Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Guild Creation (2)
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"...It's huge."
Kim Arin's house was far bigger than I'd imagined. The massive front gate overwhelmed anyone stepping through it, and the sprawling courtyard and luxurious entrance were more than enough to stiffen my expression.
Back in my heyday when business was booming, I'd prided myself on living in a pretty spacious and upscale place, but her house seemed at least twice the size of mine from those days.
"Mmgh...?"
Perolln, following behind me with his entire body bound, had his eyes pop wide open too. Before becoming Perolln, he was probably just an ordinary student, so chances were slim he'd ever set foot in a mansion like this.
"Make yourself at home, Selverion! It's a bit humble, but please!"
As we entered the house, Kim Arin beamed brightly at me. Beyond her back, as she hung up her pirate hat and coat, I caught sight of the high-end furniture.
Every piece looked like it cost tens of millions at minimum—sleek, refined stuff.
"You, sit over there."
"Mmgh! Mmmgh!"
First, I plopped Perolln down in the corner of the entrance. His eyes screamed injustice, but the loser had no say. And he didn't have the strength to break my chains anyway, so he had no real options.
"...Excuse me."
Muttering softly under my breath, I sank into the living room's leather sofa. A whole new level of plush comfort enveloped my body.
It was worlds away from the cheap bed in my tiny one-room apartment. The sensation was like stepping into a brand-new world; I just sat there, dazed.
"Selverion, please wait just a moment! I'll brew some tea!"
"Yeah, thanks."
I nodded briefly as Arin clattered around in the kitchen, her voice bubbling over. For whatever reason, her face was lit up with a goofy grin.
After a short think, I tossed a question her way.
"This place... it's really your house?"
"Huh? Yeah! It's mine! Well, technically a villa."
"A villa...?"
"Yep. Truth is, I moved to the States as a kid, but a few years back, I came back to Korea alone."
She poured hot water into a cup and dunked in a tea bag, her voice turning nostalgic, like she was reminiscing.
"I was looking for a place to live, and Dad just handed me this, calling it a villa. Thanks to that, I'm getting by pretty comfortably."
"...I see."
I see.
She was a total rich kid.
A dad who casually hands his daughter a mansion like this as a "villa"—had to be some massive corporation's chairman or something.
The revelation was so out of left field that I couldn't muster a word. Plus, in the game, she'd raked in fortunes as a mercenary, so her actual wealth was anyone's guess.
"Here, black tea for you, Selverion."
"Thanks."
Just then, Kim Arin set a steaming mug in front of me. The black tea wafted a fresh, tangy aroma.
After that, she settled into the single leather armchair next to the sofa, mug in hand. Perolln shot her a jealous glare from his spot, but to Arin, he was completely off her radar.
"I, uh, have something to ask."
Once she was seated, I took a sip of the hot tea and called out to her. Her eyes sparkled at me like a hamster's—bright and eager.
"What is it?! Ask away!!"
She seemed thrilled just to get a question from Selverion; her voice brimmed with joy. Bemused by her enthusiasm, I still went ahead with my curiosity.
"This morning, we talked a bit about creating a guild."
"Oh, that!"
"Mind explaining it in detail?"
Before heading to the safe zone in Gwangjin-gu, we'd chatted briefly in that shantytown. She'd dropped the words "guild creation."
I'd missed the details amid the Perolln news, but now that things had settled, I wanted the full scoop.
"Just what it sounds like! I've been thinking a ton lately about starting a guild with you at the helm, Selverion."
"...What's the reason for making a guild?"
"Hm, two big reasons..."
Kim Arin scratched her chin, pondering for a sec. Then she held up two fingers in a V-sign toward me.
"First, to wipe out the suspicious stares aimed at you, Selverion."
"Suspicious stares?"
"Yeah... Not right now, maybe, but down the line, people will keep doubting and fearing you. Groups like Ace with their weird ideas will pop up for sure, and I just can't stand that kind of nasty looks."
"......"
She had a point. Like it or not, Selverion was a stage boss. Infamous for her ruthless cruelty—no blood, no tears—and the fact she'd never been defeated in eight years only amplified the terror.
Even if she wasn't doing anything now, fear and unease could drive people to Ace-like choices, sprouting up like weeds.
"But if you form a guild with players like me, folks might fear you less and see you as more approachable..."
Kim Arin scratched her head with a sheepish hehe. As she said, showing her hanging out with players could chip away at the wariness and prejudice against Selverion.
"So, what's the second reason?"
"The second one's... 'cause I wanna stick with you, Selverion, legally and for as long as possible...?"
"Haa..."
A sigh escaped at her blatantly selfish answer. The first reason sounded reasonable, so I'd hoped the second had some deep meaning I hadn't guessed—but nope, classic Arin.
Hell, the second felt like the real core, even more than easing suspicions and bad vibes.
"W-Wait, does that mean you're thinking of creating a guild?! That's why you asked, right? Right?!"
Kim Arin shot up from her chair, yelling. Her eyes gazed at me, twinkling like the Milky Way at night.
"Uh, yeah..."
It felt heavy to respond, but I nodded curtly. Her reasons differed a lot from mine, but I was interested in the guild itself.
