Hayaku Guild's Nightmare
Mu-hyuk stopped by a general store in the Weibra Empire.
"Cooking tools. Disposable crafting tools."
"How many would you like?"
He bought enough to last for a good while.
"Hmm, and..."
He picked up a few more materials besides those.
He could buy Poison of Slowness and Poison of Hallucination at the auction house, but he had to craft Bleeding Tear and Weakness Paralysis himself.
Then he grabbed various ingredients from a grocery store for making food.
With preparations more or less complete, Mu-hyuk stepped out into the square and headed back to the warp gate alongside the waiting Sung Min-woo. It was to resume the Imiho subjugation quest they'd paused earlier.
"First, let's take down Imiho..."
The moment the two arrived at a remote village and headed into the hunting grounds, a group appeared near the entrance.
Mu-hyuk's brow furrowed.
The gloves they wore. The emblem etched on them belonged to the Hayaku Guild.
About fifteen in number.
Why so few?
As he pondered and advanced, one conclusion emerged.
Ah, they must've caught on in the Weibra Empire.
They'd only made a few quick purchases there. So the Hayaku Guild hadn't had time to muster more forces.
Can't let this drag on.
They'll try to stall for time.
"Min-woo."
"Yeah?"
He spoke softly enough for only Sung Min-woo to hear.
"Ah, got it."
The two nodded to each other.
Flash.
They split left and right simultaneously, bolting away.
"Block 'em!"
"Don't attack first! Just block!"
"Fuck, you think that's easy?!"
"If you can't, just tail 'em!"
But could they even keep up?
Five Skeleton Warhorses scattered into view.
Three blocked the charging Hayaku Guild members, while one raced toward Sung Min-woo.
Mu-hyuk had already vanished atop his warhorse, and Sung Min-woo mounted the one heading his way before accelerating.
"Grab that fucker at least!"
"Fuck, if we let him go, we're dead!"
"What do you want me to do?!"
"I don't know, asshole!"
"Just attack him!"
Finally, someone made a move.
Boom!
The impact knocked Sung Min-woo from his warhorse, sending him tumbling across the ground—but a grin spread across his face.
As he pushed himself up, the Hayaku Guild members swarmed him. Already surrounded, escape seemed impossible.
"Hah, fuck. You're done for."
"Hand over your items, and maybe we won't kill you."
"Yeah, items. Drop 'em, and we'll let you live."
Would they really let him go if he handed over his gear?
No, absolutely not.
But that's human psychology—knowing better yet still tempted.
"No items? Then it's infinite PK. Why make it hard on yourself?"
Sung Min-woo feigned hesitation, then raised his hand.
Whoosh.
His middle finger silenced them.
"Don't bark like dogs, you retarded fucks."
The Hayaku Guild members' faces twisted in rage.
"Fuck...!"
Someone drew their sword and advanced.
Whoosh.
In that instant, a powerful tremor pierced the air, sweeping over them.
*
He glanced back.
No pursuing players in sight.
"Skeleton Summon."
After summoning warrior, archer, and mage skeletons, he sent them toward where Sung Min-woo had fled. Then he climbed onto a rooftop and peered down.
The battlefield lay clear at a glance.
Sung Min-woo was being chased; the enemies pursued.
All veering left.
He directed the skeletons there.
Hostility established with Hayaku Guild.
Righteous Defense applied.
Perfect timing—Sung Min-woo had just been attacked, activating Righteous Defense. The Hayaku Guild members promptly surrounded him, seemingly negotiating.
Advance.
One Hayaku Guild member drew his sword and approached Sung Min-woo.
Just a bit more.
Line of sight clear.
Burtan, Ki Wave!
The blasted Ki Wave engulfed them.
"Hurk...!"
"Ah, shit!"
Some staggered and collapsed. Even a few untouched by the wave but nearby reeled from the shock.
The situation differed, but one thing was the same.
They were all panicking.
Kirrik, kiririk?
In that moment, fifty-one skeletons materialized from all sides. They moved in perfect unison, launching into the Hayaku Guild members.
Magic erupted, bone arrows flew, Enhanced Bone and Bone Sword skeletons charged alongside cavalry.
"Fall back first!"
Some hit by the Ki Wave died; others fled.
Kiririk!
Skeletons pursued.
Soon scattering everywhere.
Too slow to catch users except the cavalry.
But in a small village, fifty-one were plenty to scour every corner.
As they hunted the fleeing Hayaku Guild members, Sung Min-woo casually looted items.
"Heave-ho, how much is this even worth?"
A tune escaped his lips unbidden.
"Ehehehe."
Someone approached from behind.
Having scooped up all the loot, Sung Min-woo turned.
"You made it?"
"Yeah."
"Mission success."
"Good work."
Simple words, but they savored a shared triumph.
Euphoria, even.
And right now, Mu-hyuk was sharing their views via Field of View.
How to describe it? Like monitoring CCTV feeds across the village. Fifty-one cameras, no less.
