Seizing the Throne
It was the moment Mu-hyuk sat upon the throne.
You have claimed the throne.
The war between First Guild and Paradox Guild has ended.
First Guild is victorious.
Checking Guild War Contribution.
EXP gained based on contribution.
Level Up!
Victory Reward: Acquired 30% of Paradox Guild's funds.
Funds transferred to First Guild vault.
You will exit the Guild War zone in 30 seconds.
A smile crept across his face at the floating messages.
"Everyone, good work."
"Good work? Nah."
"But you know, right? This is just the beginning."
Paradox Guild had to be crushed.
Mu-hyuk, to sever their bad blood.
The NPCs, for the honor of the Hemil Empire.
"Of course."
"Good. And Captain."
"Yes."
"Once we're out, divide into groups of 100 and send them to the guild management office like before."
"Understood."
"Oh, and Min-woo, call in the gangster necromancers."
"Got it."
"Alright, see you all outside."
Five seconds remained.
4, 3, 2, 1.
With a flash of light, everyone returned to their original spots.
"Whew."
Even before opening his eyes, Mu-hyuk felt the stares fixed on him.
Ah, the prison?
Sure enough, it was the prison.
"Y-you... you..."
"We won, right? You lost, didn't you? You bastard. You're dead meat now!"
"Get us out of here first!"
Mu-hyuk's lips curled up.
He quickly pulled out the scroll from his inventory and tore it.
Sacred Battle Scroll
"Y-you, what the—?!"
"Guild war's over, isn't it...?"
"You lost! Didn't you?!"
"We definitely won!"
Ignoring them, Mu-hyuk drew his dagger.
Wind Step.
He killed them one by one in turn.
Malice accumulated on the Red Dagger transfers to the character.
Vitality (+0.1) increased.
After dealing with them all, he checked his stats.
He had grown incomparably from before tangling with Paradox. Each stat had risen by at least ten points.
His stats would keep climbing steadily even during the guild wars with them.
On the day he completely ended their grudge... how high would they be?
Imagining that day, he escaped the prison.
*
He disbanded First Guild and established Second Guild.
"We'll give it our all, my lord!"
Doran took over as guild master, just as before.
Then, one by one, he recruited Hemil Empire NPCs into the guild. Kahomer had quite the workload again today.
"I-is it finally over...?"
"Seems like it. Good work."
"G-good work? No big deal."
Kahomer wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a sigh of relief.
"Um, Village Chief. Then I'll..."
"Oh, one more thing."
"Yes? N-not another...!"
"Yeah, war with Paradox Guild. Same as before, in three days. Spread the word today."
Having already beaten them once, Kahomer didn't make a fuss this time.
"Understood."
"Thanks for your hard work."
After bowing and leaving the guild management office, Mu-hyuk spotted Sung Min-woo and the gangster necromancer users waiting.
"Yo, you're out."
"Wait long?"
"About five minutes."
He nodded and looked at the users.
"Everyone, you really worked hard in today's war."
"No biggie."
"It was fun."
"But your quests didn't complete, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
"Yeah, that was kinda weird."
Mu-hyuk smiled and continued.
"Actually, we're doing a few more guild wars."
"Huh...?"
"With another guild?"
"No."
"Then...?"
"Another guild war with Paradox Guild."
"Paradox?"
"Uh, is that even possible?"
You couldn't apply with the same guild, but disbanding and reforming allowed it.
It was an exploit unique to the early days of guild war content.
"Yeah, it works."
In the end, only Mu-hyuk stopping would complete the gangster necromancers' quests.
Realizing that, the users looked a bit flustered.
"Won't take too long. Max three weeks."
"Hmm, if that's the case..."
"I'm good. EXP was juicy, and I heard we're splitting the reward gold..."
"Right. We will."
"That alone makes it worth it... Anyway, I'm in."
"Yeah. Forced quest, so gotta do it."
"Those Paradox punks were a blast to wreck. I'll keep merc-ing!"
"Me too!"
Reasons varied, but most nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, everyone. I'll make sure to tell Master to pay you properly."
At "reward," their eyes lit up.
"Ooh, as expected of Mu-hyuk!"
"Best!"
"Then, please take care of the remaining guild wars."
"No worries!"
"So, we just keep joining as mercs?"
"Yeah, quests are for mercenaries."
"Got it!"
Seemed settled.
Whew, now...
Time to celebrate the victory.
"I'll make a proper feast today."
Sung Min-woo chimed in from the side.
"What, a party?"
"Yeah, party."
"Nice! Everyone! Party tonight!"
"Ooh!"
Beating Paradox was definitely brag-worthy.
At the same time,
Illusion's homepage was ablaze once more.
It was worth the hype.
The overwhelming numbers.
The derived power was palpable even in video form.
Above all, he'd brought unknowns to war against Paradox Guild.
And won, giving many vicarious thrills.
But something even bigger stirred the pot.
The duel between Mu-hyuk and Taiken was the star.
The video opened with Mu-hyuk's voice.
Their exchange, locked gazes.
The battle of wills began.
Mu-hyuk loosed an arrow; Taiken blocked.
Boom!
They clashed in movements too fast to track—attacking, dodging, blocking.
Explosions tore the air, debris flew, but both stood unscathed.
Skills befitting top rankers.
Their fight outshone the 10,000 skeletons, the overwhelming magic from the walls, the precise arrows, the grand clash on the plains.
Kaboom!
The fight peaked.
It stole every gaze, but the true highlight was unexpectedly the end.
Mu-hyuk exhaled raggedly.
Taiken lay fallen below.
Swoosh.
He bowed his head, watching the fading figure, then slowly faced forward.
The throne stood there amid stifled silence.
Step.
Mu-hyuk advanced.
In that instant, he dominated the arena.
*
A guild member rushed to the dazed Taiken.
"G-Guild Master?"
He merely lifted his head to look.
"Uh, so..."
"..."
"Um..."
"Spit it out."
The member squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
"Second Guild has challenged us to a guild war!"
Taiken's brow twitched.
His face flushed red.
"Lose once, and nobodies line up to challenge us."
"I-it's not..."
"Not what?"
"It's the guild founded today in Column Village!"
Then it clicked.
"No way...?"
"First Guild disbanded, Second Guild formed. Since it's a different guild, the challenge was accepted."
"Those crazy bastards!"
The haze in his eyes burned away, replaced by blazing fury.
"Three days?"
"Y-yes...!"
"Good. We win this time. Prep thoroughly!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
But Paradox Guild was already rife with conflict and chaos.
Most endured silently for now, but disputes would deepen with time.
Three days passed.
Author's Note
Since we've already beaten Paradox once, I'll skip the battle scenes quickly.
It ties into major episodes, so I wrote it out steadily. Might've been boring for readers.
Thanks for sticking with it.
Skeleton Master—I'll keep writing hard and fun.
P.S. Wow, chapter 300 already.
Truly grateful. T_T
First time hitting 300 in 7 years of writing.
My first long series... Ugh...!
Skeleton Master and beyond, next works too.
I'll write steadily and improve as an author.