Chapter 57: The Karma Purge

“Finally.”

While we were excited to finally face Jelly—the one we’d been dying to beat—the Karma Guild was filled with disgruntled voices.

With only five matches in the second round among ten teams, people complained about having to pit members of the same guild against each other, calling it intentional unfairness.

But Karma wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable.

[General] Jjapda: Oh, the top ranks are facing off, lol.

[General] Cheongpodo: This is going to be actually fun this time.

Everyone was whispering, full of anticipation.

Amidst the commotion…

[Party] Proposal: Jelly 1, Cheonjon 2, Lich 3

[Party] Proposal: We gang up in the order of numbers, okay?

[Party] Happy: Yes, sir.

[Party] Lo: Roger that.

We assigned numbers and set Jelly as our first target.

Jelly would, with 100% certainty, rush in recklessly.

More than anything, we couldn’t allow the sight of Jelly still standing—that was our will.

[Party] Proposal: We’ll switch targets depending on the situation.

There wasn’t even time to come up with a detailed strategy; the Game Master ruthlessly shouted the start.

Jelly emerged without a word, ignoring the complicated cheers of his guildmates, and as expected, charged in the moment it began.

“What’s this? Is this a rush or a fake?”

Jelly’s team lunged at Jiho first.

Jiho didn’t flinch and stepped back one tile at a time.

“Oh… is he using Team 20’s tactics from earlier?”

Lo’s character moved a step in all directions, dodging hits from all three opponents.

Proposal and I quickly stuck to Ung’s character, copying Jiho’s one-tile movements.

“Ah, this is tricky.”

With limited movement, our steps kept getting tangled.

Sometimes we misclicked in the wrong direction, or ended up hitting Cheonjon or Lich instead of Ung.

But by calmly moving in sync with Jiho and Proposal’s timing, we soon adapted.

“Hit once, then sidestep. If we repeat this quickly enough…”

Earlier, Team 20 sowed confusion with slow, step-by-step movements; we were creating confusion with fast, precise maneuvers.

As we fully adjusted and began circling and striking, Jelly’s team grew flustered.

Jelly quickly backed away, unwilling to take more hits, and Cheonjon and Lich split off, losing Jiho.

Suddenly, they changed targets and rushed at me.

“Oh…?”

I deliberately waited, and when all three closed in, I swiftly moved behind Jiho. Jelly’s team followed me up, then scattered left and right.

After that, Jelly kept changing targets, but we kept splitting up their team using the same tactic.

After repeating this several times, our coordination became seamless.

Like interconnected clockwork, we used tricky positional swaps to provoke misclicks from Jelly’s team.

“Huh, our pattern’s getting predictable. Maybe it’s time to mix it up…”

Just as I thought that, Proposal suddenly moved two spaces to the right.

It happened to be when Proposal became the target, so Jelly’s team followed like sausages on a string.

Now, Cheonjon ended up trapped between Jiho, Proposal, and me.

[Party] Proposal: 22

The moment the number popped up, we quickly fixed positions and struck Cheonjon.

Jelly and Lich hurried to get back and began hitting the nearest Jiho, but… we’d already surrounded them.

[Party] Proposal: 1

We moved our cursors toward Jelly, whose red gauge was nearly gone.

But that crafty Jelly dodged at the last second, hiding behind Lich as a shield.

“So close…!”

A psychological battle disguised as a train game started all over again.

Back and forth, our positions shifted multiple times.

[Colosseum – All] GM: 1 minute 40 seconds remaining.

Sensing the GM’s warning, Jelly tried a feint first.

Seeing him copy us, moving a few steps away up top, made me curse instinctively.

As I was trying to regroup after Jelly messed up our formation—

[Party] Proposal: 1111

“Ah!”

Instead of returning to position, we all chased after Jelly.

He thought we’d defend, but when we all went after him, Jelly panicked and ran to the other side.

“Got you.”

Seeing Cheonjon and Lich’s characters drifting farther from us filled me with glee.

