Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Guild Creation (1)
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"Wow, it really is Perolln, huh?"
Kim Arin, who was steering the pirate ship, spoke in an intrigued tone. Her gaze was fixed on the tall clown sprawled across the deck.
"Mmph! Mmmph!!"
Perolln, hearing Arin's voice, thrashed about like a goldfish out of water, but the Chains of Death and Frost binding him tightly allowed no movement or sound.
"He's just lying there laughing even in this situation! Amazing."
Arin muttered as she scanned Perolln like he was some zoo animal. Perhaps because it was Perolln, there was no trace of fear or terror in her eyes despite having a stage boss right in front of her.
"How did you catch him so quickly? He was invisible, so he must've been hard to find!"
"Huh?"
Arin then asked me about how I'd encountered Perolln. Feeling only the cool breeze, I replied indifferently.
"I heard him screaming."
"Screaming?"
"Yeah. Invisibility didn't hide him from me."
"...Well, invisibility from a clown like Perolln is nothing to Lady Selverion. So cool!"
She gripped the pirate ship's wheel firmly and flashed a bright smile. But I gave no real response, just gazing at the passing scenery outside.
Now-useless high-rises rushed past like waves. The hollow remnants of an empty city, devoid of even a single strand of human hair, filled me with emptiness and a flood of thoughts.
"Sigh..."
I wondered when it had started—this habit of sighing whenever I began to think, like exhaling cigarette smoke. After a deep sigh, I sank into quiet contemplation.
...Even the smallest trigger can become a turning point in one's actions. For some, it might be a zero on a test; for others, a gifted ring or a breakup text.
"......"
"Mmmph! Mmph!!"
And for me, it might just be that Perolln. His words from the safe zone in Gwangjin-gu kept echoing in my mind.
—What the hell are you?! Why the fuck are you doing this to me?!
"...Yeah."
Yeah.
What exactly was I? I was clearly Selverion, yet not Selverion. Selverion was the snowflake spirit with the noble mission of guarding the world's end, but I was still just a life's failure who loved beds and blankets.
Changed, yet unchanged.
I'd gained Selverion's power, which no one in this world could rival, but in the past fortnight, all I'd done was deal with local raiders and wipe out the Ace Guild.
Of course, those weren't small feats. They were enough to stir up a commotion, but to Selverion, they weren't much.
15 days, a fortnight.
Ample time for great deeds. An ambitious person as Selverion could've conquered Korea; a good one could've sealed every light rift in Seoul.
But what was I doing? Holed up in that rundown room corner, just "watching the situation."
No clear goal. No firm sense of justice. No drive to challenge or try anything.
Just trailing at the tail end of this changed era's flow, living a snake-tail existence.
...Why did that flea experiment video come to mind?
The one where fleas in a jar adapt to its height after days, never jumping higher again.
Was I like those fleas?
Adapted to massive failure and defeat, instinctively avoiding challenges even as Selverion?
Avoiding reality, eyes squeezed shut, blind to events before me and the wider world?
For my own sake, I needed to shake off the past and face reality.
Time to step out into the world.
"......"
Fortnight since the boundary between game and reality collapsed. 300 million players had quickly adapted to their powers, grasping new opportunities.
Only players could fight monsters, so governments worldwide allied with them, forming cooperative departments and organizations.
Power brought authority; players' voices grew louder. Drunk on the sweetness, some crossed into crime.
But no ordinary folk could stop those firing fireballs, summoning golems, or bisecting people in seconds.
Still limited to personal crimes like looting, rape, murder—but as time passed, larger alliances might emerge, holding the world hostage.
Something—a group—to check and restrain them was needed. But players policing players seemed unlikely.
Restraining fellow players denied their own power, likely leading to covering for their own.
In that case, only one entity could check players.
...Me, Selverion, and the other 11 stage bosses.
If top-tier Season Off Fantasy stage bosses united, individual risks of subjugation would drop, and players couldn't act freely.
But this assumed December's stage boss Selverion existed.
Even if the other 11 banded together, players who'd cleared them before would still challenge.
And if stage bosses fell, nothing could stop players.
They'd plunder freely, rape unchecked; no one to halt, arrest, or punish—their kingdom.
...In game or now, Selverion's power and existence were undeniable. I needed actions befitting her and her strength.
And perhaps, forming a guild could help some stage bosses.
Surely some trembled in fear of raids, hiding away.
Especially April's "Big Mouth," whose grotesque form would draw relentless hunts, forcing deeper hiding.
All stage bosses except Selverion were subjugatable, after all.
A stage boss guild would deter reckless raids.
But not all bosses were good. Some warlike, enjoying challenges; others plotting evil or aiming for world's peak with overwhelming power.
