The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

Kanel lifted his head from the laptop, stretching, then turned to Unahar.

“Let’s go in. We’ll stand guard at the exit, receive the players Rudel sends, and do a headcount.”

“……”

There was no answer from the blond man. Kanel guessed his thoughts.

‘He probably can’t stand to see Akata and Rudel together.’

Kanel, being his considerate self, thought about patting Unahar on the shoulder and stood up. At that moment, Unahar pushed the VR goggles back over his head and frowned.

“Already want to go in?”

His face was quite ordinary, not particularly menacing.

Kanel awkwardly retracted his hand, which was almost touching Unahar’s shoulder.

“It’s not because it’s cold here?”

“No.”

The winter park’s smoking area wasn’t warm enough with just the body heat of two men. Kanel shivered slightly, hiding his body in his jumper, and made an excuse.

“Well, we can go in now. The operation is progressing faster than expected.”

“Is that so. Even though it’s peak vacation time, the game company’s response is slow as usual. They can’t stop Rudel either.”

“Wait, Rudel has already moved.”

At those words, Kanel also lifted his head from the laptop and brought the VR back to his eyes.

He moved the chat window, filled with enthusiastic messages from viewers, aside and checked Rudel’s (actually the game planner Shemarin’s) cam.

If she had informed everyone about the ‘System Annihilation Battle,’ the next step was to spread her determination and get commitments from other players to join.

So, after her speech, Rudel planned to use the ‘Visit Other Guilds’ Fortresses’ feature to travel to various major guilds and persuade them.

The first place she headed to was…

“Nerada? Which guild is that?”

Unahar could only see Rudel’s screen in front of him, but he spoke up, knowing Kanel was beside him.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s an unknown mid-tier guild.”

“What do you mean unknown… Why is Rudel going there?”

Even though the Nerada guild had nothing notable, one member of that insignificant guild was different.

* * *

The man, with lemon-colored hair pressed down, indicating which side he had been sleeping on until just moments ago, had his right hair flattened.

He had slept deeply until late again today, but as soon as he received the communication, he quickly pulled himself together and came out in front of the fortress.

In front of him appeared a woman with hair as sleek as her figure, with a bluish tint to her flowing hair.

“You are the only… man who can defeat me-?”

Jail’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“In terms of strength, I mean. I’m A+-rank. You’re S-rank.”

Her voice, explaining casually, seemed to contain a hint of amusement, as if she had confirmed Jail’s reaction.

Jail knew he had been seen through but kept his expression neutral.

“What do you think? Will you join me?”

Shemarin asked for Jail’s cooperation in simple and straightforward words. Then, she took off the plain silver ring, the only accessory she wore, and placed it on her palm.

Whether or not to take it was up to Jail.

Long ago, on the day he had declined Shemarin’s invitation to join her guild and had seized the promotion in the headhunting battle, the game had given him this awakening line:

“Only silence is a refuge.”

For a man who prioritized quiet time alone above all else, there must have been a compelling enough condition to turn his back on his values.

A large hand briefly brushed over Shemarin’s ring.

He picked up the ring and fitted it perfectly onto the ring finger of his left hand. Whether he knew the significance of that finger or simply found it to be the most suitable in size was unknown.

He was indeed a very quiet man.

Soon, the broadcast screen showed Shemarin turning away and Jail following at a certain distance behind her.

“In unavoidable situations, you just have to physically break through the system’s walls-.”

With the acquisition of a human bulldozer, Rudel’s “System Annihilation Battle” progressed significantly.

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Watching Shemarin recruit Jail, Rudel quickly left to recruit another person.

The individual she aimed to recruit first was…

“Isn’t it Aleon?” Akata asked, tilting his head.

He didn’t like Aleon and Rudel being close, but he acknowledged Aleon’s gentle nature and formidable strength. Moreover, Aleon was a holy saint who spanned both the first and second generations.

If they recruited Aleon first, other players captivated by Aleon would naturally follow.

But why was Rudel’s first target not Aleon…

[The visit request to the Blue Monday guild has been approved.]

A middle-aged man with a dark heart?

Surprisingly, Blance was already waiting for Rudel in front of the fortress. Behind him stood the guild fortress, resembling a miniature Empire State Building.

I could see a terrace where someone could stand, draped only in a gown and holding a wine glass, looking out at the scenery.

Rudel got straight to the point.

“I want you to become a strategist and devise a plan to destroy the system.”

She then added further details.

“Which guilds should break which arenas, and in what order should we move. Consider all players as one team and devise the most efficient strategy.”

The first step in expressing the will to resist the system was to break the game stages where they had been active so far. However, no one had ever done this before since all the players were competitors.

But what if a person who thoroughly understood every character’s stats and abilities became their strategist?

“I believe you can do it.”

Blance’s response did not take long.

“You’ve found the right person.”

He lowered the mask that covered his lower face and continued.

“Do you know? Out of all the players, the one with the least analyzed data is you, Rudel. Despite the extensive research, this is the first time I’ve seen something like this… It must be because of this.”

For the first time, the middle-aged handsome man smiled, as if he had finally found something interesting in this world.

“I’m in.”

***

Well, despite boldly declaring the ‘last round,’ I wasn’t a revolutionary welcomed by everyone. Most felt burdened by my visit and showed reluctance.

“Why should we follow your lead?”

“What if the system kills me for this?”

“Are you crazy? Can you handle the consequences?”

I tried to persuade them by saying:

“The system isn’t invincible. They are also wary of ‘comments.’ I’ll use that to ensure your safety as much as possible. …But if you’re still uneasy, there’s nothing I can do.”

My confident tone seemed to make them uncertain. Gradually, some began to be persuaded. However, some even threw salt at me to drive me away.

“Hey, get out.”

I regretted tasting the salt that had gotten on my lips. While I was grumbling, Akata suddenly appeared from the side corridor.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s just a bit salty.”

Akata placed his hand on my head. I thought he was trying to brush off the salt, so I stood still.

*Smooch.*

“It tastes salty.”

Realizing a moment too late what had touched the top of my head, I immediately flicked Akata on the forehead.

“Hey!”

“Don’t mess around.”

“I’m sorry.”

“At least look like you’re sorry when you say that.”

He was all excited just because he had grown a bit taller than me. He couldn’t stop smiling.

I shook my head and turned away. This scene would be broadcasted live, but I no longer had the energy to worry about such trivial things.

“What’s the situation?”

Enough small talk. I decided to check the report Blance had sent first. The report listed about 30 guilds and the names of their members. Blance had marked the names of those successfully recruited in blue, those who refused in red, and those not yet contacted in black.

Slowly but surely, more blue names were appearing on the report.

Meanwhile, Akata, noticing the names of the guilds that had turned me away earlier, muttered angrily.

“I’ll go drag these guys out by force.”

“Calm down. And don’t let personal feelings interfere during wartime.”

If the ‘cunning Agasa guild leader’ like me failed, we could always have others try to persuade them. In fact, it didn’t matter much whether they were persuaded or not. I had deliberately approached guilds that might be unaware of the current situation just to stir things up a bit.

Later, Aleon would explain to each one what we were trying to do and persuade them accordingly.

And even if they refused to the end, it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t abandon them just for that.

As someone ‘in the know,’ I had vowed to free all characters from the system’s unfairness.