Harun

《b.l.o.o.d.y battle in the night》

 Haroon scouted around, using Flying Walking the third tier of Messenger Walking. His body gained speed, mana and left afterimages as he moved. There weren’t many plants blocking his view as the ground was full of ores.

 ‘I’m pretty sure it’s here.’

 How Kaltz’s describe the habitats of ironsnakes really fitted the mine Seryu had been looking for. After seeing a small mountain that looked like a skull that Kaltz once mentioned, Haroon was now confident about it. All six small mountains located in three high, steep mountains were all full of open-air mineral deposits.

 ‘Ironsnakes must be around these mineral deposits.’

 Now that he found their habitat, he needed to find where they actually lived. But even the smaller mountains were too vast to search, as it would normally take a day to climb up and down. Finding an ironsnake in such a place was just like finding an oasis in a desert.

 ‘Should I ask for help?’ He thought

 Ko-M guild was the first to come to mind. They’d received help from him, and they would also need to scout around though it would be for a different reason than his. It would be great to help each other. He also thought that they might help him hunt an ironsnake.

 After searching through three mountains, Haroon headed back to where he’d parted with Ko-M guild.

 Now that he had enough experience using Flying Walking, his body was used to it and he didn’t need to concentrate to use it.

 Haroon felt his body light as a bird unlike before. Something fresh and filling was coming into his body like a wave, and it gave him sensational pleasure.

 ‘I am suddenly getting more mana than before.’

 Deciding to take a break, Haroon opened his stat window.

Name: Haroon
Race: Human
Cla.s.s: Swordsman
Level: 50
t.i.tle: Mercenary guild leader (and 6 others)
H.P.: 1,600
M.P. :2,015
E.F.P.: 740
Strength: 59(+15)     Stamina: 52
Wisdom: 33               Intellect: 52
Luck: 42                     Agility: 66(+12)
Endurance: 24          E.S.P.: 19
Focus: 26                    S.P.: 368
Fame: 1,780               Leadership: 565
Fire resistance: +10%
Magic Resistance: +10%
Remaining bonus stats: 12

 He’d finally reached level 50 on the journey with Ko-M guild. Most of his stats gained one to three points, but what really pleased him was that he gained two points for E.S.P. which was the hardest to get. An interesting point was that he gained 102 S.P. He gained them by helping Ko-M guild members. For this time, he invested his bonus stats into Strength and Stamina.

 His eyes widened as if they were going to rip apart when he saw his mana capacity.

 ‘2015? When and how?’

 The last time he checked his status window was when Brat evolved. Even if he counted stat increment due to level ups, it didn’t make any sense how he could have gained so much more mana capacity. It should be around mid or high 1700. Maybe as high as 1800 if he counted increments gained by Messenger Walking.

 ‘Then this is…….’

 He must have got it by Messenger Walking. But still, that was a difference of 200. He couldn’t help but to be surprised after seeing how much mana he’d gained in just ten days.

 ‘Well, I never felt this way before.’

 He’d been using Messenger Walking on his journey in Huk’ran mountains, but he’d never felt such change in his body. The first time he noticed such a large change was when he arrived at the open-air mineral mountains.

 ‘Then does that mean I’ve gained this much mana in just three hours?’

 But Haroon couldn’t think that the place was full of ores, which meant the mana that lied under the surface was denser. This exposed mineral land consisted mostly of iron ores, but it was full of other ores that emitted mineral mana.

 ‘Don’t tell me this has any after effects.’

 He also needed to get antidotes to use his most powerful ability, Brat. But even if he got those, Brat consumed more mana per second than before. He’d also thought of getting an item to solve that, so the increased mana capacity was good news, and bad news since he couldn’t understand why it happened.

 Ignoring his perplexed mind, Haroon ran to where Ko-M guild set their base using Flying Walking. He wanted to run forever as he felt new refreshing energy building up in his body as he ran, but everything had its end.

 It was right after the sunset when he arrived at Ko-M guild’s base. The mountains behind him and their exposed ores were sparkling like giant jewels. Opposite to his expectation, the base was silent, so he stopped and hid in the shade of a tree. He couldn’t easily reveal his return as it seemed something had changed.

 Sneaking between the tents, he moved to where a giant campfire was lit, then he could finally see people. There was a user coming out from a tent, opening its entrance to one side.

