chapter 26
026. Teacher Jan
In all games, there was an entry barrier to learning the game system and rules. Such entry barriers include requiring a lot of game knowledge to learn due to systematic complexity, or having civilians massacred before newbies can do anything in a fighting action game that already has a lot of players.
This was the same for console games, and it was the so-called entry barrier boss.
It usually appears after the tutorial is over and a general understanding of the game has been completed. Because of its clearly differentiated pattern or significantly higher damage than before, it acts as a gatekeeper to prevent beginner players, also known as newbies, from advancing to the next level. .
There were many cases where quite a lot of users quit the game because they were blocked by bosses who had such barriers to entry.
Tactical Combat also had such a gatekeeper, and that was the master of a baron named Cooke Jan Scott, who became Gilbert’s opponent.
Because the entrance mock match in the tutorial is a group match, even beginners could join the team and ride the so-called bus. However, since the match against Cooke and Jan Scott is entirely 1:1, it is not easy for beginners to win. It was.
In MMORPG games, there are levels and the basics are to grow by farming abilities or good items, but in games without levels, the basics are to improve the player’s own skills, commonly called user level.
Tactical Combat also did not have levels, but it had MMORPG elements where you had to raise your abilities through training or items.
However, at the beginning of the game, there was not enough time to train sufficiently, and there were limits to item farming. In other words, in order to win the practice match against Cooke Jan Scott, the correct answer was to improve the gamer’s natural skills and raise the user level.
In that respect, Cooke Jan Scott was a very good teaching material. His ability to use giant weapons was neither eye-popping nor outstanding, so he was the perfect opponent for practice. Among Tactical Combat users, beating Cooke Jan Scott was expressed as breaking the label of a Tactical Combat beginner.
For this reason, because the middle name of the monster who played the role of gatekeeper in a famous hunting game was the same as that of Cooke Jan Scott, gamers nicknamed him ‘Mr. Yan’.
Gilbert saw the familiar structure of the mock training center guarded by ‘Teacher Yan’ and instantly made a simple contract with the artificial spirit.
[Cadet Gilbert Lion Heart recognition completed. The simple contract was concluded successfully.]
He listened to the stiff words of the artificial spirit and moved the giant spirit soldier like flowing water. Gilbert, who was given the role of data stealer according to Professor Alexander’s practical mission, recalled the location of Teacher Yan, who must have been hiding somewhere.
The duel with Teacher Yan could be divided into two directions. The first was to destroy the giant soldier with overwhelming power and steal the data, and the second was to infiltrate enemy territory using the autonomous function of the artificial spirit mentioned by Professor Alexander.
There was no problem in achieving the goal no matter which method was chosen, but Gilbert decided to adopt the second method. Gilbert, who had played Tactical Combat countless times in either the first or second method, was highly skilled in both methods.
However, since Ian, the current protagonist, would not have had proper experience with the second method, he decided that it would be better to demonstrate it to him and help him improve his eyes. Although Ian’s skills were better than those of other cadets, judging objectively, he benefited greatly from his characteristic skills.
If there was a duel with Seraphina right now, there was a high possibility that Ian would lose without being able to do anything. Ian’s current skills were in the raw state of being unpolished.
Gilbert took a quick look at the infiltration route before starting the actual training. Teacher Yan could not see the large giant soldier, perhaps because he had hidden himself well in the training room designed according to the theme of this training. It was probably built with infiltration in mind in the first place, but there were cover structures erected here and there, including large structures, so it felt like a modern-day urban battleground.
“Execute autonomous function. Open cockpit hatch.”
[Command recognition. Executes autonomous functions.]
Because the artificial spirit of the Academy’s general-purpose giant god soldier was not of the active generation, there was the inconvenience of having to give detailed orders to the rider. It was for this reason that Gilbert requested a prototype artificial spirit from Professor Horizon.
The reason why the giant god soldier called Ultimus was considered the best in Tactical Combat was due to the support of the artificial spirit mounted on Ultimus. However, since it was decided to hand over this Ultimus to Ian, Gilbert chose the next best option, a prototype artificial spirit to be handed over to the enemy.
“Use as much structure as possible to cover up, move forward as if searching towards the central building of the final destination, and set the priority goal of taking as much time as possible when encountering a giant god soldier.”
[Command recognition.]
As soon as the dry artificial spirit finished speaking, the cockpit door opened and the hatch to go outside was opened. Needless to say, I hid in a large structure and got off the Giant God Soldier to avoid being discovered by Teacher Yan.
When Gilbert got out, the hatch closed and the Colossus, with its autonomous functions activated, began to cautiously move forward. As he watched, he used Lion Heart to spread mana throughout his body. The heightened feeling of improved physical abilities began to stimulate the peripheral nerves.
