Episode 21 — Laser Line 3

For a brief moment right after the battle began, Cosmo Spawn's soldiers held the upper hand — but that reversal came quickly.

Their opponents were veteran vanguard users, tempered through more than a dozen official seasons.

What's more, since this was a brand-new area, plenty of clans had come in fully geared up, hauling out armored equipment of their own.

Standing out above all the rest were the users from the American Frontier and the Gaia Legion, factions centered primarily in the American region.

The Frontier side had brought no less than a main battle tank, while the Legion had rolled in with two anti-air tanks.

"Target locked, enemy transport ship!"

"First round loaded!"

"Fire!"

With a heavy, thudding explosion, a 155mm shell struck true, slamming into a transport ship still hovering as it dropped its troops.

"Wh-what?! What kind of madness is this?!"

"Those crazy bastards! They brought tanks?!"

The transport, already erupting in a series of blasts, went up in a massive explosion, blowing apart in an instant — and the remaining transports scrambled into a panic.

"N-no! At this rate we're all going to get hit! Hurry the drop, you idiots! We're all going to die!"

"Aaaaah, evasive maneuvers! Evasive maneuvers!"

The Gaia Legion users had smoothly formed up around their anti-air tanks, pushing forward as the front line with practiced coordination.

"Hold the line! If your shield module breaks, fall back for a second! Keep firing! Let's knock every one of those flies down and strip the gear off their backs!"

"Uraaa!"

To users who could never resist loot in the first place, Cosmo Spawn's jetpacks were exactly the kind of trophy they absolutely had to claim for themselves.

"Aaaaah! Th-these bastards are shooting like maniacs!"

"Fire! Don't you dare give ground! If we lose to a bunch of vermin like this, the president will— gwaaaack!"

"C-captain?!"

At first, the troopers had been dodging shots using their jetpacks to hold their own — but once users caught sight of those jetpacks, their eyes went wild, and they laid down proper suppressive fire, knocking the troopers out of the sky one after another.

Nor were the transports themselves safe. The Gaia Legion's anti-air tanks, having locked onto anti-air range, mercilessly poured flak into the sky, and the remaining transports, scrambling helplessly, exploded one after another in short order.

"Ha ha ha ha! Keep firing! Bring down every last one of those flies too!"

"Alright! Got two of them! Over there! They're bunched up over there! Swing the turret!"

In the end, overwhelmed by the users' momentum, the jetpack troopers scattered in twos and threes and fled in a panic, while the users squabbled over who'd get to claim the fallen troopers' jetpacks off the ground.

"Now, now, we're all in the same boat on this scenario quest! Let's not fight over it — how about the Frontier and the Legion, who did most of the heavy lifting in this fight, split the haul fifty-fifty?"

In the end, a senior Frontier user stepped in to mediate, and the captured jetpacks were split evenly between the two factions.

"Heheheh, if we keep fighting these Cosmo Spawn bastards, more of those jetpack guys are bound to keep showing up, right?"

"Next time, we're the ones charging in...! I'm getting one of those jetpacks no matter what!"

Just as the other factions were gritting their teeth, fanning their own competitive fire, a hovering vehicle running on retracted wheels came to a stop in front of the users.

"What's this?"

"New enemy, maybe?"

"Everyone hold on a second!"

While the users stirred uneasily, the vehicle's door opened.

Standing there was the Chairman's secretary — the same butler-like figure with the sly, thin mustache they'd seen in the video.

"A-are you all the mercenaries... who've come to save our company?"

"That's right! A mercenary band... or, well, we'd appreciate it if you called us a clan."

"Ah, so more of an alliance of clans, then. You truly are a most welcome sight. Allow us to escort you to a safe zone for resupply and rest."

Following the vehicle the secretary had boarded for about twenty kilometers, they arrived at what looked like it had once served as a concert venue — neat rows of seating and a stage.

The ceiling was reinforced in a thick dome shape, seemingly leaving no worry of an air raid.

"This venue doubles as a bunker. We'll begin the briefing after a ten-minute rest here."

"Question!"

A user from the Roaring Dragon Society, eyes gleaming, raised a hand to ask, and the secretary nodded to accept it.

"What is your question?"

"Is there any way we could get our hands on some of WAC's weapons to try out?"

The users' eyes lit up. Whether the laser guns — one of the core draws of this whole event — could be obtained right now was an important matter indeed.

Wiping away a bead of cold sweat, the secretary nodded.

"O-of course, that's possible. After the briefing... should anyone be interested, we'll provide the address to our company's online store. However..."

"However?"

Looking as though it pained him to say it, the secretary continued in a strained voice.

"At present, all of the factories producing our top-tier firearms have been... bombed, and are currently offline. I deeply apologize that we're unable to offer you the products we're most proud of right away!"

The light in the users' eyes dimmed.

In other words, getting their hands on the high-end laser guns would require first pushing through the quest and driving out Cosmo Spawn's forces.

"No, it's fine! We'll make sure to help get that factory back up and running!"

The Roaring Dragon Society user answered with renewed determination, and once the questions wrapped up, they were given a short break.

