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

“Troublesome. What’s so special about Rudel anyway?”

Hon muttered, his pink lips constantly chattering, but he didn’t mind using his unique abilities outside the arena.

He shook his light green hair disdainfully as he inserted his hand into the central power generator of the central building’s basement.

Crackle-!

With a sound resembling a lightning strike, the building’s power went down.

“Done. The power’s down. Handle the rest yourselves.”

Given the unknowns about Rudel’s kidnapper, including the possibility of controlling the system, cutting off the power was the first priority. If both sides were unprepared, the side with more numbers would have the advantage.

Crash-! Somewhere in the coastal area, an intangible wall separating the everyday village was physically broken.

A giant wolf tore through the graphical dust and leapt into the gap.

Without teleportation, smashing through the wall was faster than finding an official entrance to the PK arena or production facilities, even if it required cleanup later.

And it didn’t necessarily require an S-rank strength stat like Jail’s.

“Go in.”

As Unahar’s wolf successfully breached the barrier, Kanel, seated high on the wolf’s back, directed the people.

The wolf’s large eyes rolled up in annoyance but didn’t act out.

‘I’ll let it slide.’

Unahar, still burdened with guilt over mistakes made as a wolf, suppressed the urge to throw off the rider and endured.

Kanel, expressionless but clearly excited, kicked the wolf’s side as if riding a pony.

Characters with various unique abilities searched through bushes and buildings, feeling the air warm slightly.

‘Were there always this many people?’

They also noticed their base stats had slightly increased.

Lilith’s warmth had spread throughout the village.

“Rudel, where are you? Are you okay?”

Lilith muttered to herself, clasping her hands worriedly.

In front of her, a large figure stood with his head bowed, barefoot on the ground.

Rumble, the earth vibrated slightly. Gio gritted his teeth and looked up.

“Nothing.”

There was no hidden space underground, and no trace of Rudel.

At the same time, the search continued in the sky.

A pink eagle created a tremendous wind as it soared. Lesia, riding on Siakan, surveyed the area.

“Nothing suspicious from the sky either!”

Characters moving about occasionally flinched when human-sized white phoenixes watched or peeked at them.

Several dozens of eyes, controlled by the Ranked Champion and King, patrolled the skies.

Their role was to monitor and severely punish any conflicts arising from unique abilities.

But in truth, the phoenixes prioritized searching for Rudel over surveillance, much like their restless master, eager to jump into action.

Despite their efforts, Rudel was not found as time passed.

Blance, arriving at the office, pulled out all the maps of the game world to reassess any places where new spaces might have emerged.

A call came through.

[“Access the weather system. Can you make it rain?”]

“Is that Aleon? The system is currently down.”

[“Oh, I didn’t know. Sorry.”]

“I’ll restore that function on the condition you guarantee finding Rudel. I don’t do inefficient work.”

The blue saint stood at the center of the square, letting the falling raindrops soak him. His hair, skin, and clothes were all wet and clung to him. In the sound of the rain, the saint fell into deep meditation before opening his eyes. Storms raged in his blue irises.

“Indeed, there are 2002 lifeforms. The count is correct.”

His followers, seeing him open his eyes, swarmed around. Many tried to shield him with umbrellas, but Aleon smiled slightly.

“Fortunately, Rudel’s blood flow is stable. She seems unharmed. I’ll provide her location; join me.”

People gathered around Aleon to hear the location.

In the background, a bulletin board cast a shadow where someone peered out.

A small figure with an axe blade protruding from the side.

Aleon suddenly turned towards the bulletin board.

But there was nothing there.

* * *

Most characters were unaware of the dark semi-basement corner of the production facility.

Rudel lay on a long chair with her eyes closed.

The candle on the floor cast a dim, damp light in the space, highlighting both Rudel’s face and that of the person who had brought her.

She had been holding Rudel’s wrist for a long time, not letting go, as if she were in another world, her eyes unfocused.

{…I see. So that’s it.}

Focus returned to her eyes. She gently released Rudel’s wrist.

{Now I know who I am.}

At that moment, a dark figure dropped through the only opening in the ceiling.

“Uh—?”

