The Silent Guilds

Without delay, I headed to the archery guild where the living training dummies were gathered. With my buffs now even stronger, I could farm experience far more efficiently and powerfully than before. There was no reason not to join the fray, and since I hadn’t received any orders to assemble, the justification was solid enough.

“Hmm……”

The double-stacked Spiced Venison Stir-Fry buff that boosted both leg strength and running speed got me there in no time. Yet when I reached the building entrance, no one came out to greet me. I couldn’t even sense any presence inside. Had the traveling merchant given me bad information?

Creeeak.

I pushed open the wooden door that looked ready to fall apart and stepped inside, only to be met with an absurd sight.

“What the hell?”

The entire place was filled with the corpses of dead users. Every piece of furniture had been smashed, and clear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠signs of a fierce battle remained. There were also some oddly familiar bloodstains.

“……Wait. Was this Eden’s doing?”

It was a headache. He was someone whose interests aligned with mine. Even if he held a grudge, he was still overwhelmingly powerful. By the law of the jungle, I was clearly the weaker party.

-Just you wait! Calamity of the Black Dragon Guild!

Our last conversation hadn’t been very productive. It probably just meant we’d meet again later. The real point must have been something else.

-I can’t reveal everything, but I’m here to cause chaos too. If the Six Heavens get directly involved, it’ll put me in a difficult position.

Eden was a fellow chaos-bringer, just like me. The only difference was our goals. Since he belonged to the Seogwang guild, one of the Four Great Guilds, he probably didn’t feel the same sense of duty I did about rescuing the newbies in Boa Village. More likely, this was tied to the interests of the major guilds. He avoided direct intervention from the Six Heavens, but he clearly intended to crush their influence over Boa Village.

“Guess I should be disappointed about losing the experience. From the traces, this was a fight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I couldn’t have joined anyway.”

These finer details had never been part of our agreement. Whether he killed them or I did, we were both moving toward the same goal of causing chaos. This might actually be for the best. If all the key high-level users in Boa Village were dead, it meant the village would be that much easier to take over.

“……I should head to the fist-fighting guild next.”

Since the system wouldn’t let me strip equipment from high-level users, I simply looted the coin purses from the corpses and stepped back outside.

“It was a rare high point, too. What a shame.”

The Spiced Venison Stir-Fry buff had worn off. Now only my base stats remained, so I opened my status window.

Just this morning my stats had been in the twenties. Now they had all broken into the thirties. Yet I was still only level 16, a beginner. On top of that, I had resistances slapped onto every type of attack, plus recovery speed and bonuses for the first seven hits. Just looking at the status window filled me with a sense of satisfaction.

“Hm.”

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the fist-fighting guild. This time I could sense plenty of presences. Especially the pained groans leaking out from behind the locked door, hinting that something was very wrong.

“……No guards, huh.”

I approached the door and touched the lock. Item information appeared.

A lock imbued with suspicious magic. The one at the Nokhyang Pavilion had looked similar, though its purpose had been completely different. At this point, trying to break down the entire door was pointless. I couldn’t repair the Mauro Wooden Sword.

“Let’s see……”

Locks like this only worked when there were guards nearby to enforce them. They meant nothing against someone openly breaking in—like me, who was about to smash through the wall.

“This spot should do.”

I spoke from the darkest, most shaded area around the building.

“I’m going to destroy the wall. Everyone step back.”

“……!”

There was a reaction. At least now I didn’t have to worry about the users inside getting caught in the attack.

“Huuu……”

Thanks to my sparring with Eden, I had acquired a reliable attack skill. Technically it was an item-skill combination.

‘Shadow Assimilation, Darkness Affinity, Gale Rush.’

Ch-ch-ch-ch.

I melted into the darkness, temporarily boosting my stats.

Ku-gung!

I entrusted my body to the suddenly exploding gust of wind and swung my sword with full focus. It had become a skill that must not be blocked.

Kwaaaaaang!

Because if you didn’t block it, the stone wall in front of me would shatter like it was nothing.

Kurururung!

“Hik!”

They had probably only been locked up for a little over two hours, but every single one of them looked to be in terrible condition. None of them had even been given proper water.

