Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Ace (1)
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《Ace》 - (1)
01.
'It's done.'
Lee Ah-reum, the guild master of Dessert Club, smiled as she watched Ace Guild, led by Yoon Sol, draw their weapons. The moment they assumed combat formation, their plan was already half successful.
...The goal of Dessert Club this time wasn't the annihilation of Ace or climbing the guild rankings. Their sole objective was to provoke a guild war and drain Ace's forces. Nothing more.
At a time when every single guild member was precious, suffering heavy losses in a guild war would make even Yoon Sol abandon any thoughts of tackling Selverion.
If they could inflict just enough damage to prevent Ace from raiding Selverion, Dessert Club's plan would be a resounding success. In fact, that was exactly what Legend's Han Yeon-hwa had requested from her.
'So naive, Yoon Sol.'
Lee Ah-reum curled her lips as she gazed at Sol wielding her twin swords. Whether it was youthful inexperience or short-sightedness, Ah-reum was grateful that Sol had taken the bait even with the critical boss raid looming.
Well, even if they had tried to avoid the guild war and retreat, Ah-reum would have forced the fight anyway.
"Die, you rude bitch of a chef."
...With the signal for battle fired, the Ace archer who had been aiming at her released the bowstring. A sharp arrow sped toward Ah-reum's abdomen.
"...Playing dirty."
The moment the archer loosed the arrow, Do Hyun-woo, Dessert Club's gunner targeting Yoon Sol, pulled the trigger on his sniper rifle. A deadly long bullet erupted from the muzzle in a burst of flame, hurtling straight for Sol's heart.
"..."
"......"
Yet neither Sol nor Ah-reum dodged or blocked. Even though this was reality now, where a hit to a vital spot meant instant death, they stood firm.
...Only the Holy Shield Knights from each side behind them surged forward, shoving everyone aside.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Howling Shield! ⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Howling Shield. Ace and Dessert Club's Holy Shield Knights activated their signature skills simultaneously. Howling Shield was a unique ability that drew all incoming attacks toward the knight for a set duration, perfectly suited to the class's role as ultimate guardians.
As the shields activated, the arrow flying at Ah-reum and the bullet aimed at Sol veered sharply toward their respective Holy Shield Knights.
Ting. Tang.
The arrow and bullet struck the thick iron shields but bounced harmlessly off. Ace's archer and Do Hyun-woo showed no surprise, as if expecting this, and lowered their weapons.
With Howling Shield up, ranged weapons couldn't snipe the guild masters for the time being.
The only way to bypass Howling Shield and hit the enemy lines was with wide-area magic from mages or meteorologists.
"Hmm..."
But Dessert Club had no rare-class meteorologists, and unleashing bombardment spells risked damaging nearby high-rises where civilians had evacuated. They had no choice but to hesitate.
...Yoon Sol surely knew this too, so she wouldn't order area magic. Until Howling Shield expired, it was best to shelve sniping Sol and focus on melee to wear them down as planned.
"Just trample them all!!"
"Who the fuck do these shitheads think they are?!"
"How dare you talk to our Sol like that?!!"
"......"
Fueled by rage, Ace's members charged first, fighting as if tomorrow's Selverion raid didn't matter, as if getting injured and sidelined was fine. They threw themselves at Dessert Club with reckless abandon.
...Was this some clever ploy to feign injury and skip the suicidal Selverion raid? Or simply fierce pride and unwavering loyalty to their guild and master? Ah-reum couldn't fathom their motives.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Song of Hercules. ⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Apollo's Harp Performance. Ace's bards played their instruments, buffing the charging melee dealers. Their speed and momentum visibly surged.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Splitting Arrow! The archers followed up with ranged fire. Hundreds of arrows rained down on Dessert Club's main force.
"...This pattern again?"
Ah-reum snorted. Ace's tactics in PvP and guild wars were always painfully predictable.
Blind charges supported by ranged fire, capped off by mage bombardments—that was their staple.
...Compared to Legend's strategy of druids bursting from the ground with defense buffs to bind enemies, followed by Han Yeon-hwa's overwhelming firepower incinerating everything,
or Fate's abandonment of ground combat in favor of Dark Ghost loading scientists' space battleships with archers and mages to raze the earth from above, Ace was too easy to read.
They weren't individually powerhouse like Diamond either, so Ace's only edge was numbers—pure and simple.
