The Blood Cross Army and Derek’s Frustration
“The Blood Cross Army? What’s that, some cheap knockoff of the Blood Cult?”“Right? You think so too!”
State Window, seemingly the only one in the world who shared Ihan’s sense of humor and sarcasm, offered its agreement. Ihan was relieved to know he wasn’t the only one who found the name ridiculous.
However, Derek—alias Taechang—was utterly bewildered.
“A faction from the temple? Parasites who survived despite being wiped out by the late king? ...What is all this nonsense?”
Derek mumbled to himself, struggling to comprehend this sudden revelation about a faction he’d never heard of.
“I-I mean, I was part of the original dev team, but I wasn’t high-ranking. So I don’t know all the game’s content. The Blood Cross Army could be a scrapped idea the planning team added later, or it might be part of the original story that I’m unaware of.”“The game versus the source material, huh....”“If you want, I can try to find out.”“...No, forget it. Sure, knowing more could be useful, but knowing too much just complicates things. Like with you.”“C-can’t deny that....”
Indeed, Derek’s mind was always cluttered—with too much information.
Many might envy Derek’s encyclopedic knowledge, thinking they could accomplish anything with such resources. But Derek saw it differently.
“It’s awful, really....”
Knowledge, as vast as his, was a double-edged sword. Without sufficient power or authority to act on it, that knowledge became a burden. Not just any power—he needed...
“Sigh, the instructor’s right. Ignorance is bliss. Maybe I should just stick to being a walking encyclopedia.”“Don’t give up, kid. Put in the effort to become an aura master or a warlord.”“...Neither is easy or desirable.”
Aura mastery wasn’t something achieved through skills or achievement points. Becoming a warlord required political acumen and charisma—qualities Derek neither possessed nor wanted to cultivate.
“You’d be unstoppable if you just had some confidence.”“...You overestimate me, Instructor. Anyway, the real problem here is the emergence of an unknown faction.”“You really know nothing about them? Even though you predicted the monster attack?”“I know there are villains, but none with a silly name like ‘Blood Cross Army.’”“......”“Either there’s some glitch or some deviation from the norm. To figure it out, I think it’d be best if I stuck close to you, Instructor.”“Oh? Feeling proactive, are we?”“...Not really. I’m just following your example.”“My example?”“You said it yourself—whatever you do, do it with responsibility. I’m trying that out.”
For Derek, this was a way of taking responsibility for his knowledge as a developer.
A Rare Respite
“Wow, this water’s so clean—it’s been ages since I’ve seen water this pure.”
“This bread is soft, and the milk tastes freshly drawn. How on earth did they get these to such a remote place?”
“Mmm!”
“Sir Arend, please slow down, or you’ll choke.”
[Not yet. I didn’t realize the tunnels were this expansive. I knew it was the kingdom’s largest fertilizer facility, but this is... five times the size of an amusement park.]“...That big?”
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