Chapter 20: Guild Chaos: Bounties and Battles

Gyeong-heon quickly exited the KakaoTalk chat room with Seo-Hyeon and sent an SOS to Engineering Boy.

[Guild] Macho King: Guild Master-nim, please sanction this member for personal attacks.

[Guild] LA Engineering Boy: Vice Guild Master-nim’s right to speak is confiscated for 3 minutes.

[Guild] Seo-Hyeon: Hyung.

[Guild] Seo-Hyeon: You’re banned from entering.

[Guild] Macho King: This crazy bastard.

Kitty, who had been quietly observing Macho King’s enraged reaction, couldn’t help but intervene.

[Guild] Kitty: Banned from entering?? What’s that??? o.o

[Guild] Seo-Hyeon: It means getting beaten up at the entrance.

A startled Kitty defended Macho King, saying there was no way Hyung-nim would die so easily, but the guy didn’t listen at all.

[Guild] Seo-Hyeon: For Macho-hyung

[Guild] Seo-Hyeon: Even if he rolls in a field of dog shit, this life would be better.*
(T/N: This is a play on the proverb “Even if you roll in a field of dog shit, this life is better than the afterlife,” meaning it’s better to be alive and miserable than dead. Seo-Hyeon is basically saying Gyeong-heon is about to experience something worse than death, or sarcastically twisting the proverb to imply he should just die).

[Guild] LA Engineering Boy: Hey, I told you to shut up for 3 minutes.

[Guild] Macho King: I request stronger sanctions.

Gyeong-heon, unable to tolerate the humiliation to his face, requested again, and Engineering Boy responded by taking it a step further.

[Guild] LA Engineering Boy: Except for the Vice Guild Master, shall we run a dungeon?

[Guild] Macho King: Sounds good haha.

Soon, Engineering Boy’s smiling eyes appeared in the chat window along with a line of coordinates.

[Whisper] LA Engineering Boy: Macho-nim^^

[Whisper] LA Engineering Boy: I’ll go ahead first^^

Then Gyeong-heon’s phone vibrated twice briefly.

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung]

[Seo-Hyeon: Just play with me]

[Yun: No no]

Gyeong-heon quickly typed a reply and flipped his phone over.

Engineering Boy, 88 (Pulpul), and Kitty disappeared after leaving a secret message, but Seo-Hyeon didn’t care. In fact, he was busy being happy that those who were going to leave had left. Gyeong-heon, who was calculating when to slip away at Engineering Boy’s call asking when he would come, was also replying half-heartedly to the guy’s chat, biding his time.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: Hyung, go to the chapel with me haha.

[Whisper] Macho King: I go to a Buddhist temple.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: Or the mine? Hahaha wanna shovel for the first time in a while?

[Whisper] Macho King: Why are you so excited?

Seo-Hyeon seemed quite pleased that it was just the two of them left, as he kept coaxing him to do this and that. Gyeong-heon checked the time at the bottom of the monitor and typed on the keyboard with a bored face.

[Whisper] Macho King: Now I’ll do things on my own.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: What are you saying? Everyone knows you’re terrible at playing, Hyung.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: Play with me. With me gogogogo.

[Whisper] Macho King: No no, I’m all grown up.

[Whisper] Macho King: I’m almost max level now.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: Prohibit talking nonsense.

[Whisper] Macho King: It was fun while it lasted bye bye.

Only then did Seo-Hyeon, finding the situation strange, ask what he was talking about. As soon as his chat went up, Gyeong-heon bid farewell once more.

[Whisper] Macho King: Hyung is going first.

Now that he wrote it, it sounded like he was going off to die.

[Whisper] Seo-Hyeon: ???

Leaving the guy alone like that, he moved to the coordinates left by Engineering Boy, but soon he had to reach for his vibrating phone.

Not surprisingly, it was Seo-Hyeon.

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung]

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung, you disappeared?]

[Yun: Disappeared?]

[Yun: Look closely]

[Yun: Am I not in some forest?]

There was silence in the chat window for a while at the nonchalant reply, then a single line popped up.

[Seo-Hyeon: How are you going to handle the consequences?]

At that single line, Gyeong-heon’s eyebrows shot up.

[Yun: Hyung needs to be independent now too]

[Seo-Hyeon: With the character I raised]

[Seo-Hyeon: With the items I gave you]

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung calls that independence?]

[Seo-Hyeon: Just wait right there]

[Yun: Wait for what? Hyung is busy]

This Hyung has to run a dungeon. Even if it was a petite dungeon where he was busy watching from behind three people, there was the excitement of a first experience, wasn’t there? When it was just him and Seo-Hyeon, all they did was get stuck in the forest all day catching mobs while trying to adapt to the game. Just as Gyeong-heon was calming his fluttering heart and accepting the party invitation…

At the very bottom of the chat window, an unwelcome message appeared.

[Loudspeaker] Seo-Hyeon: Macho King <<<<<Kill<<<< 20,000 gold per kill

“…Macho King, kill, twenty thousand gold per kill.”

While interpreting the sentence for a moment, the words tumbled out of his mouth. Even after saying it, he was dumbfounded and vacant until Kitty’s wailing in the chat window brought him back to his senses.

Behind Kitty, who was wailing about whether we were all dead now, 88 called out to Gyeong-heon, his soul half-departed.

