The Giant Guild's leader, Kim Donghyun, had bloodshot eyes due to Mido's stab.

“...Keuk. Wait and see.”

Finally, Kim Donghyun disappeared like a collapsing sand castle. One Power Stone fell where he disappeared. Mido quickly picked it up and consumed it.

“Phew,” Mido sighed with relief at the battle that pa.s.sed like a storm. It was such a fierce battle that she didn't even know what happened. Perhaps it was just like a flash of lightning.

Then Eun Jeonghyeok's voice was heard from behind her, “You've worked hard.”

“No, what do you mean by working hard? Oppa, I think you've worked harder?”

Mido looked at Eun Jeonghyeok's b.l.o.o.d.y clothes that appeared after he released the stealth. Eun Jeonghyeok simply shrugged. He packed all his arrows in the quiver and gave a usable one-handed sword to Mido.

“One of the people we fought dropped it.”

“Oh, thank you, Oppa. I will use it well.”

[Well-forged One-handed Sword]

[Rating: Rare

Durability: 89/100

Attack Power: 30

A sharp one-handed iron sword.]

It was a sword with a rare rating. Mido threw the wooden sword in her hand to the ground. She was more familiar with the wooden sword, but this wasn't enough to give up the high attack power of the iron sword.

“I think we need to move,” Eun Jeonghyeok stated while looking around the forest.

The poisonous fog on the beach was covering the forest. In the near future, it would be eroded by the poisonous fog. It was probably the same for the others. In the end, the final place to meet would be the s.p.a.cious basin at the top of Hallasan.

“Do you still have the map?”

“Yes, it's fine,” Mido responded while using a potion to restore her lost health.

“Can you find a shortcut?”

“Leave it to me. I'm a professional at it these days.” 

Mido smiled confidently and drank the potion like it was beer. Eun Jeonghyeok looked at the sunny smile and felt relieved for some reason. It always felt good. Mido's clear smile had the power to make people feel comfortable. This was why Mido was a good match with the other guild members despite being a woman. Well, in fact, she had more of an old man charm.

“Go quickly. The poisonous fog is getting closer.”

“Gasp. Already? Run!”

Mido and Eun Jeonghyeok started to run deep into the island. Eun Jeonghyeok spoke to her as they ran, “We will have to take the shortest route to gain the advantage of the high ground first.”

“Do you think I don't understand? You're talking like I'm someone who has only worked with you once or twice. I'm sad.”

“Haha. Sorry. I'm sorry.”

The two of them smiled and ran to the top of the high Hallasan.

* * *

The sound of branches breaking through the mountains was heard. This person was wearing the typical armor of a paladin. It was white sheet metal with gold paint. However, his greatsword and armor showed signs of a fierce battle.

“Gasp. Where should I go?”

Kim Hyeonu sat on the ground while gasping for breath. The mountain named after Hallasan was steeper than he expected. It was like a labyrinth. In the beginning, Kim Hyeonu thought he just had to go there and endure using heals. He thought it would be easy, but he encountered big trouble. Furthermore, Park Taehyeon, who he met in the middle, stupidly went charging into the enemies alone and eventually died. The enemy team had a priest who could use heals and the others had various a.s.sa.s.sination skills conducive to survival. Therefore, it was very complicated from Kim Hyeonu's point of view.

He managed to escape to Hallasan, but he wondered if he would be caught along the way.

“Most of the guild members are from special forces... it is a complete foul.”

The enemy was a new guild partic.i.p.ating for the first time this year. Kim Hyeonu heard from the news that due to the failure in last year's World Compet.i.tion, the South Korean government made a guild composed of special forces members who had retired from the army. However, it was the first time he had encountered them.

'The name of the guild is Sudden Force...'

It was the name of a FPS game that was popular long ago, but was now ruined. The funny thing was that all the guild members used guns as their primary weapons, just like special mercenaries. They must've come from the Parta Princ.i.p.ality, a sacred place for magic engineering.

“Ugh...”

Kim Hyeonu felt pain from the gunshot wound in his thigh and used divine magic on it. The power of warm mercy gained as a knight of Lupeon permeated his wound and gave him a sense of peace.

[The power of warm mercy is healing your body.]

“Sigh. My magic power is almost exhausted.”

According to the host's explanation, in order to verify the correct usage of skills and physical ability, there were no potions to restore magic power. Therefore, once his magic power ran out, Kim Hyeonu wouldn't be able to endure it any longer.

“I can't find a single box. I'm not very lucky.”

Kim Hyeonu sighed at his bad luck and stood up. The gunshot wound was still present, but it had been slightly healed. He wanted to fully heal the gunshot wound, but unfortunately, the bullet that hit him had the bleeding attribute. Kim Hyeonu dragged his body to the top of Hallasan while confirming his health had started to fall again.

10 minutes pa.s.sed...

“Is this normal?”

Kim Hyeonu managed to reach the top of Hallasan. In fact, it was quite different from Hallasan on Jeju Island because it was a game world. However, it boasted the same excellent scenery. Kim Hyeonu thought that the poisonous fog that was coming like colored clouds looked considerably better than expected.

“You are finally here.”

