Turning the Tables
"Hah, hah, no, this can't be real..."
Kang Min-cheol's pupils trembled. Cold sweat poured down his back, soaking the inside of his armor. The overwhelming main current of power. Just a slight release of her aura warped the air around her. His senses compressed in an instant. For the first time, Kang Min-cheol felt his mind reel.
"Th-this crazy..."
A colossal wave of terror surged toward him, poised to crush his heart. It felt like thousands of thorns encircled it densely. As his chest tightened, his hand instinctively clutched at his breastplate.
Just from the aura she's emitting, it's this much!
There was no mistaking that intimidating presence for anyone but Sertina. Kang Min-cheol desperately suppressed his ragged breathing. He glanced sideways and ground his teeth low.
"Urgh, it's on another level from raid bosses! Is this really the power of a world boss?"
Even that brutish gorilla-like Lee Cheol-woong.
"What do I do, what do I do, Mom. Why does this have to happen to me...!"
Even Cha Hwa-yeon, who always looked like everything was a hassle.
Before Sertina, they stood frozen like statues, not daring to breathe. Their souls screamed. Run away right now. No. You can't run. Kneel and beg for mercy.
At that moment, Choi Ah-rin's shout tore through the silence.
"Reform the formation! Sertina subjugation array!"
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
Members of Silver Tree and Star Guilds burst out from where they'd been scattered and hiding. Their hearts must have been pounding, but Choi Ah-rin quickly steadied her mentality.
Kang Min-cheol shouted as if refusing to back down.
"Tanks, advance! Healers, support the tanks!"
"Got it!"
Man-sized shields formed an iron wall. Thousands of weapons aimed at Sertina as a massive formation unfolded. It was as if an impregnable fortress of superhumans had been erected right there.
Though they were guilds that usually treated each other as enemies, words weren't needed this time. They all thought the same. If we can't stop that monster, the entire Korean Peninsula will become a sea of blood.
But no one moved rashly. The aura Sertina had just unleashed might be enough to crush individual players' lives like ants.
In that instant.
Sertina deliberately raised one arm toward the sky, as if putting on a show. Her palm slowly unfurled like a flower bud blooming.
"Damn, what pattern is this?"
"Stay sharp! Brace for attack!"
The tanks lowered their stances, hiding behind their shields.
Zing— The air split open.
"What is that?!"
From Sertina's hand.
Plop.
Something dropped.
......
The area fell into stunned silence for a moment. Someone broke it with a bewildered voice.
"A smartphone...?"
What do you think marks the start of war?
The resounding blast of trumpets?
The soldiers' roars and charge?
No.
War always begins with seizing the initiative.
Proving you're overwhelmingly stronger than your opponent.
That alone secures early dominance.
Just like how I can play on my smartphone right in front of them, and no one dares touch me.
Tap tap tap— I busily moved my fingers to open the pre-made chat room.
8,274 members at the top. Since I hadn't sent any messages yet, they didn't even know this chat existed.
The power of civilization is amazing. Spreading news to so many with one button.
I entered the gallery and selected the pre-prepared video.
I held the smartphone high so everyone could see.
I scanned the crowd once. Thousands of gazes mixed with wariness and curiosity. All wearing utterly baffled expressions.
A world boss using a smartphone? Now that's topical.
I deliberately exaggerated my gestures, thumb extending toward the send button.
A quick glance. Like a host gauging the audience right before an important announcement.
I swept my eyes from left to right across the crowd.
Well then.
Let's see how they react.
With a bit of excitement, I pressed send.
At that instant, the smartphones of all the assembled players began ringing in unison.
"What the hell is this message...? You get it too?"
"Yeah. Looks like it went to everyone here."
"Crazy, dude—the sender's number... no way it's Sertina?"
"S-Sertina sent it?!"
The players alternated between their smartphones and Sertina with shocked faces. A world boss wielding modern tech.
Sertina had already stowed her smartphone in her inventory, arms crossed, silently watching them. She showed no sign of attacking.
At her reaction, they swallowed dryly and turned to the video, figuring they might as well.
"Wanna... tap and see what it is?"
The moment the first guy watched it, profanity exploded from his mouth.
"Fuck, what the hell is this!"
"Whoa, you scared me! What? What'd you see?"
"M-maybe we shouldn't watch it?"
People craned their necks toward his phone, but he just gaped in shock, glued to the video.
