Chapter 29: The Admin’s Lingering Grace

Out of nowhere, Poongma dropped a nuclear bomb and logged out without a hint of responsibility.

With nothing but a gross "Kak, ptooey—" left behind.

After that, the guild chat was flooded with complaints and criticism toward Poongma.

The guild leader couple, who logged in late, cursed up a storm looking for Poongma.

They said things like they'd go to the main server, or that they'd call him directly, all sorts of stuff.

The guild was noisy all afternoon, but we didn't have a chance to butt in.

The three of us quietly farmed the second floor on our own.

[Party] Proposal: Seeing as they can't do anything right away, are the guild leaders low-ranked?

[Party] Ro: Maybe, since they're in an alliance.

[Party] Ro: The main server isn't what it used to be, either.

[Party] Ro: The surviving guilds have banded together, so there are a lot of factions, and relationships are complicated.

[Party] Proposal: Really?

Now that I think of it, didn't Haema say earlier that Ariel and Poongma are from the same guild?

[Party] Ro: On the main server, the Another server is basically a playground? People just go and do whatever they want, it seems, haha.

[Party] Proposal: So are the guild leaders here also admins on the main server? Is that why they can't do anything against someone like Poongma?

[Party] Ro: Who knows, haha.

We were busy investigating the political (?) relationship between the main server and the Another server.

[Guild] INFP: Happy, Ro, Proposal, Blue, Bambi, Neogul, Assassin, Trauma, Grim Reaper

Suddenly, our IDs were called.

What we had in common...

"Looks like it's the group that joined together."

What was this all about, out of the blue?

[Guild] INFP: Attendance, guild chat participation, ranking

[Guild] INFP: All things considered, it's probably Neogul

[Guild] Cheonjon: Neogul?

[Guild Master Cheonjon has expelled Neogul.]

"Huh?"

[Party] Proposal: What's this, a spy??

[Party] Ro: I know, right

"Neogul? Now that I think about it, I vaguely remember that ID..."

They had so little presence, I barely remembered them at all.

"Is that right? What if it was just someone quietly leveling up..."

Haema had once proudly said he planted an alt in every group.

Maybe that's why I was suspicious about whether they'd kicked out the right person...

But since INFP, the vice guild master, had been watching for a long time and decided, I just let it go.

[Guild] Cheonjon: Ugh, of all times, that guy comes when I'm away

[Guild] Woong: Seriously pissing me off— ㅡ

[Guild] Woong: We got totally played like idiots

[Guild] S: ㅠㅠ… Sorry, I should have stopped it

[Guild] Cheonjon: What did you do wrong, lol. Good job

[Guild] Woong: Happy, Ro, Proposal, you're all here, right?

[Guild] Woong: Let's go level up

The mood softened and the hunting party was reformed.

But it wasn't as lively as before. Even talkative Haema was holding back.

Thanks to that, a long stretch of serious hunting continued without unnecessary chatter.

After quite a while, around nine in the evening—

[Guild] S: Ah, I just got PKed

[Guild] Taki: Huh? By who?

[Guild] INFP: ?

The suddenly quiet chat window stirred at news of an ambush.

[Guild] Woong: Junghoon, aren't you doing the dungeon?

[Guild] S: Over at Full Moon Hill ㅠㅠ

[Guild] S: I was deliberately roaming the field to pick up junk items ㅠ

[Guild] Cheonjon: Who hit you?

[Guild] S: Pineapple? And some debuffer

[Guild] Baegopa: Damn, they PKed in a non-PK zone

[Guild] Woong: LOL, guess it's all-out war now?

The mood turned instantly grim.

In Monworld, only certain maps allow PK, but that doesn't mean you can't PK on normal maps.

If you can handle the penalty, activating PK mode allows battle anywhere except towns.

But really, the penalty isn't much.

Your ID turns yellow, making you a permanent target for other users.

That's about it.

It's the standard penalty found in old games where PVP is central.

But since you don't drop items from PK, it doesn't mean much.

It was just an unspoken courtesy, a minimum level of respect among players for the lower-level folks... and now that unwritten rule had been broken.

[Guild] Cheonjon: From now on, Hana Guild is fair game for PK, no mercy.

[Guild] Cheonjon: Report any sightings in the field via guild chat.

[Guild] Cheonjon: If you want to avoid PK, please hunt in the dungeon.

The mid-to-low level players breathed a sigh of relief at the guide that followed the declaration. Meanwhile, the old rankers seemed to have been waiting for this, cackling and cheering.

After all, no-holds-barred PK was part of the real fun.

[Guild] Gakdagwi: LOL, those punks have gone nuts

[Guild] Taki: I think

[Guild] Taki: They're just making trouble since they know they have no hope this round

[Guild] Taki: In the top 10 right now, besides Swordmaster, Hana only has three people LOL

[Guild] Taki: Our guild occupies six slots

[Guild] Taki: They're all gaming addicts, so there's no way the ranking will flip

[Guild] Taki: No matter how much they chase, it's too big a gap for Mushin to close alone

[Guild] Taki: Since Happy joined our guild, Hana's been finished, period

While I was scratching my head at the unexpected praise, the guild members were already moving fast.

[Guild] INFP: Sent two from the shrine

[Guild] Baegopa: I just got one in the labyrinth LOL

Low-level or not, if you had a blue guild mark, you were not spared.

Within five minutes, reports of Hana guild members dying started flooding the chat.

Of course, Hana guild responded just as quickly.

