Bad Blood (1)

The castle interior was far more packed than I'd imagined from outside.

"Whoa! How many people showed up? It's not even the imperial capital, but walking's a nightmare. This coronation must be a huge deal, huh?"

Whatever. As I pushed through the chaotic crowds, my heart ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠started pounding harder. It was finally sinking in—I was about to meet Raymond, the Golden Lion Knight Captain.

This is the priciest gacha pull of my entire life. At minimum, a few hundred thousand won's worth... and if it's a mega jackpot, maybe even a couple of those ultra-rares.

I cranked my rusty happiness circuits into overdrive—it'd been so long since I'd used them—and headed toward the inner keep.

But when I finally arrived, an unexpected snag hit me. The inner keep entrance, usually quiet except during sieges, was jammed from the drawbridge all the way inside with players.

"Argh! Should've just taken a teleport scroll! I always pinch pennies and end up screwed like this. This small-gain-big-loss life of mine is exhausting!"

Why couldn't I have been born bold? I'd logged in after seeing the coronation news, but failing to predict this mess was ridiculous.

"Move back a bit! I'm not here to watch—I'm just gonna go in and leave! I'd rather hunt than wait another hour like this!"

"Hey! I'm stuck too! Who's gonna back up in this? If you're ditching, just use a recall scroll!"

"Why waste a scroll here? Just shift a little! We're still far from the entrance!"

The area around the keep entrance was a total madhouse, thousands shoving to get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in. At this rate, logging out to watch the broadcast and coming back after might be smarter.

No way. Even after it ends, it'll take at least three hours for the crowd to thin. And this luck streak hitting me after so long? Gotta ride the momentum—logging out might break it. Whatever happens, let's go in now and pull!

I wasn't usually superstitious about reinforcements or gacha, but today my gut felt amazing. Sure, bad luck early on, but pushing through landed the jackpot!

"Alright! Even if it's a dud, we're settling this now! Outta the way!"

No matter how immersive, it was still a game—with conveniences like safety zones in all villages. PK risks in the field, no logouts mid-combat... but safe zones let you attack nothing and log out anytime.

But hugging the drawbridge over the moat to the keep gate triggered a PK-enabled zone alert. Unlike the outer area, the inner keep allowed sieges—and thus PK.

Still, with hefty death penalties, no one pulled random PK in this crowd.

Positioned near the bridge entrance, I eyed the keep gate. As folks ahead advanced, I fired the skill.

"Hey! Who the hell are you? Cutting in line? Ugh, thieves spamming Shadow Step pisses me off!"

"Sorry, knight sir! Not here for the coronation—quest requires entering the castle. I'll slip ahead quick!"

Players get one skill point every five levels. I'd dumped five precious ones into maxed 5-star Shadow Step.

Worth upgrading from 10m base to 5-star max. Few thieves could dash that far, letting me slip behind unwary players ahead.

"What nonsense? No guild tag— what quest ties to the keep?"

"It's real. Wait one minute, I'll clear out. Sorry."

"Real or not, barging with skills? Already pissed at the jam—can't take more. Screw this coronation, I'm out! Logging off!"

The knight behind my target logged out in rage.

"Ah, I don't usually play like this... really sorry!"

Embarrassing as hell, but mask hiding my face, I thick-skinned through cooldowns and dashed again. Pure mobility—no attack judgment.

Five or six more hops, and I broke the bottleneck.

"Phew! Finally out. How long for a quick trip? Blockers thrive on days like this!"

No murderers at the gate—instead, lowbies fearless of penalties blocking for fun. No clue why waste time, but they loved prime chaos.

Past the tough entrance, the siege plaza stretched ahead, main keep beyond. Half the plaza barricaded semicircle by Taesung guild—likely the ceremony spot.

Beyond barricades, early birds packed tight.

"Like an outdoor concert stage! Way grander than expected."

Main keep sides seemed quiet, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so easy access to Raymond? Nope—side door had a surprise.

* * *

"No entry from here. For the coronation, head central."

"Ah, not here for that—purely quest. Need to see Golden Lion Knight Captain Raymond. Please let me in."

"No exceptions. From second floor up, angles favor ranged DPS. We've controlled keep access since morning. Sorry, do your quest post-ceremony. Thanks for understanding."

All keep doors guarded by Darius's 2nd/3rd guild affiliates. Inner keep wasn't safe—no theoretical bar to attacking Darius mid-coremony.

But theory only. Who attacks rank 1 Darius, surrounded by hundreds of elites and thousands of subs in his own castle? News said mage shields too. Any prank shot bounces like fireworks, shooter vaporized in a second by Taesung fire.

With big penalties, no lunatics anyway. Taesung overkill blocking questing randos like me.

"I get the Darius coronation hype. But look—no ranged skills, just thief char. Even on 2F/3F, can't attack, just watch. Level 230—no griefing."

"Sorry, no entry."

"No, really quest for Raymond. Know Montena in Gevan Village? Here for his special heal pot quest."

"Thief, thousands of our 2nd/3rd guilds prepping event/control. Today, no one but Taesung elites enters."

"Talking to a wall. You think I'll just—"

"And!"

The shield knight cut me off, tone turning menacing.

"Thief char worries me—don't even thinkShadow Step behind us. Instant aggro, no excuses. Don't try. Warned."

"Whoa! Taesung's on a power trip? Sure, you hold Bernstein Castle, but blocking randos' quests? You don't pull this in others' castles!"

Polite begs ignored, my tone sharpened. The axe warrior beside snapped.

"Hey! If no means no, drop it! They'll clear post-event—why fuss? Your tantrum's the grief!"

I got their side. What bugged me was my own stubborn heat. I was way more riled than usual.

Yeah. Normal day, no yelling at mega-guild. But grinding quests daily like a third-rater, then news of that guy I hate becoming king? Twisted my guts.

Darius, Park Taehu. Crowds for him, thousands mobilized. Me? Blocked by his irrelevant mooks.

What makes that prick special? Just lucky-born rude cheater! Why fawn over trash like him?!

Not just inferiority. Like the pouch pull, this Raymond gacha felt jackpot-chained. Hence my overreaction.

"Why the racket? Broadcasters glancing over—what's up?"

Then, from the training grounds, a knight in flashy silver full plate and longsword approached. ID: Il Do Yang Dan—Taesung 1st guild mark. First IRL meet, but broadcast-famous ranker.

"Ah! Il Do Yang Dan sir, no biggie. This thief insists on entering keep for 'quest' despite no-entry."

Main raider with Darius every boss, Taesung exec, top tank-DPS. He eyed me.