Chapter 160: Infiltration
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 160: Infiltration
To think the Epic Monster targeting him was the Demon King.
It was a shock, but there was no reason to be intimidated. He hadn't expected the operator to throw him a manageable opponent anyway—not when they were so blatantly sniping him. He had already assumed something on par with the Great Sage, Equal of Heaven’s clone would appear.
‘The items dropped by the Nephilim... they can’t be a coincidence. If there’s someone out to get me, there must be someone trying to help me, too.’
There was no reason for a benefactor to provide a lifeline while simultaneously trying to kill him so openly. If that were the case, they wouldn't have resorted to such blatant sniping in the first place.
Seo-un concluded that this game was already worth the effort just for the discovery that there was more than one operator. He tucked the Holy Spirit Buff Scroll and the Holy Spirit Barrier into his subspace.
‘Time to look for an opening.’
A powerful monster was aggroed onto him, and there were about a hundred players he needed to clear out.
Seo-un’s mind raced, calculating how to weave these two problems into a single solution. As the sun began to set, he pulled out his Cloak of Stealth and vanished into the shadows.
*
“Of all the damn games to get stuck in. I thought this would be an easy win since we have so many guild members.”
“Tell me about it. It’s nothing but high-ranking guild members, so we’re stuck playing lackey. I shouldn't have joined a guild in the first place...”
Two players, stationed away from the rest of their guild members who were busy making camp, vented their frustrations while on guard duty.
“I don’t even know anyone in this guild, so I’ve got no one to back me up. The item distribution is crap compared to the work we do. We should’ve just erased our marks and played as a duo.”
“Exactly. If we’d just stayed on the outskirts and held out, the Crowns would’ve thinned out the survivors for us. We could’ve survived without getting caught up in any big fights. This is pointless.”
As they continued their relentless complaining, a voice called out to them from a distance.
“Billy! I’m sending a scout to you! Go patrol the perimeter!”
“Got it!” Billy shouted back, then immediately lowered his voice to grumble. “They stuff their faces while making us work on empty stomachs. Lian, next time, let’s not just jump into a guild. We need to be smarter about this.”
“I agree. It’s just—”
Lian, the martial artist, trailed off as he saw the scout approaching with light footsteps from behind.
It was an Elf with pointed ears, a bow slung across his back, and a dagger and rapier at his waist. A typical archer-class scout.
“Maintain your distance and follow me.”
The two men nodded at the heavy bass voice that didn't match the scout’s delicate appearance and followed behind him.
Their expressions soured as they struggled to keep up. The scout moved effortlessly, leaping from branch to branch. Following someone dressed in a pitch-black leather jacket with a hood pulled low in the middle of the night was no easy task.
Lian, being a martial artist, managed to keep pace, but Billy, who hadn't learned a proper lightness skill, began to lag.
“Follow behind me, Billy.”
Billy nodded at Lian’s words and focused on his back. Just as his frustration was about to boil over, his vision suddenly began to spin.
With a look of utter confusion, he watched his own headless body collapse. Seo-un’s hands moved with practiced efficiency as he quickly looted the items.
‘The armor didn't drop. This should be close enough, right?’
Seo-un’s face and physique began to shift, mimicking Billy’s appearance. Soon, he was a perfect double. After concealing the loot box with grass and branches, Seo-un sprinted forward.
“Why are you so slow? Are you really that exhausted just from skipping one meal?”
At Lian’s remark, ‘Billy’ rubbed his stomach and gave an awkward smile.
“My stomach started acting up, even though I haven't eaten.”
“I told you to be careful with the jerky they give out here. Sometimes it’s spoiled... Huh? Where did you get that armor?”
Lian immediately noticed the change. Though Seo-un had picked a plain-looking silver set, it stood out compared to Billy’s previous gear.
‘He’s got sharp eyes for it being the middle of the night.’
Lian had been glued to Billy’s side throughout the game, so there was no way he wouldn't notice a change in equipment.
“You... when did you pocket that? You shouldn't hide things from—”
Lian’s words cut off there.