Of course, Ace's relentless swarm tactics weren't to be underestimated. As Korea's top guild by headcount, most challengers crumbled under the sheer volume.
Dessert Club's few hundred had too.
...But that was in the game, or against the entire nation's guilds combined. Right now, Ace's numbers here matched Dessert Club's.
They seemed to have gathered only those for tomorrow's stage boss raid. At this rate, Ah-reum could not just drain them but crush them outright.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Frozen Cuisine. ...As a supporter, Lee Ah-reum's ironclad rule was to minimize damage to allies. She clanged her frying pan against her spatula to activate her skill.
Frozen Cuisine inflicted a brief freeze on enemies—a chef-exclusive ability. Ah-reum targeted the legs of Ace's frontliners.
"Ugh, aaaaagh!!"
"M-my legs?!"
No healers, bards, or chefs to cleanse or prevent it mid-charge, and no time for items.
Ace's vanguard crumpled pathetically as their legs froze, tripping followers like dominoes. Their formation collapsed in seconds.
Ah-reum seized the opening.
"Archers and gunners, snipe non-lethal vitals only! Thieves, Steal their weapons!"
...In this reality, death was permanent. Even in guild war, killing humans—not monsters—carried heavy guilt. So Ah-reum ordered ranged dealers to target spots that would disarm the fallen foes.
"Argh!!"
"Aaaack!!"
Bullets and arrows pierced wrists and ankles, forcing Ace members to scream in agony as they dropped weapons.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Steal!! Dessert Club's thieves activated Steal, disarming foes rendered combat-incapable by debuffs. Half lost weapons on top of injuries.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Reinforced Shield!! ⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Iron Body! Tankers rushed in belatedly, but too few and too late. Many Ace members were already fully disarmed.
"Lee Ah-reum..."
...From the rear, Yoon Sol glared at Ah-reum with blazing eyes. Ah-reum just shrugged.
"Your fault, isn't it?"
It was Ace's blunder—blindly ordering a charge when they needed to conserve forces for Selverion.
"...Last time we lost to numbers, but we're superior overall, Yoon Sol."
Dessert Club outclassed Ace in individual skill, experience—everything. With equal numbers, no way they'd lose to Sol's fanclub rejects hired without interviews.
...Plus, this guild war was a total surprise for Ace. Against a prepared Dessert Club, victory was impossible.
"Scientists!"
Supporters healing fallen dealers would be trouble. Ah-reum snapped her fingers skyward without giving them a breather.
Wuuung—
Golden lights exploded from behind Yeouido's towering buildings encircling them. Soon, five massive space battleships emerged between the skyscrapers.
Ah-reum's "plan" had pre-positioned scientists around Ace's office building.
"Lee Ah-reum, you fucking bitch..."
The Scientist's "Aurora Cannon" was one of Season Off Fantasy's few wide-area instakills.
A high-level tank might block one-on-one, but Ace lacked such tanks here—and Dessert Club had five ships.
One signal from Ah-reum, and Ace, Yoon Sol included, would vaporize in five beams, bodies and all.
Ah-reum urged surrender in a grave tone.
"Yoon Sol, give up. One signal and you're ashes."
"......"
"Quit the nonsense about raiding Selverion with that force. Handle her another way—let's reclaim Seoul together."
...Amid national catastrophe, Ah-reum didn't want to fight fellow Koreans, fellow players battling monsters. She pleaded sincerely once more.
"...Fuck off, you bitch."
But Sol flipped her off and shouted even more confidently.
"Only you have Scientists? We do too. ...Lee Min-jun!!"
"......!!"
A man in a white lab coat stepped into the battlefield center. Standing on the marked asphalt, he raised his palm skyward and activated his skill.
"...Battleship Summon."
Sparks of red crackled from his hand, tearing open a dimensional gate in the sky. A space battleship materialized over Yeouido.
...Battleship size scaled with the Scientist's level. This man was Ace vice-guild master Lee Min-jun, aka Minato.
One of the few who joined Ace purely for stage boss raids, a top-five Korean Scientist artisan.
"L-Lee Min-jun..."
"What size ship..."
Minato's battleship dwarfed imagination—bigger than all five of Dessert Club's combined.
Low durability and slow, but one laser barrage would turn Yoon Sol and Ace's underground parking lot to ash.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Aurora Cannon loading complete. A feminine mechanical voice announced the battleship's ultimate Aurora Cannon was ready. Yoon Sol yelled triumphantly at Ah-reum and Dessert Club.