Realizing it was the same video they'd all received, they turned to their own screens.
...Videos began playing one by one.
Soon, similar reactions erupted from their mouths.
"Wh-what the...!"
"Yo, this real? Not faked?"
"No way, the truth behind the evaporation incidents..."
The players stared at their screens in horror. It wasn't just the government coalition side. Silver Tree and Star Guild members' faces twisted more with every second of footage.
Angry wrinkles furrowed their brows.
"Insane."
"This for real...?"
"They deserved to die. Fucking bastards."
Sertina simply watched their reactions, arms still crossed.
The video was an edit of key clips from 37 anti-government assassination attempts she'd gathered while running around. She'd borrowed the skills of Kim Min-seok, who used to be a video editor.
Star Guild leader Yoo Ji-hoon turned his phone around as the video played, tapping the screen.
"Hey, Mr. Kang Min-cheol. Think you owe us an explanation?"
The air froze at his words.
Choi Ah-rin gripped her spear shaft in outrage.
"Kang Min-cheol... what the hell is this?"
As enraged glares poured in one by one, Kang Min-cheol scanned around with a flushed face and hurriedly spoke up.
"Y-you're suspecting me right now? The opponent's Sertina! How do we know this isn't manipulated footage!"
His usual composure was gone. His pupils shook anxiously left and right.
"It's all Sertina's doing! This is blatant slander!"
The crowd's eyes turned to Sertina. She closed hers slowly, accepting their stares.
Yeah. Of course you'd pin it on me.
But you're wrong about one thing.
...I'm not alone anymore.
"Shut your mouth, Kang Min-cheol!"
Kim Jin-woo bellowed from atop his Titan.
"Everyone you almost murdered is right here! How long you gonna spout meaningless excuses?"
"Lady Sertina saved us! She's never harmed us once!"
Eterna Guild members pushed back fiercely.
Yoo Tae-han stepped forward.
"We're all witnesses! Especially me... I tried to betray Lady Sertina, but she knew and forgave me anyway."
He pulled a milky-white staff from his inventory. The blue gem at its tip gleamed ethereally.
"I've decided to believe what I've seen and been through. Sertina saved my life..."
The staff's trembling tip pointed at Kang Min-cheol.
"And you lot tried to kill me!"
Star Guild leader Yoo Ji-hoon eyed both sides before slowly nodding. He raised an eyebrow at Kang Min-cheol.
"......That's their story?"
Kang Min-cheol's pupils quaked like an earthquake.
Cha Hwa-yeon muttered something incoherent in a daze, and Immortal Guild leader Lee Cheol-woong's massive frame froze like a statue.
"Looks legit..."
"They really are crazy bastards."
Murmurs rippled through the government coalition players.
Kang Min-cheol felt his reason slipping away.
"No, no, no!"
He raised his two-handed sword high and slammed it down on the barricade in front of him.
Boom!
All eyes locked on him. Kang Min-cheol turned to his coalition players with the eyes of a maddened beast and shouted.
"You lot, think carefully! If we fight among ourselves here, how the hell do we take on Sertina?!"
A few players flinched. Right. It wasn't over yet. Nearly half the coalition here were pro-government forces involved in this mess. They couldn't root them all out on the spot.
So why not unite under the pretext of subjugating Sertina? Use the absolute terror of her to consolidate the remaining forces.
In that moment, Sertina's sharp gaze pierced Kang Min-cheol like a blade. Those in its path shuddered at her chilling tone.
"......Amusing delusion."
"So."
Sertina's voice dropped low.
"Have I ever killed innocent people?"
She struck at the core. The players' eyes wavered.
"D-don't fall for it! That thing is—"
"You."
The icy tone sliced across Kang Min-cheol's heart like a knife. He couldn't continue.
"Then explain why you tried to murder my guild members."
Kang Min-cheol's words caught in his throat.
Explain? Of course he could. To purge the anti-government faction within the coalition.
But say that in front of everyone...?
As he hesitated, the players seemed even more convinced. Whispers rose from the back.
Sertina slowly opened her mouth.
"You've all seen it clearly."
Their expressions shifted. Fear of Sertina was flipping to fury at the government coalition.
"So choose."
Shing.
She drew Blood Eater and aimed it at Kang Min-cheol. Red bloodlust flowed along the blade. Her eyes stained crimson.
"Will you stand with justice, or oppose me on the side of evil?"