Chapter 22

Marco and Red Snapper veered left from Cottonflower Hills after crossing the Polia Mountain Pass, heading toward Cram Cave. Most believed Noquia had gone over the pass, but there was no rule saying the obvious answer was always right.

They stayed sharp, scanning their surroundings as they moved, and eventually stepped into Cram Ridge, the narrow trail leading to the cave’s entrance. That’s when users started appearing—one, then another, emerging from the top of the ridge.

“…?”

There were four in total. It felt off. They didn’t seem like random passersby—more like they’d been waiting for them. Marco tried to brush off the thought. Maybe they were just normal players. But all four were in Murderer Mode, standing motionless at the top of the ridge, silently watching.

Sensing something wrong, Marco and Red Snapper exchanged a glance. They moved forward together in a tense standoff, cautiously climbing the slope. The other group didn’t move a muscle—just stared down like stone statues.

That made Marco even more suspicious.

What’s more, it looked like the enemies were subtly watching the ground near their feet. Marco followed their gaze—and spotted patches of earth that seemed oddly covered.

His brows furrowed instantly. He threw out an arm to stop Red Snapper, who had started to step forward, and immediately activated an Action aimed at the suspicious terrain. The ground exploded with puffs—pop, pop, pop—as hidden traps sprang up. Startled, Red Snapper dropped to the ground with a thud.

“Wha…?”

His confused shout overlapped with the enemy’s sharp tsk. A cloud of dust kicked up, and from within it, the ambushers lunged forward, attacking like arrows loosed from a bow.

Marco stepped in front of Red Snapper, blocking the onslaught as if he had anticipated it, and shouted,

“Hyung, get up!”

Snapping out of it, Red Snapper scrambled to his feet and joined Marco in fighting back. Their tiers weren’t low, but taking on four opponents at once was still a heavy burden. The longer the fight dragged on, the more they were pushed back—until finally, they had no choice but to run.

But their attackers didn’t seem willing to let them go that easily. They gave chase immediately, and a frantic pursuit unfolded. Exchanging blows as they ran, the two sides dashed through the terrain, until Marco and Red Snapper somehow managed to shake them off and reach safety.

Panting like they were about to collapse, the two immediately opened the guild chat.

[Guild] [Marco: Father, some weird people attacked us]

[Guild] [Father: What?]

[Guild] [Red Snapper: We’d never seen them before. They even set traps and waited for us;]

[Guild] [Holanghee: What the heck? Are they with Quia?]

[Guild] [Red Snapper: Don’t know; didn’t see Quia noona;]

[Guild] [Father: Did you die?]

[Guild] [Marco: No, we ran. We didn’t die.]

[Guild] [Father: Where’d you get attacked?]

[Guild] [Marco: Cram Ridge]

[Guild] [Father: How many of them?]

[Guild] [Marco: Four]

Father came to a sudden stop, falling silent in thought. Mr. Hana, walking beside her, quickened his pace with a puzzled look, but she ignored him completely and opened the guild chat again.

[Guild] [Father: Let’s go catch those bastards.]

[Guild] [Marco: Huh?]

[Guild] [Father: Something’s bugging me.]

[Guild] [Red Snapper: ??]

[Guild] [Father: Anghee, you come too.]

[Guild] [Holanghee: Ok ok]

[Guild] [Marco: Can we come too? We want revenge :)]

[Guild] [Father: Yeah yeah, come on]

After ending the conversation, Father gave Mr. Hana a quick explanation and headed toward Cram Ridge. Along the way, they met Marco and Red Snapper at Cottonflower Hills, and then Holanghee and Mandako at the entrance to the ridge. Mandako was a member of the YesYesu Guild.

The six of them geared up completely and began ascending the ridge. Sure enough, they found the four waiting up top. Marco was the first to scan the ground—and spotted signs that traps had been buried. He subtly signaled to Father, who glanced down and quietly examined the terrain.

The opposing group seemed slightly flustered by the number of people now approaching. As Father swept her gaze over the dirt, she slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with them. Then she stepped forward.

Her foot landed squarely on one of their traps.

The group, who had hesitated under pressure, now followed her step with gleaming eyes. Delight flickered in their expressions. Father had just stepped on the first trap. With a loud bang, an explosion rang out and sand kicked up in a thick cloud.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Within the dust, Father continued stepping forward. Bang. Bang. Bang. Trap after trap detonated beneath her feet. And not one person stopped her.

She walked through every single trap without stumbling or using a potion. When she finally emerged from the dusty haze, all she had were a few light scratches.

The four users watching from above turned pale. The traps she had willingly stepped on were enough to Exhaust a regular player with just two hits. But she hadn’t even used a potion? Just scratches?

