Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Being a Guild Master Isn't Enough With the Game Alone
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They sat down soon enough.
["How can they act like that?"]
["Whoa, for real? The civilians are crying? So you guys are human after all?"]
["At this point, maybe the civilians are the good ones, and the other countries are just overreacting for no reason."]
["But it's hard to call it overreacting when so many have died."]
["The civilians know how to use magic, and they wield weapons at near-human-weapon levels, so once they're seen as enemies..."]
One of the hosts sliced at their own neck with the side of their hand to demonstrate the gruesome lethality.
["Especially the European Union Hunters—they got friendly with the civilians, only to get backstabbed at night, with dozens slaughtered."]
The screen zoomed out.
Centered on the battlefield, all the nearby civilians who had been hiding emerged, surrounding the Fullminak guild members.
["Ah, they're total pushovers."]
["They're starting to move somewhere together. No way they'll backstab here, right?"]
["Your faith is lacking."]
["Sorry."]
["Right now on Channel 1004, you're watching the world-first footage of Fullminak being invited into a civilian 'base.'"]
["What the hell did they do with that wide-area buff? I wanna try Kaisha's buff too."]
["Let's get the Kaisha buff and convert."]
One of the hosts glanced at the comments and burst out laughing.
["No, the comments. When did the comments turn into this? The chat's gone insane. Everyone's lost their minds."]
["It exploded with holy crits when Kaisha pulled out the Mechanic Angel."]
["Whoa. I exploded then too."]
The hosts scrolled through the frenzy of comments, bursting into laughter nonstop, until an alert popped up. They stared at something off-screen and suddenly widened their eyes.
["Whoa, finally!"]
["Word from SpaceKing: the Korea-US war has broken out."]
["Switching screens."]
* * *
The American guild Black Fox, heading south, had easily crushed the weaker nations to the east—until they suddenly slammed into a wall.
KABOOM—!!
"?!"
In an instant, the front lines were devastated, and the guild members' health bars were shredded.
Healers rushed in, spamming heals, but Black Fox had paid for that moment of carelessness by losing three Hunters at once.
The momentum from that setback showed no signs of recovering.
Boom! Kaboom!
KABOOM—!
On the barren wasteland where nothing had stood before, small earthen fortresses rose like piled-up dirt, and enemies zipped around at blinding speed, hammering Black Fox without respite.
The earthen walls and ramparts were presumed to be bought from the Coin Market.
It was their first encounter with enemies who actively exploited the Coin Market while being this strong and swift, leaving Black Fox floundering as they were endlessly pushed back.
Black Fox's Guild Master, Soul, lost his temper.
"Goddamn it! Whoever these bastards are, they're insanely good! Which country's scum are they?!"
"Looks like Dart."
"Dart? SpaceKing? Korea?"
The name 'Dart' was so iconic it registered first, with the Korean channel only coming to mind last.
He was also Soul's most respected player personally.
After the world-famous 'City War' incident, Korea had earned a high reputation in the Hunter world.
Among them, Dart was presumed to be a top contender in the world rankings.
"Shit."
"No wonder they fight so damn well."
"Request reinforcements."
The opponent was SpaceKing.
Black Fox concluded they couldn't overcome this situation—already outmaneuvered and cornered—on their own.
In the Vipa Online US server, there were four top guilds.
Since only top-100 rankers from each country could enter, Black Fox had fewer members than SpaceKing.
In a Hunter fight, they'd be outnumbered from the start.
"And issue the hero summon order."
At the Guild Master's command, rigorously selected heroes—lessons learned from Korea's 'City War'—were swiftly summoned.
Suddenly, a weakness of SpaceKing flashed in Soul's mind.
Korea's City War was so infamous that rankers worldwide knew SpaceKing had been betrayed by his bound heroes and hunted them down afterward.
In other words, SpaceKing couldn't summon heroes.
If Black Fox maxed out their bound heroes, they'd exceed a hundred members total.
Meanwhile, SpaceKing's forces were capped at around thirty.
"...Hmm."
Maybe they could pull it off?
The moment Black Fox's Guild Master dipped into hopeful thoughts—
"!"
An alert appeared before Soul.
[Dart-nim has challenged you to a duel.]
* * *
SpaceKing felt the same: they'd met a tough opponent.
Every country they'd encountered while pushing north had been child's play—until this one.
Even piling up earthen ramparts with coin payments and attacking, the enemy wouldn't crumble.
Eyes sharp as they darted across the battlefield gauged the enemy's formidable strength and probed their identity.
Soap, returning to command under the tanks' protection, spoke up.
"America. Black Fox. Soul."
His original nickname had been Dark Soul, but when Vipa Online celeb Dart popularized short names, he'd chopped his down—a fun anecdote.
At the words identifying the enemy Hunters as 'American,' Dart's eyes sparkled with interest.
His lips twisted.
Finally.
What Dart really wanted to face was America's top dog, Guild Master Lu of 'America Sauras (A.S.)'—but any US guild would do.
In Vipa Online, America stood shoulder-to-shoulder with China as a superpower.
He'd warned his guild members not to get complacent, but truth be told, Dart had struggled to hide his boredom while marching north.
