Chapter 65: The Sleeping Lion’s Whisker

I opened my mouth to speak, intending to persuade the guild members to at least listen to the circumstances before making a judgment.

“Um, excuse me…”

“F*ck, that was so obnoxious, seriously!”

Whoa!

The one who let out the loud curse was Nago-Rang, who had been nothing but pleasant until now. She was fuming, stomping her feet. When a Giant stomps, the sense of intimidation is no joke.

“Are those bastards insane? They’ve lost their minds! Who do they think they are? ‘I hope you make a wise decision’? They’re full of sh*t, seriously!”

“G-Rang-nim, please calm down first…”

“No, Won-jae hyung, I’m pissed off too. Who the hell are they to tell us to kick out a guild member whenever they feel like it?”

“I agree. Saying they won’t let us walk the fields means they’re planning to PK us on sight.”

Won-jae hyung tried to de-escalate, but Seong-jin and NinjaBuffPls each added their own two cents. Even NinjaBuffPls, who usually stayed in character, sounded stiff and serious. Won-jae hyung let out a long sigh and added one more thing.

“Actually… I’m pretty pissed off too.”

With those words, the dam of anger broke.

“They’re completely mental, aren’t they? I heard the ‘Endless’ guild had a bad reputation, but I didn’t know they were this self-centered.”

“Total psychos.”

“They’re famous for PKing anyone they don’t like.”

“Is that true, Seong-jin?”

“Hyung, you didn’t know? They’re incredibly famous for being scum.”

“Back when I played heavily, it wasn’t that bad. Was it around the time Sephiroth-nim was there?”

“Ugh, who cares about the past! What matters right now is that those fckers just spat out total bullsht! Are we really just going to let this slide?”

“I think we have to respond.”

“Of course we have to. If we don’t, all our guild members will end up getting hunted down.”

“It’s so annoying. We can’t kick Sephiroth-nim out. If we do, we’re just losing to those bastards.”

“I guess we’re sticking with Sephiroth-nim for life now. Right, Un-ha?”

“Wh-What?”

Whoops. The bomb landed on me. Eight eyes—four pairs from the people in front of me—shifted to me simultaneously. Maybe ten, if you counted Sephiroth’s. Unable to hide my fluster, I stammered.

“Oh, well, of course. Yeah.”

“Those guys are just acting tough because they think they’re a little better at the game. I can’t stand people like that.”

“Me neither.”

“I don’t even need to be in the open fields for a while anyway.”

Nago-Rang then turned her head and called out to Sephiroth.

“Hey, Sephiroth-nim.”

“Yeah.”

“I want to practice. I don’t care what it is, just make it so I can rip those bastards’ heads off in a 1v1.”

“Ah, me too.”

NinjaBuffPls stepped up beside the spirited Nago-Rang. Seong-jin seemed to hesitate for a moment before joining in.

“My mom told me never to go around letting people hit me.”

When I looked at Seong-jin with “are you serious” eyes, he added an excuse. Behind them, Won-jae hyung’s sigh-filled voice drifted over.

“…Well. It seems everyone’s on the same page.”

“Won-jae hyung?”

“I guess I’ve been away from the game for too long. Living a real life… I should have thrown my life away and gone all-in on gaming.”

“Hyung, get a grip! You said this was your graduation semester!”

“Un-ha. Graduation isn’t important.”

“It’s very important, what are you talking about!”

Had everyone lost their minds? Did that last battle awaken some hidden combat instinct within them? It was absurd. Ignoring my bewilderment, the “Anti-Endless Resistance” was formed right then and there.

As we’d discussed before that round, it was meant to be the last battlefield of the day. But the game wasn’t over. Returning to town, Won-jae hyung shared the day’s events with the rest of the guild, and everyone was outraged. I started to think that whoever recruited for this guild only picked people who were combative and full of pride. Han Kyu-tae, in particular, was losing it.

[Guild] HitMeOnceOppa: Fck, are those psychos for real??? Huh? HUH???

[Guild] HitMeOnceOppa: Wow fck, I’m so tilted right now seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] HitMeOnceOppa: You guys just wait ㅋㅋㅋㅋ f*ckers are all dead ㅋㅋㅋ

And then, Han Kyu-tae abruptly logged out.

[Whisper] BlueberryWhiskey: Hey, where did Kyu-tae go?

[Whisper] PpoongPpoongLove: Dunno.

[Whisper] PpoongPpoongLove: He didn’t tell me either.

