Skirmishes at Viewerken's Gates

At the main gate of Viewerken Kingdom, Duke Amur's vast army maintained a vigilant stance.

From there, Group 1 and Group 2 extended to the left and right.

They held their defensive positions to block any potential reinforcements.

"Hm, it's quiet."

About 20 minutes passed, and summoning became possible again.

He expanded the scouting range using the snakes.

"Take a break. I've sent out the snakes."

"Oppa, you're the best!"

"Kuh, this is nice."

Mu-hyuk chuckled softly and focused his vision for a moment.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

In that state, he took ample rest.

Meanwhile, other summoner users called out their summons for scouting as well.

Thanks to that, Mu-hyuk had even more breathing room. With fewer tasks, boredom set in, and his body started to itch restlessly.

"Ye-rin."

"Yeah?"

"Are your weapon and armor still usable right now?"

"Hm. They're fine."

"Haven't you been using them for a while?"

"Yeah, but... whatever."

"Let's upgrade them while we're at it."

"Huh? I don't have any money right now."

"I'll gift them to you. I said I would before."

"You don't have to..."

Ye-rin waved her hand dismissively, saying it was okay, but Mu-hyuk was firm.

"It's war. We can't have you dying."

"Ugh..."

She refused several times.

But in the end, Mu-hyuk's stubbornness won out.

"Wait a sec."

"Okay."

He immediately turned his gaze to Sung Min-woo and Kim Ji-yeon.

"Yours are pretty old too, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Guess I'll treat you guys for old times' sake."

"For real...?"

"Yeah."

"Kuh, I'm materialistic, so no rejections here! Oh, and Ji-yeon will probably refuse out of principle, so just handle it yourself."

"Got it, you punk."

Mu-hyuk smiled and opened the auction house system.

First, Ye-rin's items.

Priority one: survivability. Next: all stats.

Summons were like squirrels too.

Since they were influenced by Ye-rin's stats, all-stats items were the most efficient.

This one, this one, this...

Robe, leather pants, leather gloves, leather boots, and even a headband.

All top-grade items.

And for Min-woo too.

Likewise, high all-stats with bonuses to strength, agility, and stamina.

Hm, for Ji-yeon...

As a priest, she needed high knowledge and wisdom.

Items with all stats plus knowledge, wisdom, and bonus stamina.

This should be plenty.

He closed the auction house and focused on the Skull Snake's vision.

Nothing special.

He started enhancing Ye-rin's items first.

"Oppa, it'll be tough on you..."

"Nah, it's fine."

"Okay, then when I make a ton of money next time, I'll gift you something awesome too!"

"Looking forward to it."

"Yeah!"

The mere fact that she had such thoughts made her all the more endearing.

They stood guard for 2 hours, then switched groups for 2 hours of rest.

"Alright, switching groups again. Back to alert status."

Alternating like that, after 6 hours, he had enhanced all of Ye-rin, Sung Min-woo, and Kim Ji-yeon's items to at least +7.

"Phew, done."

"Kuh, thanks man!"

"Thanks, oppa...!"

"I'll put them to good use."

During the next rest period, Mu-hyuk logged out for a nap.

Beep beep beep beep.

The alarm woke him.

He washed his face and hurriedly logged back into Illusion.

Ye-rin was gone.

Sung Min-woo and Kim Ji-yeon were missing too.

Eh, they'll log in soon enough.

He headed to the camera team focused on filming.

"Anything happen?"

"Ah, Mu-hyuk-ssi!"

Yura approached with a smile from nearby.

"You logged in?"

"Yeah. But..."

"No big issues. A couple groups that looked like reinforcements attacked, though."

"Twice?"

"Yes."

"Uh, so the situation?"

"We repelled them perfectly, no problems."

Only then did Mu-hyuk relax.

"Good to hear."

"You're so worried. If something big happened, you'd get a call."

"Haha, true."

"Anyway, we got some great footage today. The march on Viewerken Kingdom had real impact. Look forward to this week and next's broadcasts."

"Will do."

"Oh, and aren't you extending the contract? A month was too short from the start. I get it's unavoidable, though."

