Chapter 178: Chapter 178

The response came quickly.

“It’s a HoneyTube event!”

“Damn it, Markus, you’re dead now!”

An event with a total of 200,000 gold at stake.

And not just gold, but the anticipation of seeing Honey1, the star of HoneyTube, drew countless users to Rease.

“Where’s Honey1?!”

“Honey1, come out!”

But Honey1 was nowhere to be seen.

“He started the event, so shouldn’t Honey1 be here too?”

“Now’s not the time to find Honey1! We need to hurry and kill the Rogue City leader!”

“But they say we can’t attack NPCs. What should we do?”

The condition for attacking NPCs.

It was when they received a quest.

The users pondered for a moment and then headed straight for the City of Archer.

If this event was a war, the City of Archer would welcome them with open arms.

“You want to help us?”

Dkels, the NPC guarding the city entrance, widened his eyes.

It was no wonder, as over 100 users had already entered the city.

And their reason was all the same: to help the City of Archer.

With Ulox’s execution, people from all cities learned about the atrocities committed by the Rogue City.

The city’s residents were enraged, and they didn’t stop throwing stones until his head was hung on the execution platform.

Even the executioners had to endure the stones, but the enraged people didn’t care and continued to throw them.

‘We need to wipe out those rogues!’

‘Those bastards! How dare they do that to our leader!’

‘Just give us the order! We’ll go and take their heads right now!’

They were ready to attack the Rogue City at any moment.

Altair shared the same sentiment.

But he couldn’t readily give the order.

They were skilled at ambushes.

If they launched a reckless attack, they were likely to be counterattacked.

‘We heard about the war and came to help.’

‘Let’s crush the Rogue City!’

And then, a ray of hope appeared.

Outsiders started showing up one by one, offering their help.

The outsiders in front of him were no different.

‘We used to reject anyone who wasn’t an archer…’

He was ashamed that they had rejected those who stepped up to help in times of crisis.

Even if the leader was asleep and couldn’t wake up, they shouldn’t have done that.

“What was the name of the Rogue City’s leader again…? Was it Markus? Markus, you son of a bitch!”

“Markus, you bastard! How dare you try to rival the City of Archer?!”

“Is this enough proof?”

The users hurled insults at Markus.

“Alright, you may pass.”

Dkels stepped aside and examined each of the outsiders.

NPCs couldn’t know the exact details of the quests the users had received, but they could vaguely grasp them.

These people didn’t seem to have approached the Rogue City separately.

They were indeed here to help the City of Archer.

“Thank you.”

“We’ll do our best to help you achieve victory.”

The verified users, filled with determination, headed towards the Sanctuary where Altair was.

After that, hundreds more users came to the City of Archer.

“There were so many people willing to protect our city.”

Dkels murmured, his face filled with remorse.

***

“Wow… Just one event announcement, and so many people gathered?”

Jeong-Hoon, Ha-Jin, Bong-Goo, and his mother, Lee Na-Yeon, were watching from afar as the users and archers headed towards the Rogue City.

There were a total of four of them.

“It’s no wonder. I put 200,000 gold on the line.”

“200,000… That’s crazy. Where did you get that kind of money? Enhancements?”

Jeong-Hoon shook his head.

“I made a lot of money from enhancements, but this is part of the gold I received from Jae-Hyuk.”

“Wow… Now that I think about it, that’s true.”

Lee Hwa-Rang’s one-year suspension.

It had caused quite a stir in the New World’s South Korean server.

The ranker, who was said to have overwhelming potential, started to drop in rankings as time passed due to the suspension.

And now, he had fallen from the ranks and his name was nowhere to be seen.

Thanks to that, Lee Hwa-Rang was almost forgotten and rarely mentioned these days.

“He shouldn’t have messed with you…”

“How dare he touch my brother. He doesn’t know his place.”

Kim Bong-Goo had already tasted Jeong-Hoon’s wrath.

It was firmly imprinted in his mind that Jeong-Hoon was someone he should never mess with.

That’s why Lee Hwa-Rang seemed so pathetic to him.

A ranker who couldn’t even grasp the situation.

He was nothing more, nothing less.

“Son, what should we do then?”

As soon as the users received the quest from Altair, they started attacking the Rogue City.

The archers followed behind.

Their goal was Markus’s head.

“The Rogue City has probably started moving too.”

It was highly likely that they would send the Shadows to eliminate Altair and Hudin.

He planned to buy some time through the Shadows, reorganize the city, and defend it firmly against the invasion of users and archers.

Then, when night fell, he would counterattack the City of Archer.

“I’ll kill them all!”

Kim Bong-Goo’s face was full of confidence.

Having advanced to the Unique grade Specter in the midst of the conspiracy, he was confident he could win against anyone.

Except for Jeong-Hoon, of course.

“We’ll eliminate the rogues he sends.”

Jeong-Hoon’s goal wasn’t Markus’s head.

It was the box carefully stored in the basement that only he could open.

There was no need to obsess over Markus’s head.

“Yes!”

***

Altair couldn’t hide his joy.

Countless outsiders had come to help the city.

It was all thanks to the outsider named Jeong-Hoon.

‘I gathered the outsiders. It will be much easier to attack the Rogue City.’

‘Is that really true…?’

‘Yes. And I’ll be waiting nearby to eliminate any rogues who try to sneak in.’

He even offered to take care of the rogues approaching the city.

“Thanks to our benefactor, things will be much easier.”

Roscantor, who was assisting Altair, smiled and said.

“Indeed. I never imagined that he would not only save my life but also help us catch the culprit and even assist in the war.”

“…We’ve received far more than we deserve, even with the key.”

“We should give him an additional reward.”

“An additional reward?”

