Chapter 88 …
‘That’s all parries? All of them?’
The damage was astonishing, but what left him even more stunned was that control.
That insane level of skill—using parry, which was notoriously hard to pull off, without failing even once, and applying it precisely where it was needed.
And what about his distance control?
He dodged with the absolute minimum movement, maintained the optimal range to attack, and never once broke that distance.
‘This makes no sense….’
As an archer, maintaining distance was the most important thing, so ArcherCoin had a fairly sharp eye in this area.
From his perspective, calling that “expert” or “veteran” wasn’t enough.
That was… a realm no human should be able to reach.
—It’s awe-inspiring.
For a moment, a comment he had once seen under a post about Kaiser came to mind.
At the same time, he realized he agreed with it.
‘Ah….’
There was no better word to describe what he was feeling right now.
The overwhelming emotion one might feel when looking at a masterpiece of art.
And he was feeling it from a single man.
“Kwaaaah!”
“Ah.”
The ear-splitting roar snapped him out of his trance.
In his refocused vision, a dark, ominous mist like storm clouds appeared.
It was the death aura signaling the start of Phase 2.
‘This time it’s really dangerous.’
Even now, it felt absurd—no, awe-inspiring—that Kaiser had toyed with a boss in Warrior mode.
But that was as far as it went.
There was a reason a tank was essential when fighting the Death Orc Warrior.
[If you come into contact with the Aura of Death, you will suffer various status ailments. It can stack up to five times, and the effect scales with the duration of contact.]
You needed a shield to withstand the death aura.
In other words, a sacrifice.
It wasn’t optional.
Just like a mage was mandatory when fighting the Goblin Chieftain because of the “Selfish Defense” trait, a tank was mandatory here.
‘No matter how good your control or how strong your damage is, you can’t beat it while loaded with status ailments.’
Even Dark Vision alone would cut your sight by more than half. If you were slowed or afflicted with anemia, you couldn’t even move properly.
And in that state, you’re supposed to duel and deal damage?
‘Impossible.’
That was the established truth.
…Yes, that was the established truth. Until just now.
Thud!
The moment the Aura of Death activated, Kaiser leapt forward—and his speed didn’t seem to drop at all.
It wasn’t an illusion.
Crack! Kieeek!
He shot forward in an instant and smashed the boss’s jaw with a flying knee kick.
The Death Orc Warrior, staring at the spinning sky with half-lidded eyes, suddenly regained his senses—
Smash!
—and his head snapped back again.
Another flying knee.
But this wasn’t just any knee strike.
For a split second, the shape of a dragon flickered—and then a thunderous roar erupted, incomparable to before.
“Huh? Wasn’t that Rising Dragon Kick just now?”
“Maybe you saw it wrong? How would a swordsman use Rising Dragon Kick?”
“I… guess?”
There was barely time to question it.
Kaiser pressed on.
He was even faster than before.
Stab!
As if completely unaffected, Kaiser toyed with the boss.
“What the—why isn’t he getting any status effects? Is it a trait? Is there a trait like that?”
“He’s a god. That stuff doesn’t work on him.”
“Bull—… Whoa, he’s dodging everything in the middle of that. Is this real?”
“Huh? Was that Combat Instinct just now? He already shaved off 20%?”
“This is insane.”
Compared to the increasingly chatty two, ArcherCoin remained silent.
He just stared blankly at the unbelievable sight before him.
Nothing about this fight followed common sense.
From start to now, not a single thing had gone as expected.
And maybe that was why it felt even more like art.
“……”
Had he unknowingly stepped forward, as if bewitched?
Thud.
“Ah.”
Something caught his foot.
Looking down, he saw HoguwatteProfessor holding out popcorn.
“Want some?”
Normally, he would’ve scoffed at such a ridiculous offer.
“…Yeah.”
But after seeing this much, refusing popcorn felt impossible.
As he sat down beside him, Warrior12456—who had been absently stroking his sword sheath—finally put his sword back into his inventory.
Shff.
He quietly took a seat and grabbed some popcorn.
Munching on it, ArcherCoin thought:
‘…If I asked for an autograph, would he give me one? No, what am I even saying? You’re not that spineless, ArcherCoin.’
The early symptoms of falling into fandom—denial phase—had begun.
Meanwhile, at that same time.
While Dohyeon was in the middle of his solo attempt.
Hero Guild’s master, Verze, was receiving a report in his guildmaster’s office from the scout he had dispatched.
“Hmm.”
If you ranked the current God of Ose stars by looks, he was always in the Top 3.
The one and only master of the true guild of this era, who styled himself a hero.
People praised and followed him.
But that only applied to netizens who saw him through TV or articles.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Those who knew Verze’s true nature did not consider him a hero.
‘A man crazy about money.’
‘A businessman with no blood or tears.’
A man who would sacrifice and endure anything for money and authority.
Like two sides of a coin, his exterior and interior were different.
The world praised him as a hero, but those standing on the other side feared him more than a devil.
“Tell me. Do you really think this makes sense?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Hmm….”
That was why the scout, Choi Hyunseok, was extremely tense.
On the surface, Verze seemed polite—even using honorifics toward his subordinate—but he was a cold-blooded man who could smile and fire you the next second.
Tap. Tap.
When he tapped the desk with his index finger like this, it meant he was thinking seriously.
Tap.
When the sound stopped, Verze let out a small sigh.
“…Do you think this is plausible?”
The contents of the report were absurd.
“You made contact, but he broke through twenty people alone—20 versus 1—without a single casualty, in just thirty seconds? And you’re submitting this as a report? Seriously?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Hyunseok felt deeply wronged.
