Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Fisherman's Gain (3)
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“What the hell?”
A ranker player from the Cabal Guild stared in shock at the sight of his comrade coming back to life and charging straight at him.
But even amid the chaos, his body reacted on instinct.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Blue aura erupted from him as he blocked the assault of his former comrade lunging his way.
Kwaaaang!
The summon created from the ranker player clashed head-on with the actual ranker player.
Kwaang! Kwaang!
For all its fierce momentum, it was pushed back unilaterally.
‘As expected, the limitations are clear.’
Just basing a summon on a ranker player didn’t mean it could unleash that ranker’s full capabilities.
‘Commander Appointment.’
Kang Hyun-soo activated his Commander Appointment skill, designating the summon he’d just created as a squad leader.
Its total stats rose by 5 percent.
However.
Kwaaaang!
Appointment or no, it was still getting overwhelmed one-sidedly.
But what if there were two of them?
“Go.”
Kang Hyun-soo issued the order to the summon based on the Sword Ghost.
A pincer attack from summons modeled after a named player and a ranker player.
The Cabal Guild ranker player—who’d been dominating the ranker-based summon—began to give ground bit by bit.
‘Even two-on-one, and it’s only this much? Is this the best we can do?’
Even with the Sword Ghost and Cabal #1 teaming up, all they managed was to press the Cabal Guild ranker player.
They’d win eventually, given time.
But factoring in the two-on-one odds, it was a deeply underwhelming outcome.
‘Mana-based summons are no match for living players.’
Not just in raw specs, but in combat sense and adaptability too.
‘At least the Sword Ghost holds up a little better.’
Having regained some intelligence made its movements smoother than Cabal #1’s.
Compared to its power in life, though.
It was pathetically underwhelming.
‘Gonna take a while to get back to full strength.’
He’d probably need the Commander’s Blessing and Commander Appointment skill at least at C-Rank, on par with One-Man Battalion, to restore its original battle prowess.
A twinge of regret hit him, but Kang Hyun-soo wasn’t disappointed.
‘Raising my job rank and skill ranks higher will fix it.’
Numbers would be limited, but he could even reinforce the summons beyond their living strength.
‘Wonder how strong a top-tier named like the Dao King would get if summoned and maxed out?’
His heart pounded at the mere thought.
‘For now, let’s build up the numbers.’
Kang Hyun-soo joined the fray.
The Cabal Guild ranker player—who’d at least held his own in the two-on-one—crumpled helplessly the instant Kang Hyun-soo entered the fight.
Truth be told, even the two-on-one had been a desperate struggle.
Throw in Kang Hyun-soo, a master of coordinated assaults.
Seogeok!
His sword sliced effortlessly through the Cabal Guild ranker player’s neck.
‘Battalion Formation.’
Kang Hyun-soo triggered the Battalion Formation skill once more, reviving the freshly slain Cabal Guild ranker player as a summon.
‘C-Rank gives plenty of room.’
The skill had a total of sixteen stacks.
Three spent on 600-level players and two on rankers, yet he still had eleven uses left.
The issue was.
‘Ranker players sure guzzle stats.’
More than half his stockpiled stats were gone.
On the flip side.
‘Still half remaining.’
Enough left to convert two more ranker players into summons.
Thud. Thud.
Kang Hyun-soo headed toward the spot where Zhonghua Guild rankers were clashing with Cabal Guild rankers.
‘Both sides just eyeing each other, waiting to bail.’
The Zhonghua Guild rankers, tensed by the nearby battle, were itching to pull back.
The Cabal Guild rankers—who should’ve been blocking that retreat tooth and nail—had realized something was wrong with no reinforcements in sight and were trying to slip away too.
‘Can’t let it end on such a sour note.’
Kang Hyun-soo unleashed the Sword Ghost and Cabal #1 into the melee where the four rankers were locked in stalemate.
Their targets: the Cabal Guild rankers.
Kwaaaang!
The sudden intrusion shattered the fragile equilibrium.
‘What the hell?’
‘Did all our incoming support get wiped out?’
The Cabal Guild rankers panicked hard.
Two rankers had been due to reinforce them.
Instead, the enemy headcount had swelled by two.
