Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Red Orc Onslaught
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No less than ten Black Gates had opened simultaneously in Seoul alone.
According to the news—whether fortunate or not—the gates weren't separate but connected as one.
Each guild had divided their forces based on their territorial rights and connections before entering the gates.
"This... this is insane...."
Garudog Guild, a guild that could be considered fairly successful, along with its guild master and elite raid leaders, spat out curses.
Little was known about Black Gates at the time.
They had entered for the first time and felt relieved at the appearance of ogres and trolls.
Boom!
But they soon realized these were different from any ogres or trolls they'd faced before and were greatly shocked.
With the experience they'd accumulated, however, they could tackle them step by step.
'We got legendary items just from taking down things like these?'
That thought had crossed their minds.
'Don't get greedy for items. Didn't you see Goldian's announcement?'
'That's just them trying to monopolize everything. And didn't some sell legendary items for big money? Enough to fix their luck ten times over, they said.'
It was when the thrill and desire began to writhe.
"What the hell is that...."
A red wave surging forward.
At first, they thought it was some gate anomaly.
"O-orcs...! It's orcs!"
As the wave drew closer and sharp-eyed players recognized it, panic set in.
The wave numbered in the thousands, and the red-glowing orcs were obviously different from regular ones, even without facing them.
"Form up!"
At that moment, the master of the Thunder Guild, who had entered with them, shouted.
He was his longtime friend and rival, the one who had warned against greed for legendary items.
One day, the friend had surged past him like he'd caught a tailwind.
"Hah!"
And then.
Boom!
They clashed with the red wave.
Thunder Guild ranked 9th among the top ten guilds.
They'd once been on par with Garudog.
"This is all they've got?"
But the skill they displayed was far beyond their public reputation.
Splash!
It was on a level that made one question how they could be only 9th.
"W-we'll join in too!"
Garudog joined late, but what they faced was terror and helplessness.
The Red Orcs were incomparably stronger than any they'd fought before, just as expected.
It was baffling how Thunder was cutting them down so easily.
"Keuk!"
"Uwaaak!"
Injuries mounted, and cracks formed in Thunder and Garudog as they fell back.
'At this rate, we'll be wiped out. We have to run....'
Just as Garudog's guild master was drowning in despair, thinking even Thunder's power couldn't overcome this—
"Just hold on a bit longer!"
Cheon Woo-hyun of Thunder shouted.
'Hold on?'
Was there some gimmick?
"Just wait a little, and that person will come!"
"What are you talking about...."
Crunch!
At that moment, a sound like space tearing apart came from behind the red wave.
"Waaaaah!"
Thunder's cheers erupted as if they'd been waiting.
Craaaack!
The red wave was swept away, and Thunder pushed forward without missing the gap.
Garudog could only watch as spectators in that battle.
[Your level has increased.]
The battle, which they'd thought would end in annihilation, concluded with the system announcing a level up.
Blank faces.
"It's an honor to meet you."
"Long time no see. Three years?"
"...You remember....!"
The reinforcements who appeared were astonishingly just one person.
And even more astonishing was that it was a face they all knew well.
"...Go Yohan?"
Go Yohan of the Divine Guild.
The man who, until recently, had been called Divine's problem child, the sole blemish on the great Divine Guild.
Many had doubted and refused to believe he'd played a major role in conquering a Black Gate.
But it was true.
"Head to the front where the alliance is gathered and join them."
He remembered that time not long ago.
He'd seen the news of Go Yohan conquering a Black Gate while eating with Cheon Woo-hyun.
'Finally....'
At that moment, Cheon Woo-hyun had trembled as if struck by lightning, true to his guild's name.
'It's starting at last.'
He hadn't understood then.
"And...."
Then Go Yohan spoke.
"Never head to the village where the ritual is being performed."
Village where the ritual is being performed?
"Don't even exchange words with the orc shamans. No one can take responsibility for what happens."
"Understood."
Even the prideful Cheon Woo-hyun bowed his head as he replied.
*
*
*
[You have stopped the ritual in the Orc Village.]
[Rituals are in progress in the remaining four villages.]
A full day had passed since the Black Gates opened.
