Chapter 245
"They got us."
"They got us."
"Did he prep a skill in advance and bait us?"
"It seems so."
"Come to think of it, was the whole thing a bait? I think I get what the Hidden Sword is saying..."
While the three Bloodjeo gentlemen quickly composed themselves and reviewed the situation despite its absurdity, someone approached.
"That... Father?"
It was the guild master of the Monster Guild.
"What is it?"
"How did this happen...?"
"Hahaha. I died. Me."
"Ah..."
Ppoppi's Dad immediately turned his attention away from the Monster and resumed the discussion.
"Could he have caught on that I was the monarch too?"
"Highly likely. Just from the way he suddenly charged in."
"Hmm, so that's the Hidden Sword."
"So what now?"
"We catch him again, of course."
"Hah, this got annoying."
At Pacheon Dohwang's words, Ppoppi's Dad chuckled.
"The taste of a siege war is constant reversals. Isn't it?"
"You're right, Hyung-nim."
[I repeat, I will be the monarch. What? Mion-nim, of course. It means catch me if you can, doesn't it?]
"..."
"..."
"By the way, among the siege strategies we prepared, we never planned for a scenario where the opponent blatantly reveals who the monarch is, did we?"
"No."
"What should we do? Hehe."
Ppoppi's Dad laughed as if amused.
"Indeed."
"A clever young man. He's precisely exploiting our openings."
"Truly, he's a clever young man; I find myself warming to him."
"That Hidden Sword... you'd have to be clever to pull it off."
The Monster, standing beside them, held back the urge to say something while listening to the adults—old enough to be his father—talk.
As expected.
Even grown men talk the same old nonsense.
"Joking aside. So, what does our Monster Guild Master think?"
Ppoppi's Dad spoke gently again.
"We catch him, right?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Because he's telling us who the monarch is."
"Are you not considering the possibility that it's a lie? You're not smart."
Pacheon Dohwang glared at the Monster from the side.
The Monster just wanted to go home now.
[Yes. Oh, Monster-nim? Please come on in.]
Honor and everything else aside, he truly wanted to go home.
[1 minute 30 seconds left until the siege begins.]
* * *
-Kyah!
-Seems like a magic swordsman lololololololololololololol
-Insane
-Now that's the streamer!
-But how did he know Ppoppi's Dad was the monarch?
-Even if Ppoppi's Dad wasn't the monarch, if all three of them died, they could've just pushed through naturally lolol
-The Sword Emperor talking back?
-Dare a mere emperor challenge a god?
-This bastard, scary to think what he'll show on defense, upvote if scared lololololololol
-While the enemy attacks the gate, he goes down, kills them all, and comes back up!
-But he's the monarch?
-He wouldn't seriously take monarch, would he?
And Seo Jun really did set himself as the monarch.
-Woah lolololol he actually sets himself as monarch lolololololol
-Madman! Madman! Madman!
-This means he's confident he won't die lololololololol
-This guy seriously hardly ever lies lololololololol
-When does he lie?
-I think when he says he remembers his past life or something. He lies to hide the secret of his skill!
-Aha!
-But one thing's for sure
-What?
-The streamer lololol never lies when he's provoking someone lololololololololol
-For real lol trust level insane
-Because there's nothing more infuriating than a provocation that actually comes true
-I'm Seo Jun and this is true
-The streamer is broadcasting, can't type in chat, bastard lololololololol and above all, this is the streamer's channel and spoiler lolololololol
* * *
East, West, South, North.
With 10 seconds left to choose a direction, the attacking side's members each picked the direction they were assigned.
The guild master Monster took the south, and the three commanders each took one direction away from the Monster.
'This much means they're at least treating me with some regard, right?'
Shortly after being summoned in front of the south wall, he looked around and dismissed the thought.
'No way.'
They had coordinated roughly on numbers and which key people to send where, but ultimately, each guild's personnel placement was at the guild master's discretion and couldn't be checked individually.
They'd usually adjust on the fly as the battle went on.
