013. The Hero of the Elves
I made Valore faint by chance, but even if I hadn’t, my victory was certain.
If the duel had continued, I would have activated the quick-play magic ‘Temporary Armament’ during the battle phase.
[Temporary Armament]
Quick-play magic
It can only be activated during the battle phase. You can equip one of the equip magic cards in your deck / graveyard to a monster on your field. At the end of the battle phase, the equipped magic card is destroyed.
“`text
I was planning to equip Phineas with a weapon that would grant him increased attack power and the ability to attack all monsters with this card’s effect.
Then I was going to finish the duel by attacking all the monsters with Phineas…
But before I could do that, the duel ended blandly.
I had defeated the boss, but I didn’t feel like I had.
The ending was somewhat disappointing, but the duel itself was satisfying.
The thrill of overcoming and reversing the situation when the mood was getting cold was indescribable.
[???: Congratulations on your victory! You did a great job!!]
“Ugh!!”
As I was sorting out the cards after the duel, a hologram window with a message suddenly appeared in front of me.
I was startled by the sudden jump scare that I would see in a horror game, and I lost my balance and leaned back.
Just before I fell back with a thud.
There was an arm behind me that gently caught my body.
“Master, are you okay?”
“Th, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
I was grateful that Phineas prevented me from falling, but I was annoyed by the ridiculous situation.
I was even more dumbfounded by the next message that popped up.
[???: Oops, I didn’t mean to scare you that much. Sorry!]
That means, he did intend to scare me.
I wanted to write a 5700-character rant and send it to him, but unlike the chat system, there was no function to reply.
“`
“`text
I pressed my finger on various places on the popped-up window, but there was no response at all.
[???: If you have something to say to me, just say it right there!]
“Damn it…!!”
[Anubis: I forgot to reveal my nickname.]
“…Did you contact me for some reason, honorable Anubis?”
I almost cursed at Anubis.
No matter how cooperative we are, I shouldn’t swear at a god.
[Anubis: Of course I contacted you to congratulate your victory!]
“Are you near me right now?”
[Anubis: No, I’m still in the temple.]
“Really? Then how do you know that I dueled and won?”
Could it be that he can see everything I do with some godly power?
If that’s the case, I’ll resign from the agent position without delay.
I can’t tolerate privacy invasion even from a god.
[Anubis: I’m watching it live on the broadcast!]
“Really…? Broadcast?”
[Anubis: Yeah!]
Is he talking about the broadcast I know?
The internet broadcast where he reveals himself to the viewers and communicates with them.
[Anubis: You seem clueless. Didn’t I explain to you about the broadcast?]
“`
“You didn’t explain it to me.”
[Anubis: hehehe, sorry! I must have forgotten to explain it to you!]
“It’s okay, just explain it to me in detail.”
[Anubis: Alright. First of all, let me tell you the background. Most of the gods, including me, have a restriction that prevents us from dueling unless it’s a special situation. So, most of the gods were frustrated and started looking for entertainment that could substitute dueling. And then, by chance, we discovered the internet broadcasting of the world you were in!]
“So, you introduced the internet broadcasting system to this world and watched my duels through it. Is that what you’re saying?”
[Anubis: Exactly!]
“Does the broadcast start automatically when you duel?”
[Anubis: No, it doesn’t. You were just my subordinate, so I could watch it privately.]
“Then, Anubis, you can also see my daily life…”
[Anubis: Nothing but duels is broadcasted, so you don’t have to worry about your privacy.]
That’s a relief. I felt less anxious knowing that my privacy was protected.
Normally, I wouldn’t believe such a thing, but since the purpose of the broadcast was purely to watch duels, I didn’t need to doubt it.
The gods who spread the doctrine of dueling supremacy wouldn’t be interested in anything other than duels or cards.
“Then, you’re talking to me through the chat window in my broadcast right now?”
[Anubis: You’re well-informed, as expected of a broadcaster from another world.]
“Is there a feature like sponsorship?”
[Anubis: Of course!]
Bababam-!
A familiar sound effect and a new pop-up window appeared on the top right corner.
[Anubis has sponsored 1000 DP!]
[Anubis: You have a proper sponsorship feature!]
“Then if I turn the broadcast settings to public, other gods can watch my duel too, right?”
[Anubis: That’s right!]
“And if I do well, they will sponsor me too.”
[Anubis: Maybe they will?]
