New Guild Conquest War
"What? You’re saying the guild master is going alone?"
"Yes."
Usually, when a guild invaded another guild’s base planet, they would form a party inside guild headquarters and charge in ruthlessly, as if raining down a storm of bombs from the sky. In other words...
"If the timing’s right, we can wipe out all those guys huddled together in someone else’s hideout."
"That’s true. But the risk would be huge."
At the very least, I’d have to take on about thirty people at once. Well, whatever.
[+10 SSS-grade Elemental Four-Element Necklace]
I linked the necklace I was wearing to the item window. Not that I was trying to show off or anything.
"With this, I can punch through just about anything."
"I see. Then, when you sneak in and wipe them out, could you turn on the stream? I’d like to live vicariously through it."
"Of course. Watch closely."
And that was how the executive meeting held at lunchtime today came to an end.
"Should I go with you, at least? I can support you."
"No."
There were only two executives to begin with, so if both of us moved together, they’d catch on immediately. Mone’s role would be better like this.
"While I infiltrate the Muah Guild, please create a strange atmosphere by saying things like, 'Did you oversleep? You’re not logging in,' all right?"
"I will. But still, it’s the new guild conquest war, and I never thought we’d go this far."
She said that, but her voice sounded full of excitement.
"I’m glad I joined Haruru’s guild."
"Yes. Next Saturday at noon, let’s pull off an amazing new guild conquest war."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
That evening, the day’s second broadcast began. I’d always thought streaming was just sitting there opening and closing my mouth, but it really burned way more stamina than I expected. And of all things, my body had to be like this, making it even harder than it would be for an ordinary person. Still, I had to squeeze out whatever strength I had left and keep streaming! You have to row when the tide comes in.
Stream title: Evening Haruru Is Stronger Than Morning Haruru. I’ll wrap up the evening guild interviews and then start a viewer-participation emergency response meeting.
"W-wouldn’t it be the other way around?"
"Anyway, the first executive meeting ended pretty quickly. The operation for our Shining Parade Guild is space defense!"
"Whether we call it defense or not, they won’t be able to breach us anyway, so it doesn’t matter."
Strictly speaking, my mindset was more like, I’ll catch them before they even break through. But whatever.
"I do have a +10 four-element necklace and a fully transcended SSS-grade Mika, but like I always say, you can’t get careless. As you’ve all seen, Unknown Universe is the kind of game where anything can happen."
Then shall we look at the remaining guild applicants? Our current guild level is 2. Out of the thirty members the guild can hold, twenty-five slots were already filled.
"It’s not easy for a new guild to gather this quickly... There are only five spots left."
"Oh dear. A fifty-thousand-won donation, and you’re making a request with it? A working stiff? Don’t say such nasty things! But I do prioritize character, so you’ll definitely need an interview. Still, would someone who so casually gives fifty thousand won really have bad character? Hehe. Send me a whisper."
I said that, but there are no exceptions. Insight activated!
Nickname: HaruruMuchanamul (Real Name: Kang Yeongmin)
Possessed Trait: Upright and straight as a radish (S)
Oh. An S-grade trait.
Feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen one. But ever since I started noticing them, especially after that last decent-person S-grade trait, it felt like the system was just scribbling them out casually.
Haaah. That’s just the kind of thing the goddess of luck does...
But if I say that, it’d be rude to the goddess who keeps helping me out, so I won’t. It’s absolutely not because I’m scared of retaliation. Another interesting trait caught my eye.
Wow. I thought I’d gotten used to seeing all sorts of strange traits since gaining Insight, but this is still surprising.
"Muchanamul, could you give us a brief self-introduction?"
"Yes. Well, I’m just an ordinary office worker..."
You don’t look like an ordinary office worker from that trait, though. I should probe a little and fish around casually. Just in time, I noticed a trait in the game.
A skill that allows the cultivation of crops.
Duration: Permanent
"Oh... you learned a farming skill?"
This isn’t the kind of skill that makes you stronger in combat; it’s exactly what it sounds like, a skill for growing crops. Where does it get used? Later on, when the guild base planets increase from one to several, it’s used to build farms that provide raw materials for things like doping items and potions.
But the problem is that it’s almost like real-life farming: not fun, and exhausting, so people tend to avoid it. When I explained that, I got a response that was genuinely unexpected.
"Really? I didn’t know that. I just found it fun while doing it... It’s only been a few days since I started Unknown Universe after following Haruru, but farming is so enjoyable that I’ve just been tending the fields."
"Oh..."
"From what I know, there are a lot of little details that need to be handled carefully. People say it’s almost like real farming, so everyone gives up halfway."
Then he chuckled softly.
"Maybe because when I was young, I used to help my parents with all sorts of farming."
"Oh-ho."
So that was where Farmer’s Aptitude and the source of the radish side dish came from.
"The bigger problem is that, since I’m working now, I can’t spend long stretches of time on it... That part’s a little disappointing. You know farming has a lot of tedious little chores, right? Farming in Unknown Universe is basically the same."
Wait, hold on—wasn’t that a little too casual to call a problem?
"If you formed a soul-duo with Imda... maybe you’d create the greatest farm on earth?!?"
"But the problem is, right now I don’t even have land to farm on... or a planet, I guess. So I’m only working the basic fields..."
"Don’t worry about that. In the new guild conquest war, we’ll just steal land to farm on. I was going to take it easy at first, but now that the sub-guild under the Destruction banner is preparing to snipe us? I’m taking everything without yielding a single inch."
Before long, we finally filled the full thirty-member guild limit. As I looked over each and every person’s traits, I couldn’t help feeling strangely proud. Well, except for one.
Meuseung-i
That spy bastard.
He probably doesn’t realize he’s being used right now.
"Once the guild levels up, our member cap will increase, so please apply again then. Now, let’s begin our first viewer-participation emergency response meeting."
"All right! The most important thing before our new guild conquest war: let’s match our group costume avatars!"
"Huh? Oh, right. That does have that effect. I only wanted us to look coordinated before starting, though."
"Anyway, our group costume will be black suit avatars."
They suit the black fox Haruru best, and when everyone’s gathered together, nothing looks cooler than suits. That doesn’t mean I want them worn every day, though. I just mean for guild events like the new guild conquest war. While I explained that, I added one more thing.
"For the record, only for the black fox Haruru, the world’s cutest, the universe’s cutest, the first server-wide +10 four-element necklace owner, you can wear the black hoodie and hot pants as the group costume."
"Mind your manners in chat."
All of our guild members, myself included, appeared in neat, clean avatars. Whether male or female characters, everyone wore a suit, and it looked absolutely fantastic. The oversized black boxy hoodie and white hot pants suited me well too.
I’d tried to make my virtual avatar resemble the black fox Haruru I use on stream as much as possible, and I was pretty satisfied with the result.
"How far is our guild’s prestige supposed to go, seriously?"
"You’ll have to catch a Hard Black Fox for that later. Until then, just think, 'Oh, the fox has disguised itself as a human~ That’s why you can’t see the ears or tail~'"
"Then! Since we’re all gathered together, I’ll say a few words as guild master."
"Everyone, listen up!"
"The peace in Unknown Universe right now is fake! Those who have what they have are too afraid to move for fear of losing it, and those who don’t have anything are afraid of being trampled by those who do. It’s nothing more than a forced peace."
"This coming weekend, in the new guild conquest war, I’ll open the curtain on the legend of the Shining Parade Guild."
For a moment, I paused to catch my breath and heighten the mood.
"Let’s go! May the goddess of luck shine upon us!"
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