Chapter 16: The Ouroboros Emblem

"Uh...?"

Surprisingly, another invitation came our way.

I thought Karma’s pride wouldn’t let them ask again, but Team Leader Go, representing Karma, made a polite request that left us momentarily flustered.

Even then, Team Leader Go continued to explain.

[Party] Team Leader Go: Starting next Monday, you can create a guild, and that Saturday the guild war kicks off.

[Party] Team Leader Go: It’s right around the corner, so unless you three plan to step back now... I hope you’ll consider this positively!

[Party] Team Leader Go: As you probably know, the new benefits will have a huge impact on PK.

[Party] Team Leader Go: And everyone’s guessing this will lead to an even more active PVP system moving forward.

In short, it was an invitation to keep playing together because things were about to get even more fun—so don’t quit, join them.

[Party] Team Leader Go: And just to be clear,

[Party] Team Leader Go: This offer and the recent GM announcement

[Party] Team Leader Go: have absolutely nothing to do with usㅠㅠ

[Party] Team Leader Go: Maybe because I’ve been chatting a lot with Cheonghon lately, it might have looked like we’re close.

[Party] Team Leader Go: The guild leader kept nudging me, asking me to be sure to recruit youㅠㅠ

[Party] Cheonghon: Huh?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Team Leader Go: Anyway, I mean it—unless you’re making your own guild, I really hope you’ll choose Karmaㅠㅠㅠ

[Party] Team Leader Go: If you three join, you’ll get full support!!

[Party] Team Leader Go: So talk it over and contact me whenever you’re ready.

[Party] Team Leader Go: Ah, right.

[Party] Team Leader Go: You can’t recruit new members in the last two days before guild war starts, so please let us know by Wednesday at the latestㅠㅠ!

[Team Leader Go has left the party.]

[Party] Cheonghon: No new members two days before? Why??

[Party] Ro: Oh, back in the day, some rankers kept adding and dropping people for tricks.

[Party] Cheonghon: Mind games?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Ro: Because of that, only weekend users got annoyedㅎㅎ

[Party] Cheonghon: Seriouslyㅋㅋㅋ

[Party] Cheonghon: So, what do we do?

Team Leader Go’s proposal had us deep in thought.

To be honest, I was already halfway to quitting this season, but with Karma’s request—almost a plea—I was wavering.

[Party] Cheonghon: I’ll go with whatever you two decide ㅇㅇ

[Party] Ro: Hmm

"Jiho wants to stay and keep doing PK, huh."

Truth be told, I felt the same way.

It would be a shame to quit, and since we can’t make our own guild, joining someone else’s is the better option.

But there was something holding me back.

Monster World is a game where simple PVP is the main focus.

Since PVP is the core content, joining a guild pretty much means you have to use voice chat.

Even if it’s an old-school game full of middle-aged men. Sure, older guys are slow at typing, so voice chat is easier for them.

Anyway, for someone like me, a woman, guild voice chat is a bit... No, actually, it’s a huge burden.

"Ugh, I already suffered enough on the main server..."

I remembered the bad times, and my expression crumpled like a wad of tissue.

"Should I just let the two of you join? If I play solo... It’d be way too inconvenient."

Being on my own would be a real hassle.

Most of all, the idea that I’d be the only one not enjoying things was just unfair.

With that thought, I made up my mind.

"Whatever. I’ll just deal with it."

Well, as long as there aren’t any total psychos on the staff, it’s not like voice chat is actually mandatory.

Thinking of that possible loophole, I nodded to myself.

"Yeah. It’s a shame we’ll only be fighting Hana Guild, but they were our first target anyway..."

Most of all, it was the best choice if I wanted to keep playing with these friends as long as possible.

The other two knew exactly what I was debating, and quietly waited for my answer.

That alone made me deeply grateful.

[Party] Happy: I’m all for going with Karma.

[Party] Cheonghon: Oh

[Party] Ro: Will you be okay?

[Party] Happy: Yeah, I think I’ll be fine.

[Party] Cheonghon: If anything happens, I’ll step up right away.

[Party] Cheonghon: Team Leader Go also said we can leave whenever if we don’t like it.

[Party] Cheonghon: If it gets annoying, let’s just quit.

[Party] Ro: Of course.

[Party] Ro: We’re a team, the three of us.

"Ah..."

It was the first time I’d ever felt choked up while playing a game.

Even as the chat was filled with crying emojis, I felt reassured by my friends’ consideration.

No matter what happened next, I felt like I could get through it thanks to them.

* * *

A few days later, the long-awaited Monday arrived.

Today was the day guilds could be created.

As it got close to 6 p.m., a crowd of players gathered in front of the Guild Tower building.

Almost no one was out hunting.

To witness the birth of the two main guilds that would shape this season’s Another server, everyone flocked over to scope out the atmosphere.

We also headed to the Guild Tower at the appointed time.

[General] Guldari: Whoa, they showed up too.

[Bizerte Village — All] WaterIsSelf: Wow, is Happy’s party joining a guild too??

[Bizerte Village — All] WaterIsSelf: Or are you actually making your own guild??

[General] Cheongpodo: Whoa, then there’ll be three guilds this season?

[General] ScrapDealer: Three-way battle ㄷㄷ

[General] Eungae: But isn’t it standard in Another for just two guilds to dominate??

Only a few Karma guild officers knew about us joining.

So, the players familiar with our track record began speculating about us making a guild.

Amidst all the chatter, six o’clock finally struck.

[The Karma Guild has been founded.]

[The Hana Guild has been founded.]

