Chapter 184: Chapter 184

The monthly Siege War.

The Siege War proceeds in a very simple manner.

The guild that conquered the castle in the previous Siege War defends it, and the guilds that failed to conquer the castle must attack and occupy it.

The defense is at an overwhelming disadvantage here, because they have to defend against multiple guilds aiming for the castle.

Ho-Yeong conquered 3 castles in the previous Siege War.

The final result was 2nd place.

1st place went to Dogjeon, led by Min Jin-Ho.

Before that, Myth used to take 1st place like it was nothing, but after losing 3 castles, they recorded 3rd place.

Among them, the largest castle was taken by Ho-Yeong.

So Myth must have been grinding their teeth in preparation.

[You achieved 2nd place in the previous Siege War.]

[Bonus buffs will be granted.]

[Please select the desired buff.]

As Jeong-Hoon entered the field, a list of buffs unfolded before his eyes.

[Defense and HP increase]

[Resource acquisition speed increase]

[Attack power and critical hit chance increase]

[Slight increase in detailed stats]

[Skill cooldown reduction (2%)]

[Recovery increase]

‘Attack power increase would be good.’

Jeong-Hoon chose firepower without hesitation.

“We absolutely must defend this castle.”

Yeo Min-Ji quickly briefed them.

The most important castle among those Ho-Yeong conquered.

It is the centrally located castle taken from Myth.

If this castle falls, it will have a tremendous impact on the final result.

The other 2 castles are relatively less important, so not many are aiming for them, but this castle is a tempting target that even named guilds covet.

“Then, shall we defend this castle here?”

“Yes. We will send 30 people to each of the other castles and deploy 140 people to this castle.”

140 people were deployed to defend the castle at all costs.

That was 70% of the total number of people.

[Please select options for defense.]

From now on, Yeo Sunwoo will make the settings.

You can’t defend the castle with nothing.

So, from strengthening the walls to installing transparent barriers in front of them.

You can receive and deploy additional NPC soldiers, which can be used for defense during the Siege War.

Also, there’s a defense-only skill granted only to guild members who own the castle.

This skill can only be activated when defending the castle.

“You can take out your equipment here.”

All the equipment provided was of Unique grade.

They didn’t have special abilities, but the weapons ignored a certain amount of the opponent’s defense and provided additional attack power when attacking users.

Similarly, the armor had options to reduce damage and further increase defense.

Usually, the equipment consists of Rare to Epic grades, but as expected of a named guild, the equipment is of Unique grade.

“What weapon are you going to take?”

Yeo Min-Ji asked.

“I’ll take a sword and a bow.”

Jeong-Hoon took a sword and a bow.

***

Myth Guild.

Led by Sa Jae-Hyeok, the Myth Guild gnashed their teeth as they looked at the castle Ho-Yeong had conquered.

“We must conquer that castle.”

“Yes.”

Ho-Yeong had conquered a total of three castles.

However, the other two were just a bonus, the main game was the large castle located in the center.

Originally, Myth had successfully defended that large castle countless times, but in the previous Siege War, they failed to stop Ho-Yeong’s advance and lost it.

As a result, they suffered the humiliation of dropping from 1st place to 3rd.

That’s why Myth was grinding their teeth now.

To bring down Ho-Yeong, who was in 2nd place, not Dogjeon, who was in 1st.

“When I think about what I suffered because of Ho-Yeong… Ugh.”

1 million gold was lost in a flash, and Lee Hwa-Rang, who was a ranker, had long been pushed back due to continuous suspensions.

So, they were determined to conquer that castle.

The time limit for the Siege War was 3 hours.

If they failed to conquer it within 3 hours, Ho-Yeong would succeed in defending it and gain a massive amount of points.

“Guild Master, preparations are complete.”

“Let’s go.”

Myth moved at Sa Jae-Hyeok’s command.

The only way to conquer the castle was a direct attack.

Even if they wanted to attack from the rear, the vast plains surrounding the castle made it impossible to choose any path without being detected.

In other words, it was a battle of firepower.

A maximum of 200 people.

Composed of elite members, Ho-Yeong would surely fall.

