Chapter 23: Mailbox Full of Spoils

I stared blankly at the bluish light of the screen for a long time.

"Only died three times?"

Even while looking at the kill and death chart, I found my head tilting in disbelief.

It was a number I still couldn't believe, so I slowly retraced my memories.

"I died once for showing off at the start, then got pushed back a few times by Hana at mid... I think I died then, but was it only twice? No, wait. Because of the Martial God, I played really safe, right? I kept running away? Uh, then I guess that's about right...?"

Sure enough, after dying once to the Martial God while guarding the center, I got so embarrassed that I swore not to die again.

I died again later to a pincer attack from the Martial God and Shinyeong, but if my memory is correct, three deaths is accurate.

"So it's true. I really only died three times."

I was so shocked at the words '1st Place Happy' that I involuntarily muttered, "No way."

"This is nuts."

I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. Then, seeing Jiho's ID listed as 3rd in kill MVPs, I burst out laughing. Looking at the sub-ranking below, Cheonghon was ranked 10th with 32 assists.

"Oh~ Even Cheonghon?"

Looking at the overall level rankings, Ro and Happy characters are 3rd and 4th place. Cheonghon is 8th.

There are some differences, but we're all in the top ranks. Plus, Cheonghon has good control, so their MPV guild war ranking makes sense.

"We're not bad at all, huh?"

I couldn't help but puff up with pride.

When I hurried back into the game, both the guild and village chat windows were in total chaos.

[Guild] Taki: LOL, what a freebie

[Guild] Assassin: Congratulations, hahahaha

[Bijerte Village — Global] WaterIsSelf: Good job in the guild war, everyone~~ Grats to the MVPs, lol

[Guild] Haema: No, seriously, Martial God was insaneㅠㅠ

[Guild] Woong: So annoying LOL couldn't even get the buffer because of him

[Bijerte Village — Global] Likes: I'm a spear-user but I want to join a guildㅜ

"Did everyone leave the voice chat?"

[Party] Cheonghon: Who'd dare go back in, too scary with all the ganging upㅡ ㅡ

[Party] Ro: Still, I don't think you died that much, haha

[Party] Cheonghon: Spent all my remaining money on potions, LOL

[Party] Ro: lol, seems like the MVP prize is money

[Party] Ro: If it's cash, I'll split some with you

[Party] Cheonghon: You sweetie, love youㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Ro and Cheonghon had already returned to the game and were basking in happiness.

[Party] Happy: Checked it, lol. Wonder if the prize is money?

[Party] Ro: Grats on 1st place x3

[Party] Cheonghon: 0 kills, 3 deaths!!!

[Party] Cheonghon: I knew we could count on Happy!

[Party] Happy: LOLLLLL

[Party] Ro: It's probably money, right?

[Party] Happy: Money would be even better, lol

[Party] Happy: I'll share my prize money, too

[Party] Cheonghon: I knew we could count on you, Happy!!!!!!ㅠㅠㅠ

[Party] Happy: Is this a copy-paste

[Party] Cheonghon: Thank you, Happy-nim^^!

[Party] Ro: LOL

Not just us, but most users were hyped and making a racket about the guild war results.

Since prizes would be distributed soon, hunting was obviously on hold.

Even the losing guilds were getting some consolation prizes, so a rare break had come to the otherwise relentless Another server.

[Party] Cheonghon: Hana guild's so quiet, lol

[Party] Ro: Well, they lost, they're probably feeling down, haha

Hana guild characters were just standing around in the village, too.

Normally they'd be chatting among themselves, but now, dead silent as mice, the atmosphere clearly hit rock bottom after their defeat.

They were talking about it in Karma guild, too.

[Guild] Gadgwi: Whew~ feels so good, LOL

[Guild] Gadgwi: They're so see-through, lol. Look at them all go quiet when they lose

[Guild] Taki: LOL, must be so embarrassing

[Guild] Hungry: Martial God solo-carried

[Guild] Green: You got destroyed by that Martial God, though

[Guild] Hungry: ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

[Guild] Blue: LOL, but we won, so I'm happy

[Guild] Green: Blue-nim, you were awesome as the potion shuttle

[Guild] Green: I'm proud since we've both got color names~ haha

[Guild] Woong: Anyway, Martial God really has it rough, lol

[Guild] Haema: Probably went to ask for reinforcements from the main server, haha

[Guild] Taki: For real, they're such idiots, LOL

With the guild chat filled with all sorts of ridiculous banter and mockery directed at Hana guild.

[Party] Cheonghon: Wow, savage, this is savage, lol

[Party] Ro: We all have spies in each other's guilds, so it's probably being reported live

[Party] Cheonghon: Seriously, who's the mole in our guild? lol

[Party] Happy: There was one person who didn't move at the start

[Party] Happy: But I saw almost everyone moving mid-game, so I really can't tell...

[Party] Cheonghon: They're probably using someone else to play, like Haema did

[Party] Happy: Creepy

[Party] Ro: Nothing weird on the kill/death chart, and the mods haven't said anything, haha

[Party] Cheonghon: Ruthless, so ruthless, lol

While the three of us were chatting for a bit—

[A new message has arrived.]

The victory prize had come.

[Party] Cheonghon: Oh, looks like it's here, check your inbox!

Monster World has a mailbox system.

There's a shortcut key (F10) and a mailbox button on the interface, so you can check it easily in town.

Through this, you can send messages to individual users or entire guilds, and attach items too.

But honestly, it's not convenient.