They were clinging desperately now, trying to survive—a bit pitiful, really. But seeing Jelly’s HP gauge fade to transparent gave me satisfaction.

“Jelly, time to exit.”

I clicked like crazy.

Letting out all my pent-up feelings.

With a burst of rage in that instant, Jelly finally went down.

“Yes!”

[Party] Lo: Shot.

Our joy was brief. By instinct, we immediately chased the next target.

[Party] Proposal: 22222

Next up, we aimed for Cheonjon, who had little HP left.

But those two lost their confidence after Jelly died and retreated. Protecting each other, they circled and blocked us from approaching.

“Ugh, how do we break through that?”

Unlike reckless Jelly, the vice leaders were cautious.

“They’ll go for me first, right?”

I had the lowest HP of us—thanks to Jelly doggedly chasing me.

“Well, then it’s easier if I act as bait?”

As long as Jelly wasn’t the one to kill me, I was fine with that.

Not that I planned on dying, of course.

“Let’s do this.”

Feeling a sudden surge of courage, I trusted my teammates and charged in.

With only half my HP left, I approached first, and Cheonjon and Lich welcomed me.

Jiho and Proposal followed faithfully.

Seeing Cheonjon and Lich come straight at me from the opposite side, I nodded with satisfaction.

Then I immediately retreated.

Sorry, that was a fake-out.

[Party] Proposal: 22222

Jiho and Proposal timed it perfectly and pummeled Cheonjon.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

Four quick hits, and Cheonjon’s red gauge vanished in a flash.

Startled, Cheonjon tried to flee, but Proposal and Jiho chased after him, full of fighting spirit.

Panicked, Cheonjon headed for the fence.

With his retreat blocked, Cheonjon had no choice but to throw himself at us.

“Got him!”

With synchronized punches from Jiho and Proposal, Cheonjon fell.

I ran over shouting, but it was pure excitement.

Lich, now alone, gave up on the match.

He sat quietly in the center, and we circled around, throwing lazy punches for fun.

The laughter from outside the fence at Lich’s surrender was uncontrollable.

[General] Ung: Ha

“Ah, that felt good.”

[General] Lich: ^^;;

[Colosseum – All] GM: Second round, first match, Team 1 wins.

[Colosseum – All] GM: Team 1, your teamwork is impressive.

[General] Eungae: Wow, lololol

[General] WaterIsSelf: I thought the second round would be neck-and-neck;;

[General] WaterIsSelf: But the first game felt pretty easy??

Does he know Jelly is watching as he says that?

If so, he’s a truly outstanding person…

“Is it because all three of us survived? My hands were shaking, but everyone thinks we won easily.”

Maybe it was the lack of live communication, but we had to constantly read the room.

But after trying it once, I knew—we just have to trust and move together like this next time too.

I’d worried about ruining things for the others, but seeing them gladly go along with even my spontaneous decisions moved me a little.

I’m sure they feel the same.

“Wow. Glad the first match ended well.”

[Party] Proposal: lololol, good job everyone

[Party] Lo: Good

[Party] Happy: Ah, my heart’s still pounding, lol

[Party] Proposal: Beating up Jelly was so satisfying

[Party] Happy: Yeah, lol. Now let’s beat Mushin

[Party] Happy: Have fun playing with strong people, win 1st place, and we’re done

[Party] Proposal: Hahahahaha, that’d feel amazing

[Party] Lo: Who do we face next, I wonder, lol

[General] Cheonjon: Good game, everyone^^

[General] Lich: GG, hehe

We responded happily to the mature vice leaders’ greetings.

Of course, Jelly said nothing till the very end.

That pathetic social awkwardness…

“Still, even if Jelly lost to Hana Guild, it would have been fun to watch.”

Jelly was the one who’d throw a fit if we ever lost to Hana Guild, after all…

[Guild] Manager Go: Good job, both teams~

[Guild] Manager Go: Congratulations to the Three Brothers, lolol

[Guild] Taki: The hope of our guild…

[Guild] Taki: Let’s get 1st place!!!

