2-4, Shared Selection Round

After the preceding seven players finished their selections, my turn finally arrived.

– Player 8 has selected ‘Steel Shield’.

Choosing a champion in a Shared Selection Round where you could obtain an item was the worst possible move.

Unless a truly crucial champion appeared, picking an item was always the best choice.

“This is enough for early-game buildup.”

Only after experiencing the previous round could I finally be certain.

Having undergone champion enhancement and become a 2-star champion, I was now essentially a game-breaker.

I still hadn’t figured out what had caused this transformation, but I had given up trying to understand it.

There was no point expecting realism from a battlefield that existed outside of reality.

If it worked, it worked. Simply making the most of my current abilities was enough.

I checked the information of the champion I had newly hired from the shop.

Lost (★)

– Shieldbearer

– HP: 205/205

– Mana: 0/60

– Crushing Strike (★): Deals 60 physical damage to a target and stuns them for 1 second.

“Crushing Strike?”

A skill I’d longed for.

How much effort I had poured into saving up for the cheapest, lowest-grade skill book available.

My choice had ultimately been Solid Exoskeleton. But I had wondered what would have happened if I had chosen ‘Crushing Strike’ instead.

Of course, I had never once regretted my choice.

Solid Exoskeleton had been a tremendous help, both in reality and on the battlefield.

That said, Solid Exoskeleton wasn’t considered a particularly well-regarded skill.

Solid Exoskeleton was a universal skill, unconstrained by synergy requirements.

Its effectiveness inevitably fell short of specialized skills.

Shieldbearer class skills started at 200 gold minimum, so it had been an unavoidable choice.

It had taken me three years to save 100 gold. Rather than grinding to 200 gold to buy a class skill, I had been more inclined to acquire any skill I could and make a bigger impact on the battlefield.

Still, thanks to obtaining a decent 1-star skill, there seemed to be no need to invest gold in 1-star skills separately.

There were essentially three things you could do with gold.

1. Purchase Skills

2. Purchase Equipment

3. Body Enhancement

What I needed most urgently right now were equipment purchases and Body Enhancement.

My current HP was 200 at 1-star level.

That was quite low for a shieldbearer. I had seen others with the same value, but never anyone lower.

I also needed to completely overhaul my equipment.

I couldn’t keep using the default Scrap Iron Armor and the cheap heater shield with iron plates attached to wood.

As my tier climbed, the caliber of champions I faced kept rising. I couldn’t afford to stagnate.

Most champions chose option three: Body Enhancement.

Because Body Enhancement included the option to increase Mana Efficiency.

The champion growth procedure recommended by the guild was to reach Mana Efficiency 20 as quickly as possible.

Because the requirement to become a 2-Cost champion was exactly Mana Efficiency 20.

Becoming a 2-Cost champion meant earning more gold, so investing elsewhere after that wouldn’t be too late.

But my situation was a little different.

The fact that had driven me to despair: my Mana Efficiency was 0.

Whether I achieved 100% growth or even 10,000% growth, the result would still be 0.

The Mana Efficiency increase option might as well not have existed for me.

But Body Enhancement didn’t only offer Mana Efficiency increases.

Whether it was HP, attack power, or defense—as long as I had gold, I could raise any of them.

The Original champions I had encountered during the Placement Exam had felt like calamities because the gap in base stats was so stark.

Champions at 3-Cost and above were balanced through the Avatar system, but Originals were different.

The higher the level of the battlefield, the more such monstrous champions lurked around every corner.

So I had to keep growing, without stop.

As a player, my most important weapon was none other than ‘1-Cost Shieldbearer Lee Shin’ himself.

Because he was the champion I was guaranteed to obtain at the start of every battlefield.

Which meant that the stronger I became as a champion, the easier it would be to raise my player tier.

Conversely, if my abilities fell short, my tier progression would be constrained.

To grow simultaneously as both a champion and a player, I needed to grind through private battlefields and use the gold I earned to strengthen myself.

“I earned about 50 gold from the last battlefield.”

Now that I was a 2-star champion, I earned 3 gold per round. Compared to the Placement Exam, that timeline had shortened considerably, so I should be able to earn even more gold.

The Placement Exam and this private battlefield.

Just two battlefields were enough to comfortably surpass all the gold I had earned until now.

It meant that I could earn what an ordinary 1-Cost champion might occasionally produce every single battlefield.

Moreover, unlike other champions who had to submit matching requests and wait indefinitely, I was guaranteed participation in battlefields.

It meant I could receive rewards proportional to my effort, rather than leaving things to chance.

My determination burned bright.

For a gamer, what could possibly provide a greater sense of accomplishment than seeing growth visible before their eyes?

‘On the battlefield, I can surpass anyone and grow stronger.’

Though I was merely a 1-Cost champion. I would dare to prove it.

***

2-7, Monster Hunting Round.

A woman wearing a rabbit mask paced back and forth across the command room.

The very picture of anxiety.

Her gaze beyond the mask was fixed on the red crystal orb that displayed her health status.

Remaining HP: 70HP

“Am I doing this right?”

Chasey checked the situation again on her device.

‘8’

Her ranking, displayed at the very bottom.

Having received only elite education her entire life, it was a number she was utterly unaccustomed to.

“The druids are coming together somewhat, but…”

After checking the champion waiting room through the status board mounted on the wall, she startled and turned her gaze back.

“Damn it, how long are you going to keep us waiting? If you’re going to do this, just fire us!”

“What on earth is she doing?”

Complaints were pouring in from the druids in the champion waiting room.