Soap asked Dart.
"What's the plan?"
"I'll go PK and be back. Prep the follow-up."
Vice Guild Master Soap nodded, instantly getting the seasoned implication.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Goldbunker camp.
Goldbunker was still leisurely spectating the mess between Japan and China from the rear, fortifying a solid base.
Gilgamesh picked a few nearby buildings and scattered guild members in ambush spots.
Following orders, Goldbunker members entered the coin shop, selected suitable sniper rifles, and took positions by windows overlooking the battlefield.
The guild's shared inventory brimmed with military gear Gilgamesh had purchased, awaiting use.
As Hunters from various nations bound more heroes from the otherworld, the Japan-China battlefield grew fiercer and larger.
Gilgamesh adjusted his signature shades—his go-to cool-guy item—as he surveyed the scene.
"You little shits. Calling it a city war? This body's the true City King."
In reality, Gilgamesh's combat prowess spiked when fighting in civilized areas of Midgard.
He excelled at ideas like using surrounding buildings.
Moreover, Goldbunker's scattered members had scouted nearly all the base spots inside the city.
"Ha. Thinking about backstabbing Japan and China at once is thrilling as hell."
All that remained was attack and capture.
"But seriously, why no cameras in this damn coin shop? I need to record this epic moment and pass it down as heirloom footage."
Gilgamesh irritably tapped the coin shop interface.
Right before entering Babel Tower, Hyunwoo had opened the Babel Tower viewing system for Godgold—but with zero cameras in sight, he had no clue what was happening.
Viewership-wise, they were probably only filming Kaisha's group anyway.
Gilgamesh muttered.
"Anyway, that Hyunwoo guy's identity is seriously suspicious..."
He was grateful for Hyunwoo stepping up during the City War to protect Godgold's broadcasters, but the entire Gentle Knights crew, Hyunwoo included, was undeniably shady.
Opening the internal Babel Tower viewing system this time was just more proof.
In any case, Gilgamesh kept it from his guild members. Focusing on broadcasts in wartime naturally weakened their forces.
Voice chat lit up.
["Prep complete. Awaiting assault order."]
It was Credit, split off from Gilgamesh to disperse command locations.
"Hey, Credit."
["What."]
"In your view, when's the best time to move? Pick a timing."
["Opportunity's prime—strike fast before they do. Blitz them now, kill as many as possible, force a full-frontal we can win."]
Hitting Japan and China simultaneously would make both enemies, so they had to maximize kills in this window.
Goldbunker voice chats lit up in unison.
"Then commence the strategy."
The instant the order dropped—
Rat-tat-tat-tat—!!
A hail of thousands of untraceable gunshots erupted from the buildings encircling the two nations' battlefield.
* * *
And here, at the civilian base.
It felt less like a military outpost and more like a village.
Fullminak guild members, locked in a battle utterly unlike the other two guilds, showered the area with holy attacks wrapped in kindness and warmth.
Flash!
Wings blooming from defense buffs, pillars of light exploding from resurrection spells, rippling orbs from interrupted Lightning casts.
"Eat this. My chocolate bars, like my flesh and blood."
"Fear not. We only wish to share good things with you."
"Dare oppose you, and Kaisha-nim shall deliver divine punishment. They'll come in one path and flee in seven."
Buffs applied, junk items gifted.
"Those who save shall receive their heart's desire. Approach these angels without hesitation, and they shall grant anything."
"Hahaha. Who could they mean? Friends to such lowly dogs and birds."
Guild members, refusing to let only themselves shine, praised and exalted each other, creating an overwhelmingly heartwarming vibe.
Civilians began lowering their guards, gathering one by one.
Snacks and daily necessities magically pulled from Hunters' inventories landed in civilian hands.
They pulled out every trick: Magic Marker scribbles, tinkling holy music box gifts as junk items, debuff sound effects cranked for epic atmosphere.
["Surprisingly, once someone's missing, they don't look hard—civilian rescue quests don't pop."]
["Checked roughly earlier. Even if a sibling returns alive, the 'brother' doesn't bat an eye."]
["Humans are so dried up."]
["Found injured civilians here. Looks like a bunch got hurt fighting monsters in the forest."]
The guild members buzzed.
["Whoa, jealous!"]
["Ah, I've been searching forever. Healing the injured is the ultimate faith farm strat, right?"]
["Where? Don't hog it—share coords."]
["Sorry."]
["Damn it. Knew it."]
["Wasn't expecting any."]
Targeting the sick was easiest.
Guild members, exhausted from upholding their tough dignity, dropped one after another.
["Why is everyone so good at this?"]
["Feels like I'm the only one sucking."]
["Can't we just distribute supplies normally and call it a win? Someone say yes."]
["No."]
["Harsh."]
["Sigh. My showmanship sucks. Rather go mercenary."]
["Kali-hyung, hang in there a bit. While Kaisha-nim handles the civilian boss, we all gotta grind faith hard."]
Kaisha was currently inside a house, meeting a woman named 'Lea.'
While she tackled the boss, the guild members had to farm faith from the base civilians.
That way, no backstabs.