Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Not Just a Game
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BOOM!
Kaisha's bound heroes immediately stepped up to block the front, shielding their master.
From behind them,
CRACKLE—
Kaisha's basic skill, Lightning, slammed into the hero's body.
KABOOM!!
It went flying straight back, crashing into the ground.
"!!"
As soon as Kaisha came under attack, Fullminak's guild members drew their swords, and the traitors, sensing danger, charged at the hunters.
Inside the gate, a fierce war between the two factions erupted.
* * *
Gilgamesh slipped over to my side, protected by his bound heroes.
Amid the betrayers from Goldbunker, it seemed none of Gilgamesh's bound heroes had turned.
Maybe because the guy was so good at handing out rewards.
He said to me,
"Thanks for coming—really—but you might end up regretting it."
This place wasn't "inside the game" anymore. It was reality, a real battlefield where lives were on the line.
A few had frozen up completely, retreating to the rear without even fighting.
I replied,
"If I hadn't come, I'd be regretting that."
"......"
I felt his heavy gaze, but now wasn't the time to worry about it.
WHOOSH! HWOOONG!
Every time I cast my area heal, everyone fighting on this field—friend or foe—recovered equally.
The three guilds had formed a party, and all the heroes summoned here were bound to the hunters.
"Release the traitors' bindings!"
At my shout, the hunters swiftly began unbinding the bound heroes of the betrayers, true to their ranker status.
I opened the bound hero skill window.
[Quan Messiah]
Hero Traits: [Miracle Girl/Immortality]
—Grants the [Immortality] skill to the binding master.
▶Exclusive Skills:
[Victory's Shout lv99]
[Hell Realm lv99]
[The World is My Toy lv99]
[Protective Instinct lv99]
▶Ultimate Skills:
[Girl's Prayer lv99] (Cooldown: 10 minutes)
[End of the World lv99] (Cooldown: 90 minutes)
Each hero offers different benefits to their binding master upon binding.
Usually, they boost defense or fame, but very rarely, a bound hero grants a special skill.
In Messiah's case, it's Immortality.
It provides extreme defense for a set duration—similar to Mura-nim's "Vajra Indestructible," a skill for dedicated tanks.
With tanks already on hand, it was a skill I hardly ever used—until now.
[Messiah Trait Skill: Immortality lv99]
Everything reset, and seeing that rare lv99 notation made my chest swell with pride.
My baby girl's the best.
"Messiah!"
Messiah, who had been buffing nearby allies while protected by my bound heroes, looked my way.
Area skills could harm hunters too, making them risky.
"End of the World" targeted emotions, leaving targets defenseless—if used carelessly, everyone here might drop their swords and let attacks through.
Messiah's debuff-prevention skill, which applied to small groups.
[Victory's Shout lv99]
I charged into the fray, sword in hand. Gilgamesh, covering the area around me, asked,
"What's that skill do?"
"Debuff prevention, with an emotional effect on top."
"Emotional effect?"
Messiah's holy cheer echoed through the gate.
Her song carried an emotional stabilization effect, easing wartime fear.
Fullminak's bound heroes, familiar with Wirentia's songs, had their morale boosted, and guild members forgot their deathlike tension amid the familiar tune.
Guild members used to religious fervor picked up on the effect right away.
["Ha, that's good."]
["Trust in Kaisha and head to heaven."]
["Amen."]
["Amen."]
HWOOONG!
I answered with a heal, and a brilliant green light descended on all our allies—except the traitors whose bindings were severed.
But in that moment,
SHUNK!
"!"
Someone was impaled on a sword.
"Gh, ugh......"
How many people alive today have seen something like that in person?
["Ah......"]
Crazy.
The scene straight out of a movie froze the hunters in place, sending the group into mass panic.
Dart rushed desperately to the guild member whose gut had been pierced.
"Damn it!"
KABOOM!!
Dart slammed lightning into the enemy, then caught the fallen wounded and laid them down.
Luckily, the guild member wasn't dead, but terror worse than death had them gasping in panic.
Dart cast a heal, but it seemed too weak—the wound wasn't closing easily.
Blood pooled thick around the injured.
Nix covered them and yelled,
"Shit, what do we do?! Too many people to save!!"
Dart shouted back,
"Worry about your own neck!!"
SpaceKing's entire guild plunged into panic.
They were in the worst spot—no heroes left to cover them.
SpaceKing was in danger.
I fought off a wave of traitors, disrupted the front with Lightning, then leaped over to their side.