 “Finally logging back in, Mire?”

 “Yeah. Hi, Devora.”

 He couldn’t remember who Mire was. But Devora, who was at the side of the big campfire, saw him and welcomed him. He knew Devora, the member who was in charge of supplies. He saved her twice on the journey.

 “Where’s everyone? Why is it so quiet?”

 The camp was still and silent. There was only the cracking sound of the fire that broke the stillness, almost no signs of humans anywhere.

 “They went to deal with the enemies.”

 “Enemies?”

 “Mmhm. You know that gigolo Mobius, right? That guy betrayed us and sold us out to other guilds. It was found that he’s been using Marking Stones to guide other guilds along the path we took.”

 “s.h.i.t. Well, he looked like one. Seems like I’ve missed lots of things while I was offline.”

 “Yeah, you have. Seryu was mad and others panicked, Biryu went crazy and cried all over the place, everything was complete and utter madness. It ended with Biryu logging out as she couldn’t take the whole situation. You should have seen her face.”

 Haroon could see what happened. He was the one who gave Seryu the intel, and she cleverly checked the facts.

 “Too bad I missed it. Well, what happened to that w.a.n.ker?”

 “Hehe, Biryu and DeathCry brought him halfway to death. At first he denied the accusation, then shut his mouth when they found the Marking Stones. Then while DeathCry was torturing him, they found some contract doc.u.ments, and that’s when he told them everything. He ended up being beaten by everyone then”

 Devora explained to Mire what happened, rejoicing over what happened to Mobius.

 ‘Poor guy. Well, maybe he deserved it,’ Haroon thought.

 The end of Mobius, who made secret deals with many guilds, was severe. It was very likely that he would get punished both online and offline. From what he knew, Seryu and Biryu weren’t easy marks although they do have some weaknesses.

 “So did everyone go to attack them at night or something?”

 “Yup. Only a few of us stayed to guard the supplies.”

 “Well, I guess I’ll go join them as well.”

 Mire excitedly shouted. It seemed he was a warrior or a swordsman; he had a battle axe in his hands.

 “You’re too late. They left hours ago and they said they are going to attack them when their off guard, soon after dinner time,” Devora stopped him.

 Mire, disappointed, grumbled and sat next to her.

 After figuring out what happened through the two’s conversation, Haroon ran to where the rest of the Ko-M members might be. He had no intentions of joining the battle, but if he had to, he would help Ko-M guild. He was only intending to watch the battle. Thinking that he would be able to see the battle of two giant guilds, he ran at full speed.

 It took only an hour to cover the distance that took him three hours before. He was able to do that as he didn’t need to scout around, which allowed him to focus

on running. The sun was long gone, but the moon shone bright enough for him to see.

 He arrived at the place where Ko-M guild spent a night, near the summit where the land was comparably flat. For camping purpose, they roughly made s.p.a.ce by cutting trees. Haroon chose a giant tree nearby. Kicking off from the ground he jump up 5 meters, then grabbed a branch to climb up making almost no sound.

 He climbed up high enough to where he could look around at a glance.

 ‘That’s quite a number.’

 A giant ring of fire was surrounding a base.

 The most effective tool against the monsters that move at night was fire. The monsters that weren’t big enough to ignore the fire couldn’t attack easily.

 The moonlight and bright fire revealed people in the base. Seeing how he could hear rattling sounds, it seemed like they were cleaning up after dinner. It appeared the guild that Mobius made a secret deal with was a guild of users, and by the number of tents it seemed there were about 300 to 400 users, outnumbering Ko-M guild.

 ‘I have to admit. Mobius really is an amazing guy.’

 The number of different Marking stones suggested that there were about five different factions that were chasing Ko-M Guild, and each guild had one or two days of delay. If he didn’t tip them off, Ko-M guild would have ended up being their guides. The monsters surely would attack following groups, but Ko-M guild wouldn’t have evaded the harm if it wasn’t for him.

 After a while, the camp went silent. There were a few guards patrolling in shifts, but it didn’t take long for them to fall asleep as well. They couldn’t win over the tiredness after such a long journey. Even though they were following the path Ko-M guild had already cleared, the monsters surely wouldn’t just let them pa.s.s through their territory. They must have had several battles already.

 Soon, he could hear small quiet, consecutive sounds. It sounded like birds, but he knew it was the sound of Seryu’s metal horn.

