Chapter 32. The Price of being touched
“Damn it!!”
Bang!
Brandy slammed the desk with both fists, rage flaring in his eyes.
In that instant, literal flames burst from his pupils.
Seeing this, Bianca cried out in panic.
“Sir Brandy! Turn off your skill! You’re going to set it on fire again!”
“……!!”
At her words, Brandy snapped out of it and hurriedly canceled the activation.
[Skill ‘Eyes of Fire Lv.6’ has been canceled.]
“Eyes of Fire.”
A skill unique to Brandy—just as the name implied, it allowed him to shoot fire from his eyes.
Bianca sighed deeply.
“Seriously… be careful. Did you forget you burned down our last hideout because of that skill?”
“Yeah… right.”
Brandy closed his eyes tightly. His head throbbed.
“Who the hell were those NPCs? Did you find out?”
“Somewhat. Those knights appear to be under Lord Regrian Lurian.”
“Regrian estate… that’s the second village, isn’t it? Why would their knights come all the way here?”
It made no sense.
Knights never left their assigned domains without reason—certainly not to meddle with players like them.
“I couldn’t find out why. It’s hard to make contact with noble NPCs…”
“Hmm…”
“Maybe someone tipped them off ahead of time?”
“Tipped them off? Who?”
“The guild backing that player. They probably knew we’d make a move and acted first.”
Bianca’s words weren’t baseless.
To mobilize a noble’s knights wasn’t something ordinary NPCs or players could do.
“If they can move knights of a noble… then that guild’s way bigger than we thought.”
Brandy’s fingers tapped on the table. Tap, tap…
Things were turning for the worse.
In this situation, poking around that village any further could anger the noble NPCs—and that would be disastrous.
“We have no choice. We’re pulling out.”
“Really? But we’ve already invested so much time…”
“Forget it. You know what happens if we offend a noble NPC.”
“…Right. What a waste… Fine. I’ll inform the members.”
“Do that.”
Brandy thought the matter was settled.
He was wrong.
“Sir Brandy… there’s a noble’s knight here to see you.”
“What? Why would a knight NPC—wait, is it a quest?”
“……”
“Then what is it? Spit it out!”
Bianca winced before forcing the words out.
“…He told us to vacate the premises.”
“…What?”
Thud, thud—
Each step of the armored boots shook the ground.
A knight entered the room, steel mask gleaming and a noble crest emblazoned on his shoulder.
“Is this the base of the Red Storm Guild?”
“You’re… a noble’s knight?”
“Answer me. You’ve trespassed into noble territory without permission and instigated conflict between users.”
“Wait, wait! We were just—”
“By order of the noble house, this building is hereby seized.”
“…What?”
“You have three minutes to clear out.”
The knight’s eyes were cold and resolute.
Brandy’s jaw tightened.
He couldn’t even find the breath to curse.
A Few Hours Later
The Red Storm Guild had been forcibly evicted by the knights.
Not long after, a video appeared on the Illusion community forums.
It showed Captain Hansel of the Village Guard standing alone before the Red Storm Guild’s base, blocking them.
–Wow… that’s badass lol
–He’s standing there alone against a whole guild? That’s cinematic.
–Look at those muscles. Guy’s gotta bench 500 easy.
└Forget benching—look at those abs, man… unreal.
└That back muscle definition though. How is he even human? And he’s just a guard captain??
└PTSD incoming for Brandy, lol.
[“You think you can handle us alone? Look at our numbers!”]
[“Whether I can or not doesn’t matter. As captain of the guard, it’s my duty to protect this village from scum like you.”]
–Now that’s romance.
└Gotta admit, that line was cool af.
–They say men speak with their backs, and his back just screamed poetry.
└Even Brandy couldn’t overpower that? Respect.
The video cut to the moment when the knights arrived, driving Red Storm out completely.
The comments exploded.
–Yo, those knights look amazing!
–LOL justice served!
–So satisfying watching Red Storm get wrecked hahahaha!
–Finally, karma!
└Agreed. They killed me once in PvP, this feels therapeutic.
–Toxic guild: deleted.
–Brandy’s face tho lmao “uh oh” 😂
Red Storm had long been infamous—a toxic guild feared across servers.
There was even an online café, “Repisa”, made up of their victims—over twenty thousand members strong.
└Got PKed while farming mobs TT
└They ambush you near their base for no reason; psychos.
└Did those guys even aim at the daughter?;
So seeing them humiliated like this?
Pure catharsis.
–Brandy’s base got seized lol (video attached)
–Absolute justice. Felt like getting a refund for all my suffering.
–Captain Hansel is my hero TT
–Upvotes x7777
–Please someone make a meme of that scene!
–Brandy: “I’m not mad, just disappointed.jpg”
–Uninstalling Repisa after three years, I can finally rest TT
–Breaking News! “Guard Captain Hansel’s fan café surpasses 3,000 members in 10 minutes.”
└Why are all the usernames like ‘BackMuscleRipper123’ 😂
└Those muscles saved us.
└Even gym forums are flooding in lmao.
Soon, people began to question something.
–Wait, what kind of village gets protected by noble knights??
–Look at the number of troops. That’s practically an entire knight order!
└Those eyes tho… terrifying.
–Why are they protecting that place?
