Might of Players

---Logan's POV---

Both segments of the giant worm stopped moving.

I stared in disbelief at my hands. The viscous substance dripped between my fingers.

"We... we did it!"

Even though it was just a game, and I was only playing as a supporting fighter in the battle, the thought of killing a creature dozens of times larger than myself—splitting it cleanly in half—was enough to make me proud for months!

I watched as ProGamer_Daddy rubbed his hands together, then wiped them on his back before repeating the gesture nervously.

"Was this really... us?" He kept looking between the worm's body and his hands, as if trying to convince himself it had actually happened.

"No, it was Garble who did it."

I grinned so widely that my facial muscles ached, unable to suppress my smile. I clapped Garble on the shoulder.

"Not bad, Garble! What do you do in real life? Your skills are incredible!"

None of us had noticed when he approached the giant worm during our escape earlier—nor, apparently, had the worm. Otherwise, there was no way the creature would have ignored him and chosen me as its target after deflecting the blade.

From my perspective, I could only see the blade spinning through the air, followed by Garble's sudden, almost divine intervention, turning the tide of battle in an instant.

The fight had ended as quickly as it had begun.

ProGamer_Daddy nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! What's that phrase? 'Holding up a collapsing building,' 'saving us from disaster,' and something about—"

"Turning the tide of battle," I corrected.

"Yes, that's it!"

I watched as he looked at Garble with respect.

"That move you pulled off—the backward hook-kick thing—was that some kind of martial art like karate? Can I learn it?"

Garble, who had been the first to approach the worm, was in the worst state of us three. His face was smeared with the worm's blood and slime. While he wasn't as excited as we were, he looked visibly pleased.

"It's not that impressive. Just a simple technique of applying force."

As we were about to continue chatting, the worm's body twitched again.

The blood it had lost seemed to stop flowing entirely, as if its wounds were healing rapidly.

We began to retreat instinctively, but then the other half of the worm's severed body began moving too!

The two halves of the worm, now acting like completely separate entities, lunged at us with frightening speed.

"No way?!" ProGamer_Daddy's face turned pale. "Now it can split itself?!"

We had barely managed to cut the worm in half, and instead of eliminating the threat, we had doubled it.

The two sturdy blades we had relied on earlier were now completely ruined from overuse. With no weapons left, we immediately turned and bolted.

If one worm had been enough to trap us, how could we possibly handle two?

To make matters worse, ProGamer_Daddy, exhausted after a full day of running, tripped on a stone that had likely been washed onto the path by the rain.

His leg cramped up.

"Aaaah!" he screamed in pain. He lost his balance and fell flat into the muddy ground.

Behind him, the half of the worm with a gaping maw had already opened its mouth, revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Garble and I turned back at the same time.

"Roll! Just roll!" I shouted.

"To your right—roll right!" Garble added, already moving to help.

ProGamer_Daddy squeezed his eyes shut and followed our instructions instinctively, rolling away just as the massive jaws snapped shut.

Splat!

The worm bit down hard—on mud. Its teeth sank deep into the earth where he had been just a moment before.

Just as ProGamer_Daddy clutched his right leg and staggered to his feet, ready to flee again, I watched as a massive, blazing fireball engulfed the whole worm.

Although the worm had no vocal cords, its violent thrashing clearly communicated its pain.

Within three seconds, the fireball burned the worm to nothing—leaving not even ash behind.

From behind a tree, Viktor emerged, holding a black staff.

"That was a Red-Scaled Worm, the most common creature in the Great Oak Forest. They typically feed on wild fruits and decayed leaves in the soil," he explained calmly.

"They spend most of their time underground but come to the surface after rain to forage for wild fruits."

ProGamer_Daddy stared, slack-jawed, at Viktor, who seemed untouched by the rain.

I could see he was still captivated by the massive fireball spell and hadn't fully processed what had happened.

Unnoticed by our group, the rain had already stopped, though water still dripped from the leaves above.

Meanwhile, Edgar dealt with the other half of the worm.