 On top of the ring of fire, quick, black lines were drawn. They  were arrows, shot by archers precisely at the tents. Small screams broke out, but the users who’d fallen into deep sleeps couldn’t wake up.

 Ko-M members stormed out between the trees that were surrounding the base. Alarm magic wasn’t triggered, whether they were high enough to not trigger it or it wasn’t installed in the first place was unknown.

 There were multiple groups of two who were carrying something, and they were pouring it over the ring of fire. It was dirt. The dirt poured over the fire extinguished it and made paths for Ko-M users to cross over. The warriors’ eyes going over the path with smoke and heat still pumping out were full of anger and hostility. When even the bugs didn’t dare to get close to the members with violent tempers, Seryu’s magical attack broke the silence.

 “Fire Wave!”

 With her magic as a mark, fire magic and wind magic was shot at the base.

 “Fire Arrows!”

 “Fire Ball!”

 “Wind Storm!”

 “Wind Cutter!”

 Dozens of magicians cast fire magic that they’d Memorized earlier and then cast wind magic. The base became a sea of fire in seconds. The tents made with leather or cloth quickly caught fire, and users woken up by the sudden heat rushed out of their tents as if they’d fallen into a sulfury h.e.l.l.

 “FIRE!”

 On Raadon’s command, the archers fired their arrows and the warriors threw their daggers.

 “Aagh!”

 “Help…….me!”

 “Uaagh!”

 Screams and moans fill the air. The users rushed out to avoid fire only to be honeycombed by the arrows. While they were still in confusion, Almost all the tents caught fire, and the users who were still panicking became good targets for arrows and daggers.

 “WHO THE h.e.l.l IS IT?”

 When a loud shout broke out, it woke the users up from their panic. His voice was full of mana which felt like it was penetrating through their eardrums. One by one, they started to see the situation indifferently. The tents in the innermost area just started burning, and the users were coming out, knocking the burning tents aside to clear a path.

 “Don’t panic! Collect anything you see to cover yourself! Get your weapons! Aren’t we the Dark Cloud, the invincibles?!”

 About a dozen members of Dark Cloud gathered, and their numbers were still increasing. A few users with giant shield – although they weren’t as big as Gitan’s – made frontlines and blocked the arrows to earn time for the others to come out of the sea of flames.

 As if they were proving they have many rankers, the size of the group was increasing at an exceptional speed. Some archers positioned themselves so they could shoot between the shields, slaying Ko-M guild members. The group charged, having the shieldbearers as their frontline, trying to break through the Ko-M members surrounding them.

 “Dig!”

 Seryu cast Dig. Though it was one of the 1 circle magics which had no physical damage, it was the perfect skill for this moment. It was a crucial magic against those shieldbearers who were charging, while blocking their view with their shields.

 The magicians chanted spells, positioning themselves behind the swordsmen.

 “Dig!”

 “Big Hole!”

 “Dig!”

 With a combination of multiple casts of Dig and Big Hole a 2 circle magic, the ground sunk in. As the shieldbearers’ feet fell into the holes, knocking the shields away to the side, the archers shot their arrows again, and the swordsmen charged with their weapons ready.

 “Kill them all!”

 “DIE!”

 With threatening shouts, the swordsmen’ weapons finally met, howling with a metallic sound on every impact. When a blade swung, someone’s limbs were cut and others’ heads fell off. When the joy of defeating the enemies by stabbing into their neck was expressed with a grin, an axe would quickly get shoved into their shoulder.

 “AHHHHH!”

 The greatsword of a swordsman charging and shouting to endure the fear hit the enemy’s weapon. In the very small moment of staggering because of the aftershock, he felt the pain of something being stabbed into his waist.

 “You sons of b.i.t.c.hes! Die! Sword Explosion!”

 The swordsman used every ounce of his remaining power to cast his skill to cause an explosion. The sword shattered into small pieces and shot into every direction.

 “Ugh. Don’t underestimate me. f.u.c.king…. s.h.i.t…. How can I die…… like this…….”

 Vatus, the second ranked in Dark Cloud had fallen to the ground, with his body riddled with metal pallets.

