The D-Rank Guild Leader of the Number One Guild – Chapter 6
* * *
I wonder what the viewers are thinking right about now. They must be absolutely thrilled.
‘Wow, holy shit, what is this?’
‘Insane, insane, Rudelㅠㅠ’
‘Rudel unnie was playing the long game...’
‘Look at that pig bastard’s face hahaha’
‘You only ever gave the good jobs to the others’
‘lol’
‘Where’d the bastards who bet on Rudel dying go? You must be regretting like hell right now, huh? lololol’
‘She’s really crazy, I tell you. Rudel crawled up from the bottom and now she’s standing at the top’
‘↑Way too invested in the above...’
‘My chest feels full. Did you see the graphics of the fire just now?’
‘The graphics are fucking awesome. I thought I was on fire too.’
But I hadn’t succeeded perfectly. The moment I used my ability, Iseupan had fled.
My original plan had been to unlock my unique ability and then kill only Iseupan to check how many kill points I’d get later, but…
I must have gotten hurt too badly before that. I could barely open my eyes, my stomach was churning, and only ragged breaths escaped my lips.
The unique ability was also too much to handle. The fire that should have moved according to my will merely hovered around me, giving off nothing but heat.
‘I should’ve finished it here so the viewers wouldn’t feel uneasy, and I wouldn’t have to worry about future trouble either…’
I felt like I was going to lose consciousness. I’d barely managed to sit up, but what if I collapsed again?
But a broadcast had already gone out announcing that the first unique ability unlocker had appeared, so characters would flock here out of curiosity. I had to get ahold of myself before then.
‘No, haven’t I already become a spectacle?’
Come to think of it, there had been about ten of Iseupan’s underlings nearby earlier.
When I finally managed to open my eyes, there was no one in sight. Fortunately, it seemed they had all fled like Iseupan.
They must have seen Iseupan flee in fear of me, so they probably wouldn’t follow that guy anymore. Good, keep running.
But then, a single man who hadn’t run away caught my eye. It was that male character who had beaten me half to death earlier on Iseupan’s orders.
He was trembling uncontrollably, yet lowered his posture and crept toward me.
Every time flames crackled and sparked nearby, he gasped in surprise, but he didn’t stop and kept coming closer.
Soon, he placed a red health potion in front of me and immediately bolted away.
‘Is this a tribute offered to the strong, or simply charity given to a pitiful soul…?’
In any case, there was no reason to refuse a free potion from someone who’d run away, so I forced my unresponsive arm up and downed the red potion.
‘Phew, I might live.’
One health potion didn’t mean a full recovery, but at least my arms and legs could move again.
I stretched my arms and legs until they popped, then immediately moved my feet to avoid the other characters.
The first unique ability unlocker, whose whole body was a wreck.
I wasn’t sure if injuries of this degree made me look like a resolute figure, or just a weakling who’d gotten beaten up somewhere.
‘Hmm, given my frail body, probably the latter.’
Perhaps that was why, before I’d even gotten far, someone picked a fight with me.
“Are you the one who succeeded in unlocking a unique ability?”
Some tall character blocked my path.
I wasn’t using my unique ability right now.
Since no other character besides me could peek at status windows, my appearance must have spread throughout the area in that brief time.
Backpedaling with a lie didn’t seem like my style, so I silently affirmed it.
“How did you do it? Won’t you tell me too? I’m not asking you to do it for free—I’ll give you this in exchange.”
The opponent held out appetizing food and two red health potions.
It was true that my haggard face looked rather pitiful, but was I still receiving charity…?
“Not interested. Don’t block the road—step aside.”
I thought I’d declined rather gently, but the character in front of me flushed crimson, as if furious at being ignored.
“So you’re going to monopolize the unique ability all by yourself? When we’re in a situation where we should be helping each other survive?”
“Is that what you call helping each other? You’re trying to freeload. Go ask someone else.”
“Oh-ho, so you know exactly how to unlock a unique ability, but you’re hiding it because of your greed.”
Before I knew it, the forest around me had grown somewhat rowdy. It seemed there were more than one or two characters eavesdropping on our conversation.
In a faceless crowd, I was being unilaterally branded as greedy. A scoff escaped me.
What kind of baseless witch-hunt is this?
If these characters were the sole unlocker of a unique ability, would they have spread it around saying ‘This must be shared with everyone!’? They would have hidden it immediately.
They were simply outraged because they weren’t the ones benefiting from the unique ability.
