Infinite Field War (2)

The next location was, as expected, one of Taesung's monopolized hunting grounds, the Belluta Coast.

Having confirmed that around thirty players had rushed to the Derpo Ruins to hunt me down before I moved, it was clear that several Taesung members hunting here had pulled out as well.

I arrived without even bothering to Stealth and ambushed every Taesung guild member in sight one by one.

"Argh! What the hell?"

"Ah, damn backstabber!"

The mobs here were ancient mermen from the underwater kingdom that had surfaced on land. My backstab landing on the nape of a Taesung user's neck—while they were busy fending off a mermen's trident—was nothing short of a death sentence.

And that was inevitable. My current build was meticulously designed to dominate player-versus-player combat.

No knockbacks or stuns that created distance or breathing room worked on my character at all. So it wasn't an exaggeration to say that not a single Taesung player—scattered and hunting solo—could handle me.

Tatata!

I swept through the hunting ground at breakneck speed, scanning for any remaining Taesung users.

My already swift movement speed, boosted by the 8-star Swift Movements passive, had become even quicker thanks to achievements and the Great Thief's boots. By the time they noticed my approach, most couldn't even dream of escaping.

Ten, fifteen, twenty!

After killing another thirty or so Taesung players hunting along the coast, the area quickly emptied out.

This time, word of my PK spree here spread fast through guild chat, prompting solo hunters to use Return Scrolls.

But that was my strategy from the start. Even if they formed pursuit squads to chase me, I had no reason to stick around and fight.

I'd just keep circling the hunting grounds, picking them off one by one. In this vast Tayen field, there were countless Taesung guild members I could hunt.

There was always one thing in novels or movies that I could never understand.

Even when the protagonist had the power of one against a hundred, they'd always dive headfirst into overwhelming odds and barely scrape by.

If you had to face a thousand enemies with that kind of strength, why not evade and hit them in groups of a hundred ten times over? Why risk your life trying to take on all thousand at once?

It was play I just couldn't comprehend.

So I'd fight differently. Since I wasn't quitting Tayen after a day or two, I planned a thorough guerrilla-style field war.

One that would piss them off to no end!

"Time to move to the next spot?"

The hunting ground had cleared out in an instant, and it was obvious the pursuit squad from the Derpo Ruins—empty-handed—would swarm here soon.

I summoned Ferari to leave, but then spotted a lone silhouette in the distance, kiting mermen for a mob train hunt.

Huh? A Taesung player doing mob trains in this high-level spot? Could it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be one of their executives?

Even if it was an executive, they'd know I was here via chat. Yet this bold guy was still pulling mobs?

Curiosity piqued, I forgot about leaving and approached to check their ID.

<Kaiser>

Surrounded by a Flame Barrier, wielding a massive two-handed sword wreathed in blue flames. It was none other than the Magic Swordsman rank 1, Kaiser.

Actually, ever since Darius fell from the top spot, one player had risen to prominence in tandem: Kaiser.

He, the former Magic Swordsman rank 1, had finally claimed the overall rank 1 throne that Darius once held.

And here he was, mob training in Taesung's controlled Belluta Coast....

Ignorance might have let it slide, but now I couldn't just pass by. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I approached and struck up a conversation.

"Hello. Sorry to interrupt while you're busy. I'm Sandro, master of the Burning Star guild."

"Fire Storm!Spinning Slash! Hm? To run into you here. Nice to meet you, I'm Kaiser."

He wiped out the five surrounding mermen with a wide-area skill in an instant and returned my greeting.

"I see you don't have a guild mark. Mind if I ask your connection to Taesung? I know this is one of their controlled hunting grounds."

"What? Taesung? Why's the first thing you ask when you approach me that?"

"You might not know, but as of yesterday, I've declared an infinite field war on all of Taesung. So no Taesung guild member hunts in front of me."

"Haha! Quite the arrogant declaration. To my ears, it just sounds like you're saying you've gone full PK specialist now that you've eaten the Holy Sword, dressed up fancy."

Still wrapped in his Flame Barrier, blue flames dancing around him, Kaiser's tone was cynical and threatening—unlike his usual image.

"Think what you want. Anyway, care to answer my question? How come you're hunting here?"

"You think I'm with Taesung? And if I was, what would you do?"

"Then I'd cut you down. No choice!"

The air grew tense as Kaiser stared me down in silence.

Even with my Holy Sword, he was the current rank 1 player. Getting tangled up would waste time and risk encirclement by Taesung's pursuit squad.

