Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Being a Guild Master Isn't Enough With Just Games
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My heart was pounding uncontrollably fast.
"Kim Je-hyun, you idiot."
Why tell me now?
First floor.
The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I started sprinting after the red arrow.
Is this navigation?
"Map."
A map window actually popped up.
This is insane.
It's exactly the same format as the one in the game.
The only difference was that the map showed the Midgard territory from Vipa's world overlaid onto the real world where I lived.
My heart kept racing faster.
An illusion where everything obeyed my commands so perfectly. Even if this was some kind of mental illness, it was too systematic for that.
'Actually, yesterday... I mean, when I went into your room...'
Kim Je-hyun's words echoed in my head.
'Your body was floating. You were flying around while asleep.'
'...Why didn't you tell me sooner?'
'What?! Dude, do you know how much courage it takes for me to even talk to you? I've been walking on eggshells around you because of your aunt!'
Is it really true?
I couldn't fully believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.
Thump, thump.
My heart was pounding from sheer excitement.
"Skill window."
[Slash lv1]
[Thrust lv1]
[Block lv1]
I wanted to level up fast.
Even at level 1, there were 12 basic skills unlocked by category.
They were basically aptitude test skills.
As a veteran ranker in Vipa, it felt ridiculously basic, but right now, that didn't matter.
The thrill of maybe using game skills in real life—
It was electric.
"!"
Ding!
[Tutorial mode: Connecting to the Gate.]
[Loading...]
[Connected.]
[Gate recognition code F3449-5: Gate opened 5 days ago.]
[Time until rampage:]
[00:01:12]
For some reason, I'd automatically connected to this thing called a Gate.
[Verifying ID.]
[Kaisha (lv1): Tutorial in progress]
[Let's hunt a monster. (0/1)]
I hadn't stopped running once since I started, following the red arrow guiding me.
I didn't even notice I wasn't out of breath.
[Warning!]
[Gate rampage beginning!]
Ra, rampage?
That sounded bad no matter what.
[00:00:00]
Oh right, the time limit—
Boom!!
"!"
The moment the alert popped up, the real world under my feet started shaking.
Rumble rumble—
Startled by the sudden earthquake, people screamed and fled.
Even amid the chaos, the red arrow guiding me pointed toward the source of the noise.
* * *
Second raid site.
"Get out of here, it's dangerous!"
"Come on, listen to people! The Gate's about to rampage! You know what rampage means? RAM-PAGE!"
"Officers, help!"
The guild members teamed up with the police for crowd control.
With the guild master absent, Choi Beom-young, who was leading Fullminak, finally snapped and yelled.
"Why are these people so fearless?! Do you all wanna die?!"
"Hyung, streaming."
A few presumed YouTubers were snickering and filming Beom-young.
They huddled here trusting hunters could handle the monsters, but had zero respect for the hunters themselves.
Beom-young's face darkened.
"...Should I just kill them?"
"Chill."
Meanwhile, the police forcibly pushed back the packed civilians and set up a safety line.
The ones fearlessly lurking near the Gate were mostly young folks.
Plenty with cameras.
"I barely mustered the guts to come to my first site, and these kids have none."
"Blame game streaming."
He nodded toward where Enkar was busy filming his broadcast.
God Gold.
Ever since games became reality, Goldbunker's channel—once just 'game streaming'—had lost that label.
And Goldbunker's streams were insanely popular now.
A total jackpot.
Terrestrial TV mentioned them, drawing massive attention, and viewers flocked fearlessly.
Hilariously, even broadcast cameras stuck to Goldbunker.
They didn't wanna die but needed the footage.
This gave Goldbunker a friendly media vibe, forming a kind of power bloc.
"Ugh, those Goldbunker bastards."
"They make bank from streams, cops get government paychecks. Nobody pays us for this crap."
"Sigh. If only the guild master would show up so we could get started."
The guild members vented.
Fullminak's popularity was still strong.
But with Kaisha absent, no way users would rush to join.
They didn't have an existing business like Goldbunker either.
Fullminak's biggest strength was, hands down, Guild Master Kaisha—their unmatched skill and presence.
Without Kaisha, SpaceKing was undeniably Vipa's top guild, so hunters had to watch their step.
Kali, aka Choi Beom-young, said,
"Without Kaisha, it really hits hard. Fullminak sans her is like red bean paste-less steamed buns."
"Totally. Abyss-nim's threatening to quit if guild master doesn't come back."
"Sob. I miss guild master."
"Let's pray."
"Please return Kaisha to us, you damn gods."
"Praying like that is why the gods ignore Kali-hyung."
"I don't care, fuck."
"Disappointed in Kali-nim. Isn't our faith Kaisha-ism? Who were you even praying to?"
"I don't believe in gods anymore! Especially ones that don't show up!"
