The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

‘How urgent must it have been for her not to explain it properly to me?’

Of course, Unahar trusted Rudel’s judgment implicitly and had no doubt that whoever she sent for would be beneficial to the guild. However, he couldn’t shake off his irritation, especially because of Rudel’s last response just before they lost contact.

“Rudel, is the participant a man or a woman?”

“Man-!”

And then the communication was abruptly cut off.

The fact that Rudel, who didn’t usually go herself, had rushed off recklessly for an unknown man made Unahar’s blood boil. He couldn’t press her for more details at the time, as she seemed genuinely frantic. Just recalling the incident made him seethe with frustration, requiring a great deal of effort to maintain his poker face.

To prevent any more wasted patience, he drove his point home to the hesitant Nahean.

“If you’re still doubtful, you can meet Rudel yourself and decide.”

Once Nahean met Rudel, all his hesitation would disappear as if it never existed, Unahar was sure of it. Nahean, swayed by Unahar’s confidence, finally nodded.

“Alright. I’ll trust your words.”

At this point, the mission Rudel had given him was a success. Now, Unahar had to decide whether to return to the guild fortress immediately or stay in the field and wait for the next command.

“Gio, what should we- never mind.”

Gio was already sprawled out on a rock, fast asleep. He worked fast. Discussing future plans with him would be pointless.

Unahar fiddled with his status window, but there was no contact from Rudel. He had no idea where she had gone since only the guild leader could track locations via headhunting.

Unahar scowled.

‘Stupid, instead of asking if the person was a man, I should have asked for the location!’

His youthful impatience had caused him to miss the crucial detail. He felt like punching himself for not being more composed.

“…Is there a problem? What about Rudel?” Nahean prodded, seemingly aware of Unahar’s frustration.

“Rudel said she’d meet us here after her business is done, so we just need to wait.”

Unahar lied smoothly, deciding to wait patiently for Rudel’s contact.

* * *

Real World.

Small open chatroom: [Watching Akata Sleep]

‘!!!!!!’

‘Akata has been headhunted!’

The previously solemn chatroom, where people gathered to watch what could be Akata’s last moments, buzzed with activity.

‘I told you, someone would pick him up because he’s pretty, even if he’s useless in combat.’

‘Who recruited her?’

‘I dunno.’

The boy character remained motionless, still deep in slumber. He had no way of knowing that his status window was now filled with a brilliant emblem radiating in the bright sunlight.

Each guild’s headhunting emblem had a unique color, reflecting the guild leader’s disposition or the nature of their special abilities. This emblem shone brightly in a hue close to a yellowish-red.

‘Huh, Rudel’

Rudel, the guild leader known for her strategic prowess and evaluated to surpass other guilds with a small elite team of only five members, had shown her meticulousness by not recruiting any auxiliary characters yet. Now, she had designated Akata as her first recruit. She had personally descended to the field.

It wasn’t possible that she was unaware of Akata’s subpar status, with his basic stats being all F grades.

‘Rudel’s smitten…?’

‘Unahar and Kanel aren’t enough…’

‘Stop making stuff up’

‘Some of our chat messages are probably being sent to the characters’

‘Rudel sees them and thinks’

‘She’s collecting popular characters because they look good?’

‘Considering how smart Rudel is, she probably knows about the popularity points’

Among viewers, Rudel was considered the character most conscious of popularity points. At one point, she had even explained the concept of play points to Lilith, using the sky as a metaphor. Her chosen four guild members were each powerhouses in terms of drawing in popularity points.

‘Baby, someone’s coming to get you’

‘Mom’s on her way’

‘Rudel: ?’

‘LOL Rudel is the mom now’

‘If Rudel takes him, that’s a huge relief’

‘Just got chills… imagining Rudel training Akata into a top-tier combat character’

‘Already hyped’

‘?Akata is F-tier’

‘?Akata is a low-grade character with no special abilities, just a glass body’

‘?Yeah, right’

No one knew what kind of story Rudel would write by including Akata in the guild, but the point was clear. Akata, who was destined to die in his sleep, would survive! The viewers would continue to see Akata!