 Before they knew it, the battlefield was filled with heavy breathing and fighting spirit. All  the users’ eyes became bloodshot with one pure goal: to kill the enemy before they get killed. As the elite members were resting near the center of the base, the last stand was way tougher than Ko-M guild expected. There were many opponents that they wouldn’t have dared to fight with if it wasn’t a night attack.

 But even the elites of the users couldn’t deal with pincer movements.

 Though they were able to reduce the damage thanks to the rankers’ obeying Seryu’s command, it wasn’t just a few members who were sent to the real world fading away like smoke.

 “But how did you know?”

 The last man of Dark Cloud, who had three sword still stabbed into his body, opened his mouth seeing Seryu. It was a known face to her.

 The guildmaster of Dark Cloud, Lagrandal, looked piercely at Seryu, bleeding from where the three blades penetrated. His eyes were shaking with complicated feeling of resentment, rage, blaming himself, and curiosity.

 “Mobius who betrayed us changed his mind at the last moment and told us everything, which was lucky for us.”

 “I-I see. Kugh!”

 Lagrandal cough out black blood, and collapsed into a kneel.

 “Heh! Heh! So that f.u.c.ker betrayed us. We knew he was a suspicious guy when those freaking lumped orcs beat half of us…….”

 On his words, a flash of anger was shown in Seryu’s eyes.

 “That son of b.i.t.c.h was actually a rogue, and he was spoofing his level. he’s

he’s actually over 70. We kicked that betrayer out from our group, so we’ll stay out of the way if your going to get revenge.”

 “Kugh! Ugh! Well, that’s good news. A rouge with a level over 70, so he was a ranker. That f.u.c.ker is lower than a dog to betray both groups. How can I face people if I let that sc.u.m just slip away? Anyway, thank you for guiding us all the way here. Kugh.”

 Lagrandal’s body dissipated into thin air like mist, with a last, resentful look.

 “So long. And don’t ever stick your nose into what I’m doing again. Or I’ll just take over your company. Well, now I wonder how Mobius will survive from now on.”

 She knew Lagrandal in real life. Why would she not know the heir of the family that her family was rivals with? But her interest was on Mobius, who got killed for his betrayal. Next to her, there was Biryu, who was barely standing with a pale face.

 After a while, her guild members gathered one by one.

 “Nando, How’s the situation?”

 “There was more damage than we thought. We had no idea they would have brought shields, so many of us got killed during their final struggle. The most damage was made from suicide bombing skills. Two magicians got killed, five are seriously wounded. Thirty-two swordsmen were killed, Forty-one are seriously wounded, as for the rest, twelve are dead and twenty-one members are seriously wounded.”

 The leading members covered in blood heard the report, and their faces took set expressions.

 “The damage is larger than we thought. Well, it’s fortunate it didn’t go further. We know there were more than 300, though we can find out when the fire’s out and sun’s up. First of all, heal the injured people with potions, and make stretchers to carry them to the base.”

 “Yes, guildmaster.”

 The fires weren’t put out easily as trees were used for building tents.

 But Ko-M guild members were not leaving the place. For those who survived, or for those who’ll log in in three days, they had to collect the items that the enemies dropped on death.

 At that moment, they heard howling sounds, and they suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

 “What was that?” Seryu asked.

 She quickly sent some of her members out to scout the place. It didn’t take long for them to return.

 “There are wolves. There were too many glowing eyes between the trees to count.”

 “d.a.m.n it! They must have smelt the blood. They’ll attack us soon. We can’t do anything but run. Quick! Just grab anything you see. Form one large group, and let’s head back to the base.”

 On her command, they searched the place to pick up items. But soon, they gathered on Nando’s signal, and carried injured members on stretchers, surrounded by the surviving warriors to cover them as they fell back.

 Though the numbers were less than before, the wolves were not dumb enough to attack a group of more than 150 people. But of course, they couldn’t give up prey that easily, so they followed them from a distance. Thanks to that, Ko-M guild got unwanted ‘escorts’ all the way back to base.

 As the last one leaving the battlefield, Haroon climbed down the tree and headed to the battlefield.

 “That was awesome.”

 Looking at the battlefield with vivid marks of battle, Haroon couldn’t calm his pounding heart. Though it was a form of raid, he witnessed a b.l.o.o.d.y combat, and his heart pounded viciously.

 “I never knew I had such inclination,” he mumbled.