The others also seemed deeply wounded in their pride and expressed their desire to participate in Sephiroth’s “practice” or whatever it was. This group is weird… I’m scared…

Of course, I said all that, but I was actually the one who was the most furious.

I hadn’t realized how powerless it felt to be low-level. To be honest, during my dungeons with Sephiroth, I never had a reason to feel helpless. I was always participating in attacks and never found myself in a truly dangerous spot. Even when we failed the mechanics at Dol-tek’s castle, it was more about not knowing the strategy than my level being an issue.

But just now was different. I was nothing more or less than a moving Core Castle. I was so busy dodging that I couldn’t move proactively or do anything to turn the tide of the battle.

“…Haa.”

I clenched my fists. Sephiroth, Endless, the guild conflict—those were secondary. Right now, the thought that I needed to be able to take the lead myself filled my head. Starting today, I’m leveling up like a madman. Steeling my resolve, I glanced at Sephiroth.

“By the way, what are we going to do about our curse…”

There wasn’t just one or two things to worry about.

[Guild] BlueberryWhiskey: I’m going to go level up some more.

[Guild] BlueberryWhiskey: I have to hit the level cap, even if it’s just out of spite.

[Guild] PpoongPpoongLove: I feel you T_T

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Don’t hit the level cap.

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Those bonus points are sweet.

[Guild] Sephiroth: Then the destinations seem settled.

[Guild] Sephiroth: Everyone except Blee.

[Guild] Sephiroth: To the Battlefield Practice Range. Go.

Our guild was burning with fighting spirit. Down with Endless. Even people who seemed too busy to participate in battlefields joined Sephiroth’s special lecture.

[Guild] One-Season-Salmon-v: I might run into them later.

[Guild] One-Season-Salmon-v: I don’t know the full story, but I’ll learn.

[Guild] Eiron: Whoa, a special lecture from the Berserk Psycho ㅇㅅㅇ!!!!!!

[Guild] Nago-Rang: ;; [Guild] Eiron: Ah, sorry ㅠㅠ

[Guild] Eiron: Sephiroth-nim ㅠㅠ

Sun-hwa nuna, who logged in late, was also incensed and summoned an ID I’d never seen before.

[Guild] VeggieSteamBun: Those f*ckers dare touch a sleeping lion’s whiskers~~??~?????ㅎ????

[Guild] Park Jin-sol: Hey.

[Guild] Park Jin-sol: Heard there was PVP, so I dropped by.

[Guild] JujiyukLim: Oh, Jin-sol-nim, long time no see.

[Guild] JujiyukLim: I thought you quit?

[Guild] Nago-Rang: Jin-sol-ssi!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guild] NinjaBuffPls: Ugh.

NinjaBuffPls reacted uncomfortably, but most were happy to see the new user. Seong-jin gave me a briefing on them via whisper.

[Whisper] PpoongPpoongLove: Jin-sol-nim is someone who only does PVP ㅇㅇ

[Whisper] PpoongPpoongLove: Their class is Monk… but it’s better to think of them as a DPS.

Monks were a healing-based support class. I wondered what kind of skills they could possibly take to become a DPS, but I just nodded. I’d already seen the madness that was Sephiroth; a Monk being a DPS wasn’t even surprising anymore.

Pushing the chat window aside, I looked up at Sephiroth, who was still standing next to me.

“First, I need to level up.”

Simply not dying was easy. If I didn’t get hit once, I could avoid death somehow. But changing the course of a battle was difficult with just survivability.

I needed power. To get that, I needed levels. Rather than giving up levels for bonus points, it would be better to level up and have a meaningful impact on the fight.

I hadn’t realized it myself, but I too was burning with a desire to fight.

The journey to find Lang-ru-sa still wasn’t over. I’d done some quests last time, but I’d spent so much time on sub-quests that I hadn’t progressed much in the main story.

When I held the quest item, the compass, a path would unfold on the map like a navigation system. This applied to many Zelpia quest items, but it felt much more contextual when holding a compass.

“They did make it delicately…”

I muttered, glancing down at the compass in my hand. About half the size of a palm, it had a bronze frame. Unlike the pendant cover made of gold and jade, the compass frame was simple and clean, without any common patterns. Beneath the transparent glass, the red and blue needles spun according to the direction I moved.

The clear blue sky, the sprawling greenery, and the scent of grass carried by the gentle breeze pleasantly awakened my senses. It felt like I’d actually entered a forest for some forest bathing. My nerves, which had been frayed by the events on the battlefield, seemed to calm down a little.

…That is, if it weren’t for this god-awful movement speed.

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