Chapter 45

­ Bad Move (1)

Chapter 45 . Bad Move (1)

It was now March, but the end-of-winter chill was still in the air . Heavily clothed people filled the streets, and a few who could not stand the cold went into nearby coffee shops for shelter . Because many were in similar situation, there was a long line of the orders .

By the coffee shop’s window, there was a shabby looking man .

The man tapped on his touch screen tablet PC, breathing harshly with his nose red . It was easy to tell that the man had been enduring the cold weather in front of the coffee shop for quite a while . Even putting his current state aside, he did not seem to be doing good . He was thin as if he hadn’t been eating much, his thick glasses showed he had bad eyesight, and his hair was unkempt .

However, what was most suspicious and unsightly was the fact that he was stuck to the window like he was a sticker .

‘Damn it, why is the Wi-Fi so slow? Your coffee’s so expensive . At least provide better service . ’

He was clearly trying to use the free Wi-Fi that the coffee shop provided to its customers . This man was, of course, An Jaehyun . The reason he was going through all this trouble on such a cold day was to get this free Wi-Fi .

He knew it was not the best thing to do . If he paid for a coffee, took a seat and started working, he would at least be able to stop his runny nose .

An Jaehyun’s toils came to an end…

‘Okay . ’

A short time later .

An Jaehyun tapped on his tablet PC, and sent several emails to multiple accounts .

After finishing his work, An Jaehyun turned his tablet PC off, stuffed it under his armpit, and removed himself from the coffee shop window .

As he headed straight home, An Jaehyun couldn’t help but sigh . When he did, his breath was easily visible due to the cold weather .

‘Here’s a super special service for anyone . I don’t care who, so catch the Corrupt Count and open a door to a new era . ’

The future had changed, and a new era was now starting .

★★★

As the Top 30 Guilds had their own live broadcast channels, their guilds ran in different ways than other guilds . One difference was their Information Team . As one would expect, the Information Team was in charge of managing information and reporting important facts to the guild .

There were many reasons for running an Information Team . First, it was important to receive feedback on customer satisfaction . It was also to receive potentially valuable information . Of course, about 80 percent of reported information were completely useless . Of the remaining 20 percent, 10 percent were so bad that the team wanted to throw the sender into the jail . In other words, only 10 percent of information were somewhat useful .

Finding useful information from this pile of garbage was truly hard for those in the Information Team .

But what choice did they have?

“God, it’s all trash . Like, this one is asking us to find a missing cat . What the hell?”

They were being paid for it, so they couldn’t not do their job .

“That’s cute . Look at this . This one says it’ll tell us the identity of the Corrupt Count . ”

In any case, the Information Team organized the tips they received . Although most were thrown out, they were still checked in the process . It was a subjective process, as what might be a jewel to one may be trash to another . It was especially so in the case of information .

In this sense, these two were fortune’s favorites .

“Corrupt Count’s identity? That’s the tip? Ha! If you sell that information, I’m sure it’ll go for at least 100,000 dollars . ”

“Should I just throw it away?”

“There’s 99 percent chance that it’s fake, but we can’t be completely sure, so let’s save it for now . ”

Red Bulls and Stormhunter .

Only these two guilds were able to see a jewel for what it was worth .

★★★

The representative figures of the Top 30 Guilds were well-known by the mass . With their faces being broadcasted every day, their faces were hard to forget . If that wasn’t enough, all members of the Top 30 Guilds wore their guild uniforms, some with several sponsorship logos on them .

Rightly so . In order to get more fans and sponsorships, they had to make themselves shine as much as possible .

In other words…

“Well, hello? If it isn’t the Hydra Guild’s 8th Head, Natal?”

If a representative player from a guild was trying to hide his identity, even going as far as wearing the Subjugation Association NPC’s clothing, then there had to be a reason behind it .

Red Bull Guild’s 3rd strongest member, Bullfight Keems, greeted one of the nine heads of the Hydra Guild, who was not wearing his usual nine-headed Hydra cape .

Natal didn’t seem happy to see Bullfight Keems, as he made an intimidating expression .

“What is the Red Bulls Guild doing here?”