[Guild] Manager Go: Our team’s still alive, you know??

[Guild] Taki: Hmph

[Guild] Manager Go: What’s with that half-hearted reply?

[Guild] Gakdaku: Ah~ such a shame, lol. Why’d we have to fight our own guild?

[Guild] Bambi: Right?? If our guild had swept places 1 through 5, that’d be amazing

As the Karma Guild members laughed and groaned over the guild showdown, the GM swiftly announced the next round.

But then…

[Colosseum – All] GM: Next, Round 2. Team 7 VS Team 10.

“Huh? Again?”

Team 7 was Mono, Team 10 was Taki.

For some reason, it was another Karma-versus-Karma battle.

“What is this? They avoided Hana Guild in round one, now they’re trying to weed out Karma Guild in round two?”

Maybe they’re trying to prevent a big guild from monopolizing the prizes.

Given the recent suspicions, it doesn’t look great.

[Party] Lo: Hmm, who should we cheer for?

[Party] Proposal: This is tough, lol

[Party] Happy: Whoever wins, it doesn’t matter…

Honestly, we didn’t care; both teams were unlikable.

Plus, Mono’s and Taki’s teams were close, so I thought Mono’s low-level team might let high-level, older Taki’s team win.

Of course, they didn’t.

“Wow. No mercy, huh.”

Mono’s team grouped up tight and crushed Taki’s team.

Baegopa and Gakdaku were both hopeless holes in the team… you could see they were really trying, but they went down pathetically.

“This was a completely fair match—no one can complain…”

Watching Taki’s team leave, crying and bitter, brought laughter to the chat.

[Colosseum – All] GM: Next, Round 3. Team 8 VS Team 9.

A face-off between Water Team, the dark horse, and Inspection Team, who’d come up easily.

Karma Guild’s response was about the same.

[Guild] Reaper: Team 8 are pretty good, hehe

[Guild] Haema: I think Inspection will lose, lol

Inspection’s timid playstyle was familiar to us.

As expected, Shinyeong was first to die after falling for Water Team’s mind games, and Inspection hesitated at the crucial moment, took the first blow, and lost.

[Colosseum – All] GM: Round 3, Team 8 wins.

[Colosseum – All] GM: Next, Round 4 is Team 4 VS Team 18.

“Wow… this is just…”

Mushin Team versus Nomeohae, Bebe, and Ghost Team.

This match was utterly predictable.

[General] Jjapda: But Team 4’s been up against their own guild all along, lol

[General] Cheongpodo: Looks like Team 4 will win again

[General] Cheongpodo: Boring

[General] Ghost: Is this really a random draw? Lol

[Colosseum – All] GM: It’s definitely a real-time random draw.

The GM brushed aside the quietly rising suspicions and pressed on.

“Knew it.”

As expected, Mushin’s team blew through the round easily again.

[Colosseum – All] GM: Round 4, Team 4 wins.

[General] MapleLeaf: Hmmm~~ lol

[General] JunkShop: lolololol as expected

[Guild] Taki: FFS, this is filthy, seriously

[General] BeefGood: Wow, I’m jealous, they win so easy

[Guild] Gakdaku: Ugh, I’m about to lose it, tsk tsk

[Guild] Manager Go: They said it’d be a bloody fight

[Guild] Manager Go: But where’s the blood?

[Guild] Manager Go: All I see is a match full of affection

[Guild] Blue: For real, lolol

[General] Mono: Ugh, seriously

Just as the crowd’s reactions grew a bit harsher—

[Colosseum – All] GM: Final match of Round 2, Team 14 VS Team 20.

Yoonjae’s team, who flipped the event’s atmosphere, was called.

The disgruntled voices outside the fence quickly turned into a chorus of “Oohs.”

“Wow, it’s like real-time feedback.”

For a moment, the disappointment and jeers at the unclear match-ups faded away.

Ridiculously, I, too, found my eyes sparkling at their game.