‘But Rudel is quite far away’

‘She’s running like crazy, but with her low stamina, she’s sweating a lot and looks pitiful’

‘Looks like she’s doing 100 meters in 20 seconds’

The drop points for top players on the field were random. From there, they had to use their status window’s navigation to locate their target participant, running the distance on foot. Unfortunately, Rudel seemed to have landed quite far away from Akata, indicating it would take her a considerable amount of time to reach him.

‘Why didn’t she just send Gio or Unahar?’

‘Someone should talk to Rudel about this’

‘How do we even do that?’

‘LOL’

‘But seriously, why is she running there herself? Does she want to fetch him personally?’

‘Is Akata that important to Rudel?’

Ever since the recruitment of Lilith, there was a growing consensus in the chat that Rudel had a weakness for pretty faces. However, just as game characters were unaware they were part of a game and oblivious to the real world, viewers could not fully grasp the internal dynamics of the game.

Rudel, oblivious to the chatter about her in the real world, continued to sprint through the jungle, entirely focused on the urgency of reaching Akata.

* * *

As the wind rustled through the dense jungle, the boy’s red hair occasionally fluttered. Above his head, the headhunting emblem left by Rudel blinked continuously.

Someone was now running at full speed towards the peacefully sleeping boy, who could have been touched by anyone. The sound of rustling through the lush jungle grew louder and closer.

Finally, the footsteps had a clear purpose as they revealed themselves in front of Akata. Emerging from the bushes, a man with a rather sinister appearance reached out to Akata.

“Found him! This is the guy, right?”

The character who first discovered Akata was not a woman with a straightforward gaze but a man with a somewhat deceitful expression. His companion cautiously checked Akata, trembling slightly.

“Yes, yes, it must be him. Look, even you can see the headhunting emblem, right? That flamboyant orange symbol is Rudel’s.”

A grin spread across the man’s face, turning into a hearty and almost vindictive laugh that made his companion flinch involuntarily.

“So, the guy that damned woman is so desperate to have is right in front of me…”

The resurrection of characters who died in the first round served multiple purposes. For some, it was a chance to make up for past failures, while for others, it was the misfortune of reliving old grudges.

The peaceful area around the sleeping boy was intruded upon by the hulking man with a sinister smile. Ispan lifted Akata’s chin with his thick hand, turning his head to scrutinize his features.

“…!”

The forced movement woke Akata abruptly. His serene brown eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the stranger.

“Wh-what are you planning to do, Ispan?”

The trembling companion asked, trying to appease Ispan with a carefully modulated voice.

“Me, a subordinate player? A low-tier player? Tell them all to shove it. I’d rather die than be treated like that.”

Ispan’s voice boomed like thunder, causing Akata’s eyelashes to tremble.

“But before that, I’m going to give that woman who made me like this a taste of her own medicine.”

Ispan couldn’t hide his vile grin as he looked down at Akata, who resembled a satisfying trophy. Then, a thought struck him.

‘Come to think of it, Rudel looked weak and foolish too, yet she blindsided me with her unique ability.’

If there was one lesson he learned from his previous life, it was never to underestimate someone based on their appearance. His mind raced.

‘Instead of torturing Akata while waiting for Rudel, I should ensure he can’t escape.’

With this resolve, Ispan lifted his right foot high and brought it down hard.

“—!”

With a sickening crunch, Akata let out a thin scream as his ankle shattered into pieces, sending him writhing on the ground in agony. Ispan’s companion gasped at the sight.

“Get that item out.”

At Ispan’s command, his companion, recovering from the shock, rummaged through his inventory and pulled out a megaphone. This item was originally intended for participants to announce their presence to find a guild to join.

Who would have predicted that it would be used to taunt a top-tier character?

Ispan grabbed Akata’s arm with one hand and raised the megaphone with the other.