“Yes. If we win this war, I’m thinking of bestowing upon him a treasure that the first leader cherished.”

“The first leader’s treasure?!”

Roscantor’s eyes widened.

What kind of treasure was that?

Although it had lost most of its power and was now downgraded to Legendary grade, it was once a treasure that possessed power beyond that level.

Moreover, it was so difficult to handle that no leader had been able to control it.

And yet, he was considering giving it to an outsider, even if he was their benefactor.

“That’s the least we can do to uphold the honor of our City of Archer.”

He had saved the leader’s life, the City of Archer, and even helped them achieve their revenge.

Altair couldn’t think of any other way to repay his debt.

“As you wish, Leader.”

Roscantor fully supported his decision.

If it weren’t for him, the City of Archer would have faced a grave crisis.

“We’re here to accept the quest!”

More outsiders started pouring in.

“Come this way! I’ll bestow a large amount of experience and rewards upon those who help us in the war.”

Altair smiled brightly and gave quests to each of the outsiders.

***

Nell and the Shadows approached the vicinity of the City of Archer.

“Captain, there are too many outsiders.”

“How did they gather so many people?”

The number of outsiders they had confirmed before sneaking into the City of Archer was at least ten thousand.

They were all here to take the head of Markus, the leader of the Rogue City.

That’s why the Shadows couldn’t afford to be careless.

If they failed to take Altair’s head here, the Rogue City would be overrun in an instant.

Just then.

Fwoosh!

An arrow shot out and pierced the head of a Shadow in the back row.

“Cough!”

The Shadow, struck by the arrow, collapsed on the ground.

It was an instant kill.

“…!”

Nell and the shadows, unfazed, retreated into the surrounding forest.

‘How did they know?’

They were currently invisible, their bodies cloaked in stealth.

How could anyone see through such concealment?

Suddenly, a hundred dark soldiers began to search the area.

‘What are those?’

Could this be the work of the outsiders?

If so, it made sense.

They must have anticipated Nell’s approach to the city.

Nell gestured to the shadows, signaling them.

The plan was to swiftly eliminate these foes and move on.

Shwing!

A dark soldier swung its sword with full force at Nell’s hiding spot.

“…..!”

Nell quickly evaded the attack and shook off the dark soldiers.

***

“Those guys are incredibly fast.”

Ha-Jin let out a brief exclamation of admiration.

To think they’d managed to evade all of the dark soldiers he’d summoned.

Having reached the 3rd Class, he could now summon up to 100 soldiers. Although it consumed a tremendous amount of mana, it was an exceptionally effective skill for overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers.

Furthermore, the dark energy that enveloped the swords of both Ha-Jin and his soldiers was similar to the aura of the Underworld that surrounded Jeong-Hoon. This dark energy had the effect of absorbing a portion of the opponent’s mana with each strike.

This was the reason why the summons could be maintained for a long time despite the immense mana consumption.

Bang!

However, Ha-Jin wasn’t alone.

Taking position, Inayeon precisely hit the right shoulder of a swiftly moving shadow with her sniper rifle.

“Ugh!”

The shadow dropped its dagger and frantically scanned the surroundings.

Observing from the side, Jeong-Hoon tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Mother, why didn’t you go for the kill?”

“I did that on purpose.”

“On purpose?”

“Yes. I can now detect all enemies within 100 meters of the one I just shot. But if the target dies, the skill won’t activate.”

“Wow… really?”

By erasing her own traces with the ‘Trace Block’ skill and using the newly acquired 3rd Class skill ‘Tracking Shot’ to pinpoint the locations of hidden enemies…

‘It’s just insane.’

He was confident that no other sniper could stand a chance against his mother’s overwhelming talent combined with such incredible skills.

Bang! Bang!

His mother pulled the trigger twice in quick succession.

“Cough!”

“Gah!”

Two more shadows had their heads pierced.

Their bodies went limp and collapsed onto the ground.

“Wow….”

Kim Bong-Goo, lying in ambush, couldn’t help but express his amazement as well.

Not only is Jeong-Hoon a monster, but his mother possesses monstrous talent as well.

Kim Bong-Goo vowed to never provoke that family, no matter what.

‘Alright, I’m going too.’

He had become a Specter.

He couldn’t just watch his brothers and mother in action.

His body turned black and slipped into another person’s shadow.

This was a skill only possible for a true Specter, unlike those who merely called themselves shadows.

“There are four targets to eliminate. Don’t let your guard down.”

The owner of the shadow gave orders to the others.

Aha, so this is the leader of these guys?

Kim Bong-Goo gripped his dagger and moved into the leader’s shadow.

Then, he quietly emerged from the shadow and attacked the back of the leader’s head.

He held the dagger in a reverse grip, aiming to pierce the nape of the neck and end the leader’s life in one swift motion, but the leader bent forward, dodging the attack.

“This… this bastard dodged…?”

Kim Bong-Goo was greatly surprised.

He never expected his surprise attack to fail.

“Did you really think you could kill me by coming out so openly?”

Nell straightened up and raised the dagger in his hand.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew from afar.

“Gasp!”

Nell was startled and twisted his body.

Thanks to that, the arrow missed its mark but grazed his left shoulder.

Nell’s expression hardened.

‘My body won’t move! Is it poison?’

He tried to use his skills, but his mana was frozen, unresponsive.

“Looks like I can kill you after all?”

Kim Bong-Goo grinned and slit Nell’s throat.

Nell’s eyes widened, and he died instantly.

Blood gushed from the severed neck, and the stench of blood filled the air.

‘It’s okay… this is just a game… he’s just an NPC.’

Kim Bong-Goo mentally reassured himself, trying to overcome the gruesome scene.

———-