Let's (kinda) go

After a very leisure day, Youngwoo woke up well rested. It was just about 6 when he opened his eyes, and in fact, he immediately felt that taking a break was a good thing to do. His sore muscles were a long way from recovering entirely, but he felt that they were on good way. Too good, in fact, as he felt strangely stiff as he stood up. However, it was nothing a few solid stretches couldn't fix.

Soon enough, he ate a breakfast (he was actually getting used to living on a clock), and then he fired up his laptop. While waiting for it to finish deciding what it wanted to do, he stretched some more, intent on being in his top-notch form for today. After all, from what he could recall, floor 12 wasn't going to be easy. Unlike the previous floor, fights would be plentiful in there. In fact, wasn't this the entire theme for floor 12 altogether?

He fired up Tower's Daily, and after searching for literally just a few seconds, he came across an article.

@:11th floor was cakewalk compared to 12th.

Reading through the article, Youngwoo quickly found out the quest in its entirety. It was to defend the hamlet of Issar for 40 days until reinforcements from nearest fortress arrived. The village, now grown after some time passed between 11th and 12th floor, became a target of many outlaws from towns all around, mostly because there was barely any militia. There was a huge encampment somewhere in mountains, some kilometres south-east of the estate, and numbers of bandits were estimated to be in hundreds, but no more than 1000. And, much like with 11th floor, Hunters who contributed the most would be rewarded by Savi Mahoney. Well, at least he knew it in entirety now.

However, wasn't there an easier way? Youngwoo was willing to wait for 20 days to get a reward, but waiting another 40 was out of question. Surely there must've been a different way to clear this mission? A faster one, at it? Well, he was sure there would be time to think about that.

He quickly prepared his clothes and threw them into a bag, after which he went out.

7:25

Hilda woke up, somewhat rested for once, and went about her typical routine. She washed herself, checked on Ieva (who was still sleeping hard), and ate some breakfast while checking news about 12th floor on her phone. Seeing how they were supposed to be defending the village for 40 days, a multitude of thoughts appeared in her mind.

First was: it was basically impossible to keep standing under attack for 40 days without food running out. No matter how prosperous Issar had become, it was impossible to stockpile enough food for everyone.

Second was: 40 days was long. So long in fact, that it begged the question of: wasn't there another way to clear it? A way to quicken arrival of the reinforcements? She thought about it for some time, until she decided that she'd brainstorm it with Youngwoo later.

9:00

After exchanging a few texts between themselves, the two decided to meet at the Gate at 9. It seemed to be a good hour to begin their hunt. There were a few hundreds of Hunters lined up for transmit to the 12th floor.

After greeting each other, they also stood in line to get to their means of transport. It was actually going pretty smoothly, considering that everyone's destination was the same. Still, it seemed at least 10 to 15 minutes would pass until they could transmit.

"Youngwoo."

"Yes?" He looked at Hilda.

"Doesn't 40 days seem... long?" She asked, shifting her bag a little; she was packed about as much as she was when they went to clear 11th floor, except this time around she also had her scepter from Savi, half of it sticking out as it was too long to fit entirely.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But what can you do. Sometimes the Tower has its whims, and we have little choice but to abide."

[TM is chuckling at your words, but agrees with you.]

Youngwoo rolled his eyes at the notification. Well, it's been a while since he last heard from Tower's Master, but this message wasn't exactly super positive. He actually half expected them to say something like 'There is always a way if your will is strong enough, mortal.' No, wait, why was he thinking like that? No, he shouldn't be trying to impersonate that being. Thoughts of higher beings were beyond comprehension of mortals, after all.

["Mortal, if your will is unfaltering, you will surely find a solution."]

"..." For a moment, Youngwoo looked at the notification with an 'Are you fucking kidding me' face. [link]

"Is something the matter, Youngwoo?" Asked Hilda, seeing his expression. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. Just got lost in thought." He replied, relaxing his facial expression.

"I see." She nodded. "What will we do-"

"Hey! Dragon Witch!" They both heard a shouting voice. It clearly belonged to a man, but its tone was... somewhat excited? "What are you doing here?"

Their heads turned towards the source, and they saw a man in a military uniform worn typically in USA, consisting of camo leggings, light jacket and a cap. His black hair was short and nicely taken care of, and on his back there was a huge backpack, nearly twice as large as the one Hilda had.

"Donnie?" She asked.

"Oi, that's me!" He laughed lightly. "So, you're also going to 12th floor?"

"Yes... we're going to help clear it."

"'We?'"

