Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Heroes Under the Spotlight
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["You're being live-streamed all over the internet right now—do you know where you are? The heroes are dressed all hip and cool."]
"Of course I made sure of it. I came out on purpose for everyone to see."
["Showing off Hellcannon?"]
"Heh heh heh."
When I just laughed without answering, Gilgamesh let out an exasperated chuckle.
I glanced at Hellcannon beside me.
The people who caught a glimpse of Hellcannon's face were stunned, completely entranced by his good looks.
Feels good.
Just as expected, a huge crowd had gathered, but the heroes—who had been warned ahead of time—didn't seem surprised at all. They casually checked out the people while following me.
"I'm also thinking about that hero vlog you mentioned."
["Oh, that? You're really going to do it?"]
"With Goldbunker and Spaceking charging ahead, Fullminak can't just sit still."
["Man, you've turned into a full businessman. Though if anything, Spaceking looks more like he's being dragged along by the collar."]
Spaceking had joined forces with the military to deal with the heroes—no, the villains now.
The media called the heroes who turned their blades on hunters "villains." Meanwhile, the hunters had become the heroes.
"I thought Dart took the lead because the media kept portraying it so coolly."
["You really believe everything the media says? Improving the hunter image is something we take the lead on, and the government's on board too, so it's going smoothly."]
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Now that we're in the real world, Goldbunker had surged way ahead. Spaceking and Fullminak would have to step it up.
Gilgamesh kept talking.
["The military's in an uproar. Turns out that guy's birth dad was a freaking three-star general. Nearly gave me a heart attack hearing that."]
I'd heard that even one star in the military ranks was a big deal.
Three stars?
I recalled the bits and pieces I'd heard about Dart.
"His birth dad passed away, right?"
["Yeah. From what I hear, the family remarried, and there was a big age gap. But his stepdad's a high-ranking guy too."]
"So that's why Dart..."
["Pfft! Exactly what I thought! Everyone reacts the same!"]
Who knew that jerk had some solid roots.
More than his impressive family background, the fact that Dart came from a military family really caught my interest.
Beyond his personality, Dart had been uniquely outstanding in military matters all this time. Once his background came out, the atmosphere among the Awakened was electric.
As expected from Spaceking's guild master.
["Anyway, Spaceking isn't charging ahead—he's just been collared by the military because he has to take responsibility for the villains who rebelled."]
"But weren't they a full-on military outfit from the start?"
["True, but..."]
Spaceking seemed to be making moves in the military sphere.
Goldbunker was all about broadcasting.
What would we do next?
["Oh, and hero affiliation contracts aren't working anymore. Looks like even Midgard won't allow additional ones."]
"Affiliation contracts aren't working?"
["Yeah. We checked the site ourselves after seeing it there. Spaceking's side figured it out first, I think."]
"Then..."
My mind raced.
["Put all the heroes together, and right now Fullminak's forces outrank Spaceking's."]
Forces, huh.
But right now, the only places where raw force mattered were Midgard and the gates.
"Any chance of another siege war breaking out?"
["No idea, but gates are a sure thing. They've got two bursting at once overseas. Still not resolved—total chaos. Tsk."]
Were hunter levels different by country?
We shared all our info as a precedent, so why did they let gates rampage until Dungeon Breaks killed their own people? I couldn't understand it.
Overseas, they even had a term for gate rampages now.
Dungeon Break.
Korean hunters were clicking their tongues at the nonstop foreign news but secretly feeling proud.
I didn't know much, but apparently the Korean server was famous even back during the Bipa service.
Anyway, in that case.
Fullminak had the advantage in forces. We needed to leverage that to quickly conquer gates and Babel Tower, then find ways to make money off it.
Our alliance guild was already analyzing the market system.
["By the way, how's your guild member training going?"]
Asking about top-secret stuff.
"I left that to Kali, so I don't know the details."
I immediately played dumb.
Right now, Fullminak's second and third squads were tackling Midgard's southern dungeons alongside a few first-stringers in Babel Tower.
The southern dungeons were low-grade, so they didn't give as much exp as Spaceking's northern ones, but the NPCs were super friendly, making them safe.
Truth be told, grinding southern dungeons wasn't the real honey spot—hidden quests were.
Especially the myth-grade light-attribute items from ancient lore that poured out. As a game newbie back then, I thought they were common and just dumped them in my inventory without using them.
I still remember Kali's shocked face when I dumped them all into the guild warehouse while cleaning out junk.
That's why Fullminak members' gear was mostly light-attribute.
"Anyway, training our guild members is urgent for us too."
["Same here. As you know, our territory barely has any dungeons. Spaceking probably jumped straight into Babel Tower."]
"Hope they're okay."
Spaceking's biggest threat right now was the NPC heroes they'd raised themselves.
Spread all over Midgard's north.
["Fire on their feet, and if they're not okay, what can they do? Gotta level up quick and deal with the villains loose in the world."]
I worried there'd be more deaths in Midgard.
Superstitious thought—I swallowed it.
