The Fall of Hayaku Guild
The atmosphere began to spread bit by bit.
"Damn it, I'm out too!"
"Me too!"
Before they knew it, dozens of users had quit the Hayaku Guild.
But it still wasn't enough.
Shota, who had been watching, shook his head and headed inside the headquarters.
Not yet.
About thirty minutes later, Shota reported the scene he'd witnessed to Miyamoto. Upon hearing the news, Miyamoto immediately issued kill-on-sight orders, but the defectors had already scattered everywhere.
Besides, even if they found them, killing comrades they'd lived and fought with for so long wasn't easy.
Lately, subtle resentment had been building, leading to cases where they let players go even in perfect kill situations.
"Thanks!"
"Sigh. Whatever, me too."
"You should just quit too!"
What must they have felt, watching those defectors walk away?
They couldn't help but waver.
The fire was already lit, and now there were people pouring oil on it: Mu-hyuk and Sung Min-woo. After lying low for a few days, another report reached Miyamoto's ears today.
"Level 88 hunting ground?"
"Yeah, seventeen dead."
"Seventeen...!"
Miyamoto's fist trembled with rage.
"It's been two months already—two months!"
"..."
"How long are we going to keep this up?!"
"W-well, quite a few guild members have quit, so we're short-handed..."
"A measly few dozen!"
In truth, it wasn't something to dismiss so lightly. Roughly ten percent of their forces had vanished.
On top of that, with users dying left and right, the guild's growth had stalled. They'd thrown everything into tracking and scouting instead of hunting, all to hunt down those two.
Miyamoto knew this, but he couldn't give up.
Not when he'd already wasted so much time.
"Seventeen."
"Huh?"
"You said seventeen, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then we've got infamy room to spare."
"R-right?"
"Good. Split the guild into five groups of a hundred each and station them at the level 70, 80, and 90 hunting grounds. Tell them to catch those bastards this time—no exceptions!"
The vice guild master stepped out and relayed the orders to the members.
"Ah, fuck."
The room fell silent at someone's curse.
"Honestly, this is bullshit!"
"They're going too far."
Users who'd held back until their limit began quitting again.
"Guess I should quit too."
That's when Shota stepped forward.
"Hey, wait a sec."
"What? You gonna stop us, Vice Guild Master?"
"No, it's not that."
"Then what?"
Shota swallowed hard.
These were all the remaining Hayaku Guild members.
Should he be cautious?
No—he shook his head. He'd thought it through carefully enough. Now was the time for action.
And with dissatisfaction at its peak, this was the perfect moment.
"I'm quitting too."
"What?"
"What do you mean...?"
"And I'm starting a new guild. To avoid getting wiped by Hayaku's kill orders, we should band together for now. Once things quiet down, we'll disband. After that, everyone can play Illusion however they want."
The guild members' eyes lit up.
Band together now, scatter later.
That appealed to them.
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"When do we make it?"
"Right now. I've got everything ready."
"Well, no reason to hesitate then. I'm quitting! And I'll join your guild temporarily, Vice Guild Master."
"Sure."
"Ooh, sounds good?"
"I'm out too!"
"Fuck it, let's leave Hayaku. We can't even play the game here."
"Just wasting time every day."
Those words were the final blow.
"Yeah, I'm going too!"
"Me too!"
Aside from a tiny elite core heavily backed by Hayaku, nearly everyone else quit.
Over four hundred defected at a glance, leaving fewer than a hundred behind.
All the quitters followed Shota, and he immediately founded his new guild to take them in.
By the time Miyamoto learned of it, he ordered his ninety elites to hunt Shota's members—but they were too few to do much.
They couldn't even pinpoint where Shota's guild was hunting.
"Found them?"
"Yes."
"Where?!"
"East gate hunting ground."
"Which east gate hunting ground?!"
"Wakan Empire."
Miyamoto let out a scoff at the mention of Wakan Empire.
"Heh, so that's it?"
The Wakan Empire was right here—Hayaku Guild's home base.
"They were right under our noses. You bastard! Arrrgh!"
Half-mad with rage, he personally led the remaining elites to crush Shota's guild.
And the moment they exited the east gate toward the hunting ground...
"Long time no see?"
Two men suddenly appeared, blocking Miyamoto's path.
*
In those two months, they'd grown tremendously.
Sung Min-woo had lucked out hunting a low-level boss monster and picked a skill as reward: Lower Spirit Summon.
Lower Spirit Summon
Summons 2 lower spirits of a chosen element. However, their power is at 70% of the original spirits.
Sung Min-woo could summon from four elements: water, fire, wind, and earth.
Two per element meant eight more spirits in total.
Of course, they were a bit weaker than true spirits, but far from feeble.
Mu-hyuk had steadily bought skulls, dramatically increasing his Armor Skeleton count. His summon skill had leveled up nicely too.
