[General] Chasa: A cloak? Or clothing?
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: A cloak! Did you dye the inner lining Steady Blue?
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
Normally, players who were scattered all over the vast map would sometimes gather in one place, turning it into a social hub for fashion enthusiasts. Occasionally, like now, people would approach to ask for information.
[General] Chasa: This is a custom appearance applied to a crafted item. Aurelis’ Silk Cloak.
[General] Chasa: The dye is Cozy Blue, which was a limited release.
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Ahhh.
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Was it from the Icedonia Continent Discovery Event?
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: No wonder it’s so pretty… T_T
As expected of a dedicated fashion enthusiast, they recognized it instantly. Cozy Blue was an event-exclusive dye given to all players just once, never to be re-released. Because of that, its market price was sky-high.
Sa-yoon himself had no extra stock left, making it an appearance he couldn’t casually swap out. As he wandered around, it wasn’t uncommon for people to ask specifically about his cloak.
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Thank you for letting me know!
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
…Seriously, has he lost his mind?
Every time MangoFlavoredTomato said something, Killer stood next to them and used the sorrowful weeping emote. It was a miracle he hadn’t been muted for spam.
Luckily, the general chat was flooded with messages, drowning out the repeated emote notifications. Most players probably just skipped over them entirely.
Sa-yoon’s eyes darkened.
After toying with him all he wanted, now he was interfering with his conversations too?
[Whisper] Chasa: Hey, aren’t you gonna stop♡♡?
[‘Killer’ offers a Divine Worship gesture toward ‘Chasa.’]
[Whisper] Chasa: You’re giving me a headache. Stop spamming emotes and f*ck off.
Blocking someone meant they could still send whispers, but he wouldn’t receive them. The moment Sa-yoon spoke, Killer immediately responded. Divine Worship was an emote where the character clasped their hands in prayer—usually used when players were desperately begging for something.
[General] Chasa: Sometimes it pops up in the 30-day attendance event ^^
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
So, he made a point of being extra polite. Since he was the only one who had Killer blocked, his general chat messages were still visible to the other player.
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Ahh, got it, haha!
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Chasa, if it’s okay, could we take a commemorative screenshot together?
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: I love the screenshots you upload! ><!!!
[General] Chasa: Of course! Thanks for liking them ^^
[‘Killer’ weeps sorrowfully toward ‘Chasa.’]
With Sa-yoon’s approval, MangoFlavoredTomato, dressed in an orange tulip dress, quickly moved to stand beside him. He adjusted his angle so she could take her screenshot properly—when his phone suddenly buzzed.
Seeing that she wasn’t moving, he picked up his phone.
“Ah, f*ck.”
[Guestbook] Cygnus-Killer: Hyung, please unblock me.
[Guestbook] Cygnus-Killer: Let’s talk.
Now he was blatantly reaching out through a new account. Sa-yoon frowned, tapped his screen, and switched his phone to Do Not Disturb mode before turning his attention back to his monitor.
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: Thank youuu!
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: I’m looking forward to the new Treasure Vault outfits too!
“Ah.”
If today’s siege battle was successful, the War God’s Treasure Vault—a six-player dungeon—would be open starting tomorrow.
And today, Sa-yoon lost his static party.
Which meant that from tomorrow onward, he’d have to find a new party to run it with.
“If you were gonna deceive me, you might as well have done it for two more weeks.”
Why now, of all times? Sa-yoon let out a weary sigh, lamenting how his obsession with fashion items had led him into this mess. Whether they had fooled him today or two weeks later, the outcome was the same.
[Squad] Commander-noise: 5 minutes until start. Everyone, gather up.
And just like that, the siege battle was right around the corner.
As soon as the commander’s message popped up in the center of the screen, the fortress—previously concealed by clouds—came into view in the sky.
Commander messages were visible to everyone on the server unless manually disabled, allowing even unaffiliated players to follow along and move as a coordinated unit.
[The hidden War God’s Treasure Vault has revealed itself.]
