Are you sure you're not cheating

U.S. Battlefield No. 1357.

Ever since the last announcement, Vaughan had been seething with dissatisfaction.

Especially after leveling up several times and obtaining a few powerful new skills, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that his hidden class was so ridiculously overpowered that there was no way he could lose to anyone.

If it wasn’t his fault, then it had to be someone else’s.

That was it. The others had definitely held him back.

So, after capturing the Novice Village, he summoned everyone on the battlefield.

Vaughan was fairly clever in his own way. Since his damage output was extremely high, he had all the priests learn healing skills.

Then he divided them into three groups.

The first group would follow him. He would tank the monsters while taking all the experience for himself, and they only needed to keep him healed.

He had put all his points into Strength, after all, and his HP was quite high. With a whole group of people constantly healing him, it would be difficult for him to die.

The second group of healers would follow the others to level up, with the experience going to the healers.

Once this group reached a higher level, they could switch shifts with the first group.

The third group would rest, replacing whichever of the other two groups grew tired.

In short, the entire battlefield was serving Vaughan alone.

Although some people were unhappy with him, the clever part of Vaughan’s plan was that it won over almost all the soldiers who had chosen the priest class. They all took his side.

The priests could enjoy the experience ahead of everyone else while remaining perfectly safe. True, they were working for Vaughan—but every other class was working for them.

Naturally, they all raised both hands in support.

The other classes, meanwhile, watched their morale collapse.

Nearly every priest on the battlefield had become a healer. No one was developing toward the mage class.

What else could they do? They had no choice but to obediently follow Vaughan’s arrangements.

They couldn’t afford to fall out with all the healers, could they?

Given the rules and dangers of this battlefield, doing that would be no different from throwing away their own lives.

On top of that, Vaughan kept dangling a carrot in front of them:

“Didn’t you see the announcement? As long as we capture the outpost as quickly as possible, everyone will enjoy the experience bonus. The economic disadvantage you’re suffering now will soon be made up for.”

The others had never had a choice to begin with, so they could only obediently accept the grand future Vaughan had promised them.

They had to assign people to escort the healers as they leveled up, while also helping Vaughan gather monsters.

With this strategy—and with his strength already being more than sufficient—Vaughan’s level rose extremely quickly. He was already Level 6.

In his pursuit of speed, he cut through the monsters with ease, leading a group of healers whose average level was barely 4 all the way to the lumberyard.

This sent his confidence soaring.

With boundless enthusiasm, he said to his teammates, “As long as you keep me healed, I’ll lead you to slaughter everything in our path!”

If one ignored the time they would need to clear the lumberyard, then at first glance, the gap between him and Liu Xuan really didn’t seem all that large.

However, because they were lower-level than the porcupine-men, they couldn’t see the monsters’ attributes. They had only been able to get a rough idea of the situation by luring out two monsters first and testing them.

As for the boss, they had no idea what they were dealing with.

One of the healers who had been following Vaughan stepped forward and suggested, “Vaughan, the monsters here have some pretty scary stats. We only have you as our damage dealer. How about we pull them five at a time, kill them, and then deal with the boss at the end?”

That was the safer approach.

Vaughan’s maximum HP was no more than 1,000. If a large number of porcupine-men attacked him at once, even an entire line of healers keeping him topped off would have trouble keeping him alive.

What good would healing do if he was killed instantly?

But Vaughan refused. “No. Pulling five at a time is too slow. How are we supposed to beat the Chinese that way? I’m taking ten!”

He had just acquired an AOE skill similar to Cleave, so naturally, he wanted to pull more monsters at once for greater efficiency.

“But you might not be able to tank—”

Before the healer could finish, Vaughan raised a hand and cut him off. “Then have the other soldiers taunt them first. I can kill them quickly. Ten seconds! I can clear a wave of these 800-HP trash mobs in ten seconds!”

The healer’s expression turned troubled.

The others weren’t Vaughan. They weren’t as high-level, nor did they have equipment as good as his.

