CH 62

[A Storm of Blood in the Fantastical Battlefield! Guild War Opening!]

The day of the event ‘Guild War’ had finally arrived!

When I logged in just before 10:00 am, the Beginning Town was crowded with players.

Everyone had their status windows open and were preparing for battle.

“Okay, maybe I should check my status too.”

Status open!

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Name: Yuri

Level: 56

Job: High Summoner

Second Job: Craft Maker

Weapon: Bow

Stats

Strength: 0 Defense: 0 Magic: 0 Agility: 0 Luck 650 x 3 x 2 + 65 + 900 = ‘4865’

Skills

[Luck Enhancement] [Tenacity] [Fatal Strike] [Head-to-Head] [Genocide Killing] [Heartless Shinigami]

[Absolute Zero] [Use It Properly!] [Conqueror of Adversities: Is activated due to HP being 1. All stats are doubled] [God-Slaying Fist] [Magic Bullet Shooter] [Demon King’s Surge] [Demon King’s Kin] [Demon King Body] [King of Evil] [Arms Barrier: Limited Skill] [Demon Commander: Limited Skill] [Psycho]

Equipment

・Head: Cursed Shinigami Princess’ Hair Ornament (Creator: Francoise; Alterer: Grimm)

Halve player’s Strength, Magic, Defense, and Agility; MP +100; Luck +300

・Body: Cursed Shinigami Princess’ Dress (Creator: Francoise; Alterer: Grimm)

Halve player’s Strength, Magic, Defense, and Agility; MP +100; Luck +300

・Feet: Cursed Shinigami Princess’ Boots (Creator: Francoise; Alterer: Grimm)

Halve player’s Strength, Magic, Defense, and Agility; MP +100; Luck +300; Possessed by Maa-kun

・Weapon: Beginner Bow; No requirement; Attack Power 1

・Accessories: Cursed Princess’ Ring (Sets the wearer’s HP to 1, and in exchange, has a very low probability of reducing a skill’s cooldown time to 0); Evil God Contract Necklace (Triples Luck when the wearer’s HP is 1); Poison Resistance Ring (Has a low probability to nullify poison)

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Hmm~, my Luck was looking wonderfully high as usual. I dumped all my points into it alone, after all.

Since other players had to divide their stat points to get a good balance between attack power, agility, and defense, those in the same level range as me, their main stat should barely reach around a mere 800.

It was when I was grinning at my extremely high Luck. A player, who was apparently also looking at his status window while walking, bumped into me from behind, causing me to lose balance.

However, someone with a solid, masculine chest plate caught me in their arms.

“Whoa there?! Oi, oi, Miss, you hugged me outta nowhere, ain’tcha passionate…! If you’d like, we can go on a date after this… wait, huh? …I feel like something like this happened before…?”

A familiar voice came from above me.

I also felt a sense of déjà vu and when I looked up at the man’s face…

““It’s you, after all!””

The guy turned out to be, once again, the baldhead bastard. This is the fourth time I had been hit on by this guy.

While we were still in each other’s arms, we both released deep, deep sighs.

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We shared halves of a steamed meat bun and a pizza stuffed bun we’d bought at a stall and ate them as we talked.

“Yuri, to tell you the truth, I recently fell in love at first sight with someone in real life. Hate to admit it, but she looked so similar to you…! Super beautiful girl!

“I met her when I was looking around the festival at the school I’m teaching at… she just suddenly stumbled into my arms just like you did a while ago…”

“No, if you’re a teacher, don’t go and fall in love with a girl. She’s most likely your student.”

“Shut up! She looked like my ideal woman, so I can’t help it!

“Only, she must be a shy person since she immediately ran away. I personally prefer a straightforward person like ya, though. A bit of a shame, if she is, that’ll be perfect.”

“Don’t ask the impossible. It’s not that easy to find a partner whose looks and personality both fit your preference. A person like that is what you’ll call your ‘soulmate’.”

“Right~. Wonder where she is. My soulmate.”

We waited for the event to start while having small talk.

Though we would be killing each other once the battle began, there was no point in exhausting ourselves by fighting before then.

—The only right place for us to throw our everything at each other was on the battlefield.

Neither he nor I said out loud, but we strangely shared that thought.

“…I can’t wait for it, Yuri.”

“Same, but I’ll lose to anyone but you, got it?” In the corner of the crowded plaza, I laughed with my rival.

It was when we were quietly raising our fighting spirit. All of a sudden, light popping sounds echoed throughout the town, and confetti of many colors floated down from the sky.

This display was the signal for the start of the event. Which meant, what came next was…

[—Warriors! Thank you for coming!]

A voice echoed from the distant sky. Then, as I’d predicted, an image of an old man with a crown was projected in the sky above the Beginning Town.

