Side Story Chapter 92 - Capture the Relic (3)

"Wow, how did you guys appear at the perfect time?!"

Oh Kang-Woo welcomed the five thugs with open arms. They seemed like a party of mediocre Players who came a long way to Egypt in search of relics, blinded by profit.

"It's great to see you all, my friends!!! I've been looking for people like you!!!" Kang-Woo shouted as he walked toward the thugs.

"Wh-What?"

"What's with this brat?"

"Is he crazy?"

They did not expect someone to be happy about their presence instead of running away in fear as usual.

"Crazy? What are you talking about, my friend?!! Is that any way to be talking to your friend?!!" Kang-Woo shouted.

"I don't fucking recall us being friends."

"Of course we are! Do you not see how happy I am to see you?!"

Words couldn't describe how happy Kang-Woo was to find them. This was probably how a Pokemon trainer felt when coming across a legendary Pokemon. Kang-Woo was filled with fascination and surprise.

"You're happy... to see us?"

"Yes!" Kang-Woo nodded. "Seriously, it's hard to find horndogs as moronic as you guys in this day and age!!"

"What the fuck did you say?"

"Come on, try thinking about this logically!! We're in such a massive crowd! It's not even a secluded place, it's a goddamn plain!"

Not only that but in the vicinity was Valhalla, one of the greatest guilds in the world. One couldn't make passes at people so blatantly in a place like this unless their brain cells were almost nonexistent.

"You guys are fucking amazing!!! You're the best!"

Kang-Woo couldn't believe how moronic they were— their intelligence level was shockingly low.

"Hehe, it's nothing that impressive— Ouch!"

"Get a grip, you dumbass. That brat is making fun of us." The man who seemed to be the party leader smacked the man scratching his head in embarrassment on the back of his head. "You fucking brat, how dare you disrespect your elders?"

He took out his weapon as if it was better it turned out this way. Even while taking out his weapon, his gaze was focused on the three women instead of Kang-Woo.

"Ladies, why don't we talk somewhere private after you teach your little brother some manners?"

"Oh? What do you mean by little brother?" Lilith smiled and hugged Kang-WOo from behind. "This man is my husband."

"Wh-What...?"

The man's expression was dyed with shock. There was no way a brat who could only be in his teens at most had such a beautiful wife.

"Hah, do you expect me to believe that bullshit?"

"Fufu, is that what you think?" Lilith smiled alluringly and gently grabbed Kang-Woo's chin. "How about now?"

She kissed Kang-Woo for them to see.

"

Gasp...

"

"Wh-What the hell?"

The men were flustered by the blatant show of love.

"Ah, no fair, unnie!"

"What the hell are you doing in public?!"

Han Seol-Ah and Cha Yeon-Joo also approached Kang-Woo in surprise.

"I want to kiss Kang-Woo too."

Seol-Ah yanked Kang-Woo toward her by his arm and kissed him.

Yeon-Joo blushed and shouted, "Seol-Ah! Not you too!"

"Fufu. It's fine, isn't it? Now, don't be shy, Yeon-Joo."

"W-Wait! Wait a second, unnie!"

"Hohoho. No need to be embarrassed."

Lilith pulled Yeon-Joo toward Kang-Woo and made her stick to him. Despite mumbling complaints, Yeon-Joo carefully embraced Kang-Woo's arm.

"..."

"H-Hyung-nim... is this a dream?"

The thugs flirting with the three women were left with their mouths agape in disbelief. All three of the women seemed to be in a romantic relationship with the boy.

"Fuck..." An overwhelming sense of defeat suddenly flooded the party leader. He gritted his teeth and clenched his ax as hard as possible to quell his rage. "That's enough, dammit."

"Hehe, what? You jealous?"

Kang-Woo cackled as he stared at the shaking party leader.

"Motherfucker!"

The man ferociously swung his ax at Kang-Woo's head, which Kang-Woo easily grabbed.

"Well, that's enough playing around." He smirked nastily. "You horndogs are gonna help me."

***

Mumble, mumble.

"This is going too far!"

"He's right!"

Players were still gathered in front of the Gate entrance, unable to let go of their greed for the relics, and yelling at the Valhalla guild members.

"I said you may not enter."

The guild members in silver armor continued to block the entrance with cold expressions while the Players were glancing at each other, reluctant to attack.

Dash—!

Just then, a man who looked to be a thug charged out from the group of Players and ran toward the Gate.

"No, you don't!"

Each Valhalla member guarding the Gate entrance was nearly Ranker-level Players— they would not be caught off guard by something like this.

Bash!

One of the Valhalla members softly clenched his fist and punched the charging man.

"I believe I said you may not enter without permission."

Since the punch was to intimidate, he did not add much strength to it.

"Kurgh!

Cough! Cough!!

"

"Huh?"

However, the man who was punched suddenly coughed up a fountain of blood.

"Wh-What the hell?"

There was so much blood that the Valhalla guild member was more surprised. He looked down at his fist and then the surroundings in disbelief.

"H-Hyung!!!"

Just then, a black-haired teenage boy shoved the Players aside and hugged the collapsed man.

"N-No!!! Get a hold of yourself, hyung!!!"

"Kurgh, urghh, guh!"

The boy frantically shook the man's shoulders. The man groaned painfully and continued to vomit blood.

"

Waaaaaahhh!!!

