Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Manner Play (4)
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Evening, 10 PM.
Just as announced, Rokan's post went up. Accompanied by several video files.
From the scene of catching arrows barehanded to slaughtering the Blood Chasers, and even the clip of the MP guild's mannerless players trash-talking Rokan only to get thoroughly wrecked.
What was interesting was how each of these videos directly countered the ones uploaded by Phiria. More precisely, there were even more of them, but at minimum, they were one-to-one original file disclosures.
"Go to hell, you bastards."
Each one was practically a mad movie, the kind that could rack up huge views just on YouTube alone. But at the same time, they raised one big question.
The videos that Phiria claimed came from an "anonymous tipster" all originated from the Blood Chasers.
In reality, they were the only users Rokan had clashed with, so it was only natural. Phiria's cleverly edited videos hid the opponents' identities, but Rokan's raw, unedited footage exposed it plain as day.
That planted a seed of strangeness and dissonance in everyone's minds.
What was the connection between Blood Chaser and the MP guild?
A PK guild like Blood Chaser and the MP guild, which aimed for manner play. The mismatched pairing soon turned into conviction.
The final nail was the rage-filled video Phiria uploaded last.
Ward: Holy shit. Blood Chaser were MP guild guys? Fucking assholes. Pumpkin seeds incoming from behind. As expected of Rokan God! Justice served. Epic.
└DD: Are you schizophrenic or what? Switching sides every post lol
Jeremy: Blood Chaser was about to blow up anyway, but now MP guild's fucked too lmao
Kosomi: Damn, Rokan going full Rambo solo. But how's that even possible? What level is he? No way that's not hacks.
└Madoros: (Screenshot) Reported Rokan for hacks and got a response. Normal play. Rokan God!
└: Anyone know Rokan's class? Will switch to it immediately.
└: Axe warrior, right? Knew his axe hits hard, but seeing this... switching too 222
└: No warrior class has that skill. Looked it up—it's berserker. Weren't berserkers trash tier???
Grand Marshal: MP guild justice served. Recruiting party members (1/10)
└SeriousConcept: MP guild justice served. Recruiting party members (2/10)
Hati: Friend joined MP guild yesterday. Gotta tell him to quit ASAP.
Not only was the cozy relationship between Blood Chaser and MP guild laid bare, but all public opinion arrows now pointed squarely at MP guild and Phiria.
The MP guild's manner play motto had become the dagger that stabbed them in the back, triggering a wave of mass resignations.
While joining required guild master approval, quitting was free rein. Phiria couldn't stop it.
Starting with the most recent joiners, a chain of resignations rippled through. Posts treating Blood Chaser and MP guild as a single enemy bloc began flooding the boards.
GameInven and various gaming webzines covered the story big time.
Thanks to Rokan's advance warning putting everyone on alert, even some mainstream internet news outlets ran articles. With The Lord becoming a social phenomenon, those pieces got republished endlessly, flooding portals and SNS.
"This should be a knockdown."
Blood Chaser and MP guild were left in tatters, but Rokan—the mastermind—offered only a brief comment.
MP guild was just a middling outfit that wouldn't even hit mid-tier later on. With his veteran status, smashing them wasn't worth celebrating over.
After tossing a spark—no, a torch—onto the boards, he scanned for the info he wanted and logged back into The Lord.
* * *
Already, a level 90 achiever had emerged elsewhere. Team Ragnarok, whose members used gods' names as IDs—folks Rokan knew well.
'King of Genesis...'
Because Odin, the King of Genesis, led them.
Just as he'd piled up massive achievements, they were clearly monopolizing first-clear titles and growing fast.
Their race was half-elf to boot. Superior base stats to humans, with skills packing extra punch.
That was why, in his past life, they'd hit level 100 first and pulled ahead.
"Gotta hurry. Can't let them have it this time either."
Rokan had no intention of yielding first-clear titles from the third city onward, where factions first converged, even if the second city's race-locked zones were fair game.
So he doubled down on leveling.
"Berserk!"
Murderer status cleared, he needed to risk it for faster hunts. Diving straight into the bandit den, he activated Berserk, butchered dozens, then bailed out with a full minute left.
[Berserk duration has ended.]
