Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guests (4)
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《Uninvited Guests》 - (4)
01.
"Uh...?"
What had he just seen?
Kim Dong-wook, the Holy Shield Knight, felt his entire body freeze at the sight of a single girl turning a Thief over level 1000 into ice crystals in an instant.
"That’s..."
Though he’d never participated in a Stage Boss raid due to lacking the appropriate level, Dong-wook knew exactly who that girl was.
No, there was no way he couldn’t know. She was a symbol of Season Off Fantasy itself, the object of admiration and awe for every player in the game, including himself.
"...Selverion."
The girl’s true identity was none other than Selverion, the Frost of Ruin—the worst and most ferocious Stage Boss that had never once been cleared, not even at the moment when the game and reality merged.
The supreme being of Season Off Fantasy, also called the God of Ruin, who had never let a single challenger live.
And now, that very entity everyone shook their heads over stood plainly on two legs right before Dong-wook’s eyes. It wasn’t a dream or a delusion. The biting chill brushing his cheek confirmed it was harsh reality.
"Ah."
A dazed voice slipped from Dong-wook’s lips.
Honestly, deep down, he’d half-expected Selverion to be somewhere in his neighborhood.
Two days ago, the terrifying snowflake that had nearly killed him had been none other than the Ashen Snowstorm, a phenomenon only Selverion could unleash.
But even with mental preparation, facing her directly left his body refusing to move as he wished.
Like standing before a tiger, his legs trembled so badly he couldn’t budge from the spot. He couldn’t even speak properly.
All he could do was follow her every movement with fear-stricken eyes.
‘A-Are we next? Will she freeze us too?’
When the mind weakens, negative thoughts flood in naturally. Only visions of his gruesome end came to mind, draining the color from Dong-wook’s face.
He’d never heard of Selverion showing mercy to anyone. She was colder and more cruel than any boss, always brimming with rage.
...In the end, they’d meet the same horrific fate as the two uninvited guests ahead. Though they’d committed no crime or fault, simply catching Selverion’s eye would be reason enough to leave this world.
‘P-Please...’
Praying desperately that the white-haired girl would ignore them, Dong-wook tracked her every motion with taut nerves.
"Ha..."
But contrary to Dong-wook’s excessive worry, Selverion—the girl known to the world as the God of Ruin—simply sighed and brushed the ice from her hands.
As her pale palms clapped together in the darkness, colorless ice crystals rained down onto the asphalt.
"...What a pain."
Clearly displeased by the rampage of the two Ace Guild uninvited guests, Selverion frowned and grumbled.
She prodded the asphalt where the Thief she’d frozen and shattered had seeped in, as if venting frustration.
......Compared to her title of God of Ruin, it was almost cute.
"...Hm?"
"...!!"
But that lasted only a moment. Soon, her crimson eyes locked directly with Dong-wook’s—still holding the half-unconscious Ji-ah. Realizing her gaze upon him, Dong-wook’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Yet he could do nothing. No, he couldn’t. Whatever choice he made now, the outcome would be the same.
Before an overwhelming existence beyond human power, all actions were meaningless.
"......"
"Urk...!!"
Selverion, now aware of Dong-wook, slowly stepped toward them. Clutching Ji-ah tightly, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Soon, they’d be frozen solid too, reduced to ice crystals and vanishing from the world. Imagining mercy from Selverion was impossible; he only hoped it wouldn’t hurt...
"......"
Thus, Dong-wook bowed his head, bracing for the pain to come.
But instead of agony, what arrived was a single astonishing sentence that made him doubt his ears.
"......Are you alright?"
"Uh...?"
A voice endlessly cold, yet somehow endlessly warm. At that unbelievable phrase, Dong-wook cautiously opened his eyes and looked ahead.
...And before him stood an incredibly beautiful girl, extending one hand toward him.
"......Are you alright?"
"Ah..."
When Dong-wook didn’t respond, the Frost of Ruin, Selverion, repeated herself. The ferocious, cruel Stage Boss asking after his well-being short-circuited Dong-wook’s every thought.
"Ugh, do you have mutism or...?"
As he kept failing to reply, Selverion tilted her head and scratched her chin. Snapping to his senses at her appearance, Dong-wook finally answered.
"Ah, y-yes! I-I’m fine...!"
Refusing to risk upsetting her by not answering, he repeated himself just in case.
"I’m fine, perfectly okay. Totally fine."
"...That’s a relief."
Hearing his response, Selverion extended her hand again, as if to help him up.
"......"
