Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Aftermath
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Crunch!
Kang Hyun-soo wrenched open the vault door with brute force.
Clatter!
A torrent of gold coins hidden inside came spilling out.
"Money too, huh?"
"I-I didn't know about that either!"
Geo Guild's vice guild master stammered in response to Kang Hyun-soo's words, his face a mask of panic.
Anyone could tell it was a blatant lie.
But Kang Hyun-soo didn't bother scolding the vice guild master.
'Looks like about 100,000 gold.'
Kang Hyun-soo and Song Ha-na scooped up the gold coins.
The vice guild master watched them, shedding bloody tears in his heart.
Do you know what that money was?
It was the entire fortune that Geo Guild members had earned through blood and sweat.
The thought of that hard-earned blood money going straight into the pockets of the ones who destroyed Geo Guild made his stomach churn.
'That's all my money.'
The vice guild master had obeyed Kang Hyun-soo's orders so readily just to monopolize that cash for himself.
But now it was all taken.
'I'll get it back no matter what.'
For now, with his life hanging by a thread, he had no choice but to play nice.
Once the crisis passed, there'd surely be a way to reclaim it.
After pocketing all the gold, Kang Hyun-soo scanned the vault again.
'There it is.'
Deep inside were several ledgers.
Kang Hyun-su slipped them away without the vice guild master noticing.
"Time to go."
At Kang Hyun-soo's words, the vice guild master's eyes gleamed.
"You're really leaving?"
"Got everything I need, so yeah."
"I'll show you out."
"Thanks."
Kang Hyun-soo and Song Ha-na followed the vice guild master's lead out of the building.
"Don't do bad shit anymore. Live right."
The vice guild master ground his teeth at Kang Hyun-soo's words.
He wanted to unleash a torrent of curses.
But he held back.
"Yes, I'll live right."
"Good. Let's never meet again."
With that, Kang Hyun-soo and Song Ha-na departed.
'They really left?'
If they tried to kill him, he planned to resist with everything he had.
But they just walked away.
The vice guild master cautiously scanned his surroundings.
Nothing seemed amiss.
'Just in case.'
He summoned every guild member still at the guild house.
They were low-level weaklings with zero combat experience, but better than nothing.
'This many should be enough.'
This was inside the city, not out in the wilds.
Any commotion would bring the city guard swarming.
The city guard's average level was 300 to 400.
Their commanders were over level 500.
No matter how strong those two bastards were, they couldn't handle the city guard.
The fact that they left him alive proved they feared the guard showing up.
'They're probably running for their lives right now.'
Grind!
His teeth ground together involuntarily.
'You think you can just run away scot-free?'
The vice guild master prepared to head out.
He'd gather his men and go meet the nobles they had connections with.
'If the nobles pull strings, catching those bastards will be a breeze.'
Geo Guild and the nobles had a mutually beneficial relationship.
'All the bribes and slaves we've fed them over the years.'
The nobles received regular bribes and slaves.
If Geo Guild collapsed now, they'd take a hit too.
'Convince the nobles, and we can mobilize the city guard.'
Then catching those bastards would be quick.
'I can salvage something at least.'
The gold and skill books those two took.
He'd have to hand over a hefty sum to the nobles to move the guard.
'Still better than losing everything.'
The vice guild master led his guild members out of the guild house.
"Huh?"
He jolted in surprise as he stepped outside.
'Why are they here?'
The city guard, fully armed, were charging toward Geo Guild's guild house.
'Did word of the hunting grounds get out?'
Everyone in Geo Guild except him—and all the human hunters—had been wiped out there.
But.
'There might've been survivors.'
It was a long battle.
A survivor or two could have slipped away unnoticed.
Or someone who witnessed the fight might have reported to the city guard that Geo Guild was attacked by thugs.
'Perfect. Saves me the hassle.'
Seeing the guard already mobilized meant the nobles he was connected to had acted first.
As vice guild master, this bought him time to persuade them.
"Perfect timing. Chase down those criminals right—"
Swoosh!
Before he could finish, the lead city guard commander swung his sword.
"Eek!"
He dodged just in time, but not quite.
Slice!
The front of his helmet sliced off like paper, a red line etching across his forehead.
If the blade had gone deeper?
His head would've split in two.
"What the hell is this?!"
The vice guild master protested in outrage.
"What? You thought you could try assassinating Count Amot and get away with it?!"
The commander's words left the vice guild master dumbfounded.
"What are you talking about? Assassinate Count Amot? Us?!"
Count Amot was one of the three top nobles ruling this city, which included the training grounds.
Geo Guild had a bad relationship with him.
Count Amot was a stickler for rules.
Bribes didn't work on him.
And that wasn't all.