Meanwhile, the two Zhonghua Guild rankers—who’d been poised to retreat—lit up with opportunity.
‘Did the vice guild master pull some strings?’
‘If they’re on our side, victory’s guaranteed.’
Unexpected reinforcements had appeared.
The Zhonghua Guild rankers knew nothing about them.
They might not even be allies.
But.
They were unequivocally hammering the Zhonghua Guild’s foes: the Cabal Guild rankers.
The Zhonghua Guild rankers weren’t foolish enough to ignore the simple truth that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
‘Can’t pass up this shot.’
‘Perfect chance to thin out Cabal’s ranker numbers.’
The Zhonghua Guild rankers—who’d been slinking away—poured everything into assaulting the Cabal Guild rankers.
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
Aura shards blasted outward as devastating attack skills ravaged the forest.
In the midst of it.
Wounds began piling up on the Cabal Guild rankers, one after another.
The Cabal Guild rankers realized they had no path to victory.
Desperate, they threw everything into fleeing.
“Eek!”
But the Zhonghua Guild rankers weren’t about to let them.
Pook!
One Cabal Guild ranker finally bit the dust.
The balance had already teetered at four-on-two; now four-on-one, the fight ended in a flash.
Seogeok!
Two Cabal Guild rankers dropped in quick succession.
The cooperating Zhonghua Guild rankers now squared off against the Sword Ghost and Cabal #1.
Thud. Thud.
At that moment, the Sword Ghost and Cabal #1 stepped forward to claim the spoils.
They scooped up every item and skillbook from the fallen Cabal Guild rankers, then withdrew silently.
‘Should we stop them?’
‘Taking the loot and books as payment for the assist?’
The Zhonghua Guild rankers wavered on whether to intervene.
That was when the Sword Ghost spoke.
“Go relay this: we’ve upheld our end.”
The Zhonghua Guild rankers’ eyes sharpened at his words.
‘Knew it—the vice guild master’s handiwork.’
‘High chance of a trap, but we got the attack order because there’s a contingency.’
They pegged the Sword Ghost and Cabal #1 as reinforcements from another guild.
“Got it. Our thanks for the aid.”
“Then we’ll take our leave.”
The Zhonghua Guild rankers departed swiftly.
Their guildmates were still battling elsewhere.
Thud. Thud.
Once the Zhonghua Guild rankers were gone, Kang Hyun-soo revealed himself.
Shaaaak!
He invoked Battalion Formation, bringing the two freshly killed Cabal Guild rankers back as summons.
‘Up by four in a single day.’
Following Cabal #1 and #2, Cabal #3 and #4 were born.
Just like with the first pair, Kang Hyun-soo used Commander Appointment on #3 and #4, elevating them to squad leaders.
‘Time to grind some hunts.’
His stats had hit rock bottom; time to replenish.
‘Knocking out four Cabal rankers should even the scales a bit.’
Overall, Zhonghua Guild was still outmatched.
But this was guerrilla warfare, not a head-on clash.
The hunting grounds favored Zhonghua Guild members too.
‘With this much backing, they shouldn’t get steamrolled.’
Kang Hyun-soo trusted Zhonghua Guild’s grit.
He trusted Cabal Guild’s quick thinking too.
‘They’re not the type to miss a shift like this.’
If Cabal Guild’s master, Flame Knight Jamie, was who he knew.
He’d pull back his forces for sure.
And that prediction.
Hit the mark perfectly.
* * *
‘How in the world did this happen?’
Flame Knight Jamie ground his teeth.
He’d banked on certain victory and launched the op.
Yet he’d lost four rankers.
In a mere half day.
A devastating blow.
Cabal Guild’s total ranker count: ten.
Four gone.
Forty percent of their elite forces, vanished.
‘All that effort to build them up.’
Lost so pointlessly.
It brought tears of blood.
‘The Dao King’s definitely back.’
Flame Knight Jamie figured the Dao King Kyung Wi-gang—who’d joined the great expedition—and Zhonghua Guild’s rankers had returned.
No other way to explain such a lopsided thrashing.
‘Have to take out the Dao King, even if it strains us.’
Among named players bearing a king’s title, Dao King Kyung Wi-gang ranked at the pinnacle.
Leave him unchecked?
