The glimmer of the teleportation array gradually faded. As the last warrior vanished into the swirling light, Ester came to a halt. With an expressionless face, she extended a slender finger, counting the heads in the void.
"One, two, three... strange." Ester's movements froze, her voice dropping to absolute zero. "Why are two important pieces missing? Where are the blonde one and the blue-haired one? Desertion at a critical moment? Or just plain slacking?"
Thinking of the sheer difficulty of the upcoming mission, a dangerous, pinkish-black aura erupted from Ester. She briskly rolled up her "invisible sleeves" and marched toward the Armor Forge with murderous intent. It seemed a literal "Force Execution" was currently loading.
Meanwhile, in front of the locked entrance of the Armor Factory, two grown men were standing there, completely oblivious, trying to devise a plan.
"I can't do it anymore. My throat is on fire. Why is Katie still refusing to come out?" Lawson rubbed his aching throat, looking utterly defeated.
"I say..." Dodge rubbed his chin, offering a deep, dark guess. "Could it be that Junior Katie was so traumatized she just... fainted inside?"
"Do you even have a brain?" Lawson retorted mercilessly. "Katie is a formidable warrior who awakened an SS-rank Soul! With a constitution that can 'tear'monsters apart, how could she just faint? Unless she was bored to death by your muscle-headed nonsense. Stop making things up."
Dodge's volatile "tough guy" heart was instantly ignited. He bellowed with a reddened neck, "Damn it, Lawson! You've been sniping at me with that sarcasm since we got here! What's the deal? You want to settle this right here, man to man?"
Lawson's eyes grew fierce, the handle of his hammer thumping against his palm. "Can you do anything besides hit things, you muscle-bound idiot? Are you going through 'menopause' early? Or is it a hormone imbalance?"
Just as these two 'hard-boiled' men stood forehead-to-forehead, sparks flying in a lethal standoff, a ghostly figure materialized silently behind them. Ester's tiny, death-chilled hand clamped onto their shoulders like frozen iron pincers.
"You two... so much whining, yet you can't even handle a simple door?" Ester's voice was flat, yet it carried a terrifying pressure. "Move. Let a professional handle this."
Before they could react, Ester's frame dropped low. Her slender legs entered an illogical "Infinite Charging Mode." A blinding pink light exploded from beneath her feet, the floor tiles cracking under the immense pressure.
"Wait! STOP—! Ester! That door is a titanium-alloy custom build! It's insanely EXPENSIVE—!"
Lawson let out a soul-piercing, voice-cracking shriek. However, in the face of absolute violence, his cries of poverty were powerless.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening explosion rocked the entire base. The reinforced door—rumored to withstand missile strikes—was sent spinning through the air like a piece of scrap paper, crashing deep into the factory.
"Katie, are you ready for 'Forced Boarding'?"
Ester blurred into a streak of pink lightning, charging through the wreckage. Before the men outside could blink, the interior of the forge erupted with the agonizing sounds of twisting metal and crushing instruments.
The two highest-ranking female combatants were staging a "demolition-level" duel amidst Lawson's priceless equipment.
Lawson stood paralyzed, watching precision gears fly through the air. His gaze finally settled on the mangled remains of his alloy door frame. In that moment, he felt his wallet and his heart shatter in perfect synchronization. Then, his eyes rolled back, and he "disconnected," falling into a dead faint.
Just as the factory was about to be upgraded from a "demolition site" to "total building collapse," Dodge—the golden-haired tank at the bottom of the food chain—finally had his heroic moment.
With the grim resolve of a man who knew they'd all die if he didn't speak up, he drew breath from his diaphragm and unleashed a soul-shaking roar:
"STOP—! IT'S A MISTAKE! IT'S ALL A MISUNDERSTANDING!!!"
That shout caused Katie to freeze mid-strike and even forced Ester, the pink goddess of death, to retract a "Shadowless Kick" that could have pierced a tank. The two women froze in mid-air, the gust from their strike ruffling each other's hair.
Dodge wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his eyes as sincere as a saint's. He began a flourish of exaggerated acting:
"Don't fight! Our plan had a deep, strategic intent! As it turns out, the core strategic target—Lawson—has entered 'Tactical Syncope' due to force majeure. Mission accomplished! Even if the process... wasn't exactly glorious!"
Ester's icy eyes flickered. She slowly withdrew her pink-charged leg. For a moment, her CPU seemed to encounter a massive logic gap, leaving her in a daze.
"A misunderstanding...?"
She tilted her head, the pink stray hair atop her head swaying with her. Her voice held a rare hint of confusion. "You mean... that struggle at the door wasn't because you wanted to 'skip class' to avoid the BOSS, with one hiding in the factory and the other playing lookout?"
Facing Ester's "I've caught you slackers" expression, Dodge and Katie shared a faint smile. Katie dropped her combat stance and dusted off her clothes with a long sigh.
"Though it sounds exactly like something we'd do, Ester... we are veteran players, after all. How could we desert during such a high-reward bonus stage?"
Ester was even more baffled. If not to skip class, why go through the trouble of making Lawson faint? This illogical behavior triggered her curiosity as a Guide.
Katie lowered her gaze, her sharp eyes softening with a tender sorrow. She whispered, "Senior Lawson's mental state... is actually on the brink of collapse. As the 'Only Sane One' who has to carry everyone's lives and lead us through the game, he actually broke down and cried in front of us yesterday. He's too afraid of loss—too afraid to face failure."
Ester gasped, her tiny hands flying to her mouth, her pupils trembling. Having been Lawson's guide for nearly ten years, she never imagined that the reliable, sometimes sharp-tongued brother Lawson hid such fragile cracks in his soul.
"A man like Senior Lawson... even if his spirit is shattered, he would still force himself onto the battlefield to guide the rookies." Katie looked at the unconscious Lawson on the floor with a bitter smile. "That's why we made this plan. Even if it's the worst of the worst, we had to use this method to force him 'Offline'—to give him a moment of escape from that damn pressure of clearing the game..."
Ester looked down at the "Tactically Comatose" Lawson, her gaze shifting from confusion to a fierce, newfound determination. She stepped forward, guarding him like a fragile treasure.
"Leave brother Lawson to me!"
She looked up, her usually mechanical voice now warm and human. "I will stay here and watch over him. I won't let anyone disturb his sweet dream. You two... get to the battlefield! The rookies fighting on the front lines are desperate to see the backs of the veterans."
Seeing Ester acting like a reliable little adult, Katie's last bit of worry vanished. She gave the guide a deep, solemn nod. "Thanks, Ester. We're counting on you."
"Hey, Dodge, stop dazing!" Katie turned, her blue hair cutting a sharp arc in the air as her eyes regained the lethal intensity of an SS-rank warrior. "It's time we fulfilled our duties as 'Old Players'."
"I've been waiting for this!" Dodge cracked his knuckles, his joints popping like fireworks.
The two didn't hesitate for a second, bolting toward the teleportation array like arrows from a bow. They knew the liberation mission couldn't wait, and the rookies currently holding the line were facing a barrage of fire that could level the base.
Since the "Commander" was temporarily out, then this battle... would be carved through hell by these two veterans!