Chapter 9

"Guild Master!"

Hern shouted in panic. Lidian glanced at the sacred barrier spell, which lasted for only a minute.

Known as 'Purity,' the spell blocked all attacks during its duration, but the problem was that it rendered the user unable to do anything while active.

"First, go to the waiting room! I'll come back to the village with Uraegui!"

She shouted calmly, but in truth, she was scared.

Without the barrier, getting hit would be very painful. She knew that one could come back to life, but was it really true? What if something went wrong and she really died?

All sorts of thoughts flooded her mind in that short moment.

"Oh, how can you do this!"

Hern, feeling frustrated, started shooting arrows. The toad, distracted by the invincible barrier, didn't notice Hern. Candy also seemed to realize it was no use and attempted an attack.

Lidian realized her mistake. She knew that the kind-hearted Hern wouldn't leave her behind.

'Oh— Could it be that everyone in the party will die because of me?'

"L-Lidian-sama…"

Just as she was feeling guilty, Uraegui started to sob, saying that if he hadn't fallen, this wouldn't have happened. Uraegui wiped his tears, looking apologetic. Lidian smiled bitterly at him.

"At least we won't be alone when we die, right? See you in the village."

As the barrier's duration dwindled, Lidian frowned and looked at Hern and Candy.

Just as she was about to tell them to leave quickly, a white flash flew from behind where Hern and Candy were standing. The flash, slicing through the air, enveloped the golem and toad.

With the monsters' cries, the attacks on the barrier ceased. Lidian and Uraegui stiffened as they watched the golems disintegrate.

In an instant, the monsters surrounding the barrier were cleared.

"What, what is this?"

Hern, taken aback, shouted loudly.

"Guild Master! As soon as the barrier is gone, come this way quickly!"

Uraegui, the first to regain his composure, grabbed Lidian's wrist and ran like a madman as soon as the barrier disappeared. Lidian let out a small scream but followed Uraegui blindly.

Just as they were bewildered by the sudden situation, another white flash flew, striking the approaching mob. A man quickly ran from the direction of the waiting room entrance.

Lidian stared blankly at the back of the player who passed by.

He was a young man who looked very good in black.

"Ah! Yunjae, wait a moment! Get my wand, my weapon!"

Player Information

Name: NoName / Guild: Legion

Level: 54 / Class: Dark Templar / Secondary Class: Chef

HP: 1470 / MP: 2250

NoName, a 'Dark Templar' who appeared out of nowhere, panted and stopped near Lidian and Uraegui. He was fumbling with something in the system window.

While catching his breath from a considerable distance, Hern and Candy approached and asked if they were okay. Lidian nodded with trembling eyes.

Meanwhile, Candy was observing the man who had gone ahead. Her eyes widened.

"Wow. Incredible. That knight is a high-ranking member of the Legion guild!"

Her sudden exclamation made Lidian stop breathing in surprise. A high-ranker. She turned her gaze reflexively and confirmed the information of the man standing there.

Player Information

Name: Crag / Guild: Legion

Level: 79 / Class: Knight / Secondary Class: None

HP: 3750 / MP: 1100

As Candy said, the player in front of her was a famous player, ranked 6th overall and 2nd among knights.

This was the first time she had seen a high-ranker in the field, except for those she might encounter in Midgard City.

What is a high-ranker doing here? She thought for a moment. But with her legs weak, Lidian collapsed.

"Guild Master, are you okay?"

"Ah, yeah."

"Lidian-sama, I'm sorry. Because of me…"

Lidian, supported by Hern, smiled awkwardly. Uraegui, feeling extremely apologetic, was even on his knees.

The group, having barely managed to get him up, watched the high-ranker Crag's solo battle with a dazed Candy. Every time Crag swung his sword, the monsters' HP decreased dramatically.

His smooth and agile movements were impressive, but the power of the attack skills he used as soon as their cooldowns were up was overwhelming. There was no time to even see what skills he was using.

The golems, which had gathered, melted away one by one, and the toad, a named monster, was eliminated with a few upper-tier skills. Uraegui, watching this scene blankly, was puzzled.

"Knights are supposed to be strength characters, right? How can a knight have such critical hits? And his attack power is so high…"

In the Nord World, when a critical hit is applied during an attack, an exclamation mark appears above the target's head. This was also applied in this world.

Thanks to this, they could confirm status effects and identify damage.

As Uraegui said, exclamation marks appeared above the monsters' heads every time Crag swung his sword.

"Ah~ That person is famous for being an agile knight. He puts all his stats into agility and uses items to boost strength and attack power. There was a trend of agile knights for a while because of him."

Being a knight herself, Candy was well-informed. Uraegui, nodding in agreement, clapped his hands.

"Oh! That was him?"

Lidian and Hern also nodded, admiring his skill.

It felt like watching an action movie. Even as a knight, Candy's movements were different.

How could he move and attack like that? Was it really due to his physical coordination? Lidian couldn't close her mouth, finding it truly amazing.

"Huh? Why is he doing that?"

Suddenly, Crag's movements slowed, and he hesitated. Candy and Hern, who were observing, were puzzled. Lidian, who was also watching him, stood up and stretched out her hand.

"Divine Blessing, Blessing of the Holy Spirit."

It removed status effects and increased movement speed. Crag was affected by a speed reduction from one of the golem's status effect attacks.