A system message announcing the creation of the guilds flashed across all of Bizerte Village.

Apparently, the guild masters had agreed to use their old names from last season.

Soon after, each guild started accepting new members.

[Bizerte Village — All] Team Leader Go: Recruiting new members for Karma Guild!ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ

[Bizerte Village — All] Hannari: Looking for folks to join Hana Guild as family^^

Right after absorbing their old members, recruitment notices appeared in all-chat, and newbie guild members scrambled to make a move.

The newbie guild emblems vanished from above everyone’s heads, replaced with Karma or Hana guild crests.

Finally, it was our turn.

[Chunjon from Karma Guild would like to appoint you as a new guild member.]

[Accept / Decline]

After staring at the screen for a few seconds, I hesitantly clicked "Accept."

The Karma Guild’s emblem appeared above my previously blank character’s head.

Then, as the red ouroboros symbol appeared over Ro’s and Cheonghon’s characters, the crowd reacted.

[General] ScrapDealer: Whoa, they joined Karma???

[General] WaterIsSelf: Oh wow

[General] WaterIsSelf: I was waiting for you to make your own guild ㄷㄷㄷ

[General] Eungae: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Amazing

[General] WaterIsSelf: Can’t blame them, there’s perks for guild warㅋㅋㅋ

[General] WaterIsSelf: Will Hana Guild have a harder time now??

Even with us right there, the gossip continued.

I could only imagine the things being said in the newbie guild chat.

[Guild] Chunjon: Happy, Ro, and Cheonghon have joined^^

[Guild] INFP: Welcome!

[Guild] Woong: Welcomeㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ

[Guild] Haema: Oooh! Welcome ㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Gakdagwi: Oh hi hi hi

[Guild] Gakdagwi: Phew, now I won’t get beaten up in the plains anymoreㅠㅠ

[Guild] Chorok: Awesome, welcome~ㅋ

[Guild] Baegopa: Weren’t you Mir and Ku last season?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Nice to meet you

[Guild] Ariel: Helloㅎㅎ

[Guild] Ariel: You two were so cool last seasonㅎㅎㅎ

No matter what people said outside, Karma welcomed us.

The unfamiliar mood in the guild chat was a little overwhelming.

Still, as new members, we greeted everyone politely.

[Guild] Cheonghon: Nice to meet you!

[Guild] Ro: Helloㅎㅎ

[Guild] Happy: Hello!

[Guild] Chorok: How old are the new folks???

[Guild] Chorok: I’m in fourth grade~ㅋ

[Guild] Baegopa: Where do you live?

[Guild] Woong: Did you play on the main server?

"Ah... Here we go, the background checks."

As expected from an old guys’ guild, a barrage of questions came our way.

The chat scrolled by so fast I couldn’t keep up.

Cheonghon answered for us, quickly and efficiently, but never mentioned gender.

We had agreed on this beforehand.

We’d call each other by our usernames. I’d refer to Cheonghon as hyung, too.

[Guild] Woong: Are you guys in your twenties? Wow, that’s rareㅎㅎㅎ

[Guild] Chorok: What— second year?? Never would’ve guessed

[Guild] Chorok: But how do second years even know about this old-school game???

[Guild] Gakdagwi: Youngest members, fresh blood, nice

[Guild] INFP: You really did seem young

[Guild] Taki: Hi, oh, you all came, Happy’s group?!

[Guild] Taki: But in your twenties?

[Guild] Taki: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ No wonder you were dominating

[Guild] Gakdagwi: We got crushed in the plains tooㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] Chorok: Chunjon hyung got wrecked too, right?

[Guild] Chunjon: Shhㅜㅜ

[Guild] Woong: ㅎㅎㅎㅎ Here, the youngest is mid-thirties and most are over forty.

[Guild] Woong: Just letting the new folks know.

[Guild] Chorok: Woong, Ariel is a noona

[Guild] Chorok: Woong’s noona is the guild master’s waifu

[Guild] Haema: We’re gonna own this season

[Guild] Haema: Get more people in~~~ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[Guild] Taki: Busy on the main server right nowㅠ

[Guild] Haema: Get your alt to play

The chat was flying by.

There were a few other new members, but all eyes were on us.

Just as I started to feel guilty, people started marveling at the idea of there being two women in the guild.

"Oh... At least there probably won’t be any gross stuff in the chat."

In guilds full of older guys, things can get out of hand sometimes.

So knowing that Woong and Ariel were here put me at ease.

And luckily...

[Guild] Chunjon: Anyway, welcome! Everyone’s nice here, so just call out if you need anythingㅎㅎ

No one seemed to think I was a woman.

Maybe there’d be rumors later, but if these folks had any sense, they’d understand.

[Guild] Cheonghon: Do you all use voice chat, hyungnims?

[Guild] Taki: ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ The info’s in the guild notice, with room name and password

[Guild] Cheonghon: Is it okay if we just listen in during guild wars?

[Guild] Woong: It’s better if you join in, butㅎㅎ

[Guild] Woong: No pressureㅎㅎ

[Guild] Cheonghon: Thank you!

I let out another sigh of relief.

Then, suddenly, I frowned.

"Man, do I really have to go through all this trouble just to play a game?"

Realizing I’d unconsciously shrunk back, annoyance welled up.

But I held it in.

I’d already talked it over with my friends, and complaining now would...

[Guild] INFP: Now that all three of you are here, let’s take over the plains

[Guild] Taki: Time to smash Hana’s crew ㄱㄱ

Now that the fight was about to get serious, my heart was pounding in anticipation.