Sunday, the final day of the preliminary match.
Only one fight remained — a showdown with Restraint, the server's second-ranked guild. I gave my gear one last check.
My assigned position was the northern gate of the city. Just like One Mind, One Will guild, the northern gate — being the closest to the central area — had the most guild members gathered.
[Guild Chat]
TheHunter: Hell yeah.
TheHunter: I'm finally gonna see Sword Princess in action lol.
Hwasoun: Why do you like Sword Princess so much?
TheHunter: She's just insanely cool.
DrinkSomeWater: Isn't Sword Princess the #1 Reaper player?
Haeren: Yep.
TakeItForFreeGoodLuck: Bet tons of people started Assassin after seeing her play lol.
Reapers — commonly called Assassins — were one of those jobs that were hard and just not worth the effort.
Unlike Chain Blades or Dark Mages, which were also hard but powerful if mastered, the Reaper's skill set was unnecessarily convoluted and hard to use — and it didn't even have the damage to justify the hassle.
It was widely agreed upon among players: Reaper was a trash-tier class.
So for someone to reach #1 with that class and earn universal recognition... that Sword Princess must be crazy skilled.
[Guild Chat]
LeleretLagging: What rank is Staeric again?
ManaDrainedDude: 3rd? Or was it 4th?
Staeric: Gotta admit, Sword Princess is good.
TheHunter: I hope she accepts my friend request this timeㅠㅠ
ParkSeungjin99: You like her that much
ParkSeungjin99: but why don't you play Reaper?
TheHunter: Why would I play a trash-tier class like that?
Haeren: LMAOOOO
ParkSeungjin99: Damn, you really know how to separate business from pleasure.
SeSeSeLet'sPlay: Gotta admire from a distance to keep the magic alive...
MochaBread: Dudes fangirling over Reaper but playing easy-mode Warlord lmao
SpicyCrabYum: For real. That's why Sword Princess won't accept your friend request.
TheHunter: Look, I'm a fan of hers but...
TheHunter: Friend Sword Princess and play Reaper vs. Give up and stick to my main.
TheHunter: Easy choice — sticking to my main.
DrinkSomeWater: Bruh that's cold lmaoo
Hwasoun: But also... true~
HuntingIsMyDrug: Anyone who plays Assassin... must be a masochist, right?
Haeren: Staeric just got called a freak outta nowhere lol
Staeric: lol
Staeric: Just gonna say this — all of you agreeing with Hunter...
Staeric: You're Warlords, Lancers, or Infighters and I hate it
ParkSeungjin99: LMAOOOO
CapitalistMonster: For real tho 😂😂😂
Haeren: Carry-me classes lmaoooo
Hwasoun: If you're jealous, just roll a Lancer~
SpicyCrabYum: Honestly though...
SpicyCrabYum: If my mechanics were godlike, I would've tried Reaper at least once.
SpicyCrabYum: Style-wise, it's up there with Chain Blade.
LeleretLagging: Facts.
LeleretLagging: Though I'd probably rage-quit and reroll after hitting garbage-tier DPS later on lol
MochaBread: Still, watching Staeric slice throats during prelims was badass as hell lol
HuntingIsMyDrug: Yeah if our guild leader's flashy and cool,
HuntingIsMyDrug: then Reaper is straight-up the essence of an Assassin.
[Guild Chat]
HuntingIsMyDrug: First off, the skill effects are all dark and shadowy — so cool.
ManaDrainedDude: If the skill set weren't such garbage, I swear the player base would be 10x bigger lol.
TakeItForFreeGoodLuck: Taking all that into account, Sword Princess must really be crazy good at the game.
As I watched my guildmates chat while we waited for the prelims to start, I started getting curious about this Sword Princess Reaper player.
I wondered if she was standing among the Restraint guild members across the resurrection zone, also waiting for the match to begin. I spun the camera around to check, but she wasn't in sight.
"Now that I think about it, none of the top guild leaders share the same class."
From Yu Chae's class, Chain Blade, to Reaper, Warlord, and Unyum's Berserker — they were all different.
Yu Chae was the #1 Chain Blade, Sword Princess was #1 Reaper, Sangdanghan was #12 Warlord, and Unyum was #5 Berserker.
The newly released class, Dark Mage, didn't have any rankings yet.
