CH 264

The news of the civil war breaking out within the Constantine Holy Empire spread like wildfire, and the whole world kept a close eye on the war.

It wasn’t just the Nürburg Continent.

Earth was also in an uproar over the news.

The largest community forum of BNW—The World—was filled with numerous hot threads on the matter created by gamers from all over the world.

—[SchoolFoodWarrior]: Hey! The NPCs are setting the stage for us!

—[Hx3]: OMG! Then we can fight other gamers without joining a guild or entering the arena? Wow!

—[12331221]: Is this new content?

—[HulkHogan]: A war content?

A nation using the Adventurers for their war was unprecedented in the game, so it wasn’t strange that there was such an uproar over it.

BNW was a game where the NPCs and Adventurers made content together.

A good example of this was the creation of the guild war content by the NPCs to resolve the biggest headache that the Adventurers were causing, so it could be said that this was indeed new content being added to the game created by the NPCs.

It went without saying that a horde of gamers dialed the customer service hotline of Hive Games Entertainment.

“Hello, gamers.”

The next morning, the vice chairman of Hive Games Entertainment—Oppenheimer—started a press conference to respond to the gamers’ questions.

“As all of you have asked, the civil war within the Constantine Holy Empire is indeed new content, and as you have expected, the new content is war content.”

“Wooooaaah!”

The crowd went wild at Oppenheimer’s announcement.

“We are well aware that it has been impossible for the gamers to test their mettle against other gamers. PVP battles are often used to settle grudges while guild war content can only be accessible to those with guilds.”

“Of course, the arena is another option, but fighting one-on-one in an enclosed space isn’t an optimal way to fight for others.”

“However, things will change with the advent of the war content. This new content will have numerous advantages compared to the previous content, such as…”

Gamers from all over the world focused on Oppenheimer as he explained the new content, and it was truly different from anything that the game had to offer to date.

1. A guildless player can join the war.

2. Everyone is free to choose which side they wish to join.

3. This is a war between NPCs, so the Adventurers may not even have to risk their lives.

4. Joining the war is free.

5. The NPCs will compensate the Adventurers on their side.

6. A huge amount of Experience Points and rare items are waiting!

The gamers were extremely riled up, as the war content was truly a place full of opportunities for them to seize.

“I’m sure all of you are aware, but BNW is a game where you, the gamers, and the NPCs create content together. I hope that you will look forward to what changes will occur in how the NPCs view you, the Adventurers, after the civil war.”

Hive Games Entertainment had acknowledged that the upcoming civil war in the Constantine Holy Empire was part of the game’s content, and they encouraged the gamers to join the war by promoting it in the press conference.

On the same evening, Hive Games Entertainment sent promotional videos to many different news outlets around the world to further promote the new content.

[BNW!]

[New Content WAR Has Arrived!]

[Challenge yourself and become the Lord of the Battlefield!]

***

Siegfried set out for the Constantine Holy Empire with Hamchi.

“Let’s go, Hamchi.”

“Kyu! Where are we going this time?!”

“The Constantine Holy Empire? We’re going there.”

“Kyu? When did you suddenly become holy?”

“Holy? Are you crazy?” Siegfried smirked and replied, “I’m an atheist.”

“Kyu? There is a god! Why are you saying someone that exists doesn’t exist?!”

“Huh?” Siegfried suddenly realized that he was on the Nürburg Continent and took his words back. “I mean, I don’t have a religion yet.”

“So why are you going there?”

“The Mercenary Guild is recruiting people, so I have to go there.”

“Kyu!”

“They’re hiring only Adventurers, so I better bring Seung-Gu along.”

Siegfried called Seung-Gu, and the three of them set out for the Constantine Holy Empire.

They were headed for the papacy’s Papal Palace, to be exact.

There was a myriad of Adventurers gathered in front and around the papacy’s Papal Palace in West Constantine. It seemed that the Adventurers were quite interested in the new content.

“Listen up! Those who are here to join the war! Line up according to your ranks!” the military recruiter shouted at the top of his lungs to segregate the Adventurers according to their ranks.

“Ah! Any Platinum here? Please come this way together with your companions!”

Siegfried was guided to a completely different area away from the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Adventurers.

“We would like to request all Platinum One Adventurers to follow us further,” said the military recruiter.

Siegfried was at the pinnacle of Platinum, so he followed the military recruiter.

‘Oh? This place has fewer people, and the interior looks better,’ he thought while looking around. Siegfried, Seung-Gu, and Hamchi were in a large reception room within the Papal Palace, and the place was decorated with numerous art pieces dedicated to the Nameless God, which was to be expected of the Papal Palace of the Papacy.

‘I knew it. A person needs to be high-ranking in something,’ Siegfried thought after realizing that his mercenary rank was indeed useful. He didn’t have to seek refuge in shacks while waiting for his turn. He could leisurely wait while snacking on biscuits and tea.

“Hello, I am the military recruiter assigned to you.”

“Ah, hello.”

“Your name is… Siegfried van Proa…? Ah! You must be King Siegfried of the Proatine Kingdom!”

“Do you know me?”

“I am not sure of the details, but I have indeed heard of you.”

It was a good thing that the military recruiter in charge of Siegfried didn’t call the Proatine Kingdom a weak and small kingdom the size of a booger.

