The Wind Cave Uprising
Just before Carpe was set to meet the KD guild.
In the square of the beach city Ruana, a massive crowd had gathered, radiating a menacing aura.
"Those KD bastards have gone too far."
"They don't know the meaning of moderation. Moderation."
Even though the powerful KD guild had full control over Wind Cave, the people hadn't given up yet.
It was too tempting a honey pot to just sit there sucking their thumbs and swallowing their rage.
The thought of someone hogging all that sweet nectar made their stomachs ache and kept them up at night.
So today, too, the crowd dreamed of revolution. They would reclaim their rights from those vile tyrants!
'We'll make this succeed no matter what!'
Jillian, one of the countless low-tier streamers on Channel RaSe, had a gut feeling.
This was his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Whew."
Jillian scanned the people assembled in Ruana Square.
About a hundred players of all sorts of classes were staring at him. It had been years since so many people paid him this much attention—back to his high school class president election, in fact.
'This is it! This'll work!'
It had started over something trivial.
During his usual RaSe live stream with fewer than ten viewers, talk turned to the KD guild.
In the midst of trash-talking KD, he'd tossed out, "Those KD punks are all hype! If we fought, I'd win easy!" And that offhand remark sparked everything.
A throwaway joke had snowballed into something utterly absurd.
Someone once said it: human connections link you to most of the world in just six degrees of separation.
From a stream with barely ten viewers, word spread like wildfire somehow, drawing over a hundred people!
'They said my official luck was peaking this year... and it was true.'
He'd popped into a fortune-telling cafe on a whim recently and heard exactly that.
The stars were aligning for him. A massive opportunity was coming—if he seized it, he'd live high for life.
And here it was, that golden chance.
'No way I'm letting this slip!'
A heaven-sent stroke of luck.
Jillian had no intention of wasting this cosmic momentum. He immediately founded his guild.
For over two weeks, he'd pored over every KD-related video, compiling rumors and intel.
Thanks to that, he knew their numbers, gear, key threats—everything vital.
So he was certain.
This war... victory was ours! All that remained was the charge!
Jillian steadied his pounding heart and spoke.
"Everyone. The time has come! The battle for Wind Cave can't be won by raw power alone—general users like us have to step up, or we'll lose. Gear doesn't matter, class doesn't matter! Just your presence here pressures them."
He scanned the crowd.
He could read the fierce hunger in their staring eyes.
"This war won't just catch Ruana's eye—it'll have every RaSe player watching! Control like this isn't unique to Wind Cave. There are countless dungeons, countless controllers, countless victims like us. We have to send them a message. Give them hope, confidence. Ensure no dungeon ever suffers this tyranny again!"
Why was his tongue so silver today?
All those speeches from past games against control guilds, memorized sweet—he was living the payoff.
"To be honest, I'm not that strong. Average items, average Patron Spirit, average class. But I can't contain this boiling blood in my veins! I'll lead the charge. And I'll die gloriously! Someday, I'll tell people proudly: I was here when the great revolution began!"
Jillian stepped forward, thrusting his fist skyward with a roar.
"We will not be slaves!"
"We will be the masters of the world!"
"Woooaaah!"
Chills. A perfect performance.
This was clip-worthy, the stuff of legends.
A glance at the corner of his vision: stream running smooth.
'Yeah. I'll probably die.'
But that was irrelevant. The video would live on, and people would remember him as the revolution's vanguard.
'That means at least mid-tier corp streamer!'
Hell, with this luck, he might rocket to top-dog status overnight.
Finally escaping the bottom-barrel lowbie streamer life.
And that wasn't all. The rewards after ousting KD would be massive.
'Gotta control it myself, obviously?'
He'd preached liberation in his speech, but he had zero plans to actually do it.
Someone else would just take over anyway.
Might as well be him, managing it "fairly." Jillian truly believed that.
'Feed the folks here first, though.'
KD had so many enemies because they wouldn't share the spoils.
'Idiots.'
Hogging it all just gets you sick. Unlike those thugs, he'd share with general users.
'Entry fee around 50 gold? 100's too steep.'
People would praise him as the most generous guild ever.
Jillian basked in his rosy vision.
One regret, though.
'If only Cheonma TV hadn't dropped that elf vid.'
Yesterday's elf video exploded right when he needed max turnout.
Some idiots skipped for an NPC.
'Foolish humans.'