In this unbelievable situation, Dong-wook glanced back and forth between her and her hand several times before finally grasping it tightly.
...Like clutching freshly fallen snow, Selverion’s hand was ice-cold.
"And your friend?"
With Selverion’s help, Dong-wook rose easily. She then turned her gaze to the Priest Yoon Ji-ah, unconscious from shock after being held hostage.
Fortunately, aside from fainting in fright, she wasn’t badly hurt, so Dong-wook answered with a lighter heart.
"She seems okay, luckily. Uh, th-thank you for saving us..."
...Along with his answer, Dong-wook bowed deeply, nearly folding at the waist in gratitude. He didn’t want to offend her mood, and she had indeed saved them from a desperate moment.
Selverion shook her head at his display. Her voice remained cold and aloof, yet carried a hint of kindness.
"No, you held out well."
"......"
The God of Ruin Selverion acting humble—what on earth was he hearing?
Dong-wook couldn’t tell if this was dream or reality, but he soon gave up thinking about it.
Selverion glanced around before continuing to Dong-wook.
"...Well then, if it’s not too much trouble, could you handle the cleanup...? I’d appreciate it."
"Ah...!!"
Only then did Dong-wook notice the collapsed retaining wall and crumbling house walls from his earlier fight with the uninvited guests.
...Confirming them, he nodded vigorously.
"Of course! Naturally! We’ll take full responsibility for the cleanup!"
It was his mess, so he had to clean it up. Beyond that, reporting the near-rape of the college girl, the murdered middle-aged man, explaining the two dead Ace Guild members to Selverion—plenty to handle, but Dong-wook resolved to take care of it all.
And naturally, he wouldn’t mention Selverion while doing so. Given she’d hidden her face with a hoodie and mask at first, she clearly disliked revealing her identity.
"I’ll, uh, that is, make sure nothing bothers you, Selverion. I’ll handle it quietly and perfectly. So please, don’t worry."
...Honestly, it wouldn’t be easy, but compared to the price of his life, it was feather-light. If this much effort let Selverion spare him, it was enough.
"Thank you. Then I’ll leave it to you."
Satisfied with Dong-wook’s response, Selverion nodded.
"Yes, you got it!! Just leave it to us!!"
Dong-wook bowed to her once more. And Selverion, facing him, posed what seemed like the final question of their brief exchange.
"By the way, are you a player living in this neighborhood?"
"Yes? Yes, that’s right. I live in a studio apartment nearby."
"Then, you’re the one who cleared the low-level monsters appearing around here these past two days?"
"Yes, correct. It’d take the capital region guild too long to cover a place like this, so we’ve been patrolling on our own."
"Hmm..."
Dong-wook gave a wry smile, recalling the grueling two days hunting monsters without a DPS. Selverion nodded slowly with a stoic face.
That girl, more beautiful than all Korea’s beauties combined, finally turned away, leaving one last remark.
"...If you need help, call me."
"Yes...?"
"...Then."
Instead of answering Dong-wook’s stunned question, Selverion vanished in an instant. Now, only Dong-wook and the unconscious Ji-ah remained in the dark alley.
"Ha, haha..."
As the storm-like moment passed, Dong-wook’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the asphalt.
"I-I just talked to who...?"
Selverion, infamous for freezing anything her eyes met and shattering it with chains, had conversed with him for over a minute.
Had something changed in her since the game-reality boundary collapsed?
His mind and heart, clouded in confusion, refused to settle easily.
...But one thing was clear.
"I-I survived..."
Dong-wook had become the first Season Off Fantasy player to face Selverion and live.
02.
[Ace Guild Master, Yun Sol (Sol-sol)]
"Kuh! This is it!"
Gazing at her elegantly crafted nameplate on the luxurious office desk, Ace Guild Master Yun Sol—nicknamed ‘Sol-sol’—couldn’t hide her joy.
A high-end office near the National Assembly, granted by the government for her role as a key SPR executive and head of the capital region defense guild ‘Ace.’
It felt like tangible proof of the ‘power’ she’d seized amid this chaos, making her thrilled beyond measure.
"Right? This is real power."
Sol-sol stroked her nameplate with a satisfied smile. At this moment, at least in Seoul, she held more power and influence than anyone.
...In this unprecedented crisis, only she and her guild ‘Ace’ could leisurely handle monsters—even Stage Bosses—in Seoul.
"This is my world now. Ace’s world."
Arrogant executives and even pompous assemblymen begged her for protection and safety guarantees.
In mere days, she’d risen from a mere internet streaming game addict to an overwhelming authority figure making congressmen bow.
Enormous rewards beyond civilians’ dreams poured in from the government, while the public and media hailed her and Ace as Seoul’s, Korea’s hope.
How sweet this reality was.
"Haa, the best..."
Plopping into the premium chair behind her desk, Sol-sol grinned broadly. A childhood memory flashed through her mind.
—If you vote for me as class president...!!
"......"
Sol-sol had always loved standing out front. Commanding from above, being looked up to—it thrilled her.
—What? You need a 5 million won development fund to run for student council president...? But I can’t even afford tutoring...
Yet as she grew, she learned true power belonged only to the chosen few.
—What’s with that attention-whore...
—Sol, stop showing off. You a kid or what?
...Eventually, her excessive ambition to always lead isolated her from society. The only place the rejected Sol could wield power was the VR game world of Season Off Fantasy.
There, she was guild master of a globally popular major guild, an idol in a cute cat-girl avatar, and a skilled powerhouse.
But that was only virtual. Logging out brought back the rejected daily life.
......Until one day, opportunity knocked—the chance to overturn it all.
—Breaking news: ‘Light Rift’ appears over Seoul
—......
The boundary between reality and virtual crumbled as reality was invaded by the Season Off Fantasy world.
Monsters emerged into reality, and players inherited their in-game powers.
In that chaos, Sol-sol finally gained the power and authority she’d craved in this real world.
Now, she reigned as Seoul’s absolute power.
All looked up to her; everything bent to her will.
It was wondrous.
Blissful.
She wished this would last forever.
"Ah, this is it, this..."
Ace Guild’s already massive popularity surged further, with membership inquiries flooding in everywhere.
Not even the other Top 4 guilds had seen this level of hype, so perhaps now Ace was Korea’s supreme power.
"......Sol, may I come in?"
"...Yeah? Come in."
...As she savored this sweet reality, someone knocked. Upon Sol’s permission, a man in a white lab coat symbolizing the ‘Scientist’ class entered cautiously.
A large red diamond adorned the coat’s left chest, marking him as Ace Guild like Sol.
"Sol—or rather, Guild Master. I have some reports."
...He was none other than Ace Vice Guild Master Lee Min-jun, nicknamed ‘Minato.’
Seeing Min-jun’s urgent demeanor about reports, Sol-sol wiped the smile from her face and asked.
"Reports? Didn’t we just do them an hour ago? What new news?"
Regular reports were only an hour past, yet more? Sol tilted her head. Min-jun sighed deeply before speaking.
"Yes, it’s a headache. Do you remember Lee Woo-jin and Kim Jin-ho, who went patrolling that slum outskirts of Seoul the day before yesterday...?"
"Slum patrol...? Yeah, of course."
Sol nodded at Min-jun’s words.
Woo-jin and Jin-ho were cherished guildmates who’d volunteered to patrol neglected areas, leading by example.
But mentioning them suddenly? Sol frowned at the ominous feeling.
"...Why them? Something happen?"
"Well, it’s... ha..."
Min-jun scratched his head in frustration, hesitating. But he sighed again and slowly relayed the news to Guild Master Sol-sol.
"...They’re missing."
"What?!"
At the word ‘missing,’ Sol shot up from her seat, shouting.
"M-Missing? Woo-jin and Jin-ho? Why?! Where?!"
"Ha, well..."
Ace Vice Guild Master Lee Min-jun sighed once more, explaining in a troubled voice.
"They went missing in that slum. Seems they caused some trouble."
"Trouble? What kind? Traffic accident?"
"...Murder."
"What...?"
Murder.
That unimaginable word made Sol’s body twitch. Min-jun shook his head regretfully.
"Ha, last night, reports hit SPR and the police station simultaneously. Woo-jin and Jin-ho allegedly looted, murdered, raped—did everything ‘malicious players’ do."
"......"
"When caught, they fled, but strangely, no contact. No CCTV in the area for location, phones off... Frustrating, just..."
"What the......"
Beloved juniors committing crimes and fleeing? Sol’s face flushed with rage at Min-jun’s report.
She despised liars and those evading responsibility most.
And Woo-jin and Jin-ho had chosen the latter, her disappointment and anger plain on her face.
"Ha..."
Sol sighed deeply, feeling like she had delinquent kids.
‘...But something feels off.’
......Yet Min-jun’s words had a peculiarity.
