Chapter 61: The Battlefield of Ignas

Won-jae hyung spoke politely, but Sephiroth dropped his honorifics without a second thought. Fortunately, Won-jae hyung wasn’t the type to care about such things. Nago-Rang cried out in horror, asking if we were really going in like this, but surprisingly, no one paid her any attention.

[Guild] PpoongPpoongLove: Just go for now.

[Guild] PpoongPpoongLove: Go in and adjust as we go.

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Okay.

[Guild] Nago-Rang: This must be a dream….

[Guild] Ris: Good luck everyone! ㅎ

[Guild] Ayron: Earn lots of guild points ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Ayron: If a spot opens up, I’m in too ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: I’ll show you my skills!

Everyone seemed quite excited. Soon, a party request arrived. The party leader was Won-jae hyung. As he pressed “Move to Battlefield,” we were all warped to the battlefield lobby.

The lobby was a room bathed in a brassy glow. Blazing torches hung from the walls, and the shimmering heat haze from the flames swirled in the air. A white light falling from the center of the ceiling illuminated the floor, which was a marble altar in the shape of a large circle with a low rectangular dais. The marble rose in steps from the circle to the dais, resembling shallow stairs. Standing next to it, holding a torch, was a woman.

The woman, with silver hair braided into pigtails, wore a narrow black band around her forehead. In the center of her brow, three pink petal-shaped markings were tattooed; her exotic attire added to her mystique. Her blue-gray eyes blinked as she looked at us.

“You must be the heroes who have come to prove yourselves.”

The name Serika glowed above her. She was said to be the administrator of the battlefield.

“What’s the strategy? Protect the Core Castle? Or hide it?”

Won-jae hyung glanced at Serika and gathered everyone together. Won-jae hyung’s character was a sleek human male. With sky-blue hair and ears full of earrings, his character wore fluttering robes that were more revealing than expected.

“Since we have a Level 40 with us, isn’t it better to protect it?”

Nago-Rang stepped forward. Her character was a Giant woman boasting pectoral muscles that looked ready to burst. Her short brown hair was tied up in a topknot; I couldn’t tell what kind of fashion she was going for.

“True. If we split up and either Blueberry or the Core Castle gets broken, we’re in trouble.”

“Yeah. It seems more advantageous to go full defense and aim for a victory through kills.”

“Hyung. Eon-ha is better than you think, so we don’t necessarily have to do that.”

“Still, Level 40 is a bit dangerous.”

“A ninja… loves solitude….”

Opinions were divided. Meanwhile, NinjaBuffPls, dressed in pitch-black ninja gear, was standing on one leg with the other folded in mid-air, hands pressed together in a meditative pose. I was clicking my tongue at his extreme roleplaying when…

“Forget all that. Blee holds the Core Castle. Everyone else rushes the enemy Core Castle.”

“…Who’s Blee?”

“BlueberryWhiskey.”

Seong-jin answered Nago-Rang’s bewildered voice. The fact that this was a question Park Seong-jin could answer was ridiculous in itself. The others seemed more baffled by Sephiroth’s strategy than the nickname.

“Huh? You want to leave the Core Castle to a Level 40?”

“Whether she breaks or the Core Castle breaks, we lose anyway, so we might as well keep them together.”

“And why go to the enemy Core Castle…?”

“We’re going to wipe them out anyway, so it’s better to do it quickly.”

Wow. How arrogant. What a jerk.

I clicked my tongue at Sephiroth’s tone. It was a miracle he was even using formal speech. The others were likely thinking the same thing, even if they didn’t say it. It was obvious just by looking at Nago-Rang’s Giant character, who was scowling at Sephiroth’s helmet.

However, no one seemed to have the nerve to defy Sephiroth.

“Let’s try it that way for now and adjust later.”

“…O-okay.”

“Okie-dokie.”

“A ninja… remains unshaken….”

Won-jae hyung offered a compromise. Nago-Rang made it very clear she didn’t want to agree, but she nodded reluctantly. Seong-jin didn’t seem to have much of a thought, and NinjaBuffPls was too busy roleplaying.

Letting out a faint sigh, Won-jae hyung approached Serika. Hang in there, Won-jae hyung. How did he end up as the leader of this team…?

“Serika. Please take us to the Battlefield of Ignas.”

“Yes, understood.”

Won-jae hyung seemed accustomed to talking to Serika. Well, as someone who works hard to raise the guild ranking, he must have done plenty of PVP. Looking around, no one seemed nervous. I was the only one here for whom PVP was a first.

“Phew.”