How could they blow off a righteous crusade for some NPC?
He hated it. And Cheonma TV for causing it.
'Once the guild's big, slap 'em with a ban for some BS reason?'
Nah. Too harsh for one video. Just make 'em apologize.
Smug with his mercy, Jillian led the crowd toward Wind Cave.
"Almost there! Get ready, everyone."
About five minutes from Wind Cave.
"Can we rush in now? What if they've prepped...?"
"That's why I sent scouts thirty minutes ago. Intel says about ten at the entrance. Totally off-guard."
"Ooh! As expected of Jillian!"
"You had a whole plan!"
Of course, he omitted how his scout—real-life buddy Suhyun—got logged out in thirty seconds by a greatsword guy guarding the entrance.
No need to kill morale.
Jillian checked the latest message from Suhyun, his scout and IRL friend.
Jillian closed the messenger after that.
Of course they'd win. Hero gear plus solid control? No contest.
But war wasn't about individual power. Even the strongest had limits.
War was numbers!
And strategy exploiting terrain.
'Ten guys, right?'
Overwhelm with sheer volume, no matter how strong.
Then easy mode. Wind Cave had one narrow entrance.
Clear the guards, block it with their own people—done.
Those inside would starve for supplies, fight endless mobs, and implode!
Thrilled with his genius plan, Jillian shouted.
"Justice is at hand! Full charge!"
"Woooaaah!"
But Jillian's grand scheme unraveled from the start.
The cave entrance was deserted when they arrived with battle cries.
Wide open, more than ever.
"Huh?"
"Jillian? What the...?"
"Uh, wha?"
Everyone panicked, but Jillian most of all.
This was supposed to be their historic first clash—what was this?!
Traces of fierce battle littered the entrance.
Undispersed dust and cracked earth screamed "recent."
And crucially...
"...Gulp."
Someone up front swallowed hard.
Dropped player items scattered everywhere—some looked Hero grade.
"A-as expected! Jillian, your scouts didn't just scout—they wiped the guards!"
Someone yelled, and the crowd nodded like it made sense.
"Yeah! Anything else wouldn't add up!"
"What kinda beasts did you recruit...? Impressed by your connections, Jillian!"
"Hard to loot mid-fight, yeah."
The vanguard must've charged inside, high on victory adrenaline.
To crush more KD!
"...Then as the rear guard, shouldn't we clean up the battlefield?"
"Y-yeah. Let's grab the items and return 'em later."
A few users muttered, heading for the loot.
Despite their words, greed gleamed in their eyes. They'd snag and log out, no doubt.
But they never got the chance.
Whoosh—!
A black something appeared from nowhere, darting through the drops.
Where it passed, items vanished clean.
"What the—?!"
"What's that?!"
Hero gear was there.
Now gone.
Whether people freaked or not, the black blur vacuumed everything.
And then.
"Kyuu?"
The black something—Mukhyang—tilted its head at the crowd before scampering into the cave.
"......"
"......"
Too surreal to process, reactions lagged.
"C-catch it!"
Someone snapped to, lunging after it—but too late.
"Knew it! They had backup! No way a monster like that pops solo!"
Even faster, KD guildies poured out.
Their vibe? Savage.
"Ranker vet reroll tanks aggro, draws the crowd—then seal the entrance. Solid plan, even from enemies!"
"Too bad our brain saw through it. Brought over half our force—get ready!"
"Daring to defy... KD? Ready to quit the game? Faces noted. We'll kill you on sight."
Far fiercer than expected, frontliner Jillian stammered excuses.
"N-no, misunderstanding... We just got here! No allies!"
"Ridiculous. Think we'll buy that now?"
"No talk—kill 'em all!"
"I said no! Damn it! Charge!"
Frustrated to madness, but no choice.
They were charging—had to fight. Not how he'd planned!
"What the hell is even happening?!"
Jillian's indignant yell echoed at the entrance.
And right then.
"Gahhh!"
"Insane. What kinda monster—gahk."
Inside Wind Cave, Carpe bashed charging KD guildies with a happy grin.
Wind spirits as pull mobs meant KD-delivered monsters straight to him.
"Damn, KD. Respect. Y'all farm this dungeon like pros. VIP service."
They drop items on death, and toss in mobs so EXP ain't skimpy.
"This is gaming!"
He'd vaguely noted entrance noise... but whatever.
Carpe basked in peaceful bliss as always.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw