Chapter 30: The Buffer’s Solo Show

Sometimes, it happens.

There are users who start out without the newbie guild mark, even from low levels.

Usually, this is a veteran who’s already played several rounds on another server.

They either dislike the clumsy vibe of the newbie guild and ditch the sense of belonging early on, or simply don’t like the newbie guild mark and take it off just for looks.

Or, maybe, they’re attention seekers who play without a mark to join a big guild quickly, or to enjoy the suspicion and attention that comes with not showing their allegiance.

And finally.

Very rarely, a total newbie might hit the “leave guild” button by accident, not knowing what it does.

“But… do two people ever leave the guild by accident at the same time? No matter how I look at it, it seems like they left of their own will.”

Unable to make sense of it, I awkwardly circled around the two of them.

[Party] Proposal : Where you at, I’m by 11 o’clock but nobody’s here

[Party] Ro : I’m heading left from 4 o’clock

[Party] Happy : Found two, but no guild mark

[Party] Happy : Can’t tell if one’s in a guild or a newbie

[Party] Ro : Hmm, without a mark it’s hard to tell

There was a guild rule: “Never kill users with the newbie guild mark.”

But there was no specific rule about not killing users without any guild mark.

Of course, that didn’t mean I’d just kill anyone randomly. That’d be wrong.

Still, the idea that someone from Hana Guild would deliberately remove their guild mark and hunt here made me suspicious.

Especially right now, of all times, with a flood of main server applicants reported to have arrived, and someone hunting in the newbie zone.

“Definitely left voluntarily, and they’re clearly acquaintances, hunting together in a party…”

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, but I couldn’t just kill them blindly.

[Party] Happy : I don’t know

[Party] Happy : Maybe they’re unrelated, let’s just skip them for now

[Party] Ro : Hmm

I was about to brush off my suspicions and leave.

That’s when a buffer with the ID ‘Jina’ suddenly came running over.

Right behind, the character ‘Yoonjae’ started following.

As they got closer, I moved my cursor cautiously.

PK mode had been enabled for a while, so with just one click, I could—

“Huh…?”

The buffer ‘Jina’ started spamming skills in front of me.

Not attack skills—buff skills.

But… ‘Jina’ was in a party with ‘Yoonjae’. Since I wasn’t in their party, I shouldn’t receive any buffs.

‘Jina’s’ buff effects poured out only on ‘Yoonjae’.

MonWorld is strangely strict about distinguishing between allies and enemies, so a buffer’s buff skills only affect people in the party.

Maybe because buffers don’t need to target anyone specifically, but anyway.

I stared blankly at ‘Jina’s’ solo buff show, half-lidded eyes.

“What’s with this? Are they messing with me…?”

Sometimes, mischievous(?) buffers pretend to give buffs just to tease you.

“Are they really from Hana Guild? Otherwise, why would they troll like this…”

As my reasonable suspicion grew, I unconsciously gripped my mouse tighter.

Should I hit this weird buffer, or not? While I was torn—

Buffer ‘Jina’ suddenly stopped. Then just stood still for a while.

“What’s this. They must be talking in party chat…”

I started to get flustered too, watching them for any sign.

[Jina has used Holy Performance.]

[Jina has used Sacred Absolution.]

[Jina has used Resonance of Glory.]

[Jina has used Radiant Might.]

Suddenly, all kinds of buffs and cleansing skills started applying to me, too.

I hadn’t joined their party, so…

“Huh? Did they disband the party?”

While I was still wide-eyed, ‘Jina’ used every skill they could.

The crude MonWorld effects clung to my character for a good while.

“Huh?”

In MonWorld, buff duration increases with the buffer’s mental power. Of course, the stats on another server are way different from the main, so the buff times vary a lot.

Thinking about it, it meant the several-hour buff I got from Ariel earlier just got overwritten…

“But this… is just kindness, isn’t it?”

It’s rare for a buffer to go through the trouble of disbanding their party just to give buffs to a stranger, especially if they’re from a rival guild.

Well, maybe someone suspicious would think they’re faking it, or get negative thinking they were given trash buffs on purpose.

But to my eyes, it was pure goodwill.

“Wow, a real newbie. And a true buffer at that…”

Before I knew it, I covered my mouth. For some reason, my heart felt a little touched.

“Oh, wait…”

Suddenly, I remembered something from the morning.

“They looked like they had more people in their group… Could it be? No, that’s unlikely…”

Maybe I was just overthinking it, but the pieces started to fit together strangely, so I hovered my hand over the keyboard.

Should I ask or not?

Torn by a little dilemma, I finally…

[General] Happy : Thank you

…awkwardly typed a thanks and hurried away.

“If a stranger starts grilling them with questions, it’ll probably feel burdensome.”

Most importantly, with all the guild PK chaos lately, if Hana Guild saw them talking to me, those guys could end up as targets.

[Party] Ro : Oh, is it those people?

No sooner had I left the area than Ro came running from the right and spotted them.

[Party] Happy : Nope

[Party] Happy : Looks like a real newbie

[Party] Proposal : Not just pretending to be a newbie?

[Party] Happy : Nope, if they disbanded the party to buff me, they’re definitely a newbie

[Party] Proposal : Hahahahahaha amazing

[Party] Ro : Ah haha

Watching Ro come up, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Then I remembered the newbies I’d seen in the morning.

There were six people, just from what I saw.

It felt like there were even more, and they seemed close-knit and well-bonded. If the Jina and Yoonjae characters I just met were really their friends, then if we messed with them…

“I get the feeling we might be up against a double-digit group later…”

Ah, maybe I’m just overthinking it.

[Party] Proposal : Oh, killed a Hana Guild member who just entered the entrance

[Party] Ro : Nice

[Party] Happy : lol

[Party] Proposal : Let’s go somewhere else and hunt some more!