[Party] Odin’s 88: Macho-nim

[Party] Odin’s 88: The dungeon isn’t what’s important right now

[Party] Odin’s 88: Your personal safety is in danger^^

Seeing 88’s smiling eyes for the first time made the seriousness of the situation hit home, and seeing Kitty sniffling again made him feel indescribably complicated. Centered around Macho King, who looked like his head was about to be cut off in the middle of a desert, the hair of the three characters fluttered sadly in the wind.

[Party] Kitty: If Pulpul-nim is laughing ㅜㅜ

[Party] Kitty: We’re f*cked right now.

[Party] Macho King: Everyone.

[Party] Macho King: Please save me.

[Party] Odin’s 88: What can we do… Shall we just log off here for today?

But there was one person. Even in the face of the frenzy that was about to unfold, there was one person who remained aloof.

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: What did we do wrong to log off?^^

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: Even if there’s a bounty

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: The one who avoids it wins.

The guy with the heart of a true beast was someone else entirely.

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: Let’s go.

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: To run the dungeon^^

And one more chat message appeared.

[Loudspeaker] LA Engineering Boy: After discovering Macho King <<<<Upon Release>>>> 40,000 gold per release.

At the same time, the KakaoTalk window with Seo-Hyeon flashed.

[Seo-Hyeon: Crazy bastard talking about releasing]

[Yun: The crazy bastard is you, you crazy son of a b*tch]

[Seo-Hyeon: Hyung]

[Yun: What, you crazy bastard]

[Seo-Hyeon: If you hang out with a guy like that]

[Seo-Hyeon: You’ll degenerate]

[Seo-Hyeon: You wanna shovel in the mines again?]

[Yun: Do you guys have money rotting away?]

Why are you putting so much money on my neck? Donate that money. Go to heaven when you die, how nice would that be.

[Seo-Hyeon: So come quickly]

[Seo-Hyeon: I’ll be at the village entrance gogo]

He was just about to reply, “Don’t bullshit me.” The fact that he was “just about to” meant he couldn’t finish his sentence, and the reason was all too obvious.

As if they had been waiting, users began to bombard Macho King.

**

Engineering Boy’s declaration that he would pay 40,000 gold upon Macho King’s release didn’t have much effect.

First, because Seo-Hyeon posted an even higher amount of gold again.

[General] FactBomber: Lololol crazy bastards came here.

[General] NoFairPlay: Hey f*ck, you animals.

[General] NoFairPlay: Are you guys even human?

Second, because the users’ condensed anger toward the ‘Black-Haired Beasts’ had piled up and was just waiting to explode.

[General] FactBomber: Who is Macho King lolol

[General] FactBomber: Even the nickname sucks f*cking ass.

[General] NoFairPlay: As expected of a place where only animals gather.

[General] NoFairPlay: Join condition: [Shitty naming sense]

[General] LA Engineering Boy: ^^

Like a self-proclaimed gentleman of Odin’s border, Engineering Boy responded to the opponent’s provocation with a smile. However, seeing that smile, the guys became even more enraged and started rushing at the beasts. Of course, the first strike was thrown by FactBomber, whose eyes had rolled back at the sight of Macho King.

<‘FactBomber’ has cast ‘Load Attack’.>

As soon as the skill was used, an axe slammed into the ground, launching the beasts into the air. Fortunately, they didn’t take significant damage. However, FactBomber, having bought time with the skill, was aiming for something else.

[Party] Odin’s 88: Guild Master-nim.

[Party] LA Engineering Boy: Yep, I’ll hold him.

Before he could even interpret the rapidly scrolling party chat, NoFairPlay’s quick attack followed. Before the beasts could reorganize their ranks, the guy instantly closed the distance to Macho King and tried to strike his neck.

There was no way LA Engineering Boy wouldn’t know how things were unfolding.

<‘LA Engineering Boy’ has cast ‘Provoke’.>

As soon as Engineering Boy’s skill was activated, the dual blades the guy was holding stopped in mid-air. As Gyeong-heon clutched his startled chest and hopped Macho King backward, Kitty chimed in. Kitty, who had been quietly calculating healing angles from the back, started explaining unasked that it was no big deal and that the Guild Master would now destroy that guy.

[Party] Kitty: Originally, Guild Master-nim doesn’t use that often.

[Party] Kitty: But since those sons of bitches show signs of playing the game like shit.

[Party] Macho King: Ah, then.

[Party] Macho King: Does ‘Provoke’ provoke the opponent?

Kitty, momentarily speechless at the innocent question, stopped explaining further and comforted Gyeong-heon.

[Party] Kitty: It’s okay. Everyone is a noob at first.

[Party] Macho King: ??

[Party] Kitty: It’s okay, it’s okay.

Just as Kitty said, NoFairPlay, who looked like he was about to get destroyed, fixed his eyes on Engineering Boy. When <Provoke> is used, nearby enemies cannot attack anyone other than the skill user. Since NoFairPlay could only attack Engineering Boy, FactBomber, whose cooldown had reset, charged at Engineering Boy.

It was an attack attempt with precise timing, but there was one existence the guys had overlooked.

[General] Kitty: oㅅ,o

Comments

als*
Um… what I’m reading is a novel, but why do I feel like my ears are bleeding..? Is this that 4D thing? Is that it