Chapter 45: Main Server Mentality

[Guild] Manager Go: What are you even talking about all of a sudden?

[Guild] Woong: I heard the Assassin left because he was a spy lol

[Guild] Manager Go: Huh?

[Guild] Taki: Crazy

[Guild] Taki: So that spy was actually the Assassin?

The once quiet guild chat exploded into noise.

Guild members who still didn't know why the Assassin had left got fired up by Jelly's comment.

[Guild] Hungry: He was a snitch?

[Guild] Gadfly: Damn, I hadn't even gotten to be friends with the jerk yet—

[Guild] Manager Go: What? What's going on here?

[Guild] Choro: Is that for real??

The chat logs climbed at a frightening speed as the seconds ticked by.

With people repeatedly asking for INFP, I rubbed my forehead.

"Ah, Jelly. That clueless son of a..."

I was frowning when suddenly, something felt off.

Jelly would’ve heard everything from the Guildmaster couple, and the Guildmaster couple would've understood INFP's intentions and approved them.

So they must have told Jelly and at least given a heads-up, but if Jelly was still acting like this...

"So he's out to screw over INFP, huh?"

Jelly probably figured it wouldn’t matter as long as he made some excuses to the Guildmaster couple.

If he just claimed he got too excited and blurted things out, the Guildmaster couple—who doted on Jelly—would surely let it slide.

"That's pretty harsh, seriously."

I heard that once everyone had arrived, Deputy Guildmaster would take over in earnest.

But it was obvious they were already trying to push INFP out... Honestly, it was a turn-off.

[Guild] Gadfly: Why didn't you say anything—?

[Guild] Gadfly: I was worried something happened to that jerk, went out of my way for nothing—

[Guild] Gadfly: Guess I made a fool of myself all by myself—

[Guild] Hungry: Me too—lol

[Guild] INFP: I just wanted to let it go quietly

[Guild] Taki: But why??

[Guild] INFP: Haema hyung just planted a character

[Guild] INFP: So I just cleaned it up and let him go quietly

[Guild] INFP: Hana's folks also know we have a character there but kept their mouths shut

[Guild] INFP: Honestly, this was the cleanest way

[Guild] Taki: Hm

Only then did a few start to react as if they understood.

There were things on our side we didn't want to draw attention to, after all.

[Guild] Woong: But...

"Ah, don't say it. Seriously, don't say it!"

[Guild] Woong: Are we the same as them?

[Guild] Woong: Haema hyung just left a character there, that's all

[Guild] Woong: But the Assassin deliberately tried to cozy up to us, right?

[Guild] Hungry: True—

[Guild] Hungry: Now that I think about it, that really pisses me off—lol

"Wow... Jelly, you bastard..."

My jaw dropped at the commotion rising one by one.

Jelly’s water-muddying skill could rile people up like magic.

[Guild] Taki: Shit, that's really scummy

[Guild] Taki: Even if he was a spy, that kind of crap really crosses the line

[Guild] Taki: If I see that bastard in the field, he’s dead, no questions asked

[Guild] Choro: Ugh, I’m so mad~~lolol

[Guild] Hungry: Just let him show up—

[Guild] Taki: Gotta wreck him immediately, damn it

The mood grew more violent.

Curses and anger filled the chat in an instant.

With everyone turning their hate toward Hana Guild, newbies like us didn’t even dare to chime in.

[Guild] Manager Go: But still, if we keep chasing after someone who’s left

[Guild] Manager Go: Doesn’t look great to outsiders

[Guild] Taki: Come on, hyung, are we just gonna let that bastard go??

[Guild] Woong: We should file a formal complaint

[Guild] INFP: Everyone, calm down

[Guild] INFP: Nothing good will come from blowing this up

Deputy Guildmaster’s explanation finally calmed the chat down.

[Guild] INFP: That was the Assassin’s main character. I checked personally

[Guild] INFP: The dude’s old enough and still pulling this crap, totally shameless

[Guild] INFP: Shameless, so he'll keep playing that character as is

[Guild] INFP: A hundred percent, he'll lay low for a few days and then crawl back to Hana

[Guild] INFP: The rumors will spread, obviously

[Guild] INFP: So all we have to do is sit tight

[Guild] INFP: We planted a character too, but never pulled crap like the Assassin

[Guild] INFP: People will naturally start trashing the Assassin and Hana

[Guild] Manager Go: That makes sense

Luckily, everyone seemed to accept the explanation.

Jelly quieted down for a moment after failing to stir the pot.

Maybe he hadn’t realized the Assassin was using his main character.

[Guild] Hungry: That was his main?—. —;

[Guild] Choro: Insane, never seen someone drag in their main from the start—

[Guild] Manager Go: If we spread the story right when switching guilds, Assassin’ll get trashed real bad, right?

[Guild] Gadfly: Tch—

It seemed like things were finally wrapping up, but—

[Guild] Woong: Wait

"Ah. Please, just stop."

[Guild] Woong: Why act all dignified?

[Guild] Woong: Aren’t we all here for a brawl anyway?

[Guild] Woong: This is the perfect chance to stomp them down for a while

[Guild] Woong: Why let that slip?

[Guild] Taki: You have a point

"Wow... this guy, seriously..."

My jaw dropped again at the guild members nodding along.

Jelly was persistent, but he really was the hardliner here.

Well, thinking about guild rivalries, Jelly’s strategy wasn’t exactly groundless.

