-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Guild Master Isn't Satisfied with Just the Game
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Vipa's NPC hero nurturing system selects exceptional individuals from among the NPCs, subordinates them to players, and raises them as heroes.
Of course, NPCs have their own wills, so recruiting them isn't always easy.
These days, though, it's become a simple matter thanks to Fullminak's widespread fame.
Hero subordination comes in two types: primary and secondary.
The primary subordinator is the true owner, while the secondary is more like a hero-nurturing supporter.
Only the primary subordinator can manipulate the hero's skills.
The secondary subordinator has all permissions except skill control.
They can help with nurturing in exchange for borrowing the hero at will, but summoning usually requires the primary subordinator's approval.
Because the primary subordinator is the hero's true master.
A single player can have up to six NPC heroes as primary subordinations.
But there are no limits on secondary subordinations.
Since all guild members can view hero skills and status, and level them up, S-rank heroes are basically nurtured by the entire guild.
This method of multiple people raising a hero together is called "communal parenting."
In other words, from the guild's perspective, each subordinated NPC hero was a strategic weapon painstakingly raised with immense effort, as well as family.
Though the guys up north in Spaceking treat their NPCs more like slaves.
Phyun Whistle, who had just arrived, gave a proper salute to me and the guild members.
"I've returned from the scene."
Hiron the prince's betrayal.
The sheer absurdity of the situation didn't fully sink in, entirely because Kalli had described it so lightly.
Soon enough, a normal reaction erupted from behind me.
"What the fuck, that ungrateful bastard Hiron!! We busted our asses raising him to S-rank, and he stabs us in the back?!"
"We knew management was shit."
A suddenly chilling voice cut in, and Mino's mouth snapped shut.
[Name] Abyss (lv99)
—Korea Server Ranking 2nd
Affiliation: Fullminak
Position: 1st Army
<
Another guild member, Abyss—who had arrived earlier—glared at Mino, the administrator of Deferonta, then looked at me with poorly concealed displeasure and spoke.
"I tried chasing him down to kill him, but Spaceking's goons were lying in wait."
"You didn't start a fight right before the siege, did you?"
"No. I took out a few, though."
"...."
They fought.
Anyway, he looked fine, so that was good. Surviving and returning in one piece wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for ranking 2nd Abyss.
Enker, whose jaw had dropped at the ridiculous situation, glared at Mino.
The administrator of Deferonta territory was Mino.
"Fuck! That crazy Kim Min-ho bastard!!"
"Uwaaaah! No!! This can't be my reality!!"
"Yeah! This isn't reality, it's a game, you trash-life gamer!! How the hell did you manage Deferonta territory?!!"
An exploded Enker grabbed Mino by the collar and shook him violently.
"So what? It's just one NPC."
Kalli said dismissively.
Of course, Enker's face said he absolutely couldn't brush this off lightly.
"Man! That Hiron prick is so infuriating! Falling for a honey trap and betraying his homeland?! Is he a Trojan prince or something?! No, in that plot, he should be the one seducing the woman, not the other way around!!"
"Maybe it's some gender-reversal thing because our first conquered territory under Mogwonje had that vibe...."
"Shut your trap, you bastard!!"
Enker shook Mino roughly by the collar.
"Sob. My fault. Guild Master-nim must've gotten all her groundwork in Wichen leaked. What do I say in the group chat? I'm gonna get beaten to death by the guild now?"
Mino, collar grabbed, dangled limply and wailed sadly.
I opened the guild chat.
[Taurin: wtf]
[Taurin: why steal Hiron???]
[Taurin: so fucking obvious lololol]
[Samsin: Maybe they're trying to piss us off by poaching our NPC?]
[Samsin: Some high-level psyop or whatever]
[Taurin: got a huge spanking from Speng]
[Gentleman: Speng got spanked]
[Taurin: guild name checks out]
[Samsin: hahaha....]
[Samsin: Or maybe Spaceking didn't see this coming either.....]
[Taurin: lololol if so we're the embarrassed ones]
[Taurin: territory management status?]
