Guild Battle (3)

Kim Hwannyong, an S-rank swordsman and Ilseong's deputy guild master, was known as one of the masters who supported Ilseong Guild alongside its Guild Master, Nam Cheolmin. He was also the target Park Siwoo had set his sights on from the start.

'I need to beat someone at his level easily.'

Just look at Seo Yerim. As if subduing Nam Cheolmin in an instant weren't enough, she was throwing the entire Ilseong Guild into chaos, putting her worth on full display.

And what about him?

The Sword Immortal's disciple. The wielder of a holy sword.

His credentials sounded impressive enough, but honestly, he was one of the members people expected the least from in the Money-Blowing Guild. And no wonder, considering what monsters the other two were.

Seo Yerim was a veteran who had built her reputation long before him, an awakener of proven ability. And their Guild Master, Kim Minwoo...

'... Let's not think about that.'

Ordinary people had their own paths to follow. Comparing himself to a genuine monster would only make him feel pathetic.

There were thirty enemies, so if they divided that into thirty people's worth of work...

Ten for Seo Yerim.

Fifteen for Kim Minwoo.

'... I'm the youngest, so let's just do five people's share.'

Taking down the deputy guild master should count for about three.

Park Siwoo charged in. Kim Hwannyong met his sword with a scoff, his eyes brimming with the confidence of an S-rank awakener.

You've got a long way to go, brat!

That was practically written in his eyes.

Just three exchanges.

Cold sweat ran down Kim Hwannyong's head as the holy sword closed the distance in an instant and stabbed at his vital points.

By the sixth exchange, his coordination was falling apart. The sword thrust at him with one feint after another, forcing his movements to grow wider.

Then, just as they were about to trade their tenth exchange, the holy sword shifted at a cunning angle and slashed his neck.

Kim Hwannyong was eliminated in a flash.

Cedric was also running wild, tearing through his warrior opponent's shield.

Park Siwoo's eyes gleamed.

'This is easy without anyone keeping me in check.'

Normally, the ranged classes would have harassed him with all kinds of attacks. But not now.

The archer was out.

All the mages were down.

The remaining classes were overwhelmed by Seo Yerim's suppressive fire and Merhen's spells.

Merhen in particular, blasting high-level magic at them from point-blank range, was nothing short of a nightmare for the back line.

"Block it!"

They desperately activated defensive skills, but a single spell shattered them all. And their problems didn't end there. Dolsoe's charge had broken through the front line, letting the skeletons swarm in. Surrounded on all sides, the awakeners' shields were rapidly dwindling under the barrage of attacks.

'We've won.'

The battle had become so lopsided that even an ordinary person, not an awakener, could have seen who would win.

Park Siwoo's gaze grew serious.

'I haven't done my five people's share yet.'

He needed to take down at least two more before he could even claim to have pulled his weight in the guild.

He charged toward a swordsman surrounded by skeletons. In no time, his kill count began to rise.

* * *

"The guild battle is over!"

"Zero to thirty. An absolutely overwhelming result!"

"Wow... I never imagined we'd see a score like this. The Money-Blowing Guild is simply too strong!"

The commentators exclaimed in admiration.

—Wow... A perfect victory? Seriously?

—Seo Yerim was amazing, but Park Siwoo's no joke either. He took down the deputy guild master in just ten exchanges;

—Cedric's insane too; He was toying with an S-rank awakener. What the hell are his stats?

—Man... He said he was only recruiting world-ranker talent, and he meant it lol

—For real lol. Honestly, we underrate them because they're Korean, but world-ranker talent can absolutely pull off a performance like that lol

—Did we seriously just get a Korean guild that could dominate the world? I'm honestly kind of excited lol

—I want to say don't get ahead of yourselves, but this result makes it hard not to lol

—Nope~ Not getting ahead of ourselves~ Look at what they're doing at their current levels. Imagine when they level up lol. They'll be beating the crap out of all the world rankers lol

"Even if the Money-Blowing Guild won, I thought at least one or two of them would get taken out."

