Thud-!

Hans set his empty glass down on the table.

“Hahaa, getting free drinks from you. Guess living long enough really does pay off.”

With no proper entertainment district to speak of in Luteran, the tavern near the shieldbearer Guild was always packed with people.

Though he looked human enough, Hans was a dwarf through and through, which meant he was absolutely mad about beer.

Watching him, I took a sip of my own.

I never touched the stuff ordinarily, but today was a day that demanded drinking.

Gulp- gulp-

Refreshing enough, but…

‘Bland.’

Was the alcohol content even five percent?

Bihokin beer was cheap stuff, so it couldn’t be helped.

It was closer to cold barley tea than actual liquor.

“How about it? Looks like you got a decent skill?”

Hans picked a positive topic to shift the gloomy atmosphere.

Having your drinking buddy sitting there with a dead expression was practically a buzzkill, so I caught his drift and forced a cheerful response.

“Yeah. It’s a defensive skill, and it seems like it’ll pair well with the shieldbearer synergy.”

“That so? Great.”

Slurp-

Asking about the details of a skill wasn’t exactly taboo, but some champions were sensitive about it, so Hans didn’t seem keen on prying.

The conversation that followed drifted to everyday topics.

As a guild employee, Hans was a sociable man.

Having no real friends to speak of, I found the rare conversation enjoyable enough to almost forget my circumstances.

So this is why people seek out drinking spots, I suppose.

“Did you hear? Apparently the Gunslinger meta is trending these days.”

The topic had shifted naturally.

And inevitably, being champions, the conversation circled back to the battlefield.

‘Gunslingers, huh…’

I’d noticed them popping up more often lately, and it seemed they were riding a trend.

“Hah, back in my day, shieldbearers were a reliable class, like a hearty bowl of meat soup. But this year’s patch was devastating.”

Battlefield-related matters changed periodically.

This was because the Imperial Parliament revised the rules to maintain balance of power.

Hans took pride in his shieldbearer origins.

That was precisely why he lamented the declining preference for shieldbearers in the battlefield.

The Gunslinger synergy, with its armor penetration, had been the beneficiary of this patch.

As long as the Gunslinger meta reigned, Tank-type champions like shieldbearers being pushed aside was simply inevitable.

“Oh, right. There’s a Private battlefield opening in four days.”

The main stream of the battlefield was, after all, the periodic Ranked Matches.

But beyond those, battlefields could be held anywhere under the sponsorship of an Imperial Priest.

These were called Private battlefields.

The Empire’s territory was so vast that Earth felt like a mere island by comparison.

And battlefields like this sprang up endlessly.

Which was probably why even a run-of-the-mill 1-Cost Champion like me got work coming my way.

“What’s the prize?”

“Ten Gold Coins and one Item combination formula.”

“…A combination formula?”

Had the alcohol made me mishear? I doubted my own ears.

Never before had an Item combination formula been offered as a prize.

In the Dimensional battlefield, two items could be combined to create a powerful item.

These were called “Core Items.”

And to complete a Core Item, you needed the proper combination formula.

Given their ability to dramatically shift the tide of battle, combination formulas were extremely valuable.

For a player in particular, a combination formula was tantamount to a golden opportunity that could change their entire life.

“It’s being hosted by the Einthoven family. Rumor has it the Young Lady of Einthoven obtained her player qualification.”

What was Hans’s reason for bringing this up? His grave expression made it easy to guess.

“Don’t tell me… you’re planning to participate?”

“Yeah. I figure I’ll get some real combat experience to prepare for the upcoming Ranked Match. The winner’s a foregone conclusion, of course.”

Hans’s eyes gleamed. I let out a sigh.

Hans ordinarily worked as a staff member at the shieldbearer Guild. Incongruously, he also held a player qualification.

He had invested every gold coin he’d steadily saved through his champion career to buy his player qualification.

For champion-turned-Players like him, success was rarer than plucking a star from the sky.

They possessed absolutely no knowledge of being a player, and Tier wasn’t something you could raise through luck alone.

“They’re giving out prize money just for passing the preliminaries this time. It’s not like there’s no chance.”

“Last time, you were eliminated in the first round…”

“Come on, I just had terrible luck that time. I’ve got a good feeling about this one, I’m telling you.”

He was the lowest of the low even among Bronze. Whatever his abilities as a shieldbearer might be, he had not a shred of talent as a player.

The Einthoven baron who ruled the Luteran region was Silver Tier.

And the Young Lady of Einthoven, who had received early education under him, was the star of this battlefield.

Given her background, she likely possessed a wealth of Item combination formulas.

An opponent no ordinary player could ever defeat, Hans or otherwise.

He’d probably just end up as a backdrop extra to make the star shine brighter.

“So, here’s the thing…”

Hans hesitated.