[Kim Whale: Mino.... you should've managed Deferonta better.....??]
[Mino: Sorryㅠㅠㅠ Sorryㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Kalli ignored the guild chat sentiment and spoke.
"It's fine, right? Kaisha's faith groundwork isn't new, and Spaceking kills off all the royal NPCs first thing after conquering anyway, so what's changed?"
"...."
"If you're so worried about Wichen's royals, we just conquer Wichen before they do."
I half-listened to Kalli and half-ignored her as I opened the chat window.
[Kaisha: If you conquer Wichen, you're killing all the royals again?]
[Kaisha: Humanely, show some restraint]
[Kaisha: As you know, our empire and Wichen are neighbors with real blood ties]
[Kaisha: My NPCs are crying]
I sent a polite whisper, and Spaceking's guild master replied immediately.
[Dart: Overimmersed otaku bastard]
Crackle.
[Kaisha: You son of a bitch]
I typed double curse words in rage, then just closed the chat.
Sigh.
We'll settle it when the siege starts.
"Kaisha-nim."
Deferonta Empire's Second Prince Valen called to me.
Neatly trimmed black hair with a purple sheen in his alluring red eyes.
Another of my subordinated heroes.
[Deferonta Valen]
Rank: SSS+
Affiliation: Deferonta/Fullminak
Status: Second Prince
Primary Sub: Kaisha (Fullminak)
Secondary Sub: Mino (Fullminak)
[Will you nurture?]
>>[[View Skills]]<[My subordinated hero and Deferonta's second prince, Deferonta Valen, was a tall, handsome NPC popular even within the imperial palace. Heroes tend to become more striking in appearance the more they're nurtured. Thud. Valen dropped to one knee and looked up at me. "I'm sorry for failing to keep Hiron in check. As a member of the imperial family, I take responsibility for this." "It's not your responsibility." Even as I said it was fine, Valen's face showed inner turmoil. I'd often scolded him to treat his imperial siblings equally and get along. Hiron being a bastard born didn't help with the princes' rejection, but truthfully, Hiron wasn't mature enough either, so I could somewhat understand. The problem was that the crown prince—Valen's brother—had tormented Hiron far beyond normal. If anyone should take blame for this mess, it was the crown prince. Enker chimed in. "Right? This is all Kim Min-ho's fault, not Valen's. No way our Deferonta imperial family's golden boy takes responsibility." "Sob. My life is worse than an NPC...." Mino, caught in Enker's headlock, muttered tearfully. I looked at Valen and said. "Don't kneel before a war." At my words, Valen stood straight and gave a short bow. Tap tap. I lightly patted his shoulder. The number of participants for Vipa's sieges is limited. Thus, the guild's elite players and their strongest subordinated NPC heroes join the fray. "Kaisha-nim!!" Then, NPC hero Elfer from the Deferonta forces approached, his long golden hair shimmering brilliantly. My subordinated heroes in Deferonta palace totaled three, including this one. The rest are in other countries. [Elfer] Rank: SSS+ Affiliation: Deferonta/Fullminak Status: Ranger Special: Fairy Forest Survivor Primary Sub: Kaisha (Fullminak) Secondary Sub: Mino (Fullminak) [Will you nurture?]]>[[View Skills]]<<
A fairy-kin with an unreal beauty, golden-haired and blue-eyed handsome man.
His personality's like a golden retriever, so he's a favorite hero of mine, but he'd suffered plenty under that crown prince bastard too.
For reference, the crown prince hit his potential cap at S-rank, so Mino abandoned nurturing him.
Thus, you couldn't just pick any random NPC and easily raise them to triple S-rank hero.
That's why the crown prince had severe inferiority complex toward outstanding heroes.
"Hiron betrayed us, right?!"
Elfer's bright, excited voice silenced the guild members and palace NPCs alike.
Easy there, birdie.
Of course, he was thrilled that the crown prince got screwed.
I called to Elfer.
"Elfer."
"Yes?"
"Test this weapon, analyze it, and submit a report."