I finally found a new way to earn DP.
It was impossible to tell when I could complete my deck with the DP income from dueling.
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But if I get sponsored by various gods through broadcasting, the deck building time would be shortened.
That fact alone increased the value of broadcasting, but there was something I had to check before starting it seriously.
“Are there any other broadcasters besides me?”
[Anubis: Of course there are. Generally, the god’s relatives are instructed to broadcast when they duel their god.]
“Then isn’t strategy exposure a problem in duels between relatives?”
One of the problems of broadcasting that I suffered countless times and was endlessly mentioned in the world I was in was ‘broadcast play’.
The so-called bplay. A rude act of playing the game while watching the live broadcast, especially in duels, where one can commit the atrocity of choosing the best option by checking all the opponent’s moves.
Even without checking the cards, it was easier to deal with the opponent if I knew what theme their deck was.
[Anubis: That’s not a problem. There is a rule that imposes a severe penalty on anyone who leaks strategy or gives excessive advice.]
“Then what is the penalty that is imposed if there is no problem?”
[Anubis: Minimum divine rank reduction, maximum divine authority deprivation.]
“The punishment level is stronger than I thought.”
[Anubis: Everyone is serious about dueling.]
It was an explanation that made sense in an instant.
But then, shouldn’t the duel just now be cursed as abnormal?
He had ended the duel by knocking out a player who had not won fairly.
[Anubis: By the way, the guy you just knocked down is also one of the followers of another god. In other words, your existence is already known to other gods, so if you do a public broadcast, you might get some attention]
“Ah……”
He suddenly became afraid to start the broadcast.
The situation where he had done a realist act in front of the gods who were sincere about the duel.
He wondered if he would not eat a mouthful of curses even if he avoided divine punishment.
[Anubis: You don’t look good. Is there any problem?]
“…Were there any people who cursed me among the gods who were watching the broadcast?”
[Anubis: Not really? Rather, they praised you for turning the situation around in a situation where you only had 50 life left.]
“Is, is that so?”
[Anubis: As soon as you won, I went to play on their broadcast to mock them! I saw their reactions then.]
It seemed that not only the broadcast, but also the culture of trolling had spread.
As soon as he saw the text, he imagined Anubis’s face laughing wickedly.
Maybe his tail was also shaking like a helicopter.
[Anubis: Oh, by the way! There was a god who wanted to give you a reward!]
“……A reward? Just for winning a duel?”
[Anubis: It wasn’t a simple duel to compete for pride. Don’t you remember?]
“Now that I think about it, it was a dark duel with a rare card at stake.”
[Anubis: Are you senile, young man? There was another condition besides the card!!]
Was there?
It didn’t seem that important to me.
So I decided to let it slide.
***
The war between the elves and the undead became more intense and fierce.
Duels between the two races were unfolding everywhere, with life and death at stake.
If Han Se-yoon had seen it, he would have found it bizarre, but the participants were very serious.
Depending on the outcome of the duels, the defeated undead had their heads pierced by the elves’ cards. The defeated elves became the heads of the undead.
The mode of the duels was called a duel, but it was also a strict battle.
It was not something to be taken lightly, as lives were being exchanged.
“Those who are tired or injured, retreat to the rear! I’ll take care of the rest!”
A woman who displayed a dominant force in the fierce battlefield, worthy of being called a hero.
Artea, as the vanguard, was defeating every undead she dueled.
“Ha, but Artea, aren’t you already in your 15th consecutive duel?”
“I don’t need you to worry about me. I can keep fighting until I save all those undead.”
“That’s reckless!”
“Someone has to do it, even if it’s reckless. If not, who will protect this village?”
“……Ugh!”
One should not deny the hero’s determination.
The elf warrior who knew that fact had no choice but to agree with Artea’s words.
Even if she were to fall victim to the undead, she had to accept that she was right.
Artea smiled faintly as she saw the warrior clenching his mouth at the bitter reality.
“As I have done so far, I will protect you all. So don’t worry.”
Normally, the elves would have followed Artea’s words with confidence and followed her.
But this time, they were worried about Artea’s safety.
In the battles they had fought so far, the current invasion that recorded an overwhelming number of enemies.
Artea’s forest keeper deck was almost invincible, but they could not guarantee that they would always win.
Especially after losing to the human who entered the village today.
As various anxiety factors increased, the elf warriors’ minds became more troubled.
‘There are too many undead. Can we hold out until morning?’
