Chapter 178
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: The HoneyTube Frenzy
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The reactions came immediately.
"It's a HoneyTube event!"
"Fuck, Marcus, you're dead meat now!"
An event with a total of 200,000 gold on the line.
Not just the gold, but the thrill of catching a glimpse of Honey 1 from HoneyTube drew countless players flocking to the area.
"Where's Honey 1?!"
"Come on out, Honey 1!"
But Honey 1 was nowhere to be seen.
"Didn't they open the event because Honey 1's here?"
"This isn't the time to hunt for Honey 1! We gotta hurry and take down the ruler of the Thieves' City!"
"But they say we can't attack NPCs. How the hell do we do this?"
The condition for attacking NPCs.
It was receiving a quest.
The players pondered for a moment before heading straight to the Archer's City.
If this event was a war, the Archer's City would welcome them with open arms.
"You'll help us?"
D'Kels, the NPC standing guard at the city entrance, widened his eyes.
And for good reasonover a hundred players had already entered the city.
The reason was the same for all of them: to aid the Archer's City.
With Ulrox's execution carried out, everyone in the city had learned every detail of the Thieves' City's atrocities.
The residents were outraged, and they didn't stop throwing stones until the executioner's blade hung over his neck on the scaffold.
The executioners had to endure the stones too, but consumed by rage, they didn't care one bit as they hurled them.
'We have to wipe out those thieving bastards!'
'Those fuckers! How dare they touch our leader!'
'Just give the order! We'll go cut their heads off right now!'
They were ready to charge into the Thieves' City at any moment.
Altear felt the same way.
But he couldn't issue the order lightly.
Those bastards were masters of ambushes.
Rush in without a plan, and they'd get counterattacked.
'We heard you're going to war.'
'Let's crush the Thieves' City!'
Then salvation appeared.
Outsiders began showing up one by one, offering their help.
The ones before him were no different.
'We used to reject anyone who wasn't an archer...'
In their time of crisis, turning away those who stepped up filled him with shame.
Even if their leader was in a coma and couldn't awaken, they shouldn't have done that.
"Who's the ruler of the Thieves' City right now...? Marcus, right? Fuck you, Marcus!"
"You piece of shit Marcus! You think you can stand up to the Archer's City?!"
"Does this prove it enough?"
The players hurled abuse at Marcus.
"Fine, you can pass."
D'Kels stepped aside, eyeing the outsiders one by one.
NPCs couldn't know exactly what quests players had received, but they could get a rough sense.
These didn't seem like ones who'd approached the Thieves' City separately.
They were definitely here to help the Archer's City.
"Thank you."
"We'll do everything we can to ensure your victory."
Having passed inspection, the players steeled their resolve and headed to the sanctuary where Altear was.
Hundreds more players followed suit, arriving at the Archer's City.
"So many people willing to defend our city..."
D'Kels muttered, his face full of regret.
"Whoa... We post one event notice, and this many show up?"
Watching from afar as the players and archers marched toward the Thieves' City were Jeong Hoon, Ha-jin, Bong-gu, and his mother Na-yeon.
A total of four.
"No helping it. We put up 200,000 gold."
"Two hundred thousand... Insane. Where'd that come from? Item enhancement?"
Jeong Hoon shook his head.
"We made a ton from enhancements too, but this is part of the gold from Sa Jae-hyeok."
"Whoa... Now that you mention it."
Lee Hwarang's one-year ban.
It had rocked the New World Korea server.
The top ranker, said to have overwhelming potential, started slipping in rankings as time passed due to the suspension.
Now, he'd fallen off the rankings entirely, his name forgotten.
Thanks to that, Lee Hwarang was barely mentioned anymore.
"Why'd he have to mess with you of all people..."
"Daring to touch my bro. Guy has no idea who he's dealing with."
Kim Bong-gu had already tasted Jeong Hoon's wrath.
In his mind, Jeong Hoon was etched as someone you never touched.
So Lee Hwarang just seemed pathetic.
A top ranker who couldn't even read the room.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"Son, what are we supposed to do then?"
As soon as the players received quests from Altear, they began assaulting the Thieves' City.
The archers followed behind.
Their target: Marcus's head.
"The Thieves' City has probably started moving by now."
High chance they'd send shadows to take out Altear and Hoodin.
The bastard planned to buy time with shadows, fortify the city, and defend against the players and archers' invasion.
Then, at dusk, counterattack the Archer's City.
"I'll kill them all!"
Confidence overflowed on Kim Bong-gu's face.
Having advanced to Unique-grade Shadow Lord in the shadows, he was sure he could beat anyone who came at him.
Anyone except Jeong Hoon, that is.
"We'll take out the thieves he sends."
Jeong Hoon's goal wasn't Marcus's head.
The box safely stowed in the underground warehouse only he could open.
That was it.
No need to obsess over Marcus's neck.
"Got it!"
Altear couldn't hide his joy.
Countless outsiders had come offering to help the city.
All thanks to one outsider named Jeong Hoon.
'I gathered the outsiders. It'll make taking down the Thieves' City much easier.'
'Is that true...?'
'Yes. And I'll stand by nearby, eliminating any thieves who try to sneak in.'
He'd even volunteered to wipe out thieves approaching the city.
"Thanks to our benefactor, things should go smoothly."
