Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Feigned Weakness
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[“Hellcannon’s ultimate has ended, and the heroes who had fallen back to the rear are being resummoned.”]
[“This is giving me chills.”]
[“What can you do when Goldbunker is so vulnerable in NPC battles? Spaceking’s surprise war hit them right where it hurts.”]
[“Goldbunker usually focuses on raising main heroes for cost-efficiency.”]
[“Exactly. Normally, there are guild members who pour everything into hero training, but as you get into the later parts of Goldbunker, the guild opinion shifts more toward ‘let’s just make money instead’...”]
[“Yeah, that’s how it turned out.”]
That was the situation—Goldbunker currently lacked hero power.
In contrast, Spaceking had been obsessively focused on hero training from the start, and Fullminak had training genius Kaisha raising not just heroes but users too, filling up the rankings.
As a result, over time, Goldbunker’s NPC hero training lagged far behind not only Spaceking but even Fullminak.
[“That said, Goldbunker didn’t completely neglect hero training. They just lost so many in the long disputes with Spaceking.”]
[“Even so, system-wise, unless it’s a siege war, territories almost never get taken. So they went all-in on heroes who join sieges for the cost-efficiency, and that’s how it happened.”]
[“Spaceking’s the real problem. Why hit them in the back during the final war? If they’re so confident in sieges, why the surprise attack?”]
[“Right? Never saw it coming.”]
Spaceking had more than enough skill to beat Goldbunker in war mode even fighting fair and square.
Of course, the broadcasters knew the real reason Spaceking pulled off that surprise attack in the final siege.
It was because of the fierce three-way battle.
Hit Goldbunker first with a surprise, then take some breathing room before facing Fullminak.
Perfect plan.
[“Probably because of Kaisha. Thanks for setting up the climax, though.”]
[“I’m really curious how this’ll play out.”]
The protagonists of this siege were Fullminak and Spaceking, so Spaceking wanted to take out Goldbunker early with the surprise.
[“From Goldbunker’s perspective, it’s outrageous, but objectively, Spaceking pulling the surprise NPC battle card in the final siege was a genius move.”]
[“They got hit with the nuke and staggered, though.”]
One broadcaster tossed in an emotionally charged jab, and the other let out a stifled laugh.
[“With the tension from Goldbunker palpable even here, their forces normalize after Hellcannon’s ultimate ends and fight back fiercely.”]
[“They must’ve emptied the warehouse— even the low-tier heroes are fully geared up.”]
[“That’s how they’re holding on.”]
In the footage, Goldbunker’s heroes were unleashing ultimates.
Compensating for the undertrained mid-to-low heroes with sheer item power.
Something only Goldbunker, with their warehouse stuffed full of rare gear, could pull off.
[“The pity is that Goldbunker’s main heroes aren’t fighting properly.”]
[“Yeah. That widens the already significant hero power gap even more. They’re holding back in war mode too, just trying to stay alive with their mains.”]
[“Can they hold out until war mode?”]
[“It’s almost here. As long as they don’t lose Iscasha and keep the siege mains and guild master alive.”]
A small feed of Wichen appeared in the corner of the screen.
[“I was just gonna glance at Iscasha, but it’s dragging on. Wichen’s going smoothly.”]
The Wichen feed expanded to fill the screen.
[“Fullminak’s doing well, as expect—”]
[“Fullminak’s front lines are collapsing!”]
[“What?!”]
The broadcasters, who had relaxed their expressions switching to Wichen, now bulged their eyes and craned their necks.
[“What’s going on? If Fullminak buckles here, it’s really over.”]
[“Why would Fullminak lose ground?”]
[“No, no. They’re holding steady, thankfully.”]
[“Their recovery is lightning-fast.”]
The real-time chat exploded in sync with the broadcasters’ grave reactions.
[No way]
[Isn’t this serious?]
[Spaceking bastards, why you gotta do me like this]
[I’m all-in on Fullminak with my whole life ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Spaceking lololol who came up with that nickname lololol]
[No no it’s fine. War mode is user battle so just stall for time]
[Kaisha-nim’s mentality okay? ㅠㅠ]
[But the front line has to hold so we can break through in user battle and retake the territory]
[It’s fine ffs]
[Kaisha looks super calm???]
[Can’t even speak lololol]
[Don’t fightㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[NoㅠㅠㅠㅠFullminak can’t loseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠGod Kaisha’s deliberately losing to make them drop guardㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Lack of faith detected. Trust Kaisha-nim and go to heaven.]
[Camen]
[I believe in Kaisha God]
[lololololololol]
As the Kaisha cult emerged in chat, overcoming anxiety with staunch faith, the broadcasters’ faces grew more serious.
Far from stabilizing as time passed, crises kept popping up in the defensive lines.
It looked like they might collapse any moment.
[“This is unnerving. Right before war mode—why’s this happening? Overexerting to hold?”]
[“Spaceking users logged in en masse. With their allies too, they’ve got way too many heroes.”]
[“Messiah’s three-ends is on cooldown anyway, so no casting that. In that case...”]
Unlike the chat fretting over Fullminak in the crisis, the ones truly in dire straits were Goldbunker.
Sure enough, Spaceking’s heroes started vanishing from the Wichen battlefield.
[“Whoa!”]
Defeat settled on the broadcasters’ faces.
[“Spaceking users, having secured leeway at Wichen, are pulling out heroes. Probably sending them to Iscasha.”]