Class rankings were determined during the class ranking matches held at the beginning of each year, so the Dark Mage ranking tab was currently empty.
To be that good at the game and also lead the second-highest-ranked guild…
"Isn't this kinda dangerous?"
Even Yu Chae, who never compliments others lightly, had admitted she was the most dangerous opponent — this match might turn out very different from usual.
I started seriously thinking about what positioning I should take in the upcoming prelim based on the Reaper's skills… but whispers kept coming in.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Hey heeey~
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Look at this~
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Super cute!
Even without clicking the link she sent, I already knew what it was.
Here she goes again.
[Whisper] SleepyHead: There's less than 10 minutes until the prelims start.
[Whisper] SleepyHead: Why are you sending me a dog video right now?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It's only 7 minutes long!
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It's a retriever puppy — your favorite...
Yesterday, I'd offhandedly mentioned that I sometimes watch dog videos when I'm bored — and ever since, Yu Chae kept sending me links whenever she had a chance.
And not just sending them — she'd always ask if I found them cute or pester me about why I liked dogs. Honestly, it was a pain.
I sighed… then clicked the link and played the video separately.
The dog wasn't at fault, after all.
Squeal! Whimper! Bark! Yip-yip!
[Whisper] SleepyHead: You're the guild leader — shouldn't you be focused instead of messing around before the prelims?
[Whisper] Yu Chae:I scolded her while the video played on my secondary monitor — a puppy running around and barking happily.
How could she have zero sense of urgency?
[Whisper] SleepyHead: What if we lose and they take our city?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: They won't~
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Everyone in that guild sucks except their leader!
The puppy rolled around on the floor with a plush toy bigger than itself.
Cute.
[Whisper] SleepyHead: Still, they're rank 2 — they've gotta be better than most.
[Whisper] Yu Chae: That's true, but…
[Whisper] Yu Chae: Do you hate losing?
[Whisper] Yu Chae: It's not like losing the guardian city affects the game or anything.
The puppy had let go of the toy and was now tugging on a curtain, before flopping flat on its back.
So cute.
[Whisper] SleepyHead: If we never had it in the first place, maybe. But now…
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: It feels like crap when something you had gets taken away.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: If you can win, you should win.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Hm.
A dog that had been tearing at the curtains suddenly stopped and dashed over after hearing its owner's call.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: I don't want you to be in a bad mood, hyung.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: I'll try my best ♥
Seriously cute… Wait, no. Hold on. I think I just had a weird thought.
I couldn't focus on the conversation anymore, so I ended up turning off the dog video. I'll watch it later.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Right.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: If you slack off playing with me and lose the city—
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Just know I'll divorce you the day after we get married.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: ?
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Divorce??
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: How can you talk about divorce when we haven't even gotten married yet??
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: There was no rule in the bet that said I couldn't divorce you.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: ㅡㅡ????
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Wow…
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: Hyung, I don't want to say this, but...
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: You're seriously so annoying.
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: Like you're any better?
Apparently, the word "divorce" hit harder than expected—Yoo Chae reacted more strongly than ever.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: .....
[Whisper] JeoJolryeoyo: What.
[Whisper] Yoo Chae: So annoying...
While he was grumbling, time moved on steadily, and the preliminary round began.
As the light in the resurrection zone vanished, the members of the Restraint Guild charged in. Our guild members clashed with them, and at the forefront, Yoo Chae began swinging his chain like a maniac.
Chiiing, Chang! Crackle! Boom! A symphony of effects rang out, and wherever the chain passed, members of the Restraint Guild dropped like flies.
[Guild] MokkaBread: ?
[Guild] MokkaBread: What's going on?
[Guild] CrazyAboutHunting: Huh?
[Guild] DrinkSomeWater: Since when does that bastard go so hard?
[Guild] Staeric: Seriously.
[Guild] CrazyAboutHunting: I'm shocked lololol
[Guild] ManaOutGuy: If even the guild master is going this hard, we can't slack off.
[Guild] Sseseshehaja-go: For real
Watching Yoo Chae go berserk like a madman, I awkwardly scratched my head.
Sure, I provoked him on purpose to get him fired up, but this is too effective. If we really got divorced, I might get beaten down in PvP just like that. Terrifying.
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