Episode 264.
The next day, early morning.
Hanbit opened her eyes, rubbed her shoulder, and went out to the living room.
“What? You’re up already? You should have slept a little longer.”
In the kitchen, her mother was tidying something up.
Looking at the food on the table, Hanbit spoke with a puzzled look.
“Gimbap? Suddenly?”
“You don’t even eat properly. Did you think Mom wouldn’t know?”
“Ah.”
Hanbit had been moving so busily lately that she often skipped meals.
It seemed her mother had been watching the situation every day.
“I put meat in it, so come out whenever you have a spare moment and eat something, even if it’s just a quick bite. Heat up some seaweed soup and eat that too.”
“Okay. But where are you going? It’s Sunday today.”
“You know Myeong-suk, the lady who works with Mom? She hurt her foot and says she can’t come in. The boss asked me to help out for just one day.”
“Then Mom won’t be able to rest. Tell them I can’t go.”
“How can I? Stop talking nonsense and sit down and eat.” Before she knew it,
the gimbap and seaweed soup were neatly arranged on the table.
Realizing that persuasion was impossible, Hanbit sighed and sat down in a chair.
“Can’t you just quit? I’m making good money now.”
“That’s your son’s earnings. I know you’re busy, but don’t just stay cooped up working every day; go out and have some fun. You need to spend money a little bit to learn. Meet lots of people, try dating. You should try all sorts of things while you’re still young…”
Hanbit, who had managed to utter a single word only to be struck down by a rapid-fire barrage of words.
Avoiding eye contact, he picked up a piece of the well-sliced gimbap and ate it.
“Is this beef? It’s delicious.”
“Stop changing the subject. Anyway, Mom is leaving now, so make sure you eat a good lunch.”
“Alright.”
Answering obediently, Hanbit went to the entrance to see his mother off.
Sitting back down in the chair, he quickly finished his meal.
“Shall we head in now?”
Hanbit checked the map on the desk, then checked his watch.
It was almost time to meet Avant
-garde. Sliding
his gear on, he slowly lay down on the bed.
As soon as the action was executed, the scenery before my eyes changed.
Whoosh—
a fierce blizzard raged across the pure white ground.
It looked exactly as it had when I had ended the game in the occupied territory.
The only difference was the reappearance of the monsters.
Grrr—
creak—
a massive number of monsters squirming and spinning beyond the red boundary.
They were all around level 450.
“I don’t think they can come this way.”
Just then, a voice came from behind.
I turned my head to see Kim Han-seop walking slowly toward me.
“Why did you come?”
“You told me to come early! I couldn’t even get a proper hour of sleep agonizing over strategy! I spent half that time just clutching my head!”
He raised his voice in anger with a bewildered look on his face.
Hanbit chuckled and said,
“Just kidding. You received the guild membership request, right?”
“…Yes, I did.”
Having contacted Kenji in advance, he had asked him to have Kim Han-seop join the Nio Guild.
It seemed he had processed it immediately upon verification.
“Then let’s go straight here.”
“What about here? Isn’t it a waste?”
“I’ll assign everything after the meeting. Or is it in your plans?”
“…Well, I do. I’ll tell you later.”
Kim Han-seop nodded with a slightly embarrassed expression.
He was ready to listen to any good suggestions.
“Alright then. Come straight to headquarters.”
Hanbit opened the system and pressed the return button to teleport directly to the Guild Headquarters. *
Swoosh*—the
lights briefly flickered on, and the scenery changed.
He had arrived in a space resembling the living room of the Guild Headquarters.
“Oh? Lord Black Dragon!”
It was Momo who greeted Hanbit first.
Compared to when they first met, she looked quite relaxed.
“Have you been well?”
“Yes! I’ve been doing well with… Dad.”
The girl, who had started calling Kenji “Dad” at some point, still seemed to feel a little awkward.
Since he was practically a complete stranger to Momo, it was a matter that required time.
“Welcome.”
“Lord Black Dragon!”
Just then, Kenji and Avant-garde appeared from inside.
It seemed they had been talking in Momo’s absence.
“Cheonho.”
Grrr—!
When its name was called, the tiger appeared, letting out a growl.
“Huh?”
Momo’s eyes widened at the sight of the celestial tiger, which had grown much larger.
Turning her head, the girl looked at Hanbit and asked,
“Is that a celestial tiger? It’s gotten huge!”
“Mythical creatures grow fast. Go upstairs and play.”
“Yes!”
Momo answered in an excited voice and ran toward Cheonho.
As if in response, the tiger lowered its stance and carried the girl on its back.
“Wow!”
Cheonho headed upstairs with Momo still on board.
He was a clever mythical beast in many ways.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kim Han-seop. My name is Kenji.”
“Ah, yes! Good morning!”
Kim Han-seop looked extremely nervous as he faced the Chairman of the Nio Group.
“I am the streamer Avant-garde. I heard about you from the Black Dragon.”
“I’ve seen you a few times on your stream. Nice to meet you.”
After the professionals exchanged greetings, everyone sat around the circular table set up as a conference room.
The twins and Pingpong, who arrived shortly after, were also present.
“Then, let’s get straight to the point.”
Avant-garde broke the ice and spread a map on the table.
Numerous regions surrounding the Holy Kingdom were marked in different colors.
“These are the locations where the Holy Body Faction split into teams and moved. The predicted number of occupied sites is 101. If we include the places we haven't identified yet, I think it will exceed 110.”
The number of occupied sites by the Hardliners that Hanbit had checked just moments ago was 48.
Even considering the Moderates' figures, it was only about 70.
