The Foe that Gives Generously (3)
“How much is it in total?”
“It is around 2 thousand gold…….”
“Don't give me such a vague figure. Give me the exact figure.”
“It is 2,355 gold.”
“It is about 100 golds more than what I expected. Are you sure you calculated it right?”
“You insisted on us paying for Apollo-nim too...”
Chiroro was using all his strength to hold back the swear words from coming out of his mouth as he listened to the conversation. As a result, his face was trembling. The Big Smiles guild members were turning their gazes or eyes away as they tried to avoid meeting Chiroro's eyes.
‘Shit.’
If he berated his guild members, it wouldn't solve anything. Chiroro continued to rage inside.
‘I’m ruined.’
He didn't know what the Watchman style was, but in the end, Chiroro had to compensate Hyrkan. Everyone had to empty the golds they possessed, and in the end, 2,355 gold was snatched away from them. It was way cheaper than losing their wristwatches, but still it was a pretty large sum of money.
In truth, they never carried around that much gold. Unfortunately, one of the guild members doing a party hunt had two gold coins worth 1,000 gold each. He had withdrawn the gold to trade for an Item later.
‘We gave him the gold, yet he is being nasty...’
There was difference between asking them to send the money later, and shaking down as much money from them on the spot. In the end, the amount of money lost was the same, but the latter method seemed much dirtier. It was on a different level.
‘Maybe we should have just fought him?’
Chiroro felt regret as if he hadn't made the right decision. The situation had come upon him too suddenly.
Of course, the regret didn't last too long.
“What should we do? Should we track Pitbull again...”
“Never mind. We won't be able to catch up to him even if we start pursuing him now.”
The fact that they had lost Pitbull made him much more vexed. When the Pitbull ran away, all their efforts up until now had been all for naught. They had gone through all the hardship, yet they had lost all their money.
‘It might have been better if we had let Whistling kill Apollo.’
If Apollo had suffered a Game Over by Whistling, their guild would have been justified in their retaliation. Instead, Apollo had been killed by the Hahoe Mask. They couldn't justify starting a war with the Fighters guild any more.
Of course, the Fighters guild could try to avenge Pitbull, but the Fighters guild wasn't dumb. Their overall fighting power was weaker than the Big Smiles. Anyways, they hadn't been able to kill the Pitbull, so there was no reason why the Fighters guild would start a fight with them.
The status of the Game Over was important. If the Pitbull had suffered a Game Over, the Fighters guild would have no choice. They would have to retaliate. If they didn't, the faith of the normal Users in the guild would have been shaken. If a guild did nothing when a guild member was killed, why would the guild members put their trust and loyalty into the guild?
Moreover, Whistling held a unique position within the Fighters guild. He was a normal guild member, but he was worth more than an officer. If they didn't get revenge for a User of that stature, normal guild members would have to stay silent even if they got killed by the members of the 30 great guilds.
This business had been an utter disaster in many ways.
Moreover, Chiroro's mood worsened signficantly when a phone call arrived not too long afterwards.
- What the hell happened? What;'s going on?
When he heard Apollo's voice, Chiroro took deep breaths for a brief moment. If he didn't, he probably would have said some harsh words. After he took several breaths, Chiroro explained the situation. After finishing his explanation, Chiroro immediately asked Apollo a question.
“What is your relationship with the Hahoe Mask?”
When the Hahoe Mask took down Apollo, he said it was a personal grudge. Chiroro had to confirm this fact first. If the Hahoe Mask lied, maybe he could used this situation to his advantage.
- Shit. That isn't important right now. I was taken down by that bastard! The Hahoe Mask smeared the reputation of the Big Smiles guild!
When Chiroro heard Apollo's rage-filled voice, he intuited what had occurred.
‘It really had been about a personal grudge.’
Even if one put aside the personal grudge, one just had to look at Apollo's personality. He probably acted in a corrupted manner.
If he had run his guild in such a way, it meant he had run afoul of the Hahoe Mask in some way.
This exacerbated the problem. If Apollo had told everyone the truth, they could talk to each other on the same page. However, Apollo was showing no signs of admitting his wrong doings. He was just trying to gloss over the facts.
This was why Chiroro was sure of one thing.
‘This guy will keep digging himself into trouble. He will never untangle himself from the problem he causes.’
This meant this business was going to get much much worse.
“Hey!”
Hyrkan waved towards a dense group of trees. Whistling appeared from behind a thick tree.
In short course, the distance between the two closed.
“I look like a dog?”
Instead of a greeting, Whistling repeated the words he heard not too long ago. Hyrkan shrugged his shoulders.
“Do you know anyone who think you are handsome? Do you want me to lie about it?”
“Why not?”
“Isn’t that too much of a bald face lie? The Big Smiles guild members would never believe my words.”