He was so dedicated to his duties that any report of human hunters triggered a massive sweep by the city guard.
Count Amot was the biggest obstacle to Geo Guild's human trafficking business.
If they hadn't won over the other two top nobles?
Geo Guild would've had to shut down that operation.
But no matter how bad the chemistry.
Even if he was the biggest thorn in their side.
Geo Guild had no reason to risk everything assassinating him.
He was a minor annoyance at worst.
Thanks to the other two nobles, the trafficking business ran smoothly.
"The guild master himself tried to assassinate him, and you're still denying it?!"
The commander's words left the vice guild master even more baffled.
'The dead guild master tried to assassinate him how?'
It was a trap.
A blatant trap.
'Those bastards' doing for sure.'
The ones who trashed Geo Guild and stole the loot had framed them too.
"I-It's a frame job! The guild master died just hours ago. How could a dead man attempt an assassination?"
The vice guild master's protest only darkened the commander's face.
"I saw the assassin wielding purple lightning with my own eyes just now. And you're saying he died hours ago?"
Purple lightning was Guild Master Oh Deok-gu's trademark.
No other player in the city used a similar skill.
'A skill that revives the dead as summons.'
Kang Hyun-soo's skill flashed in the vice guild master's mind.
"The bastard who killed the guild master turned him into a summon. So that wasn't the guild master—it was the killer's summon!"
"You expect me to buy that nonsense?"
"It's true!"
The vice guild master was truly innocent.
He'd seen the dead rise as summons with his own eyes.
But.
"The assassin I saw wasn't just the guild master! Your main force was there too! You think calling the slaughter of dozens—revived as summons—is an excuse?!"
No countering that disbelief.
"Arrest all these criminals who tried to assassinate Count Amot! Kill anyone who resists!"
At the commander's order, the city guard tightened their encirclement.
Geo Guild members hesitated—fight or surrender?
'Resisting means we're done.'
The guard averaged 300 to 400.
Even if Geo Guild's elites were here, defeat was certain.
These were just random scrubs, not elites.
'Resist and we're massacred.'
The vice guild master decided to surrender.
Gotta survive first to prove innocence or whatever.
"Surren—"
Crackle!
Just as he opened his mouth.
Purple lightning erupted from the guild house, striking the city guard.
That was the signal.
A barrage of attack skills poured from the guild house onto the guard.
"Aaagh!"
The sudden ambush drew agonized screams from the guard.
"You filthy assassins! Full assault! Kill them all!"
"Waaaaah!"
The guard charged the Geo Guild members at the commander's order.
Slash!
The vice guild master's head flew first.
Then the indiscriminate slaughter began.
"Huh? What?"
Geo Guild members panicked.
"Block them for now!"
"We'll all die if we stand still!"
They had no choice but to fight for their lives.
But they stood no chance.
The guard mowed them down in seconds.
"Seize the guild house! Kill all the assassins!"
The guard stormed the guild house at the commander's order.
But.
"No one's here!"
"They've fled!"
"They couldn't have gone far! Search everywhere!"
The guard who killed or captured the members scattered.
Yet none caught the guild master or elites.
* * *
'It's over. Done for.'
As Kang Hyun-soo left his lodging, wanted posters plastered everywhere caught his eye.
Starting with Guild Master Oh Deok-gu, posters of Geo Guild's elites blanketed the city.
'Can't blame them.'
Atlantis dimension nobles were hypersensitive to threats on their safety.
They absolutely wouldn't tolerate commoners challenging noble authority.
Even players from other dimensions were no exception.
Other dimension players challenging noble authority got an even stronger reaction.
'The societal systems are too different.'
Monarchy and class-based Atlantis dimension.
Earth players from democratic, classless societies.
To Atlantis kings and nobles, Earth players looked like malignant tumors threatening their system.
'They team up when needed, though.'
But they never tolerated challenges to monarchy or class structure.
'And it wasn't just any noble—it was a high-ranking count.'
Geo Guild, a commoner group, tried to kill high noble Count Amot.
Even nobles tied to Geo Guild couldn't cover this up.
'Yeah, that's why I did it.'
Kang Hyun-soo had used the revived Oh Deok-gu and guild members as summons to attack Count Amot.
He knew it'd fail.
So he unsummoned them right after.
Count Amot predictably flew into a rage and dispatched the city guard to Geo Guild's house.
Kang Hyun-soo summoned summons there to attack the guard, then unsummoned.
The result?
'Most lost their heads.'
Not all died.
Some guild members were captured mid-battle.
They claimed innocence.
Nobles involved in trafficking, thinking their "hunting dogs" wouldn't turn rabid, quietly objected.
That's when Kang Hyun-soo released the ledgers from Geo Guild's vault.