You finally showed yourself, Odin! One of the evil devs!!!

[…I’m feeling a bone-chilling hostility, but never mind.

[Allow me to introduce myself once again. My name is Odin, the ruler of this Glazheim Kingdom!

[Now then, there is but one reason that I have asked all of you to gather here today. In preparation for the decisive battle against the Demon King, the ruler of darkness who has caused monsters to spawn all over the world, I want you all to demonstrate how well you will fare in battles as guilds.

[Therefore, we’re holding an event in which all guilds can participate—the ‘Guild War’!]

At that moment—Woooooooooooooooooooah!!!—cheers burst throughout the Beginning Town!

The excitement reached a higher peak than the previous event. It was only natural, though. Since then, the player base had continued to grow, and the other day it finally exceeded 200,000, after all. At this point, Blade Skill Online seemed to be on the track to becoming the hottest game in the market.

[Hohoho, allow me to continue my explanation.

[A part of you warriors may have some business to do. Hence, the Guild War will be divided into five rounds with an hour break in between.

[The first round is from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, the second from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, the third from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the fourth from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and lastly, the fifth from 10:00 pm to 12:00 am.

[Here is the details.]

When the shitty dev in disguise said so, a window with the detailed rules appeared in front of me.

Let’s see~.

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・The Guild War will be held in five rounds!

The stage is a plain with no obstacles. Guild bases will be randomly teleported there.

2000 ‘Event Recovery Potion’ will be distributed to participating guilds. They are items that can fully recover either HP or MP and remove all status ailments when used, but the use of other recovery items will be prohibited. Guilds with a lot more members will receive fewer potions per member, but this is to maintain the power balance. We kindly ask for your understanding.

There is only one victory condition: Destroy all other guild bases and be the last guild standing.

After you are teleported to the special field, a sphere named ‘Guild Core’ will appear in the center of the guild bases.

Infiltrate hostile bases and destroy them. Do so and the guild base will collapse and all members of the guild will be ejected from the special field.

Unlike the previous Battle Royale, you will be revived 30 minutes after you die as long as your guild base remains.

The destruction of the base, death of familiars, and damage as well as loss of equipment and items in the special field will be restored after the event ends, so please don’t worry and be sure to participate!

Defeating an enemy will give the player 1 event point.

And destroying the guild core will give the guild of the player who destroys it 1000 event points!

*The recordings of the battle royale will be uploaded on video platforms for advertisement purposes. Everyone, please do your best not to turn this event into a massacre festival! (From Developers)

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“…I see, I see. Simply put, I just have to go on a rampage.”

I’d roughly got the rules. There were a lot of them, but to sum up, all you had to do was kill the enemies and destroy their guilds. Not much different from the previous event.

I wondered… how many enemies would there be? I poked the baldhead’s side with my elbow.

“So, how many people did you manage to gather in the end? How many people are you going to attack me with?”

“Heh, don’t get shocked. It’s 60k. 60k players, divided into 80 guilds, have banded together to crush you and your guild. Of course, I’m gonna be the one to finish you off.”

“Hahaha, 60k players, huh! That’s amazing!”

My heart was pounding at the thought of being able to take on such an unbelievable number of enemies.

It was about twice as much as the previous battle royale. Moreover, since everyone would now be wary of me from the beginning, they should be able to calmly respond to Gigataro’s laser beams.

“Yuri, this is the stage I spared no time to sleep for you. Don’t you get cold feet now, ‘aight?”

“Don’t be silly, we, the ‘Guild of Yuri’, will win this.”

“Eh, what the hell’s up with that guild name…? You suck at naming, huh?”

“I just wanted to keep it simple and easy to understand! What’s your guild name, anyway? Pray tell, oh Great Reinhard von Edelfelt, aka Mr. Baldhead.”

“Mine’s cool?! It’s ‘13th Order of Phantom Burial—Grand Batallion—‘!”

“Uwaaaaaa… chuuni, much…?!”

I felt like I was about to faint from my friend’s overly chuuni naming sense…!

I’d kind of expected it given his player name, but I didn’t think that such a painfully chuuni guild name would come out of his mouth.

“What are you, a junior high school student…?!”

“Shut up, you elementary school student!”

As I was arguing with the baldhead, a window saying [Would you like to participate in the first Guild War?] popped up. Of course, we immediately touched yes.

At that moment, our bodies began to be enveloped in blue light.

While many of the surrounding players also decided to participate, Odin shouted out loudly at the end. [Now, warriors! Work together with your comrades and enjoy the battle with all your might!]

I don’t need you don’t need to tell me that, shitty dev!

As I listened to my hateful enemy’s words, my vision was swallowed by light.