 Which was true. He never knew he had such vicious fighting spirit before he started playing Beyond. Before that, he considered himself pathetically timid and lower than the average men. But things were different now. He became so militant, so much that he had to refrain from the strong desire to join the battle. Maybe he hadn’t changed at all. Maybe his hidden personality was just floating up to the surface, with a catalyst called Beyond.

 He could see why people went crazy when it came to extreme-reality VR games.

 Haroon skimmed over the battlefield, with excitement still left in his eyes, where the fire has burnt out or were about to. Most of them had gone out, but some still had smoke rising up.

 “Oh?”

 Haroon exclaimed seeing things that stimulates his eyes.

 “Items!”

 Users have a chance to drop items on death, and that’s what Haroon found. There were weapons that looked rare, and there were some magic artifacts. That was the loot that Seryu had her eyes on.

 Haroon frantically picked up the sudden windfalls and put them into Brat’s subs.p.a.ce. The number of items that he found even under the charcoals he lifted with branches were about twenty. Most of them seemed to be as rare as uncommon cla.s.s, but some seemed really rare.

 “Hahaha! So apparently Mobius brought me some luck, yeah?”

 Haroon spent a moment in silence for Mobius who met a tragic ending as the price of not using his brain properly. Though he couldn’t know how much money Mobius had earned through secret deals, Haroon also profited handsomely from the events he created.

 ‘With this loot that I’d never expected to get! I should thank Mobius if I happen to meet him later on. When can I be this lucky again?’ He thought.

 But he never expected he would get such luck the day after. Ko-M guild had no idea they were followed by yet another faction. No one in Ko-M guild suspected that Mobius had made secret deals with more than one faction.

 After checking if he had anything left behind, he ran back to Ko-M guild’s temporary base.

 “Wait a minute! I don’t really need to see them.”

 He was heading to the base to ask them for help finding an ironsnake that must live nearby, but he stopped midway. What made him hesitate was the fact that he looted the battleground.

 ‘They might think I’ve backstabbed them’

 There was no need to cause misunderstandings. They might exclude him for what Mobius had done, and they might suspect him if they find out that the items are gone. At last, he decided not to see them for now. After finding a safe place to log back in, he logged out.

– “Welcome back, Oppa”

 He felt content hearing Bell’s clear voice as he opened his eyes. Being with someone was something that he always longed for. He wondered if this was the reason why people got married.

 When he opened his eyes, he found himself floating in the air in a giant room, not lying on the floor. Bell was floating in the air too, smiling at him. Also, the capsule was beaming countless rays on him from every direction, connecting almost every corner of his body.

 “What are all these?”

 Haroon asked, surprised by the fact he could move naturally in the air as if he was floating in water.

 – “Hehe. This is how it is when you’re playing Beyond, to make sure you can move freely. They call me a premium capsule for a reason.”

 “Right. Oh, and that must be why I am able to use trained abilities in the real world. But I don’t remember the inside of the capsule being this big.”

 Haroon could finally see why he was able to use abilities learned in Beyond in real world as well. In this state, moving his body in game was no different from moving his real body, making it the same as training in the real world.

 But what confused him was the size of the capsule, which wasn’t this big at first. The capsule, the main body of Bell, was just big enough for him to lie down in.

 – “I expanded the inside, otherwise you would be playing the game with only a bunch of brainwaves”

 “You did?”

 The s.p.a.ce expanding like this was a remarkable event, but Haroon didn’t think too deeply about it.

 ‘It must be big enough to fill

to fill my living room.’

 He a.s.sumed that the capsule’s outer frame expanded as well, but in fact it was only the inside. Bell’s performance was beyond his recognition.

 “Bell, would you grasp the current situation of the Golden Battle and factions on user’s point of view?”

 – “Already on it, oppa. I knew you would want it, so I’ve been investigating.”

 What a laudable girl she was. He stroked her hair.

 Beyond had over ten million users registered, and they’d made countless guilds among them to maximize their profit. The users knew how important uniting with other users was. With the help of a guild, they leveled up and reached their cla.s.s up requirement faster. Also, as the economic size of The Teronn Empire was much bigger than the real world, they traded with NPCs to make economical profits as well.

 – “There are more than 10 guilds that have over 5000 members in them. They are based in the Unions, so the leading members are usually n.o.bles.”

