Dusk (BL Light Novel)

― “Since Honeybread’s probably going to go all out today and kill me a bunch, I might as well rack up some reputation and try to get on his good side. Maybe after he sees how hard I’m trying, he’ll forgive me… Oh, and yeah, of course, I changed the engravings back to normal.”
On my second monitor, I could see Gang Jaegyung showing off his equipment to his viewers, one piece at a time, proving that he’d reverted all his engravings back to their original state. His gear setup was now completely defensive, the classic tank build favored by those in the Jeoja faction. Extreme Defense set — full turtle mode.

Just how much did he make from those coupons to afford resetting his engravings twice? The items given by those coupons weren’t that impressive. Did he spend his own money too? The guy barely makes anything with that joke of a salary…
I couldn’t let him outdo me. No way. Not like this.
...Not like this. But still —

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.

I had to finish this before Gang Jaegyung headed out to the field. But the last engraving just wouldn’t stick.
Sure, I could buy more scrolls, but the success rate was what it was. There was no way around it.
Some players swore by certain “lucky spots” on the map, claiming their engraving success rates improved in those areas. Maybe I should try that too. …No. Waste of time. Better to keep grinding. I forced myself to take a deep breath, steadied my nerves, and tried again.

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.
Damn it.

I glanced at my second monitor. Gang Jaegyung was still hanging around the base, chatting with his viewers. Good. I still had time.
I clicked on the NPC in front of me, the trade broker.
[System] One purchased. 31,198 Amber spent.

[System] Two purchased. 62,397 Amber spent.
[System] Six purchased. 187,193 Amber spent.
[System] One purchased. 34,666 Amber spent.

[System] One purchased. 34,666 Amber spent.
[Faction Chat] Bless you: Looking for tank and healer for Base 44 clear party. Currently 2/6.
[Faction Chat] NightSeaShine: Who the hell is buying up all the attack scrolls? Save some for the rest of us; damn.
[Faction Chat] Honeybread: Have a swift and agile day.

[Faction Chat] NightSeaShine: …?
[Faction Chat] ElevenFortyTwo: …?
[Faction Chat] FollowYou: Honeybread, you better take responsibility for these prices.

[Faction Chat] 4A4A4A4A4A4: It’s definitely Honeybread.
 
I bought a generous stack of scrolls and positioned myself comfortably in front of the healer NPC. My ring slot was still empty, that gaping hole in my equipment mocking me. I had to fill it, and fast.

The reason I was going through the trouble ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) of reapplying engravings, just like Gang Jaegyung did, was simple: Today, I wasn’t going to just fight him evenly. I was going to utterly crush him.
Neither of us had optimized our builds to counter each other specifically. As commanders, we had to maintain balanced, generalist setups that could handle various scenarios, especially since we spent so much time in the field. Losing in public wasn’t an option.
But if one of us adjusted our build to focus on a specific role — like switching from defensive engravings to offensive ones — the outcome could change drastically.

Take now, for instance. I was swapping out my defense-heavy engravings for attack-focused ones. That meant Gang Jaegyung, with his heavily defensive healer build, would end up suffering. The higher my attack, the more his health would bleed out from my hits.
And considering he’d just drained his entire wallet resetting his engravings to prepare for Genocide, he wouldn’t be able to switch again so soon.
Which meant that today, he was going to be my punching bag.

[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving failed.
[System] One has been destroyed.

Just one more engraving… and then I could focus on ripping Gang Jaegyung apart.
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: What are you doing?
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: Retaking a Class is about to head out to the field.

I paused mid-scroll, glancing at my second monitor. Moon Seonhwa, my eyes and ears in the field, was already feeding me intel. On Gang Jaegyung’s stream, he was still hovering around the base, deciding where to go next.
Damn it.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: Know any engraving hotspots?

[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: ??
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: Where can I go to get a good engraving rate? Need it fast.
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: Seriously, tell me.

[Whisper] Sillonti >> Sillonti: ??? What for?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: I need to engrave something. Hurry up.
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: Uhh… the healer’s butt.

[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: …The what?
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Sillonti: I’m serious. Go stand behind the healer NPC. When he goes “Hmm…,” hit the engraving button. Trust me.
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: You can’t be serious.

[Whisper] Sillonti >> Sillonti: Do it. It works.
Unbelievable.
But I was desperate, and at this point, I’d try anything. I left the trade broker and headed to the healer NPC. I stood behind him, feeling like a complete idiot, waiting for a fart-like “Hmm…” sound to come out of him.

After what felt like forever, he finally made that weird, airy noise. I instantly hit the engraving button. The animation played, the screen flickered, and then the sound effect chimed.
[System] Engraving the Rare Attack Scroll onto …
[System] Engraving successful.

[System] One has been consumed.
No way. That actually worked?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: [System] Engraving successful.

[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: Why the hell did that actually work?
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Honeybread: LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
[Whisper] Sillonti >> Sillonti: See? Told you. It works.

[Whisper] Sillonti >> Sillonti: But why are you engraving your Grand Commander ring again? Weren’t you buying attack scrolls earlier? You slapped them on that thing?
[Whisper] Honeybread >> Sillonti: I’ll tell you later.
I didn’t have time to be amazed by “Bung Bung the Engraving Healer” because Gang Jaegyung had just left the base. I quickly killed the stream audio, minimized the screen, and sprinted over to the teleport stone.

I opened the map. The aftermath of yesterday’s conquest was clear. Several bases were now locked for travel, including Base 45, which had been one of our main strongholds. The enemy faction had even captured Base 44, carving a straight line through the heart of our territory.
Thanks to Gang Jaegyung’s little “Genocide” stunt yesterday, he’d managed to cut our territory in half. And now, he had the nerve to be smug about it.
I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath. Calm down. Stay focused.

I clicked on Base 43. Time to hunt down Gang Jaegyung. Let’s see how smug he is when he’s dying on repeat.