The damage would snowball uncontrollably.
‘If it’s just the Dao King back, we could handle it somehow.’
But if the expedition’s named players and rankers returned too?
‘Impossible.’
One misstep.
‘And we get massacred.’
Zhonghua Guild’s rankers and named players: eight.
Cabal Guild’s: six.
Two might seem negligible, but.
‘Our numbers are too thin.’
A gap of one hundred to ninety-eight is just two percent.
Eight to six? Twenty-five percent.
‘Too hasty.’
A touch more caution.
And he wouldn’t have lost four rankers today.
Might’ve shaped up a winnable fight.
‘No helping it. Time to pull that card, big losses be damned.’
They’d dodged guild clashes to focus on the descent ritual.
Couldn’t anymore.
Tuck tail now?
Zhonghua Guild would savage Cabal harder.
Worse, every other guild would smell blood and pile on.
“Prep forced descents for Jon, Liam, and Paul.”
Flame Knight Jamie gave the order.
“All three?”
“Yeah.”
“That’ll hurt bad.”
“We’ve already lost four. Better to sacrifice three than lose more.”
“Understood.”
Forced Descent.
A technique forcing demons into players midway through demonization via the descent ritual.
Cost: hundreds of mid-level players as fodder.
The payoff? Laughably small.
Merely cramming demons into unfinished bodies for about half a month.
Not into completed demonized forms, so duration was short.
Half a month later?
The bodies collapsed under the strain.
Cabal Guild gained three peerless powerhouses for half a month—at the price of three rankers and hundreds of mids gone forever.
‘No choice.’
They’d lose the three rankers and hundreds they’d nurtured so painstakingly.
But crush Zhonghua Guild, and none would dare challenge Cabal’s dominance.
Then?
The descent ritual could proceed smoothly.
‘Sacrificing the few for the many.’
Flame Knight Jamie steeled himself with that rationale.
“Uh, Guild Master.”
“What?”
“Thomas is gone.”
The disappearance of Thomas, wielder of Future Foresight.
Normally a massive uproar.
Not today.
“Why’d he vanish? Kidnapped? Or bolted?”
Thomas had a demon contract too.
Couldn’t betray Cabal.
Fleeing, though? Entirely possible.
An ill omen crept in.
‘Did he foresee this mess?’
Cooldown wasn’t up—no new vision.
But he might’ve held back on past foresight intel.
‘A future glimpse of this? That why he ran when fighting broke out?’
The bad vibes mounted.
“Find him. If kidnapped, bring him back in one piece. If he fled, hack off his legs. Make sure he never runs again.”
“Yes, Guild Master.”
Cabal Guild launched a manhunt for Thomas.
But no effort would unearth him.
Not when Kang Hyun-soo had already claimed his life.
* * *
Kang Hyun-soo and his group wrapped up hunting and returned to their lodging.
“Good work, everyone.”
“Yeah.”
“Sure.”
Song Ha-na and the Two Emperor mumbled weakly.
‘Worn out?’
Short span, but they’d tangled fiercely with ranker-grade foes.
Then nonstop monster grinding.
Mental and physical exhaustion had to be crushing for them.
“Shower up, then dinner. Anything sound good?”
“Nah.”
“Nothing in mind.”
Kang Hyun-soo cocked his head.
Song Ha-na, usually bursting with energy, looked like a drenched puppy, all wilted.
The Two Emperor, a total glutton, had his long ears drooping as he claimed no appetite.
‘Something’s off.’
This wasn’t their usual selves.
“What’s up? Everything okay?”
His question drew a hesitant response.
“Um, just one thing I’m wondering.”
Song Ha-na spoke cautiously.
“Shoot.”
Kang Hyun-soo smiled, waiting.
“Do you even need us?”
“Huh?”
“We’re always just leaning on you. Never helping you back. Like dead weight.”
‘What’s this about?’
Kang Hyun-soo reeled at the total curveball.
That was when the Two Emperor wailed.
“Your summons are insanely strong! Nothing like us!”
Only then did Kang Hyun-soo grasp why they were so down.
And.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
‘They’re moping over something like that?’
If that was it, he welcomed it wholeheartedly.
The perfect chance to boost Song Ha-na and the Two Emperor’s loyalty.