Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Guild Master Needs More Than Just the Game
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Dart, watching the situation from high in the sky, said,
“They’re dragging this out.”
They looked busy, but they were just taking it easy, killing off enemies methodically.
["Should we send in reinforcements right away?"]
“No.”
Even if he was called a psychopath, Dart wouldn’t fight a war he knew they’d lose.
“Order a full retreat.”
He didn’t know the details, but Kaisha must have made a deal with Gilgamesh staking her karma.
There was no way Kaisha would take a loss just to benefit Goldbunker.
Kaisha, who had been mercilessly cutting down the NPCs, paused for a moment and looked up.
She brushed back her black hair.
“......”
It was such a simple motion. Yet Dart’s eyebrows relaxed slightly as he watched.
Just like SpaceKing’s guild members openly searching for and watching Kaisha’s skill videos with blatant interest, Dart was no different.
The demonic allure of power and charisma.
She was dressed in pitch-black clothes buttoned up to her neck, yet somehow it made her even sexier.
Binu’s voice came through.
["Want me to handle the retreat command?"]
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
Kaisha might give chase.
["Phew. Got it."]
Any player would feel a chill down their spine at the thought of facing off against the rampaging Kaisha just five hours before war mode kicked in.
She was the one and only player daring to challenge Dart, Bipa’s unshakable ranking 1.
* * *
Splash—
Even calling it an army, swinging a sword at ordinary NPCs brought all sorts of stray thoughts creeping in.
She was trying to be considerate, killing them with single clean strikes, but the NPCs were probably gripped by terror at being abandoned by their gods.
SpaceKing’s NPC soldiers were in complete disarray.
True to their northern origins, the commanders struggled to hold the lines even in extreme conditions, but it was hopeless.
The gods had forsaken them.
No matter how gloriously you dressed it up, war was just suicide.
Take away the gods, and all that was left was fear.
“What a trip.”
SpaceKing had hightailed it, leaving her to pitifully cut down the remaining NPCs, and suddenly regret hit her.
“These poor bastards’ lives suck.”
["What’re you on about, you overimmersed otaku? That’s why I say don’t get too into the game. Those aren’t people—they’re game NPCs."]
“Should’ve beaten Binu to death.”
["Dart’s glaring at you from way up there with eyes wide open."]
Looking around at Gilgamesh’s words, Binu had already bolted, and Dart was scouting from the sky off to the side.
That’s right.
Kill Binu, and Dart shows up to wreck everything before challenging her one-on-one.
Or Dart heads to Wichen and slices one of precious Fullminak’s main guild members to keep things fair.
For balance in the siege.
“Damn Dart. Why’d he have to raid and make everything a hassle.”
She gripped her sword again and cast a wide-area buff on the area.
“[Kaisha’s Blessing.]”
[The skill overlaps.]
[This skill is affected by the caster’s reputation in Midgard.]
[NPCs’ speed increases.]
[NPCs’ health recovers.]
[NPCs’ mana recovers.]
[NPCs’ defense increases.]
[NPCs’ attack power increases.]
[NPCs’ luck improves.]
[NPCs’ faith rises.]
[NPCs’ confidence rises.]
[Peace settles in the NPCs’ hearts.]
...
Casting the buff brought a transcendent calm over the NPCs’ faces, which had been consumed by the dread of death.
It was originally a war emotion buff, but how it was used was obviously up to her.
["No way—you buffed the NPCs who’re about to die?"]
Gilgamesh, grasping her intent in buffing the enemy NPCs, stuck out his tongue in amazement at the overimmersion.
“They’re pitiful.”
["Whoa. You’re the real deal, the absolute real deal."]
Beating players was the real fun. This had no reactions, no thrill.
Had she accepted the offer for nothing?
As regret started to creep in, a few SpaceKing guys appeared and hurriedly threw up a front shield.
“......Oh?”
A welcome break from the boredom.
SpaceKing’s NPC soldiers, receiving orders from behind the shield, began a swift retreat.
The gods had returned.
“Oh yeah!”
["What’s ‘oh yeah’! Chase ‘em down and slaughter them!"]
“They’re running to save their skins......”
["Hey!!"]
Gilgamesh jumped up and down.
“No need to kill them just for fleeing. Our shared goal is defending Iscasha anyway.”
["Look at this guy flipping his words on a dime."]
“Got any nukes left?”
["What, you punk?!"]
As expected, Gilgamesh exploded.
“They’d be useless once war mode starts anyway.”
["Huh? You gonna detonate it if we do?"]
“Crazy.”
Before it got noisy again, she spoke up.
“If there’s one more left, we could use it as a threat. Perfect for stalling.”
["......"]
Gilgamesh fell silent, deep in thought after hearing her plan.
She asked again.
“You got one?”
["......Yeah."]
Knew it.
No way they’d make just one insane thing and let it gather dust without use.
“Alright. Here’s the play.”
Thanks to SpaceKing finally retreating their NPCs, the sight of soldiers pulling out from Iscasha was a real spectacle.
She waved goodbye.
She preferred living NPCs over dead ones.
Grab any NPC and ask about their life story, and out pours tales of hometown, first love—you couldn’t just kill that.
Not that she hadn’t already killed plenty.
“Even if I chased and wiped them all, I couldn’t drag it out to five hours.”
["......Yeah, true."]
“SpaceKing doesn’t know about the karma potions. Make ‘em think you panicked and teamed up with us for a sacrifice play.”
["What?"]
“We tested the power earlier. Calculate the range generously and chuck the last bomb near Kalba where no one’s at. That’ll have them on edge till war mode, trembling.”
["Whoa!"]