“That means you really think I look like a dog.”
“Uh.”
Hyrkan nodded his head.
“Are you perhaps expecting me to back down, and tell you that you look like Leonardo DiCaprio?”
At those words, Whistling relaxed his face, and he let out a light laugh. Of course, he still gave off a fierce energy, but Hyrkan was used to his face now. Hyrkan put on a smile too. Of course, Whistling hadn't mentioned the incident, because he had been offended by Hyrkan's words.
"Thank you.”
He had to set up a suitable atmosphere before he could speak those embarrassing words. That was all there was to it.
“You don't have to thank me. Anyways, you should have contacted me. If you had contacted me, you wouldn't have gotten into this mess.”
“I wanted to contact you only when I have good news.”
Hyrkan smirked.
“So why did the Big Smiles suddenly attack you? Are they planning on starting a war with the Fighters guild?”
Hyrkan immediately changed the topic.
This matter hadn't been something normal. Whistling had been able to operate in the Puree forest up until now. However, the Big Smiles guild had been hellbent at catching Whistling today. If Whistling had died, the Fighters guild and the Big Smiles guild would have been put on a collision course.
“They were basically trying to pick a fight with my guild.”
Whistling had an understanding of the situation.
“Will it really be ok for you to help me like this?”
This was why Whistling was worried about Hyrkan. Whistling didn't know about Hyrkan's bad relationship with Apollo. Whistling was under the impression that Hyrkan had antagonized the Big Smiles in the course of helping him.
“Your relationship with the Big Smiles guild might suffer, because of me.”
Hyrkan snorted at those words.
“I already have a bad relationship with Big Smiles.”
“If you continue to act this way, the Big Smiles guild won't stay put...”
At that moment...
“You should join a guild, Hahoe Mask.”
Before Hyrkan could respond, Whistling immediately continued to put forward a suggestion. Hyrkan had a glum look on his face.
“You want me to join the Fighters guild?”
“No. I'm not talking about my guild. You should join one of the top guilds in Warlord. For example, you should join one like the Red Bulls or the Stormhunters.”
This sudden suggest made Hyrkan's expression stiffen. Of course, Whistling didn't know about Hyrkan's personal sentiment towards a particular guild. The suggestion of Hyrkan joining the Stormhunters guild was like suggesting.....
‘This isn't even funny.’
This conversation wasn't funny at all.
“Why are you giving me such suggestions?”
“Hahoe Mask. Is it correct of me to presume that your goal is to become the best in Warlord?”
Hyrkan didn't give an answer. He just swallowed his spit a little bit. Hyrkan didn't plan on actively hiding his own intentions, but it felt as if Whistling had read his mind.
“If you want to be the best, then the answer is to join the best guild.”
Whistling's words were an advice rather than a request.
Of course, he was overstepping his bounds.
“I know I'm not qualified to say this, and I know this is very rude....”
He was well aware of this fact, but he still decided to say it.
“You can become the best, Hahoe Mask. However, you are doing everything by yourself right now. You can't even take a breather.”
He had no doubts that Hyrkan would someday represent Warlord as the strongest and best User. The Black Tree Raid had reaffirmed Whistling's opinion of Hyrkan. He could guarantee it. There was no uncertainty to his eventual rise. The only thing that could derail it was a truck hitting Hyrkan. Hyrkan would become the best.
However, Hyrkan was doing everything by himself. It was clear that he was working himself into the ground. A person, who had the potential to become the greatest in this game, might become broken before he had the chance to become the best.
Whistling had suspected this truth from awhile back. Nevertheless, he was speaking out now, because Whistling was more worried about Hyrkan's well-being than before.
Hyrkan gave a curt reply to Whistling's advice.
“I'll be looking forward to the Circlet of Purification.”
‘It is quieter than I thought it would be.’
Ahn-jaehyun busily swiped at his Tablet PC as he drank his coffee. In the end, he turned off his Tablet PC.
It had been four days since the Big Smiles guild had attacked Whistling.
Ahn-jaehyun thought a conflict was inevitable, but unexpectedly, there had been no conflict.
‘Did they agree on some basic agreement?’
There was a high chance that an under-the-table negotiation had gone on. Of course, Ahn-jaehyun wasn't privy to the content of under-the-table deal.
‘So this basically means the Big Smiles still have a lot of power to spare?’
He could only guess at what was going on. It seemed the Big Smiles guild had amassed their resources to fight the Fighters guild. When power was gathered, it made one feel antsy to move.
‘That bastard Apollo became an officer of the Big Smiles guild, so there is no way they'll leave me alone.’
There was a possibility that he might be Big Smiles' next target, so he kept that possibility in mind.
Ahn-jaehyun didn't welcome his current situation.
