Chapter 29
Titan. "Guild leader! The government coalition has advanced all the way to Seoul Station!"
"Yeah..."
Choi Ah-rin rose quietly from the bench. Now, the distant roar of massive footsteps reached her clearly. The faint vibrations transmitted through the ground. Not from machinery, but the pulsing thrum of human bodies on the earth's surface, drawing ever closer, tightening around her heart like a vise.
Choi Ah-rin gripped the handle of her shield.
...In the end, this moment had come.
"Sound the alarm. It's time to rise."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The guild members scattered in all directions at her command. Choi Ah-rin equipped her gear from her inventory.
Fwaah.
A brilliant white armor overlaid her body. Holy platinum mana infused the silver spear blade.
Silver Tree and Spear Star Alliance. Their numbers totaled around 1,200. Compared to the government coalition nearing 7,000, it wasn't even a game.
With people who had already lost the will to fight slipping away in fear before the battle even began, the vast Gwanghwamun Square felt eerily desolate.
Bwaaaang! Bwaaaang!
Cars along the streets blared their horns at regular intervals. The area quickly grew chaotic as players rushed about, forming defensive lines, checking barricades, and moving to their pre-assigned positions to take cover.
I will never submit!
Repeating her ironclad resolve in her mind, Choi Ah-rin walked to the forefront of the sprawling defensive formation.
She swallowed dryly. Cold sweat trickled down her back.
Was it fate's intuition? Or a warning bell?
It didn't matter. Her decision was made.
Today, I die here. Under this blue sky, without a shred of shame. Crushed by the hand of injustice, exhaling my final breath.
*
At the front line, following the ranks, a swordsman clad in blue armor awaited Choi Ah-rin. It was Yoo Ji-hoon, leader of Spear Star Guild.
"You made it? Whoa! Look at that face. Why so grim?"
"You find something funny in this situation?"
Choi Ah-rin shot back curtly. Yoo Ji-hoon shrugged.
"Enlightened, that's all. Just trying to think positive. If I can take down one more of those bastards on my way out, doesn't that feel thrilling?"
"Sure, sure, whatever you say."
Choi Ah-rin brushed past Yoo Ji-hoon indifferently. The furious footsteps of the mob grew relentlessly closer.
They would surely regret it later. We should have sided with Silver Tree and Spear Star. Why didn't we?
But it was a futile thought. By then, it would be far too late in the future.
And in that future, "Silver Tree Guild Leader Choi Ah-rin" would no longer exist.
A distant building's glass wall began reflecting a horde of figures.
"They're coming—get ready!"
Yoo Ji-hoon, leader of Spear Star Guild, drew the sword from his back. Choi Ah-rin gripped her spear shaft tightly, steeling her hand on the shield, and let out a small sigh.
And finally.
The government coalition rounded the corner and came into view.
***
"Choi Ah-rin!"
An enraged shout came from the rear. The players' eyes, filled with fury and madness, gleamed like those of beasts. Kang Min-cheol, leader of Mystic Moon Guild at the vanguard, halted his guild members and stepped forward.
His expression was impassive. Almost serene, even. He scanned the barricade- and barbed-wire-choked Gwanghwamun Square with cold, ruthless eyes.
"You've set up quite the welcome, Choi Ah-rin."
There were probably traps hidden somewhere in that square, too. Not visible on the surface, of course.
"Kang Min-cheol..."
Her voice dripped with wariness, low and tense.
"You've killed quite a few of our guild members over this time."
"That wasn't my doing."
"Don't lie. In this Seoul, who else has the power to stand against us but you?"
"..."
No answer came. Proof she couldn't refute it.
But that didn't matter to Kang Min-cheol. Obstacles blocking his path were to be crushed without mercy.
That was why Mystic Moon had risen to the top of Korea's guild rankings.
"Surrender quietly, and it'll be better for everyone."
"I don't bend on things I believe in."
Choi Ah-rin was resolute. No sooner had her words ended than furious jeers rained down from behind.
"Shut your mouth, Choi Ah-rin!"
"You think someone like you gets to kill fellow players?!"
Choi Ah-rin glanced their way, then closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.
"You've brainwashed them thoroughly."
Kang Min-cheol had no more patience for banter. He wanted to kill this woman obstructing his path as quickly as possible...
"Hey, you there!"
A sudden booming shout cut through his thoughts. It was Spear Star Guild Leader Yoo Ji-hoon.
"Do you have proof that Choi Ah-rin did the killing?"