No escape for them.
Found one.
Spot a hiding Hayaku Guild member, gather nearby skeletons, overwhelm with numbers.
Dropped items.
Mu-hyuk glanced at Sung Min-woo.
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"To pick up loot."
"Hell yeah!"
Sung Min-woo flashed a mischievous, wicked grin.
They hurried along.
Into an alley, snatched a staff from a corner.
"Score one."
Out to the street, grabbed a ring. Further on, picked up gloves in a shadowy spot.
Some junk, some decent. Add in past hauls, and it'd be a fortune.
"Phew, done."
"The bastards?"
"All dead."
But the fight wasn't over yet.
*
The late-arriving Hayaku Guild reinforcements.
"What the hell? Where are they?"
"I'll check!"
"Hurry up."
"Yes, sir!"
Eighty guild members fanned out, scouring the area for ages—but no trace.
"Nothing here?"
"Go outside and look!"
"Got it!"
Someone logged out, reconnected shortly after.
"What'd they say?"
"Uh, we chased to catch 'em but ended up attacking..."
"Fuck, and got wiped?"
"Yeah."
Then someone approached.
"Captain."
"What?"
"Items are up on the auction house."
"Ours?"
"Yes."
"Haa..."
The captain pinched his temple.
"What a headache."
"What do we do?"
"What else? If we lose the gear too, the guild master'll kill us. Scrape together funds and buy 'em back."
"Yes, sir."
"Fuck, and find those bastards no matter what."
"Understood."
"Disperse to each empire and kingdom for now. Report immediately if spotted. Give 'em three hours to wrap urgent shit and regroup. We gotta crush those fuckers within two days. And tell 'em the guild master's pissed."
"Yes, sir!"
As they formed teams to head to assigned empires, kingdoms, or villages...
"C-Captain!"
"Now what?"
"Big trouble!"
"Spit it out!"
"So..."
The guild member's words crumpled the captain's face. As seriously as it could crumple.
*
The hunting ground where he and Sung Min-woo arrived.
"This the spot?"
"Yeah, where level 80 users hunt."
"Let's clean house."
"Roger!"
Guild hostility lasts 24 hours. Even with one minute left, fighting renews it to full.
And dying in hostility means 50% item drop chance.
A minimal safeguard against guild bullying, but practically useless.
Against real pressure from giants, solo players tucked tail—that was reality.
Not this time. Mu-hyuk planned to exploit it and bleed Hayaku dry.
Just level 80s.
Their turf.
"Remember that glove emblem clearly?"
"Yeah, got it memorized."
How far had they gone?
"Hey, you there."
Someone blocked Mu-hyuk and Sung Min-woo.
Whoosh.
He shifted his gaze to the gloves. Hayaku Guild emblem stamped on the back of the hand. The man raised that hand to remove his helmet, scowling at them.
"This is our hunting ground..."
No need to hear him out.
Slash.
Storm. Cross Slash.
Ambush—no reaction possible. Helmet off by luck, so he targeted the neck without hesitation. Critical hit.
-1,149 Damage
-2,075 Additional Damage
Over 3,000 damage in one hit.
Just a level 80 user.
Archer, judging by the bow.
Low HP inevitable.
"Wh-what..."
He mumbled, fading away.
Thud.
Mu-hyuk picked up the dropped leather pants.
"Oho, nice drop!"
No time to check options.
"Hey, what the fuck?"
"Fuck, Young-ho's dead!"
A few Hayaku Guild members approached, having spotted their comrade's death.
From their vibe, no questions—just straight to attack. As expected, a mage cast first, followed by incoming arrows.
"Skeleton Warrior Summon."
The skeletons raised shields.
Boom!
While blocking, he finished summoning archers and mages.
Then the counterattack began.
"Kuhuk, shit!"
"What the—?!"
Hayaku Guild members dropped in seconds.
"Let's take a proper look around."
After wiping out the forty-odd Hayaku Guild members in the area, they moved to another hunting ground. This one for level 70 mid-to-late users—about thirty-five there too.
"Nice, nice."
Scooped all dropped items.
"Kuh, PK's way more fun than regular hunting?"
"That's gaming for ya."
They chuckled and pressed on.
Next: late 60s to early 70s hunting spot.
Twenty there. Mid-60s spot: thirty-five. Three level 50 areas: sixty more.
"That's enough here. Let's head to the empire where Hayaku Guild's based."
"Huh? Why there?"
"Word of what we did has probably reached them ages ago. Stick around too long, get spotted, we're dead. Plus, dying once makes shaking a kill order tough. So let's check the situation first."
"Won't we get caught going straight there?"
"Obviously swap gear first."
They ducked behind a tree and accessed the auction system.
Bought helmet, armor, pants, boots, gloves. Cheap but flashy-looking stuff.
Swapped out their old gear, and they looked like completely different people.
"This should do it."
Unless they summoned spirits or skeletons, no one would recognize them.