I had a rough idea of what he was about to say.

I once slipped a quiet piece of advice to Hans after he’d placed eighth in a Ranked Match and was feeling deflated.

That must have been over six months ago.

“Just spend all your gold and items at 3-1 to manage your health.”

I hadn’t expected Hans to actually take the words of some 1-Cost Champion to heart.

But when he returned from the next Ranked Match, he came bounding over with joy.

“Shin! I got fifth place!”

“Fifth place still puts you in the negative…”

“Still my best record ever!”

Hans had never broken past seventh or eighth place. Though he hadn’t met the victory condition of placing fourth or higher.

He must have seen potential, because his face was beaming with a smile.

“Back then, I figured you didn’t know anything about being a player, so I let it go in one ear and out the other.”

Well, you wouldn’t normally expect a 1-Cost Champion to know anything about the battlefield.

That he’d listened so carefully to my words and actually put them into practice was very Hans.

“Maybe I was just unlucky, but I kept losing from the start and my health was barely half left. That’s when your words popped into my head. It happened to be the 3-1 round.”

This was the first time he’d given me a detailed account of what happened in the battlefield.

Normally there was neither need nor occasion to talk about it.

But wait, his health was barely half left at 3-1?

If that’s not talent, what is?

The battlefield awarded bonus gold for consecutive wins, but the same applied to consecutive losses.

With health that low, the gold accumulated through losing streaks must have been substantial.

“I spent all my remaining gold on a level-up, and a 4-Cost Champion showed up in the shop! That’s how I managed to place fifth.”

“…”

Hans said this proudly.

What I’d told him was to spend gold at 3-1 to refresh the champion list in the shop…

His placement was purely luck-based.

I hadn’t explained in detail out of concern about information leaking, but…

Well, seeing how happy he was, it didn’t seem to matter much.

Unlike the game, the battlefield had a lower probability of high-tier champions appearing in the shop.

Without exceptional luck, pulling a 4-Cost Champion early was nearly impossible.

In a way, wasn’t placing fifth with that kind of luck even more remarkable?

“But I can’t just rely on luck, right? After that, I played conventionally and my results were terrible.”

Hans said this, stroking his overgrown beard.

Having spent a long time with Hans, I knew that gesture meant he was about to ask for a favor.

Since Hans was hesitating, I broke the ice first.

“So?”

“Mmm, I was wondering if you could give me one more piece of advice.”

Even he seemed to doubt whether he should be asking, treading carefully with his words.

It was unexpected.

He should have his pride as a player.

Asking a 1-Cost Champion for advice?

Even for someone like Hans who didn’t care much for formality, it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

“Hmm…”

I pondered for a moment.

Was there any benefit to giving Hans advice?

This was tied to my only trump card, so I needed to weigh the value.

Hans stroked his beard anxiously when the answer didn’t come immediately.

I calculated the pros and cons.

The battlefield shared many similarities with the game, but it was also distinctly different.

It was essentially like a new game with similar mechanics.

Without player qualification, I couldn’t gain real combat experience.

In a way, this was an opportunity.

A chance to verify whether the knowledge I possessed applied to the battlefield as well.

My mind increasingly leaned toward the positive, and now it was time to consider what advice to give.

What deck could even the lowest-ranked Bronze player like Hans execute easily, without revealing too much information?

After a moment’s deliberation, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Assassins. Go with a Hardcore Assassin deck.”

“What?”

Hans stared at me with a puzzled look.

It was only natural he didn’t understand.

“What’s a Hardcore Assassin?”

Hardcore — as in, stick with assassins even if your skull cracks. The term was internet slang, after all.

I briefly explained the deck’s concept.

“It means you build your deck exclusively with assassins.”

Even after my explanation, his expression didn’t improve.

“Uh… I don’t know much about this, but isn’t it game over if assassins don’t show up?”

Hans’s eyes were filled with worry. He looked like he was regretting asking for advice.

“Well, if you don’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do.”

In my estimation, it was the best strategy for someone of Hans’s limited skill.

But if the person himself didn’t trust it, what could I do?

“Hmm… Hardcore? Hardcore? Assassins. That’s a term I’ve never heard before…”

Hans had known this Shin for a long time, and he was someone worth trusting.

One thing was certain — he wouldn’t steer him toward something bad.

“No! I asked for advice, so I should trust it to the end. So how does it work?”

That was unexpected. It was a different side of him from the other players he’d encountered in the battlefield.

Hans lacked the arrogance and stubbornness typical of players.

‘People like him are actually better suited for flexible, adaptive decks, but with no skill, there’s nothing to be done.’

“You can’t tell anyone about this.”

“Alright, I promise!”

And so, the brainless deck that would reshape the meta of the Luteran region’s battlefields made its first appearance.