However, Bullfight Keems had an even more intimidating expression . His nickname, Bullfight, was aptly put, as he was an intimidating, 2-meter-tall black man . His first impression was always bad, as no matter how intimidating one tried to look, he would not look half as intimidating as Keems’s smiling face .

At the moment, Keems smiled as he looked at Natal’s intimidating expression .

Watching his smile, Natal unknowingly flinched .

“There’s no reason we shouldn’t be here, is there? Is there a problem?”

Realizing he had flinched, Natal came to his senses and replied .

“No . ”

“I’d like to ask a question as well . What are you doing here? In a different clothes than usual no less . This must be the first time I’ve seen you without your cape on . Though, I must admit, that look suits you quite well . ”

“I have my reasons . So, do you need something from me?”

“Of course not . Be on your way . ”

With that, Natal turned back . Then, his followers turned back along with him before they walked away as a group .

Watching Natal leave, the corner of Keems’s mouth curved up to a smile . Immediately afterwards, Keems looked at a guild member next to him and tapped his wristwatch twice with his right index finger .

Then, his comrades quickly changed their item slot and switched their clothes .

The Red Bulls uniform wearing players quickly changed to their battle gear, prepared to fight at any time . Meanwhile, Keems started talking through his voicetalk program .

“Captain, captain . ”

-What’s up?

“It looks like that tip was real . Natal is here . ”

-Natal? Hydra Guild’s 8th Head?

“He was even wearing the Subjugation Association NPC clothes instead of his usual Hydra cape . If I wasn’t looking carefully, I would have mistaken him as an NPC and passed by . ”

-Has Natal appeared in any of Hydra Guild’s recent broadcasts?

“I have no clue . I’m not really a fan of them, you see . Why don’t you ask Yel? Isn’t she next to you?”

-How did you know?

“Isn’t she always next to you?”

Even as he said this, Keems couldn’t help but laugh . He found it funny that the perfect Specialist when fighting monsters was too dense to realize the feelings of a woman so close by .

Of course, his laugh didn’t last long .

“What should we do? Attack them? If you’d like, we can make a mess and buy some time . ”

-No, stand back for now . If that place really is the Corrupt Count’s castle, the Hydra Guild must have most of its members nearby . Keems, losing you would be the biggest loss .

“I can think of it as a two day vacation, no big deal . ”

Suddenly…

“KEEMS!”

“Mm? W-What? I’m talking to the Captain . ”

A comrade of his called out his name . He turned around reflexively, and his eyes went wide as he realized why his comrade called out to him . A wave of uniformed players entered his eyes . After catching sight of Keems and his crew, the uniformed group also walked towards them .

A strange atmosphere developed .

“Captain, there are about 40 members from the Stormhunter Guild here . ”

Stormhunter .

In the Top 30 Guild’s overall rankings, they had the power, numbers, and authority to rank within the top 5 . The Red Bulls was similar to the Stormhunter Guild .

As one might expect, the two guilds were in fierce competition to get ahead of each other .

-The Stormhunters?

Keems’s eyes narrowed as he stared off into the distance . What entered his sight first was a short-haired girl . Keems could immediately tell who it was .

“Stormhunter Guild’s princess is here . ”

Storm Princess Hahui .

The 3rd strongest member of the Stormhunter Guild, and a Specialist raised by the Stormhunter Guild for the purpose of PvP .

Although it was a long time ago, Keems had once been killed by her hands .

Keems’s expression turned rigid .

“What should we do?”

-Stormhunters, how troublesome . Do they look like they have the intent to attack?

“Seeing as how they stopped in their track after seeing us, it seems they didn’t think we would be here . ”

– Then… it seems that tip didn’t just come to us . Fine . First, we’re going to avoid clashing with the Stormhunter Guild . If you can negotiate something there, do so . I’ll talk to the Storm Queen on this end .

“Yes sir . ”

With that, their call ended .

Keems raised his hand immediately . With his tall height and large build, it was easy to see him from a distance . Keems spoke as he waved his hand .

“Looks like we’re here for the same reason . No reason for us to fight . By the way, Natal just passed by here . ”

It was the start of a new development .

★★★

Whoosh!

A Golem’s arm whisked through the air with a heavy sound .

Grrrrr!

In front of it was a level 50 monster, Giant Bear .

