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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Enough with Just the Game
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The area around the deck of the Red Fleet fell silent.
"...."
This was a total disaster.
Amid it all, Enkar—frozen stiff alongside his guildmates—quietly opened the chat window once more.
[Enkar: Guild Master, when are you coming ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
As expected, the message wouldn't reach her.
* * *
Dart.
Among the absolute top rankers whose thunder force exceeded 100 million units—making it impossible to even measure—he had been the best from the early days and remained the undisputed strongest in Bipa even now.
Dart's appearance was the result of Fullminak playing their wild card "Abyss" far too soon.
Of course, no one had intended it.
To counter Abyss, the number two in the Bipa rankings, the Spaceking Guild Master had no choice but to show up in person.
That was how it was here—even if you had a cheat character on your side, they had one too. You had to time their deployment carefully, watching the situation.
"Any chance it's not Dart?"
"None."
Kali and Hyunwoo exchanged brief words, their faces twisted like they were staring at an apocalypse.
War mode hadn't even activated yet.
Abyss and Shiva had been going at it tooth and nail, and now Dart had marched right into the Fullminak formation.
At this rate, users would start brawling before the siege war even kicked off.
"Dart's here!"
"No way."
"When's the Guild Master coming?!"
"Uwaaaah! Guild Masteeeeer!!"
The Fullminak guild members frantically called for their Guild Master.
They couldn't delay any longer.
The Spaceking forces had already surrounded Weizen.
And this was the south side of Weizen.
Spaceking's NPC troops had pushed all the way to the doorstep of Deperonta, Fullminak's territory.
It wasn't an official siege yet, so territorial conquest wasn't possible through the system, but if they held Weizen until war mode started, it would inevitably fall under their control.
Fullminak had to reach the area near Weizen—currently occupied by Spaceking—before that happened.
"...."
Abyss stared off into the distance.
Unfazed by Dart's sudden arrival, she swapped out her skill setup screen.
Click.
The time from death logout to reconnection was a whopping 24 hours.
With the official siege war starting in 16 hours, any sane player would have to play it safe.
Dart was coming.
Rumble—
The heavens shook, and the graphics began to distort.
The game's system couldn't properly gauge the sheer magnitude of his thunder force, causing the graphics to react.
The gate's magic pattern lit up.
The air warped like a black hole, ripping open wide as a shadowy man burst forth.
"!"
As everyone had feared, it was Dart.
[Name] Dart (lv99)
—Korean Server Ranking 1
Affiliation: Spaceking
Position: Guild Master
<
Dart, who had leaped out with a thud, immediately raised his hand.
Pristine skies filled with thick, black clouds billowing upward.
Rumble—!!
Lightning writhed like serpents.
Dart's piercing blue eyes locked onto Abyss, who stood at a distance.
He scanned the surroundings as if searching for something else, his gaze eventually settling on the Fullminak fleet.
He was looking for someone.
Enkar held his breath on the deck.
Fullminak's Guild Master still hadn't logged in.
Enkar couldn't believe this absurd turn of events stemmed from his own minor blunder.
"Oh no, this can't be happening...."
The buffs they'd applied meant nothing now as the ground below erupted in terror.
Spaceking Guild Master Dart was the northern evil god that Midgard's NPCs feared most hysterically.
Kali spoke while swapping her skill screen.
"That bastard's looking for Kaisha."
"Yeah. Shall we go?"
Hyunwoo leaped from the deck first, with Kali following close behind.
Abyss, Hyunwoo, and Kali stepped up to check Dart, but they couldn't block his wide-area skill from shattering the NPCs' morale.
Dart glanced back at the ground, then lowered his raised hand.
"Worms."
Flash!
The world turned red in an instant.
The lightning writhing in the sky unleashed a massive visual shock, slamming down from above.
KABOOM—!!!
BOOM!! RUMBLE-KABOOM—!!!
[Heavenly Punishment]
[NPC Exclusive Skill lv99]
[NPCs fall into deathly fear.]
[NPCs freeze in place.]
[All NPC stats decrease.]
[Inflicts mental damage on enemy NPCs; 50% damage applied to allied NPCs as well.]
Dart looked down at the ground—frozen as if he'd hit pause—with satisfaction.
The unfortunate part was that not just Fullminak's NPCs, but Spaceking's own were gazing up at Dart with eyes full of dread.
His cruelty and brutality were best known by those under his command.
[Due to deep-seated fear imprinting, mental damage rate on Spaceking-affiliated NPCs is 100%.]
The fact that Dart had used a skill targeting NPCs rather than players suggested he still had some rationality left, fortunately.
He wrecked both sides equally.
Kali sneered in a sharp tone.
"What was that? Team kill?"
Dart turned to Kali.
"Where's the homeowner? Just the mutts barking."
"You son of a bitch, you hit us with a wide-area backstab at this hour and that's what you say?"
Dart's eyes widened slightly.
Even as Guild Master, he must have expected an immediate appearance the moment the ambush went off.
"No Kaisha, huh...."
Dart's gaze swept the area again, carrying a dangerous glint.