All the experience from before had gone to Vaughan and the healers. Quite a few of the soldiers from the other classes were only Level 2 or 3. Even if they equipped every piece of armor they could wear, they would have no more than around 10 points of armor.

The porcupine-men’s attacks dealt over 60 damage, and when the porcupine warriors were near death, they would even use a skill.

【Throwing Hatchet: When a porcupine warrior’s HP falls below 20%, it throws its axe at its target, dealing physical damage equal to twice its Attack. Afterward, its Attack is reduced by 30 points.】

In theory, as long as the soldiers were continuously healed, they might be able to withstand the attacks.

Their HP would simply rise and fall like an elevator.

But that was only in theory.

If the healers failed to keep the soldiers at full health without interruption, people would very likely die.

The pressure this placed on both the healers and the soldiers was simply too great.

Vaughan, however, stubbornly insisted. “Didn’t you see? The Novice Village has already replenished its numbers with new arrivals. Even if there are a few casualties, more people will keep coming later.”

If the Americans outside knew Vaughan was thinking this way, they would have wanted to strangle him.

If you all die like this, then doesn’t that mean we’ll become the replacement troops?

In the end, the healers still agreed. After all, they weren’t the ones who would die, and they had to keep following Vaughan if they wanted to remain among the elite.

As for everyone else, they had no choice but to obey. What could they do if they couldn’t beat him?

After Vaughan killed two soldiers who tried to run away, the remaining soldiers and archers could only tremble as they went forward to lure the monsters.

All they could do was pray that the healers wouldn’t get distracted and would keep them alive.

Half an hour later…

Looking at the fallen 【Porcupine Chieftain】, Vaughan panted heavily, unable to suppress the delight spreading across his face.

They had done it!

In half an hour, they had captured the lumberyard!

Although more than thirty soldiers had died because of mistakes in coordination, it didn’t matter.

As long as they were number one in the world, it was all worth it!

Sure enough, the announcement rang in the ears of everyone present, making Vaughan’s smile grow even wider.

【U.S. Battlefield No. 1357 Announcement】

【The Novice Village Lumberyard has been conquered. Other warriors in this battlefield may no longer participate in the campaign-mode battle for the lumberyard.】

【This area will be converted into a simplified five-person dungeon.】

Vaughan and the others also saw an exclusive announcement that could only be viewed by those who had participated in the battle for the lumberyard:

【Campaign (Orchid River Outpost): Step One has been completed—the Battle of the Lumberyard.】

【Currently leading in advancement toward becoming the Overmind over the humans of Blue Star: 48%. Rewards will be settled together after the campaign.】

“Hahaha!” Vaughan couldn’t help throwing his head back and laughing.

Nice! We won!

The slight sacrifice had indeed been worth it. He was absolutely the first person in the world to capture the lumberyard!

This time, that Chinese guy couldn’t beat him either!

As for whether a 48% result was too low—was the difficulty of the lumberyard really comparable to that of the Novice Village?

Vaughan subconsciously assumed that the appearance of the announcement meant victory, overlooking the very first words:

【U.S. Battlefield No. 1357 Announcement】

Clearly, this was different from the global Blue Star announcement that Liu Xuan had received earlier.

Unfortunately, Vaughan was too caught up in his triumph to notice.

He was just about to order his people to collect the loot when he noticed that, in the middle of the area where the [Porcupine Leader] had been sitting, a dungeon portal had appeared. Beside it stood a stone tablet.

There seemed to be words and numbers carved into it.

“Could it be recording my score?”

Vaughan’s heart leapt. He walked toward the portal, and immediately saw the writing on the tablet.

[Dungeon Rankings]

[Blue Star’s Number One Warrior, Liu Xuan: 14.24 seconds.]

[Vaughan and 187 others: 31 minutes, 56.45 seconds]

“Fuck!”

Vaughan’s spirits instantly collapsed. The Chinese had already cleared it?

Not only had he lost on time, he had even been outnumbered.

How the hell had he managed to do it in fourteen seconds? And he did it solo?

There was no way he wasn’t cheating, right?