“Please save us! We didn’t do anything!”

Whether they were NPCs or users, they all reacted the same way after suffering such tyranny. Things would be different now.

“Come out. Staying put won’t change anything.”

There was no need to keep talking. They needed time to think for themselves.

“……”

A moment was enough. If I had come with bad intentions, I would have simply unlocked the door instead of smashing the wall. I was the one who had boldly destroyed it.

“……Thank you, benefactor.”

These people weren’t experience points. They were just exploited newbies. The only thing I could give them here was freedom—and a little drinking water on the side.

“From today onward, for one month, free drinking water will be provided in front of the fountain. The training grounds will be open as well. That’s all I have to say.”

“……!”

I left the choice to their own free will, since I didn’t know what circumstances each of them might have. Ordinary users could now grow freely, while those who had been exploited by real-world criminal organizations could find a way to live on their own terms.

“Please help each other and live well. I’ll be rooting for you.”

Though I left right after those words of encouragement, the newbie care service was far from over. I planned to prepare for any possible commotion at the fountain and expand the scale of the chaos even further.

‘What Eden didn’t want was direct intervention from the Six Heavens. This much should count as repayment.’

Because even if the real world was one thing, in the game there was a clear way to overcome the current situation: the intervention of powerful NPCs. And I was already on a quest perfectly suited for that method.

The quest description appeared.

Boa Village’s training instructor was tricked by outsiders and forced to consume an incurable poison. After barely clinging to life for so long, the instructor has finally met Kael, a benefactor from Liam. Now is the time to turn the situation around. Help the training instructor reclaim freedom for Boa Village.

Time Limit: 1 month

Objective: Normalize Boa Village

Reward: Training Instructor’s Teachings, Boa Village Sword Guild Master’s Teachings

Boa Village already had two powerful NPCs: the training instructor and the sword guild master.

-The NPCs in this game aren’t pushovers. The important facility NPCs are on par with raid bosses. Even rankers have to team up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and go all out just to have a chance.

If Kim Sung-chul was right, these NPCs could easily stand against the Six Heavens rankers. And that wasn’t the only important point. No matter how remote Boa Village was, it still belonged to an NPC kingdom’s territory. In other words, it wasn’t Chinese territory.

-Plus there’s that annoying Royal Law system. Hostile acts against kingdom NPCs are considered violations of royal law. Recently some Mexican streamer tested it by poisoning a kingdom NPC and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠got his entire guild permanently marked for execution.

Another Dimension users were treated as complete outsiders. And at this point, no matter how strong a group of rankers was, they still couldn’t stand against a kingdom. Boa Village had been swallowed up through information control and schemes, but if news from here reached the outside, the entire situation would flip completely.

“Things are going well. I can see the village returning to normal.”

All the core ruling users in Boa Village were dead. Even if some were hiding somewhere, Eden, who had been sent by Seogwang with clear intent, would likely subdue them. Judging by the scale of the battle at the archery guild, I was almost certain of it.

“Instructor, I’m back.”

I returned to the beginner training grounds. Without even needing to ask the soldiers, I could see the training instructor already moving about briskly, putting the newbies he had been teaching back to work.

“Hm? You’re back already. Thanks to you, the blindfold was delivered safely. Did you finish your business?”

“More or less. Time will take care of the rest now.”

“That’s good to hear. It won’t interfere with the recovery schedule. Ten days should be enough.”

“Ah, about that. I think we’ll be able to send word to the kingdom soon.”

The training instructor, who had been rolling his shoulders to loosen his muscles, looked at me with a stunned expression. It shifted into one of disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe I had already forgotten what he told me, then into a pitiful look of concern. The fact that his expressions had become so varied was proof that his health was genuinely improving.

“Most of the outsiders ruling the village are dead. I killed some, and I got help with the others.”

The training instructor’s expression grew five times more colorful. After I explained the full situation, it became ten times more varied, and when I carefully predicted that we might be able to send news outside the village, he began to shed hot tears.

“……Finally…… I might be able to hear news of my daughter.”

“Yes. How should we send the news from here?”