But I hadn't started this field war against Taesung with half-hearted resolve. Rankers or not, I intended to slice them all. I wasn't scared of anyone, rank 1 or otherwise.

I was only spending time here because he wasn't an enemy.

The brief silence broke as Kaiser spoke.

"You must really hate Taesung. Charging at even me without hesitation.... Anyway, I'm not affiliated with them. My usual healer couldn't log in today, so I came solo. This spot's pretty good for mob trains."

"But this is Taesung's exclusive hunting ground."

"Exclusive? Hah! You must be new to this side of the world. No guild messes with neutral rankers. Sure, we might be eyesores, but the losses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are too obvious. Even Taesung can't touch me—but you spout off like you'll try anyway."

It made sense once he explained. Everyone in Tayen knew rankers' IDs and their prowess.

"Not with them? Good enough for me. I'm short on time, so see you later when you're free!"

"Wait!"

"Yes?"

I turned to leave—no need to make enemies—but Kaiser stopped me.

"That Holy Sword of yours.... No matter how I look at it, it has to have a skill level boost option, right?"

"Huh? W-what are you talking about?"

"Oh ho.... Your fluster confirms it. Good. Confirmed. You can go now."

He'd suddenly grilled me on my Holy Sword's options and jumped to conclusions. As I stood dumbfounded, he continued.

"Why're you still standing there?"

"How did you know?"

"Haha! I've researched and perfected countless Magic Swordsman builds, so I know skill trees inside out. Yours as a Demon Hunter Thief is uniquely brilliant—perfect for solo play, especially solo PK like now."

"...."

"But even so, maxing Demon Shield with ten skill points seemed off, even for physical immunity. Assume the Holy Sword boosts skill levels, though, and it all fits. No such item existed before, so I checked."

"If you're that sure, I can't deny it.... You're right."

"As expected of a Divine item.... On another level. One more reason to hurry and get one."

Truth be told, a big reason I'd invested in Magic Missile early was inspiration from Kaiser's tournament streams. A top-tier pioneer always ahead of the curve in Tayen.

Now he acknowledged me—and was sizing me up.

"For the good info, one piece of advice: PK's fun, but focus on leveling for now. From pushing the main quest lately, top-level players might soon get Titans as first-clear rewards from hidden dungeons or quests. You'd be a way more fun opponent than Darius's zerg rush, so I'm telling you."

"Titans?"

"Yeah, seems like it. You probably don't need one, but as a guild master, that's different."

Tayen was entering another era of upheaval. The Titan system update and server maintenance might have been the starting gun.

Either way, my plans needed tweaking again.

Kieek!

Taesung players were swarming in. I summoned and mounted Ferari.

"Thanks for the info. Next time, I'll repay the favor. Stay at the top until then—until my ID climbs above yours!"

"Hmph. Looking forward to it."

I flew off to the northern Desra Desert.

There, I swept a few spots the same way, circling various hunting grounds to clean up Taesung members.

Sheep slaughter. Levels might be similar, but none could withstand my blade.

With no one able to detect 8-star Stealth, it was less PK and more a total mismatch.

Taesung reinforcements poured in instantly wherever I showed—over a hundred now. A hundred players dropping everything to chase me across the map.

A week... no, months of this is fine, but Kaiser's words nag at me.

I'd learned Titans could be acquired not just via the seven divine weapons or national research— but other ways too.

The first two were out of reach, but dungeons or quests? If I grinded levels now, first clears were possible.

But with the field war declared, I couldn't quit easily. Time for another plan tweak.

I planned pure guerrilla, but.... Can't call novel protagonists dumb anymore. Here I am doing the same.

The final spot for today's nonstop four-hour PK spree: the Bento Forest Swamp.

Thick woods made it dim, and the marsh slowed movement—a perfect terrain trap.

But as the respawn spot for the infamous Hydra, it wasn't heavily hunted. Mostly Taesung since they held nearby Bernstein Castle, but after I killed about ten, they all vanished.

Showing up here means the pursuit squad arrives in minutes?

Normally I'd bounce, but not this time. This was what I'd prepped 5-star Trap Installation for—I chugged mana pots and blanketed the area.

At 8 stars, one trap lasted eight full minutes. And I'd set them all using only Smoke Screen materials.

With Perception always active from my priest headdress, nothing beat Smoke Screen for crowd control.

One fell swoop. The 'one against a hundred' I'd avoided was about to kick off in Bento Forest.