"Exactly. And even if they didn't, I thought their undead army would get wiped out... But no. From Guild Master Kim Minwoo's two summons to the golem and skeletons, they're all still going strong! Alive and kicking! That's what we're looking at!"

"Quite literally, almost all of them are still alive. Only about two hundred unlucky skeletons were destroyed."

"What makes this result truly frightening is that this match wasn't all that different from real combat."

"That's right. If they'd fought for real, one guild would have been annihilated, while the other would have spent nothing but mana."

"Honestly, looking at this as objectively as possible, I can't help thinking the chat might be right. We may be witnessing the birth of a guild capable of dominating the world."

"I feel the same way. They only have three members, but I can't even imagine how high their ceiling is."

The commentators spoke with serious expressions. Ilseong might have been Korea's fifth-ranked guild, but the gap between them and first-ranked Dorim wasn't enormous.

In other words, the Money-Blowing Guild stood a very good chance of winning even against Dorim Guild.

"... Perhaps Korea's strongest guild was born today."

"That might be a slightly premature conclusion, but one thing is certain. The Money-Blowing Guild is definitely among the country's top five! And they're strong enough to challenge for first place!"

—For real lol. Dorim? Money-Blowing would rip them apart if you ask me. They're just fucking strong lol

—Even Korea's number one is barely third-string on the world stage~ Of course they should crush them lmaooo

—Honestly, was Dorim number one because they were good? lol. This kimchi country just had no talent lol

—All the top Korean guilds must've been watching lol. Bet they're sweating now lol

—About time Korea got another golden generation lol

—Can we actually look forward to this year's Gate Contest? lmao

—For real lol. If the government has a brain, how could they not pick these guys for the team? lmao

—Their backing's so huge the association can't pull any shit either lol. They've got to pick them lmao

—Now that's reassuring lol

—But doesn't that look like more than an S-rank achievement? Even world-ranker talent wasn't doing that at their level.

—Yeah; I have an S-rank achievement myself, and no matter how I look at it, that's beyond S-rank. That's not a performance you can get out of S-rank skills.

—Park Siwoo might be S-rank. But Kim Minwoo? I honestly have no idea. His summons are insane; Is he seriously above S?

—The Divine Bow's kind of suspicious too lol. Sure, her level's a little high... but even accounting for that, isn't she way too strong?

Soon, play-by-play announcer Choi Yongjun moved to conduct the interviews. Kim Minwoo and his two guild members stepped onto the platform.

"Um, Guild Master Kim Minwoo."

"Yes?"

"Could we have those summons join us too...?"

Those two special summons.

Cedric could speak, and the woman carrying the parasol looked so human that she was also likely capable of speech.

With so many viewers curious about them, he couldn't pass up a chance to interview them.

At Choi Yongjun's whispered request, Minwoo chuckled and nodded.

"Merhen, Cedric. Come here."

The two summons joined them on the platform.

"Now, let's begin our winners' interview! We had so much to see today, and we certainly can't overlook this lady's performance! The Bow Phoenix? Not anymore! Please welcome the Divine Bow, Seo Yerim!"

"Woooo!"

Seo Yerim stepped forward to thunderous cheers.

"Hello."

"Hello! It's great to have you! Both the audience here and our viewers have plenty of questions. Let me start with this one. Guild Master Nam Cheolmin's skill—did you learn that through a new achievement skill that changed when you became an archer?"

"I just copied him."

"... Wow. So you're saying you copied the Ghost Archer's trademark just by watching him?"

"Yes."

"We suspected as much, but that's truly frightening talent! There's something else I'm curious about. The arrows you fired at Guild Master Nam Cheolmin spread apart midway, then converged again. Was that intentional...?"

Seo Yerim nodded.

"... So you planned for that from the moment you fired them?"

"Yes."

"How on earth did you do it?"

"I just did."

"Ah... I don't think there's any room for debate here. Ordinary people can't comprehend genius! You're the Divine Bow, starting today."

"Thank you. I'll keep doing my best to show you what I can do."

