Chapter 157: Alliance of Evil

“Let’s f-fight first.”

“Yeah.”

The Praise the Orc members decided to shut their ears.

The battle raged on.

As dedicated players who came all the way to the south to meet Crockta, their combat skills exceeded those of most players. The members were all high-level players.

“Watch your back!”

“Got it!”

In the past, it was nearly impossible for players to fight on par with NPCs, especially knights. As the general level of players increased, however, they even began to overpower NPCs.

Moreover, the Praise the Orc members had gained new skills and abilities from the recent achievement score event in the game.

Even when knights came at them, they didn’t back down.

Especially Gilgamesh, who had severe eighth-grader syndrome, put on an exemplary performance [1].

He bombarded the enemies with both physical and mental attacks.

“Stand straight! Death is an unwelcome visitor that arrives without notice. By being born, we’ve been forewarned of its coming! Hehe!”

“...!”

“Hey, you! What’s your name?” asked Gilgamesh.

“T-Tiger,” the knight answered, taken aback.

Gilgamesh invoked his magic. He was a magic swordsman who sacrificed efficiency for style.

As he summoned his magic, dozens of blades ascended into the air, gleaming with murderous intent as they targeted the enemies.

It was a combination of dual swordsmanship and telekinetic power, psychokinesis!

Although everyone had laughed at the bizarre combination, when his skill exceeded Rare-Tier and reached Essence-Tier, he obtained a hidden class never achieved by anyone before.

He became the

Blade Manipulator!

“Tiger! Tomorrow, your friends will say this!”

“Say what?”

With a gesture of his hand, Gilgamesh’s numerous blades shot toward the enemy as if they were alive.

“Tiger is...!” shouted Gilgamesh.

“Ahhh!”

“...dead!”

The blades pierced every inch of Tiger’s body, making him look like a hedgehog as he crumbled to the ground.

Gilgamesh rambled on. “Freedom won’t return, but revenge always comes back to you. Blame your immoral sword and misguided loyalty, Tiger.”

Despite its stunning spectacle, the skill quickly depleted his energy. Even so, his flashy technique was effective in lowering his enemy’s morale.

A knight, stricken with fear, exclaimed, “He’s a monster...!”

Gilgamesh was persecuted for his over-the-top speech and behavior countless times. Now, however, he was being called a monster by NPCs, and knights at that!

As the Praise the Orc members saw some of the knights retreating in the face of Gilgamesh’s crushing powers, they were swept up in a strange emotion.

Shark, the member who despised Gilgamesh, closed his eyes as he reflected on the past.

He used to criticize Gilgamesh more than anyone else. Whenever he spat out cruel words like

fucking otaku o

r

gross otaku loser

to him, Gilgamesh was unfazed and maintained his confidence.

“Otaku!’ Shark would call him.”

“Otaku? It refers to someone who is truly dedicated to something, Shark!”

Gilgamesh would respond.

“You gross otaku loser!”

“...Haha, fine. We’ll see who will end up shedding tears when twilight comes. Even though the outcome of the fight is obvious, I will gladly entertain you.’

Shark suddenly looked up at the sky.

It was already dusk, the stage before the night’s curtain covered the world. The clouds facing the sunset were blazing brightly as a flock of clouds, flowing like streams, drifted eastward to convey the tale of the sunset to the already night-clad eastern sky.

It was a beautiful twilight.

“...Gilgamesh, you were right,” muttered Shark as he thrust his spear toward a knight aiming for his back.

Shark’s swift blow flung back the knight. Although he had managed to narrowly block the blow with his sword, the knight could not get up for a while from the shock and writhed on the ground.

Shark kicked the knight’s face. His helmet flew off and revealed the knight’s bare face.

Shark’s blade loomed over his head.

“Knight, deliver this message to the

king

.”

“To the e-emperor? What?”

Shark chuckled and replied, “Tell the

king

of the underworld that the Grim Reaper is executing his job splendidly!

Then, the spear came down on the knight. It was his final moment.

Thanks to Crockta’s formidable powers and the Praise the Orc members’ combat, the tide of the battle had completely shifted.

“My greatsword is the guillotine that slices those without gods! Hand over your necks, prisoners!”

“Now, dance, my blades! Swallow the blood of the wicked!”

“Do you like this spear? Then, I will give it to you!”

Due to the merciless attacks and words that wore down their minds, the knights lost their will to fight and began to flee.

Crockta and his fan club, Praise the Orc, had succeeded.

Shark approached Crockta, who was observing the fleeing knights.

“Crockta-nim, how about now?”

Crockta looked at them.

All of the Praise the Orc members were smiling at him, covered in blood. Even though they had won, they were not unscathed. They bore wounds and some were limping, but their eyes were shining brightly as they looked at Crockta.

“Do you still not believe in the word respect? Haha...!” asked Shark with a wide grin. Gilgamesh, next to him, looked up at the sky.

Crockta answered, “Of course.”

“Even after fighting so hard together? Sad...”

“I believe...!”

Crockta extended his fist.

“I only believe in comrades.”

“...!”

Crockta had acknowledged them as comrades.

Crockta first caught the players’ eye in a video where he was fighting against the player killers. He defeated multiple enemies with bold attacks.

Many viewers were thrilled by his monologue about honor as he stood gallantly after serving justice.

His feat continued in Arnin and Chesswood.

He had always fought for the weak and was even a hero who single-handedly stopped the northern invasion of the continent. And now, he was tirelessly fighting for the peace of the South.

At first, he was a weak orc who struggled against three players. When the video against the three-player killers was filmed, the Praise the Orc members were probably stronger than him, but now, Crockta was a man who could face an entire army on his own.

