Chapter 138: Player Hunt Begins.
***
"Ah!"
"Knights! Stop them! Protect the mages!"
"Stay alert!"
Before they could even react to the explosion that destroyed all barriers, the guild was completely overwhelmed by the barrage of magical and melee attacks, their positions shattered.
Seo-woon's team had just entered the arena and were attacking the enemies in front of them while keeping an eye on the warriors who were pushing the guild back.
Just then, Jin-ryong noticed the warriors' attire and called out.
– These are warriors from Sagan Castle!
LiLing-wei responded to his words. "Sagangseong is a martial arts sect affiliated with Jeongsa-ji, but it's a sect that knows how to cooperate. There's no need to worry too much."
"Chooook!"
Seo-woon blinked behind the knight guarding his back and narrowed his eyes, slashing at the man's back.
"Sagangseong? I think I've heard that name before..." At this, a sigh was heard and Dump's voice.
– The strongest late-stage practitioner of all time. This is Ye Hao, the grand disciple of Sagan Province. The one you despised.
A figure, along with Dump's information, flashed through Seo-woon's mind as he quickly cut himself off and parried the enemy's attack. Unfortunately, the figure's appearance coincided with his charge towards the enemy commander.
– Kakakang!
Almost simultaneously, Yeo Ha-ran thrust his sword into the enemy, and the two clashed. In an unfortunate 2-on-1 situation, both their expressions changed completely as they recognized each other.
Yeo Ha-ran frowned, clearly showing his negative emotions, while Seo-woon widened his eyes in pure surprise at the coincidence.
The two men's attacks were perfectly coordinated; they slashed and slashed at Lu-wein's thighs and chest.
– Kang!
Seeing that his opponent's armor was cut but not torn, the two men frowned in unison.
"Oriharukon? No. This is better material than that."
Seo-woon nodded at Yeo Ha-ran's words. "It doesn't look like dragon scales either. But it looks quite similar."
Lu-wei's arms dropped, and his face contorted at Seo-woon's words. The current situation, which seemed deliberately targeted, felt like he'd fallen into an enemy trap, and he wasn't happy about it at all.
Even though he was a seasoned warrior who had dealt with Cloyd for a long time, he'd never been caught in an enemy trap so flawlessly before. Just as he was about to speak, his pride as a player wounded, Seo-woon and Yeo Ha-ran moved simultaneously.
The two of them attacked in such unison, their movements flawless, as if they'd been practicing for a long time. Sword drawn, he faced the enemy charging right in front of him, and Seo-woon had no choice but to endure the blows as he stepped into his blind spot and stabbed him with his strange attack.
And soon, Lu-wei's flawless armor began to crack. Despite using his defensive and offensive skills repeatedly, without the support of a magician, he had no ability to face two powerful enemies.
The moment Lu-wei's neck was slashed, the two quickly turned their attention to the battlefield. They saw the warrior and his team still terrorizing the enemies like wolves among sheep.
The one who had caused the greatest slaughter was none other than Li Ling-wei. She sprayed red poison with her bare hands without drawing her sword, and wherever she passed, healthy players collapsed, clutching their throats. Whether she had brought something from her family's house or was acting insane, neither her teammates nor the Sgangseong warriors dared to approach her.
Finally, there was an explosion, and within an hour, the arena was left with nothing but piles of boxes. Some escaped using teleportation, but since it was a map where item farming was impossible, most players without scrolls had no choice but to fight to the end.
"Oh man. Items are raining down." Yeo Haran frowned at Seo-woon's words. Sitting in front of the boxes, he couldn't hide his discomfort at the notification he heard.
– Ding! You are not allowed to open this box.
Seeing him, Seo-woon spoke. "Even if I wanted to share, I can't."
"You!"
"We're in the same boat right now, so don't act like that."
Yeo Ha-ran, who had been gripping her sword tightly, glared at Seo-woon for a moment before dropping her sword. It wasn't just because they were fighting for the same goal as she'd said. This was a completely different level from the enemy she'd faced in battle before.
Yeo Ha-ran wasn't stupid enough to fight someone with extra health. Of course, considering the humiliation she'd suffered back then, she wanted to fight Seo-woon to the death without hesitation. But she couldn't bring herself to do it because she felt the mysterious master's gaze behind her.
"Ah! If you're going to mess it up like that, you can just give it to me."
"If possible, I will."
Smiling happily for some reason, Seo-woon opened the box in front of her and tossed the sword she'd picked up from the ground to Yeo Ha-ran. His men stared wide-eyed at the knight who'd pulled out a sword from the ground and thrown it at them.
– Crack!
– Ding! You don't have permission for this item. This item will disappear when the game ends.
"Damn it!"
Seeing Yeo Ha-ran's reaction, Seo-woon smiled as if it were obvious.
"Idiot. I blocked it using the system, so it couldn't have easily gotten past it. If it had been, I wouldn't have blocked it in the first place."
