Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
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Around lunchtime, a grand banquet for the gods was held in the Deferonta imperial palace.
The hunters who had died and come back to life in the gate were treated like gods—familiar yet long-missed—and laughed, ate, and chatted to their hearts' content.
The greatest thrill of Bipa.
To stand above these so-called NPCs as a victorious siege conqueror, reigning as a god and ruling Midgard.
Yet amid the festivities, there was one NPC—no, one person—who looked deeply uneasy.
I was sitting at the head table, eating and chatting with a few guild members, lost in a profound peace, when someone approached me.
"My son isn't dead, is he?"
It was Phun Whistle's mother.
They said none of the heroes who died inside the gate had returned.
Neither Whistle nor Elfer.
Elfer was the sole survivor from the fairy forest and had no family, while Liyanonn wasn't from Deferonta so his situation was unknown, but Whistle's family was right here.
I forced down my panic and spoke with the confidence Messiah had told me to have.
"He'll definitely come back. Let's wait at least a day. It might take up to 24 hours for reconnection—or return—here too."
The worried noblewoman's face softened a bit as she turned away.
I glanced at Messiah and asked,
"...He didn't die, right?"
"Definitely not."
Her firm answer put me at ease, and I nodded.
I smiled faintly at Messiah.
"Messiah."
"Yes."
It hit me anew, almost tangibly, that Messiah was a real person.
"Want me to take you home?"
"You said we're heading to the dungeon right after the banquet."
"True, but..."
We'd decided not to bring the heroes.
Since we'd taken heavy losses in the gate, the idea was to avoid relying too much on them and build a habit of fighting on our own.
We could summon our allied heroes anytime anyway.
Soon, the guild masters would gather to discuss this in detail.
Even if we were diving into the dungeon right away, thinking of Messiah as a person—not an NPC—meant I couldn't just drag her around on a whim.
"Don't you want to go home?"
"It's comfortable here now, but I don't feel the need to go back."
I see.
Messiah was the high priestess of Wirentia, but she'd come from humble origins.
Even with her genius talent earning her the gods' choice, it had taken decades to secure her position purely on merit amid all those noble priests.
Messiah said,
"The day I prayed and pondered your words all day long, the god told me to follow you."
Her eyes shone like stars.
"He said I'd see a new world if I took your hand."
"..."
"And that once I'd fulfilled the mission heaven entrusted to me, I wouldn't wish anymore for him to take my life away."
My chest tightened.
I ended up pulling Messiah into a tight hug.
"Messiaaaah."
Smack smack.
Messiah's cheeks flushed pink.
If I could summon heroes out here too, I'd show our Messiah a whole new world, stuff her with delicious food, buy her tons of nice clothes, drive her around to all the coolest places...
Then a voice cut in.
"Wow, look at this guy. You wanna do that to real people too?"
It was Gilgamesh.
He'd come because it was about time to start the meeting.
"No, can't you see how cute our Messiah is?! Dart, you can't see it either?!"
At my fangirl shriek, Dart flinched and sighed instead of answering as he took a seat.
Gilgamesh pulled up a chair to the table.
This guy had been hanging out with the awakened ones earlier, but then he'd mingled with our palace folks, laughing and chatting, and now he'd brought a whole crowd.
The otherworlders of the palace—no, too cumbersome; let's just call them NPCs.
The NPCs' eyes sparkled as they asked,
"Kaisha-nim! Is it true Gilgamesh-nim is going to be your husband?!"
Dart and I looked up at the same time.
"What?"
What bullshit is that?
[Gilgamesh-nim requests to become your seventeenth husband.]
[Accept?]
Gilgamesh, who'd sent the request and then saw the message, looked horrified.
"Seventeenth husband?! Wow! Even with the fame effect, I've got pride! Who's the sixteen before me?"
"Guild members and alliance guild masters."
Gilgamesh growled,
"Who's first? I'll crush that bastard."
"Hyunwoo-nim. Beat this guy's ass."
At my deadpan remark, Hyunwoo-nim—who'd come over sensing the meeting starting—smiled and half-drew his sword.
Shing.
Bipa ranking 3rd, Hyunwoo.
Faced with a tough opponent, Gilgamesh quickly backpedaled.
"...Who's second?"
"Doesn't matter what number. It's just for the marriage buffs. Why does it matter?"
I opened Fulminak's family tree window.
A mythic-level clusterfuck of a tree.
Stuff like "my daughter's husband" didn't give great buffs.
So it devolved into me stealing my daughter's husband as my own, and other soap-opera plots like that.
For reference, our guild's top-tier female characters were either my daughters or wives; males were sons or husbands.
Kali and Maya were my sisters.
Fitting for a gods' family tree, same-sex and incestuous marriages were naturally allowed.
Second and third stringers were kept one step removed from my direct line on principle.
Indirect relations gave weaker buffs anyway, and we didn't need them much outside territory management.
Blood ties or marriage changed the buffs, so we picked for convenience.