"Yes, got it!"
I handed him a junk item and sent him off.
That guy, who bounded away thrilled over one item—that's Deferonta Empire's strongest, the fairy-kin ranger hero even Dart covets.
Kalli asked me.
"So, what're you gonna do?"
"What do you mean, what?"
Hiron's betrayal burned in my gut.
Considering Fullminak's NPC affinity rep we'd built, it was embarrassing, and getting caught red-handed on the Wichen groundwork against Spaceking didn't help.
"I'm going to sleep."
Kalli snickered, arms crossed at my clean, perfect solution.
"As expected of a genius. But not logging out? Where to?"
"Gonna check the grounds first."
I stepped out of the strategy room.
Flutter—
Pushing aside the curtain, the view opened wide.
Standing high in Deferonta's imperial palace, the military empire's, I looked down.
Players and NPC soldiers gathered in the front palace yard for siege prep came into full view.
Above the palace floated the paid item 'White Night.'
Midgard would stay bright as day until the siege ended.
Kalli, who followed, muttered.
"Hard to believe this is the last siege."
"Yeah. Starting from Midgard's boonies, we've taken the whole south and climbed this far."
This siege was the king of kings among the game's veteran oils—players so rotten-ripe they were petroleum grade.
Considering Vipa's lore, maybe king of kings showdown.
Kalli said.
"Thought they'd add a map before Wichen siege, but nope. Hope this isn't really the final one."
"No way. What about lives of game addicts like us?"
Kalli and I laughed.
Plenty of game addicts obsessed with this game, and it was booming online, though server shutdown rumors swirled.
Still, some "what if" buzz.
"If Vipa shuts down, I'll sue the devs in my true game addict name."
"Warning you. Won't clean up the body."
He occasionally dropped scary suicide talk, so I couldn't stay unserious.
Kalli whipped his head up.
"Whoa! No loyalty!"
"That's true loyalty. With Maya here, they'd double-team the nagging."
"He's a normal working adult."
True.
The two game addicts fell solemn.
"...I quit my job."
My bombshell after the silence made Kalli's eyes widen.
Then he burst into delighted laughter.
"Puhahaha—!!"
His booming laugh drew Mino, Enker, and even Abyss trailing out, wondering what was funny.
Enker asked Kalli.
"What's up, bro? Let me laugh too."
"Puhaha! Kaisha quit her job!"
Enker's jaw dropped.
"No way. Classic Guild Master-nim."
"My respected Guild Master-nim, sob sob. Please save me from this demon."
"Piss off! Why would Guild Master-nim save you? Be infinitely grateful she didn't feed you to Abyss, er, I mean hellfire."
As Enker said that, he instinctively glanced at Abyss over there.
Spot-on words, so I nodded.
"But hold off with NPCs around."
"Yep!"
One word, and he withdrew his hand.
Suddenly freed from Enker's persistent headlock, Mino flopped to the ground with a splat.
NPCs below spotted us and started gathering. Soon players waved casually too.
I smiled and waved back.
Waaaaah—!!
The palace NPCs erupted in massive cheers.
I flinched.
"W-What."
"What else? Fullminak's devout followers."
Kalli beside me ventriloquized pleasantly with a fine smile. His waving was generously unlike his usual self.
With siege imminent, Deferonta's NPC soldiers were mustered at max.
Enker and Mino waved too.
Fullminak.
To NPCs, the name of the divine group that conquered all of Midgard's south.
Top in recognition.
While Spaceking boasted massive infamy from the start, our guild had somehow taken the exact opposite path.
Not on purpose, though.
Waaaaaaaah—!!
Kaisha-nim!!
Win this one too!!
"...."
Couldn't feel bad.
Even in this game VR, where else could I get such massive love and respect?
It welled up, making me vow to do better.
"My beloved children, trust only in me. This body will save you from that son of a bitch king."
"Nim, dial back the immersion."
Kalli protested briefly beside me, but I ignored him lightly and bestowed a benevolent mother's smile on the NPCs.
The cheers grew louder.
The peak of happiness.