Seeing our sorry state—covered in mud, slime, and who knows what else—he raised an eyebrow.

"They don't even eat people. How did you manage to provoke one?"

Viktor glanced at the scattered wild fruits on the ground. "Judging by the juice stains on your clothes, you must have gotten some fruit juice on you. It's one of the Red-Scaled Worm's favorite foods."

"Since they don't have eyes or brains, they probably mistook you for a walking platter of snacks," Edgar mused, cleaning his blade.

"Sounds plausible."

Looking at our miserable state, Viktor seemed to feel a bit guilty. His expression softened slightly.

"Lord Viktor!" ProGamer_Daddy suddenly grabbed Viktor's staff with both hands.

"When I reach level two, can I learn that fire spell you just used?"

"Me too!" I chimed in eagerly.

Though Edgar's swordsmanship had been impressive, the allure of the fireball's flashy effects was simply irresistible.

Viktor hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. Fireball is an entry-level spell."

"So are Red-Scaled Worms the kind of creatures we'll be dealing with from now on?" Garble asked.

Viktor nodded, then shook his head.

"In theory, any new species born from the remnants of the divine essence qualifies as a magical creature. But the Red-Scaled Worm's magical energy is so weak, and it lacks the destructive power of true magical creatures, so it's considered part of the natural ecosystem."

"So... it's basically an insect?"

My eyes widened in disbelief.

Wait a second—so this massive worm doesn't even count as a magical creature because it's not strong enough?!

I couldn't help but shudder at the thought of how terrifying a true magical creature must be.

After Viktor and Edgar's explanation, we finally understood why the worm had been relentlessly chasing us.

The reason, shockingly, was all a misunderstanding!

Even mindless worms could push us to such a desperate state—an embarrassing reality that left us feeling somewhat deflated.

We were just too weak.

So, we decided not to venture further into the outskirts of Honeyvale Town until we had the combat strength to single-handedly kill at least one worm.

We hauled the lumber we had gathered back into town.

Although the NPC in charge of our task evaluation was right nearby, the materials still needed to be delivered to the designated clearing near the church to be officially tallied.

Our excitement grew as we thought about the reward: the same fireball spell Viktor had!

---Viktor's POV---

"They didn't lose their will to fight, even after being completely drenched by the rain?"

Was this the legendary persistence of hardcore gamers? How many hardships must one endure to develop such tenacity?

I resolved to pay closer attention to the players' psychological states from now on.

Meanwhile, Edgar looked on with bewilderment.

"They were beaten so miserably by a worm, and the crisis only just passed... yet they're already looking forward to the next fight? Do they not feel fear?"

To a mage, red-scaled worms were merely beginner-level opponents. But to ordinary people, they were still formidable, almost insurmountable creatures.

In the trials held by the Radiant Church for knight candidates, red-scaled worms occasionally appeared.

Many children—about 30%—developed such severe psychological trauma from fighting these creatures that they abandoned their path as knights or gave up on magic entirely.

The red-scaled worms were like demons that manipulated people's emotions. Yet, these players were completely unaffected.

The only significant emotional reaction they displayed was a fleeting moment of shame upon learning the worms were considered weak opponents.

Shame? Over losing to a stronger enemy?

Edgar seemed he couldn't wrap his head around it, just as he couldn't understand why they weren't afraid of the red-scaled worms at all.

I noticed his face, which clearly said, "The world has gone mad," and couldn't help but feel amused.

"Now do you see why I'm confident in stabilizing our base of operations?" I asked.

After a long pause, he responded, "If this is the extent of their abilities, they're not exceptional—barely passable, at best. My passing grade is for their courage in facing fear and for the combat skills of that... peculiar one among them."

"But let me be blunt: their potential for growth is still very limited."

I smiled but said nothing.

Edgar would eventually experience firsthand what the players' true potential really was.

---Logan's POV---

Late at night, we took a bath in the river, thanks to the free starter gear and toiletries provided by Viktor.