N-No, hyung!!! Don't dieeeeeeeee!!!" the boy yelled.

The nearby Players gathered around the Valhalla member who punched the man.

"N-No. I... I wasn't trying to kill him."

The Valhalla member shook his head in bewilderment.

"Sniff!! Waaaaahh... You said you would find a relic and pay for Mom's hospital bills... W-We promised to live happily as a family again, the three of us!!!"

The black-haired boy bawled his eyes out with the man in his arms.

"Tsk, tsk."

"Scumbags..."

"Hah! However major of a guild you are, how could you kill someone?"

The gazes of the nearby Players turned menacing. They began to jeer at the Valhalla members blocking the Gate entrance.

"N-No! There must be a mistake!!" shouted the guild member who struck the man. "I didn't punch him that hard—"

"You demon!!!" yelled the black-haired boy at the guild member. "Why?!! Why did you kill my hyung?!!"

"Like I said, I just punched him lightly—"

"Are you saying my hyung died just from a light punch? Huh? Is that what you're saying?!!"

"No, but I—"

"Then what?!! Why is my hyung dead?!!" the boy shouted as he pointed at the dead man covered in blood.

"Th-Those scumbags!"

"I didn't expect Valhalla to be capable of such brutality!!"

"BOO—!!!"

The Players jeered as they slowly approached the Valhalla members.

"Bring him back!!! Bring my brother back, you scumbags!!"

"What did that boy do so wrong to deserve this?!"

Public opinion worsened drastically. Resentment far worse than when Valhalla blocked the entrance filled the air.

"N-No!"

"All of you, calm down!"

"Y-You may not enter without permission!"

The Valhalla members shouted in bewilderment once the atmosphere suddenly grew far worse. One of the members at the front took out his weapon.

"I knew it!!!" the boy shouted and pointed as soon as he saw the weapon. "You were planning on killing us all from the start, weren't you?!"

"Wh-What?"

"Kill my hyung, me, and everyone else here!!"

"N-No, you have it wrong—"

However major the guild was, a Player killing someone with no justifiable cause was a massive issue.

"Liar!! You're all liars!!!"

The boy lowered his head in tears.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't think he would die from that—"

"Bring him back!!! Bring my hyung baaaaaaack!!!"

"I..."

The Valhalla guild members glanced at each other, not knowing what to do.

"Are we just going to stand here and do nothing?!!"

"This little boy lost his older brother!!!"

"Can you imagine how sad he must be?!"

Sympathy for the little boy spread throughout the crowd. The eyes of the Players around the entrance filled with a sense of justice.

"You incorrigible scumbags!!!"

"Did you want to monopolize the relics that badly?!!"

"You bastards are worse than scum!!!"

The Players took out their weapons one after another.

"A-All of you calm down!!"

"Valhalla will not hold back once you take out your weapons!"

The Valhalla guild members quickly threatened the Players.

"Big words for the ones who killed someone first!"

"Resorting to shameless threats shows just how terrible Valhalla is!!"

The little boy stood up as the tension in the air was palpable.

"AHHHHH!!! BRING MY HYUNG BAAAAAAAACK!!!"

The boy raised his older brother's ax with great difficulty and ran toward the Valhalla guild members.

"Shit!"

The guild members did not use their fists to prevent the same incident from happening again and instead grabbed the boy's arm to restrain him. However...

Pierce!

"AARRGGHHH!!!"

"Huh?"

The hand of one of the guild members accidentally made contact with the ax as he stretched it out to grab the boy's arm, causing the boy to lose his grip on the ax. The falling ax unfortunately stabbed the boy's chest.

"A-Are you okay?!"

The Valhalla guild member approached the boy in shock. The boy staggered and vomited blood.

"All I wanted... was to live happily ever after with my family..."

A single tear flowed down the boy's cheek.

"Ah..." The boy swayed toward the Players staring at him in shock. He stretched out his hand and muttered, "I don't... wanna die.

Sniff!

I don't wanna die..."

The boy collapsed.

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

"CRAZY MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"

"HOW COULD YOU KILL SUCH A YOUNG BOY?!!"

The tension broke. The Players, with their weapons out, ferociously charged at the Valhjalla guild members.

"YOU SONS OF BITCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!"

"YOU BASTARDS AREN'T HUMAN!!!"

"YOU'RE WORSE THAN BEASTS!!!"

Chaos fell at the Gate entrance in an instant. Thousands of Players fought against the hundreds of Valhalla guild members.

"Up we go."

The boy stood up in the middle of the battlefield and pulled out the ax stabbed into his chest. Everyone was so focused on the battle that no one noticed him walking past them. Kang-Woo walked toward his party members, standing by at a distance from the chaos.

"Sorry for making you wait. Let's head inside."

All the Valhalla guild members guarding the entrance left to join the battle, leaving the entrance empty.

Kang-Woo stretched with a smile of satisfaction. "Looks like we can head inside without causing trouble for Guardians and us."

"Hah..." Yeon-Joo, who was following Kang-Woo into the pyramid, chuckled bafflingly. She looked back at the Players fighting each other outside the entrance and mumbled, "What the hell is this shitshow...?"

Kang-Woo turned back to face her and smiled. "Justice is usually way easier to take advantage of than malice."

"..."

Kang-Woo's humming echoed throughout the empty pyramid tunnel.