[Guild] Gakdagwi: Damn, Mushin appeared in the desert

[Guild] INFP: Retreat to the dungeon

[Guild] Blue: Guild master should head out, probablyㅠㅠ

[Guild] Gakdagwi: LOL

[Party] Woong: Let's go to the desert

The moment we hurried into the desert, we ran into Mushin's party.

Lurking at the entrance after getting their revenge, Mushin's party started spamming skills as soon as they saw us.

"Three seconds of invincibility after map transfer."

I quickly prioritized targets.

As always, the debuffer, Gamchal, should be top priority... but with Mushin nearby, it would be trouble if I got rooted by the tank, Gomae.

"Start with Gomae."

Pineapple and Shinyoung, Hope—they'll fall quickly, so Gamchal is second priority.

As for Mushin, well, he'll be the last one standing as usual...

Of course, they're probably thinking the same.

As expected, the three dumb DPS, the relentless tank Gomae, and the debuffer Gamchal all started tailing me.

"Oh, I'm so scared."

Though, honestly, I wasn't that scared.

Luckily, Mushin was sticking with his own DPS.

He must've thought it was better to take down the squishier DPS than waste time and skills trying to kill me.

"Hmm. Wise choice."

As left and right clicks flew in a flurry, three seconds passed in a flash.

With some quick clicking, Gomae got hit with Slow first.

The moment I saw the blue circle at my feet, I dashed away from Gomae.

In the nick of time, I escaped Gomae's taunt range.

As Gomae scrambled to move, Haema succeeded in pinning down Mushin.

Thanks to the admin buff that hadn't expired yet, Haema was lasting much longer than before.

"Oh... Looks close, though. I should help out quick."

Just as I muttered that, Woong's monstrous shot took down Shinyoung in a single blow.

Woong, with that archer agility, had run off the moment he arrived and now circled back.

I could feel Pineapple and Hope flinch at his arrival, but they couldn't chase him as he darted away again.

It was better for them to target me, who was closer.

[Gamchal has used Ominous Step.]

[Pineapple has used Blazing Flames.]

[Gamchal has used Black Melody.]

[Hope has used Flurry.]

[Pineapple has used Blazing Flames.]

[Gamchal has used Crumbling Skin.]

[Gamchal has used Unlucky Song.]

Between the rabid attacks of the three DPS, Gamchal went all out.

"Ominous Step success. Black Melody failed. Crumbling Skin success. Unlucky Song failed."

I wasn't happy about being hit with Slow and defense down, but it couldn't be helped.

Gamchal had been grinding hard and bulked up recently.

Still, I'm just glad Black Melody and Unlucky Song missed.

"All right."

Unlucky Song landed on Gamchal immediately after. In a 1:1 debuff fight, I'd always have the edge.

Unable to use skills, Gamchal scrambled to escape.

With that, Pineapple and Hope's attacks grew more desperate... but with the admin buff like Haema, they were no match for me.

I calmly tossed out debuffs and retreated toward our DPS.

The two, like they were possessed, chased after me blindly—until Woong's skill, flying in from somewhere, and Cheonjon's redirected skill, stopped them cold.

Within the perfect protection of our team, I approached Mushin.

Bound by Haema and unable to move, Mushin started burning with determination as I drew near.

[Mushin has used Blazing Flames.]

"Whoa, crap..."

Startled, I instinctively dodged backward, but even in that instant I landed the Slow.

Only after seeing Mushin slowed did I breathe easy and get back to work.

After that, it was easy.

Pineapple and Hope, trying to help Mushin, got taken out by Woong and Cheonjon, while Gamchal vanished.

Gomae stuck close to Mushin, trying to peel Haema off, but the moment Woong's skill was focused entirely on Mushin, he couldn't last any longer.

As always, it was our victory.

[Party] Proposal: Wow, I survived thanks to Haema pulling Mushin right away

[Party] Haema: LOLLLLL I did good, right

[Party] Proposal: That admin buff is nuts

[Party] Haema: ㅠㅠㅠ

Afterward, the desert became a battleground between Mushin's party and ours.

Most of the fighting happened at the entrance, and in the struggle between the whales, the shrimps started getting crushed.

[Desert of No Return ― General] Sogogigood: What the heck, seriously

[Desert of No Return ― General] WaterIsSelf: It's a warzone;;;

The users trying to level in the desert started complaining, one by one.

But neither we nor Hana Guild cared.

[Guild] Woong: Desert fights are an ancient Another tradition, so even the admins don't say anything

[Guild] Woong: So don't worry, just hunt them down

[Guild] Woong: But try to avoid entrance fights if you can

[Guild] Woong: And absolutely do not attack new guilds in the low-level zone

Karma and Hana guilds roamed the map for PK.

Ro, Proposal, and I did the same.

[Party] Ro: There are signs of people at the Sanctuary

[Party] Proposal: Hana guys?

[Party] Ro: Let's chase them down

Currently, according to Haema's intel (?), lots of main server reinforcements had been dispatched to Hana guild after the PK declaration.

[Guild] Haema: They're starting to use tricks now

[Guild] Haema: They're sticking with newbie guilds or hiding their guild mark while leveling

[Guild] Taki: LOL that's just pathetic

This was the Tainted Sanctuary.

It's a newbie map, so the chances of running into new Hana guild members are high.

"Where are you, Hana guild bastards?"

It's a low-level map, so it was safe to roam alone.

Even my attacks could probably kill them, as long as Mushin or someone like that didn't show up.

So, I scoured the map, eyes peeled.

"Huh?"

I spotted two low-level characters without a guild mark.

[Jina]

[Yunjae]

Are they clueless newbies? Or just low-level normal users? Or maybe Hana guild trying to pull a fast one?

For a moment, I hesitated in confusion.