"Surrender's on you, Lee Ah-reum."
Turnabout in an instant—Sol smirked mockingly. But even before the massive ship and Sol's certainty, Ah-reum just scoffed.
"...Short-sighted, Sol."
Ace's ace was Scientist Minato; planning a guild war without accounting for him? Unlikely.
Nay—his presence was why Dessert Club could confidently provoke this fight.
"...Min-jun, now."
Ace vice-guild master Lee Min-jun was their whistleblower, ally to Legend and Dessert Club.
Whirr.
Minato's battleship roared its engines, its massive cannon barrel swiveling—not at Dessert Club, but at Yoon Sol and Ace.
Sol panicked at the betrayal.
"Lee Min-jun...? What the hell are you doing...? Aim right!!"
"Well, Sol."
Minato chuckled, scratching his chin.
"...Even I think Selverion's impossible. Can't risk turning Korea into an ice age with reckless choices."
"You fucking traitor..."
Learning the betrayer was her trusted vice-guild master, Sol's face flushed crimson with rage.
Veins bulged on her neck and forehead as she roared at him with hatred and contempt.
"You betraying us?! Are you insane?! How could you!!"
"...Sorry."
Minato bowed, unrepentant. Instead, Ah-reum responded.
"...Yoon Sol, last chance. Give up. You know it's over."
Six battleships locked on from all sides—no escape for assassin Yoon Sol and Ace.
Victory sealed. All that remained was Ace abandoning the Selverion raid.
"Fuck..."
"Hey, what now? We lost?"
"...Yeah, six ships? No way."
"Shut up, we can still win. Not losing to some chef bitch."
...Ace ranks stirred. Sol clenched her fists, trembling with fury.
"You fucking bitches..."
"Huh...?"
"Why cower from Selverion.... Why not challenge her..."
"What...?"
"Why don't you believe in me, in us!! Korea's number one stage boss clearers!!"
"Yoon Sol..."
Sol's eyes bloodshot, rationality slipping, she advanced screaming at Dessert Club and traitor Minato.
"Shoot then! Do it!! Kill us all, you fucks!!"
"......"
"Shoot and live as murderers forever, you traitors."
She pounded her chest, daring an Aurora shot. Ah-reum frowned.
"...Sol, please just give up. Don't do this."
......Ah-reum didn't want to fire, didn't want to kill fellow Koreans, fellow players. She just wanted Sol to yield.
"Shoot! Do it, you cowards! Kill us quick!!"
Sensing Ah-reum's hesitation, Sol mocked louder, voice laced with madness.
"Ugh..."
"...Cowards."
As Ah-reum wavered, Sol sneered. Ah-reum averted her eyes; Sol grew bolder, nothing to lose.
"...Won't shoot, huh?"
"......"
"Fine."
"......"
"...Then I'll fire first."
"......!!"
"...Mages! Bombardment now!"
Exploiting the hesitation, Sol ordered her mages. Magic circles bloomed above the battleships and skies, as if anticipated. Ah-reum paled.
"Yoon Sol, you psycho..."
Why hadn't Dessert Club used magic? Area spells risked hitting civilian-packed apartments and high-rises.
But Sol prepared bombardment without qualms—cold sweat beaded on Ah-reum's brow.
"You're insane?! Civilians will die! Cancel it!!"
"...So?"
Sol shrugged—you hesitate, we don't.
"Ah-reum, what do we do?! Fire?! Ships' duration's almost up!"
"Uh..."
Minato urged desperately as summon time ticked down. Ah-reum's mind warred: her aversion to killing versus stopping Ace to prevent greater harm.
Block Ace to save more lives—but if she killed them, would Sol's "murderer" label stick? Become a killer? Hundreds dead on her order? Could she? Terrifying.
"Ah-reum! Fireballs incoming! Hurry!"
"Ugh..."
As Ah-reum clutched her head, fireballs emerged from Ace's circles, plummeting like meteors.
Imprecise area magic would shred fragile ships, ground forces, and nearby civilians.
"Damn it, firing, firing!"
In the dilemma, Minato prepared Aurora instead. Ace sans tanks would scream and die—but no choice.
He'd squeeze his eyes shut and order fire.
......If not for the eerie horn blaring from afar.
Bweeeee!!
A chilling horn pierced all ears. Then, something—no, a pirate ship skimmed the asphalt like ocean waves, racing toward them.
