead had been protecting under the imperial decree. Of course, they were dumbasses that couldn't tell his bullshit. And the mention of the Mage Leader was quite effective on most of the undead; they didn’t find his lie suspicious at all.

However, since the lord's castle was filled with level 5 undead and higher, some of them did question him.

[If that's the case, wouldn't it be prudent to contact one of the twelve generals first, my lord...?]

"That was my first course of action; I contacted the general and reported what had happened. Even so, do we just stand still and do nothing? When we couldn't prevent the intruders from entering the Sanctuary?"

[T-That's not my intent...]

"I cannot wait until the Lightning General arrives. It's not only to prove my loyalty to the Emperor. I must punish these intruders myself. This is... This is..."

Lee Shin-Woo evened out his breathing and acted as though he were pushing down his anger. The Elder Knight gulped even though he didn't have any saliva to swallow, taking an involuntary step back. Lee Shin-Woo was satisfied with that reaction.

Good. It seems like I’ve been faking my facial expressions perfectly as well.

Lee Shin-Woo had never been in a relationship before, so he obviously didn't know what it felt like to lose a lover. However, he remembered how sad he was when his scary friend in elementary school stole one of his grilled beef patties from his precious lunchbox that his mother had prepared for him. By recalling those feelings, he put up a convincing act for the undead.

"We will uphold both the imperial decree and beef patties... I mean, we’ll be getting vengeance for the Mage Leader, Soulrit… Understood?"

[Kuheuk...]

[The lord...]

Lee Shin-Woo's simmering anger and regret steered the undead to one goal: vengeance! His feelings were clearly conveyed to the lord’s subordinates, causing them to feel both grief and pity! And sure enough, at that very moment, his skill leveled up.

[Instigate is now Lv4. You amplify the emotions of your listeners and can cover for any contradictions or scanty support for your lies.]

The description of his skills as they leveled up always made him question if things were really going alright, but Lee Shin-Woo kept a positive mindset and ignored the message, telling himself that Instigate was a great skill.

He needed to concentrate on dealing with all the undead whose attention was entirely on him right now. Ah, and he needed to focus on his partner, as well as his temporary partner, who were being chased from afar!

“Everyone, line up! We must uphold the imperial decree! Remember our goal and stay focused!”

[As you command, my lord!]

Lee Shin-Woo saw more than 10,000 troops lining up outside the outer walls and yelled without even twitching an eyebrow. Knights who had been charged with missions and those who were stationed in other areas took to leading their soldiers and assembled with great discipline; their numbers began to swell once more.

“I trust that you know what the situation is!”

Lee Shin-Woo used Instigate with each and every one of his words, his voice resonating and relaying his orders to the troops. He was making sure that none of them would become suspicious of him while simultaneously showing strength that would inspire them.

“The ones who dared to invade the Sanctuary are there. Our mission is extremely simple. Executing all those who oppose His Majesty! Do you understand!?”

[I understand!]

[As you command, my lord!]

Thousands of undead shouted all in unison in response to his call. Lee Shin-Woo nodded calmly. Any onlooker would think he was a big shot beyond their imagination.

"Jin, when the two groups start fighting, take Kratia and run. I may be controlling them with my skill, but I don't know how they'll react to seeing someone alive."

[Jin Taylor: I got it. I got it, but... How exactly are you going to do that?]

Lee Shin-Woo didn't reply. Instead, he ordered his entire troops to advance.

[To battle!]

[Don't die in vain! You must not die until you uphold the imperial decree!]

[Uooooooooooooh!]

Around that time, most of the knights and soldiers guarding the Sanctuary had come under Lee Shin-Woo’s leadership—several of them had already been killed by Jin and company. He now had around 20,000 soldiers under his command. It was truly a reassuring sight.

"All forces, halt! I see our enemy!"

[Our enemy!? But... Our enemies are coming!]

That moment came sooner than Lee Shin-Woo had expected. After leading his troops and advancing for only a few hours, he saw a horse kicking up a dust cloud... As well as formidable monsters that were chasing after him fiercely.

"Wow, that's crazy. What the hell are Golem Chimeras...?"

He hadn’t expected Jin and Kratia to be chased by monsters leveled 5 and higher. He smirked when he looked over the thousands of monsters. On the contrary, the other undead now following him were uneasy when they saw a mob of powerful enemies appear. Immediately, they took their battle positions.

[Jin Taylor: Hey, I can see the undead troops! But where are you!?]

Jin had gathered the monsters and ran whilst allowing Kratia to ride on his back. He was shocked by the sheer number of undead Lee Shin-Woo had gathered. There must be tens of thousands of them. Through private chat, he messaged Lee Shin-Woo. Lee Shin-Woo’s response came calmly.

"I'm right over here."

He casually waved his hand at Jin. At first, Jin couldn't see where Lee Shin-Woo was, as he was protected by the level 6 Knight Leader and a number of high-level undead. However, he soon realized what Lee Shin-Woo was doing, and his jaw dropped.

[Jin Taylor: You're...]

Lee Shin-Woo was at the center of the undead force, protected by them rather than being the recipient of their attacks. No, it appeared that Lee Shin-Woo had become the Undead Commander.

[Jin Taylor: Why are you there!?]

And that officially cemented ‘Operation - Bro, why are you there?’ as a success.