We moved across several maps in pursuit of the next target.

Meanwhile, other guild members were having experiences similar to mine.

[Guild] Gakdagwi : Geez, I chased someone in the ruins but they didn’t have a mark—smh

[Guild] INFP : lol, I just left the mines feeling awkward too

[Guild] Taki : Hey, there’s this guy called Muguk in the fields

[Guild] Taki : I swear he had the Hana Guild mark before

[Guild] Taki : The moment he saw me, he left the guild. That’s gotta be fair game to kill, right?

[Guild] Hungry : It’s open PK, so shouldn’t we just kill anyone? lololol

[Guild] Woong : Where did Haema go

[Guild] Ariel : Haema’s out for a bit haha

[Guild] INFP : Hmm

Those thirsty for PK were frustrated by these ambiguous players.

Especially Taki, when the situation was undeniable, the guild chat got even noisier.

[Guild] Hungry : Once Hana Guild, always Hana Guild

[Guild] Manager Go : Muguk is definitely fair game, I say kill him

[Guild] Green : lol, can’t we just kill everyone without a mark too

[Guild] Gakdagwi : True true, let’s just go massacre everyone except the newbie guild!

[Guild] Manager Go : Honestly, that might be easier haha

[Guild] Manager Go : Massacre everyone except the newbie guild, who’s in?

Just as the mood was getting really extreme—

[Guild] S : But didn’t we have new members join recently?

[Guild] INFP : Yeah, eight of them

[Guild] S : They probably have new people too

[Guild] S : They might really be low-level or took off their marks to avoid fighting

[Guild] Gakdagwi : Hmm

[Guild] S : And killing everyone without a guild mark is a jerk move, don’t you think;;

[Guild] Gakdagwi : —smh, our image is ruined anyway

[Guild] Gakdagwi : Because of Pungma, we’re seen as a thug guild now—smh

[Guild] S : Even so;

I was surprised.

‘S’ was a main server veteran.

I thought they’d have a negative view of enemy guilds,

But unexpectedly, they spoke up for moderation.

[Guild] Shinigami : I also think we shouldn’t attack people without a guild mark, haha

With the mood turning a bit more serious, Shinigami, who joined at the same time as me, voiced their thoughts.

[Guild] Shinigami : I want to enjoy the game, but I’m low-level, haha

[Guild] Shinigami : In this kind of field fight, we’re powerless weaklings

[Guild] Shinigami : I hope the high-levels can show some mercy and protect the low-levels, haha

[Guild] Shinigami : Honestly, if it weren’t for the guild, I’d probably have left too

[Guild] Bambi : I feel the same as Shinigami, TT

[Guild] Blue : Me too, TT

[Guild] Taki : But still, like Gakdagwi said, Pungma ruined the server vibe

[Guild] Taki : Hana started it, so shouldn’t we just go all the way?

[Guild] Ariel : Still, killing low-levels is a bit much, haha

Following S, even Ariel took a moderate stance. But Taki remained adamant.

[Guild] Taki : Nah, all the low-levels in Another are the same

[Guild] Taki : The true newbies will quit soon anyway

[Guild] Taki : The others who know MonWorld can’t keep up with us unless they’re no-lifers

[Guild] Hungry : True

[Guild] Hungry : Maybe for the first week after season start, you never know

[Guild] Hungry : But now that it’s been a month, I don’t think we need to worry about hopeless low-levels

“Geez, that guy… There are low-levels in the guild chat listening to this, and he just lets it all out.”

[Guild] Hungry : Our guild’s image is shot anyway thanks to Pungma, they’ll all go to Hana Guild, whatever

[Guild] S : If you kill everyone, the server’ll die;;

[Guild] INFP : The admin dislikes this comment…

Opinions were divided.

Most of the original guild members agreed with Taki, feeling we should kill anyone, even those without a guild.

On the other hand, the new recruits, plus S, Ariel, and INFP, wanted to at least show basic manners and look out for low-levels.

The debate dragged on, until even the guild master stepped in and called for a vote.

[Guild] Cheonjon : Then, everyone who wants to protect newbies, please raise your hand

S, Ariel, INFP, and the new recruits raised their hands in order.

And then—

[Guild] Happy : Hand

[Guild] Ro : Hand

[Guild] Proposal : Hand

[Guild] Taki : What?

[Guild] Taki : Wait, why are the three brothers doing this, TT

[Guild] Gakdagwi : This is when you guys are supposed to get violent—smh

[Guild] Proposal : I’m a man of manners, you know

[Guild] Happy : I met a real newbie earlier, lol…

[Guild] Happy : I don’t want to kill people like that

[Guild] Ro : If Hana Guild’s the enemy, I think we should just go after Hana Guild, haha

Excluding Haema, Manager Go, and the neutral guild master couple, the “protect low-levels” side was winning.

The guild master couple, after a moment’s thought, joined our side as well.

[Guild] Cheonjon : Even so, it’s true there are more low-levels than high-levels right now

[Guild] Cheonjon : Like Taki said, maybe they’ll leave, but

[Guild] Cheonjon : Mid and low-level users definitely strengthen the guild

[Guild] Cheonjon : Even if people have a negative view after today, there’s no reason to make them our enemies, haha

[Guild] Cheonjon : So from now on, precisely—

[Guild] Cheonjon : Only attack users with the Hana Guild mark. No attacking guildless users for any reason.

With the guild master’s firm declaration, the noisy atmosphere settled down.

It was the first time since joining Karma that I’d seen such a serious side to them, and it was honestly kind of impressive. I also got to see new sides of my guildmates.

And then.

“Maybe they’re not such bad people after all…?”

I started to feel a little bit of fondness for a few of them.