Roskantor, who assisted Altear at his side, smiled brightly.
"Yeah. Never dreamed saving my life would lead to help catching the culprit and even fighting this war."
"...We've received far more than just the key."
"Time for extra rewards."
"Extra rewards?"
"Yeah. If we win this war, I'll bestow upon him the treasure our founding leader cherished."
"The founding treasure?!"
Roskantor's eyes went wide.
What kind of treasure was that?
Currently downgraded to Legendary after losing most of its power, but once it held power beyond even that.
And so tricky to wield that no leader had ever mastered it.
To think of handing it to their benefactoran outsider, no less.
"Anything less, and the Archer's City loses face, don't you think?"
He'd saved the leader's life, saved the city, and now helped them exact revenge.
Without a reward like this, Altear had no way to repay the favor.
"As you wish, Leader."
Roskantor fully agreed.
Without him, the Archer's City would have faced a massive crisis.
"I've come for a quest!"
More outsiders poured in after that.
"Come here! Those who aid in this war shall receive ample experience and rewards."
Altear smiled broadly, issuing quests to the outsiders one by one.
Nell and the shadows approached near the Archer's City.
"Boss, there are way too many outsiders."
"How the hell did they gather this many?"
They'd spotted at least 10,000 outsiders sneaking toward the Archer's City.
All vowing to take Marcus's head, ruler of the Thieves' City.
No wonder the shadows were desperate.
Fail to take Altear's head here, and the Thieves' City would fall in an instant.
That's when it happened.
Pewwwwwk!
An arrow flew, piercing the head of a shadow in the rear.
"Gahk!"
The struck shadow crumpled to the ground.
Instant death.
"......!"
Nell and the shadows didn't panic, melting into the surrounding forest.
'How did they spot us?'
They were stealthed, bodies invisible.
How had they pierced that stealth?
Then, around a hundred Dark Soldiers began searching the area.
'What the hell are those?'
Outsiders' doing?
That made sense.
They'd anticipated the approach to the city.
Nell signaled the shadows with a hand gesture.
Take them out quick and move on.
Swaaaaack!
A Dark Soldier swung its sword with full force at where Nell hid.
"......!"
Nell hurriedly dodged, shaking off the Dark Soldiers.
"Those guys are slippery as hell."
Ha-jin let out a short whistle of admiration.
Who'd have thought they'd evade all the Dark Soldiers he'd summoned.
Reaching tier 3 let him summon up to 100, and though mana drain was intense, it was a top-tier skill for overwhelming with numbers.
Plus, the dark aura on the soldiers' swordsincluding Ha-jin's.
Similar to the Myeongwang aura Jeong Hoon wielded, but dark-attribute sword energy that absorbed a portion of the enemy's mana on each strike.
That's how he could maintain summons despite the heavy mana cost.
Bang!
But Ha-jin wasn't alone.
Na-yeon, in position, nailed the shadow's right shoulder with her sniper rifle as it darted about.
"Urk!"
The shadow dropped its dagger, frantically scanning around.
Jeong Hoon, watching from the side, tilted his head.
"Mom, why didn't you finish him off?"
"On purpose."
"On purpose?"
"Yeah. The skill lets me track all enemies within 100 meters of whoever I hit with that shot. But it won't trigger if they die."
"Whoa... Really?"
With 'Trace Block' erasing her own tracks, and the new tier 3 skill 'Tracking Shot' pinpointing hidden enemies...
'All I can say is, insane.'
Overwhelming talent plus cheat skillseven the best gunner couldn't match her.
Bang! Bang!
Na-yeon pulled the trigger repeatedly.
"Gahk!"
"Keuk!"
Two more shadows' heads were pierced.
They slumped lifelessly to the ground.
"Whoa..."
Kim Bong-gu, lying in ambush, couldn't hide his awe.
Not just Jeong Hoon a monsterhis mom had monstrous talent too.
He vowed never to mess with that family, no matter what.
'Alright. My turn.'
A Shadow Lord now.
He couldn't just watch his bros and mom shine.
His body turned pitch black, slipping into another shadow.
Unlike the so-called shadows, a true Shadow Lord's ability.
"Four targets to eliminate. Stay sharp, no slacking."
The shadow leader commanded the others.
Oh ho. So you're the boss?
Kim Bong-gu gripped his dagger, shifting to the guy's shadow.
He emerged silently, striking the back of the neck.
Dagger reversed, aiming to sever the spine in one gobut the guy bent forward, dodging.
"Y-you bastard, you dodged...?"
Kim Bong-gu panicked hard.
Never expected the ambush to fail.
"You think you can kill me coming at me so openly?"
Nell straightened, slashing upward with his dagger.
Pewwwwwk!
An arrow whistled from afar.
"Hup!"
She flinched, twisting away.
It grazed her left shoulder but didn't hit fully.
Nell's face hardened.
'Body won't move! Poison?'
She tried activating a skill, but her mana was frozen solid.
"Think I can't kill you?"
Kim Bong-gu grinned, slitting Nell's throat.
Her eyes bulged wide as she dropped dead.
Blood spurted from the neck, the metallic stench filling the air.
'It's fine... It's just a game... This fucker's an NPC.'
Repulsed by the gruesome sight, Kim Bong-gu self-soothed inwardly.