They hadn’t participated in a single battle since being hired, so it was only natural.

Champions could only earn gold through combat.

The Open Port Strategy devised by player Lee Shin was designed entirely from the player’s perspective, making it close to the worst possible approach for champions.

But drawing the short straw with a player was their own misfortune, and there was nothing to be done.

She couldn’t compromise the strategy for the champions’ sake.

She must have felt somewhat apologetic. Chasey muttered to herself.

“Still, I’ll give you a chance this time…”

Fortunately, this round was 2-7, the Monster Hunting Round.

It meant a brief reprieve from the suffocating champion waiting room.

Since the materials for an item combination formula had dropped in the first stage, she was able to complete a core item early in round 2-4.

【Ballista】

– Steel Greatsword + Steel Greatsword

– Attack Power +50, Attack Speed -20

– The champion equipped with the Ballista fires a giant arrow dealing 200% of attack power every 4 attacks.

The Ballista—a core item useful for building ranged-focused decks.

It was the optimal item combination formula for Gunslinger decks with armor penetration synergy, but since no formula suited for druids was available at the moment, she had to make do with ill-fitting clothes.

“You told me to hire a champion for temporary use, right?”

【-2G】

▶ Spent 2 gold to hire Ghost Archer (★).

*Remaining Gold: 40G

Bandit (★)

– Ghost

– Archer

– HP: 165/165

– Mana: 0/70

– Vengeful Spirit Arrow (★): When an enemy struck by the Vengeful Spirit Arrow dies, deals 80 magic damage to nearby enemies.

Chasey equipped the newly hired Bandit with the Ballista.

With Bandit taking up one spot on the battlefield, three slots remained.

Which meant that once again, some druids would go unselected this round.

“Please bear with me a little longer. I’ll give you a chance to shine later.”

Of course, that ‘later’ meant round 3-5, in the latter half of the battlefield.

Moreover, the champions sacrificed for champion enhancement would ultimately leave the battlefield empty-handed.

Unable to bring herself to face the champions, Chasey couldn’t even think about leaving the command room.

The Open Port Strategy was a brutal approach that burdened the player with guilt.

【+4G】

▶ Base reward of 4 gold has been granted.

【+3G】

▶ 5-loss streak bonus of 3 gold has been additionally granted.

【+3G】

▶ Interest income of 3 gold has been additionally granted.

*Gold Held: 50G

【Acquired: Dull Dagger】

▶ Dull Dagger: Increases critical hit chance by 10% when equipped.

Since the Monster Hunting Round wasn’t a battle against other players, win and loss streaks weren’t counted separately.

Still, the streak rewards came through regardless, and with round 3-1 approaching, she had already accumulated 50 gold.

【+2G】

▶ Employment contract with ‘Ghost Archer Bandit’ has been terminated.

*Gold Held: 52G

She sold off the champion whose usefulness had run its course and returned the druids she had deployed on the battlefield back to the waiting room.

“What? Go back again? Damn it-!”

Complaints erupted from the druids who had thought they would finally see action, but it couldn’t be helped for the sake of the strategy.

The ensuing round 3-1.

The battle began, but since Chasey’s battlefield had no champions deployed, the outcome was immediately determined.

Defeat.

【+4G】

▶ Base reward of 4 gold has been granted.

【+3G】

▶ 6-loss streak bonus of 3 gold has been additionally granted.

【+3G】

▶ Interest income of 4 gold has been additionally granted.

【+2XP】

▶ Reached Level 5! Additional champions can now be deployed.

Thanks to the experience points granted each round, her level had risen naturally.

《LV.5 Shop》

Artificer (★) – 1G

Wild Druid ‘Poronka’ Avatar (★) – 3G

Steel shieldbearer (★) – 2G

【-3G】

▶ Spent 3 gold to hire Wild Druid ‘Poronka’ Avatar (★).

*Gold Held: 60G

The newly refreshed shop obligingly offered up a 3-Cost druid champion—a stroke of luck.

Chasey recalled the words shieldbearer Lee Shin had earnestly advised on her way to the gambling hall.

“You should think of druid synergy as a supporting synergy. The most important thing to focus on in a druid deck is Lineage synergy.”

Due to the druids’ distinctive affinity with ‘nature,’ the Lineage synergies they possessed were largely uniform.

Among them, the most commonly possessed synergies were Tree, Forest, and Wild.

Of course, there were druids with unusual Lineage synergies as well, but probabilistically speaking, these three synergies had the highest likelihood of appearing.

“If a few more Wild druids show up, it would be fine to build the deck around Wild synergy.”

Everything was proceeding smoothly, but what worried her was her health value of 60.

Knowing that this value would eventually drop to 40, she couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Champions inevitably took damage in every battle, and rehiring champions also required health.

Considering the health needed for champion rehiring, 40 was not a comfortable margin.

Despite hiring a 3-Cost champion, she didn’t deploy it to the battlefield.

What she needed right now was patience.

Another defeat.

Round 3-2 finally came to an end.

【-1G】

▶ Spent 1 gold to hire Druid (★).

She hired the druid that appeared in the shop and invested 20 gold into experience points to raise her level.

Her remaining gold was 50.

Once the next round began, she could start spending gold while maintaining maximum interest.

“Truly…”

It was amazing.

Just as he had said, she had exactly 50 gold at level 6.

She thought of him. Chasey’s anxious heart settled considerably.

Chasey murmured as she looked at the number 50 displayed on the red crystal orb.

“Not yet.”

According to his words, it was still time to wait.

The moment that number reached 40.

Chasey’s battlefield would truly begin from that moment.