Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Foolish Raid
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"Hold on."
Go Yohan emerged from among the crowd.
"Everyone, step back."
At his appearance, the Hojo Guild members who had just returned from scouting looked shocked.
"W-What's this?"
The Hojo Guild members had never crossed paths with Go Yohan.
They were also known to have entered alongside the Holy Union, not the Sanctuary Union.
Moreover, having headed straight out for reconnaissance and just returned, they hadn't even heard proper stories about him.
"...Go Yohan?"
Only then did they seem to recognize who he was.
"Three hundred Red Oaks and ten Black Oaks?"
"Y-Yeah, so?"
"And piles of items stacked up like mountains..."
Go Yohan's sky-blue eyes slowly darkened.
Sensing something off, the Hojo Guild members began to retreat.
Swish.
The Sanctuary Union, who had been watching the situation, approached them.
"W-What the hell!"
"Go Woojin, raid leader! What do you think you're doing!"
"This has nothing to do with the Holy Union."
Go Yohan said.
"Didn't you hear not to go to the orc village?"
They might not have heard about him, but the warning issued right away would have spread by word of mouth.
"We just went because there were fewer orcs than expected! Who the hell are you to boss us around!"
With no connection to the Holy Union either, they shouted, figuring there was no need to fear Go Yohan.
"And what? What do you want us to do? We're not part of any alliance."
Emboldened by the realization that Go Yohan couldn't just interfere, they raised their voices.
That Go Yohan had been central to conquering the Black Gate?
Absurd.
Players weren't a concept where geniuses could exist.
Strength came from stacking time and effort to level up.
"Anyway, we're hitting the village! Hojo's going in! Damn it, we can't come all this way and leave empty-handed!"
As he spoke, he looked to the surrounding players for agreement.
"What? Gonna stop us? I heard some group monopolized the last Black Gate too—wasn't that the Holy ones?"
Smirk.
Did they think they had the upper hand?
"If not, then don't try to stop us. Who knows, maybe you really cleared the last Black Gate. If so, maybe that's why you're so strong now—and that reason's in this Black Gate!"
Murmurs spread.
Not everyone had received Go Yohan's help.
And truthfully, they had questions about that spectacle.
As mentioned, a player's strength was evaluated by the flow of time and their activities—Go Yohan's sudden power...
"Sure seems like it."
There was no choice but to think he had some secret.
"Pah. What a bad omen. If you're really that strong and your secret's in the Black Gate..."
Smirk.
"Then we can become like that guy too!"
"Y-Yeah."
"There were people who got special classes from gate quests back in the day."
"Right, doesn't make sense otherwise."
Opinions from those crushed by giant guilds began to emerge one by one.
'In Travania.'
He had no choice but to be swayed by people like this.
Because he was a holy knight.
And.
'If such a situation arises, discard them.'
Yoon Seungha had advised him on what to do if this happened.
And.
Swish.
Go Yohan opened his closed eyes.
A black flicker seemed to ripple in his sky-blue irises.
"Was that all?"
"What?"
At that moment.
Crackle!
As Go Yohan's hand moved, wind howled.
The gale made even ranker-level players stagger back.
Crack!
In the meantime, Go Yohan's hand had seized the Hojo Guild leader's nape and hoisted him up—the one who'd been shouting all this time.
It happened in an instant.
Clang!
The Hojo Guild members frantically drew their weapons and aimed at Go Yohan.
Swish.
But already, Sanctuary Union members had weapons trained on them.
"W-What are you..., Gack! What the hell!"
The Hojo Guild leader gasped.
"This is..."
Thud.
Go Yohan tossed the Hojo Guild leader aside.
"Tie them all up."
"W-Wait a second!"
Those from the Holy Union and independents not affiliated anywhere stepped forward in protest.
What the Hojo Guild leader couldn't spit out was surely this.
'This isn't reasonable.'
'This is wrong.'
No matter what, as long as they didn't threaten other players' lives inside the gate, there was no way to force them.
'So I have to show them.'
Even if it means becoming the villain.
That their very existence already threatens all players.
"You want to raid the village."
Go Yohan said, surveying the crowd.
"Fine. Get ready. I'll go with you."
*
*
*
Nearly a thousand were selected.
All of them were those who had agreed to raid the village—mid-to-small guilds unaffiliated with any union.
Of course, some from the Sanctuary Union and Holy Union were mixed in.
"..."
But their numbers were extremely few.
