Chapter 52: The Fallout

A flash of light flared, and Revan vanished.

Revan had succeeded in escaping.

Upon seeing this, Iron Dragon spoke in a low tone, his eyes widening.

"Squad Leader."

"…Yes."

"Explain."

"Well, um… it seems he must have had a Teleportation Scroll among his belongings."

"…You're saying a newbie just barely in the level 50s had a Teleportation Scroll?"

"…"

The Squad Leader fell silent.

Everyone else also kept quiet.

In truth, the way out of this place—Plague's Workshop—which seemed so perfectly secure, was surprisingly simple.

You just had to use a Teleportation Scroll.

Of course, a short-range scroll, which only moved you nearby, was useless.

That's because Plague guild members would be waiting at the nearest respawn point.

But if you had a scroll that could take you much farther away, you could escape from here with ease.

That's why Plague's Workshop was mostly used to work over low-level users who lacked money, not high-level ones.

Iron Dragon's gaze was still fixed on the spot where Revan had disappeared.

Iron Dragon spoke in a low voice.

"Simon, Jambo."

"Y-yes!"

At Iron Dragon's call, two people jumped forward, joined their hands, and bowed their heads.

Iron Dragon rose from his seat and stood before them.

Then, looking down at them coldly as they bowed, he asked,

"Anything to say?"

"Uh, nothing. We're sorry, Guild Master. The thing is…!"

"Shut up."

"Y-yes…!"

"You two bastards won't be getting paid for this job. Also, any additional costs incurred will be deducted from the Symbiotic Necklace reward you received last time. Any complaints?"

"…No, sir."

"Get lost. Don't even think about setting foot in here again until you bring that bastard back."

Plague was a group bound strictly by profit.

But what truly kept them in check was the Guild Master's, Iron Dragon's, overwhelming power.

If they got offended or felt they couldn't work together anymore, they could just leave if they wanted.

But if they did, all consequences would fall solely on them.

Simon knew he couldn't handle Iron Dragon and the whole Plague Guild on his own.

‘If I mouth off for no reason, I might have to delete my character.’

That's why Simon just quietly bowed his head.

Most people with anger management issues tend to keep it in check in front of those stronger than themselves.

But then it happened.

Slice!

Splat!

[Critical Hit!]

[Your character has died.]

Simon's bowed head rolled as his neck was severed. Blood spurted like a fountain from the cut, drenching Iron Dragon.

It happened in an instant.

The flustered Squad Leader shouted.

"W-what are you doing?! Everyone, draw your swords!!"

"What, what the—!"

"Everyone, get ready for battle!!"

An ambush.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Simon to die so suddenly.

But who could it be?

The Squad Leader frantically looked around, but still couldn't see the enemy. However—

Slice! Slice! Slice!

"Urgh!"

"Argh!"

"Ugh!"

The slaughter by an invisible foe continued relentlessly.

A one-sided massacre.

It was so gruesome that even Iron Dragon was sweating.

Iron Dragon spoke.

"Squad Leader, watch my back."

"Yes, sir!"

All the guild members died, and only two people remained in the workshop.

Iron Dragon, tense, pressed his back to the Squad Leader's. However—

[Critical Hit!]

[Your character has died.]

"Urrk!"

Even the Squad Leader, back to back with Iron Dragon, died in a single blow.

Now only Iron Dragon was left.

At that moment, a strange voice rang out from a corner of the workshop.

"Wow… this is really bad."

"What should we do?"

"Tsk tsk."

Worried tones.

A silhouette seemed to take shape in the darkness, and soon, the owners of the voices revealed themselves.

They were Freedom Guild members.

"Who are you?!"

Iron Dragon, extremely agitated, immediately assumed a fighting stance, ready to launch an all-out assault.

But the Freedom Guild members didn't spare him a glance and continued their conversation.

"He's gotta be furious, right?"

"Obviously."

"The prank went too far."

Loneliness in a crowd.

Iron Dragon, left alone in his fury while the Freedom Guild members chatted amongst themselves, felt a surge of burning anger.

So he screamed, nearly feral,

"You bastards!!"

But even that rage wasn't enough to draw the Freedom Guild members' attention. Only—

"Man, what a racket. Hey, do something about him."

"Alright."

That shout only bothered Romantic Sword.

At Romantic Sword's annoyed request, the Guild Master raised a hand toward Iron Dragon. Then—

Shhhhhk!

Black tendrils shot out from the shadows on the floor, tightly binding Iron Dragon like a mummy.

Iron Dragon was slammed to the ground without even being able to resist.

He looked utterly ridiculous.

Once Iron Dragon collapsed to the floor, the Freedom Guild members finally resumed their conversation.

"We just wanted to pull a prank, but look at this mess."

"Seriously. I didn't think Revan would escape so easily."

"He's really got skills."

"Shouldn't we hurry up and log out to tell Revan the truth?"

"Ah, you have Revan's number, right? Then you do it. Go tell him it was all just a newbie initiation prank. Meanwhile, we'll loot that guy."

"Alright."

At Romantic Sword's order, the Guild Master quickly logged out.

This was the situation.