Anyway, dungeons in Midgard alone weren't enough to train guild members.
Fullminak's current strength was our forces.
"We're planning to take the next gate by force, so keep that in mind."
["Whoa! Straight-up like that? Everyone's busy, so it'd probably go automatic anyway, but let's deal—pay us to party up some of our guys."]
"Sounds good. Might as well spy on Goldbunker while we're at it."
["Hey, you think I'd do that?"]
He totally would.
Can't let your guard down between guilds, but Gilgamesh was genuinely helping me out in various ways right now.
Midgard's central region had tons of mines but really no dungeons.
"Think about it if you pay big."
["Damn, for real."]
"Every time I think about the money you made selling me out, I can't sleep."
["Name your price."]
Gilgamesh answered quick.
Honestly, handling Goldbunker wasn't hard.
Gilgamesh had wanted to get close to me since the broadcasting pitch, and he still wanted to keep good relations for various reasons.
But what I really wanted right now was Spaceking and access to northern dungeons.
If I hadn't swung at Dart, I could've sent our heroes to secure Midgard safety and negotiate northern dungeon rights.
Gilgamesh changed the subject.
["But do you know anything detailed about Gentle Knights' guild master?"]
"Hyunwoo-nim?"
["...Never mind."]
"Why stop mid-sentence?"
Truth be told, Hyunwoo-nim was always kind but kept a certain distance.
Even when he bowed to join Fullminak, I couldn't read his thoughts, making it hard to approach.
["Anyway, guy's a chaebol heir or whatever. Go meet him and find out."]
Curious because he's rich?
Of course, I had my own curiosities about Hyunwoo-nim.
He was always busy and rarely reached out, so I'd been thinking of contacting him first.
Kwa—bang!!
"?!"
Suddenly, a person dropped onto a nearby parked car, sending people screaming.
Beep beep beep—
Car alarms blared, and in the chaos, Hellcannon and Whistle blocked in front of me, scanning the surroundings.
I cut the call and ordered the heroes pulling weapons from their inventories.
"Protect the people before me!"
Just a person falling—no other incidents—but the area fell into panic.
Elfer glanced at the sky, then dashed toward the wrecked car and body. I followed right behind.
Elfer checked and whipped her head back to me.
"It's a Spaceking hero."
"!"
The moment I looked up in shock at her words, hunters chasing the villain heroes blocked out the sunlight.
They'd been tracking heroes lately.
"Kaisha-nim!"
Elfer shouted.
While I was distracted by the sky, the guy I thought was dead sprang up, sword in hand, charging.
Chwaak—!
Too close.
"!"
I barely dodged, getting a slight cut on my neck—not dangerous.
I pressed my hand to the wound and cast heal. Intense green light burst out, erasing the stinging pain.
Whoosh—
Kwa kwa kwa bang!!
Hellcannon rushed in an instant, slashing down with his sword. Elfer, mid-cast on her AoE, canceled and pulled me into a hug.
Whoa!
"I-I'm fine. Don't worry."
"You said dying here means no respawn!"
That was true—the blade on my neck had chilled me—but we were in a combat zone now, facing the enemy.
The guy's running.
"Hellcannon!"
Hellcannon, who turned a roadside car to scrap with one merciless blow, immediately chased the enemy.
Hope the country compensates for that car too.
Thinking that, I grabbed Elfer's hand and sprinted after the villain hero at full speed.
As I opened my skill window to pick a ranged skill—
"Sis!"
"!"
A completely unexpected voice startled me into turning.
It was Abyss.
She looked dolled up heavy—probably on her way somewhere.
True to her assassin style, Abyss shot forward at insane speed and hurled a dagger. It nailed the fleeing guy's leg perfectly, tripping him.
Chwaaak—!
"Krk!"
He slid, yanked out the dagger, got up, and bolted into a nearby alley.
Kwa bang!!
Lightning struck the alley entrance. Abyss flinched and dodged as she tried to follow.
I looked up— a hunter dropped down from above.
Tatak.
"S-Sorry!"
The one who probably called the lightning, Binu-nim, bowed to us apologetically before dashing into the alley.
Abyss and I exchanged glances and pursued.
Ahead, Binu-nim chased the guild's rogue hero. Behind, Hellcannon, Elfer, and the others closed in fast.
I overheard Binu-nim's comms.
["Missed?"]
"Went into the alley."
["Crazy. Thought he'd splat from that height."]
["Cockroaches."]
"Kaisha-nim and Abyss-nim with me. No extra support needed."
["Whoa, luxury lineup."]
Whether on purpose or not, Binu-nim—who had guild chat audio blasting externally—turned to me.
"Be careful. They get stronger in alleys. Rumor is their backers have territory there."
I recalled the blonde girl we'd passed at the alley mouth.
Something's up.
Suddenly, flames erupted across Binu-nim's visible map. The single hero count exploded.
"Nest?!"
["What? Whoa, shit. For real."]
Illusion or something—once in range, the traitors in the alley lit up on the tracking window.