Those from Sanctuary who wanted to go with Go Yohan had been ordered by him to guard the camp.
The Holy Union seemed to think similarly.
A portion of Black Watch moved with them too.
"Fools."
Go Yohan said in a subdued voice.
"Nearly ten thousand Red Oaks surrounding us, and they like splitting forces."
The Holy Union clearly recognized that vulnerability.
"Well, everyone's got the same heart."
Kim Cheonseok and Yoo Baek stood beside Go Yohan.
"Greed. Tsk tsk. Though I shouldn't talk, having freeloaded to survive—but there's a line."
Yoo Baek could understand, but Kim Cheonseok was unexpected.
"Told you. I'm a tank. Earning my keep. And..."
Kim Cheonseok said.
"Yoo said owing them a debt..., and tanking ain't just that."
A veteran, perhaps.
Kim Cheonseok already seemed to sense what Go Yohan planned.
The dispatched force.
"Th-There it is!"
Reached the orc village under Hojo Guild's guidance.
"I told you! See! That's all there is!"
Indeed, the orc village appeared to have only about three hundred Red Oaks and ten Black Oaks.
"Look!"
Behind them, items piled high gleamed openly.
"Oooh!"
"It's real!"
The players accepted it as natural.
All gates had been like this so far.
Simple-minded monsters, visible traps, and even clearer rewards.
'If they just risk their lives a bit.'
They could take the rewards.
'Goddess above.'
That's why doubts arose.
Why had the goddess created such trap-like things in this world.
"Tch. Can't blame 'em for getting greedy."
"..."
Kim Cheonseok and Yoo Baek's reactions weren't much different.
"Do you want to stand with them?"
Go Yohan asked.
"Nah. I've survived this long. And I said it—been on deployments. Times like this happen..."
What they lacked.
"Fruits that look ripe and ready often turn into poisoned apples."
Kim Cheonseok.
"...I won't get hung up on small things and lose the big picture. Just surprised, that's all."
Yoo Baek was the same.
And.
"Do those tempt you?"
Now Go Yohan addressed the players who had come this far, then plopped down.
"Do as you please."
He couldn't just abandon them blindly.
From their perspective.
'They need a lesson.'
He was no longer a holy knight, but a villain.
*
*
*
"Dieee!"
The players fought the orcs like they were blood enemies.
Three hundred plus ten, against three times as many players.
No matter how strong the orcs.
"Kill 'em allll!"
United players.
Offense over defense.
With strategies and plans aligning.
"Waaaah!"
Even Red Oaks that seemed unbeatable began falling like dominoes.
"Fools."
Yoo Baek, beside Go Yohan, spat irritably.
"Don't even know who to thank."
Exactly as he said.
The biggest reason players could face orcs.
[Hierarchy of Sin is active.]
[Hierarchy of Sloth is active.]
Because Go Yohan blocked the debuff from the evil god Ograk.
Then.
Boom!
With an explosion, a group flew back.
Some lost arms or torsos, collapsing and groaning on the ground.
Even for players, such injuries were beyond recovery.
Whoosh.
The excited atmosphere chilled instantly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It emerged, shaking the earth.
"Sacrifices."
Black skin, covered in spells from infancy, tattoos extended with victims' blood.
And when their entire bodies turned black.
Smirk.
They were called warriors.
"As the shaman said."
The players made another mistake.
Those who had only fought Red Oaks had never faced Black Oaks called warriors.
And they assumed the difference was just one rank, based on experience.
Boom!
Would anything change even if warned ahead?
"They wouldn't believe it."
It was experience, and fact.
"Kuaaaak!"
"Save meee!"
Greed-blinded humans don't listen.
Even with experience, greater gold blinds them.
And one more thing.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The earth shook again.
"O-Orcs!"
"Red Oaks!"
Unlike the dumb monsters in past gates, they were cunning too.
They strategized like humans, claiming countless lives with trickery.
They.
"...war."
Had yet to realize this was war.
'This is a holy war.'
But.
'My holy war.'
And for them, it would mean something else.
"This is your survival."
He helped because it led to the holy war.
"Wh-What..."
"Battle stations!"
Flustered, Kim Cheonseok and Yoo Baek shouted.
Go Yohan finally rose.
Crack.
He tore at the space.
The Black Oak slaughtering players froze.
As it slowly turned to Go Yohan.
"Go..."
The warrior's eyes twisted in horror.
"Gorej ul Krack...!"
Splatter!
The orc's body shredded apart.