"Wha...?"
Minato rubbed his eyes at the sudden pirate ship. No illusion—the prow featured a stunning blonde woman.
"...You idiots pulling more bullshit?!"
"K-Kaelin...?"
Unmistakably Season Off Fantasy's pirate ship, with Pirate World Rank 1 Kim Ah-rin, aka Kaelin, drawing her sword dramatically at the bow.
"Kim Ah-rin?! Why the fuck is that bitch here?!"
She should be in Incheon at Eulwang-ri—her unwelcome arrival, unlikely to side with Ace, furrowed Sol's brow.
"You backstabbing bat, hired by Han Yeon-hwa again?!"
Mercenary Kim Ah-rin was surely contracted by Legend's Han Yeon-hwa or Ah-reum as reinforcements.
"...Too late anyway, idiot."
Pirate was offense-specialized, not defense. Even if she arrived, she couldn't stop the fireballs.
......If she'd come alone.
"Huh...?"
As Sol smirked in irritated certainty, pitch-black thunderclouds gathered thickly above Ace's clustered members.
"Snow...?"
...Snowflakes began falling amid early summer clarity. Sol frowned at the freak weather.
Had Ah-rin brought a rare Meteorologist who could alter weather?
"......"
Sol narrowed her eyes at the flakes. These weren't normal—not falling, but shooting instinctively. And ash-gray, not white.
"Snow... ash-gray..."
Ace's guild master pondered each anomaly. Soon, her face blanched, stiffening.
"Ashen... Snowstorm...?"
Mumbling blankly skyward, a gray flake settled softly on Sol's cheek as it neared ground.
...Then scorching agony like her body aflame.
"Gah, gaaaaaaaagh!!"
From face to full-body torment like burning alive, Sol collapsed, rolling on the ground.
"G-Guild master? What's wron— Aaaaaaagh!!"
"Snow...? So pretty— Gahk?!!"
"......"
Concerned guildmates toppled one by one, struck by flakes.
"Hahk, hahk."
Panting raggedly before Sol, a holographic alert popped urgently.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ ⚠️ Alert! Abnormal status detected! ○ Status: Frozen ○ Attack Speed: -20% ○ Movement Speed: -20% ※ Specific body parts locked during effect. ※ Recommend recovery item 'Ancient Warmth'. "F-Frozen..."
Confirming the hologram, Sol saw her right hand fully iced. Attack and movement speeds down 20% each.
...Snow inflicting damage, debuff, and status? Sol knew only one.
"Selverion..."
December stage boss, Frost of Ruin, God of Ruin Selverion's passive: Ashen Snowstorm.
"N-No way..."
...An unforeseen scenario? Sol shuddered uncontrollably.
Too soon.
Plans ruined.
Why now, here? Not today.
— ....
...No time for Sol to process—a petite girl leaped from Kim Ah-rin's pirate ship.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Frost Wave. Her snowy white bob gleamed as she leaped high, unleashing without hesitation. Azure particles swirled around her, rippling outward like water waves.
The sky-blue surge swept Yeouido's skies—everything it touched froze solid, shattering into ice crystals that vanished midair.
Ace's fireball barrage, Minato and Dessert Club's six battleships—all reduced to harmless ice dust, erased.
"I-Impossible..."
"Wh-What..."
"My ship...?"
...Mages' spells and six battleships frozen and gone in one go.
Unthinkable even for world rank 1—beyond any player. Sol, Ah-reum, Minato—all froze rigid.
"Who the...?"
"Insane..."
All eyes locked on the white-haired girl from the pirate ship. Who was she to wield such impossible power? Player possible?
"......"
...Sweating coldly, Sol scrutinized her. Praying her guess wrong.
— ......
The bobbed white-haired girl wore a dainty black tiara, elegant dark dress like a princess, and ominous red chains floating behind.
"Ah..."
Sol knew: this was their tomorrow's target, Season Off Fantasy's worst nightmare, Frost of Ruin Selverion.
— ....
Selverion floated amid thunderclouds, gazing down with contempt. Her crimson eyes met Sol's exactly.
'Ugh...!!'
Learned terror. Overwhelming aura paralyzed Sol against her will.
— ...Hello.
The God of Ruin smirked, her voice like hellish cold piercing ears, enshrouding all in endless silence.
"Fuck."
...Sol muttered lowly.