‘…Artea, you are fighting as if nothing is wrong, but your breathing is rough. You must be tired.’
‘If we lose Artea too, our elves are…’
At that moment, when the elves’ heads were filled with all kinds of negative thoughts.
The change came suddenly.
“Uh, the undead are retreating…!!”
At someone’s shout, all the elves looked at him at once.
“What?”
“The undead are retreating, what do you mean?”
“They have so many troops left, they can’t withdraw!”
At first, everyone blamed their comrades for the false report.
But in reality, the undead who were not in a duel were slowly backing away.
The undead at the rear end were even turning their backs and leaving, which meant that the rumor they had heard was true.
The inexplicable sudden behavior of the undead.
But the elves had no courage to chase after the retreating undead and find out the reason.
They just watched the enemies quietly go back.
“Why are they going back? Is it morning already?”
“No, it’s still far from sunrise.”
“Then why on earth are they going back?”
“Do you think I would be doing this if I knew the reason!”
An unknown situation that they could not figure out no matter how hard they thought.
It could be a feint to induce complacency.
All the elves maintained their combat readiness.
Artea was also holding her favorite bow tightly, not relaxing her tension.
Then, suddenly, a message flashed through her mind.
“Ah!!”
“What’s wrong?”
“…A, a trust has come down.”
“A trust?!”
“Yes, a trust from the Goddess of the Moon. The content is that the undead have declared their defeat.”
“`
The elves’ mouths shut at the sound of trust.
In the quiet atmosphere, everyone listened to Arteia’s words and began to interpret them.
And it didn’t take long to draw the conclusion of the interpretation.
“We, we won!!”
“It’s our victory!”
“We survived from those disgusting bastards! We survived! hahahahaha!!”
Someone’s victory cry started and cheers erupted everywhere.
The sweetness of victory. Some smiled brightly, some shed tears of relief, and some hugged each other and shared their joy.
It was the only happiness they could feel in the hellish battlefield.
“Arteia, thank you so much!!”
“Arteia is our savior and hero!”
“What would have happened if Arteia wasn’t here…!”
“Maybe you would have surely died.”
“What, what did you say?!”
“““hahahaha!!”””
In the brightened atmosphere where they even exchanged jokes, the elves praised Arteia unanimously.
They believed without doubt that she was the protagonist of this victory.
But the expression of Arteia, who learned the truth of the victory through trust, was dim.
“Sorry to interrupt your celebration, but can you listen to me for a moment?”
“Of course!”
“`
“I will follow whatever you say, Lady Arteia!”
“Shh! The hero is about to say something. Be quiet!”
“…No. I am not a hero.”
The elves were shocked by Arteia’s serious remark, as if they had been hit on the head.
What do you mean, not a hero?
They had seen her bravely step up and slay the undead with their own eyes. If she was not a hero, then who was?
The elves looked at Arteia with bewildered expressions.
“There is something I have to tell you all in this place. The person who brought victory to our elves is not me, but someone else.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand at all. Isn’t there no one among the elves who can achieve such a great feat, except for Lady Arteia?”
“That’s right. Because he is not an elf.”
Arteia’s shocking statement made the surroundings noisy in an instant.
There was only one person in the elf village who was not an elf.
They did not believe it, but it was not implausible that he had defeated Arteia.
Rather, as time passed, the credibility increased and it felt like a fact.
“Have we been ignoring the true hero all this time….”
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“I didn’t know that and I was looking down on him….”
“I have to apologize sincerely.”
The existence they had ignored turned out to be the hero who saved them from the crisis.
The elves felt a bitter guilt.
They felt like they had become traitors who could not be forgiven even if they died.
Artea, who understood their feelings, smiled faintly and suggested a plan to them.
“Everyone, let’s greet the agent warmly when he returns. Let’s treat him so generously that he won’t remember the cold reception he got before. Do you understand?”
“Yes!!”
“By the way, how should we welcome him?”
“How about throwing a banquet?”
“That sounds good!”
“Then let’s hurry and prepare some food and flowers for the hero!”
The gloomy atmosphere was revived with enthusiasm.
The elves began to move busily, exchanging opinions on how to entertain the hero.
They carefully prepared everything to greet the hero grandly.
*
Meanwhile, the hero of the elves…
“……Where am I now?”
He had wandered out of the forest while looking for the way back to the village.
He was extremely bad at directions.