[Life force insufficient. If not recovered to 10% of max within 5 seconds, you may die.]
[1st aftereffect: All stats reduced by 40% for 10 minutes.]
[After 1st aftereffect: 2nd aftereffect—All stats reduced by 20% for 20 minutes.]
[Using Berserk again before aftereffects end doubles cooldown.]
Low life force could be patched with pricey intermediate potions, but the aftereffects were the issue.
Set up a safe zone and rest?
'Too much time wasted.'
30 minutes was too precious. Killing hordes at once was great, but 10 minutes hunt to 30 rest was inefficient.
So Rokan picked a lower-level spot. Forest Lizardmen were still level 70+, but titles ignored level penalties.
Pure stats might fall short, but with title boosts and his control, he could hang.
Plus, Forest Lizardmen had decent repeat quests for pocket change and exp.
"Getting the hang of it."
Bonus: adapting to this weakened state compared to his past life.
Battles continued, hits taken dwindled, kill speed ramped up.
Exp piled steadily.
* * *
The plan had been flawless.
Delay user growth on one front while scraping their items for fat profits; build reputation and support on the other to grow into a major guild. Two tracks, both humming.
Even snagged an unexpected secret dungeon, promising huge gains for newbie training and drop sales.
But one user wrecked it all.
"That fucking bastard! This is all his fault."
Steady cash cow Blood Chaser turned red ink. Then some nosy prick sniffed out the secret dungeon, threatening exclusive hunts. MP guild's ties to Blood Chaser exposed, shaking their foundation—no, teetering on collapse.
Only initials and diehards who dismissed it as Rokan's ploy, still doubting the Blood Chaser link, remained. Over half quit on their own.
"If only we hadn't signed the guild house contract..."
Quitting while ahead crossed his mind, but now? Impossible. That reckless guild house deal meant 35 gold monthly bleed. Cash equivalent: 7 million won a month—no, with rates doubled, 14 million.
Item-contract bound it like a tag, even past character deletion. Unless quitting The Lord for good, had to pay.
Skip it? All hunt gold goes to 0 copper, items auto-auctioned to shops for seizure. No recovery items, zilch.
Cursed the devs for this devil item, but echoes in the void.
Nothing he could do. Bankruptcy, brazen denial, or...
...quit 1-2 years, wait for gold crash, cash out to settle, restart.
"Fuck!"
No guarantee rates would drop big, and catching top users? Pipe dream.
Not a chaebol heir—couldn't splash 385 gold cash on a hopeless game.
Totally fucked.
"It's all that bitch's fault!"
Rage zeroed in on girlfriend Im Soo-hee. Without her, without that stealth cloak drop, he wouldn't have obsessed so hard. Everything wouldn't have crumbled.
That thought ignited fury. Love? Long gone. Since Rokan's antics started, since losing the cloak and trying to cute his way out.
"These fuckers. I'll kill them all."
She knew someone who might be Rokan. Sparked suspicions of collusion, screwing him over.
Rage devoured doubt, bloating into madness.
"Call in guild muscle. If none, hit the errand center! Let's see that Rokan fucker's face."
Rallied folks IRL, not in-game. Dragged Im Soo-hee to lead.
"But Young-min oppa, we don't even know if he's Rokan..."
"Shut up! Grab him, beat him, he'll spill."
Terrified Im Soo-hee protested, but madness deafened him.
Real Rokan or not, needed a rage dump. Dad would fix any mess. Assembled crew, stormed the one-room where Rokan supposedly lived.
* * *
Ding-dong!
"Who is it?"
"Oppa, it's me. Soo-hee."
At the door, tense Im Soo-hee spoke up. Her sexy daily vibe made the trembling voice drip allure.
Inside rustled. A disheveled guy flung open the door, grinning sleazily.
"Ah, hello. Looks like you have the wrong house..."
Thwack!
She got shoved aside as guys barged in. No talk—fists first.
"Argh!"
"Stomp him!"
Door guy crumpled, unleashing a frenzy of punches, kicks, curses. Merciless beating.
"Oppa! This isn't him!"
It raged on until shocked Im Soo-hee screamed.
"F-Fuck... what the hell? Know who my dad is? Local police chief! You assholes are done—jail time!"
The fallen man's furious bellow blanched their faces.