“It’s Myth…”

“Are they coming here?”

The Sylphid Guild was watching Myth’s movements from inside the castle.

They were close enough to engage in battle if necessary.

However, Myth disappeared without even glancing at their castle, as if they had no interest in it.

“What? Why are they just leaving?”

Han Ji-Ye, the Sylphid Guild Master, tilted her head in confusion.

Myth, who had their 1st place taken away in the last month’s Siege War.

So they would try to secure as many castles as possible.

Why were they just passing by this castle?

“It seems they’re targeting Ho-Yeong.”

“From the beginning…?”

“It seems they want to push Ho-Yeong out and secure 1st place for sure.”

Once a conquest is made, reconquest in that Siege War is impossible.

Myth’s plan was to conquer Ho-Yeong’s castle first and then slowly expand their reach.

“The Black Moon guys are coming!”

This was not the time to be thinking about Myth.

Black Moon was swarming towards the castle occupied by Sylphid.

They were a guild with a similar ranking to Sylphid.

Not only that.

“The Red Foxes are coming too!”

Similarly, the Red Foxes, who were of a similar rank.

In an instant, two guilds took charge of the east and west and began to break down the walls.

“Stop them!”

The Siege War began.

Myth passed by all the castles under attack and arrived at the castle Ho-Yeong had seized.

And that’s when it happened.

“Pyororong!”

With a strange voice, an NPC appeared in mid-air.

===

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Ling Ling

-Level: 700

-Occupation: Event NPC

===

Event NPC Ling Ling.

Sa Jae-Hyeok, who was about to charge towards the castle Ho-Yeong had seized, raised his hand to stop.

“What’s this…?”

Sa Jae-Hyeok tilted his head in confusion.

Event NPCs don’t usually appear, they only appear during events.

So why did an NPC appear in the monthly Siege War?

“Is it a surprise event?”

If so, it made sense.

Ling Ling looked down at the bewildered users and grinned.

“Surprised, aren’t you? I was also surprised to appear like this!”

“…”

The users looked at Ling Ling without saying a word.

As a result, the Siege War was momentarily halted.

“You must be wondering why I appeared. Actually, I was planning another event, but… well, there’s no need for that anymore.”

“Huh…?”

“What’s she talking about?”

The users started murmuring.

“So, I was thinking… I’d like to give some penalties.”

“Penalties?”

“That’s right! I actually wanted to give penalties a few times… but unfortunately, it didn’t work out, so this time I’m going to impose them forcibly.”

“…”

“What do you think?”

Ling Ling grinned, looking at a certain place.

It was the castle that Ho-Yeong’s guild had seized.

***

[What’s she talking about?]

‘Penalties? Master, do you know what that means?’

Jeong-Hoon couldn’t say anything in response to Mukho and Anima’s questions.

‘There’s still some time before the 3rd Cataclysm begins.’

If it were before his regression, this Siege War would end, and about 3 weeks later, an event would be held.

That was the final chaos, the 3rd Cataclysm.

‘The future has changed…’

For some reason, Ling Ling, who shouldn’t have appeared in the Siege War, did, and she announced that she had canceled the event she was planning.

‘…Is it because I prevented the chaos?’

Originally, the 1st and 2nd Cataclysms should have brought chaos to Earth.

However, peace was maintained as Jeong-Hoon successfully completed the events with absurd difficulty levels.

History has been repeatedly twisted, so the ones above must have started to move.

I had forgotten for a moment, as things had been going smoothly according to plan until now.

That their whims are beyond imagination.

“Well then, shall we have a little chat?”

Ling Ling snapped her fingers.

Then, his vision went dark, and a white wall appeared.

‘Where is this?’

It was a familiar space.

It was the white room where he had talked with Ling Ling before moving to the event location.

“Long time no see!”

Ling Ling greeted Jeong-Hoon with a grin.

“…What have you done?”

“Ah, it’s okay. The Siege War will continue as it is. Of course, you’ll be unconscious for a while.”

“Unconscious…?”

“That’s right. In other words, this is your dream.”

Jeong-Hoon’s eyes narrowed.

