Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: Being a Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just Games
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He immediately equipped the sword.
[You have equipped 'Flame of the Holy Hundred.']
Perhaps because Yugeon had grown, the sword's appearance seemed slightly different.
It clung to my hand like it was alive, wrapping me in white light, and then a notification window appeared right away.
[Effects vary based on the connection between user and summoner.]
[Current connection: 11%]
[Attack Power +200]
[Agility +200]
[Defense +100]
[Health +3000]
[Mana +3000]
[High chance of critical hits against dark attribute targets.]
The equipping effects were ridiculously overpowered, but I had no time to be surprised—the piercing killing intent stabbing into my body and the nauseating feeling overwhelmed me.
A chill ran down my spine.
As bizarre energies erupted from all directions, Abyss's body flinched.
A status window appeared before me.
『The Babel Tower and other constellations rage at this unbalanced situation.』
Constellations?
So not all constellations were inherently evil.
The pressure felt like it was sharply piercing and bursting every vein in my body. The moment everyone, including me, jolted—
"Shields up—!!"
Shields layered up one after another at my command, shouted as I leaped high.
KABOOM!
One wall of the upper floor of the building shattered, and someone burst out.
Chunks of cement dust scattered down.
One from the building.
Two more charging from the forest.
As Abyss and I hesitated, unable to designate targets, one suddenly lunged at another and swung a fist.
Thwack!
"?!"
I had no idea what was happening, but it created a brief opening.
Focusing all my strength, I cast skills through instinct—countless green bullets materialized in the air, firing off and exploding simultaneously.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
BOOM BOOM!!
"Hold on tight!"
I called out to Yugeon and launched myself forward.
A black spear embedded where I'd dodged, unleashing an enormous explosion.
KABOOM—!!
I gritted my teeth.
The energy used by these Error Codes was threatening in an unnatural way.
As Abyss unleashed her ultimate toward the two, swinging her sword, space tore open with a ferocious gust.
KABOOM BOOM!!
To put distance between us and the guild members, I dashed toward the corner where we'd started, with Abyss right on my tail.
The Error Codes pursued us.
It seemed I was the target, not Abyss.
All three had locked eyes on me precisely from the moment they appeared. Sure enough, the attacks fired from behind struck where I'd been.
Tap!
Abyss and I split to either side, casting skills in different directions without hesitation.
Dark projectiles melting into the shadows.
And a wide-area lightning net rising by harnessing the thick mana blanketing the forest.
Boom!
KABOOM!
Abyss and I landed briefly, glanced at each other, then moved farther apart in our respective directions, readying for battle.
Abyss would take one.
I'd handle the two.
Beyond the explosions from the lightning net, the Error Codes revealed themselves and flinched, retreating hastily.
I swung the sword with all my might, tracing a trail of light with sword energy.
Whoosh—
Their features: silver-gray hair and vivid purple eyes.
One of them said in surprise,
"Not bad. Didn't think you'd actually snag a holy relic-grade weapon."
"!"
I furrowed my brow at his words.
Their appearances were completely different, but that infuriating expression immediately brought a face to mind.
"The punk who got wrecked and bolted back then?"
"......"
Cough.
One turned his head with a snicker, while the one admiring my weapon twisted his face into a scowl.
Guess I was right.
The incarnation constellation named something like Annihilation glared at me with murderous purple eyes and charged.
CLANG—!!
An inexplicable chill rattled my bones, but the attack's power wasn't utterly unmanageable.
I opened my gritted mouth and feigned concern.
"How's the spot that blew up holding up?"
"Acting all cocky."
Annihilation smirked coldly, as if he knew my status inside out.
Energy erupted from him.
"As if a mere human could."
My body froze under the overwhelming pressure, my mind reeling, when Yugeon shouted loudly.
"Snap out of it!"
Annihilation, about to strike me, suddenly swung at another charging toward us.
BOOM!
"I told you to scram!"
Annihilation threw an empty territorial bluff, but the other showed no intention of backing off.
He dodged nimbly and lunged at me.
His deep purple eyes gleamed with a gloomy, intense light.
Another surge of energy erupted.
"!"
From his approach, a suffocating black wave seemed to crash toward me.
The brain force overwhelming my body.
The gloomy, dark waves from the Error Codes engulfed me, dragging up from the depths of my soul—
Fear.
"—!!"
The moment I realized it, frenzied currents surged from my body amid deafening explosions and gunfire.
KABOOM!!
The charging foes vanished as if retreating.
The desperately erected shield was my defensive instinct kicking in to protect inside and out upon sensing danger.
"Hah, hah......"
My sword hand trembled faintly.
What the hell?
Just moments ago, I'd felt nothing.
Overwhelmed by the intense fear, my mind, lost in disconnect, analyzed rapidly—but there was no way to know the reason.
Urgh. Urgh.
A revolting emotion surged, as if someone had struck my fatal weakness.
This immense fear was absurdly convincing me in advance that I couldn't beat them.