Although it was level 50, as a mid-sized monster, the Giant Bear gave several times more experience and material than small-sized monsters . It was usually hunted by 5-man parties rather than 3-man parties .

As such, it was impossible for a single Golem to overwhelm it . The thick arm swung by the Golem struck the side of the Giant Bear standing on its hind legs, but the Giant Bear didn’t falter and instead, counterattacked .

Boom!

The Giant Bear’s right foreleg struck the Golem’s body . The blow was strong enough to cause the heavy stone Golem to lift its left leg up slightly . On the Golem’s left shoulder, where the bear had attacked, the bear’s thick claw marks were clearly visible .

At that moment, the Golem brought its arms together and took a defensive stance like a boxer . As if it had been waiting for it, the Giant Bear began to beat on the Golem with its forelegs .

Boom, boom!

The sound of the two heavy bodies clashing scattered into the surrounding with a loud, strong reverberation .

At the same time, the Giant Bear’s eyes turned red from the continuous attack as it glared at the Golem .

Kuooo!

Soon, the Giant Bear roared out angrily . It signaled that all of its attention was put on the Golem . In that instant…

Sss!

A Skeleton Warrior that had been hiding popped its head out from a nearby tree .

The Skeleton Warrior was small . It was only a meter tall, and had reddish-black bones .

Blood Goblin .

As a goblin type variant, the Blood Goblin was surprisingly quick . However, as it was rare, it was hard to see them, much less catch them .

The speed of a Skeleton Warrior made from said Blood Goblin was incomparable to other Skeleton Warriors .

Tadadada!

As it started running, it quickly neared the Giant Bear .

Then it leaped .

Tat!

It was enough to make anyone wonder where such strength came from in such a small body . It jumped close to 10 meters in distance, and landed on the Giant Bear’s back . Then, with knife made from its own bones, it struck down at the Giant Bear’s back .

Stab!

From the distance, the knife looked more like a needle .

Kuooo!

The Giant Bear cried out from the sting in its back . It seemed like it took little to no damage .

That was because it wasn’t an attack meant to deal damage .

The real objective…

[The Giant Bear falls under the Demon Curse . ]

[The Giant Bear falls under the Slow Curse . ]

Was to active the two curses . The curse quickly spread to every corner of the Giant Bear’s body .

The E rank Demon Curse decreased its stats by 13%, and the F rank Slow Curse decreased its movement speed by 10% .

The Giant Bear became visibly slower, and the Golem took no time in taking advantage of it . It lowered its guard, dodged the Giant Bear’s attack, and clinched the Giant Bear with its two arms .

Kuo!

The Giant Bear began to beat on the Golem’s head with its arms in order to get it off of itself .

Meanwhile, four Skeleton Warriors slower than the Blood Goblin Skeleton Warrior approached the Giant Bear . As the Skeleton Warriors had used the Dead Woods’ Skeleton Warriors as material, they had large builds and large swords . Although they were smaller than the Giant Bear, they were no less intimidating .

The four Skeleton Warriors quickly went to work as they slashed at the Giant Bear’s skin . The attacks interlinked like the gears of a clock, quickly turning the bear’s body ragged . Meanwhile, the Golem still had the Giant Bear bound in its grasp .

Kuo!

In the end, the Giant Bear fell with a short cry .

The dead Giant Bear did not move, and the Skeleton Warriors ceased attacking . Then, they stared at their master . There was a tree with a thick trunk in their line of sight, and on its branches was Hyrkan, sitting down .

However, Hyrkan was paying no attention to his summons whatsoever .

‘Where’s the news? It’s been 3 days since I tipped the 29 guilds besides the Hydra Guild . Don’t tell me they threw it away thinking it was fake?’

At that moment…

-Hydra Guild started the Corrupted Count Raid!

A new news came up .

March 5th . The Hydra Guild had started the Corrupted Count Raid much quicker than the anticipated date .

Seeing the news, Hyrkan got up and shouted .

“Okay! Eh?”

And with that shout…

“Ah?”

Thud!

He fell from the tree, ending up in a 大 position .

The Skeleton Warriors and the Golem approached Hyrkan and stared at him intently . Hyrkan shouted at his servants almost instinctively .

“What? You think this is funny? Turn around!”