SSG 223

by Cristae

Episode 223

“Mordin?”

The first to react was Mad Hammer. The person he considered his rival, along with Willy, was Yuseong—though others would just laugh at that. Naturally, Mad Hammer had been diligently collecting information on Yuseong.

It wasn’t hard. Yuseong’s exploits were so famous. Of course, every time he gathered more info, it made Mad Hammer’s blood boil.

Because of that, there’s no way Mad Hammer didn’t know that Yuseong had claimed the new city called Mordin—a city far larger than any other.

“Mordin, huh….”

“That’s the one, right? The city Yuseong recently took over.”

“Yeah. I heard that city brings in huge profits. Its population and military can’t even be compared to the other cities. If we could take that city, we’d have the upper hand over the Python faction.”

“That’s true.”

“Idiot. And just how do you plan to take Mordin?”

It was Asclepius, sounding like he wanted to cut down the idea. Unlike earlier when he was conducting the meeting, this time he didn’t bother with politeness, making it even clearer how much he looked down on everyone.

He fixed the suggester with a look full of contempt.

“Mordin is a huge city, just like you said. The military strength is also enormous. Of course, the difficulty of conquering it is on a completely different level than other cities. Not to mention, Yuseong has the Wild Ones behind him. Shockingly, those maniacs each own a city. And you want us to go up against those guys?”

“Since when were we a guild that’s afraid of the Wild Ones?”

“Did you forget so soon that this meeting is about surpassing the Python faction? If we go up against the Wild Ones as a group under the C.O.T.S banner alongside those guys, sure, we’ll really outdo them, won’t we?”

“Then why don’t you come up with a plan, idiot!”

“What? You bastard!”

As another argument was about to break out, Apollon slammed the table. At his warning, the two stopped at once, glared at each other fiercely, then turned away.

“I think attacking Mordin is something worth considering.”

That’s when Mad Hammer chimed in.

“What, feeling competitive again because it’s Yuseong? Get a grip. No one else thinks you and Yuseong are rivals.”

‘I swear, I’ll make that bastard quit the game!’

But again, Mad Hammer forced himself to suppress his fury.

“Is there any other way to stop the Python guys right now?”

“So come up with another plan—!”

“If I had one, I’d have suggested it right away!”

“……!”

When Mad Hammer shouted, Asclepius blinked in surprise. Then, his face twisted in anger.

“You little—!”

“Right now, Mordin’s our most realistic option.”

Regardless of Asclepius’ anger, Mad Hammer addressed Apollon.

“To be honest, it’s questionable whether the other small-scale ideas would even work. And even if we succeed, the Python side can just easily copy them. The only way to clearly create a difference now is to seize Mordin.”

“Hm.”

Apollon didn’t say much. But Mad Hammer could tell he was wavering.

Otherwise, a string of curses would already have flown his way.

“Instead of wasting time looking for uncertain options, we should focus on a concrete plan to capture Mordin. It’s clear we’re at a disadvantage now, and to overturn things, we have to take some risks.”

“You don’t have to listen to him. Conquering Mordin with our current strength is pure fantasy!”

Asclepius hurriedly put forth his own opinion. But his argument seemed driven more by emotion than by logic.

“You lot,”

Apollon spoke up.

“Keep looking for another plan.”

Was he siding with Asclepius after all? Asclepius looked triumphantly at Mad Hammer.

But only for a moment.

“Until tomorrow. If we don’t come up with a good solution by tomorrow, we’ll plan an attack on Mordin.”

“Ye, yes? But Lord Apollon! That—!”

“I’ve given my orders, Asclepius.”

Asclepius shut his mouth at once. This time, the tables were turned; he lowered his gaze.

But unlike Asclepius, Mad Hammer didn’t act haughty.

His ambition and pride were too great to be happy just because Apollon sided with him for once. And at that moment, someone like Asclepius didn’t even register to him.

Only one person filled his thoughts.

The man who’d shredded his pride to pieces.

‘If we really do go after Mordin, this time I’ll crush that guy for sure!’

Thinking of Yuseong, Mad Hammer made that vow.

A notice popped up in Ark.

Just like any other announcement in Ark, it immediately got the players’ attention.

-See the notice?-

-Yeah, I saw it-

-They’re finally adding it-

This was a feature that could completely shake up Ark’s faction balance, but players weren’t all that shocked. Ever since players had been allowed to own cities, they’d more or less expected this.

-Since when does a Korean-made MMORPG let players own cities but not add war content?—Who’d believe that—But just because they weren’t surprised didn’t mean they weren’t excited.