 On Bell’s explanation, Haroon frowned semi-automatically. He supposed that the n.o.bles would have grasped authority in the games as well, but finding out they really did so didn’t feel pleasant.

 – “The top user’s official level is only 79, but as the users have an advantage of being able to revive after death, they are slowly increasing their influence over the empire from various points. The n.o.bles of the Empire realized such advantage and are trying to recruit them to their factions.”

 Not many n.o.bles would turn their back on users who could be a great a.s.sets to them. If there were any n.o.bles who alienates users as ‘outlanders’, it was only a matter of time before they died out.

 Though the users were still weaker than the knights, their rapid development and advantage of being able to revive boosted their motivation to achieve something in Beyond where they could be n.o.bles unlike the real world where it was almost impossible.

 – “So those large guilds are looking for a faction to support. Five guilds have already made some kind of deal with imperial factions, and others are still looking for better deals. Smaller guilds are mainly focusing on growing their size while looking for an opportunity to dive into the Golden Battle.”

 Many movements were being made while Haroon was working alone. Listening to Bell, Haroon felt as if he was falling behind, but he had no intentions of joining a guild yet, although he admitted that maybe he would consider joining Ko-M guild. Though Seryu was a n.o.ble too, she had less sense of ent.i.tlement than her sister and other n.o.bles, and she treated NPCs like real people.

 “And how big is Ko-M guild?

 – “Ko-M guild has about 2000 members, and their skill is considered as medium-cla.s.s. But they have more production-related cla.s.ses, merchants and magicians, so it’s very likely they will find a different path to grow than other guilds. The guildmaster’s capability, setting the goal suggested that if they maintain good relationship with NPCs, especially the n.o.bles, they would have great influence over the Golden Battle, so I predict they will be taken into confidence.”

 Just as he thought, Seryu was showing different action than other n.o.bles. But he couldn’t feel the need to join Ko-M yet. Though he was a user too, he felt much more comfortable staying with NPCs.

 “Any update about the Golden Battle?”

 – “20 Imperial successors have pa.s.sed the first test; Four of them are considered to be the strongest, seven of them are considered to be moderate, eight of them are considered to be weak, and the last one is considered to be the weakest. The first imperial prince’s faction is the strongest, followed by the second imperial prince’s, the first imperial princess, and then the fifth imperial prince’s. These four are all supported by the dukes, and they each have two user guilds supporting them.”

 “Is Briella’s faction the weakest?”

 – “Bingo! That’s right. The highest n.o.ble of Briella’s faction, the one related with you, oppa, is a Count, and the least number of n.o.bles are supporting her so she is out of the users’ interest.”

 Though he had a great relationship with Devron, he had no intentions of joining the Golden Battle yet. To him, the Golden Battle was just a giant battlefield that he was repulsed by.

 “I can feel the bloodbath coming to the Empire.”

 Haroon deeply sighed. Though fighting with monsters was dangerous too, and atrocious, it was fighting against the monsters that attack human to eat them or for no reason at all. The Golden Battle was just a ma.s.sacre between humans.

 It was clear that the users’ anger and frustrations that were grown under the suppression from the Union governments would explode like a wild volcano on the stage called Beyond.

 Maybe this was the plan of Necomwall and United Unions all along, he thought. Allowing the people to get vicarious satisfactions through Beyond, and suppressing their desires in the real world.

 – “But what’s interesting is that more than ten factions have sent their people to Huk’ran Mountains, the place where you are playing at right now.”

 “Really? That many?”

 – “Yup. And it is known that they’ve all entered the mountains.”

 “Hmm. Is this something that Mobius initiated as well?”

 – “Probably most of them, but maybe not. It was only a matter of time before they were found anyways, since it would be easy for them to notice the movement of a large group. Anyways, to me, the user called Mobius seemed to have great talking skills and the ability to think in uncommon ways that normal users can’t.”

 “Yeah, he indeed is a talented man.”

 Haroon smiled recalling Mobius. At first he didn’t like him at all, but he liked how he had some nerve to make secret deals with different guilds. Guilds now usually had n.o.bles as their guild masters, which would be changed later on, so tricking their guild to fight each other was messing with the n.o.bles. He liked how Mobius had caused trouble for some n.o.bles

 “I want to talk with him if I get the chance.”

 – “Pfff, I’ve never seen that excited face before from you. It’s very odd, you know?”

 “Hahaha! Really?”