I raised a finger.
"But why the hell would I share my fame buffs with another guild master?"
Naturally, I picked [No].
As a god in Midgard, my fame was insane, so blood ties or marriages let me share some of it.
Guild members and allies only, of course.
Gilgamesh looked betrayed, like he hadn't expected me to play dirty.
"You're really doing this?"
The gathered NPCs gasped and chattered at the twist.
"Gilgamesh-nim got rejected?"
"Oh my. He's the famous god of wealth from the center and so handsome. What a shame."
"I thought if you two married, it'd help trade with the merchant nations near Iska..."
"Peace..."
Murmurs.
"..."
When the hell did this bastard build this much popularity in our palace?
He'd been wandering around since morning.
Gilgamesh said,
"Sharing your fame buffs before the northern dungeon wouldn't hurt. Especially for Dart here."
"For Dart?"
At the name, nearby NPCs gasped and backed away fast.
The area went dead silent.
"?
Everyone was having so much fun I hadn't noticed, but had Space King come up at the banquet?
The palace NPCs were learning for the first time right here that the black-haired guy in front of them was Dart.
Gilgamesh's face was unmistakable, so they'd recognized him instantly.
Gilgamesh shrugged.
"See? Even here it's like this. You think northern NPCs will leave that guy alone?"
"They probably won't recognize him?"
"Guild members will. Heroes see names even through customs."
"Oh."
Right.
Dart glanced at me after scanning the wary crowd.
We were heading right after the banquet to level up in the northern territory dungeon owned by Space King.
The rankers had all tasted the bitterness of weakness in the gate together.
Power leveling was all that was left.
But.
I was a bit flustered by the palace banquet's suddenly frosty vibe, then quietly said to Gilgamesh and Dart,
"Aren't we past the point where anyone short of hero-tier can touch us easily?"
"You got ambushed by these guys and you're saying that? Space King's overflowing with heroes—you'd think they had a hero mine."
Fair point.
Gilgamesh elaborated,
"Not sure if we'll run into northern heroes, but safer is better."
After mulling it over, I was convinced by Gilgamesh and asked Dart,
"So, wanna be my husband too?"
I'd decided marriage buffs were needed, but a bizarre silence fell over the hall.
"..."
Hold on.
What's with this atmosphere?
The icy tension melted into shock, then excitement and awe erupted everywhere.
Oh my god!
Kaisha-nim is proposing to Dart!
Gilgamesh savored the heated NPC vibe, downed his glass, smirked, and said to me,
"You just perfectly screwed me over, huh? Reject my proposal then propose to Dart right away? This'll be palace legend forever."
Goldbunker's Gilgamesh proposes to Kaisha, gets rejected, then she proposes to her bitter rival Dart.
Ooh, the mysteries of love.
Total soap opera.
"...This won't do. Let's marry both."
Saying it made me feel like it was its own brand of drama.
Gilgamesh relaxed.
"Hah. Should've done this sooner. Obviously I'm first—"
[Dart-nim requests to become your seventeenth husband.]
[Accept?]
[Yes]
Gilgamesh froze.
"..."
I'd just accepted both preemptively the moment requests popped.
"Hey, you bastard!"
Gilgamesh jumped up, face twisted at getting cut off by Dart.
Murmurs and laughter swelled.
The NPCs' hostility toward Dart eased thanks to the farce, which was good, but I felt like I'd lost something important.
Morals or whatever.
If this weren't the real world, I probably wouldn't feel this way.
Hyunwoo-nim murmured,
"It's fine, Kaisha-nim. Myths are soap operas by nature."
"...Yeah."
Right. I'd stolen all my daughters' husbands and my sons' wives—what's this compared to that?
Some weird comfort.
* * *
The three guilds united.
Goldbunker opened their warehouse, supplying quality low-level gear, while Space King guided us to northern dungeons.
Those dungeons were a big reason Space King drew so many members.
They gave great EXP, high drop rates, and were sorted by level—perfect for raising guildies and heroes.
Anyway.
[Settling rewards for Kaisha-nim's [Lowguard Great Battle] event.]
[Settlement complete.]
[Receive rewards?]
This had been pending since arriving in Midgard, but I'd shoved it aside amid exhaustion and busyness.
"..."
Getting the demon king kill rewards only after reset and coming here.
This was too...
[Yes]
Insanely profitable?
Ding!
[Rewards granted!]
My inventory, stuffed with Goldbunker gear and new items, ballooned.
And.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
...
Notifications rang out nonstop for me.
[Name] Kaisha (lv 33) [p86]
[Strength] 37 / [Vitality] 24
[Agility] 24 / [Intellect] 37
[Defense] 24
[Mana] 99999999+
[HP] 100%
My level shot up a whopping 10.
Boss mob was Lowguard's demon king—world's strongest—and I landed the killing blow.
As levels rose, stat points per level increased as always, letting me hit a massive 86 from power-leveling.
Just as I'd hoped: insanely profitable.