"I'm thinking of making one. A guild."
Not mainly to ease suspicions or calm citizens' fears—but to check the unstoppable force of "players," a guild no one could block.
And to gather stage bosses scattered across the world, ensuring their safety and mutual protection.
Purely by goals, it felt more like SPR than a guild.
Someday, I'd grow it to rival SPR or the World Player Alliance, but for now, start small as a guild.
"Waaah!"
Meanwhile, Kim Arin, hearing my thoughts, reacted like an excited kid—hardly fitting her top pirate rank.
"That's so cool! You're gonna restore balance to the world, right?!"
"Uh, uh-huh...?"
"Even just in Korea, overreaching players and their power trips are starting to surface. The intent's spot-on! Like becoming Earth's police!"
"Earth's police...?"
She wrapped it in such grand terms—world balance, Earth police—cringey words that left me awkward.
...Not that she was wrong.
Aiming to check players, standing against them to balance this twisted reality.
Plus, plans to privately sanction their shielded criminals and wrongdoers—so "police" wasn't off-base.
Just hearing the metaphors irked me, though.
"And gathering stage bosses under your control? That'd cut down on rampages or massacres, so that's great too!"
Arin added that recruiting stage bosses as members wasn't a bad idea. But a bitter smile tugged at her lips.
"Though... there'll be a ton of backlash from all sides."
"Yeah."
A guild made by the God of Ruin, Frost of Ruin Selverion. Like it or not, it'd blow up worldwide, drawing every eye.
Once word spread about checking players and protecting/restraining stage bosses, voices would erupt everywhere.
Fed-up folks might cheer my guild, but they'd be the minority.
Most would welcome us warily, laced with unease, fear, suspicion.
Affiliated players, thriving until now, would resent the brake on their momentum—but silent, swallowing rage since Selverion founded it.
Civilians would dread time-bomb stage bosses clustering here.
Players aside, to reassure civilians, we'd have to prove with actions: not conquest or slaughter, just balance.
"Um, uh, Selverion."
"Yeah, what."
"One more thing bothering me..."
"What? Spit it out."
Kim Arin eyed me hesitantly. Good ideas, but hang-ups galore—I asked seriously for her take. She responded gravely.
"The goal of reining in stage bosses from attacking humans while protecting them from subjugation is awesome, but..."
"But...?"
"Can we even gather them...?"
She questioned gathering them, sneaking glances at me while stirring her tea needlessly with a spoon.
"Excluding Nevacal and Perolln, we don't even know where they are. Even if we did, bringing them here's tricky..."
"......"
"Especially August's boss, Demetation—building-sized, no good way to transport it, and such a wild temper, doubt it'd cooperate."
"Demetation..."
August stage boss, Destruction King "Demetation."
Yeah, hard to picture the lava hell guardian meekly following orders.
His power scaled with rage stacks from passives; always pissed, he'd swing first, talk never.
But brutes who spoke with fists? Crush 'em with strength. No biggie.
...Arin's worries didn't stop there.
"Um... Even if we succeed, cramming all 12 stage bosses in Korea would spike public panic, rile up sentiment."
"...Yeah, agreed."
People hate even landfills in their backyard.
12 stage bosses plunked in your country, your area? I'd lose sleep too, praying they'd leave pronto.
But scattering them worldwide? Risky. Before I could aid, guilds could pick 'em off one by one.
They weren’t Selverion; proven clear methods existed. With enough veteran players, it could be done anytime.
Like players/guilds uniting, we needed to cluster too.
...I removed the tea bag and told Arin.
"I've thought about those points too."
Locating stage bosses.
Means to assemble them.
A shared base.
Essential for my guild vision; I'd pondered solutions.
"Turns out, one'solve-all' person exists."
"Huh? Someone who...?"
"Yeah."
Arin looked puzzled; I cautiously named the answer, the one fixing all issues at once.
"...Billishstein."
June's stage boss, mad scientist "Billishstein."
Living on the crumbling aerial garden—a floating artificial island—conducting horrific bio-experiments, the brutal goblin scientist.
He surpassed Scientists and Beasts in detection, the only one in Season Off Fantasy with teleport—spatial warp—as a stage boss.
Plus, his stage, Crumbling Aerial Garden, was his passive/skill, so right now, he was likely drifting high above, hidden from the world.
With his help, detect others, teleport 'em over, use his garden as guild base.
"Pull Billishstein to our side, and 80% of stage boss issues vanish."
I grinned confidently at Arin. But doubt lingered on her face.
"B-But Selverion, finding Billishstein himself... tough, right? I hear the aerial garden has invis and stealth; even modern tech struggles."
"Hm..."
Her point about locating him. I brushed it off, sipping the last of my tea.
Then, my red eyes gleamed sharply; I spoke firmly.
"...Don't worry. I won't search for him."
Obviously, pinpointing his perfectly stealthed garden in Earth's vast skies was like a needle in a desert.
Even with 21st-century tech and hordes of Scientists, likely fail after ages of effort.
One answer.
"I'll make him come to me."
So irresistible he'd have no choice.
Make him seek me out.