Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
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Thud.
Kali slumped down from behind.
"Hah. We survived."
As heroes were summoned one after another, the guild members caught their breath.
The NPC heroes we'd painstakingly leveled up to SSS+ with all skills maxed out were far stronger than us.
"Feels like a mobile game. Line up your DPS, healers, and tanks with heroes, hit auto-battle, and just watch."
"But if we're just spectating, our EXP barely goes up."
The EXP from monsters killed by bound heroes does trickle back to their binders, but if your attack contribution is low, you naturally get less.
"When the heroes are carrying hard, we should grind brainpower practice to level up."
"Just three minutes to rest."
"Me too."
"We gotta max out levels as much as possible this time."
"Man, we really almost died."
"Living at max level and suddenly dropping means we'll die even easier now."
The guild members chattered away.
We sat in the corner of the gate, savoring a rare reunion and enjoying some peaceful downtime.
Then Kali shot me a sullen glare.
"You summon heroes just to fangirl?"
"What's wrong with that? It's fine to have one tucked in."
I hugged Messiah tight for show, and Kali clicked her tongue.
"You want to? Now that Midgard's another world and NPCs might all be real people."
"Messiah, you hate it?"
She shook her head.
Sigh. This pretty thing.
"But Messiah, age-wise, she's probably our grandma—"
Smack!
Kali shot to her feet.
Enka had walloped the back of her head hard.
"You wanna die?!"
"Huh? What?"
Enka, who'd been resting nearby, panicked and glanced at his hand, then Kali's head.
"Whoa! Wasn't me!"
"You bastard?!"
"For real! My hand moved on its own, like it was being controlled..."
Enka and Kali both turned to Messiah.
I looked down at her in surprise too, and Messiah buried her face in my chest, avoiding my gaze.
"Ahahahaha!!"
Laughter burst out.
[World Is My Toy lv99]
Manipulation ability.
With focused activation, it allows pretty precise control, and simple actions can even be done as an AoE skill.
In war, just hitting the enemy lines with "All Turn Around" leaves them wide open.
Kali and Enka jumped back.
"How is this possible?! A bound hero using attack skills on allied players?!"
"Isn't this scary? If she can use skills like this on guildmates, she could straight-up attack us anytime!"
Unprecedented, sure.
But with all the heroes on our side, no real sense of crisis.
"Reverse login glitch?"
"...In this space, heroes don't die."
Messiah murmured in response to my musing, her voice small and cautious.
She continued.
"This world granted heroes special powers temporarily to save you all. The very same powers you wielded in Midgard."
Everyone's eyes went wide.
The guild members looked toward the heroes fighting up front.
"So NPC heroes can't die here, and they can attack their binders?"
Messiah nodded at my uneasy question.
I asked again.
"Is Midgard really a real world? Like, another dimension?"
"Yes."
Messiah answered.
"You didn't believe me, but that's the truth."
"!"
The guild members gasped and buzzed in shock.
Hearing it confirmed straight-up felt totally different from when we'd joked about the Midgard isekai tale.
"Whoa, insane."
"No way. The Midgard isekai story is real?"
"Then what's Bipa's deal?"
Even the guild members fighting alongside the heroes up front froze.
"What's going on?"
"Midgard's a real other world. Explains the insane realism."
"Huh? What? Who said that?"
"Messiah..."
The murmurs grew louder.
"Even for a VR game, its quality stood out way too much."
"So we've been killing real people all this time? What the hell did the devs do turning it into a war game?"
"Ugh, gonna puke all of a sudden."
Everyone paled.
As memories of all our atrocities in Midgard flashed by, Spaceking—the top villain—popped into my head.
Rumble—boom!
"!"
The guild members froze en masse.
This quake wasn't from the gate front—it was from behind.
Come to think of it, that system alert earlier said too many entrants for the gate?
No way.
"...Spaceking?"
For some reason, Goldbunker didn't come to mind first—Spaceking did.
Kwa-kwa-kwang—!!
Another massive boom from behind.
* * *
Hoseong vented his rage.
"Fuckin' idiots! Who said to summon heroes?!"
They were all about to die.
The silver lining: heroes busy fighting gate monsters weren't hitting hunters full force.
Monsters targeted heroes first over hunters.
But true to max-level heroes players slaved over, they shredded monsters at insane speed.
"The alert told us to summon them."
Goldbunker's vice guild master Credit kept talking.
"It said reverse login. We've been logging into Midgard all this time—maybe now they're logging into our dimension."
"So Midgard's a real other world?"
"Has to be."
Hoseong scowled.
"Hah. Thought it was bullshit, but it's real? What kinda devs are they?"
Huge gaps exist between commercial civilian tech and black-site proprietary stuff.
Some folks transcend money entirely.
When a VR game with bonkers quality dropped solo, we'd chalked it up to that— but if the game world was a real isekai, this was next-level tech entirely.
Hoseong asked Credit.
"Any way to tell which of those bastards are with us, which against?"
"Nope. Summoned too many."