"Ah, right. Youngwoo, meet James Ackerman, a fellow member of Magician Guild. James, this is Lee Youngwoo. I've been hunting with him lately."

"Oi, Youngwoo. James Ackerman, pleased to meet ya. Just call me Donnie tho." He took his hand towards Youngwoo, going for a handshake.

"...yes. Lee Youngwoo, but everyone calls me Lee." He shook the man's hand.

"'lright then. You two 're going for 12th floor, I see?"

"Well, the guildmaster has yet to make a decision." Said Hilda. "So I decided to go on my own. And you?"

"I used to serve in the American military, so once I heard about the situation on 12th floor, 'twas my obligation to come and help."

"Hmm." Hilda hummed as they moved forward. "Then, back to where we were, Youngwoo."

"Yes?"

"What will we do about this quest of 40 days?"

"It's really long. I'm sure there must be some way to circumvent this time limit. Maybe the long mission is there to test limit of people who attempt it. Surely there is a way to quicken the pace, then."

"..."

Soon enough, they transmitted to the 12th floor, and immediately got greeted by sight of the town in broad daylight. Many buildings bore some signs of being hit by magic and some siege weapons, presumably catapults. All around them, there were splinters and pieces of dirt scattered, and people were not going out of their houses, afraid. On the walls nearby, there were some soldiers, both NPCs and Hunters, seemingly facing off enemy waves. However, every few seconds, there was somebody who would be injured, and had to come down, or killed by a precise shot of enemy archers.

The sight made Youngwoo's blood boil momentarily. He remembered the pictures of South Korea being ravaged by the war that happened a few years ago, and this looked actually quite alike, to the extent that he felt disgust towards people who were responsible. However, all of those feelings were washed away when the Calm Mind activated. Suddenly, the three of them received a quest.

[You received a quest!]

[Quest name: Defensive war.]
[Objective: Defend the estate of Issar from incoming waves of bandits and help the citizens in the dire times. You need to hold the walls for 40 days]
[Progress: 1/40]
[You will score points for your actions. 10 Hunters with highest score will be rewarded.]
[Help a citizen: 1 point (max 10 points a day)
Help in repairing the walls: 3 points ( max 15 points a day)
Help in restoring the infrastructure: 2 points (max 20 points a day)
Help in fending off bandits: 15 points (one time a day)
Kill or subdue a bandit: 20 points (no limit per day)
Kill or subdue a bandit commander: 100 points (no limit per day)
Kill or subdue the bandit leader: 5000 points (only 1 time)]

[Your score: 0]

[Quest reward: Unlock transmit to 13th floor. Spoils of war belong to those that obtained them.]
[*For this quest to be completed, Savi Mahoney MUST survive.]

'...this rotten luck.' Thought Youngwoo. He looked at the points table and quickly realized. There was a way to finish this floor quicker, but it would 99% be difficult. He looked at Hilda, and it seemed that she also had an idea.

"There is only one bandit leader." He said. "If we can subdue him, the bandit army will break."

"So was I thinking." She nodded. "But we can't just go and try to do that. The leader is worth 250 regular grunts, and probably even those grunts have skills. It's unlikely they'll be easy."

"Yes... it's unsettling. How should we go about it now?"

"I think assessing the situation would be the best for now." Said Hilda. "We should see where we can help right now, and where the bandit encampment is. In the very least, we should also test enemy's power. If even normal bandits will be problematic, it'd be better to simply hold the fort."

"Agreed." Nodded Youngwoo. "So, shall we go?"

"Oi, guys." Said Donnie, standing behind them. "Is it possible to tag along with you?"

'...what?' Youngwoo looked at him with another instance of 'Are you fucking kidding me' face. This man who just happened to come around randomly wanted to come with them?

"Oi, Lee, don't give me that look." Donnie suddenly reacted a little defensively. "I just want to make sure Dragon Witch will be safe. This place is a goddamn war zone."

"Youngwoo?" Hilda looked at his face. "Why are you making that face again?"

"Am not." Youngwoo turned away from them both. "If it's fine with you, he's free to come along."

"I'm okay with that." She said. "The more of us attempt this quest, the better chances we have, right?"

"I guess." He replied. This day started nicely, but now, he wasn't so sure about how it was going to go. He was actually looking forward to spending some time with Hilda, since together they could practice combining their attacks, but with Donnie around he felt like his will to train evaporated like water from fish that landed on desert.

[A/N: Yeah, it's chapter mostly about some humor. My humor sense is horrible though, so most people will not even bat an eye. Well, silver lining: I get to use 'Humor' in my tags :D]