CH 177

Siegfried went over to the bush where Seung-Gu was hiding and tapped the latter’s shoulder.

“I’m here.”

“Ah, hello, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried rubbed his eyes and said, “Ah, I feel like I’m going to die from the lack of sleep. I only slept for three hours.”

“You should go and sleep a bit more. I have a feeling that you can sleep for at least ten hours…” Seung-Gu replied.

The maximum hours a player could stay logged into BNW was forty-eight hours, and the only way to reset this timer was to stay logged out for at least three hours. Siegfried expected the battle royale to last longer than three hours, so he asked Seung-Gu to sit in for him and keep track of what was going on so he could log out and reset the timer.

“I couldn’t sleep even sleep because I’m worried. What if something suddenly happened?” Siegfried said.

“Nothing really happened. Ah, that Chuuni guy’s is Ultimate Headshot, right? He kept taunting everyone and eventually died. And two Adventurers, Level 230 and Level 250, appeared, but they died after trying to play the hero. Nobody dared to approach the ark after that,” Seung-Gu pointed at the owner-less ark.

The ark containing the hidden class scroll was left on top of a mountain of corpses and items.

Nobody dared to approach it, and it seemed that it was going to stay that way for quite a while. This meant that nobody was confident enough that they would be able to overpower the other challenges and take the ark for themselves.

It was the same for Siegfried as well.

He still did not have the strength to become a one-man army.

The keyword was still…

“Hmm… Something’s strange…” Siegfried muttered.

“What do you mean, hyung-nim?” Seung-Gu asked.

“Where the hell is Chae Hyung-Seok? What is he doing right now?”

“Ah… you mean that bastard?”

Siegfried had already shared his story with Seung-Gu over drinks, so Seung-Gu was now referring to Chae Hyung-Seok as a bastard.

“A priceless artifact appeared, but Chae Hyung-Seok still isn’t here? He should have appeared from the start judging by his personality…”

“Yes, it is truly strange, hyung-nim.”

“There are only two possibilities. It’s either the Genesis Guild members haven’t reported the existence of the ark to Chae Hyung-Seok, or he is currently caught up with something.”

“Hmm… Honestly, I have no idea, but... do you trust me, hyung-nim?” Seung-Gu suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

“I mean, what if I suddenly run off with the ark?”

“It’s fine. You’re not Chae Hyung-Seok, right? I mean, I won’t lose anything even if you run off with that thing and change into a hidden class.”

“Hyung-nim… you really have balls of steel.”

“My balls have nothing to do with it. I just won’t lose anything,” Siegfried said. He smirked before continuing. “If a class that doesn’t synergize with my class pops up, you can have it.”

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“A-Are you serious?!” Seung-Gu exclaimed with wide eyes. This meant that Siegfried was willing to give the hidden class to him.

“There’s no guarantee it’s going to be a class suitable for me, and our kingdom’s going to have two hidden class users if you become one. By then, won’t it be a piece of cake to crush those Genesis bastards?”

“I think so, too.”

“That settles it, then...”

Thud… Thud… Thud… 

A new challenger finally appeared to take ownership of the ark. The Adventurer wasn’t alone; he was accompanied by a massive party of twenty people, and they were members of the Genesis Guild.

“From now on, those who dare to stand in our way will die,” Min-Woo told the other Adventurers. Min-Woo was Chae Hyung-Seok’s close brother, and his words sparked yet another chaotic battle royale over the ark.

***

The loyal Genesis Guild members went around the forest, killing the Adventurers in hiding.

“You dirty bastards!”

“You dare call yourself a member of the Genesis Guild?!”

“It’s not too late to turn back. You can still join us.”

The guild members who wanted to take the ark for themselves sensed that they were going to lose.

However, they decided not to surrender to Min-Woo’s party. Instead, they decided to form a temporary coalition to kill the loyal guild members of the Genesis Guild.

It was only natural to do so, and it proved that the saying—the enemy of my enemy is a friend—existed for a reason. This was the best way to describe the decision that the Adventurers had made against the Genesis Guild.

Anyone who had failed to join an emerging faction was bound to be overwhelmed and killed once that faction grew big enough, and the only way they could survive was to gather temporarily to fight their common enemy.

Siegfried continued to observe the situation while hiding behind the trees.

He knew that the last man standing in this chaotic mess would be the true winner, and he had already made up his mind to shut up and continue observing until the last second, no matter what.

Meanwhile, the Loyal Genesis Guild members and the Ex-Genesis Guild members clashed against each other, and the fighting soon reached its climax.

Surprisingly, the Loyal Genesis Guild members were getting massacred by the Ex-Genesis Guild members as every single Adventurer hiding in the vicinity ran out to kill the common enemy.

‘Huh? Will the Genesis Guild collapse just like this? Are they seriously just going to implode…?’ Siegfried was in disbelief.

Flash!

Shwaaaaa!

There was a sudden flash of light as an array of lights shot down from the heavens and enveloped the Loyal Genesis Guild members.

‘Huh?’ Siegfried grimaced.

The light belonged to a skill that he would never forget throughout his entire life.

Two years ago, Siegfried led his guild to fight the Genesis Guild, and the light just now was the main reason he couldn’t put up much of a resistance at the time. He could still clearly remember the nightmare of the massacre of his guild members after the light doubled the stats of the Genesis Guild members.

“Holy Rain…” Siegfried muttered.

Holy Rain was a buff skill the class Holy Saint possessed, and it could be considered the class’ trademark skill. Its appearance meant that the person whom Siegfried loathed the most in this world had finally arrived here.

“Chae Hyung-Seok…” Siegfried muttered under his breath.

The Guild Master of the Genesis Guild—Siegfried’s arch-nemesis—had arrived.