Freedom Guild had a tradition: every time a new member joined, they'd play a hidden camera prank.

So, under Romantic Sword's lead, they had been planning a prank event when Revan happened to ask the Guild Master for help. They changed the plan to a ‘Guild Expulsion’ prank.

But ever since Revan escaped on his own, the prank went off the rails.

Right after the Guild Master logged out, Romantic Sword, CutieCutie, and Renya surrounded Iron Dragon.

Then Romantic Sword knelt down and spoke to Iron Dragon.

"Mister."

"Mmmph mmmph!"

"Oh, we covered his mouth. Sorry, sorry—Renya?"

At Romantic Sword's request, Renya snapped her fingers. The black tendrils covering Iron Dragon's mouth vanished.

"Phaaah!"

Iron Dragon, finally able to breathe, gasped for air.

Romantic Sword asked,

"Mister. You're the Plague Guild Master, Iron Dragon, right?"

"Who the hell are you people?"

"Does it matter? Anyway, I heard you've been making a lot of fun by leaking our guild members' info."

"So what?"

"So what? Geez, I was trying to be polite since you're older, but you're making me use rough language."

Shing.

With that, Romantic Sword drew a dagger. But the blade wasn't normal—it resembled a spear tip.

Romantic Sword said,

"Mister. If you act cocky from now on, I'll stab you with this every time. So think carefully before you speak. By the way—"

Stab!

"Arghhh!!"

"This hurts a lot."

"You damn bastard…!"

"Damn bastard?"

Stab!

"Arghhh!!"

A character afflicted by a status effect can't log out.

And the binding skill the Guild Master used on Iron Dragon would last a whole hour.

Even if Iron Dragon somehow endured for an hour, Renya was there, so he had no way to escape.

Romantic Sword said,

"Hand over the Symbiotic Necklace."

"No way!"

Stab!

"Arghhhhh!!"

The one-sided back-and-forth between Romantic Sword and Iron Dragon began.

---

Barely escaping the workshop, Revan logged out of the game as soon as he was free.

And the moment he opened his eyes in the capsule—

"Uwaaaah!! You sons of bitches!!"

He thrashed about inside the capsule, venting all the pent-up rage in his heart.

"…They’re really the worst bastards."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He’d finally formed a relationship with strangers, and they shattered his trust like this.

After rampaging for a while, Sungwoo finally crawled out of the capsule.

"Phew…"

To calm his pounding heart, Sungwoo drank some cold water.

Then he blocked the Guild Master's number saved in his phone.

He knew he wouldn't answer even if he called again, so this was just his way of managing his mentality—treating it as if the guy never existed.

'Endure it. You have to endure. If I lose my mind to stress, I'll only be hurting myself.'

He couldn't just stay angry forever.

The damage was already done, and since he couldn't put things back, it was better to get a grip and move on quickly.

Mental management was one of Sungwoo's special skills.

Having blocked the Guild Master's contact, Sungwoo opened the fridge, grabbed a can of sparkling water, and chugged it.

Cold water alone just wasn't cutting it.

'Hah, much better. Now, time to make a new plan.'

Time was money, and Sungwoo had a lot to do.

Now, on top of the Plague Guild, he had to get revenge on those Freedom Guild bastards too, so he needed to act even more strategically from here on.

'Hopefully I can salvage at least half.'

If the Guild Master hadn't betrayed him, he’d be sitting on a pile of cash with the Symbiotic Necklace by now.

It was frustrating, but it couldn't be helped.

To clear his head, Sungwoo turned on his computer and logged into Warlord’s official website.

But as soon as he logged in, he saw an unread notification.

‘Oh, they replied to my complaint.’

The notification was a response to a previous inquiry Sungwoo had sent to customer support.

He moved his mouse and checked the unread notification.

-Title: Reply to Han Sungwoo’s Question.

Content: Hello, this is GM Catalin. First, we've confirmed the details of your inquiry. Therefore, Mega Company will...

Sungwoo's eyes skimmed the reply.

The same old generic greetings.

He honestly hadn’t expected much.

After all, Mega Company, which made Warlord, was notoriously bad at handling things.

So he read the reply with detached eyes. But then—

"Huh?"

His eyes stopped on the last line.

-…We sincerely apologize, and for compensation, if you visit Mega Company’s headquarters in person, we promise that a representative will fully discuss and provide you with appropriate recompense.

"Huh? Huhhh?"

So shocked, Sungwoo shot to his feet.

---

-The person you are calling cannot be reached.

"Ah…"

A low sigh.

No matter how many times he called, the answer was the same.

It was obvious—his number had been blocked by Sungwoo.

The Guild Master clutched his head and groaned.

'What should I do…'

He could call from another phone—he had the number.

But considering he’d been blocked so quickly, Sungwoo was probably furious.

That made him hesitate to call again.

'Guess the prank went way too far.'

It had been Romantic Sword's idea, but he had gone along with it.

So the Guild Master wasn’t completely blameless.

But he knew that if he left things as they were, misunderstandings would only pile up.

So, after some thought, he decided to try calling from a different number. This time, he prayed the call would go through.

The dial tone rang out through the receiver.