"What?"
Kang Min-cheol's eyebrow twitched.
"Didn't hear me? I said, do you have proof that Choi Ah-rin killed government coalition players?"
Yoo Ji-hoon's previously mild gaze sharpened. His surging aura made some coalition guild members flinch.
Kang Min-cheol snorted dismissively, as if there was no need to listen further.
"Well, in Seoul, the only force capable of opposing the coalition is you lot..."
"And that's your proof?"
"..."
"Bring concrete evidence. What, is your head screwed on wrong?"
Yoo Ji-hoon tapped his temple mockingly with a finger. The coalition players bristled with outrage.
"You're insulting the dead now?!"
"Know when to speak and when to shut up!"
But Yoo Ji-hoon didn't falter. He slung his sword over his shoulder and glared back at them instead.
Clang.
The blade clashed against his armor, ringing out with a dull metallic thud.
"Same goes for you. Use your heads if you have them! While the subjugation teams went missing thirty-seven times, why didn't the coalition present any evidence?"
"Th-that's..."
"We're all players here—not superhumans. Does that even make sense logically?"
The mood wavered. With war imminent, they couldn't lose momentum now.
Kang Min-cheol swiftly interjected.
"Spouting nonsense. No need to fall for such drivel!"
"Drivel? Does your pitiful intellect make this sound like drivel?"
Kang Min-cheol had no intention of dragging this out. He drew the greatsword from his back with a shring and bellowed.
"Everyone, weapons out! Execute these shameless murderers!"
"Waaaaah!"
"Avenge our comrades!"
As the coalition players roared in agreement, Yoo Ji-hoon closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.
"Guess talking was never an option."
The situation had already reached its peak. No matter what they said, the other side had no intention of listening.
It was like talking into a sieve pressed to their ears.
Yoo Ji-hoon ignited his sword aura. Blue light enveloped his blade.
"Sigh, never thought my last road would be like this. At least I wanted to close my eyes in peace when I go."
"Yeah, me too."
Choi Ah-rin lamented as she wrapped her body in holy radiance. A brilliant halo unfurled behind her like angelic wings.
Ominous dark-red mana surged from Kang Min-cheol's entire body. He aimed his sword with killing intent and shouted—
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu.
...or tried to.
"What is that?"
"What's that noise?"
The coalition players looked around in confusion. A heavy rumble echoed from somewhere, shaking the air.
It sounded just like a rocket engine igniting.
"Hm?"
Kang Min-cheol raised an eyebrow as well. Choi Ah-rin's eyes caught an anomaly as she scanned the surroundings.
Huh? The guild members on the rooftops.
They were freaking out, dashing every which way as if they'd seen something. And they were all staring in the same direction, as if by prior agreement.
Not at this battlefield, but somewhere beyond those buildings.
What the hell is coming...?
Choi Ah-rin swallowed dryly. Everyone who sensed the anomaly turned their gazes there.
The roar grew enormous, rapidly closing in. Soon, the ground was shrouded in black shadow.
A massive aerial battleship displaced the air as it appeared.
"Gasp!"
"A-am ambush?!"
It was large enough to cover half of Gwanghwamun Square. An obsidian-sheathed behemoth of dark steel, bristling with massive main cannons and dozens of smaller turrets.
Kang Min-cheol doubted his own eyes for a moment. Because that was unmistakably his—the one he knew.
"Cha Eun-joo...?"
For the first time, the composure in his eyes shattered.
The players stirred.
"Isn't that Titan?"
"If it's Titan... then Cha Eun-joo?"
"That can't be—Cha Eun-joo is already dead!"
The area erupted in chaos. Choi Ah-rin stared wide-eyed at the battleship hovering overhead.
"Eun-joo unni...?"
And as if to crush even the tiniest seed of doubt, a familiar figure ascended to the prow, her cheerful voice ringing out.
"Sorry I'm late! Modding it took a bit longer! Everyone hold up okay without me?"
The woman standing atop Titan's bow, brown hair whipping in the wind—she was unmistakably Cha Eun-joo.
Players' jaws dropped.
Government coalition players.
Silver Tree and Spear Star alliance players.
Even Yi Cheol-woong of Immortals Guild.
And Chae Hwa-yeon of Flame Guild.
And Cha Eun-joo's eerie smile turned toward Kang Min-cheol. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes did not.
In that instant, Kang Min-cheol knew instinctively.
Something had gone terribly wrong.