Facing those, the answer was simple: crush them forcefully.
Sometimes the stick works best.
"Lady Selverion! We're here!"
"Huh?"
Lost in thoughts, how far had we sailed? Kim Arin's pirate ship had arrived before an unfamiliar luxury detached house.
Far from the "quiet place" I'd imagined, I looked at Arin.
"Where's this...?"
"Haha, well..."
The pirate scratched her chin awkwardly.
"My house."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 02.
"Yuri, how're you feeling?"
New York, USA. Mage world rank 1, 'Alex Whitmore,' asked the man before him. His sleek black uniform bore a crow brooch symbolizing his guild, 'Night Head.'
"Boss, you're really okay, right?"
Responding to Alex, Night Head's vice-guild master, 'Charlotte Hastings,' asked worriedly. The world rank 1 Beast—her gray wolf ears twitched.
"Y-Yuri, your right arm's on fire... Don't you need a potion...?"
Meanwhile, skilled alchemist 'Emma Blair' fidgeted beside Charlotte, eyeing her guild master, 'Yuri Clark.'
"Kahaha! I think it looks great right now? Badass, Yuri."
Unlike the worried Emma, the hulking man with a massive hammer over his shoulder—Paladin world rank 3, 'David Paulson'—just laughed heartily.
"...I'm fine."
Then, seated before them, world rank 1 guild Night Head's master, 'Yuri Clark,' slowly rose from his chair.
Black uniform, black cape, long sword at his waist, crow brooch. Same as always, but his appearance and build were severely altered.
His height had grown about 15cm beyond his customized norm, face sharper.
Above all, the fiery rings enveloping him signaled he was no longer human.
"Not hot at all. I'm good."
Glancing at the flames coiling his right arm, Night Head's guild master Yuri Clark—no, now July's stage boss, Flame Emperor 'Heavenly Fire True Lord'—chuckled softly.
"Body and skills feel adapted now. Think I can head out soon."
15 days ago, for some reason, he'd become July's stage boss Heavenly Fire True Lord instead of his playable character. Initially panicked, he was now fully adapted.
Paladin David clapped admiringly at his guild master.
"Damn! Our guild master's a stage boss. Fucking awesome."
"...A human becoming a stage boss? Shocking."
Alchemist Emma adjusted her glasses, still incredulous.
As she said, 15 days prior, when Heavenly Fire True Lord arrived at Night Head's gathering instead of their guild master, they'd been stunned.
Conversation revealed it was Yuri himself, but shock lingered. Emma still felt her heart pounding.
Who could've predicted a human transforming into a stage boss, not one dropping from a rift?
"Boss, saw the article about Selverion in Korea six days ago?"
Vice-guild master Charlotte Hastings casually asked the now-stage-boss Yuri about the recent big news.
To her question, 'Heavenly Fire True Lord' Yuri Clark nodded slowly.
"Yes, Charlotte. Of course."
Six days ago, while adapting to Heavenly Fire True Lord's body, he'd read how Korea's strongest stage boss, Frost of Ruin Selverion, annihilated Ace Guild.
"Adapted to Selverion fast. Ace made a dumb choice."
Despite surely bearing a human soul like him, that 'someone' had swiftly mastered Selverion and crushed a major guild. Yuri was impressed.
Or perhaps Selverion could smash Ace without adapting.
Still astonishing, that God of Ruin's power.
"...We haven't told anyone about me yet, right?"
"Obviously. Keeping it top secret. Even other guild members don't know besides us."
To Yuri's question about announcing his change, Mage Alex shook his head immediately.
"Your and Night Head's influence in Season Off Fantasy is huge. Can't just blab."
"Right. Can't go around saying the rank 1 guild's master became a stage boss."
Emma chimed in with Alex.
As she said, this wasn't some random civilian turning stage boss.
Yuri Clark led the strongest players' group, Night Head. Him becoming one meant the world's top stage boss, commanding those powerful players—with unmatched influence and power.
...Not something to gossip about.
"Yeah, can't talk lightly. Human-to-stage-boss is special, no matter what."
Yuri looked up at Night Head's four executives. His heightened gaze was now adapted, no issue.
Then, in a gentle voice, he addressed the four—surely Season Off Fantasy's strongest players.
"So, given this special situation, we'll proceed specially from now on."
"Proceed specially...?"
"Yes, something only we can do."
A stage boss with top power and subordinates could do it.
Only the best players, backed by a stage boss, could.
Heavenly Fire True Lord swelled the flames on his arm, eyes gleaming red in the moonlight filtering through the window.
Then, an ambitious voice echoed through the room.
"...Let's start by taking this country."