In that time, Go Yohan had crisscrossed the vast Black Gate, sweeping through orcs.
Three rituals stopped already.
The number of orcs crushed...
[The ritual in Claw Orc Village has succeeded.]
At that moment, the goddess's voice rang out.
[The blessing of the evil god Ograk descends.]
[A protective barrier for the orcs forms.]
[Ograk's army rises.]
That was when it happened.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook violently.
With that.
Boom!
Go Yohan kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.
What he could see with the naked eye was limited.
Whoosh.
But through Divine Sight, he could see much farther.
Near the orc villages where rituals were underway, Red Orcs numbering nearly ten thousand were stationed.
And some of them were moving.
'Toward the center.'
Toward the center where the guilds were gathered.
Thirty-odd guilds there.
Nearly five thousand strong.
"Desperately struggling to survive."
It felt like the orcs had used numbers to draw his attention.
"No choice."
Even without them, Go Yohan was reaching his limit.
His body was effectively the same as having fought a war alone.
Even a superhuman needed rest.
Wriggle.
The tattoos on Go Yohan's neck and hands writhed.
'I need to rest.'
He couldn't let them rampage after barely stabilizing them.
Thud.
Go Yohan's direction was set.
"There's something I need to check too."
When Go Yohan had stopped the ritual in the second orc village, he'd learned something.
Rather than stopping rituals in other villages, he'd focused on rescuing guilds and issuing warnings.
'Don't talk to the orc shamans.'
'Don't approach the ritual sites.'
But if some hadn't heard or acted independently...
Wriggle.
The remaining Black Gates would be even busier tonight.
*
*
*
At the midpoint of the black land, guilds had gathered to build a base camp.
Black Gates were a type of Red Gate, where entry and exit weren't free.
"Wow, that's a filthy lot."
Nearly five thousand players had gathered there.
One wondered if so many players had ever assembled inside a gate since players first appeared.
It was as if...
"Looks like war broke out."
A scene reminiscent of war.
Even stranger was modern players in medieval-modern mixed attire coming and going in a camp built with modern tech.
"But why do those people look so grim?"
The man who spoke up was a mid-tier guild master whose guild had barely gotten association permission to enter.
"Black Gate, my ass. It's not as bad as I thought. Just slightly stronger ogres or trolls, but nothing to those guys, right?"
The serious faces mostly belonged to members of top hundred guilds.
"Didn't you see?"
Then, a player in a similar situation spoke up.
"You got lucky, I guess."
Those gathered for the meeting were naturally the leadership of the ad-hoc alliance.
The rest either weren't qualified or chose not to attend.
"You must not have encountered the red orcs."
"Red orcs?"
"Those things..."
The player said,
"Were monsters."
"They're still just orcs, aren't they?"
"...Orcs, huh."
Heh.
The player chuckled.
Orcs with estimated levels in the 100s might seem trivial given the levels of players permitted into the Black Gate.
"Estimated level late 200s, they say."
"......! What?"
Current top rankers were mid-300s.
Late 200s meant tough even for rankers, excluding the top hundred per country.
"And thousands of them came charging."
"...You're joking, right?"
"Does it look like a joke?"
Serious face.
But the man just chuckled.
"Why scare me? It is a joke. Otherwise, how could everyone be fine?"
The story sent chills just hearing it.
Yet those who had faced them and arrived looked unscathed, without major injuries.
Heard there were injuries but deaths were minimal.
"...That's why."
The player said with difficulty.
"That's why."
"......?"
"That's why those players look so serious."
"No! Explain it so I can understand!"
That was when.
Murmur murmur.
Noise started from the players on watch.
"I-is that him?"
"He's coming...."
"My god. Did he really clear through here alone?"
Their voices were just as incomprehensible.
Then the player's halted voice resumed.
"One person massacred that army and cleared the path. You saw the red path, right?"
"......"
"That's the road made of orc corpses."
It was incomprehensible.
"And that person..."
Sure enough, a lone figure approached from afar.
Even without high insight, his distinctive appearance was easy to recognize.
"Go Yohan?"
"It was Go Yohan of Divine."
Go Yohan had arrived at the guild alliance camp.