Episode 7
[System] Elite: Irreversible Raindrop glares at you, filled with frenzy.
[Combat] You have taken 8,997 damage from Irreversible Raindrop’s Stagnant Tear.
While I was flustered and frozen, hurriedly trying to pop a defensive skill, Jaesugang—who had succeeded in his plan—gleefully began casting an attack skill.
I couldn’t just stand there and take it, so with a die-if-I-must-but-I’ll-take-you-down-too mindset, I rushed at him. But Jaesugang evaded my attacks with a dirty, dazzling display of movement completely different from before, throwing skills while dodging. Earlier his movement had been pathetic; he’d clearly shown me that shoddy footwork on purpose to cloud my judgment.
[Combat] You have taken 4,453 damage from Jaesugang’s Mutated Virus Extraction.
[Combat] You have died to Jaesugang’s attack.
[System] You have died in a Disputed Zone.
[System] You have lost 4,490 Fame points for dying to a user.
[Race] Jaesugang, Chief Commander of the Jeopa, has defeated Kkulppang, Supreme Commander of the Bia.
In the end, I fell for Jaesugang’s brazen trick and handed him a win.
Even with his attack power cut by 12%, he’d still made sure to secure the last hit reliably. If a monster had killed me it would’ve been one thing, but since Jaesugang killed me, I lost a whopping 4,490 Fame. Maybe because I’d killed a few Jeopa members before Jaesugang arrived, an extra 1,000 points were tacked onto what I lost.
……To recover this score, I’d have to kill two Supreme Commanders or Chief Commanders, three Commanders, or about eighteen lower-ranked grunts.
Just as I had done earlier, Jaesugang circled my corpse before stopping to type in chat.
[General] Jaesugang: Even if you split 8th place in half, it can’t become 1st place, haha.
[General] Jaesugang: Congrats on the 1st place one-crown win ^^7
Seeing him throw my own words back at me with such a straight face after pulling a cheap trick made my blood boil.
I quelled my churning fury and checked the time—it was already 9:41. Time remaining: 20 minutes. No, if I counted party-war prep time, only about 10 to 15 minutes left. Instead of fuming over the loss, I had to resurrect quickly and come back for revenge.
I pressed the Return button. After the loading screen, my character, which had been lying at the resurrection point, slowly floated up, regained consciousness, stood up, stretched out an arm, spread and shook out wings, and checked over their body here and there. I couldn’t move until this entire resurrection animation was finished.
Users who had been laughing in race chat and area chat while watching Jaesugang’s stream spotted my resurrected form and started approaching. I had neither the need nor the time to deal with them, so the moment the animation ended, I turned my aim toward the statue and went straight to the Warehouse Keeper among the weasel NPCs.
[System] Retrieved 1 Snow Rabbit’s Fluffy Sweater.
[System] Retrieved 1 Elk-Butt Flower Seed Pants.
[System] Retrieved 1 Tibetan Fox Doll Mask.
[System] Retrieved 1 Pair of Elk-Butt Flower Seed Shoes.
[System] Retrieved 1 Flag of the Resplendent Witerrahit.
[System] Retrieved 1 Glimmering Wings Fallen into the Autumn Sky (Bia).
[System] Retrieved 4 Aqueous Dyes Holding the Dawn.
I took out the cosmetic gear and dyes from storage and began dyeing them one by one in my inventory. Then, without equipping them right away, I pushed through the chattering users and pressed the stronghold warp statue to move to Base 45.
When the loading screen ended, an eerie sound effect signaled my entry into the Disputed Zone. I opened my inventory again and quickly equipped the dyed clothes into the appearance gear slots. In an instant, the character dressed in a white ceremonial uniform adorned with ornate decorations turned bluish-green.
I also picked a weapon with a blue effect and overwrote its appearance, then swapped my wings—previously boasting an extravagant design of black, gold, and red thread—for cheap wings that faintly emanated a blue aura. The sight was a balm to my eyes.
You deserve a taste of a mental attack too. With that inward cry, I dashed onto the field.
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I could see Jaesugang hesitating. Gone was the rabid dog that charged at me on sight; he stood still even after spotting me. Across the screen, I could almost hear the sound of his shocked voice like a hallucination.
[Guild] Somunsa: lolololololololololololololololololol
[Guild] Sillonti: whta hte fck u fcker
[Guild] Sillonti: wtf r u doing rn??????
[Guild] Somunsa: lolololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Guild] soloist: zzz lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Guild] NikeimiJoedaJungbokirae: ??? whats going on wtaf
[Guild] Sillonti: pffftbwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahalolololololol
[Guild] NikeimiJoedaJungbokirae: what chaos has our Guild Master stirred up now
[Guild] Nangmangoyangi: wtf ppl fishing suddenly failed and got utterly wrecked
[Guild] Nangmangoyangi: should i switch from the Dalmaji stream to Jaesugang’s stream
[Area] Hwangsojari: lololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Race] Sangjungha'uieumjwikineunseong: lololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Race] Haksal: lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Area] Mandragora: Aah—... This is what it means to be a gamer of the “Republic of Korea”... Taste the 『Taegeuk Harmony』 of KOREA—!
[Area] Gyul: lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Race] Ajammanappyeomajasseo: lololololololololololololololololololol Jaesugang’s stream today is legendary
Guild chat was a lost cause, and race and area chat were in complete meltdown. Was it really that funny? He started it, so…… Hmm. It was pretty funny. A furry red ball wearing a praying mantis mask with a faction flag strapped to its back, and a furry blue ball wearing a fox mask with a faction flag strapped to its back in the exact same way, facing each other in a clear plain with what seemed to be a refreshing breeze.
Standing there watching these two balls face each other, I couldn’t help but snort out a laugh.
[Race] Opeusyoljeo: Fire-type pokemob vs Water-type pokemob
[Race] Kkamagwi: lolololololololololololololololololol
[Race] Jjikmeok vs Bumeok vs Cheomeok: pokemob fr lollolololololololololololololololololololololololol
[Race] Yeonhap: lololololololololololololololololol pokemob joke lollolololololololololololol
[Race] Jopabnamu: lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
Anyway, Jaesugang hadn’t moved for a while……. I wondered if it was okay to hit him. It seemed like a fit of laughter had left him unable to control his character properly; I wanted to wait until he was done laughing, but I didn’t have much time left.
[General] Kkulppang: 79 (*friend)
[General] Kkulppang: 7979 (*friend friend)
I tried talking to him in general chat. The system translated everything into gibberish for the opposing faction, but numbers and basic special characters came through unchanged, allowing for crude communication without someone needing to die. Of course, most users communicated using insults like 1818, 772 (*loser), or ^^|8.
After calling out to Jaesugang, I stood still and wiggled my character left and right. The elongated ears of the bluish-green desert fox and its silky wings swayed side to side with the movement.