You have to type out the recipient's ID every time you send something, and you can only send one type of item at a time. You can't select multiples, so even when cleaning it out, you have to delete things one by one—it's really inconvenient.

Anyway, hearing that the prizes had arrived, I rushed to check my mailbox.

[Guild War — MPV Prize Distribution]

[Guild War — Winning Guild Spoils Distribution]

[Guild War — Winning Guild Spoils Distribution]

[Guild War — Winning Guild Spoils Distribution]

I checked them one by one, starting from the bottom.

Guild Dungeon Ticket. Sale Card. 30 million won. And another 20 million won.

"Oh... I was hoping it was cash, and it really is! Well, yeah, in the early game, what else would they give besides money?"

My mouth split into a huge grin at all the extra funds.

[Guild] GoTeamJang: @@@@@ Spoils have arrived^^ Everyone, check your mailbox!!

[Guild] DeathGod: Thank you, haha

[Guild] Haema: Sale card looks so cool, lol

[Guild] Cheonjon: Guild dungeon is now available~

[Guild] Cheonjon: If you're struggling to level up in the desert, form a party and go, haha

[Guild] Green: I'll lead the way~ lol

[Guild] Green: Those wanting to level, get ready and come to the Guild Tower lounge~ lol

[Guild] Woong: Happy-nim, Ro-nim, Cheonghon-nim, let's go to the grasslands too

[Guild] Ro: Yep, let me get ready and head to the portal

The trio party was disbanded for the next round of grinding.

Since another tough battle awaited, we went straight to the potion shop to restock our items.

[General] Happy: Wow, everything's really half price

The golden ticket-shaped Sale Card was truly powerful.

[General] Cheonghon: Stocked up to the weight limit

[General] Cheonghon: Bring it on!

[General] Ro: Me too, haha

[Guild] Blue: What's with those people;;;

[Guild] Haema: Are you guys nuts, reallyㅡ ㅡ

While we were huddled together in the shop, suddenly the mood in the guild chat changed.

When we stepped outside, I found out why.

[Bijerte Village — Global] Firebird: Wait, Tanker Haema died 7 times, but

[Bijerte Village — Global] Firebird: The debuffer only died 3?? How does that make sense, LOL?

[Bijerte Village — Global] Firebird: Is this some zombie bug??

I don't know since when, but now the village was all abuzz about me.

"What? What is with that jerk."

[Bijerte Village — Global] WaterIsSelf: Still, Happy-nim is 4th and Haema-nim is 11th;;;

[Bijerte Village — Global] Firebird: You think a tanker and a debuffer have the same defense???

[Bijerte Village — Global] WaterIsSelf: But the ranking difference though;;;

[Bijerte Village — Global] Hope: It's a bug

[Bijerte Village — Global] Hope: I've seen them at almost no HP so many times, LOL

[Bijerte Village — Global] Hope: This is just nasty, LOL

"What are they even saying, really."

Part of me just wanted to laugh at how absurd it was.

Even regular users who didn't join the guild war were confused—it was just baseless nonsense.

[Guild] Cheonghon: What are those jerks talking about

[Guild] Ariel: Seriously

[Guild] INFP: Zombie bug, huh

[Guild] INFP: That's just laughable

[Guild] Taki: Don't they get embarrassed spouting such nonsense, LOL

[Guild] Green: Of all people, Hope's saying it, that's hilarious~ lol

[Guild] GoTeamJang: Not convincing... at all!

[Guild] Haema: LOLLL, Happy-nim, don't mind them

[Guild] Woong: Yep, just the losers whining

[Guild] Woong: When you get crushed in a guild war, you always look for something to nitpick about

"Well, that's true."

After that, Woong sent me a party invite.

When I joined, all the grassland members were already there.

[Party] Haema: Funny enough, it's quiet on their side, haha. The officers aren't saying a thing

[Party] Haema: Only Firebird and Hope are spouting nonsense

[Party] Haema: Inspector's just saying if the bug is real, they should be perma-banned

[Party] Haema: Most disagree about the bug, but they're mad at Happy-nim for just running around, haha

Haema, our mole in Hana guild, started giving us real-time updates.

Having everything reported so directly, I started to feel weird.

"Why am I getting reports on people bad-mouthing me? No, this is kind of irritating. Why do I have to listen to this?"

My face twisted in annoyance at the uncomfortable irritation.

More than Firebird and Hope spouting nonsense, this felt worse.

Before I knew it, I was typing a long message.

[Party] Happy: Whatever they're saying, I don't think I really need all these details

[Party] Haema: Ah;; Sorryㅠㅠ

[Party] Woong: Haema, take a hint

[Party] Haema: Yes, sorryㅠㅠ

After I openly showed my discomfort, Haema quieted down.

[Party] Ro: By the way, Guild Master

[Party] Ro: Those two keep mentioning it like they want us to hear

[Party] Ro: Do we just keep listening?

[Party] Cheonghon: Yeah, even if it's nonsense, having to listen to it is annoying

"Huh? I don't really care, though? Anyone can tell it's just garbage."

Unlike me, who didn't care about Firebird and Hope's nonsense, the other two wanted a strong response.

Just as I was about to type that it didn't matter to me—

[Party] Cheonjon: You're right, I wasn't thinking

Maybe because he realized Haema's updates were inconsiderate, the Guild Master, Cheonjon, finally stepped in.

[Party] Cheonjon: I'll make sure nothing weird gets said again

[Party] Cheonjon: Sorry, Happy-nim, please wait a moment

And a few minutes later—

[Global] Admin: Hello. An announcement regarding the recent guild war.