Episode 166: Miscalculation (Third Party Perspective)

"Kuh. Did I rush the timing too fast!?"

A humanoid Black Mist said such impatiently to himself.

He is one of the Hooden Man's direct subordinates.

He was selecting beings to participate in the other world invasion operation, but the selection is finally over, and after intervening in the system, it is just a matter of setting up the dungeon intervention and the transfer magic circle.

However, following the instructions of the Hooded Man, he forcibly activated the dungeon system in order to quickly increase the mana concentration of the Earth, causing Stampedes in various parts of the Earth, but the burden on the system was greater than he expected, and the system was overheating.

In that case, the system intervention would not go as expected, and the selection of the dungeon and the incorporation of the transfer magic circle would not go well.

He was impatient, looking at the system intervention terminal and tapping the part corresponding to the keyboard earnestly, hoping for a glimmer of hope.

"Isn't this too bad ... Aah!! This one too ..."

He tries various things, but they don't work, and there's little he can do.

"How's it going?'

"Hiii!?"

The Black Mist, who is intently facing the screen, is suddenly called out to from behind and jumps in surprise. The Black Mist fearfully turns around and sees the Hooded Man standing there.

"Ah, yes. Everything's fine, of course."

"I see. I'm sorry for talking to you so suddenly. Thinking about showing up Satotsu made me lose my mind."

"No, not at all."

The Black Mist can't even say that the system is overheating and he can't even invade the other world, and he can only answer that there is no problem.

The Black Mist bows his head while praying for the Hooded Man to leave as soon as possible.

"I see, might I ask you a summary of this invasion?"

"Yes. Right away. This time, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that Stampedes are being triggered all over the world, and I'll take advantage of this opportunity to send soldiers to a dungeon far away from the dungeon where they encountered Satotsu. If there are many monsters in addition to the soldiers, they won't be annihilated immediately, so it's just right."

When questioned by the Hooded Man, the Black Mist explains the plan he originally had in mind. However, it is not certain whether the strategy can be carried out according to the current plan. He has no choice but to do what he said.

"Hmm. I see. What is the remaining work?"

"Right now, it's just a matter of selecting a dungeon, setting up a teleportation magic circle, and dispatching a unit."

The Hooded Man asks the Black Mist about the remaining work while acting like he is thinking about it.

"I see. I'll be able to get back at Satotsu soon. I'm counting on you."

"A, acknowledged."

After the Black Mist raises his voice in reply, the satisfied Hooded Man disappears without noticing anything.

"Phew, I managed to get through it for now, but it's bad."

He manages to avoid being pursued by the Hooded Man, but the system is still overheating.

That's why, the Black Mist decides to take a chance.(TN:Author says Hooded Man here, but that's obviously a typo.)

"Is it 1 or 2 ... Should I use a forced command?"

Forced command.

If he uses this, he will be able to transfer even if it is overheating. However, it's not possible to incorporate dungeon selection and respawn timing, etc., and it has the drawback of not knowing when and to which dungeon they would be transferred.

Moreover, using the forced command while overheating would surely put the system into a hibernation state, and it is certain that it will not accept any intervention for a while.

"Either way, if I don't succeed here, my life will be over. I have no choice but to do it."

The Black Mist sits down on the chair in front of the terminal again and begins typing commands with a clattering sound. Then, a red light leaks out from the cracks in the tree-like pillar where the tentacles that the terminal was built into gathered together.

"If I press this button here, I can't go back anymore ..."

On the screen in front of the Black Mist that mutters again, the characters 'Do you want to execute this command?' are blinking in red.

-Gokuri

The Black Mist gulps before the choice that will determine his future.

The Black Mist, even at home, is afraid he'll disappear rather than die. So, he hesitated before pressing the button.(TN:Honestly not sure about the first sentence here ...)

For a while, the Black Mist falls silent.

However, after a few minutes, the Black Mist pressed the Enter button on the keyboard.

-Goooun, goooun, goooun

As soon as the button is pressed, a sound like an engine starting to run is heard from the pillar, and the leaking light changes from red to white, indicating that the system has been forced to run in a normal state.

"All that's left now is to set things up as soon as possible and send troops before it goes into hibernation."

After confirming that the terminal has returned to normal, the Black Mist immediately begins preparations for transfer so as not to waste the remaining time.