An eerie, low voice was heard from behind Kim Hyeonu. The sound of branches being stepped on was heard from the front and the side, not the back. Kim Hyeonu looked around and realized he was surrounded.

'I was late...!'

Maybe this was the inevitable result. They were from the special forces so they had the ability to quickly grasp and pa.s.s through this mountain labyrinth. His thoughts were correct.

“You look really surprised. As I said, most of us are veterans from the special forces. It is simple for us to figure out a mountain like this and use a shortcut.”

The guild leader of Sudden Force, Lim Changyong, who had the ID of 'Sky-Dragon', walked slowly while loading the pistol in his hand.

Click.

“Still, you are great. Are you the guild leader of Icarus? I am also a guild leader so I want to imitate that tenacious vitality. I pay tribute to you. Well, perhaps the cla.s.s difference is just too big,” Lim Changyong spoke while pointing the pistol at Kim Hyeonu.

At the same time, the other four Sudden Force members surrounding him also pointed their guns. They all had different guns. What was with the bazooka and sniper rifle...?

'Ah, it is dirty. My end is here.'

Kim Hyeonu closed his eyes with disgust. Lim Changyong also felt that Kim Hyeonu's judgment was correct and nodded. He decided to kill Kim Hyeonu in one blow as a courtesy to the enemy leader.

In the Parta Princ.i.p.ality, gunmen used bullets with different attributes. He was able to inject the 'bleeding' attribute that previously hurt Kim Hyeonu. Soon, the distance between him and Kim Hyeonu was only two meters...

Just then, the familiar sound of arrows entered Kim Hyeonu's ears. He saw the arrows flying with a familiar trajectory and smiled. The speed was like a machine gun.

* * *

It was three minutes before Kim Hyeonu arrived at the summit... At the same time, Mido and Eun Jeonghyeok used a shortcut from a different direction to reach the top of the mountain. Then they carefully examined the basin in the center.

Eun Jeonghyeok had scouted in advance using stealth and noticed the enemies were surrounding a place. The two of them settled in a safe place to prepare for an attack. Now they were watching what was happening in front of them.

“What? Isn't that Hyeonu oppa?”

"Why is that idiot coming out in the middle? Does he seem injured?”

Mido murmured, “It can't be. Then I will go out...”

“Wait. I will be the one to strike first. Run out immediately when I count to three.”

“I know.”

Mido tightly gripped the one-handed sword. Eun Jeonghyeok put an arrow on the bowstring and pulled the bowstring. Then he used the power of the Machine Arrow skill to set the bow.

“Three.”

The arrow surged to the man in front of Kim Hyeonu in a straight trajectory. Eun Jeonghyeok controlled the bow and fired five shots. The other five shots were at the surrounding enemies.

“You counted too quickly!” Mido grumbled as she rushed toward the nearest enemy. Fortunately, there was only one priest in the enemy team. Mido quickly cut the back of the priest who was. .h.i.t by an arrow and then slashed his neck.

“Yes! One kill!”

At the same time, the shouts of guild leader Lim Changyong were heard, “s.h.i.+t. Kill them!”

“Wow, crazy. They are all using guns.”

A chill went down Mido's back as she noticed the bazooka and sniper rifle aimed at her. Kim Hyeonu seized his remaining magic power in order to save her. “Grand Cross.”

The white flames that rose from his greatsword inserted in the ground became a cross and it quickly drew a circle. It was an omni-directional attack skill that burned all beings in range with the power of a divine star.

“Don't touch my guild members.”

“This...!” Lim Changyong fired the gun to stop Kim Hyeonu from activating his skill, but it was too late. The moment he pulled the trigger, the light of Grand Cross filled the area. Unfortunately, Kim Hyeonu died heroically without being able to avoid the fired bullet.

“Hyeonu oppa!” Mido's cry didn't reach through the white flames. Maybe it was because Kim Hyeonu was dead, but the Grand Cross he cast wasn't maintained for long. It only slightly damaged the Sudden Force members and they were still alive.

The wounded Sudden Force members broke through the white flames and aimed their guns at Mido and Eun Jeonghyeok. The sniper rifle of Kim Chul, the vice-leader of Sudden Force, fired a bullet with the piercing attribute that pierced Mido's heart. The reload was slow, but it was a gun with immense destructive power. The attacks of the gunmen from the Parta Princ.i.p.ality might not be as flashy and wide-spread as magic, but in a one-on-one situation, they often exerted great power.

Mido was eliminated without feeling any pain.

Then the bazooka of Park Jangso, which contained the chain attribute, fired at Eun Jeonghyeok's location. It triggered a chain explosion over a huge range. He wasn't the only member of Sudden Force, but he was the only member capable of performing an AoE attack. His nickname was 'Park Jang Great So.'

“Hahaha!”

Park Jangso laughed when he saw Eun Jeonghyeok disappearing without a trace. However, Eun Jeonghyeok hadn't died yet. He was in stealth as he triggered his third and last skill.

“Have you ever been hit by an arrow with the speed of light?”

Just then, light flashed in the sky. Lim Changyong looked shocked when he saw it. “This...!”

“Light Falls.”

A waterfall of light that contained all of Eun Jeonghyeok's magic power poured over Sudden Force. It was a disaster of light.