‘Let’s go.’
It was clear that the Giant God Soldier, who was advancing as slowly as possible while searching as if wasting time, would soon be caught by Teacher Yan. No matter how well-structured the training center was and how much bigger it was than expected, there were limits. Considering the size of the giant god soldier, it was not that wide, so it was clear that a decisive battle with Teacher Yan would soon begin.
Gilbert’s goal was to seize the target and escape, so he had to approach the target as secretly and quickly as possible. Of course, if this were an ordinary soldier, it would have been a dangerous task. Breaking through a battlefield where giant soldiers were fighting at close range with my bare body was crazy.
However, the academy cadets, including Gilbert, were not ordinary soldiers but knights who could manipulate mana. Nowadays, the pilot who operates the Giant God Soldier is called a knight, but in the era before the appearance of the Giant God Soldier, a knight meant a superman.
Ta-tat!
The Lion King’s mana practice, which had overlooked the world in the past, has now been recreated in Gilbert’s body. Lionheart, which exhibits excellent performance in compression and release, gave him the strength to perform movements beyond the limits of what humans can produce.
[You were there!]
I heard Teacher Yan’s voice shouting as he opened an external communication magic channel. Gilbert, who was walking between structures, burst into laughter at the behavior of Teacher Yan, who had the temperament of a person of interest. Fortunately, it wasn’t that different from the game.
Boom!
Gilbert’s movements became more dynamic with the sound of iron swords clashing against iron swords in the background. As he began to jump over shaggy structures and run along slanted walls, his three-dimensional maneuvering skills came into play on their own and began to assist him in making his movements more stable.
Physical abilities reaching 90, mana exercises that can turn ordinary humans into superhumans, and even skills that compensate for movements that violate the laws of physics. When the three effects were concentrated on Gilbert, he was able to head toward the central building with inhuman movement and speed.
[You can’t help me with that level of skill!]
Perhaps he didn’t expect that there would be someone digging into the enemy’s territory with his bare body during the lecture on the use of the Giant God Soldier, and Teacher Yan, who was pushing the Giant God Soldier that moves with autonomous functions, looked very excited.
He saw out of the corner of his eye that he was swinging his sword sharply and knocking back the giant soldier, so he infiltrated the central building without delay and obtained the stolen items. He left Teacher Yan, who was excited by the fact that he had the upper hand, and retreating like this was also a way, but all of this practice boils down to evaluation. It was a deductible point to abandon the giant military unit, which was a convergence of a country’s technological power, like this.
For a perfect ending, he left the central building and gave orders to the artificial spirits connected through a simple contract.
“Request to board the Giant God Soldier.”
[Command recognition. We move to board Cadet Gilbert Lionheart on the Colossus.]
The Giant God Soldier, who was helpless against Teacher Yan’s continuous attacks, made a big collision to burn Gilbert again, and then widened the distance from Teacher Yan’s Giant God Soldier.
[Ha! Do you think I will let you run away!]
Teacher Yan, who still hadn’t found Gilbert, laughed, perhaps because he was self-absorbed by his own skills, and chased after Gilbert’s giant soldier.
“Cockpit hatch open!”
[Warning! An enemy Colossus is nearby. Please board quickly.]
Gilbert judged the location of the giant soldier running towards him and instantly raised his mana and jumped up the outer wall of the structure several meters in an instant.
Gilbert, who confirmed that the cockpit hatch was open, completed the boarding safely with the help of his three-dimensional maneuver skill as much as possible. At the same time, his autonomous functions were terminated and his control authority returned.
Gilbert noticed Teacher Yan’s giant spirit soldier following almost immediately behind him and instantly rotated the giant spirit bottle to face him.
It was difficult to react due to the close range, but Gilbert had the Rotten Water skill to overcome this situation.
As soon as I pulled the control stick, I activated the back tumbling skill, which is a three-dimensional maneuver skill acquired in the entrance mock battle, in an active form. It was a situation where time was running out, but the designated active skill was forcibly activated, and the timing was perfect, so Teacher Yan arrived right in front of us.
Gilbert used the forced back tumbling state to perform additional operations. As he kicked off the ground and spun as he climbed, Gilbert’s colossus’ legs stretched out and formed a half moon from bottom to top.
Teacher Yan was not prepared for the unexpected anomalous attack and was kicked in the cockpit by the right leg of Gilbert’s Colossus.
Quang!
The acceleration that was running became a huge physical quantity and shook the giant soldier, and soon it fell into the distance.
Gilbert grinned at the fact that the stagnant water technique he had used for the first time in a while had worked.
It was an absolutely perfect implementation of the Somersault Kick.