"You know what's weird?" I said, letting the cold water wash away the day's grime. "This feels more real than it should be."

"Tell me about it," ProGamer_Daddy agreed. "I can actually feel the cold water."

"And the mosquitoes," Garble added. "Don't forget the mosquitoes."

Whether it was healthy to bath in the river didn't matter; at least the cold dampness clinging to my body after the rain was finally washed away.

"Ahh, finally feels good!"

While waiting for the others to finish, I opened my game panel:

[Name: NeverShowOff]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1 (Newbie)]

[XP: 158/100]

[SAN: 88]

[Skills: None]

[Inventory: Empty]

"Guys, check this out. The worm gave us bonus XP."

In addition to chopping trees, I had spent the afternoon experimenting with other ways to gain XP. Once I had enough to reach Level 2, I stopped trying too hard.

By my calculations, I should have earned 108 XP total, but the extra 10 XP came automatically after defeating the red-scaled worm.

ProGamer_Daddy and Garble, gained 9 and 19 XP respectively.

"Knew it. Grinding mobs is way faster for leveling," I muttered.

Even though the XP gained from defeating the worm wasn't much—barely better than cutting down two trees and hauling lumber—it was clear this wouldn't always be the case.

After all Viktor had said the red-scaled worms were just low-tier monsters. The stronger the monsters, the more XP they'd yield.

Once our levels were higher, our primary method for earning XP would undoubtedly be fighting monsters. On another note, my SAN value, which had dropped earlier due to a mistake, hadn't recovered at all—something that pained me greatly.

I told myself to act more "normal" in the game.

I had tested it: running around naked while bathing didn't reduce my SAN value. So, my earlier loss wasn't due to streaking.

No, it was because I acted like a public flasher in the streets, and the system had deemed my behavior inappropriate for the game's reality!

"Damn it! I'm playing a game—why do I still have to follow real-world rules?" It was hard to believe I was the same person who had praised Chronicles of Aeltia for feeling like another world earlier that day.

Finally, the time we had been eagerly awaiting arrived: leveling up and unlocking new skills!

---Viktor's POV---

I noticed Luminaris, who had been sulking on the goddess statue's hand, lying there in despair.

I had restricted his movement to within a marked area, leaving him unable to leave the church grounds.

At long last, the church doors opened, and the three players walked in.

Luminaris lit up like he had seen his saviors.

"Chirp chirp! Yippee!"

With his usual verbal blessing, he shot toward the players like a missile.

Smack!

I intercepted the round, glowing ball mid-air.

"Luminaris, what did we discuss about personal space?"

"Chirp chirp! But they're here!"

Glaring at him in annoyance, I whispered, "Can't you be a little more mindful of your own weight?"

Even though most of Luminaris' powers were now under my control, he was still a god-tier creation. The impact force of such a being wasn't something an ordinary person could handle.

---

The three players huddled close together.

"What do you think they're talking about?" ProGamer_Daddy murmured, glancing sideways at NeverShowOff and the orb.

Garble shrugged slightly. "Probably just excited about how fast we're leveling up."

"Yeah, looking at how the goddess is acting, that seems likely. But don't you think it's weird? Why can't the goddess speak properly? She just keeps chirping the same thing over and over."

"Come on, she's obviously the game mascot! You know how these things work—a mascot that's too smart wouldn't be cute anymore."

"Ah..." NeverShowOff nodded slowly. "That actually makes sense."

"Yeah," Garble whispered thoughtfully. "Never thought about it that way before. Learn something new every day in this game."

ProGamer_Daddy couldn't help but grin, though he still kept his voice down. "See? I know my games!"

---

As Luminaris wriggled in my hand, he shouted, "Let me go! I just want to bond with my precious believers! I promise I won't hurt them!"

"Oh? You're bold today, aren't you?" I said, surprised.

Still, it was time to let him interact with the players.

I thought for a moment and released him.

Luminaris immediately began circling the three players, reciting praises for the chosen ones from his memory.