Chapter 20: Wave (2)

Wave.

The beginning of the first stage.

Watching the advancing horde of beasts that signaled this fact, I couldn't help but question—

'…It's earlier than expected.'

According to what I knew, there should have been at least another week before the Wave arrived.

That's why I had been taking my time, handling necessary tasks and preparing accordingly.

But now, an unexpected Wave?

'Something changed.'

And it was reasonable to assume that this change was a butterfly effect caused by my actions.

The problem was that I hadn't done much in this place yet to significantly alter the course of events.

'If I had to guess… there's only one possibility.'

Tatiana Belov.

The sudden acceleration of the Wave was likely linked to her.

After all, the only major action I had taken so far—aside from surviving outside Ark—was saving Tatiana Belov, who should have originally died.

'If that's the case, then someone must have deliberately moved up the timing of the Wave because she survived… But only a few groups could even do such a thing.'

There were factions outside Ark.

Some were neutral, like the Sandstorm Caravan.

Others, however, harbored hostility toward Ark.

Their reasons varied—

Some sought to overthrow Ark.

Some wanted to claim it for themselves.

Others had their own obscure motives.

But among them, three factions stood out as the most powerful and influential:

The Kronos Union – A coalition of refugees from former Kronos and various minor cities. The Cult of Mote – A religious sect that worships beasts and monsters. The Shadow Order – A secretive organization shrouded in mystery.

'Out of these three, only two have the power to deliberately trigger a Wave.'

The Cult of Mote and the Shadow Order.

'And if I were to narrow it down further to the faction most likely tied to Tatiana Belov's supposed death…'

I began piecing together the clues.

Tatiana Belov survived. The Wave arrived earlier than expected. The Cult of Mote and the Shadow Order are capable of triggering a Wave. The conflict between the Navy Line and Blue Line began with the death of Anton Belov's daughter.

I wasn't yet certain that Tatiana Belov was Anton Belov's daughter.

But if this hypothesis was correct, then it wasn't difficult to guess who was behind this Wave.

Because among all the factions interested in Ark's internal politics, only one had both the means and the motive.

'The Shadow Order.'

Unlike the other two factions—or any other group outside Ark, for that matter—the Shadow Order had very few members.

Barely over ten people in total.

By numbers alone, they hardly even qualified as a faction.

But their power rivaled even the largest groups.

The Shadow Order's goal was simple: to take control of Ark.

In fact, in The Defense, there was a hidden route where the player could join the Shadow Order.

After this route was discovered, the gaming community hailed it as one of the strongest paths to clearing The Defense.

And for good reason—

By siding with the Shadow Order, the player could actually help them seize control of Ark.

Of course, this led to civil war within Ark, wiping out nearly half of its forces.

But in return, Ark's remaining strength, which would have otherwise been scattered, became unified under a single banner.

'And it was fun, too.'

Acting as a spy for a secret society, operating covertly within Ark—it was enough to captivate players.

Even I had run the Shadow Order route nearly 50 times.

However…

I only realized this route was a dead end when I reached Stage 91—the Black Line.

Until then, Ark's halved forces had been enough to clear previous stages.

But from Stage 91 onward, it became impossible to advance with Ark's strength cut in half.

In other words, the Shadow Order route was ultimately a failure.

'Regardless of the speculation… all of this is just a theory for now.'

I had a few guesses about why the Wave had arrived early.

But it didn't change what I needed to do.

Click.

Stopping the Wave.

That was my task.

The distance between the horde of beasts and Ark was shrinking.

[Grrrrrr—!!!]

[Awooooo—!!!]

The deafening cries of millions of beasts alone felt like a disaster descending upon the land.

Inside Ark, tension spread.

Even the usually composed soldiers on the city walls were moving frantically, bordering on panic.

Many would die.

And my job now was to minimize those casualties.

'Let's do this.'

I adjusted the lever of my Ark-15 rifle.

