A creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a human—whether that could be classified as an animal-type monster was debatable. But if you got targeted by one, there was one thing you had to know: once it picked a prey, it was relentless in pursuit.
“Ah.”
A sigh slipped from slightly parted lips. His only defensive skill was on cooldown. Opting for an offensive skill build to rack up more points had been a mistake.
There was no skill available to block the massive incoming damage.
Dying here meant respawning on the eastern islet and flying back again. The main island offered far more points than the outer islets. While making his way back, he wouldn’t be able to earn points, meaning his chance at the top rankings would be gone.
“I knew my early luck was too good to be true.”
As he resigned himself to his inevitable death, the grotesque hybrid suddenly twisted its head. Then, in an instant, it turned its back on him and took off in pursuit of someone else.
“…What the hell?”
Some generous tanker had drawn the aggro away from Sa-yoon.
[General] Chasa: Thank you.
Was… was his luck actually good?
Still dazed, Sa-yoon sent his thanks into the air. He had no idea who had saved him, but they were bound to be blessed.
Having barely survived by sheer luck, he moved cautiously, and by the time he reached the central area, he had already accumulated a decent amount of points.
After passing a certain section and nearing the gate, monsters stopped appearing. It was a short stretch of straight path. As Sa-yoon ran along with the others, his eyes caught sight of a cloak, stained with dust and monster blood.
“Ah, it got dirty way too fast.”
This damn game. For something that was supposed to be just a game, Divine was weirdly realistic in certain aspects. After every battle, gear appearances became filthy due to a contamination system.
If the contamination gauge maxed out, a message would pop up: ‘Your current armor is too contaminated to wear.’ And then, your armor or weapon would forcibly unequip.
To lower contamination, you could either visit a city to have it cleaned or buy laundry soap items from a shop and wash it yourself. Naturally, the soap was a consumable item. There were all sorts of ways to squeeze gold out of players.
Thanks to this absurd yet innovative system, there had once been a trend of sporting a dust-covered vintage look. While there was still some demand for it, Sa-yoon preferred to keep his gear clean.
He’d have to wash it as soon as he got back. And after that, he’d run Medusa…
“Ah.”
Sa-yoon had lost his fixed duo partner today. He thought he was playing with a naïve, kind-hearted lamb—but that lamb turned out to be a wolf in disguise, wearing the leftover skin of its prey.
That bastard had whined and pestered him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, begging for a precious custom avatar. Then, they toyed with him, slipping in little lies here and there, pretending it was all harmless fun.
—The same person who used to jump in shock at the mere sight of him, spitting curses before blocking him on sight, was now calling, “44, 44,” acting all friendly. They must have laughed so hard at the irony.
“I should’ve known they were being too nice.”
Sa-yoon let out a bitter breath. They had been quick to invite him—a Warlock, one of the most avoided classes—into their party. They even ran Medusa with him regularly. As much as it stung his pride, objectively speaking, a Beast Hunter had willingly brought along a Black Mage.
He had been grateful. So grateful that he cut into his own sleep time to gather rare items like Cataloani and Meroesis—materials frequently needed for daily quests—and sent them over whenever he could. And all of that goodwill had been born out of nothing more than ulterior motives.
“Crazy bastard…”
The worst part? He had actually enjoyed spending time with them. Their temporary nickname had belonged to a skilled player, and their group of friends—though chaotic—were genuinely good people.
That made it hurt even more. Hurt enough that he never wanted to open his friend list again.
Lost in thought, he passed through the outer wall resembling a colosseum. A vast open space stretched out before him.
In the center stood a massive deity, fully armed. They had called this raid the Golden Helmet Siege Battle for a reason. Atop the figure’s blazing red hair sat a golden helmet.
Above it, a crimson name hovered: “War God Ares.”
Sa-yoon locked eyes on his next target, forcing thoughts of the traitor to the back of his mind.
[Squad] Commander-noise: Tanks, go.
[Squad] Commander-noise: Healers, support the aggro holders.
Following the command, the squad’s main tank charged in and landed the first hit on Ares. A new countdown appeared in the upper-left corner.
The time limit for this fight was 25 minutes.
If the difficulty hadn’t been adjusted since last season, they should be able to clear it in about the same time as before.
Sa-yoon’s fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard. This was the first time he had ever reached this point in a siege battle without dying once.
Statistically, his survival rate up to now was about as improbable as getting struck by lightning in real life. He didn’t even need to check the scoreboard to know—
He was setting a new personal record today.
His previous best ranking had been 10th place. No matter how hard he had tried, breaking into the single digits had always been impossible without a party. But today… today, it felt within reach.
The realization made something churn in his stomach. It was that exhilarating rush—the same feeling you got when you were climbing a steep mountain and finally glimpsed the summit.