"Terra! Whistle!"
My summoned heroes moved fast.
I called in close-range tank heroes famous even in Bipa, forming a defensive line, then kept summoning more bound heroes.
"Elfer! Lyannon! Valen!"
They focused on guarding the rear wounded, battling the traitors.
As things worsened, the limits of my basic "Heal" skill became painfully clear.
It handled minor wounds fine, but was too weak for serious injuries. Real heals needed job skills.
"Messiah!"
The summoned Messiah rushed to the wounded, casting her heal.
[Girl's Prayer lv99]
Not sure if it'd fix a gut wound, but we had bound heroes on our side.
I cast my heal too, then shouted to SpaceKing's members,
"Healers with high aptitude, concentrate your heals! Everyone calm down and regroup! Leave tanking to the heroes—stick to your roles!"
With the defensive line formed, hunters rushed in to heal the wounded.
As I crossed to SpaceKing first, Fullminak members followed with their heroes, one by one.
Current setup:
Traitor heroes in the center. SpaceKing and Goldbunker on one side, Fullminak on the other.
To fight the traitors properly, we needed to merge lines.
I turned on voice chat mic.
"Everyone, get over here somehow. We'll form up and start the real fight. It's dangerous—look out for each other, no one gets left behind."
["Got it."]
["Roger."]
I glanced aside.
Dart was suddenly beside me, having secured the stabbed SpaceKing guild member's safety.
His expression was so grim I had to speak.
Dart had used polite speech last time, so I hesitated—but ended up talking casual, like in-game.
"Think of it as a Bipa siege. You're fearless in games."
"......"
"Not your fault."
He flinched.
Dart, who had gone silent and sullen, clenched his fists tight.
"It's on all of us. If we're pointing fingers, the game company that fooled us completely is the real trash."
Hyunwoo-nim and Mura-nim, who had just crossed over, flinched at my words and looked at me.
"?"
Surprised at the shared blame?
Abyss was flying around just like in-game, even in reality.
Abyss zipped through at insane speeds, pulling aggro from front-line enemies and helping guild members cross.
I drew my sword and joined in.
I covered Abyss, who was covering the guild members.
"Messiah!"
The chant resumed.
War needs something to glorify it.
Otherwise, it's too terrifying.
[Messiah Trait Skill: Immortality lv99]
Trying Immortality a few times, I got why I'd barely used it before.
Defense wasn't as ironclad as Vajra Indestructible—wounds came quick.
But compared to unuseable Vajra Indestructible now, it was a hundred times better, especially with the short cooldown. Couldn't be more reliable.
The holy song of the shrine maiden serving me rang out.
In it, I bellowed,
"All forces, prepare to attack!"
Fullminak guild members and heroes had mostly moved over.
Right now, priority was eliminating traitors fast to cut their numbers.
"Concentrated attack starting! Positions: coordinates 1 to 10, left to right!"
Gilgamesh and Dart followed my call.
"Me and Kaisha'll split command for melee."
"I'll handle defense and rear support."
Hunters split into two.
Dart's mage DPS rear dealers, and Gilgamesh and my frontline melee DPS.
Frontline hero tanks were dying off, one by one.
Couldn't delay longer.
Problem was, watching it terrified the hunters.
The traitors, drilled through countless sieges, moved with scary precision in their assault.
"Kaisha!"
Gilgamesh called me.
Our eyes met, and we nodded in sync.
If we didn't lead, the melee dealers' fear would be fatal.
As if resonating with our resolve, Abyss—Bipa's speed king—dashed ahead first, sweeping the front.
Then marked and struck one spot in the enemy line.
BOOM!
"Here!"
At Abyss's shout, Dart raised his hand.
His blue eyes flashed.
From the rear, with more mental leeway than the life-or-death front, DPS barrage poured down.
KABOOM KABOOM BOOM!!
Gilgamesh cheered,
"Nice!"
Tension eased instantly.
Gilgamesh and I charged together, swinging swords.
Hunters followed.
Skill blasts filled the gate, shaking it hard—but no one up front could care.
Too many tanks had fallen.
My bound hero Whistle, who tanked solidly at the front protecting everyone; Lyannon, bravely holding enemy center—gone from here.
Reverse login, so they're in Midgard, I figured. Still, an uneasy worry nagged.
Like Messiah said, hoping it wasn't true death.
Just as we didn't die back there, hope we meet again in Midgard.
From here on,
It's do or die.