“…Why did you bring me here?”

“What else? I wanted to have one last bet with you before the penalty is given, so I forced myself to appear.”

So, she interfered with the Siege War because she wanted to make a bet?

“One last bet?”

“That’s right! Make your guild number one in this Siege War.”

“…”

Jeong-Hoon stared at Ling Ling without saying a word.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m also taking a risk by making this bet.”

“Risk?”

“That’s right. Actually, they said they’re going to impose a penalty on Earth without warning. But I can’t just stand by and watch.”

Jeong-Hoon let out a hollow laugh, as if he couldn’t believe it.

‘You’re going to give the final chaos in this way?’

That couldn’t be allowed.

“If we take first place, remove the penalty.”

“Hmm… that’s a bit difficult.”

“Then I won’t do it.”

Jeong-Hoon turned around.

Ling Ling hurriedly waved her hands.

“Wait! Hear me out till the end. If you take first place, I’ll fill up all of your Heavenly Energy.”

“Heavenly Energy?”

Jeong-Hoon’s eyes widened.

100% Heavenly Energy.

It was the first condition to advance to the next level after Legendary.

The amount of energy Jeong-Hoon currently had was 25%.

She was saying she would make that Heavenly Energy 100%.

“So, what do you say? Will you try?”

“No.”

“Why?!”

“Add to the terms. An overwhelming first place.”

“An overwhelming first place?”

“Yes. I’ll achieve an overwhelming first place, so add the removal of the penalty. How about it?”

Ling Ling pondered for a moment.

Achieving an overwhelming first place in the Siege War was almost impossible.

“What if you fail?”

“Do whatever you want, whether it’s imposing a penalty or something else.”

“…Alright! You said overwhelming. Then finish with at least 2 more castles than 2nd place.”

“Deal.”

Currently, Dogjeon was in 1st place.

Although Ho-Yeong was currently in 2nd place, Dogjeon was a named guild that consistently ranked high in Siege Wars.

And in the previous Siege War, they succeeded in taking 1st place by conquering a whopping 5 castles.

To achieve an overwhelming 1st place, they had to crush Dogjeon and secure as many castles as possible.

“Great! Then I wish you good luck!”

Ling Ling snapped her fingers.

Then, his vision went dark, and soon a familiar scene came into view.

“Son! Wake up!”

His mother was looking down at him with worried eyes.

Jeong-Hoon slowly got up.

“I’m fine… What about the NPC?”

“She suddenly disappeared.”

“I see…”

“Are you hurt somewhere? No… Can you even faint in a game like this?”

Originally, if you faint, you would be automatically logged out and the capsule would be forcibly opened.

However, Jeong-Hoon did not log out even though he fainted.

“What’s the situation now?”

“The Myth Guild is attacking!”

Jeong-Hoon looked down from the castle wall.

Below, users of the warrior class were forming a defensive line.

Ha-Jin was also included in that line, and inside the gate, close-range users like thieves and martial artists were hiding in stealth.

This was so they could join immediately when the warriors clashed with the enemy.

“…Mom, I think we need to get 1st place in this Siege War.”

“1st place?”

“Yes.”

Originally, he planned to comfortably earn Siege War points and prepare for the 3rd Cataclysm, but with Ling Ling’s appearance, the plan had to be completely revised.

This Siege War.

Ho-Yeong must take 1st place.

To do that, they first had to drive out the Myth Guild and conquer at least 2 or more castles that Dogjeon occupied.

“Okay. We have to get 1st place, right?”

“Yes.”

Jeong-Hoon approached Yeo Sunwoo, who was leading the guild members, and said.

“Yes…? 1st place?”

Yeo Sunwoo asked back with a surprised face.

Yeo Sunwoo’s original plan was to successfully defend this castle.

“What do you think? Ho-Yeong finishing in 1st place.”

“Hmm… Honestly, if possible, I want to take 1st place.”

However, it wasn’t that he didn’t have the desire for 1st place.

He had just compromised because it wasn’t realistically easy.

“Okay. I understand.”

Jeong-Hoon smiled faintly.

———-