It was a well-known rumor among Bipa users that Dart had a lot of interest in Kaisha—for various reasons.
Of course, he wasn't the only one.
Kaisha was the only female Guild Master among the three major guilds.
From the moment Fullminak, as a latecomer, swallowed up Gentle Knights and broke into the top-two dominance held by Spaceking and Goldbunker, Kaisha had drawn massive attention.
Dart had only taken notice of her much later.
Interest was interest, though.
Faced with the absence of Fullminak Guild Master Kaisha, Dart reached a short, concise conclusion.
"Then we smash and dash."
No homeowner? Loot the place clean, obviously.
"!"
The moment Kali and Hyunwoo flinched, Abyss shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Her enormous greatsword—the symbol of Abyss herself—sliced through the air at light speed.
Packed with holy stones deadly to darkness attributes, it gleamed brightly.
Dart raised his sword.
BOOM—!!
Sizzle, KABOOM—!!
Darkness and light clashed, triggering a secondary explosion.
The graphics warped massively, whipping up gale-force winds. When thunder force users collided, the world itself shook.
Bipa Ranking 1: Dart.
Bipa Ranking 2: Abyss.
Dart and Abyss glared at each other with murderous intent, the graphics distorting from the sheer killing pressure.
They'd always had bad blood.
Abyss was the type to cut down anyone in sight, and Dart was no pushover with a nasty temper to boot.
In a PK between the two, Dart won a solid majority of the time.
Boom! BOOM—!!
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a wide-area skill hit, bathing the area in red.
"!"
Even with shields up, Hyunwoo's HP started draining.
Kali lunged at Dart but hesitated. Shiva didn't miss the opening, attacking Kali.
His clenched fist glowed dark crimson.
"Where do you think you're going."
"?!"
Spotting Shiva's teleport, Kali hurriedly raised her hand—just as the fist slammed in full force.
Boom—!!
"?!"
The immense super strength skill sent Kali plummeting almost straight down.
Gentle Knights guarding the 10-meter ground zone urgently deployed net items, while allied guild mages from other unions cast swift float spells to slow her fall.
Seeing it, Hyunwoo switched targets and charged Shiva.
BOOM—!!
The guild members sprang into action.
["Hyunwoo-nim clashing with Shiva!! Buff Hyunwoo-nim!!"]
["What about Abyss-nim?!"]
["Pumping hard heals in, her HP's barely dropping!"]
["Phew, relief!"]
["Abyss-nim can't die!"]
["Dart keeps dropping wide-area debuffs!!"]
["Damn it! Buffs! Buffs!"]
The healers gathered on the fleet supported allies with heals and buffs.
Someone shouted.
["At least Dart's not using attack skills—there's hope!"]
["Don't let your guard down! Honestly, Abyss-nim flipping out scares me more than Dart!"]
["Yeah, fair."]
["The revival of a botched ambush op, starting with a rank 1 vs 2 showdown! Man, this ambush is historically hopeless!"]
["When's the Guild Master coming?!"]
["Save us, Guild Master!"]
The guild members wailed.
Just as Dart appeared and Spaceking guild members began concentrating fire on rear air support, the same went for them.
"Hmm."
Enkar trembled.
You weren't supposed to brawl like that in an ambush. Die, and it was 24 hours logout.
Did those guys have no fear?
Well, not exactly—it was because of Abyss. More precisely, because Enkar had egged her on.
To think this was all his doing.
'No way the Guild Master's not coming now—we're done for! I extreme-DPS'd Mino over failing to handle Prince Hiron, but turns out I'm the bigger landmine?!'
As Enkar flailed in panic, about to jump into the fray—
A gate activated on the warship.
"!"
Guild Master?!
...Or so he thought. It was Mura-nim.
[Name] Mura (lv99)
—Korean Server Ranking 9
Affiliation: Fullminak
Position: 1st Army
<
Fullminak's signature shield and the undisputed top tank in Bipa.
Mura-nim was a rock-solid guildmate, but Enkar wasn't thrilled to see him right now.
"Ah, damn it...."
Enkar groaned in disappointment, and Mura gave him a puzzled look.
"?"
Rumble—!!
The sky shook once more, emitting an ominous roar.
Everyone assumed it was Dart and Abyss, but a new light in the air traced another gate's magic circle.
Enkar clenched his fist and yelled.
"Finally!!"
Space warped, and from the glow of the blue magic circle, Kaisha burst out.
Fullminak's voice chat exploded instantly.
["Kaisha-nim's here!"]
["Guild Master!"]
["Ooh, Guild Master-nim! Hwaiting!"]
["NPC troops' morale is skyrocketing! Seriously, it's wild every time I see it."]
["Faith effect is insane."]
["Top NPC recognition for a reason!"]
["Phew, breathing room."]
["Dying guildmates' morale shooting up."]
["We're saved!"]
The guild members, tense to the max from the dawn ambush emergency login and Dart's arrival, finally relaxed.
The homeowner, so to speak.
At last, Fullminak Guild Master Kaisha had arrived.