The users spent the time checking over their weapons, and each clan began discussing how to organize their assault formations.

"Alright, let's begin the briefing."

Before long, the secretary clapped his hands to draw attention, then brought up a map of the city on the large screen behind the stage.

"As you can see, Cosmo Spawn's offensive is currently coming from three directions."

"Why not a full four-way encirclement?"

At the Frontier user's question, the secretary nodded.

"The remaining direction — the south gate — is under periodic bombardment from the large orbital cannon aboard Cosmo Spawn's flagship warship, which they take great pride in. As things stand, there's no way to counter that, so..."

At the mention of orbital bombardment, the users swallowed hard. It was now certain that this Cosmo Spawn faction was a far larger and more powerful force than they'd expected.

"That being the case, the most urgent matter is the west gate. Evacuation of refugees is currently underway there, but Cosmo Spawn strike teams have attempted several raids, preventing us from getting the refugees out."

The users began murmuring among themselves. Since it seemed clear that users would need to split up and go to each of the three locations to repel the enemy, they began exchanging opinions on who would go where.

"As for the east gate... as you all just experienced firsthand, roughly thirty percent of it has fallen to a large-scale jet trooper assault delivered by Cosmo Spawn's transport fleet. They're in the process of turning that area into a logistics base."

Sparks flew in the users' eyes. It felt certain that driving them out of there would come with a substantial reward. Of course, a logistics base would also mean far heavier defenses — and thus, a much higher difficulty.

"The north gate, in truth, is currently under assault from part of the force that seized the east gate, pushing in on the ground. The intensity of the attack there is the most moderate of the three, but that area holds our city's main shopping district, and it absolutely must be protected."

The users understood immediately.

The west gate: a section where goodwill would rise sharply by helping refugees evacuate.

The north gate: the gentlest in difficulty, offering modest rewards for protecting the shopping district — suited to ordinary users.

The east gate: the toughest fight of all, a battle for the logistics base, but with a hefty reward waiting at the end.

After several rounds of disagreement and back-and-forth among the users, it was decided that they'd split into groups by clan and head to each gate.

A west-gate group centered on the Frontier. An east-gate group centered on the Legion. And a north-gate group made up mostly of mid-tier clans and general users, centered around the Roaring Dragon Society.

Since the Professor had nothing to say, his team held off deciding and simply watched. But in the end, there was nothing left to decide.

A senior Gaia Legion user strolled over.

"Hey. Professor."

"…Hm."

"You in? The reward's supposed to be big."

"…A tempting offer. However..."

The Professor lifted his head slightly, scanning the faces of the users in the Legion's group. Among them were Overlords users — the same ones who'd always had a particularly prickly relationship with the Professor.

"What, why are you staring at us? Got a problem?"

"……."

Sensing the Professor's mood, the Legion user gave an awkward laugh and waved a hand toward the Overlords, stepping in to mediate.

"Now, now, Overlords, friends — let's not get so worked up. This quest is a one-time-only, important story quest."

"…Tch. You're asking us to trust our backs to that money-grubbing bat, whose loyalty flips with the wind depending on who's paying?"

"We're on the same side for now, aren't we? Clear it together, split the reward, and once we're back on the regular server, you can go right back to fighting each other if you want... right?"

"…Tch. Hey! Professor!"

The user leading the Overlords strode over, glaring irritably at the Professor's helmet for a moment, then slowly extended a hand for a handshake.

"…You're definitely not the type I trust. But this once, I'll take the chance. Can you deliver?"

"…One hundred percent."

"Tch. Fine, then."

Accepting the handshake, giving it a single firm shake, the Overlords user immediately turned his back and returned to his group.

Fortunately, things seemed set to proceed without any major friction, and the Professor felt a quiet sense of relief. If the Overlords caused internal strife right now, it would be bad news both for the quest and for the Professor's own team.

With that, each clan hurried through their preparations and rose to their feet.

"Well then, everyone — good luck out there!"

"Right! You just stay hidden somewhere safe too, old man!"

"Yeah! We'll kick that Cosmo-whatever's ass right out of here!"

"Bring us back a badass laser gun, would you!"

Waving to the secretary, the users set off, and soon began their march.

Where they were headed was the battlefield.

A battlefield unlike the official seasons — one fought against NPC soldiers — awaited them.

The first fighting to break out was at the north gate.

Word had reached the ground forces quickly, and they marched at once toward where the users had gathered.

"Fire! Force them into eviction!"

"Kneel before the power of Cosmo Spawn and beg forgiveness!"

Sure enough, there were fewer jetpack troopers here, but in their place, Cosmo Spawn had brought a fair number of enemies wielding laser guns.

As beams came flying in from every direction, the users, far from frightened, only had their eyes gleam all the brighter.

"I called dibs on that gun! Nobody shoot that guy!"

"What?! Don't be ridiculous! I'm the one shooting him!"

"Ugh, whatever, just shoot!"

Relying on their shield modules, the users charged forward ferociously. In an instant, the shopping district descended into chaos, as users and Cosmo Spawn's NPCs tangled together everywhere, swinging bayonets and knives and firing their weapons in a wild melee.

—To be continued—