I let out a short breath. Sephiroth’s hand poked me in the side.

“What.”

“It’ll be easier than you think,” Sephiroth whispered.

Before I could ask him what he meant, a white light engulfed our bodies. Serika’s voice lingered like an echo.

“Opponents found. Moving to the battlefield.”

The nicknames of the enemy team and our team flashed before my eyes. Flash! When I opened them, we were standing in the ruins of a broken castle beneath the sea. Tiny flickers of emerald light filled my vision. From where we stood, roofless corridors stretched out in three directions, winding endlessly into the distance. Beyond the railings, I could see reddish-brown pillars, some chipped and standing, others broken and lying flat. In the center of my vision, a 60-second countdown was ticking away.

Behind us was a massive altar. In the center of the large right-angled triangular altar lay the glittering Core Castle. The Core Castle was a rhombus-shaped blue gem. White sparks, like an electric field, crackled around it. Inside the gem was a small purple sphere; that seemed to be the “core” of the Core Castle.

[Party] Sephiroth: Keep voice chat clear.

[Party] Sephiroth: I’ll use text.

[Party] NinjaBuffPls: I’ll show you the true power of a ranged ninja.

[Party] PpoongPpoongLove: Is Won-jae hyung shot-calling?

“Me? Alright. But is there even a need for orders?”

[Party] Sephiroth: Just run to the enemy Core Castle and kill everything you see.

[Party] Sephiroth: No need to do anything else.

[Party] PpoongPpoongLove: Okay, okay.

[Party] Nago-Rang: But is this really okay? T_T??

[Party] Nago-Rang: I don’t want to whine, but… ㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Nago-Rang: Sob, I’m putting my trust in you, Nightmare Newbie-nim…

[Party] BlueberryWhiskey: Uh….

[Party] Sephiroth: You can trust her.

No… why are you the one deciding my reliability?

I was flustered, but there was no time to argue. Sephiroth strode to the altar, grabbed the Core Castle, and walked toward me. He took my wrist, pulled it toward him, and dumped the Core Castle into my bewildered hand.

[Party] Sephiroth: Just so you know, if you even get grazed by an attack, the game is over.

[Party] BlueberryWhiskey: What do you mean “just so you know,” you lunatic?

[Party] Nago-Rang: T_T I’m really trusting you….

[Party] PpoongPpoongLove: Good luck, friend! ㅎㅎ

[Party] BlueberryWhiskey: ㅠㅠ No, it’s a problem if you trust me!

[Party] NinjaBuffPls: Please trust the ranged ninja too.

[Party] Nago-Rang: Seriously, read the room.

“Get ready. We’re running straight through the middle path.”

At Won-jae hyung’s words, I noticed the countdown had dropped below 10 seconds. I gripped the Core Castle tightly. The hard texture of the gem pressed lightly into my palm. My heart was pounding, but amidst the rhythm was a fluttering excitement that was different from nervousness.

It was a new battlefield.

As soon as the system message appeared, Sephiroth dashed forward. The remaining five of us, including me, followed behind. Normally, the formation would have had Sephiroth leading with the other five following closely.

But as soon as we started running, I noticed something wrong.

[Party] Nago-Rang: Sephiroth-nim, are you running slowly on purpose?

[Party] PpoongPpoongLove: Eon-ha is falling behind!

Sephiroth and I were starting to lag behind the others who were sprinting at full speed. I remembered the “cute and adorable” debuff I’d been hit with yesterday. Only now did the 10% movement speed reduction truly sink in. This was a much more annoying debuff than I thought. Since the Zelpia system doesn’t have movement speed buffs or debuffs by default, it meant Sephiroth and I had to run through the battlefield 10% slower than everyone else. Even when dodging attacks, we’d be 10% slower!

Come to think of it, wasn’t it too critical for these debuffs to apply in the battlefield? Unable to use skills, unable to heal during combat, reduced attack power, and reduced movement speed. On top of that, minor debuffs were stuck all over every stat.

When I told them that Sephiroth and I had a movement speed debuff, Nago-Rang wailed.

[Party] Nago-Rang: T_T_T_T WHAT????

[Party] Nago-Rang: Should we… just surrender this round…?

[Party] NinjaBuffPls: Hmm.

[Party] PpoongPpoongLove: Play it out first then surrender?

“Let’s at least try until we can’t anymore.”

Though there was talk of surrendering, Sephiroth coolly ignored it as if he hadn’t seen it. Won-jae hyung’s voice over the mic sounded like it was trembling. I wondered if he was going to be okay.