Lidian considered using the stat-boosting buff 'Baptism of the Goddess' but decided it wasn't necessary since Crag was already moving well thanks to her previous buff.

"Phew, I finally found it. I forgot to organize my inventory."

The Dark Templar, NoName, who had been rummaging nearby, hurriedly approached Crag.

Dark Templars are primarily a class that debuffs opponents, reducing their stats or hindering their movements.

With his wand in hand, NoName's mouth was busy casting various spells, and colorful magic circles appeared around him. The movements of the monsters within range slowed, and various debuff icons appeared above their heads.

Crag sighed at the belated debuffs. He was already flying around thanks to Lidian's buff.

It took less than two minutes to clear all the monsters. If it were a game, they would have been one-shot, instantly deleted. As Candy said, everyone was startled by the rapidly increasing experience bar.

Although the message didn't appear because Crag was the one who cleared them, they received some experience due to the initial aggro.

Once the situation was settled, Crag and NoName approached Lidian's group.

"Well, are you all okay? I moved to help, but if it was bothersome…"

His expression, despite his polite tone, seemed quite indifferent. It might even be seen as lacking sincerity, but it was just his usual expression.

Lidian's group shook their heads. Thanks to them, they had survived; being bothered was out of the question. They all expressed their gratitude.

"Thank you. Our guild master and tank almost died, but we're lucky. I thought my heart would drop out."

Guild master? Crag, hearing Hern's mutter, raised an eyebrow. Then, after checking Saint Lidian's information, he nodded.

Lidian, making eye contact, was momentarily flustered but bowed to Crag and NoName.

"Thank you so much for your help."

"You're welcome."

"Those in the waiting room were a trio of Shadow Hunters."

NoName suddenly asked. The group nodded in agreement. NoName clicked his tongue.

"Those guys are crazy. They're rude. They seemed to be guildless. They deliberately entered a map with no ranged players and herded the mobs."

"That's right. They suddenly appeared and brought them all in. Then they used stealth and ran away."

"Those guys are habitual offenders. I almost got caught by them last time. They do this especially in Jotunheim, so I thought I'd bring a high-ranker to catch them when I came to do a quest. But when I saw them giggling in the waiting room, I thought I'd lost them…"

NoName, who was clearly angry, smiled again.

"Still, it's a relief that you're all safe. Have you ever died? It's not a good feeling."

NoName shuddered. Lidian asked.

"Have you experienced death?"

He smiled bitterly at her frightened eyes.

"Yes. If you really die in reality, it would feel exactly like that pain and discomfort."

Although he didn't provide detailed explanations, that was enough to instill fear. Everyone's faces turned pale. The timid Uraegui, feeling even more guilty, started to cry.

"Lidian-sama, I'm really sorry. Because of my foolishness. Lidian-sama too… sniff."

He was a gentle man, despite his large build. Lidian, sweating profusely, comforted Uraegui. Ultimately, the choice was hers.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't Uraegui's fault. Instead, she felt she should apologize for putting him in a more burdensome position.

"Anyway, it's a relief that you're all safe."

Crag, standing quietly, glanced at Lidian's group's information. After carefully examining their levels and classes, he said after a moment's thought.

"It doesn't seem like you came here to level up. If you came to practice, this place is not recommended. It's hard to balance levels here, and the map itself is bad, but the mob respawn rate is fast… If the path gets tangled, it's easy to get mobbed like before. With only two tanks… it won't be possible to overpower the mobs, so it would be much better to go to the Gladi or Castor regions."

His clear and honest advice made everyone hesitate. "Should we go somewhere else?" Hern asked, but in truth, everyone's enthusiasm had waned after the series of events.

Canny, who noticed the mood first, clapped her hands and said,

"Our mood was ruined by those guys, so let's go back to the village and rest."

No one objected. Lidian's group, their spirits dampened, thanked Crag and NoName one last time before heading to the waiting room.

* * *

Crag and NoName, who remained in the dying swamp map, had a purpose and moved further inside. NoName, walking alongside Crag, tapped the air and grinned.

"Oh, three quest items dropped in the meantime. What a gain?"

"Really, bro, watch your mouth."

"Hey, it's give and take. Oh, by the way, that Saint, being level 70, is considered high-level, right? Saints are rare, you know."

"Right."

"Our Immortal brother is whining about a lack of healers in the guild. Yunjae, try to persuade her. High-rankers should step in at times like this. She seemed to be a good hunter from what I saw. Everyone is not coming out to the field, so she's even more valuable, right?"

Poking Crag's arm, he clicked his tongue.

"Someone who goes around with a separate guild like that isn't suited for a combat guild."

"Is that so? What a pity."

"Oh, by the way…"

Crag, stopping abruptly, stared blankly into the air. When NoName asked why, he scratched his head, saying it was nothing.

"It seems to be the person Theseus talked about before."

"What did he say?"

"Just that. I thought it was a guy, but it was a girl?"

"What, really? These days, there are a few people like that? Oh, it seems the mobs are respawning over there. I can hear the sounds."

"Jinsoo, let's wrap it up and go. I have a one-on-one with the guild master later."

"Are you crazy? Again? You were beaten by Joo last time, too."

NoName chuckled and taunted him. Crag frowned but didn't say much.

Well, since they were acquaintances from the neighborhood, such conversations were part of their daily routine. The two exchanged silly jokes as they headed deeper into the swamp.