The Second of the 7 Divine Weapons (1)
['Amazon' Guild requests to join.]
['Pandora' has accepted the join request.]
Are you sure you want to join? If the guild master joins, all assets and members of the 'OwnHome' Guild will be absorbed into the 'Amazon' Guild.
Given the importance of the matter, a rare double-confirmation message popped up, one you didn't see often. But with the advance payment already received, there was no reason to hesitate.
[Yes]
Congratulations! The 'OwnHome' Guild and 'Amazon' Guild are now one.
"All done. Kaljen Castle's been added to our held castles list, and the 140,000 achievement points have transferred over too. But you've burned through quite a bit of those points, huh?"
"Ah, yeah, messing around with this and that turned into a pretty big spend. Anyway, I got pretty attached to Kaljen Castle over the past month—kinda bittersweet letting it go."
"If you're that attached, how about helping us defend just like you did for Phoenix? Join us for tonight's siege."
"If it's against Taeseong, sure, but I'm a bit pricey these days. You cool with that?"
"Hoho, we're broke now. We're even selling gear to cover the consumables for this defense. Gotta hold these two castles steady and rake in the cash."
After sealing the deal with Admiral, he'd met Pandora right away to handle the Kaljen Castle transfer. Sieges kicked off at 6 PM, but to position guild members and set formations in time, they needed some buffer.
But is this okay? Amazon's solid among the new guilds, no doubt, but holding two castles at once seems like a stretch for their size...
Even powerhouses like Phoenix and Olympus, who vied for second place, had struggled with just two or three defenses not long ago. Sure, defense had the edge, but for a fledgling like Amazon to grab a second castle so soon? It raised red flags no matter how you sliced it.
Eh, they must have a plan. It's not like they handed over +3 Great Thief Boots for nothing. Or maybe they're betting big on this second castle to scale up the guild, win or lose.
That was the fun of Taitonic—or any multi-player game, really. Every character was a real player with their own thoughts and agendas. No matter how advanced NPC AI got, it couldn't match the raw human quirks and emotions. Some played it safe, others gambled. Some built alliances, others hid knives in the dark. Every flavor of humanity projected into their avatars, playing out just like real life. Hell, maybe even freer, letting out the instincts they bottled up IRL.
That was the hook. And unlike reality, here effort and luck could snowball you to the top.
Of course, there are walls like Taeseong, bloated on support and cash...
There'd been a time when that thick, unbreachable wall crushed his dreams. But now? It didn't feel so absolute. His growth had hit escape velocity. A tiny snowball at first, but now he was Taitonic's top prospect, impossible to ignore.
No more settling for "prospect." Time to charge toward the next milestone: ranker.
[You have left the 'Amazon' Guild.]
Handing over Kaljen Castle steeled his resolve once more.
I one-shot a fire lizard with Continuous Slash, replying to Last Chance's whisper. No more private dungeon for me—I'd returned to open fields after the handover.
Switching from instance grinding to fields felt off after a month. My ID was too infamous now; lingering anywhere over an hour was suicide. So I rotated spots religiously. Right now, back in Centura Volcanic Zone where I'd tamed Ferari.
Taitonic's heart was sieges. Top guilds with top players were slammed prepping defenses and attacks—not just the hour-long events, but hours before. Meaning field boss raids faced zero competition during siege windows!
Plan: Ride Ferari, hit every boss field that dropped hot loot. Ferari covers ground fast. Spot one up? Solo feast.
Dozens of elites ditching for raids? Tough sell. Only possible 'cause no one else could solo bosses like me. That's why taming that red drake was worth the grind.
Last Chance's new build? "Burst Sniper." Indomitable Courage, key items, lucky special skill combo on archer. Glass cannon HP-wise, but DPS rivaled Taitonic's best. With his control? Nightmare potential.
I led now, but he'd shine soon as the next hot prospect.
Two hours to siege, mid-chat—whisper from Yeon Woo, Taeseong mole.
My neck hairs stood up. No way... but zero warning.
Straight-laced Pandora selling out to Taeseong from the jump? To grow Amazon? Nah.
Even Taeseong would've struggled retaking guarded Kaljen. But they'd held it before—defense would be cake.
That's why I'd called Amazon's buy risky. But Taeseong buying? Peak value.
I'd never sell direct to them. So Darius played proxy: Buy via third party. Secret sub-guild all along, probably—insurance policy.
Damn... Fell for it again. Small gain, big loss.
Hellfire's Olympus offer would've dodged this. +1 blinded me into another blunder.
Gameplay, control? Nailed. But solo life left me green on guild intrigue streams.
Vowed to change, yet old habits died hard. No more small potatoes—bold plays from here. Plan shift: Couldn't watch Kaljen back in Taeseong hands. Big now, time to hit back hard.
Whisper to Hellfire.
War with Taeseong was long brewing. If I was scared now, I wouldn't have solo-crashed Bernstein.
Guild name: 'Return Retrieval'. Nice hustle scheming and spending, Taeseong. But sorry—that Kaljen? Gotta return it. Wrong address.
Quick NPC office visit to recreate the guild, siege prep locked in.