Still as a statue, Father adjusted her grip on her weapons and began walking toward them. The users quickly checked her equipment. She held a sword in each hand. No ranged weapons in sight—so as long as they stayed out of melee range, they’d be safe. Or so they thought.

Then Father suddenly exploded into motion, closing the distance in an instant. Her right foot slammed down beside the user in front—User 1—and her blade slashed.

In that heartbeat, Users 2, 3, and 4 judged the distance. They assumed the range of her blade ended where her right foot landed. As long as they stayed behind User 1, they’d be safe. That seemed logical.

But when her sword swung, it wasn’t just one who fell—it was two.

User 1, who had been directly in front of her, and User 2, who had stood just behind. They both crumpled to the ground. Shock filled the faces of 3 and 4 as they watched their teammates fall without even understanding how.

Their eyes darted around, desperately seeking answers—and that’s when they noticed something strange about Father’s sword.

Its length was completely mismatched. The blade had been concealed beneath her fluttering coat, making the long one look short. It had been a trick. A perfect feint.

Grinding their teeth, Users 3 and 4 turned to bolt. At the same time, a thunderous crack echoed behind Father, and something whip-like lashed out, striking User 4 across the back.

User 4 collapsed without a sound.

User 3 shrieked, “Hiiiieeek!”—a pathetic, ugly cry—and fled alone in a blind panic.

Father didn’t bother chasing. Instead, she turned to the three who lay collapsed in Exhaustion and asked,

“Which one of you is Kim Na?”

The three of them flinched slightly, as if caught off guard, but then sneered with a snort, glaring at Father with eyes full of contempt. They clearly had no intention of answering. Father stared at them for a long moment, then gave a knowing smile.

“So none of you, huh?”

With that, she stood up and began looking around. Sensing her intent, Number 2 tried to resurrect, but the moment he got to his feet, Marco struck him down again, putting him right back into Exhaustion. Screams and curses flew out, but nobody paid them any mind.

Soon, Father spotted Number 3 fleeing across the expanse of Cottonflower Hills. She motioned with her hand, calling over Mandako, who drew their bow and loosed an arrow that struck 3 squarely, even from that distance.

A faint, pitiful shriek echoed across the hills like a pig getting its throat cut.

Father jerked her chin toward Mr. Hana. He let out a deep sigh, then trudged down the hill and dragged Number 3 back up.

Thanks to the paralyzing poison on the arrow, Number 3 couldn’t move—but he wasn’t in Exhaustion or incapacitated either. If a guild master went down from a single arrow, that would’ve been humiliating enough.

Mr. Hana kicked the back of 3’s knees, forcing him to kneel before Father. Gritting his teeth, 3 glared at them, his face twisted in rage.

Father crouched down in front of him with a smile, meeting him at eye level.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

Number 3—no, Kim Na—clenched his jaw and stayed silent. His whole body trembled in rage, even though the paralysis left him completely immobile.

“Are they people you know?”

Holanghee asked from the side.

Father shrugged and stood up.

“Not just me, I’d say.”

“Huh?”

“Lately, our guild members have been getting picked on a lot, haven’t they?”

Holanghee, Marco, and Red Snapper all widened their eyes in surprise. They were reminded of those random jerks in towns or hunting fields who’d curse them out or bump into them without reason.

Father gave Kim Na a solid thump on the head and added,

“It was probably these guys.”

Holanghee stared at Kim Na with her mouth agape, then asked in disbelief,

“Who even are they? Why’d they go after us?”

Marco and Red Snapper nodded, looking just as curious. Father rested her chin on her hand for a moment, thinking, then sneered down at Kim Na as if he were garbage.

“Mm… maybe some bastards from Blaine’s old guild?”

The three who had been full of questions now looked ready to kill. Mr. Hana, who had been quietly listening, approached and asked,

“Fourth generation?”

Father nodded.

With that, the trio let loose.

“So you’re the pathetic rats, huh?”

They swarmed Kim Na, beating and kicking him relentlessly while he was still immobilized. Mandako gleefully fired poison-tipped arrows at his groin.

Every now and then, Mr. Hana healed Kim Na to keep him from dying.

“It hurts, it hurts! You sons of bitches!”

Kim Na couldn’t hold it in anymore and exploded in fury. He screamed for them to just kill him already.

Father raised a brow and looked at him in disbelief, then walked up and grabbed him by the hair.

“Oh? That hurts? That’s it? Then how about we take this to Jain Forest and see how that feels?”

Kim Na instinctively held his breath and swallowed dryly. Father let go of him with a disgusted look and smacked him on the back of the head one more time.