"Your faith's too weak."
Fullminak members half-jokingly bickered about religion.
[Warning!]
[Gate rampage beginning!]
"!"
Boom!
Everyone's eyes widened as they turned to the Gate.
"...Pray harder."
"She's pissed."
"All Kali-hyung's fault."
"What did I do!"
Rumble rumble—
"Respawn?"
"That's how it works?"
The city ground cracked open, and unidentified critters crawled out in droves.
Aaaah—!!
The fearless crowd screamed and bolted.
"Damn. If you're gonna run, why come?"
"Gates seem to rampage periodically once open."
"No matter how you slice it, we gotta go inside and close it to end this."
"I agree."
"Who's crazy enough to enter with monsters pouring out killing people?!"
Kali barked at the guild members' idea like it was nonsense.
This was real life.
Even gamers felt primal terror at the unreal monsters swarming out.
In his fear, Beom-young—no, Kali—muttered a self-pep talk.
"It's just a game, just a game."
Of course, Enkar and Mino were already charging in, unleashing skills.
User adaptation varied.
Kids especially adapted fast, thrilled at leveling up and diving in.
"Damn. Youth."
As Kali grumbled and joined the raid line—
"Kali-nim!"
Hyeon-woo, who briefly attended Fullminak's first offline meet, rushed over leading Gentle Knights members.
Hyeon-woo must be loaded.
All decked out in capital-backed gear, super reliable.
Next to him was Mura, tall with hat and mask.
Athletic build, like he worked out.
Hyeon-woo said,
"We need to go inside and close the Gate ourselves."
"What?!"
Kali gawked, and Taurin behind him said seriously,
"Then guilds with guild masters should take point, right?"
"That'd be ideal, but..."
"Gilgamesh is late, but Dart's not coming at all."
Remaining members chattered.
In the first raid—when hunters first fought monsters—Dart stepped up front to calm the crisis.
Goldbunker filmed it, hyping their own role.
But Dart exposed his face thoughtlessly in that first raid and was now in deep trouble.
Fans doxxed him; his place was mobbed.
Kali sighed deeply.
"Ah, but Dart hustled hardest in raids."
"He'll rest and come back."
"Heard he got ad deals right after streaming blew up. Real?"
"Goldbunker contact says yes. Sports gear."
"Jealous."
"Would blow up if filmed."
Chit-chat ended there.
Monsters poured from the rampaging Gate, sparking user-vs-Gate monster fights.
"Clear the mobs that spawned first—"
"Civilians, stay back!!"
Ignoring police shouts, someone leaped into the fray.
Thud!
Insane jump power left pursuing cops slack-jawed.
Leaped past the user frontline into the Gate's highest-density zone.
Umbrella slashed horizontally mid-air.
Shraaa—!!
"?!?"
Unbelievable power from an umbrella.
"Whoa, Yang Mobslaughter..."
Enkar muttered unconsciously.
The ground cratered; the figure who shredded air and monsters landed on a huge one.
Boom!
Sprinted off.
Tadadada—
Flawless dash, even in that split second. Impossible not to watch.
Every user there thought the same.
A ranker.
Amid mixed adapted and unadapted users, near-perfect VR game play unfolded.
Users' hearts raced.
Proving you could move in reality like in-game, body and soul.
"Whoa, who's that? Abyss?"
Someone guessed, but Fullminak members who knew Abyss's face shook heads.
Not him.
Crisp speed continued.
Kyaaak!!
Balanced even on moving monsters, scaled to its head,
Raised umbrella high with both hands.
Skill.
[Thrust lv1]
Kwa—bang!
"!"
Green light flashed.
Skill through the long umbrella pierced the crustacean-hard monster head, gouging the ground.
Absurd power from a basic skill.
Kali's eyes bulged.
"...No way!"
From the falling monster, attack skill chained instantly.
Whoosh—
Amped output toward dense monsters, swung the long umbrella hard.
[Warning!]
[Unsafe output! Building 15 meters ahead!]
"!"
Oops.
Ga-hyun's face flashed regret.
Dialed back output hastily.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-quang—!!
Crash!!
Thud. Shatter, clatter.
Ga-hyun froze mid-swing, holding her breath.
Then slowly exhaled.
"Hoo...."
Luckily, just windows shattered.
If compensation demanded, swipe Kim Je-hyun's card.
That thought snapped reason back into her skill-immersed eyes.
The skill's path was slick with monster slime.
[Let's hunt a monster. (13/1)]
[Mission complete!]
[Reward stored in inventory.]
[View reward?]
Alerts popped, but no time for quest loot.
The area was dead silent.
Black mass of armed people. Monsters crawling from presumed Gate.
No denying it—this was inescapably real.
"...."
The game had become true reality.