Time flowed completely differently for them.

Such progress was made possible by Crockta’s indomitable will and trust and loyalty. He was a man worthy of respect.

And now, they have been acknowledged by a man like him as his comrades.

“C-comrade.”

Gilgamesh was shocked but also touched.

He rarely dropped his eighth-grader-syndrome facade, but he actually looked embarrassed for a moment. Of course, he quickly resumed his usual demeanor and looked off into the distant sunset with a firm expression on his face.

“Declaring a Grim Reaper as a comrade...how bold. I guess I will entertain the idea today.”

Then, he extended his fist and bumped it against Crockta’s.

“Haha.”

Shark and the other Praise the Orc members followed suit and bumped fists with Crockta.

***

Shin Ja-Hu, the Praise the Orc member and master of spear techniques, also known as Shark, disconnected from the server.

Even after exiting his capsule, he wallowed in the lingering feelings for a while.

He leaned against his couch and recalled the adventure he had overnight.

He had gone to the south of the continent to meet Crockta and succeeded in doing so. In person, Crockta was much larger and more formidable than he had appeared in videos. He even felt sorry for the horse Crockta was riding on.

And Crockta’s actions were even more impressive than his appearance. He exceeded what Shark had seen in the videos.

In the south, where players and NPCs had given up intervening, he was invincible as he fought against the emperor.

“If only I didn’t have to go to work...”

Anyways, he asked the Praise the Orc members to excuse him and logged out. The day was bright.

Other Korean members or those who lived in the same time zone also halted their adventures.

“Wonder if there will be lots of guests today~ Even if there’s a lot, my wages remain the same~ But better than the store closing~”

Shin Ja-Hu hummed a weird song as he put on his clothes. He usually got ready for work with a sour expression, but he was unusually in good spirits because of the amazing adventure he had last night.

“Jajangmyeon~ Lion Black Bean Paste~ Muscle Pain~ Tiger Balm~[2].

Shin Ja-Hu was a chef at a Chinese restaurant.

He left his house in an attire that revealed his muscular physique.

He looked like a bodybuilder with his developed biceps and triceps from vigorously tossing and turning ingredients in a wok.

“Wonder what Gilgamesh does in real life.”

Based on his behavior heavily influenced by Japanese culture, he seemed to be Korean or Japanese.

‘If he acts like that in real life, he wouldn’t have any friends.’

Shark began to worry about Gilgamesh’s social life. It was his first time worrying about Gilgamesh.

“Is this Crockta hyung’s influence?”

Although Crockta was an NPC, he had learned more things from Crockta than from real people.

Shin Ja-Hu began to change through

Elder Lord

. He even started to think differently about Gilgamesh, whom he usually despised.

“I should meet him sometime and make him a bowl of jajangmyeon.”

He headed to the bus station for his commute.

On his walk, he noticed a truck on a street with a heap of glass piled on top of each other. Perhaps a shop that performed window installations had recently opened nearby.

He glanced at his reflection in the glass and examined his face.

Ah, he forgot to shave. His beard was getting thick, but he didn’t care.

“I’m a tough guy~,” he hummed as he passed by the truck.

He didn’t have time to pay attention to these things. There was a large group reservation at the restaurant today. He had to quickly get to work.

Right then, a swerving car bumped the side of the truck.

Thud!

It was a light collision. An old man got out of the car. He looked distressed.

“Dammit. Why did they park in a place like this?”

He scratched his head and inspected the truck. He didn’t do much damage to the truck and had ended up scratching the bumper of his car.

Because the owner of the truck wasn’t in his car, the old man tried to see if the truck owner had left his phone number anywhere.

Shin Ja-Hu chuckled as he watched him, but then he suddenly noticed something strange.

The pile of glass panes had tilted from the shock of the collision, and the poorly tied strap around it was slowly coming undone under the weight.

“Oh my...”

He covered his ears as he backed away. The glass panes would soon crash to the ground.

“Hey, be careful...”

But sometimes coincidences overlapped and headed toward tragedy as if by fate.

“Uh...”

A little kid was running past the truck. The glass panes above him were tilting downward, but the kid continued to run, oblivious to his surroundings.

The yellow hat and the backpack the kid was wearing were from the kindergarten next to his apartment.

‘What was its name? Was it Green Pine Kindergarten? With his big, handsome eyes, he will make the ladies swoon when he grows up.’

During that split second, many thoughts raced through Shin Ja-Hu’s mind.

Even during that brief moment, he could clearly see that the child’s eyes were brown and his hair was the same light shade of brown. His legs were still so chubby that his knees blended into his calves.

Oblivious to his fate, the child was looking at Shin Ja-Hu with a face filled with innocent laughter.

The child was drawing closer.

‘Dammit!’

Before he knew it, he was running.

‘Dammit, dammit.’

Why was he doing something out of character?

He could see the child’s startled face. He didn’t sense the heap of glass falling on him from above and was fearful of the adult rushing toward him.

Who would notice even if he did something like this?

Right then, he remembered someone’s face.

Shin Ja-Hu couldn’t help but smile as he covered the child’s body with his own.

It’s said that people often reflect on their past, family, or loved ones in moments of danger, but why was he thinking of an orc giving a thumbs-up in a game?

1. Eighth-grader syndrome refers to the cringey stage in early adolescence when a child believes they are really special and has delusions of grandeur. They might also believe that they have special powers ?

2. Jajangmyeon is noodles in black bean sauce. Lion black bean paste refers to a brand of black bean paste with a lion as its logo ?