By Sol-sol’s knowledge of Woo-jin and Jin-ho’s personalities, they wouldn’t flee if exposed. Thorough as they were, they’d have eliminated all witnesses, even killing the whole neighborhood.
Obsessed with style and pride, they wouldn’t choose shameful flight from slum residents.
And even if fleeing, they’d brazenly beg her for cleanup, not vanish.
With Ace’s status and her power, covering it via media was trivial, despite glares—they knew that.
...In short, they’d commit heinous crimes, but not ghost like this.
"...Their classes were Assassin and Thief, right?"
"Yes, correct."
"Hmm..."
Assassin and Thief: perfect stealth, ambush, assassination combo. If they hid seriously, even a Stage Boss might miss them, so low chance of dying to monsters while fleeing.
Two possibilities, then.
Fear of her wrath made them truly vanish.
Or something powerful enough to pierce their stealth killed them mid-flight.
Both unlikely, so Sol-sol asked Min-jun.
"...Who’s the witness? Who reported?"
"An 800-level Holy Shield Knight living there. He heard screams, checked, and found Woo-jin and Jin-ho had killed one and were about to rape another. They fled when spotted."
"Just one 800-level Holy Shield Knight..."
If the sole witness was an 800-level Holy Shield Knight, it made even less sense. Woo-jin and Jin-ho, both over 1000, would’ve silenced him over fleeing.
"No other evidence besides that witness’s statement on their murders?"
"For now, no."
"Hmm..."
Sol frowned at Min-jun’s answer.
Something smelled fishy. If only that Holy Shield Knight saw them, they wouldn’t have fled.
A strange testimony.
Something was up.
"......"
This cast doubt on whether they committed crimes at all.
Maybe a scheme to screw Ace. Another Top 4 guild’s jealousy?
......Needed detailed investigation, even splitting personnel.
"Sena!"
Thus, Sol shouted toward the office outside. Soon, a beautiful woman entered.
"You called, Sol?"
...A woman in revealing gray tights, long black hair, wolf ears atop her head, massive beast paws like knuckles on her hands.
None other than Ace executive ‘Beast’ Kim Sena.
...‘Beast’ was a rare class alongside Pirate, Meteorologist, Alchemist. Its werewolf transformation boasted unmatched attack and destruction power.
To the alluring woman—one of Korea’s few ‘Beasts’—Sol-sol issued an order.
"Need you to investigate something personally..."
"Huh? Investigate? What?"
Sena’s eyes sparkled at the timely task amid boredom. Sol-sol tasked her with the missing Woo-jin and Jin-ho.
"...Go to the Seoul outskirts slum now, investigate Woo-jin and Jin-ho. There’s an 800-level Holy Shield Knight too—capture him alive. Take extras if short-handed."
"Hee..."
Sena’s wolf ears perked at the intriguing order. Sol-sol added with a sigh.
"...Your passive ‘Beast’s Sense’ should find them even stealthed."
...Beast’s passive, ‘Beast’s Sense.’
The sole passive detecting stealthed foes across all classes—why Sol-sol assigned the Assassin/Thief probe to Sena.
...Sena giggled and nodded.
"Sounds fun, special mission. Head to slum, find Woo-jin and Jin-ho, grab the Holy Shield Knight?"
"...Yeah, spot on."
Sol-sol smiled faintly at Sena’s quick grasp. Resting her chin, she spoke gravely.
"And listen."
"Yeah...?"
"...If anyone interferes, seems suspicious, gets in the way,"
"......"
"...Just eliminate them."
"Hee, for real...?"
Sena raised a brow, questioning if serious. For PVP-hungry Beast Sena, it was welcome, but guild-wide, risky.
"...Yes."
But Sol nodded firmly again.
"If they hinder you or Ace, just kill them."
Her current power could cover it, make it ‘never happened.’
Moreover.
"Anyone hindering us must be dealt with eventually."
"......"
"You know, to take all of Korea, secure the capital region first."
Human ambition knows no bounds.
Power’s taste is sweet, addictive.
Sol-sol now plotted not just capital oversight, but dominating the entire nation of ‘Korea.’
To that end, guild wars with other Top 4s were essential. For stable fights, Ace must fully control the capital first.
No internal enemies or rebels during battle.
"...Pacify the masses gently, subjugate players by force."
Using carrot and stick to deceive, she’d place all under her power, vowing to reach the pinnacle.
Mock her folly? Fine.
Call it delusion? Fine.
She’d simply remove obstacles.
Be it other guilds like ‘Legend,’
Monsters,
Stage Bosses,
"......"
Or Selverion.