The Spreading Embers
Among rankers, every single piece of information—what quests they were doing, what items they were trying to obtain—was of paramount importance. There was a reason rankers guarded their information so fiercely. If word got out that Lee Se-yeon or Smith was trying to obtain the crown, countless players eager to keep them in check would undoubtedly pull out all the stops to snatch it first. In fact, both Lee Se-yeon and Smith went to great lengths to hide their activities even during their personal livestreams. They would cut out footage of their travels, or only broadcast major quests long after they had already cleared them.
'They must know that if they reveal I took the crown, it'll only make it harder for them to get it back. Would they really do something so foolish?'
“I am so sorry, everyone. It was my lack of ability...”
“Ah, no, not at all!”
“You did your absolute best, Lord Smith!”
Smith bowed his head in a display of deep, heartfelt sincerity. The members of the Black Rock Guild were utterly flustered. They had been right there beside him, experiencing the chaos firsthand. This wasn't Smith's fault. It was a miracle anyone had made it out alive! Though they had been thrashing about in the flames, watching their HP plunge while suffering from a barrage of debuffs, they were still breathing.
“I will contact your guild leader and explain the situation myself. Once again, I am truly sorry.”
“Please, don't say that...”
Smith's humility deeply moved the Black Rock Guild members once more. This was true character!
'Compared to him, Kim Tae-hyun is...'
Gu Sung-wook thought of Tae-hyun. Next to a paragon of virtue like Smith, Tae-hyun was an embarrassment to even mention in the same breath!
Smith contacted the Black Rock Guild Leader via whisper. Upon hearing the details, the guild leader was taken aback.
The Black Rock Guild Leader thanked Smith and told him he didn't need to participate any further. He felt it wouldn't be right to keep taking up the time of a busy ranker like Smith. With that, the guild leader wrapped up the conversation and let Smith go. Smith offered a remorseful farewell.
“We'll have to handle the rest ourselves. Did you say Kim Tae-hyun took the crown?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any way to get it back?”
“Should we try negotiating?”
“Or maybe we could threaten him? Would that work?”
“Kim Tae-hyun might be a ranker, but it's not like our guild can't handle a single ranker. Just how strong is he?”
“He didn't back down even when clashing head-on with Smith.”
“Holy crap. He's that good?”
The guild members buzzed with chatter. Amidst the noise, Gu Sung-wook suddenly remembered something.
'Wait... Hold on. Don't I need to get Ure from Kim Tae-hyun...?'
He racked his brain, but that was still the fastest way. The problem was that Gu Sung-wook and his guild had just fought against Kim Tae-hyun.
'...If I ask for it now, there's no way he'll give it to me, right...?'
Given Tae-hyun's personality, he wouldn't have handed it over easily in the first place—and now, after everything that had just transpired... Gu Sung-wook felt a dark cloud loom over his future.
The Retreating Horde
The massive Orc army that once ravaged the Auston Kingdom is now retreating in fragmented groups due to the severe injuries sustained by Great Chieftain Karag. Although many were wounded during the battle on the plains, a vast number of Orc warriors still remain. Leaving them unchecked will pose a grave threat in the future.
🎁 Reward: Increased reputation within the Auston Kingdom, Opportunity to meet the Prince of Auston.
“What on earth is going on?!”
Along with the quest to extinguish Sadiq's Eternal Flame, players were thrown into utter confusion by the sudden news of the Orc army's retreat. Why were the winning Orcs pulling back?
“No way!!! Why are you running away now?!”
The most despairing players were those who had chosen the quest to join the Orc army. They had eagerly signed up, thinking the massive Orc horde was a guaranteed winning ticket, only for the tribes led by the Great Chieftain to suddenly begin a sequential retreat.
“Chwiik! The Great Chieftain has retreated. We retreat as well!”
“W-Wait, hold on! Look at the fortress behind us! Can't you see it?!”
What happens when you retreat right in the middle of a thrilling siege? Naturally, the furious players inside the fortress launched a devastating counterattack.
“We've got you now, you bastards!”
“You thought you could raid our fortress just because you had the Orcs backing you up?! You've got some nerve!”
It was a counteroffensive so fierce it made their previous desperate defense feel like a lie. Even as the players went wild, the Orcs refused to fight back, focusing entirely on their retreat. The players who had been tormented by the Orcs were absolutely thrilled.
“But what happened to the Great Chieftain to make him get injured like that?”
“Usually, the community sites post about what happened, so why is there absolutely nothing?”
“I heard Sadiq's flame erupted. Why on earth did the Sadiq Church come here?”
With no reliable information, wild rumors ran rampant. It was the same on the community forums. Most players who had joined the Orc army lacked the contribution points to be part of the main force led by the Great Chieftain. In the end, the only ones who knew the exact truth were the players who had been at the scene! The members of the Choigang Jizon Mussang Guild rarely used the internet, so they weren't about to post anything. Smith and Lee Se-yeon kept their mouths shut, and even the Black Rock Guild remained silent... It was a complete mystery. Though curious, the players focused on their immediate tasks. They chased down the fleeing Orcs, while the players aligned with the Orc army ran as far away as possible. Once the Orc tribes had mostly fled the Auston Kingdom and the dust began to settle, the players remaining in the kingdom realized that the situation was far worse than they had anticipated.