But for me, did we really need to play the game so bitterly, so sharply, making everything so exhausting?

I always thought I played pretty aggressively, but compared to Jelly, I was a total pacifist.

(Proposal)

[Man, that guy's relentless]

[He just won't let go]

(Ariel)

[So stressful]

(Ro)

[The mood's icy]

(S)

[Seriously pissed off]

As tired voices echoed in the secret squad chat, the other newbies, watching quietly, cautiously spoke up.

[Guild] Grim Reaper: Wouldn't it be better to just end this quietly if it's only going to cause trouble?

[Guild] Blue: I think so too...

[Guild] Bambi: Rightㅠㅠ

Of course, there was no chance Jelly would accept their opinion.

He kept drumming up anger at the Assassin’s betrayal, whipping guild members into a frenzy.

Old-timers like Gadfly, Hungry, and Choro were the most swayed, while the relatively younger Taki started rattling off curses like rap, souring the mood even more.

Unable to take it, INFP snapped back.

[Guild] INFP: You guys want to go wild like on the main server?

[Guild] INFP: We’re not the only ones playing here

[Guild] INFP: There are way more normal players than main server old-timers

[Guild] INFP: The old-timers usually leave after a bit, but

[Guild] INFP: The regular users, even if slow, stick it out to the end

[Guild] INFP: Most of us came here because we hated the main server

[Guild] INFP: Even though Another was made for main server people to have fun

[Guild] INFP: And yes, the core guilds are built by old-timers

[Guild] INFP: But the ones actually keeping the server alive are the normal users

[Guild] INFP: Do you really think those normal users could survive a main server-like environment?

[Guild] Manager Go: Hmm...

What kind of place was the main server, for INFP to talk like that?

[Guild] INFP: Let’s live together

[Guild] INFP: That’s why we’re recruiting normal users, right?

Maybe it was the healthy direction for the guild that the old members had forgotten for a while.

The chat fell silent at INFP’s spot-on comments.

After that, people started replying with “That’s true,” and the like.

But in the end, Jelly was the only one still pushing back.

[Guild] Woong: Still, we have to fight when we need to

[Guild] INFP: That’s enough

[Guild] INFP: I’m the Deputy Guildmaster

[Guild] INFP: With the Guildmaster absent, I have the authority

[Guild] INFP: Sorry for handling this on my own

[Guild] INFP: But I thought it was the best option

[Guild] INFP: I also got the Guildmaster’s approval, so please accept it

"Oh... coming on strong."

Luckily, Jelly shut up right after that.

More importantly...

[Guild] Manager Go: When the Guildmaster’s away, Deputy is the boss

[Guild] Manager Go: And as others said, it’s not like this is some great situation

[Guild] Manager Go: Personally, I think Deputy handled it well and quietly

[Guild] Manager Go: Plus, the guild’s reputation is pretty good right now

[Guild] Manager Go: And I think we all know who’s responsible for that, no need to say names

[Guild] Manager Go: So let’s not ruin it by making noise and getting treated like Hana

Unexpectedly, Manager Go took INFP’s side.

Objectively, he was right. And as someone in his 40s with a strong position in the guild, his peers immediately followed his lead.

Haema, who helped cause this mess, also admitted his own short-sightedness and bowed his head.

Only then did Jelly, unable to counter, completely back down.

The argument was thus put to rest.

"Wow, seriously."

A small storm had truly passed.

But no matter how you looked at it, it was a clear confrontation between Jelly and INFP.

I didn’t know what the veteran guild members thought, but for the newbie members who watched it all, it was quite uncomfortable.

"Oh, that’s Blue and Bambi?"

After Jelly left the guild atmosphere a little chilly,

I bumped into my two joining buddies at the potion shop during a break.

[General] Blue: hi hi

[General] Happy: hi hi

[General] Bambi: lololㅠㅠ

[General] Blue: Happy-nim, I’m bored...

[General] Happy: ? Go level up

[General] Bambi: ... mean person

[General] Blue: I’m bored because I can’t even chatㅠㅠ

"Ah..."

Of course they’d feel uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere when they didn’t know anything.

Seeing them share their frustration cautiously made me feel for them. I told them I felt the same, and we spent the whole break chatting and sharing little stories.

After listening, it seemed... they didn’t like Jelly much either.

Well, who would? He always found fault and ruined the mood.

Comforting the two, I also felt a sense of camaraderie.

Wherever you go, the woes of the underlings are...

(Ariel)

[Sigh]

(S)

[Ugh, seriously...]

In the secret squad chat, we’d been sighing for a while.

Since INFP wasn’t really saying anything, we just watched in silence.

Then Proposal, after a long time, finally spoke up in our three-person chat.

(Bae Hojun)

[No hope with those veteran guild members]

[They agree with whoever’s talking at the moment—]

(Jung Jiho)

[Definitely different without the Guildmaster around]

(Bae Hojun)

[It’s not like INFP is incompetent]

[But everyone’s too easily swayed by Jelly]

(Jung Jiho)

[People always side with their own, haha]

[They’re probably closer to Jelly]

(Bae Hojun)

[Ugh]

[The mood sucks, I don’t even want to level up]

(Jung Jiho)

[Yeah]

(Kwon Aran)

[Wish I could just turn my brain off and go PK…]

(Bae Hojun)

[Let’s do it]

[Leveling up? Who cares?]

[If we don’t, Moo-shin can’t either]

(Kwon Aran)

[That’s… a good point!]

We declared a temporary strike.