…I wanted to deliver a scathing remark, but since this was a contradiction the viewers would catch onto quickly as well, I decided to respond with a bit more class.
“I unlocked it by chance too. It’s not something I can explain the conditions for in words.”
This was also a statement of position to the game and the viewers.
Of course, as a possessor, I did know the conditions in advance, but officially, this was my excuse that I’d stumbled upon it by chance.
“I earned my reward through my own hard work. So you lot should dig your own wells.”
I spoke quietly and turned around. If I put it like this, they’d understand. You live life alone.
“Uwoah!”
It seemed someone had trouble controlling their anger.
Showing off my strength clearly in front of a crowd wasn’t a bad idea either.
Toward a character lunging at my back, I flicked my hand threateningly and scattered flames.
The character, whose eyebrows were nearly singed by the fire, fell on his rear and scrambled backward.
As I extinguished the fire at my fingertips, I silently eyed everyone present and sent a warning.
I didn’t know how fierce my glare looked. I’d need to practice my charismatic expressions tonight too.
As I left the area like that, no one stopped me again.
* * *
If I were even half of what Iseupan was, the moment I obtained a unique ability, no one would have been able to meet my eyes.
It seemed I was still far too easy a target.
‘To avoid being underestimated any further, I need to recover this body first.’
I’d had all the items in my inventory stolen, but in preparation for this, I’d left half with Ririteu beforehand.
As I drew closer to the cave where Ririteu was staying, anxiety crept up on me.
The character called ‘me’ had dull senses befitting her poor stats.
In other words, even if I couldn’t see them with my eyes or hear them with my ears, there could easily be several people lightly tailing me.
Not to mention, the existence of invisibility potions couldn’t be ignored either.
‘…Surely nothing happened to Ririteu?’
Even as my body throbbed and ached, I hurried my steps.
Perhaps Iseupan’s subordinates had launched an assault, or those targeting my unique ability had taken Ririteu hostage.
On top of that, Ririteu possessed many items.
‘She should be begging for her life even if she has to give everything away. Surely she wouldn’t stubbornly refuse to hand them over because they’re my things and end up suffering for it?’
Ririteu was that kind of girl. Like a flower with a fragile stem swaying in the wind, yet stubbornly straightening its back to face the sunlight.
Before long, I reached our hideout.
For some reason, the surroundings were quiet. Just before leaping into the cave, I sensed something and hastily pulled back.
Bang!
A bullet aimed at me.
Immediately from behind me, flames that tore through space appeared and swallowed the flying bullet.
I then fired my ability toward where the bullet had come from. Along with surging flames, a fleeting death cry rang out.
The one who shot at me died instantly without even being able to scream properly. Their pain must have been very brief.
This was my first kill. And I hoped it would be my last.
“Disappear.”
I looked around and warned the others who had definitely followed me.
I hadn’t rushed here like a fool for no reason.
I knew someone would naturally chase me, so I deliberately let them follow.
Since I’d failed to kill Iseupan, I had no choice but to kill another character to check the kill points.
‘That guy I just killed not only tailed me but even shot at me, so the viewers will surely understand I had no choice but to kill him.’
Only after making an example of that man did the pursuers scatter in all directions.
I hurried into the cave.
“Ririteu!”
Sure enough, a burly man was standing in front of Ririteu. She had just been grabbed by the collar and lifted up.
Afraid the cave would become a furnace if I unleashed flames inside, I aimed the pistol I’d taken from the man I killed earlier.
“Let her go!”
The man was terrified and immediately put Ririteu down. He raised both arms to show his surrender, but I had no intention of letting him go.
“No, Rudel, don’t shoot!”
If Ririteu hadn’t coughed and tried to calm me down.
In that time, the man hastily fled and escaped the cave.
“Ririteu, what am I going to do with you when you’re so soft-hearted?”
He had run away, yet she looked not the least bit regretful or disappointed, so I spoke up.
At that, Ririteu glanced at me and smiled brightly.
“Sorry, but I can’t help my personality.”
“No, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about, but…”
If Ririteu’s purity and kindness were to fade, the viewers would be quite bitter about it.
So it seemed better for Ririteu to remain a healing character under my protection.
Only then did my condition seem to register; Ririteu looked down at my battered body and screamed.
“How did you get those injuries!”
Her nagging was almost motherly.
I awkwardly averted my gaze.
“They’re wounds of honor. Don’t look at them like that.”
I deliberately boasted with pride.
I acted tough outside, but if I only puffed up cheerfully in front of Ririteu, I felt the viewers would find it cute.