And now, the Supreme Monarch members who had come to the south with him were the uncles estimated to be ranked 4th, 5th, and 6th in skill.
It wasn't that they acknowledged him and thought they could push less because he was there; it just meant they didn't care whether he was there or not.
'I want to go home. Very much so.'
Now he was treated as a complete afterthought.
Currently, he wasn't the worst-mannered veteran player in LaCl's history.
The villain leading the strongest guild.
The source of Solarin's ruin.
He was none of that.
He was just Extra #1.
Within the team, he had to cower before these suspiciously monstrous old men; outside the team, thanks to having the worst scumbag in history as his opponent, his presence was completely overshadowed.
'Please, just don't be here, on the south side.'
He knew by now that winning was impossible.
Even the Monster seemed like he would be pushed around by the Supreme Monarchs, so how could he possibly PvP against the real deal who toyed with such Supreme Monarchs?
That's why he just hoped that bastard wasn't here, on this south side.
The odds were 3 out of 4, weren't they?
'But why is it that when I wish like this...'
"Oh! Monster-nim, you really came!"
He's here.
Damn.
The person presumed to be the enemy monarch, sticking his right foot out over the wall, waved his sword at him.
"You're going to come up and catch me, right?"
In a loud, energetic voice.
The Supreme Monarch members beside him chuckled as they watched the scene.
'No, why is he so popular with those old men? The whole time during practice, I had such a "talk to me and die" aura that I couldn't get a single proper word in.'
Whether the Monster wanted to be done with it or not, the Bloodjeo gentlemen, after relaying the situation, ignored the Monster and devised their strategy.
In 20 seconds, the barrier would vanish, and the fight would begin.
"What if I go up?"
"Nah, no way. You saw how your Hyung-nims all died."
"Then wait for the Hyung-nims to push, and let the front line get pushed on its own? Ah, or should I just hit the gate so we can benefit long-term after dying again?"
"Yeah, let's just hit the gate and think."
"But hey. What if that clever young man comes down?"
"Nah. If he's really the monarch, would he come in?"
The Monster thought.
'What about me, seniors?'
The enemy kept provoking.
"You're going to come right up and take my head, aren't you, Monster-nim?"
Even now.
"Monster-nim. Isn't this practically a fight between just us two? Come on up. Our team members here say they won't attack and will let us have a one-on-one."
Continuously.
"Scared?"
Taunting.
'I...'
At this rate, he would end up going up alone.
That son of a bitch. That ill-mannered bastard.
The Monster didn't realize that he himself had behaved just like this—no, even worse—all along.
[1 second left until the siege begins.]
[0 seconds left until the siege begins.]
"Let's go, kids! You all heard?"
"Break the wall! The good fighters, stand on the outside!"
Ha.
"I'm waiting!"
For a brief moment, the Monster even considered riding a ladder up and clashing once.
Still, if he mentioned that he was a commander, got him to incur a penalty, and fought one-on-one...?
But he quickly realized his place.
There was no way he could win. No matter what.
But then, if he thought about it more, just ignoring that truly infuriating voice coming from above and hitting the wall instead?
That would be worse.
So, even though he wanted to die, he rode the ladder up.
"Oh? You're really coming up?"
'You told me to come up, you bastard.'
"Hey, young man! Hang in there!"
Why were those goddamn old men cheering for him now?
'This one and that one... sigh.'
After riding the ladder up, he steadied his breathing and put on a cool act.
"Alright, Sword God-nim. Let's have a go."
Even if he lost, he had to keep his pride alive as much as possible.
But.
Hee hee hee, the Sword Gods surrounded him and laughed.
Their captain also laughed, wagging his sword.
"Hee hee hee hee hee."
"Streamer! How long are you going to play with him!"
"Streamer! Think of his dignity, his dignity! The opponent might be weak and not last one exchange against you, but he's a guild master of a guild!"
The Monster felt he would be happy even if he just quit the game right then and there.
How could he salvage any pride here?
* * *
Only one person was unhappy and miserable in the second siege, which otherwise proceeded by the book everywhere except the south wall.
The other fronts were breached one by one first, pulling the battle lines back.