Next came Park Siwoo's interview.

"Honestly, a lot of people expected you to be eliminated early, Siwoo. But you charged in confidently, took down the deputy guild master, and then cut through all their swordsmen! Your performance has us excited for your future!"

The spectators nodded.

Seo Yerim and Kim Minwoo's performances had simply been so shocking. Park Siwoo was by no means someone to underrate.

How could cutting down S-rank swordsmen in ten exchanges or fewer be anything but impressive? All the more so considering his level.

"Please tell us your goals for the future!"

"I'll just do five people's share."

"Five people's share?"

"Yerim does ten and Minwoo does fifteen, so I feel like I should at least do that much."

"Aha. That makes sense when you put it that way. Your ambitions are more modest than I expected."

"Isn't it more that the others are too monstrous...?"

From Choi Yongjun to the spectators, everyone nodded in agreement.

Park Siwoo's performance would have been worthy of an MVP award, but in reality...

Even Cedric had outshone him. That alone showed just how absurdly powerful Kim Minwoo's summons were.

The feeling of being an ordinary person surrounded by geniuses.

Any awakener would have experienced it at least once. The world was vast, and there were plenty of geniuses in it.

Feeling an inexplicable pang of sympathy, Choi Yongjun nodded.

"Thank you! Still, doing five people's share definitely makes you a genius! Siwoo, there's no reason to feel discouraged! That man is the real anomaly!"

Choi Yongjun pointed at Kim Minwoo as he exclaimed,

"Seriously, Guild Master Kim Minwoo! Is this what necromancers are like? If I'd known it was a class that could churn out summons like those, I'd have picked necromancer myself!"

"Not usually."

"Then how did you manage it?"

"I've been working pretty hard. And I've had some luck."

"Ah, just like a great restaurant. No chance of getting the secret recipe. What a shame. But moving on, we simply have to interview your two summons as well. First, Sir Cedric?"

The skeleton took the microphone.

"Ah, ah. Is this how you use it?"

"Yes, that's right. I imagine this was your first guild battle. What did you think?"

"Ilseong Guild. Did you say they were ranked fifth in this nation?"

"That's correct."

"Compared to where I lived, I suppose they would be a sort of knightly order. They were rather unimpressive for that."

"Uh... Were they?"

"I felt that even a count's knightly order could easily sweep them aside. As a knight myself, I found them sorely lacking in grit. Korea's awakeners ought to apply themselves more."

"Uh... Yes. Of course. Training never ends for an awakener, does it? Haha..."

Choi Yongjun spoke, breaking into a cold sweat. What thoughtless remarks, with seemingly no concern for the consequences.

But he couldn't exactly counter them with a burst of national pride.

They're just the weakest of our top guilds!

He couldn't say that when the gap between first and fifth wasn't all that great.

Besides, Cedric's performance had been terrifying.

S-rank awakeners?

He simply riddled them with holes with his spear.

It was enough to make anyone wonder just what heights his spearmanship had reached...

—Big bro Bone Knight laying down some hard truths lmao

—Not even an imperial or royal knightly order. A count's knights would wipe them lol

—He's definitely earned the right to say it lol. He tore their front line apart lmao

—Are knightly orders really that strong though?

—Maybe he came from a rough place lol

—Sorry for being a Korean awakener, sob sob. Sorry for being a Korean awakener, sob sob. Sorry for being a Korean awakener, sob sob.

Just then, Cedric looked at Choi Yongjun and spoke.

"Still, Ilseong does have exactly one good point."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"Their quality is excellent. In particular, the upcoming Ilseong42 smartphone comes equipped with real-time foreign-language translation and voice features, making it useful when traveling overseas..."

Cedric rattled off the memorized lines in a flat, textbook-reading voice.

At some point, the soon-to-be-released product had appeared in his hand.

—?

—What is this?

—(Fact) He never said the guild was good.

—Oh lmao. He meant their products were good lmao

—Did he seriously just swerve into an ad?

—Is this that knightly grit or whatever?