Turn On Your Stream, Lily
"Turn on your stream, Lily!"
Loms crumpled to the ground where he stood, having lost his spear and his right arm in a single instant.
I did it — and yet it didn't feel like something I had done.
So he actually carried that thing around and used it.
Spear's Roar was a technique of the Celestials. No ordinary race could ever attempt it, let alone succeed — and in the past, plenty had tried and paid for it in blood. The destruction of the body was only the beginning; pushed deep enough, the technique would unravel the soul itself. Even dragonkin and ancient monsters, names that once echoed as titans among the strong, had never dared covet the Celestials' arts.
And yet here in the present, aside from the Celestials and the Demonkin, there were a precious few who could wield such techniques safely — myself, born of Celestial blood, and the users.
Beings whose bodies and souls were shielded by the System. No matter how grievous the wound they took, their souls remained protected. Even if they died, they came back exactly as they were.
It was precisely because of that trait that I had gone so far as to teach Spear's Roar to Yena and the other viewers. In the old days, I would never have let them touch it — but users who couldn't die no matter how they perished had every reason to learn it.
"Ggaaaaagh!!!"
The people of this world were another matter entirely. It was true that they were overwhelmingly stronger than the humans of my era — but they had no System's protection, no endless cycle of resurrection. Die once, and it was over.
Loms had watched me and tried to copy Spear's Roar, and when that proved impossible, he forged his own version through sheer instinct — a technique that became one with the spear and the body, twisting the flow of mana all around to birth a storm. As imitation went, it was honestly impressive. But in twisting the mana so violently, he had warped the very arrangement of mana that composed his own flesh. Bound in perfect unity with his spear, he likely never noticed — but his body was already in critical condition. The moment his unity broke, or the moment he used the technique one more time, he would have come apart completely.
"Wh... what... have you... done to me..."
"What a shame. If you'd had the qualifications, it would have been more than enough."
That was the price of wielding a technique no ordinary human body could endure.
Loms lost consciousness and slumped over. As Rafina, I couldn't heal him — but I had stopped the bleeding, so he wouldn't die.
I'll have to sneak back later and reattach that arm.
His coveting of an unattainable technique had cost him blood — but his talent, at least, was genuine. It would be a waste to let him set the spear down for good.
"The Knight-Captain..."
"Captain!"
"How could..."
The knights who had been binding their wounds turned toward me with trembling eyes. I looked past them — at someone slipping away between their ranks.
Mashimasitta. The user who had been running since the moment Loms fell.
I leapt the distance in a single bound and pierced his heart in one clean strike.
"Kugh—!"
"And where do you think you're going?"
"You crazy bitch..."
You have completed the quest.
Got him.
[Plunderer Info as of October 27.txt]
(a table image of the plunderer rankings)
News below the plunderer rankings as of October 27.
First, the one to watch — obviously — is the #1 plunderer, Grim Reaper. The man who toppled the Kingdom of Jurodis and took its throne. He's the first plunderer to become king of a county-level territory or larger since Lily. His guild has grown to the point of cracking the top 10 not just in plunderer guild rankings but in the overall guild rankings.
The mega-guilds that despise plunderers will never let this slide, so they'll probably dogpile him — but with the Great Cataclysm right around the corner, I doubt they'll attack right away.
Second is the #3 plunderer, Jeokpye-im. Recently the fastest-growing plunderer force after Grim Reaper, with a very high chance of scaling up to an entire kingdom. That said, the kingdom he operates in sits close to the mega-guilds, so whether his World Quest succeeds is anyone's guess. Those big guilds will absolutely back the kingdom just to stop another Grim Reaper from happening.
Lastly — I went back and forth on whether to include this one, but it's blowing up so hard I'm just posting it.
(an image of a woman dressed in a black assassin's outfit)
The newly risen dark horse, Rafina. A hidden-rank player who only revealed herself today, smashed five bandit guilds in Avis Kingdom, and founded a guild called Crazy Bitch. She started recently, so her ranking's still low... but her growth today outpaced both of the names above. If she keeps up today's pace, top 10 should be easy?
+And there's talk that she's Lily. Not buying it, personally. The speech patterns are similar, but the behavior is completely different.
[Let me settle, once and for all, the people claiming Rafina is Lily]
(an image of Rafina glancing back over her shoulder, daggers in hand)
So our Rafina has made her grand debut. It should be a moment for universal congratulations, and yet here are people slandering this cool, effortlessly badass Rafina — so let me demolish their arguments one by one.
First: the claim that Rafina and Lily look alike is obvious nonsense the moment you think about it. Everyone knows Lily-tier character customization used to be impossible — but that's old news. It's been months since Lily's debut, and among the hardcore customizers, there are now avatars that can't quite match Lily but can at least give off Lily vibes. And Rafina is exactly that "Lily-vibes" level. She's wearing a robe that hides her body and a mask covering everything but her eyes — and you think it's Lily? If that's all it takes, there are already hundreds of Lilies running around Deoen lol. I'm certain that mask comes off to reveal a completely different face.
The way I see it, Rafina is simply aiming for Lily vibes. Just being associated with Lily carries insane impact — look at right now. The entire community is talking about nothing but Rafina. You think our Rafina didn't know that? She did it knowing full well, for the fame. She crushed the bandits for a flashy debut, and deliberately built in that resemblance to Lily to grow her influence.
And the biggest reason she can't be Lily: Lily's current identity and personality. Lily is showered with praise by NPCs and users alike, and she's the king of a grand duchy — would someone in that position suddenly become a plunderer? Lily is buried with Academy preparations and Great Cataclysm preparations. No chance. It would trash her reputation and obliterate every quest line she has ahead of her.
Above all, her personality is completely different. Sure, you could argue the personalities are the same — but Lily actually cares a lot about her relationships. Whenever she does anything, she looks for proper compensation; she only helped people or accepted help when something was given in return or a debt was established. When Yena bought the ship with Yena's own money, Lily was uncomfortable with it, and on Primordial Island she bought the magic stones rather than accept them for free, saying she works on fair exchange. Granted, the island... well. It ended the way it did. The point stands: Lily is not the type to take things or kill people on a whim.
But Rafina? She doesn't give a damn about any of that. She massacres bandits she's never met, seizes their guild, then kills the knights who come after her and even the ordinary users alongside them, then logs off lololol. You think that's Lily? Absolutely not.
+And the voice is completely different lol
Two-line summary:
1. Lily and Rafina being the same person is nonsense.
2. Rafina is just baiting attention by giving off Lily vibes, nothing more.
"...They're telling you to turn on your stream, Lily-nim?"
"Not going to."
Lily — not Rafina — had backlogged work that needed doing.
And besides...
"Even if I told them the truth, they wouldn't believe me anyway."
"Aha?"