 Haroon burst out laughing, and prepared to log back in. And while doing so, he suddenly got an uncomfortable question, so he carefully asked Bell who was still smiling.

 “By the way… how do you deal with my ‘natural functions’?”

 – “Hahaha! I knew you would ask that some day. Don’t worry about it. Number one? Sometimes, but I’d never be seeing your number two. I’ve removed the impurities from the food and medical supplies, and your violent trainings and movements are absorbing them 100%.”

 “Well, it’s fortunate that I’m not showing you too much.”

 Haroon gave a sigh of relief logging back into the game. Though Bell was not a human, he felt uneasy that she could see his dirtiest parts.

  ‘I should get some sleep in Beyond, and scout around starting early in the morning,’ he thought.

 Just like that, Haroon finished a short stay in the real world, and began his journey to Beyond where light rays stimulated his eyes.

“What a b.u.mmer.”

 Haroon was returning to the place he logged out the day before after not finding the place he was looking for. Though the sun was still up, he was tired from being on full alert after meeting shabel tigers two times in the mountains.

 The intel about ironsnakes’ habitat was too old, and most of it was rather vague as Kartz was recalling the moment he was terrified; it was nothing more than a cloud of words. Haroon was sure it was nearby, but he knew nothing about what kind of place in the mountain they lived and their activity time.

 At least the experience he was gaining with Flying Walking, the third tier of Messenger Walkingwas keeping him joyful, while also increasing his mana capacity. Though he wasn’t sure if it wasif it was from the skill or from the land, he was experiencing great improvements to his mana capacity.

 Haroon felt he was getting a headache because of the mystery he couldn’t solve, then he saw a group of people forming a long line in the middle of the mountain in front of him.

 They were climbing the valley of the mountain, the one there was a battle in yesterday.

 “What? Again?”

 They were following the path that he and Ko-M guild took.

 “Woah, that Mobius guy….”

 It was more proof that Mobius had made deals with yet another guild.

 “Well, that explains it!”

 Haroon exclaimed, finally being able to understand another question he had: why there was a few different types of Marking Stones.

 “So that means there are more groups following them.”

 There were seven types of Marking Stones he detected, and that should be the number of guilds Mobius had made secret deals with. He probably would have adjusted just the departing time, then he would be able to guide all of them. He couldn’t admire Mobius enough.

 ‘Would Ko-M guild know about this?’

 If they found out, Seryu and Biryu would be mad. They might regret killing Mobius too early.

 According to Bell, Ko-M, a medium-sized guild would be expecting a lot from the mine, since it would be their financial stem.

 But that was nothing more than Haroon’s groundless worry. Soon, he found Ko-M guild moving secretly on the upper side of the mountain. It seemed that they had sent scouts.

 “I’ve got to see this.”

 Out of curiosity, he quickly moved to the opposite mountain. There weren’t many trees around just boulders, so it wasn’t easy to hide his body. With the help of Messenger Walking, he was able to move secretly and fast.

 As he climbed, he saw the following enemy setting up their base in the middle of the mountain.

 “Well, this is great for Ko-M.”

 As the sun was setting this guild was setting up their base somewhere wide but slightly slanted, not where the other two guilds spent a night. If they did, they would have found the marks of the battle and that would have alerted them.

 While these people prepare the base and their dinner, Ko-M guild secretly move near them. But where this new guild settled had no trees in a hundred meters, so that was the closest they could get.

 This guild had about same numbers as the Dark Cloud, there were significantly less Ko-M guild members. It was the damage they received from the last battle.

 Ko-M guild was careful. After positioning themselves, they dealt to their hunger with jerkies and water, and waited until their enemies fell deeply asleep.

 Finally, a good time to attack came. It was the time that even the guards found it hard to raise their eyelids.

 Magicians were the first to attack this time. They cast several spells that had good synerge.

 “Fire Field!”
“Fire Arrow!”
“Fire Storm!”
“Wind Storm!”
“Wind Arrow!”
“Wind Cutter!”

 Combined with dozens of bonfire that littered the base, fire type magic formed a sea of flames and wind type magic pushed its back..

 “We are under attack!”
“Hugh!”
“AAGH! HOT, HOT!”
“HELP ME!”

 The base fell into chaos in seconds. It was covered with fire in a very short moment, and there was nowhere to run because of the strong winds.