└Maybe the player who owns that village is close to a noble NPC?
└Can regular players even befriend nobles?? They’re all arrogant as hell.
└Nah, no way a solo player owns that. Gotta be a big guild.
Most assumed Aren’s village was backed by a powerful guild.
After all, no ordinary player could command knights—
or request aid from noble NPCs.
‘That’s… not exactly wrong,’
Arèn chuckled to himself as he scrolled through the comments.
The misunderstanding amused him, but he had no reason to correct it.
–Guess no one’s touching that village now, lol
–Yup. Our guild dropped our plans too.
└Same here.
└Pretty sure everyone else did too. Who’d risk angering whoever’s behind that?
–Breaking: Red Storm officially evicted from their base!
└Is this real?
└[Link attached]
└Holy crap, confirmed. They actually got thrown out LOL
–No one’s touching that village ever again 😂
Exactly.
Because of that misconception, everyone believed a powerful guild stood behind him—
and began backing off, one by one.
‘I hope they keep thinking that way.’
For now, it was perfect.
Arèn didn’t have the strength to defend the village yet.
‘This’ll buy me time. Time to get strong enough that no one dares touch me.’
“Status window!”
[Status Window]
Name: Aren
Level: 40 (EXP: 15.35%)
Class: Carpenter of the Stars
HP: 3,300 / 3,300
MP: 1,300 / 1,300Strength: 32 +7
Vitality: 28 +5
Agility: 11 +3
Wisdom: 10 +3Special Stat – Dexterity: 167 +61
Points remaining: 5
He had gained three levels from recent quests.
‘Right, I never allocated my points after leveling up.’
He dumped them all into Dexterity and closed the window.
Then he opened his bag to check his quest reward.
[Blueprint: Wooden Palisade]
Grade: D
Description: Allows construction of a wooden defensive wall.
Requirement: Carpenter-related class only.
“Oh, that’s a palisade blueprint, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Palisades are vital for a village’s defenses. It may be peaceful now, but danger always comes eventually.”
Alfredo nodded sagely.
“With this, we can protect the village much more safely.”
Ding!
[New Quest: Construct a Palisade]
Grade: D
Description: Build a wooden palisade to protect the village.
Reward: EXP, increased resident satisfaction, reduced discontent.
Failure: Increased chance of monster raids.
[Accept?]
Naturally, Arèn accepted.
[Quest accepted.]
‘But first… let’s build a lumber mill.’
“Yes, sir.”
He picked a location slightly outside the village.
‘No way I’m putting it inside—too noisy. The complaints would never stop.’
He remembered his father struggling with constant noise complaints at his old workshop.
Even the sound of a saw could make someone file a report.
‘One guy even complained about ambulance sirens… unbelievable.’
When that man finally moved away, his father could finally breathe.
“Here. This should work.”
“Agreed.”
[Used: Miniature for Lumber Mill Construction]
[Select construction site.]
Once Arèn confirmed the spot, a glowing outline appeared where the building would stand.
He opened his bag and pulled out the materials—discounted thanks to his title.
“All right, let’s start. We’ll prep the materials first.”
Alfredo stared, bewildered.
“Sir… sometimes I think you forget I’m a butler.”
“I know you are.”
“……”
“Then stop whining and get to work. We’ve got a mountain to build.”
“…Fine…”
His rebellion died before it began.
A Few Days Later
Building the lumber mill took longer than expected.
Real life work—and overtime—kept dragging Arèn down.
‘Damn that Manager Lee… dumping work on me again. Overtime, seriously…’
If not for that, it would’ve been done days ago.
Clack, clack.
Arèn sighed, but kept hammering the final wall in place.
“Once the gate’s up, it’s done.”
“Finally… it’s over.”
Ding!
[Lumber Mill Construction Complete.]
[You followed all design guidelines perfectly.]
[Building Quality +10%]
[Material Durability +10%]
[Maintenance Cost –5%]
[Skill EXP increased: Hand of Stars, Architecture of Stars, Design of Stars, Understanding of Stars.]
[Level Up!]
[Strength +2, Vitality +2, Dexterity +5]
He looked at the finished lumber mill and smiled.
It had been exhausting—logging in after work, pushing through fatigue—
but completely worth it.
‘This is… fun.’
It really was.
No relying on automated skills—just pure craftsmanship.
Shaping, polishing, fitting every beam himself.
Watching a structure take form under his hands—it was addictive.
“That was hard work, though. Especially hauling those logs…”
Alfredo stretched his aching back.
Uncut timber couldn’t be stored in the inventory, so they had to carry each log manually.
“Good job.”
Still, Arèn knew they needed a better system.
Then—
Ding!
[Achievement Unlocked: Self-Sufficient Carpenter]
[You’ve successfully built a Lumber Mill to harvest your own wood.]
[Special Reward Granted: Lumberjack’s Bag.]
“Huh?”
He blinked.
A new item?
“Let’s see what it—”
Before he could finish:
[‘Carpenter of the Stars’ Trait Activated.]
[Item adjusted to match profession traits.]
[Lumberjack’s Bag → Starry Bag.]
“Wait… what?”
The bag shimmered, transforming into something radiant.
Arèn opened the details—and his eyes widened.
“This… is broken.”