“You’ve grasped the details more thoroughly than I expected. This is information you obtained from the Black Market, right?”
“Yes. There were more Black Market players harboring hostility toward the Holy Body Faction than I thought. I heard they drove out all the Black Markets surrounding the Holy Kingdom.”
“Really?”
Hanbit pondered for a moment at this unexpected news.
One ironclad rule he had learned over many rounds
was never to become hostile toward forces in the shadows. This
was because he never knew where or how they might retaliate.
Just like the current situation, where they are secretly spreading crucial information to inflict damage on their targets.
“The locations of key rankers who were sighted are included, so you may use them as a reference. I have marked separately the information I was able to verify personally or the information with solid evidence. After all, it is information that came from the Black Market.”
“Thank you. That will be very helpful.”
It seemed Avant-garde had verified the information several times to guard against any potential false information.
Information of this caliber was something that money couldn’t buy.
“And it looks like the Black Feast is making moves as well.”
“Well, they aren’t the type to just sit back and watch.”
An organization that habitually engages in PK (Player Killing) solely to target player drops and gold.
It was only recently that they had eliminated the entire group led by Trigger in the private zone.
A situation where factions clash in occupied territory would likely appear as a golden opportunity to them.
“But wouldn’t we be at a huge disadvantage if it’s a war to seize occupied territory? Considering the number of Seongche Faction rankers and the vast difference in power, it seems like there would be a lot of disparity.”
Haneul, who had been observing the conversation, spoke up while looking at the map.
As she said, the objective battle situation was undeniably unfavorable.
It was a situation that could end right there and then if the Seongche Faction were to deploy all their top-rankers immediately.
“Of course it will be difficult if we fight head-on. Our alliance isn’t fully solidified yet.”
Regardless of the inner workings, the Seongche Faction was operating as a unified force.
However, the alliance composed of hardliners and moderates could hardly be considered properly united.
This was because many players were acting as separate entities, just as they had always done.
Would they readily nod in agreement simply because asked to lend their strength for the faction?
No matter how much he thought about it, the answer was no.
“Then what should we do?”
“This person will answer that. He is the strategist.”
“…Huh?”
Hanbit turned his head and passed the question to Kim Han-seop.
Everyone’s gaze immediately turned to him.
“You said we just needed to offer an opinion! What’s with this atmosphere?”
Kim Han-seop, who had suddenly leaned in, expressed his bewilderment in a whisper.
But Hanbit merely shrugged.
“Life wouldn’t be life if it went according to plan.”
“Hey, you…!”
Kim Han-seop, who was about to argue further, stopped speaking.
It was because everyone’s eyes were still fixed on him.
“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”
Ruffling his hair, he let out a deep sigh.
Then, glaring at Hanbit, he continued speaking.
“There is nothing particularly remarkable about the method. We just have to make up for our lack of strength with strategy.”
Kim Han-seop bent over and reached for the map.
The blue quill, moved back and forth, marked several new locations.
“I heard you received the information, but the location of the occupied territory has leaked to the Seongche faction. You can consider it a trap set by the Black Dragon. In any case, since the enemy trusts this information, we plan to use it to our advantage.”
“Using it to your advantage? Are you planning to use a decoy?”
Kenji, who had been listening to the explanation with a serious expression, asked.
Kim Han-seop nodded and replied.
“Yes. I plan to identify a few specific zones and leak information that Rankers, including the Black Dragon, are being deployed there. If that happens, the Holy Body Faction will likely attack with forces commensurate with that level.”
“Couldn’t they avoid the clash and attack a different area?”
“No, the Holy Body Faction won’t avoid where the Black Dragon is. I don’t know the reason, but it seemed like they had a compelling reason to defeat the Black Dragon at all costs. In fact, there is a high probability that their forces will concentrate on the location of the Black Dragon.”
The hostility toward the Black Dragon displayed so far by the Holy Body Faction—or more precisely, the forces of the Holy Kingdom—was incredibly intense.
Rather than the idea that they would avoid the Black Dragon’s occupied territory, the scenario of them rushing in for a fight seemed like a more plausible prediction.
“However, the Black Dragon really must remain in the occupied territory. The moment they realize he is gone, there is a high probability he will return using an item like a Warp Crystal.”
“Isn’t that too much? To tell me to face Rankers alone.”
“…You told me to come up with a plan. I can’t think of a better idea than this.”
As I let out a complaint, Kim Han-seop added that it couldn't be helped.
Of course, his reasoning was infinitely close to the correct answer.
“Good job. It was a foregone conclusion that I would be the bait.”
“What? Really?”
“I told you, didn't I? That we would lose if we waged an invasion honestly. If we are facing the Seongche Faction, I am the best at drawing aggro. Not that I intend to lose, though.”
“No…”
At Hanbit’s nonchalant reaction, Kim Han-seop wore a bewildered expression.
Regardless of his own skepticism, it was clear that he had come up with a considerably good strategy.
“To add a little more, I have pre-designated the Seongche Faction territories to attack. It will be unexpected for the enemies, so their vigilance will likely be quite lax. As for the 부족한 forces… I have just sorted them out.”
Hanbit checked the message that had just arrived.
「Sea Fog」
「Since I set conditions just as you said, everyone accepted. Most of the rankers within the top 1,000 will participate.」
A player who is uncooperative with the Alliance in the conquest battle.
Hanbit proposed that they join, promising to provide them with the necessary information.
It was the Alliance's senior members, including Haemu, who were tasked with fulfilling this role.
After sending his reply, Hanbit looked at everyone and said,
"Let's finalize the detailed plan before the general meeting starts at 10 o'clock. So that we can make good use of the infiltrated spy."