 The users escaped from their tents covered in fire, and tried to run away from the fire but Ko-M guild members were waiting with a.s.sa.s.sination weapons. Including daggers, many sharp stones were shot at them, causing many casualties.

 But they had skilled users as well.

 “Wind Cutter!”

 “Wind Arrow!”

 Some magicians cast wind magic, aiming in random direction.

 “Kugh!”

 “Aargh!”

 Scream broke out from the Ko-M members who were rather close to the base. As some of them got killed from unexpected attacks, the group fell into disorder.

 As less attacks were made from Ko-M, the magicians tried to control the blaze with water type magic.

 “Water Bomb!”

 As a giant sphere of water exploded, a good amount of fire was extinguished. It was followed by many other spells. .

 “Remove Air!”

 The magic that removes air from a s.p.a.ce was very effective at extinguishing the fire.

 The number of magicians and their skill was above Ko-M for sure.

 “Everyone, attack!” Seryu ordered a full-scale attack.

 Her members firmly grabbed their weapon and charged at the base. Their eyes were burning with fighting spirit.

 “Light ‘em up!”

 “Kill them all!”

 The battlefield was filled with shouts and screams, lit with a few burning tents. While the smell of hot blood filled the air, those who survived fire attacks gnashed their teeth and attacked the Ko-M members.

 Haroon’s heart pounded hard watching the battlefield. Those eyes filled with anger, hard breathing and the strong smell of blood excited him. He couldn’t tell why he was getting all excited for a fight that wasn’t even his.

 The battle didn’t last long.

 The result of the battle between the planned attackers and cautionless defenders was already decided when it begun. Though they strongly resisted, they’d lost too many users in the first magic attack, so trying to fight back was only dragging it out.

 “d.a.m.n it!”

 “f.u.c.k!”

 “Mobius, that sc.u.m!”

 “I’m not a human if I don’t do anything to that son of a b.i.t.c.h.”

 The surviving Ko-M members cursed Mobius.

 Their numbers were less than half compared to two days ago. Half of them were killed in two battles. Not many leading members survived, and even the surviving members looked haggard and shabby.

 “Let’s leave this place at once. It’d be a pain in the back if the wolves attack, so hurry up!”

  But Seryu was late on that command.

 The wolves smelt the scent of blood that was carried away by the fresh, night air. Their yellow eyes seemed to cover the entire mountain. There were more wolves than the previous night.

 Wolves were the most fearful monsters once they outnumbered their prey. It was known that they would chew down even the bones.

 “s.h.i.t! Quick! Fall back to the base!”

 Seryu commanded. If things went wrong, Ko-M guild members would get annihilate by the wolves. Users’ bodies disappeared once they got killed, so they wouldn’t slow down the wolves for even a second.

 Ko-M members couldn’t waste any time picking up the items that their unfortunate friends dropped, and started to fall back. Some wolves had made their way to the battlefield, wandering around looking for the chance.

 ‘Ko-M’s gonna suffer for a while…….’

 He felt pity towards Ko-M guild that still had a few more guilds to deal with in order to claim the mine, even though he had no good feelings towards them.

 After a while, when the wolves went back to their dens, Haroon showed up on the battlefield.

 “This feels very bleak.”

 The land was ash black. The fire that burned down the belongings of the large group of people had also burnt the ground. But it wasn’t that horrible to see the battleground as no dead bodies remained on it.

 Walking on the land that he could still feel the heat from, Haroon looked around the battlefield. There were a few items shining on the messy ground. Some of them lost their functionality due to the fire, but a good number of them were still good to use.

 “Alright! Free items!”

 Haroon checked every corner of the battlefield, taking the items that Ko-M members’ couldn’t get. Some of them seemed to be over rare-cla.s.s.

 People says if a clam and a snipe fights, a fisherman would get both of them¹; and that’s what he was doing now.

 “I gotta spend a day somewhen organizing all these.”

 After searching the battlefield a few times, he found a bracelet with a large jewel embedded in it. Feeling good, he looked for a place to rest for the night.

Translated by Channy
Edited by Kmatt

Footnotes:

¹ This is a korean form of a chinese saying, a clam and a snipe fights; a fisherman has an advantage. Though I’m not sure if the meaning of these two version is 100% same, the korean version means a third person gets profit from someone’s fight.