Finishing his thoughts, Seo-woon shrugged and joined his friends in the loot feast. Unable to give up until the end, Yeo Ha-ran circled Seo-woon, who was collecting items, her eyes blazing. Then, she noticed something unusual scattered around the box: blue coins.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Ah, those are coins that come out when you catch players. I heard you can summon a vending machine and use them..."
Seo-woon stopped mid-sentence. He sensed the other's interest growing. "I've never seen coins like that before. Coins that could be used to buy items from a vending machine at this point? But what do you mean by vending machine?"
Seo-woon rolled his eyes for a moment, then gave up and explained as he saw it.
"Huh. Really? This should be interesting."
Seeing him with his arms crossed as if to say, "Go ahead and try it," Seo-woon had no choice but to take the money he'd collected and hold it in his hand.
– Ding! Would you like to call the item vending machine?
The moment he tapped the button, a large blue-patterned vending machine appeared before his eyes. The vending machine had 30 rows, each row holding 10 items.
Yeo Ha-ran was curiously examining the items in the vending machine one by one, and Seo-woon's friends who had finished collecting items began to gather around him.
Seo-woon also started looking at the items in the vending machine, and there were indeed some pretty interesting things.
Ye Ha-ran's subordinates watched them with bewildered expressions, confused as to what they were doing. Unable to bear it any longer, one of the subordinates approached Ye Ha-ran, who was engrossed in looking at the items.
"Er... What are you looking at?"
"I'm looking at that. Can't you see?" Ye Ha-ran replied without even looking up, causing her subordinate to frown.
"I heard a strange sound during the battle. All the corpses we killed disappeared... Did we fall victim to black magic?" At those words, Yeo Ha-ran's expression hardened as she looked at her subordinate. "What did you hear?"
"Something about authority over something called Kumun."
Seo-woon added on to her subordinate's words. "In this world, if you kill a player, you gain the right to join Cloyd."
"What?!"
She thought for a moment in shock before speaking again. "But why can't they see this vending machine?" Seo-woon shrugged, while Juriell guessed out loud. "Maybe because they're not regular players?" She nodded, agreeing with his logical explanation.
"Maybe." Agreeing, she turned her attention from her subordinate to the vending machine. "Just wait here. I'll explain later." She finished without looking up and selected an item with a smile. "I like this one."
Trying to hide her unease, Seowoon asked innocently. "What?" She turned to Seo-woon, and a deep smile spread across her face. "The item we're going to get. Even if we kill more than half of them, we'll only get this much."
Seo-woon's eyes trembled slightly as he saw her select the 80 blue coin sword souls. There were other items in the vending machine that Seo-woon had her eye on as well. The 400-piece Diamond Body, in particular, was a never-before-seen item that strengthened the body itself and that she truly wanted. However, she couldn't take back what she said. And the fact was, she couldn't win this war without it.
"Hoo."
She sighed and pressed the item; the vending machine lit up with a message indicating that the coins had been deducted.
– Clink!
She picked up the item that had fallen with a loud sound, and it was a plain-looking sword. With trembling hands, she handed the sword to Ye Ha-ran. Ye Ha-ran, who took the sword without any restraint, smiled as expected, and Seo-woon sighed as if his last hope had been crushed.
– Shhh.
Pulling the sword from its sheath, Yeo Ha-ran felt the energy remaining within the sword, as if confirming that her choice was correct, and sheathed the sword back.
"I think I'll forget last time with this."
"Don't bring what's in play into reality. That's childish." Despite Seo-woon's shameless words, which reminded her of the grudge she had shown when she'd stabbed Joo-kuna's forehead with an arrow in the first round, Yeo Ha-ran maintained her smile.
"I know roughly what happened, so we might meet again in the future. Don't give in to temptation." Seeing him speak seriously with a smile on his face, Seo-woon and the other team members nodded in agreement.
Watching him disappear with his subordinates, Seo-woon returned to the village with his team members and joined Lail Min.
***
The words of Jang Do-cheon, the former leader of Myeongju, carried serious weight. No matter how absurd they sounded, coming from his mouth could not be taken lightly.
Even in the presence of the current leader and the rulers of Myeongju, who stood at the pinnacle of the martial arts world, no one could deny or question the words of the man known as Yugok Ipsun.
"If what you say is true... the situation is serious." The current leader tried to confirm Jang Do-cheon's words once more.
"I know it's hard to believe, but this is something I've personally experienced. I hope you take swift action. I didn't want to be a burden to the current leader or the unit, but given the circumstances, I had no choice but to step forward. I apologize."
When Jang Do-cheon bowed his head in apology, all the warriors present, including the clan chief, stood up and saluted Jang Do-cheon.
"What are you doing?" Even in rank, Jang Do-cheon was the current clan chief's equal.
"Immediately involve all military forces in a punitive expedition and search every corner of the eight provinces of Gangbuk for Jin-hwa."
Myeongju hesitated, unsure of what to say, but a soldier standing next to him spoke up. "We must report this to Saryeon and Samseong and request their cooperation."