‘If I fight with the Big Smiles guild right now, it'll be....’
However, the probability of the Big Smiles guild using their full resources to catch Ahn-jaehyun was almost non-existent. It was an act they could do only if the Big Smiles had fallen into the gutters. To put it in simple terms, if a guild used their entire resources to catch the Hahoe Mask, the world would condemn them.
However, they'll most definitely try to keep Ahn-jaehyun in check. They'll just do it out of the public's eyes.
The problem was Ahn-jaehyun wasn't going to allow them to keep him in check. Ahn-jaehyun didn't plan on backing down. He planned on meeting fire with fire. This will inevitably lead to a proper fight between him and the Big Smiles guild.
This was why the film he commissioned with the Romani film was important.
‘If I have a lot of bullets, there’s no reason why I wouldn't be able to fight them.’
Ahn-jaehyun was thinking about charging admission to watch his Black Tree Raid. There was a limit on how much he could earn by letting people view it for free. Of course, he would still be making an enormous profit even if he allowed people to view it for free.
However, even such high profits was a drop in the bucket on the stage he was about to enter.
‘If I charge admissions for my video, I'll be on track. The war will start from that point on.’
If paid video sales was as successful as he expected it to be, Ahn-jaehyun planned to be more aggressive in the future. He'll actively advance to the front. He'll overtake the Underfoot guild, then he'll chip away at the 30 great guilds from the bottom to the top. His ultimate goal was to topple the head members of the 30 great guilds.
There was a smile filled with happiness on Ahn-jaehyun's lips when he thought about that day.
‘Wait for me. I'll sever all of your wrists.’
Ahn-jaehyun's musing continued. He imagined himself standing atop the crushed 30 great guilds. He would be equipped with the strongest Items, and he would be at the head of a powerful Undead army. It wasn't too hard for him to imagine himself that way.
At that moment, the smile on his lips started to fade.
‘If I become the best…….’
It was easy to imagine himself becoming the best.
However...
‘What will I do afterwards?’
He couldn't imagine past the moment when he became the best. Ahn-jaehyun,who had been immersed in his imagination, lost the smile that had been on his face.
Storm Queen, Matador, First Head.
These were the three Users that represented Warlord. They were so busy that it was almost impossible for them to have a meeting at the same time. Moreover, it was impossible for them to meet at a single location.
This was why it had to be this way.
(Che-sulyun-nim has entered.)
Che-sulyun-nim : Hurry up and tell me the main point of this meeting.
(Strongest Red Bulls-nim has entered.)
Strongest Red Bulls : Hello?
Che-sulyun-nim : Are you picking a fight with me?
Strongest Red Bulls : All I did was say hello?
Che-sulyun-nim : Change your nickname.
(Strongest Red Bulls-nim's nickname has been changed to Invincible Red Bulls.)
Invincible Red Bulls : ^0^
Che-sulyun-nim : You want to die?
There was a reason why the three of them had connected to this outdated chatting program.
After setting up the chatting room, the First Head of the Hyrdra guild had been waiting for the other two to show up. The first order of business for the First Head was to fight the keyboard battle going on between the Storm Queen and the Matador.
First Head : Let's stop playing around.
(The room manager has changed Che-sulyun-nim's nickname to Storm Queen.)
(The room manager has changed Invincible Red Bulls-nim's nickname to Matador.)
In a flash, the First Head cleaned up the situation, and he continued with his words.
First Head : First, I want to thank you both for connecting onto this program.
Storm Queen : Main point.
First Head : We've gained information that verifies the identity of the Corrupt Prince as Prince Dean.
Matador : As expected of the Hyrdra guild, you are much further ahead in the Main Quest. Amazing.
First Head : Thank you for the praise. However, it'll take 10 to 15 days for us to be able to finish the Quest we started. Moreover, when the Quest is finished, Prince Dean's identity will be revealed. It'll immediately start a great battle with Prince Dean.
Storm Queen : D-15?
First Head : No. The countdown will be 30 days. The Quest will finish in its entirety in one month.
Matador : So you want us to get ready for war.
Storm Queen : Is that it?
First Head : If something changes, I'll notify you.
(Storm Queen-nim has left the room.)
Matador : Amazing. The two of us might conspire against her, yet she just left.
First Head : That is quite a meaningful statement. Do you perhaps have some kind of proposal?
Matador : I have no proposal to give. I just want to ask you a Question. How are you able to progress through the Quest so quickly?
First Head : It is a trade secret.
Matador : Then let me ask you the next question.
First Head : You have another question for me?
Matador : Have you ever received help from the Helpers?
First Head : They help out sometimes during Raids. However, in regards to the progress of the Main Scenario Quest, we don't receive any help from them.
Matador : Thank you for the answers.
(Matador-nim has left the room.)