Seo Jun toyed with the Monster without killing him once, then slipped away as the battle lines shifted and began joining the fight.
Interestingly, the enemies didn't try to target Seo Jun but kept attempting their breakthrough strategy.
It was a quick judgment of the situation.
At least, that's what Seo Jun thought.
They lacked confidence.
The confidence that they could kill him.
But even so, should they have tried to exploit his mistakes?
With only two minutes left, the distance the enemies had pushed was less than the front the Sword God Squad had pushed in the previous match.
They hadn't even come close.
"Hohoho, the others are fighting well too."
"Indeed they are, Hyung-nim."
The two Bloodjeo gentlemen were looking at Sword God 331, who had received a commander buff.
It was Dang So.
Dang So, who proudly ranked at the very top in Hyeobyu, a game with a larger PvP-focused pool compared to the raid-centric top rankers of LaCl, blocked the Bloodjeo gentlemen to their great satisfaction.
"At this rate... perhaps because it isn't our home server... it seems we've lost."
"Ppoppi Hyung-nim, saying we lost because it's not our home server seems a bit unsightly. If you fought Sword God 1 in Bloodmaeng, could you win?"
"Hohoho..."
Just as the siege's end was approaching, Ppoppi's Dad suddenly imagined a madman wielding a sword appearing at the hunting grounds on the server their Bloodmaeng controlled, chasing them down. He shuddered.
And the protagonist of that imagination briefly surveyed the battlefield and smirked.
'This could make for an amusing picture.'
Then he began issuing final orders to the Sword Gods and Mion guild members.
"Yes, please clear out that whole path. Just yes. Don't even be visible; I'll block it. And Taewoo? Hurry and lure those people this way."
The people Seo Jun was talking about were the Monster and his guild members, who were moving half-heartedly, their souls half gone.
Right now, the Monster must be feeling humiliated.
Mortified and helpless, he'd want to run.
Afraid of the aftermath, he was just barely staying in, but all the attention coming their way was nothing but mockery.
In the first place, doing things with bad manners—if not for monetary gain—was purely about needing attention. And a person like that receiving this kind of treatment...
'He probably wants to go home, huh?'
Seo Jun waited.
By the way, Taewoo always executed bait roles well. A fact Seo Jun acknowledged.
So he gathered the enemies nicely and brought them.
"Oh? Over there!"
"What? Is this the target point? Why is nobody here?"
Voices sounded from the other side of the alley.
So Seo Jun stood right in front of the alleyway that led to the target point if passed.
"What? It's just him?"
"Hmm, the alley's narrow."
"Guild Master, what should we do?"
Seo Jun had created the opportunity.
Less than a minute of remaining time.
A defeat becoming more certain.
If they could catch him and cross this alley, which could fit only two or three people walking side by side, they could overturn it.
Honestly, he had just done this because it seemed fun. He was curious how the Monster would react.
"..."
The Monster didn't approach.
Was he planning to just end it like this? Without one last fight?
The Monster glared at him. Their eyes met directly, and Seo Jun opened his mouth.
"Again, it's just me, and you even have your guild members this time... Scared?"
Upon hearing that, the Monster's face twisted mercilessly.
He couldn't seem to manage his expression.
'He got hooked.'
Why wasn't he coming in?
In the end, it must've been because he was truly scared.
Even though Seo Jun was alone in the alley, and they could just bypass him and go.
"Hey, you son of a bitch! When it comes to raids, I'll blatantly copy-ninja your strats and steal first clear, so be ready!"
He even threw out curses.
A smile tugged at the corner of Seo Jun's mouth.
On top of that, the Monster outright terminated the game.
"Look at him run."
The siege was their victory.
* * *
-Woah lololololololol
-A "just you wait" declaration! lolololololololololol
-Jangpanpa bridge meta lolol the enemy is alone but can't enter lolololololol
-Sharingan!
-What the hell is Solarin, getting so worked up by such a monster lolololololololololol
-The Great Emperor Lunaon is why it's just Server 1. The streamer is here, that's why.