Sadiq's Eternal Flame! When the prompt first warned that the fire was spreading and urged them to investigate the Sadiq Church to find a way to extinguish it, players hadn't paid much attention. After all, it was just a fire on the plains. Everyone was too busy repairing the fortresses, castles, and cities they had captured, and driving away the remaining Orcs. That had been their original goal, anyway. However, the flames did not just refuse to die down—they were actively expanding.
“We cleared out all the Orcs! This fortress finally belongs to our guild!”
“*Sob*... It's a small fortress compared to the other guilds, but still! To think we actually got one! We went through so much just to get this...”
The guild members who had driven out the Orcs shed tears of joy. How much blood, sweat, and tears had they poured into securing this tiny stronghold? Now, it was time to reap the rewards. With the Orcs gone, they could repair and develop this fortress into their guild's headquarters—
Whoosh!
“Huh?”
The sound of crackling fire echoed. The guild members climbed up to the watchtower and looked down. The flames had spread right to the gates of the fortress!
“???”
“When did it get all the way over here?!”
Though they were relatively close to the plains, no one had expected the unquenchable fire to march all the way to their doorstep.
“Hey! The fortress wall is on fire! Put it out!”
“Try using ice magic!”
“The—the fire won't go out!”
Unlike stone city walls, most of the fortress's walls were made of wood. Once the fire caught, it spread with terrifying speed. Moreover, this was no ordinary fire—it was Sadiq's Eternal Flame.
Flames imbued with the power of Sadiq cannot be extinguished by ordinary means.
Only then did the guild members realize that unless they extinguished the fire raging on the plains, everything would be lost.
“What about the fortress?!”
“Do we have to abandon it?!”
“We can't stay here! The fire is spreading!”
The slowly encroaching wall of fire was the stuff of nightmares. A few guild members desperately tried to put it out, but every single attempt failed. Ultimately, they had no choice but to swallow their tears and abandon their hard-won fortress.
The community forums were flooded with the screams of players in the Auston Kingdom. Everyone had optimistically assumed, 'Surely it won't reach where I am,' but the situation was far more severe than they thought. As the affected players began posting screenshots and videos of the devastation, the rest of the player base finally woke up to the reality. If they didn't do something, they were all going to go down in flames together!
Players who had set up camp near Sadiq's flame began frantically searching for the Sadiq Church.
“Ah, seriously. Maybe I should just quit the game...”
Burford grumbled as he swung his sword. When he first joined the Sadiq Church, he had truly believed he had seized an exclusive opportunity that other players could only dream of. Even the king assassination quest had been great. That had been his absolute peak.
'...Though it's been a total disaster ever since.'
He had failed to assassinate the king, failed to stop the subjugation force, had the sacred relic he was supposed to protect stolen, and even the ring he thought was a stroke of good fortune had been snatched away by some bizarre heavy-armored warrior. His reputation within the church had hit rock bottom. It was a miracle the Sadiq Church didn't have a system for kicking members out; in any other faction, he would have been expelled long ago. He had only clung to the faction out of lingering attachment to his progress, but his motivation was practically non-existent.
“Can't you move any faster?!”
“Yes, yes! I'm coming!”
Antonio, the uncle of King Damiano II of the Atali Kingdom, was currently in hiding alongside the Sadiq Church. Burford was begrudgingly clearing the daily quests Antonio handed out... but the rewards were pitiful, and the objectives were so tedious he wanted to throw in the towel.
'Ugh, seriously. Why did I ever join this trash faction?'
Burford let out a deep, heavy sigh. Right then, a quest window popped up before his eyes.
Spread the Name of Sadiq
Though the Sadiq Church has suffered many defeats and lost much of its strength, it is far from finished. Currently, the Auston Kingdom lies devastated and ruined by the Orc invasion. In these dark times, the flames of Sadiq rising from the plains are a divine revelation from the God of Fire himself! Travel to the Auston Kingdom and spread the glorious name of Sadiq!
🎁 Reward: ?, ??, ???
It was a quest to take advantage of the chaos in the Auston Kingdom, travel there, and expand the Sadiq Church's influence. Burford slapped his knee in excitement.
'I knew it wouldn't end like this! Sadiq is a god, after all! To think he raised such a massive flame on the plains for us!'
Of course, the fire was actually triggered by the explosion of the Breath of the Fire Beast that Tae-hyun had detonated, but Burford had no way of knowing that. He was completely under the illusion that Sadiq had conjured the flames specifically for the church.
As the quest notifications chimed in succession, preparations to depart for the Auston Kingdom began within the Sadiq Church's secret sanctuary. Having suffered numerous defeats and beatings, the church's forces had dwindled significantly.
“You must never be discovered. Conceal your identities and act with the utmost secrecy! We shall spread the Sadiq Church far and wide!”
“Yes, Archbishop!”
Burford still had no idea what the situation was like in the Auston Kingdom. He had absolutely no clue that the players over there were currently gnashing their teeth, desperately searching for any sign of the Sadiq Church.
“Senior, I think I need to head over to the Uruk region as well,” Jeong Su-hyeok said, his voice tinged with regret. He still had remaining quests to complete in the Uruk region.
“With those Orcs in tow?”
“Yes. They follow me around so well... shouldn't it be fine?”
“What, are you raising them as pets?”
Jeong Su-hyeok looked a bit embarrassed himself, realizing how absurd it sounded. Meanwhile, the Orc shamans stared up at Jeong Su-hyeok with sparkling, adoring eyes.
“Chwiik! Long live the Great Shaman!”
“Chwik! Long live Akisus!”