“The contract will be finalized after you sign right here,” the military recruiter said as he extended the contract parchment.

“Oh? The reward is quite big,” Siegfried said. He was surprised at the number written on the contract.

“Ah, yes! It’s all because there aren’t that many mercenaries in the Mercenary Guild who are on the same rank as you. Our papacy is also prepared to handsomely reward Adventurers like you.”

“Oh~”

“This is all made possible by the grace of God, do you not agree? Hahaha!”

The military recruiter wasn’t talking about the same god back on Earth, but rather, the ‘Nameless God,’ and that was the reason any smart person would definitely not confuse the two while conversing with the NPC.

“It is indeed the grace of God! Hahaha!” Siegfried replied.

“Yes, it is! Hahaha!”

It sort of felt like—money equals grace equals blessing—but that wasn’t important right now. A religious organization like the papacy was bound to be flush with cash. Their followers would voluntarily give them offerings, offer free labor, and even prepare all sorts of food and snacks for the papacy.

The Constantine Holy Empire also had the word holy in its name, so it had an extremely religious population.

However, the important thing was that the papacy had never paid a single coin in taxes in their three hundred years of existence. The money that they had accumulated throughout the years had to be enough for them to reward the Adventurers handsomely.

“Oh, I am saying this just in case, but it is fine for the Proatine Kingdom’s military or Your Majesty’s guild to join the war as well.”

“Really?”

“Wouldn’t it be for the better, the more holy warriors we have fighting for justice? The blessing of the Nameless God!”

“The blessing of the Nameless God! Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!” Siegfried unknowingly started chanting the papacy’s chant motto after being blinded by greed at the handsome reward.

‘I feel faithful out of nowhere! H-Hold on… am I being too materialistic here…?’ Siegfried was surprised by the power of money and by how materialistic he was, but it seemed that he truly didn’t really care about his materialistic trait.

Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Cha-ching! 

And it was all because he could already hear the gold coins jingling. He was prepared to offer his services to the papacy and teach those imperial thugs from East Constantine a lesson for the sake of gold coins.

‘Ah, have I finally found my religion…? The Church of Capitalism!’

Siegfried was disgusted and ecstatic at the same time at the handsome reward that he would obtain.

Seung-Gu poked him. “H-Hyung-nim?”

“What? You should start worshiping, too! Where else can we find such an opportunity? This is all the blessing of the Nameless God! Hurry up and say it! The blessing of the Nameless God! Hahaha!” Siegfried exclaimed.

However, his gaze sharpened as he stared at the two of them and said, “You guys know that I’m joking, right?”

‘Sigh… I think this owner punk has completely sold himself out… He sold himself out to money…’ Hamchi thought while shaking his head.

“No, that’s not it, hyung-nim…”

“Then, what?”

“Look over there.”

Seung-Gu pointed at a place that looked much more luxurious than where they were.

It was a reception room that was filled with top-of-the-line leather sofas. The utensils used to serve the snacks and tea also looked like they were works of art. It was definitely the VIP reception room for Diamond Adventurers.

“What about that?” Siegfried grumbled.

“He’s that bastard, right?”

“That bastard?”

Siegfried looked where Seung-Gu was pointing and…

“Yeah, it’s that bastard.”

Siegfried immediately recognized the bastard Seung-Gu was pointing at.

***

Chae Hyung-Seok and the chief military recruiter of the papacy were on the sofa, and it seemed that they were having a very pleasant conversation.

“Hahaha! You have a good sense of humor! You’re going to make me laugh myself to death at this rate! Hahahaha!”

“I never imagined that I would be praised for my humor by a renowned Adventurer and guild master of a huge guild such as yourself, Sir Desire! Hahaha!”

Siegfried smiled coldly at their pleasant exchange.

‘Wow… Look at hyung-nim’s face. Can a human being even make such an expression? His eyes are so scary…’

Buzz…! Buzz…! Buzz…! 

Flies were buzzing around the scary-looking Siegfried. Siegfried’s eyes looked extremely cold and dangerous, and the materialistic money-crazed zealot had gone missing.

Seung-Gu found it quite scary that the easygoing Siegfried had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Hyung-nim.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t we just go join the East Constantine? I’d rather go join them than fight on the same side as that bastard,” Seung-Gu said before adding, “It’s not like we can force the papacy to choose between us, right?”

What if the papacy was asked to choose between them?

[Please pick one.]

[1. Siegfried + Head Crusher Guild + Royal Proatine Forces]

A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled.

[2. Genesis Guild]

It was obvious who the papacy would choose. The balance between the two was already lopsided, so Siegfried knew that the papacy would chase him out the moment he asked them to choose.

Besides, anyone would choose the Genesis Guild over Siegfried and his ragtag bunch, not to mention the papacy. After all, it was only logical to choose the stronger side.

“Hyung-nim, I think we should leave rather than be uncomfortable in the same bed with our enemy—” Seung-Gu said.

“Nope,” Siegfried cut him off. Then, he signed the contract parchment and added, “We’re going to lie down on the same bed as our enemies from today onward!”

“What?! H-Hyung-nim!”

“So tell that bastard to wash up before he hops onto the bed,” Siegfried said with a smirk as flies buzzed around him.