‘I mean, it’s true—what do you want me to do?’
He had written exactly what he experienced.
No—he had even toned it down a bit.
And yet they didn’t believe him.
Even to him, it sounded… well, more than a little unbelievable.
Someone who had just barely graduated from Raven breaking through twenty near-graduation-level players in under thirty seconds?
Even a passing dog would laugh.
Sure, reality could be more dramatic than fiction—but this? Who would believe it?
‘Ha….’
His insides burned with frustration, but what could he do?
This was his workplace. If he wanted to survive, he had to endure this kind of injustice.
Arguing would only hurt himself.
So he simply lowered his head, hiding his expression.
“Mr. Choi Hyunseok.”
“…Yes, Master.”
“I know Kaiser is an impressive man. I’ve seen it myself. But… isn’t this exaggerated?”
Verze’s voice was calm.
But the disbelief within it was unmistakable.
“What is Kaiser, some kind of superhuman? Why are you writing a movie script? You expect me to believe this? Why not add that he soloed the Death Orc Warrior in ten minutes too?”
“That’s not an exaggeration, it’s really—”
“Fine, let’s set that aside.”
Verze cut him off lightly.
Hyunseok shut his mouth.
Experience had taught him that pushing further wouldn’t end with mere scolding.
“‘Beware of the orcs’… what does that mean? Do we look like we have time to worry about orcs right now? Who submitted this?”
“A subordinate, I believe… but there was a reason—”
“Haah. Whatever. Rumors like this aren’t important.”
…It’s not a rumor. It’s true.
Hyunseok hesitated, then closed his mouth.
‘Forget it. I don’t care anymore.’
If something came up later, he’d just say he didn’t know. He’d done his part.
As he stood there with a resigned expression, Verze continued.
“This is interesting though. He met the High Priest… Why?”
“We’re investigating, but there aren’t many clues. We suspect it may be related to reclaiming first place in Raven…”
“First in Raven… Come to think of it, Myeolsal also met the High Priest shortly after arriving in Brion.”
At that point, Verze smiled faintly.
“Do you think that’s just a coincidence?”
“……”
Hyunseok didn’t answer, but his blank stare said enough.
“No. It’s not coincidence. There’s a connection. He was the first to achieve S-rank, after all.”
“…Yes. I think so too.”
“Keep a close eye on him, Mr. Hyunseok.”
“Yes. Leave it to me. I’ll find out and make sure we secure him somehow.”
Verze let out a small chuckle at the scout’s enthusiasm.
“Can you? According to this, he’s practically Superman.”
“……”
“Don’t. We don’t even have justification.”
“But public opinion right now—and it was Kaiser who first provoked the top 100 guilds—”
“Mr. Hyunseok.”
“Yes.”
Verze cut him off again and turned his chair toward the window.
The sky reflected in the glass was blue.
“So which guilds have actually made a move?”
“…Didn’t most of them? Including us.”
Watching the white clouds drifting across the blue sky, Verze spoke.
“That’s all a show.”
“…What?”
“If they were serious, they’d have sent assassins, manipulated the media, played dirty. Would things be this quiet? Since when did they like fair play?”
“Why would they go that far—”
Hyunseok swallowed and stopped himself.
Fortunately, Verze answered calmly.
“The importance of guilds.”
In God of Ose, guilds were indispensable.
With a billion players, all kinds of lunatics ran wild. Only NPCs and guilds could control them.
Even in real life, everything started with, “Do you have backing?” Why would a game be any different?
If anything, it was worse.
That was why players cursed guilds but still joined them.
Why star players chose the strongest guilds.
“But Kaiser broke that common sense.”
So he had to fall.
If he succeeded without a guild, people would begin questioning the necessity of guilds.
There would be foolish kids trying to imitate him.
Even a butterfly’s wingbeat could change the world.
Everyone knew not just anyone could do it—but the seed of doubt, once planted, was dangerous.
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t we apply stronger pressure instead of just pretending?”
“First, we give him a chance. Kaiser’s symbolism is worth that much.”
“……”
“If we successfully bring him in, there will be backlash. But the benefits will outweigh it.”
Verze lifted his head slightly and spoke calmly.
“No matter how great you are, you’re still just a latecomer. Realize reality and join hands with us.”
“…Ah.”
“Guilds are corporations. If there’s profit to be made, we maximize it. That’s instinct.”
But that, too, was about to end.
“He’ll realize soon. That this was his last chance.”
Kaiser was currently in Brion.
That was where numerous top-ten guild masters, including Myeolsal, had challenged the throne—and fallen.
In Brion, the Hero Guild was the strongest.
That was Verze’s pride.
‘Even you can’t succeed there.’
It wasn’t baseless confidence.
‘How will you earn the NPCs’ reputation and trust?’
The core of Brion’s graduation quest was reputation.
For a lone tiger surrounded by enemies, it was poison.
In contrast, the self-proclaimed heroic Hero Guild had accumulated more reputation and trust than any other faction.
It wasn’t even a contest.
‘Kaiser, you’ll fall there.’
That was the natural course.
With so much unprecedented attention focused on him, disappointment would spread like wildfire.
‘The higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.’
When that happened, it wouldn’t be too late to move.
For now, he could simply watch the overeager pups snapping at a tiger, dreaming of becoming stars.
There were surely many others thinking the same.
‘This will be entertaining.’
Whether it was a recruitment war—
Or a rookie hunt.
Imagining a future that would not remain quiet, Verze gazed at the sky and smiled.