As ‘Billy’ approached with an awkward laugh, he naturally reached out. His hand pierced through Lian’s unguarded heart in an instant.
Thud.
Seo-un caught the collapsing Lian to avoid making noise. The corpse soon vanished, leaving a box behind.
After quickly looting the box, another Seo-un—this one a clone—began to transform into Lian’s likeness.
Just as they finished changing clothes and hiding the box, the scout returned and landed in front of them.
“What are you two doing? We need to finish the patrol so we can rest. If we don't, it’ll affect tomorrow’s play. If you’re going to slack off—”
The scout’s voice trailed off as he looked at the two men staring back at him with expressionless faces. Then, Billy spoke.
“We’ve already made it this far.”
As soon as Billy finished speaking, the scout’s head fell from his shoulders.
After a brief moment to compose themselves, Billy and Lian began sprinting back toward the camp.
“Enemy! It’s an enemy!”
“We have to get out of here, now!”
The twenty or so players who had been resting jumped to their feet, clearing away their food and drawing their weapons.
“What’s the enemy’s strength?”
Seo-un’s eyes glinted as he looked at the martial artist who ran up to question them. The aura coming from the man leading this guild was quite impressive.
“I-it’s just one person. He took out the scout with a single arrow!”
At Billy’s words, the leader’s expression hardened. The same look of dread spread across the faces of the other guild members. Every player knew that encountering a single enemy in this game was practically a death sentence.
“Jin Seo-un!”
As someone blurted out that name, a mage stepped forward. “Let’s use that.”
A look of hesitation crossed the leader’s face.
“This is no time to hesitate! The enemy is Jin Seo-un!”
The mage’s words pushed the leader to a decision. He turned to the guild members and shouted, “Everyone, huddle up!”
“Hey, you! Get closer!”
“Get in tight!”
Centered around the leader, who had pulled out a scroll, the twenty players crowded together.
“Here we go!”
The leader tore the scroll, and the twenty players vanished in an instant.
Quickly assessing their new surroundings, the leader barked out orders. “Billy, Lian! Scout the perimeter! The rest of you, take your positions!”
They had been transported from a lush forest to a swamp that came up to their shins. The guild members moved quickly.
Billy, pretending to follow orders, checked his map. The fast-moving Epic Monster was still flying around the area where he had killed the three players.
Seo-un had spent the night searching for a guild to infiltrate. His criteria were simple: a group of twenty or more where the members barely knew each other. That way, he could slip in unnoticed.
This guild was the perfect find. After overhearing Billy and Lian’s disgruntled conversation, he knew he couldn't find a better opportunity.
He had planned to use his own mass teleport scrolls to move the guild, but luck was on his side—they had one of their own.
Saving his scrolls, Seo-un curled his lips into a smirk and continued his charade of scouting the area.
After confirming there were no enemies nearby, the leader finally checked the map to determine their distance from the force field and find a way out of the marsh.
By the time they left the soggy swamp and reached solid ground, the sun was rising. The swamp had been treacherous, with deep pits capable of swallowing a man and various annoying monsters, which had cost them a significant amount of time.
As the guild members entered the dense jungle, every one of them looked exhausted. Dark circles hung under their eyes from spending the night in combat and travel instead of resting.
‘Looking like this after just one night? Their stamina is pathetic.’
Seo-un clicked his tongue inwardly as he gauged the skill levels of the twenty players. Aside from their leader, a man named Wi-rong, they were all below his standards.
Only after they were deep within the jungle, where the canopy blocked out most of the sunlight, did the guild members set a guard rotation and begin to rest.
Naturally, the first watch fell to Billy and Lian.
Seo-un leaped onto a gnarled, twisting tree branch and immediately sat in a lotus position to begin replenishing his depleted Immortal Demonic Energy. His mastery of Yoseonsul’s Chukseon Art had reached a level where he could fill his middle dantian at a remarkable speed.