Negative emotions I couldn't control rationally: emotions, emotions, emotions.
I gritted my teeth.
Shame, anxiety, fear, inferiority, humiliation—and the fury blazing up from those torments making me miserable.
That's why I'd started VR games—to escape this feeling.
Urgh.
"What the hell did you do to me—!!"
BOOM!
I roared in rage, instinctively casting 'God's Majesty,' unleashing a massive gust and pressure across the area.
But—
[1st Awakening Progress: 92%]
[Your divinity is insufficient to suppress the opponent.]
I'd cast it instinctively more to create distance than a mental skill, and an unfamiliar message appeared.
Awakening level?
The Error Codes paused under the sweeping pressure, then unleashed even greater energy and changed direction, charging again.
Two waves, each tough alone, now crashing together—
Terror overwhelmed me.
Whoosh—
Tadadak!
I leaped away, sprinting wildly, when Yugeon's voice poured out rapidly from behind.
"They're stimulating human fear with their divinity. Those are 'Evil Gods' far superior to you as divine beings."
"How, how do I deal with it?"
"Control your emotions. Their raw combat power probably isn't insanely high. They're not fully incarnated—just bipedal forms with low adaptation. How strong could they really be?"
Yugeon rattled on quickly, but I couldn't hear a word.
Fear clouded my reason.
Dodging barrages and throwing up shields, I screamed desperately.
"Tell me what to do!"
"Be brave! Even if it feels like death, it's all fake—just fight! I guarantee you won't lose to them!"
"You mean it?!"
Fear flooded me, shaking my reason to its roots. This wasn't a problem solvable by mere combat.
"Th-that's... actually, the real issue is there isn't just one opponent......"
My heart sank at Yugeon's trailing whisper.
But then—
KABOOM BOOM BOOM!!
"!"
A fierce explosion from Abyss's direction made me flinch and turn.
Boom! KABOOM!
She was fighting desperately against one particularly fast one.
She seemed to be holding her own, but to my eyes, Abyss looked unusually terrified compared to normal.
CLANG—!!
The moment Abyss lost grip on her sword, sparks flew before my eyes.
"Abyss!"
The scene shifted.
It was my first instinctive cast of 'Teleport.'
Normally in Midgard, long-range spatial jumps required scroll items to set coordinates.
Short-range used Lightning Step or Teleport skills.
'Teleport' could be sloppy, but precise control for PvP was extremely difficult.
That's why magic genius Dart had excelled at it from the start, boasting insane PK win rates.
Even if control was tricky, it worked fine in-game, but after the game system materialized in reality, 'Teleport' vanished from all hunters' skill lists.
Thus, it could only be used via 'instinctive casting.'
After one hunter nearly died with an arm blown off, embedded in a cement wall from instinctive casting, virtually no hunters used Teleport anymore.
No need—Lightning Step or Fly could boost speed plenty.
But now.
Abyss, hastily shielding, flinched in surprise and scanned my body for injuries, but blocking the enemy was more urgent.
Light attribute sword skills.
Icons for them flickered in my skill window.
['Flame of the Holy Hundred' resonates.]
Skills I'd never used even in-game suddenly became available.
Glancing at the skill window, I loaded the new ones without hesitation and swung the sword wide.
Flash!
The Error Code targeting Abyss retreated in shock—but not before my glowing blade deeply carved into its collarbone and chest.
Light exploded.
BOOM—!!
Amid strobing light, spurting red blood traced arcs.
Abyss, snapping to, gripped new daggers in both hands and dashed to aim for its throat.
But as bizarre ink-like energy gushed from the Error Code, making Abyss hesitate, the others charged at her from both sides.
I touched a skill and yelled,
"Duck!"
Abyss ducked and used a skill to retreat instantly.
I cast another light skill horizontally, firing countless sharp light projectiles, while sword-shaped marks formed around me, creating a barrier.
KABOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Grabbing Abyss's hand, I ran.
Facing all three at once had soaked me in cold sweat.
I was leading now, but as Midgard's top assassin, Abyss could run far faster than me.
I told her,
"I'll handle them—you run far away. They're after me anyway."
"How can you say that!"
"Listen!!"
I yelled, urgently touching the sword skill's light buff—but true to its swordsman-exclusive tree, it only applied to me.
A glowing shield pattern enveloped me.
I knew Abyss's skills well; for someone of her caliber to drop her sword meant she was effectively combat-ineffective.
We'd run deep into the forest chasing the Error Codes.
We could circle back near the building mid-fight, and with guild support from the rear, I'd try to lure them there.
But I let Abyss go.
"Go! Check on the guild and call for backup!!"
The instant I released Abyss, I instinctively cast Teleport again.
Swoosh.
Teleporting behind the Error Codes pursuing us, I blasted ultra-wide lightning at them and rapidly loaded light skills.
No way around multi-target fights.
From now on, take them down one by one, no matter what.