"Damn, there are so many."
Sung Min-woo was spot on.
There were tons.
Skeleton Warriors alone numbered thirty-two.
Twenty-three Armor Knights including Burtan, with nine plain Bone Swords.
Skeleton Archers: sixteen.
Eleven Armor Archers, five Bone Bows.
Skeleton Mages: ten.
Four Armor Mages, six plain Mages.
Cavalry: five.
Two Armor Cavalry, three plain Cavalry.
The cavalry had evolved together—horse and rider. The horses turned feral, tiger-like; the riders grew bulkier and taller.
Unlike Armor Knights, their arms elongated slightly. Giving them lances turned that into a huge advantage.
Greater reach, faster thrusts, improved penetration.
And the skill was as expected: thrusting.
Accelerated Thrust Lv1 (0%)
Instantly boosts speed to maximize thrusting power.
• Physical Attack Power ×130%
• MP Cost: 80
• Cooldown: 30 seconds
The combo of sudden horse acceleration and extended arms exceeded imagination.
Excluding warhorses, he had sixty-three combat skeletons, forty of them evolved Armor types.
Sung Min-woo's "filthy many" wasn't exaggeration.
"Yours grew too."
"Pfft, mine's just twelve."
He grumbled but grinned at his spirits. Twelve meant a massive power spike.
"Hey, you hear?"
"What? Vice Guild Master took most members and quit?"
"You saw?"
"It's a huge issue."
"We're kinda famous now."
Defectors from Hayaku started testifying, clarifying the fuzzy rumors.
Now it was clear: two players dismantling a mid-sized six-hundred-strong guild. Questions, doubts, and more testimonies flooded the free board.
"Doesn't seem like a scam, but let's confirm properly."
"Yeah."
"And if it's real, we end it."
Sung Min-woo nodded.
Two long months.
Who'd have thought it'd drag on this long?
"Let's. I'm sick of it."
Sung Min-woo scouted Hayaku HQ first; Mu-hyuk patrolled hunting grounds.
Three hours later, they swapped. Mu-hyuk watched the guild; Sung Min-woo gathered intel.
Confirmed: the ex-vice guild master had quit with most members—and formed his own guild.
"Perfect."
Just then, Miyamoto emerged.
With every last member.
"That's all of them, right?"
"Yeah."
"That number... should be enough."
They could go for a head-on fight.
Mu-hyuk eyed Sung Min-woo.
"Let's end it."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Hm. If it gets dicey, we bail."
"Obviously."
"Alright, let's go."
They tailed Miyamoto stealthily.
Outside the east gate, no cover in the vast plains—they'd be spotted anywhere. So they moved ahead to block him.
"Long time no see?"
Miyamoto halted at Mu-hyuk's greeting.
"You... you bastards."
"Time to end this."
"End? You think you can end it? You cowardly bugs who only hid... how dare you...!"
"Talky."
Mu-hyuk ignored him and summoned his skeletons.
Sung Min-woo too.
"Summon."
Sixty-three skeletons and twelve spirits appeared.
The wind blew.
A moment of silence.
Miyamoto might not know, but his ninety elites did: these skeletons and spirits were monsters.
One Armor Knight could hold off two level 90s.
Two could fight three users evenly; three could crush four.
Plus twelve spirits handling ten-plus users easily—their momentum crumbled.
"What are you doing?!"
"Uh...?"
"Wipe those crazy bones!"
"..."
Easy to say.
But it was the guild master's order.
No—even without, they had to fight.
The summons were advancing.
Kirrik, kiririk.
"They're coming...!"
"Get ready!"
The twenty-three Armor Knights and nine Bone Swords spread out, forming groups.
Greatsword Armor Knights together, spear ones together, longsword, hammer, dagger ones grouped by type.
They'd refitted weapons to match traits for damage boosts—perfect results.
New weapons changed styles, making monsters and users easier to crush.
This time too. But to avoid infamy, they needed to get hit first.
Luckily, Miyamoto was half-insane with fury—provoking attacks would be simple.
"What the hell?!"
"Uh...?"
"I said attack, you idiots!"
"But..."
"You fucking morons!"
Miyamoto finally drew his sword and charged an Armor Knight, unleashing wild attacks. The Knight casually blocked with its shield—and a message appeared.
Legitimate Self-Defense Established
Now Mu-hyuk's real commands began.
Kirrik, kiririk.
The Armor Knights pressed the users.
"Ngh!"
"Hold on just a bit!"
"Heal!"
The real clash erupted—skills flew wildly.
"Power Attack!"
"Fire Spear!"
"Multi Shot!"
Back then, they'd have just taken it.
Not anymore.
Armor Skeletons could use skills now too.
Strong Blow.
Power Shot.
And all sorts of magic.
Kwa-gwang!
The skill barrage raged on for a while.