-So we can take over cities now?-

-I was already annoyed by small fry guilds boasting about owning a city—Gotta look into this right away—Players were filled with anticipation.

But there were those waiting coldly for this situation, too.

“Ready?”

“All set.”

“You included every element mentioned in this update notice, right?”

“Of course. Every detail is finalized. If this works, we’ll lead C.O.T.S for sure.”

“Good.”

Apollon smiled as he heard the report. A nasty, sinister grin.

“Dragging this out won’t do us any good. As soon as war content is added, we’re going after Mordin.”

“The Wild Ones probably have no idea they’ll be attacked right when the content goes live.”

“Even if they do, it doesn’t matter.”

“They won’t be able to stop it even if they know. On the day it launches, Vice-Guildmaster, you’ll take Mordin. And the world will know who the true master of C.O.T.S. is.”

The day war content was added. Yuseong was looking down on the city from the top of Mordin’s tower.

The tower was now fully repaired. The city view from up here was quite beautiful, so Yuseong often came to the rooftop to look out.

Since it was a facility responsible for teleportation—a critical function—the tower itself and even the area around it were all designated off-limits. So, this view was pretty much Yuseong’s private scenery.

But today, he wasn’t up here to admire the view.

‘About five minutes left?’

He was waiting for war content to go live.

Yuseong checked his gear one last time. Everything was in place, and he looked out beyond the city wall.

The time came.

A notice appeared to Ark’s players that the content had launched.

At the same moment, Yuseong began to see blue lights dot his vision.

That was the sign of teleportation.

Since a lot of players traveled through Mordin, this wasn’t strange—except for one thing. This time, the blue lights looked very different from usual teleports.

The teleport effects were appearing outside the walls, not inside. And at massive scale.

‘They’ve come.’

Yuseong turned and started down from the tower.

Suddenly, the city’s bells began to ring out madly.

It was war.

“What’s this?”

“You got the notice too?”

Players in Mordin were thrown into confusion. It hadn’t been that long since the message that the war content was live—five minutes, at most.

But another notice from Utopia arrived.

This one was much more serious.

[Mordin has received a declaration of war. In ten minutes, Mordin will become a battlefield. All players in and around the city will automatically be teleported to another city in ten minutes, so please be aware.]

“A war?”

“Already?”

“It’s barely been any time since the content launched!”

Players panicked at the sudden situation.

“So what happens to our plans for today?”

“Who cares about plans in a war. Today’s pretty much screwed.”

“Damn it! Talk about unlucky. So if we wait here, we’re just teleported out? But to where?”

“The notice says you get teleported randomly to a city you’ve visited. So if you want to go somewhere specific, teleport now.”

“Let’s go. Rather choose for ourselves than get moved randomly.”

“But can’t we watch the war?”

“Nope. The notice says anyone not involved in the war will be teleported, no exceptions.”

“Meh, that’s a shame.”

“So who was it? Which guild declared? No way Yuseong and the Wild Ones are an easy target. I saw the light outside the wall, but the gates closed and I couldn’t see who it was.”

“It must be a big guild. Only they’d try something like this.”

“Anyway, let’s get going. We can check the results later.”

“Someone will upload a video anyway, right?”

“For sure.”

Just like that, the players in Mordin teleported away one after another. By a minute before the war started, there wasn’t a single unrelated player inside or outside the city.

Rumble!

Mordin’s troops moved to fill the space vacated by departing players. They hurried up onto the walls to make ready for war.

Yuseong was among them. Up on the wall, he glared at the enemies outside.

Click!

His rifle made a chilling sound as he loaded a round.

“Has everyone moved?”

“Yes!”

At Asclepius’ response, Apollon nodded.

He surveyed the forces assembled to attack Mordin.

It was magnificent.

To take Mordin, he’d brought almost all his NPC military forces—leaving only the minimum required for his other cities. And all the C.O.T.S. players, too.

Just looking at it made his ambition swell.

“Apollon.”

As he was admiring his army, someone called him. Apollon’s eyes twitched slightly at being interrupted, but he couldn’t snap at the speaker like he could at his underlings.

This was not a subordinate.

“How’s the preparation?”

“Perfect.”

“I’m relieved to hear it.”

The mage with the ornate staff replied.

His character name was Vesuvius, and he was the guildmaster of Calamity. Though not as massive as C.O.T.S., Calamity was still a considerable guild.

At least, its influence roughly matched that of Apollon’s supporters.

Not just Calamity. Three more players approached them, all leading their own guilds.

To attack Mordin, Apollon had chosen to form an alliance with other guilds.