***

Shwaaaa!

Beneath the Holy Rain, Min-Woo shouted, “Hyung!”

“Guild Master-nim!”

“You are finally here, Guild Master-nim!”

“Keke! Are you here to obtain a hidden class, Guild Master-nim?”

The loyal Genesis Guild members were overjoyed to see Chae Hyung-Seok.

“Great work, everyone,” Chae Hyung-Seok praised his guildmates, whom he actually considered to be his subordinates. He motioned with his chin at the group of Ex-Genesis Guild members before saying, “Let’s wrap this up.”

“Okay!”

“Roger that!”

“Let’s go!”

“You’re all dead, you bastards!”

After seeing their guild master and receiving Holy Rain’s buffs, the morale of the loyal Genesis Guild Members skyrocketed. It took only a single person to reverse the tides of the battle.

“Fuck! It’s Chae Hyung-Seok!”

“Desire is here…”

“Chae Hyung-Seok…”

“Fuck… Why did he have to show up…”

The morale of the Ex-Genesis Guild members plummeted upon seeing Chae Hyung-Seok.

It wasn’t really strange.

[Desire]

[Type: Adventurer]

[Level: 276]

[Class: Holy Saint]

[Affiliation: Genesis Guild]

[Position: Guild Master]

[Titles: One Who Creates Miracles, Holy Commander, One Who Chases Away Death, Merciless Slaughterer, Guild Predator, Cold Conqueror, (see more)]

Chae Hyung-Seok was famous, and he frequently appeared on gaming channels. He was a famous pro gamer and was also a top streamer on the game streaming platform, G-Tube.

However, he was most well-known for being the guild master of one of the top ten guilds on the continent, the Genesis Guild. He was an imposing figure that even most High Rankers couldn’t oppose.

Of course, his class, Holy Saint, was a non-combatant support-type class with zero combat prowess, but Chae Hyung-Seok’s name alone was more than enough to crush the morale of those who had been blinded by greed.

A Level 240 Ex-Genesis Guild member shouted, “Fuck! So what?! Do we have to offer the hidden class to him just because he’s Chae Hyung-Seok?! Hey! Listen up, you bastards who are still hiding! Chae Hyung-Seok’s going to take that hidden class for himself if you don’t show up now! Hurry up and come out!”

His words were effective because the remaining Adventurers emerged one by one.

“Ah… He really ratted us out just like that…”

“I mean, he’s not wrong…”

“Yeah, we need to kill that bastard Chae Hyung-Seok first before fighting over the hidden class among ourselves…”

It seemed that nobody wanted to see Chae Hyung-Seok become an Adventurer with a hidden class.

“These bastards…” Chae Hyung-Seok gritted his teeth.

Pro Gamer, Ranker, Celebrity Streamer, and Guild Master.

These titles were usually more than enough to convince people to think twice before standing up against him, so Chae Hyung-Seok was extremely annoyed when he saw the greedy Adventurers standing up against him.

“You people will die,” Chae Hyung-Seok said coldly. He looked at the Genesis loyalists and commanded. “What are you guys standing around for? Go and kill those bastards.”

“Die!”

“Our guild master-nim is the rightful owner of the ark!”

“The ark is mine, your bastards!”

“You crazy bastards!”

A fierce battle broke out once again between the loyal Genesis Guild members led by Chae Hyung-Seok and the greedy Ex-Genesis Guild members.

The final showdown for the ark had finally started.

“It’s time to get moving,” Siegfried said and stood up.

***

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Can you find the ones who are still in hiding?” Siegfried asked.

He was sure that there were still a few opportunistic Adventurers in hiding, even though Chae Hyung-Seok had already appeared.

“Easy peasy! Kyu!” Hamchi exclaimed.

“How many?”

“Exactly eleven!”

“You know where they are, right?”

“Yes! Hamchi’s nose and ears are really good! My nose is a dog’s—no, a hamster’s nose!”

“Lead the way, then. We’re going to kill them one by one.”

“Okay!”

Siegfried went around with Hamchi and killed the hiding Adventurers while the final showdown was ongoing.

Seuk…

He appeared behind an Adventurer hiding behind a bush.

Shwik!

Ambush!

He smashed the head of an Adventurer with his hammer.

One, two, three, four, five, and finally eleven…

Siegfried had finally eliminated the future threats.

“Are there any more of them left?”

“No more”

“Then, we will wait again,” Siegfried said and turned his gaze toward the final showdown. The Genesis Guild was obviously winning—no, it was more like they were crushing the more than one hundred Ex-Genesis Guild members.

‘You just made a big mistake, Chae Hyung-Seok…’ Siegfried muttered under his breath and smiled. ‘You’re stronger the more allies you have, and while you’re surrounded by other Buffers. You should have brought your entire guild if you really wanted the ark.’

Chae Hyung-Seok’s fatal mistake committed was not being able to trust his own guild members and coming here on his own with just a bunch of loyalists rather than with the guild executives.

Of course, there had to be a couple of legitimate reasons why he came here without the executives, but it wasn’t Siegfried’s problem.

‘Let me show you how it feels to have something stolen right under your nose…’ 

Meanwhile, the final showdown reached its climax, and the casualties started piling up on both sides.

“Hyung-nim, shouldn’t we go and make our move now? I think the timing’s perfect,” Seung-Gi said.

The final showdown was starting to simmer down after reaching its climax.

“Yeah, now’s the right time.” Siegfried nodded. He then smirked and said, “Before that, we wait for our reinforcements.”

He retrieved a signal flare pistol from his Inventory and—

Shwoooo… Kaboom!

—shot a flare into the skies.

The flare exploded upon reaching its maximum height, creating an array of red light in the sky.

“Let’s go.” Siegfried finally emerged from the bushes.