“So, we doing it or not?”
["Insane! Yeah, let’s do it!"]
A bit pissy, but satisfying answer.
He’d have qualms after flipping karma with a nuke earlier. But this was a solid move no matter how you sliced it.
Gilgamesh stuck out his tongue.
["You’re something else. Even in a win-win, your brain’s always spinning to ensure you lose nothing?"]
“Thanks for the praise.”
["......What now?"]
Before sheathing her sword, she offered a brief eulogy to those who died by her hand here.
“May you have found a peaceful death.”
["Ugh. Overimmersed game addict."]
[Wirentia’s Repose]
[NPC Exclusive Skill lv99]
[Comforts the deaths of NPCs.]
[Guides and soothes the souls of the fallen NPCs to Wirentia. The departed are embraced by Wirentia’s gods and promised new life.]
[Faith of NPCs under your command rises.]
‘Wirentia’s Repose’ was a special skill she gained upon occupying her first territory, Wirentia.
At first, even she thought it was garbage.
Gilgamesh didn’t know the effect—that was why. Boosting allied NPCs’ faith was hugely valuable.
NPCs never just obeyed players blindly. They weren’t unconditionally loyal.
Securing their loyalty and faith—that was territory management.
SpaceKing’s way of substituting faith with simple slaughter and terror politics? Amateur hour in her book.
Faith politics was so much fun.
Anyway.
“Item trade approval?”
["You got no conscience?"]
“No retreat without me.”
["Damn it."]
The item, which had a timer until trade completion, transferred over immediately with Gilgamesh’s approval.
Cancel it as a scam, and it goes to AI trial.
Goldbunker didn’t screw her over, as expected.
[La Pla Angel’s Holy Water] (10 pcs)
[The miraculous holy water obtained by sincerely comforting the primal souls of the ancient benevolent and sacred race, La Pla Angels. Reduces karma by 1 million.]
[Applies to guild karma as well]
Crazy item.
Even up to the endgame of Midgard’s Bipa siege, no one had heard of it. Dart probably hadn’t either.
["Was gonna ask for a dragon as service, but SpaceKing scooped it up."]
She’d planned to clean that up neatly too.
[Use La Pla Angel’s Holy Water?]
[Quantity: 10]
[Yes]
Pitch black, looked like it’d increase karma instead of decrease.
But the effect was spot on.
[Kaisha-nim’s personal karma reduced by 10 million.]
This holy water didn’t just erase karma—it nullified it through the good deeds of the ‘La Pla Angels.’
[9 million good karma accumulated in Kaisha-nim’s guild.]
“!”
No karma left to erase, so it flipped straight to good karma.
Jackpot.
Came to Iscasha to help Gilgamesh, ended up with good karma and Goldbunker’s nuke rights.
Huge win.
Good call coming on this expedition.
“Get someone else to drop the nuke.”
["Ha. Obviously."]
She opened the guild leadership chat.
Soon, word came of a nuke dropped near Kalba.
* * *
Word of Kaisha’s rampage drew crowds pouring into Goldbunker’s live stream.
In the footage, Kaisha’s signature green sword aura spat fire.
[God tier]
[??? Why’s her skill different from mine??]
[Ahhh... so good...]
[Slaughtering them lololol]
[Unnie kill me tooㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Feels so good]
[Munchkin as hell]
As viewers cheered Kaisha’s clean sweep, SpaceKing’s NPC army suddenly ebbed away like the tide.
[????? Wtf lololol sudden retreat?? Lolololol]
[For real?? Lololol]
[Retreat?? Seriously???? Dart making a normal call for once????]
[Whoa.... Don’t need anything else, just Kaisha....]
[Smashed them with rep alone]
[Meeting soon but don’t wanna go]
[Humanely, make Bipa siege like World Cup—live broadcast for the nation]
[Didn’t even fight properly and defended Iscasha? Nah, Kaisha solo carried and saved Goldbunker lololol]
[Unnie so hot.... Comforting NPCs’ souls too, my unnie......]
[That’s why I love Kaisha]
[Alliance war is peak fun]
[Who spiked the footage with drugs]
[Fr pure gold]
Once boasting guild ranking 2 pride, Goldbunker’s win rate against SpaceKing kept dropping as Bipa siege hit late stages.
Early Bipa, with guilds everywhere, Goldbunker had high win rates.
That era was called the Warring States period.
Midgard opened territory systems periodically.
Bipa guilds applied for sieges then, securing land through massive wars.
Back then, Goldbunker earned its ranking 2 spot.
Early siege rules fueled competition into total chaos.
But past mid-Bipa siege, rules changed.
After land grabs progressed, harsh conditions hit guild participation.
To join, guilds needed owned territory near the new opening—for territory bets.
New guilds couldn’t join anymore.
Players protested the changes, but with ‘company and admins vanished,’ the game rolled on silently.
Top players flocked to territory-heavy guilds, ballooning top ranking guilds.
Small landholders merged into big ones via alliances.
Or they couldn’t siege at all.
That’s how ‘guild alliances’ boomed.
Players realized the absent admins had drawn a massive picture.
Bipa’s Warring States ended.
Manpower concentrated in giants, map consolidated like Three Kingdoms’ Wei-Shu-Wu: three hegemony guilds left.
North: SpaceKing.
Central: Goldbunker.
South: Fullminak.
After mergers, alliances, dozens of brutal sieges, only Midgard’s last land, Wichen, remained.
["!"]
Stream hosts’ eyes went wide at urgent chat relay.
["Nuke drop news."]
["Checking near Kalba’s Turba area."]
["Three minutes ago—keep that in mind."]
Screen switched instantly.