[Switching to Anti-Materiel Sniper Mode.]

With the Ark-15 now configured for sniping, I moved.

'Heading to the sniper point.'

I had already scouted multiple sniper spots across Noah that had clear shots at Red Line's frontlines.

If I fired from my hideout, I risked drawing monsters straight to my base—something I couldn't afford.

'A hideout should stay a hideout.'

More importantly, my hideout in Noah was too far from Ark's battlefront.

There were a few spots where I could snipe from that distance, but many key positions would be out of range.

'And most importantly, I wouldn't be able to cover Orange Line.'

In The Defense, the different Lines represented defensive sectors.

Starting from the rearmost Red Line, the player gradually advanced forward as they grew stronger.

A Red Line soldier, belonging to the first stage, was only expected to operate within the Red Line's frontline.

However—

I was outside Ark.

I had no obligation to hold the line as a Red Line soldier.

Which meant I could take full advantage of this situation.

'I'll cover the frontlines from Red Line to Orange Line.'

To cover beyond that, I would need to either enter Ark or find another sniper position.

Unfortunately, Noah had no such locations.

Even by pushing the Ark-15 Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle to its maximum effective range, the best I could manage was covering the frontlines from Red Line to the edge of Orange Line.

That was how vast Ark's battlefront was.

'Not that it matters—I'm not equipped to handle anything stronger than that anyway.'

As it stood, my base Ark-15—without any upgrades or custom modifications—could barely scratch beasts ranked Grade-5 or higher.

Given that this was still the first stage, rather than pushing beyond my limits, it was far more important to hold back the incoming horde with minimal losses.

—BOOOOOOM!!—

A thunderous roar shook the battlefield, like a declaration of war.

In the distance, massive explosions erupted across the frontlines.

Thick smoke billowed into the sky, but the beasts and monsters did not hesitate.

Instead, they charged forward even more fiercely.

[Kyaooooooo!]

[Kyaak! Kyaaaaak!!!]

Boom! BOOOOM!

KR-KRA-KRA-KRAAANG!!

Screeches and howls.

The tremor of the earth.

Fire surging high into the sky.

The meaning behind it was clear—

The war had begun.

Despite the overwhelming firepower unleashed from Ark, the horde did not stop.

Hundreds, thousands of beasts fell.

And yet, they kept coming.

Among the endless swarm, several agile flying beasts swooped down onto the walls, grabbing soldiers off the battlements.

But their fates were sealed not by the monsters, but by bullets fired from their own allies.

There was no room for hesitation.

No chance for a hostage situation.

This was war.

[Kiiieeeeeeek!]

By the time I reached my sniper point, I was already in position.

Lying flat on a boulder, I pulled my camouflage poncho over myself and aimed my anti-materiel sniper rifle.

'First priority: Named Beasts of the Red Line.'

In a Wave, Named Beasts functioned as commanders among the beast hordes.

Naturally, they were top-priority sniping targets.

And right on cue—

One of my preys entered the scope.

Grade-8 Beast-class: Bone Hound Karaka.

A Named Beast of the Skull Hounds—a species I had hunted before.

'Cocky bastard.'

As the leader of the Skull Hounds, Bone Hound Karaka commanded a pack of its kind.

Even though Skull Hounds were already elite-class monsters, they followed Karaka without question.

That alone proved how powerful it was.

'You first.'

I swapped my magazine for Explosive Rounds and aimed at Bone Hound Karaka's head.

'Distance: 9 kilometers.'

Not exactly close—but for me, it was more than enough.

[ Activating 'Sniper's Time.' ]

Suddenly—I could see everything.

Bone Hound Karaka's figure.

The Skull Hound pack surrounding it.

Its wide-open, fully exposed eye.

—Creak.

Slowly, I pulled the trigger.

—FWWWWWEEEEEEEESH!!

The Explosive Round ripped through the air—

—and Bone Hound Karaka's head exploded.

***

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