Unlike ground battles, aerial combat had its own unique appeal—things like monitoring flight time and managing altitude differences added an extra layer of strategy.
“Hoo…”
Sa-yoon let out a slow breath as he watched the countdown that now dominated the center of his screen.
Last season, he had ranked 10th overall in siege battles.
But with opponents like Killer and Freedeal in the mix this time, there was no doubt his ranking would plummet.
[Combat] In response to the Contractor Chasa’s call, the high-ranking demon Vine has been summoned.
With so many players gathered, the chat scrolled at lightning speed. Glancing between the countdown in general chat and the massive numbers displayed on his screen, Sa-yoon summoned his creature.
Since summons couldn’t be called mid-air, it was more efficient to bring them out on the ground beforehand.
[A mad black steed has been summoned.]
Next, he pulled out his flying mount.
The massive black warhorse perfectly matched Chasa’s dark outfit, making them look like a coordinated pair. Its fiery mane billowed like flames as it snorted and stomped its hooves against the ground.
Out of habit, Sa-yoon disabled his UI and rapidly hit the screenshot button.
[The path to the War God’s Treasure Vault has opened!]
[The siege battle has begun.]
[Squad] Vice Commander-WhiteNoise: GOGOGOGOGOGO
As the system message popped up, a 20-minute timer appeared at the top of the screen, counting down.
At the same time, a single beam of light shot down from the massive floating island above—this was the only entrance to the airborne Treasure Vault. They had to follow that path to gain access.
Names floating in the sky all surged forward at once. Sa-yoon’s black steed let out a loud cry before kicking off the ground.
As he ascended, nymphs rained down from the clouds above. These were Ares’ subordinates.
Despite their delicate fairy-like wings, nymphs were terrifying enemies—just one hit from their spears could carve out a massive chunk of HP.
[‘Mecadonia’ has been slain by an Enraged Nymph.]
[‘Panorama’ has been slain by an Enraged Nymph.]
[‘PatBunYiGeunBon’ has been slain by an Enraged Nymph.]
Nymphs attacked as soon as players entered their aggro range, and they had AoE skills as well.
As a result, the front-line players started dropping like flies.
When the vanguard came to a halt, Sa-yoon, who had been positioned in the middle of the group, naturally found himself at the front. Lowering his altitude, he smoothly took position and began attacking from behind.
In solo play, dying meant getting left behind.
Especially in aerial battles—if you died mid-flight, you had to start from the beginning and fly back up alone. And going up by yourself was no different from being the last person to cross a river infested with crocodiles.
So, survival was the top priority, even if it meant sacrificing some points.
Sa-yoon blended in with the group and focused on attacking the nymphs, making sure to spread out his damage without drawing too much aggro. He would land a couple of hits before switching to a different enemy nearby.
Once he had stacked a sufficient number of debuffs, he closed in on a single target and unleashed his damage.
[You have gained 1,088 points from an Enraged Nymph.]
[You have gained 1,231 points from an Enraged Nymph.]
[You have gained 1,445 points from an Enraged Nymph.]
One by one, the nymphs fell, and the points were racking up nicely.
Did a crit just land?
Curious, Sa-yoon checked his combat log—and let out a low exclamation.
“Holy shit.”
Before the siege started, he had swapped most of his skills in the capital, switching them to AoE attacks.
It was a risky skill tree choice.
AoE skills had the huge advantage of dealing damage to multiple enemies at once, but they also came with a serious drawback—if there was a height difference, the attacks wouldn’t register.
Because of that, he had basically written off any real contribution before landing on the central island.
But when he checked his logs, every nymph within range had taken full damage.
It was like hitting the jackpot.
[Squad] Commander-noise: We’ll start by clearing the Eastern Shrine.
[Squad] Commander-noise: We’ll move clockwise—East, South, West, North—breaking the shrine barriers as we go.
As they continued ascending along the beam of light, the scenery abruptly brightened, signaling a shift in location.
They had reached the upper levels.
The Treasure Vault, which had previously been visible only from below, now stood in full view.
From this point onward, command strategy would be everything.