An assassin approached silently, expertly grabbing her by the nape. In the blink of an eye, the axe blade was pressed against her throat.

“Hah—. Found you.”

The girl smirked.

Excited at the prospect of finally seeing blood again, she was about to apply pressure to the axe when—

“…!”

Her wrist was firmly gripped. Yudirei’s eyes widened.

“Yudirei, I taught you better than this. You know you can’t just kill someone.”

A clear voice rang out, not at all sleepy. 

Rudel rose from her seat, calmly staring at Yudirei. Her firm grip prevented Yudirei from killing her prey.

“…Tsk.”

Feeling thwarted, Yudirei clicked her tongue. Surprisingly, she dropped the axe herself with a clatter, cursing under her breath.

“Damn it, this is why I had a bad feeling… This wasn’t my idea, you know? Ask your beloved redhead.”

Yudirei shrugged off Rudel’s hand and leapt back up through the hole, effectively retreating.

The 2002nd character, Ria, swayed slightly, having never experienced the threat of death before. However, she steadied herself before Rudel could catch her.

Soon, Aleon and the others crowded into the small space.

“See, I told you. That slippery Agasa guild leader is fine. I don’t know why everyone was in such a panic!”

“Hey, you were the most agitated one! I wasn’t really worried! It’s just that Akata was so insistent on finding her.”

“Oh, really? Who was it that mumbled, ‘What if the new character is a mutant monster and Rudel dies?’ about five times?”

Seeing the surprisingly normal appearance of the new character and the unharmed Rudel, the group chattered awkwardly.

Rudel looked at them steadily, quickly understanding what had happened.

“Thank you for coming to find me after seeing the message I sent. But contrary to what you might think, I wasn’t in any danger. Just now, we were simply talking. This person… Ria, didn’t do anything to me.”

* * *

The person who kidnapped me resembled Aria.

I couldn’t be completely certain she was Aria for several reasons.

Taggiros had once explained Aria’s abilities to me in detail while recounting his past.

‘People Aria kills disappear along with their bodies, existing in a spiritual state.’

But Akata had left Aria’s body behind after killing her.

So, I assumed she had died completely, with her soul.

‘But I can’t be entirely sure. Aria was a psychic… maybe her death was special.’

So, when I encountered Ria in the office and she approached with a drugged cloth, I could have avoided it but didn’t.

I went along willingly, knowing who she might be.

Her unique ability was ‘Psychometry.’

Typically, it reads memories embedded in objects or places, but her ability could also peer into the past of people she touched.

Ria had put me to sleep and spent a long time delving into my memories.

Thus, I didn’t need to explain anything to Ria about this world or Aria.

Ria learned all the truths herself.

During this process, I also revisited my life and the ill-fated connection with Aria through Ria’s Psychometry.

And here is my stance on Ria.

“For some reason, Aria wanted me to kill her in the end. I guess it was to take over my body.”

Aria could bind others in a spiritual state by killing them.

I, who was created by her and reborn as a game character, resembled her in every way—appearance, fingerprints, even irises.

I could easily replace the real Aria in the real world.

“Game characters’ bodies are stronger than ordinary humans, so she probably wanted to use this body and brain for her grander desires. I had to stop her.”

According to Taggiros, Aria was a woman who would do anything to fulfill her desires.

It was strange that she would be satisfied enough to die willingly.

“In my previous life, I thought of Aria as a friend. If I had known about her crimes in advance… I would have tried to stop her somehow.”

Even if it meant reporting her to the authorities.

“I want to be friends with you. She isn’t you. Don’t you want to live a new life?”

Ria asked for time to think, requesting to be left alone.

Depending on her future attitude, my stance towards her would change as well. I had done all I could.

And soon, I received her response.

“I understand you. I also understand that man, Akata. You both were justified.”

Her eyes, which seemed to resemble Aria’s and yet were entirely different, moved me even more.

“In fact, I have a favor to ask. Please don’t equate me with Aria.”

Ria acknowledged the sins of her past life, which she couldn’t remember, and separated herself from Aria.

When she extended her hand to me, I remembered the friend I had lost long ago.

“Let’s live together.”