"Yes, do that." Jang Do-cheon interjected again and spoke. "Don't worry about Saryeon. He should have already been informed. Jindokgok has taken action."
"Is that so? Then I will immediately contact Sagangseong and request their cooperation."
The soldier quickly responded to the leader's words. "I will send a message to Sagangseong, Hwaryeongseong, and Byeongjeongseong."
This was the decisive moment that Cloyd's existence became officially known to the martial arts world. Two hours after Jang Do-cheon arrived at the Martial Arts Association, the 10,000 soldiers guarding the Martial Arts Association set out for the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk.
Not only that, letters seeking support were sent to all the martial arts sects scattered throughout the martial arts world, and warriors from all over the martial arts world rose up to hunt down the players in the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk.
***
"Master Gokju... What did you just say?" Saryeonju Jichilbong couldn't believe his ears when he heard the words of his brother-in-law, the Jindokgok master.
"He said that the civilians of the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk are being massacred right now. There's no time for explanations. We must take action."
"Cough! Everyone out. I need to speak with the master alone."
At Bu Chil-bong's words, the Sarryeon officials left the room.
"Uncle! Why are you doing this?" The sudden appearance of the Jin Dokgok Clan leader and such unexpected words made Joo Chil-bong's heart sink. Ever since he appointed him the leader of Sarryeon, he had never disrespected him in public, so Jichilbong tried to think of another reason for his sudden visit.
"Chilbong. I have no other intentions. There's not a word of lie in what I said. This isn't some ordinary matter!"
"Because of Lingwei? I heard rumors that you married into an unknown family, but... It's not my fault, is it?!"
"Idiot! I'm not saying that! I don't know what kind of game this is, but what's happening right now is real. Unless I'm crazy, why would I say something that could turn out to be a lie?!"
Saryeonju Jichilbong's brows furrowed at Gokju's words. "Uncle, even if this isn't the case, the balance of power between Sagangseong and the Martial Arts Association has been unstable lately. How can we move the military forces protecting Saryeon at a time like this? We might be thought to have started a war in the eight provinces of Gangbuk."
"The Martial Arts Association has already taken action. Yoo Gokip must have made a move. Now is not the time to dwell on petty squabbles. If the damage to the people gets even worse, then..."
His words surprised Joo Chil-bong even more. He felt that this wasn't just a joke to shake him, but that it was sincere. "Has he really lost his mind…"
Just as he was thinking this, a voice came from outside the door. "I came to tell you something." It was the voice of Joo Chil-bong's youngest son.
"Sa-bok. Let's talk later…"
– Bang!
Joo Chil-bong's eyes flashed with anger when he saw his youngest son enter the room, even though he hadn't asked him to come in. But before he could get angry, his youngest son spoke first.
"I heard everything from Chil-dae-ju. I took the liberty of coming here to tell you that everything Gak-jo-bu said is true."
Gak-jo-bu was a familiar name to the Jin-dok-gok chieftain, who was also his distant grandfather. Just as Joo Chil-bong, unable to understand what his youngest son was saying, was about to speak, Joo Sa-bok began to tell him about his experiences with Cloyd.
When he revealed his alternate dimension ring, Joo Chil-bong had no choice but to believe his son's words. "So that's why your strength has suddenly increased recently..."
"It's all thanks to the potion I obtained there."
"Ha! That's a bit of a stretch..."
"Chilbong. There's no time for that. Sapa's foundation is coexistence with the people. No matter how hard we try to justify it, we mustn't forget that our roots are there."
"I see..."
After his serious answer, Saryeon dispatched 8,000 soldiers to the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk. News began to spread as the two largest organizations in the martial arts world, the Murim League and Saryeon, sent their main forces to the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk.
The rumor spread like wildfire. As the rumors spread, the remaining two cities, except Sgangseong, also dispatched their warriors to the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk. In particular, the all-female Hwabyeongdae of Byeongjeongseong made its first appearance in the martial arts world in 30 years.
Tens of thousands of warriors have gathered throughout the Eight Provinces of Gangbuk to capture the players.
***
– Ting! A huge monster appeared.
The sudden notification caused Seo-woon and his team, who were in the middle of a battle with enemy players, to squint.
– Boss Monster. Successfully hunting the martial arts leader Diuchang will reward you with 500 Blue Coins and the Mind Control Sword Hwa Ryung.
– Support Monster. Saryeonju Juchilbong. Successful hunting will reward 500 Blue Coins and the Bongshin Yusugong skill, along with a special buff lasting 100 days.
– Epic Monster. Cheonma, leader of the Ilwol Shinjo sect. Successful hunting will reward the Ilwol Shin Gong skill and Seonryeongdan.
– Crack!
Nam Sa-gwang, who had shattered the last enemy's head, frowned and looked at Seo-woon.
"What does this mean?"
Seo-woon replied with the same expression. "It means these three are hindering the operator's intentions or goals."