"Hm, has a month passed already?"

"Of course. Oh, and the station has another proposal, I heard."

"Proposal?"

"You should hear it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from Uncle."

"Ah, okay."

"I'll tell him to call when you log out."

"Thanks."

"Take care. We'll film well."

"Appreciate it."

Mu-hyuk returned to his spot.

He conversed with Duke Amur via mage and got some advice from the knights.

In the meantime, Sung Min-woo, Ye-rin, and Kim Ji-yeon logged in.

"Our turn in 10 minutes."

"Roger."

Right on time, they switched with the guard group.

Group 2 rests.

Now it was Group 1's turn to block reinforcements.

A few battles occurred, but nothing on a large scale.

Just skirmishes.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Honestly, they were too small to even call reinforcements.

Maybe 10 or 20 at most.

Hmm.

Kaion Continent players still didn't grasp the situation fully.

Barring something major, they wouldn't band together en masse.

In the end, they'd keep fending off these underwhelming hostiles easily, just like before.

"Small group spotted."

Mu-hyuk's voice echoed out.

In the snake's vision.

About 20 hostile players approaching Viewerken Kingdom.

"Twenty. 9 o'clock from Viewerken Kingdom's center."

The nearest users advanced. The moment they clashed with the 20 hostiles, they attacked immediately. The numbers were overwhelmingly in their favor—no chance of losing.

Mu-hyuk, watching via the snake's vision, nodded.

"Cleared."

Those who handled them returned to position.

Time was already pushing late into the night. Even so, Viewerken Kingdom's walls were packed with users.

Occasionally, Duke Amur would lead his army in an assault, met each time with fierce resistance.

That must be grating on their nerves plenty.

Probably no rest either.

If time dragged on like this?

They could conquer Viewerken Kingdom with Duke Amur's trump card.

Just wait patiently.

Taking solace in the occasional contribution point gains.

The moment he slightly relaxed—

Hm?

Mu-hyuk's brow furrowed.

He quickly looked at the mage.

Amplification magic activated again.

"Multiple small groups spotted."

Mu-hyuk's voice spread everywhere.

Roughly 100 in total.

Scattered small groups of 10 to 20.

Rumors about Viewerken Kingdom were starting to spread among them.

The silver lining: it was quite late, so numbers wouldn't swell too much.

"11 o'clock. Around 100 total."

Mu-hyuk's position.

Including Mu-hyuk, nearby users advanced.

Over 500 strong.

Overkill for 100, but necessary to overwhelm without casualties.

"We'll clear fast and pull back."

How far had they gone?

They encountered the hostiles.

"Hup...!"

The surprised foes hastily attacked, but accuracy and power were low.

They swiftly cleared the 10-man group and closed on the next.

They froze upon spotting Mu-hyuk's group.

"Wh-what? Who are you guys?!"

No reason or value in answering.

An arrow felled one user easily.

"U-uuwaaak!"

The hostiles suddenly turned to flee.

"Regroup, regroup first!"

They aimed to link with others, but they'd picked the wrong foes. Mu-hyuk, stronger than ever, led the charge.

Slowing the enemies. He used disruption skills on their paths.

He methodically picked off the fleeing ones.

He cut down users left and right.

Mu-hyuk took out five in an instant. His comrades handled three from behind, but one remained.

Out of pursuit range, Mu-hyuk sheathed his dagger and drew his divine bow.

Arrows slammed into the fleeing user's back one after another.

"Kuhk...!"

But he didn't die.

Mu-hyuk raised his finger toward the still-running foe.

A dark-infused beam shot out.

Boom!

With the explosion, the last user finally perished.

It wasn't over.

He moved to handle the next group.

"U-uuwaaak!"

"Crazy...!"

Cleared the group in a flash.

"Situation clear. Returning."

Back to position.

Brazil, the South American nation boasting over 200 million people.

With more Illusion players than Korea, the homepage overflowed with posts.

Posts urging participation in the war began appearing.

Yet nothing changed.

Kaion Continent's rewards were pathetically meager.

But that lasted only briefly.

Before dawn, a hologram popped up, making Kaion Continent players' shoulders twitch in excitement.