Below him, his clone—disguised as Lian—faithfully monitored the surroundings. More specifically, it watched for any guild members who might approach the meditating Seo-un.
‘The first goal was a success. Now, how to handle the second?’
There were two reasons why Seo-un had bothered to infiltrate a guild.
First, if he traveled alone, players would flee the moment they saw him. He couldn't keep using his clones as bait forever. After every fight, he would be chased by the Epic Monster. In a shrinking map, relying on teleport scrolls to escape would eventually hit a limit.
The second reason was to bait more enemies. A guild of this size was bound to encounter groups of similar or greater strength. In the end, the ones likely to survive until the final stages were these mid-to-large-sized guilds. This was the best way to deal with a large number of competitors all at once.
It was now the fifth day since Seo-un had infiltrated the guild as Billy. Lian had taken over the role of the deceased scout.
During that time, Seo-un had used his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils to guide the guild’s path, allowing them to hunt quite a few players. The beauty of being in the guild was that he could hunt players without being chased by the Epic Monster. He just had to hold back enough to let the other guild members land the last hits.
“We’ve been running into a lot of enemies lately.”
Seo-un flinched slightly at the guild member’s comment.
“The map has shrunk that much, hasn't it?”
“Still, it’s pretty wide considering how many survivors are left.”
“Whatever, it’s not a bad thing. We need to clear out the rest to end this damn game. I’m still terrified we’ll run into an Epic Monster or Jin Seo-un.”
The rest of the guild members nodded in agreement with the mage’s words. It was certain that after this game, the evaluation of the player Jin Seo-un would be revised once again.
“Honestly, I thought rank was mostly about luck, but I guess a Crown is a Crown for a reason.”
“You said it. The coin difference between us and them is massive. That means the quality and quantity of their items are on a different level.”
Seo-un, walking ahead, shook his head slightly at the knight’s words.
Luck. It was an important factor, of course, but it wasn't the only thing that determined rank or performance. The number of coins earned also had a huge impact on subsequent games, but that alone didn't dictate success. If it did, it would be impossible for a latecomer to ever catch up to a frontrunner.
What truly mattered wasn't luck, coins, or even raw martial power. While all three were vital, the most important thing was the way one played the game.
It was about seeing the big picture, making the right judgments in rapidly changing situations, and formulating strategies. That was the absolute standard for surviving and climbing the ranks in Cloyd Survival.
‘Because they can’t do that and only focus on immediate coins and items, they’re always struggling just to stay alive.’
The biggest reason Seo-un had been able to come this far starting from nothing was his superior gameplay ability.
It was now the fifth day of hunting players who were either camping or huddled in small groups. Finally, Seo-un’s Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils detected a large-scale group.
Eighteen knights and mages were moving in perfect, disciplined formation around a silver-haired man. Even at a glance, they were a formidable force that the ragtag guild he had joined couldn't hope to match.
[Survivors]
Remaining Survivors: 52 / 500
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Bites-Molly (Killed by Arrow)
There were 52 survivors left. Excluding himself and his clone, his current guild had 22 members. Combined with the enemy’s 18, that made 40.
‘Are there more?’
As he expanded his search with Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, he spotted about seven players hiding nearby, clearly camping.
Seo-un scanned the map, looking for the perfect spot to start the chaos, and finally picked a location. A suitable clearing appeared between the trees.
Seo-un’s clone, Lian, began leading the guild members toward the designated area. Seo-un’s eyes sparkled as he re-examined the eighteen enemies.
He recognized the man in the center—someone he had briefly crossed paths with in LA. The man, who had once worn a kind and gentle expression, was now leading his team with a completely different aura.
He carried himself like a king being escorted by his guard. Instead of simple gear, he wore ornate, heavy plate armor. He felt like a completely different person.
‘They said he was Gwang-gun’s half-brother, right?’
The technique he had used to draw his rapier and pierce a massive hole in a target’s chest was certainly not inferior to the Madman of the Battlefield.
‘Will yesterday’s ally be today’s enemy?’
With a smirk, Seo-un began the operation.