[“We’re screwed, for real.”]
The broadcasters sounded bitter, empathizing as Goldbunker’s crisis hit.
[“From Spaceking’s side, they have to settle this. If war mode hits without taking Iscasha, a territory shield forms there.”]
[“It’s urgent. Goldbunker’s main guild members aren’t pushovers either.”]
[“Let’s check the escalating Iscasha battle.”]
The screen switched.
* * *
Iscasha, Spaceking camp.
Spaceking’s take on Fullminak’s situation was, predictably:
[“Wichen suddenly got easy? Fullminak’s shaking hard up front, pulling main heroes back before war mode.”]
[“Kekeke. Lured ‘em.”]
A foreseeable outcome.
Spaceking’s hero training was undisputed top-tier.
Of course, once the official siege started and the system switched to war mode, there’d be limits on hero and user participation numbers.
That’s why Spaceking aimed to seize Iscasha right before war mode.
[“Iscasha status?”]
[“Goldbunker scum holding with insane item spam. Endless rare gear pouring out—starting to get annoying.”]
Burned by the nuke earlier, Spaceking guild members instinctively wary of Goldbunker’s new items.
And time was running critically short.
Fullminak crumbling too easily was suspicious, but if Wichen got dicey, they could redirect forces then.
“War mode’s almost here. If we’ve got spare at Wichen, focus everything on Iscasha.”
[“Got it.”]
At Dart’s order to shift forces, Nix—who was overseeing Wichen defenses—immediately carried it out.
* * *
The official siege war was truly right around the corner.
Sorry for Goldbunker, but we had no choice but to go all-out now too.
Strategically speaking.
Watching the ordered heroes pull out, I messaged Hyunwoo-nim privately.
“Hyunwoo-nim.”
[“Yes.”]
“Commence operation.”
[“Understood.”]
We began dialing back our forces.
The goal: entice Spaceking’s military movement.
Spaceking was laser-focused on conquering Iscasha right now. Especially with war mode looming, time was tight.
So Fullminak shows a vulnerability, drawing their forces to Iscasha.
[Command Mode]
I popped urgent alerts on the guild execs’ screens.
Our internal ‘Command Mode’ meant: leadership has a plan, so shut up and follow orders.
Kali pinged me one-on-one.
[“Who’d you order the op on? Hyunwoo-nim?”]
“Yeah.”
[“Gentle Knights easing off. Trying to look weak to Spaceking?”]
“That’s the idea.”
Kali’s got sharp eyes, as always.
Gentle Knights—stacked with heroes and users excels at close-quarters defense—began subtly pulling punches under Hyunwoo-nim’s orders.
War mode was imminent.
An anxious voice came through the execs’ voice chat.
[“Gasp! Even if it’s strategy, the front’s shaking too hard?! You’re not planning to let the vanguard collapse, right?!”]
When one flank of the front crumbled with a crash, chat buzzed briefly.
[“Aaaah!”]
[“Argh! Guild master!”]
“Keep it up. Let’s hold to the end.”
My calm encouragement filled the momentary gap instantly, restoring the lines.
Not for nothing are they Fullminak’s elites.
I glanced at Hyunwoo-nim issuing orders to Gentle Knights from the rear.
Our eyes met; his upright face broke into a smile.
As Gentle Knights got new orders, the lines shook again—drawing more wails in voice chat.
“...”
Kinda felt bad.
Spaceking wouldn’t have time to overthink our precise manipulation at Wichen.
With war mode so close, they’d be desperate.
Conquering Goldbunker’s Iscasha had been Spaceking’s long-term goal.
Fullminak members fought their hardest to close the power gap.
Summoning rear heroes forward, frantically patching crumbling lines.
My guild members are skilled too.
Seeing our members’ faces twisted in defeat and panic up close—Spaceking wouldn’t resist.
Hyunwoo-nim reported in.
[“As expected, Spaceking heroes are peeling off one by one. And Hera’s been missing since earlier.”]
I bit my lip to stifle a grin.
The moment we feigned weakness, one of their powerhouse mains heads to Iscasha.
Thought they’d send more heroes.
Shows how close Spaceking is to taking Iscasha—they’re going all-in.
“We’ll attempt stabilization here.”
[“Yes, understood.”]
We planned it together, but Hyunwoo-nim’s fine-tuned force control was impressive.
Fullminak members were rattled by the sudden crisis.
That was part of the strategy, but no need to torment allies too much.
They couldn’t know the details of my back-and-forth with Hyunwoo-nim, so chat kept buzzing.
[“This is strategy, right? Strategy?!”]
[“Command Mode’s up.”]
[“Front line just crumbles out of nowhere! Wiping sweat here!”]
[“Guild master’s got it all figured.”]
[“Stabilization successful anyway. Whew, finally breathing.”]
Analysis followed successful recovery.
[“Strategy or not, how’d the front get pierced like that?”]
[“We pulled all top heroes back before war mode. Power gap right there.”]
[“Yeah. Spaceking’s hero count is insane—we’re at a disadvantage.”]
[“War mode opens, then we’ll see.”]
Oblivious to our backend chuckles, members ground their teeth.
Chaos among guildies, but things were rolling per plan. Naturally, this set off alarms at Goldbunker.
But hey, that’s why we fought so hard to defend Iscasha from the start.
Gilgamesh, fighting!