His fingers tapped lightly against the keyboard. It was too soon to get ahead of himself, but this hope… it wasn’t entirely baseless.
[War God Ares: How dare you covet my treasure vault?!]
[War God Ares: You wretched vermin!]
[War God Ares: No one shall lay their hands on my golden helmet!]
Ares seemed absolutely furious at the swarm of humans charging into his treasure vault like a pack of wild dogs. With every attack, another enraged voice line triggered.
[Squad] Commander-noise: Using a slate.
Sa-yoon’s expression subtly tightened at Noise’s sudden chat message.
Not even specifying which slate? Seriously? This half-assed, careless approach was grating on his nerves today more than usual.
[Effect of the Blue slate: For 10 minutes, maximum HP increases by 5,000, and maximum mana increases by 5,000.]
At the four sanctuaries spread across the outer islets, the commander could obtain various slates.
Blue: Boosts max HP and mana.
Red: Increases attack power.
Green: Grants HP regeneration over time.
Yellow: Generates a shield.
Proper usage of these four slates was a key part of a commander’s skill.
About five minutes into the battle, when Ares’ HP hit the 75% mark, the enraged war god slammed his spear into the ground. Instantly, every player within range was knocked flat.
[War God Ares: Today, I shall claim your pathetic lives!]
[A sinister aura gathers around War God Ares.]
A casting bar appeared below Ares’ HP gauge. The skill name: “Wrath of the Gods.”
It was the signature instant-kill ability that all siege war deities used once they dropped to 75% HP.
[Squad] Commander-noise: slate.
Once again, no clarification. But anyone with a brain knew this was the moment to use the Yellow slate for a shield.
Sa-yoon focused purely on offense, trusting that the defense would be handled properly.
But even as the casting bar reached its end, the shield never appeared.
“What the hell? Why isn’t it up?”
A bug?
[‘noise’ has died.]
[Squad] Commander-noise: ♡♡
“…Ah.”
Terrible timing.
Of all people, Noise—the one responsible for using the slate—had died right before activating it.
As Sa-yoon scrambled to retreat, Ares’ instant-kill ability crashed down.
[You have been hit by Wrath of the Gods.]
[Demonic Deception has activated.]
[High-ranking demon Vine returns to hell.]
Different commanders had different strategies, but blocking the instant-kill attack with the shield slate was practically a set formula.
Since everyone had relied on that standard play, most of the raid party was wiped out. Death notifications flooded the chat.
[‘Shokrates’ has died.]
[‘MooniMooniMoo’ has died.]
[‘MangoFlavoredTomato’ has died.]
[‘CocoaAttaLet’sGo’ has died.]
[General] Leonardo: Wtf? Why did I die?
[General] MangoFlavoredTomato: ?
[General] Leonardo: Is this some b1tch-ass bug?
[General] MooniMooniMoo: What killed the commander?
[General] Shokrates: Commander, did you fall asleep with your eyes open?
[General] DragonMountainFireFist: Siege is f*cked, lmaoooooo.
[Squad] Vice Commander-WhiteNoise: Commander got hit by divine punishment.
[Squad] Vice Commander-WhiteNoise: Those still alive, keep dealing.
[General] BlackPropaganda: Ah, divine punishment, f*ck this trash game~~
[General] BornToHunt: Nothing you can do about divine punishment, sigh.
[General] RedAlert: Lightning mechanic is absolute garbage.
[General] Shokrates: Our lightning is a good lightning, okay?
The players lying dead on the ground took a moment to process what had happened before breaking out into complaints. But the outrage didn’t last long.
Those who had died had to resurrect and rush back to the battlefield, while those still standing had to compensate for the missing damage.
Sa-yoon, however, only furrowed his brows slightly.
“The timing was already off from the start.”
Even if the commander was doomed to die, they could’ve at least activated the slate in time to deploy the shield. No—if the shield had gone up properly, they wouldn’t have died to divine punishment in the first place.
Mistakes happen. That much was understandable. Even manipulating guild members to control public opinion after messing up? That was just politics.
The real problem was that Cygnus was a sparsely populated, backwater server. Time wasn’t on their side.
Considering that, the missing shield had been a critical error. Even at a glance, the battlefield felt noticeably emptier than before.
Sa-yoon quickly checked the remaining time. 17 minutes left. Ares’ HP was still at 66%. If they had been dealing damage at the expected pace, it should have been 61% by now.
A 5% damage loss.
“Cutting it close.”
This was his first real chance at securing a single-digit ranking in a siege battle. But if they failed the raid, it would all be for nothing.
In war, the defeated claim no spoils.
A sliver of impatience crawled up his spine. Without realizing it, he flicked his tongue over his lower lip.