"Fuck this shit. Reverse summon works fine before, now it's broken—damn half-assed game system."
Hoseong spat curses while blocking a sword flying at him.
Klang!
Gate entrance.
Monsters relatively weak, mostly cleared.
But the situation worsened.
Once monsters died off and all heroes turned on hunters? Zero chance of winning.
Heroes started zeroing in on hunters one by one.
"Debuff 'em properly!"
"Ugh!"
"Heal! Heals heals heals!!"
Some heroes froze at the sudden chaos, gauging the situation.
Debating sides.
Spaceking's bound heroes turned enemy almost to a man; Goldbunker's many followed suit.
Few stuck with players, so fence-sitters watched cues.
Worse still.
"Gasp. These fuckers don't die—they just hologram out?"
"They don't die?!"
"Shit! Roles reversed!"
No arbitrary reverse summon, logout on player death like us.
Hunters reeled realizing heroes immortal, but no time to freak.
"Just no resummons!"
"Danger front!"
"Uwaaak! AoE incoming!"
Massive expanded shield enveloped the front, protecting hunters.
Kwa—bang!
"Shield...?"
Then the area flashed bright.
One hero's AoE hit the shield, ricocheted into heroes, followed by lightning like divine punishment.
Kwa-bam—!!
"Tertiary mage skill?!"
"Someone already chaining two job skills?!"
Hunters and heroes whipped around to the caster.
Dart.
"......"
Dart, who'd powerleveled in first raid, cast mage skill.
Insane brainpower amp made it no newbie hit, but definitely primary mage skill.
Heroes froze at Dart's flashy cast.
"Not weakened?"
"D-Damn. What now for us..."
Terrified heroes muttered.
To Midgard northern heroes, Dart terrified them to the bone—froze on sight of the cast.
Then someone bellowed.
"We have Hellcannon!"
The shocking shout split hunters and heroes—joy and dread.
Hunters blanched.
"H-Hellcannon?"
"Insane."
Heroes' gazes converged, parting to make way.
Hellcannon, lurking silently rear like nonexistent, stepped forward under focused stares.
Step. Step.
"......"
Battle halted; tense silence, footsteps echoed.
Spaceking and Goldbunker heroes split three factions.
Heroes picked sides.
Left, right.
Neutral.
Hoseong muttered.
"Good. At least now we know friend from foe."
He shot Dart a glare.
"Why'd you have to summon Hellcannon of all things."
Dart ignored him, staring tensely at approaching Hellcannon from opposite side.
Spaceking summoned too many heroes.
Northern NPCs, descendants of exiled criminals, innately vicious and cruel.
Unleashed heroes turned blades on masters.
Few heroes forcibly bound before now chose to protect hunters.
Footsteps stopped.
Hellcannon.
Abrilia's direct prince stood at enemy heroes' fore.
Thick tension hung.
All heroes, all awakers watched Hellcannon's mood.
Goldbunker's GM Hoseong casually called Spaceking's vice Soap like a buddy.
"Soapy."
Soap startled, replied.
"Y-Yeah?"
"Hellcannon looks like he's debating killing us all. You think there's even a sliver chance he'll side with us?"
Soap furrowed brow, deep in thought at Hoseong's question.
Spaceking's GM Dart no easy talk, so details from Soap.
Spaceking knew Hellcannon best, obviously.
"Well..."
Soap rolled eyes briefly.
Too tangled to answer quick.
"Not like we mistreated him in guild. He's GM-bound, but from the start it was already—"
"No mind games. We judge by actions only."
Dart cut Soap off from the side, eavesdropping.
Zero chance, basically.
Hoseong sighed.
"Hah. What situation is this? One NPC hero holds all our lives."
Shing.
"!"
Sword draw sound tensed everyone silent.
Hellcannon drew blade.
With all awakers reset to init levels, no one here could beat him.
One [Midgard's Guardian lv99] and news screams "all dead."
Whoosh.
Hellcannon's sword glowed red, pregnant with skill.
Eyes set with resolve.
Horror like death settled on watching hunters' faces.
"F-Fuck."
"No."
Ex-players trembled in death fear.
Opposite of game time.
Heroes don't die for real, but we? Major damage, no revive—dead.
"God, please..."
In death-terror, someone desperately prayed.
"Messiah—!!"
"？!"
A voice no Bipa player could miss boomed through the gate.
All heads snapped around forcibly.
Messiah manipulation skill.
[World Is My Toy lv99]
Kaisha charged first, Fullminak guild behind with heroes.
"What the hell's going on?!"
"Whoa, insane."
"No way, for real. Heroes attacking binders."
Fullminak grasped heroes vs. awakers, faces shocked.
Joy and dread crossed again.
"Kaisha!"
"Fullminak's here!"
"Shiiiiba we live—!!"
Fullminak returned hearing commotion, joined standoff.
Hoseong bellowed.
"Kaisha, behind!!"
"？!"
As Kaisha whipped around startled, one hero immediately skilled up and charged her.