We shook hands.

* * *

“I have a question about your memories.”

Ria suddenly asked.

Given her highly rational nature, it was unusual for her to inquire about my personal life, making me curious about what she would ask.

“What do you and Akata do when you hug each other in bed at night?”

Uh-oh.

“If you know, you’ll get hurt.”

“Hurt how?”

“You need separate sex education. And please, don’t mention those memories or talk about them to others. It’s quite rude.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Checking the status window, I saw that the automatic cams had been working correctly.

‘Did a great action movie come out while they were searching for me?’

Stepping out from the semi-basement where Ria had taken me, I was speechless for a while as I surveyed the scene above ground.

“What happened here…?”

It looked like a hurricane and an earthquake had swept through, leaving everything in ruins.

Not an action movie, but a disaster movie?

“Akata said he didn’t care what damages we incurred as long as we found you…”

The characters uniformly blamed Akata, casting nervous glances at me.

“No, I was the one who suggested we make a grand event out of it. You did well.”

Their relieved faces were short-lived.

“But since we have to fix all this, the entire maintenance team will be working overtime tonight.”

Hearing the guild leaders’ mixed cheers and groans, I quickly estimated the repair costs.

Since it was just restoring existing buildings, it wouldn’t require an exorbitant amount of labor or electrical energy.

Next, I needed to—

“Rudel!”

My colleagues, my guild members, the subordinates group, and Akata, who must have been very worried about me, needed reassurance.

Akata hugged me tightly the moment he saw me, and I allowed myself to be held.

But exactly three seconds later, I pushed him away from my chest.

“Don’t you think you’ve done something wrong?”

Of all people, you hired Yudirei for an assassination?

The years of effort spent trying to purify Yudirei’s cursed heart flashed before me, filling me with betrayal.

“I’m sorry. I truly am…”

Akata clasped his hands together humbly, head bowed, as if he had no words to defend himself. He looked like a criminal awaiting judgment.

In my absence, he had lorded over the characters like a tyrant, but the moment our eyes met, he acted like a meek lamb, fearing I would abandon him for real this time. He knew I was genuinely angry.

Seeing him like this reminded me of the young Akata.

I let out a deep, earth-shattering sigh and stroked his cheek.

“Akata, you’re not the only one who can understand and accept a cherished person no matter what they do.”

He seemed surprised but then his brown eyes filled with joy.

I quickly pinched his cheek.

“But don’t get too cocky. How about we sleep in separate rooms for a week?”

“What?! Why, why?”

“To punish you, of course.”

I had just discovered the way to get Akata to listen to me.

Despite Akata’s seemingly defeated posture among the disheartened maintenance team, I ignored him. There was too much to clean up.

Returning to the office, I reviewed the footage captured by the cameras.

‘This is usable.’

Thanks to Akata making them believe it was real, the urgent atmosphere added a dramatic touch to the footage.

It’s not every day you see the grand spectacle of unique abilities disrupting a peaceful everyday life.

As I stretched and looked around the office, I noticed Akata on the phone with someone, not working.

‘Taggiros, huh?’

Taggiros’ son’s unrequited love was still ongoing. So far, Akata hadn’t heard the details of the story.

Just in time for a check-in call, Akata talked about the chaos on our end. Curious, I listened in on the conversation.

[“Should I come back?”]

His voice was full of concern for his son.

“It’s already resolved. Don’t worry and continue your trip.”

Akata reassured him. After a brief pause, he changed the subject.

“How is she doing?”

Akata only knew that Taggiros had reconnected with someone and was almost settled down.

[“She’s great. I didn’t know I could laugh this much.”]

His voice sounded blissful. Akata’s face also showed a hint of a smile.

“When will you introduce her to me?”

[“She’s still a bit shy.”]

“What is there to be shy about with me? We’re not strangers.”

[“…Maybe another time.”]

Who knows when ‘another time’ will be, but no matter how shocking it might be, Akata will be fine with me by his side.

When that time comes, we will be living happily together, still busy but content.

Smiling up at Akata, he smiled back at me, not knowing why. It was a mistake to let him steal another kiss from me.

-The End.