Chapter 25

Theo hesitated under Father and Holanghee’s suspicious stares. His seat had already been taken by Father, so after a brief glance he sat down beside Blaine instead, handing him a cup of water.

Blaine accepted it with thanks—then his eyes widened. He’d spotted something ahead. A whole group of familiar faces was approaching.

They were members of Kilimanjaro, his old guild. They stopped right in front of the Father and the Guest Guild, who had set up camp at Ratteon’s entrance.

Blaine’s body stiffened instantly. Theo sighed inwardly, while Father and Holanghee exchanged grim looks—then realized something. None of them were in Murderer Mode.

Father shared a glance with Holanghee, crossed her legs, propped her chin on her hand, and smiled. The kind of dazzling smile that only a jaw-dropping beauty could pull off. Several of the men flinched and blushed.

“The chief bastard’s here again.”

But when her words followed, confusion spread through the crowd. Chief? Who? What chief?

Holanghee suddenly burst out laughing, smacking Father on the shoulder again and again. Their expressions soured, darkening one by one with unnameable discomfort.

Kim Na ignored Holanghee’s laughter and stepped forward.

“Disgusting bastards camping out at the town gate—the stench makes it impossible to live.”

“…So spoke the chief.”

Father added the line like she was narrating a children’s story. Only then did Theo realize that “chief” referred to Kim Na, and he burst out laughing. Blaine covered his mouth, stifling his chuckles, and even a few standing behind Kim Na couldn’t help snickering. Kim Na’s face flushed red, then pale, then red again.

“You crazy bitch—who are you calling chief?!”

“Oh dear, is the chief angry now?”

Father plucked a piece of meat from the fire and tossed it at his feet.

“Please accept this humble offering.”

Kim Na shook with rage at the first insult of his life, then stomped the meat into the dirt.

“Wow, doesn’t even appreciate food. Must be because he’s a chief, huh?”

Father turned to Holanghee, who replied as if blaming her.

“No, you should’ve given it raw. He looks primitive enough, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, is that it? Forgive my oversight.”

“Y-you filthy dogs…!”

Kim Na finally erupted. Father blinked innocently, then grinned.

“We do have a dog in our guild.”

She called over Yorkshire from where they were watching. Kim Na’s face went from blotchy red to nearly exploding. Still, he forced himself to breathe and tried to counter.

“From the guild name to the guild members, you’re all trash—just like your guild master.”

His lips curled in mockery, but his twitching gave him away. Father looked utterly bored at such childish provocation.

“And that’s something the chief of the Serengeti would say?”

Serengeti? Kim Na tilted his head—until he realized she meant his guild. He screamed,

“It’s Kilimanjaro!”

Holanghee was already doubled over, roaring with laughter, while Father picked her ear as if uninterested. Finally snapping, Kim Na charged forward and raised a hand as if to strike.

Father looked at him, and the air froze solid. Kim Na felt it too—he hesitated, glancing around. All eyes were on him and Father, but not one person moved.

He smirked, then jabbed Father’s shoulder with a finger, sneering.

“If no one stops me when I’m about to hit her, that means you’re all just bastards with no respect, huh?”

Father’s eyes widened, then she clapped her hands in genuine amazement.

“Wow, you really are…”

And then she called Bastard Kid over for an introduction. As Kim Na stared dumbfounded at the bewildered Bastard Kid, his face stiff with fury, Father laughed so hard she clutched her stomach.

“At this rate, you’re a shaman chief. A shaman chief!”

Veins bulged across Kim Na’s face, like he might explode any second. His eyes creaked as they locked onto Father. The moment was on a knife’s edge.

Everyone held their breath, watching the tension build—when Yorkshire suddenly shifted uncomfortably, fidgeting with their legs. They glanced around, lifted one foot, checked their sole… then made a horrified face and leapt up.

They scrambled frantically, then grabbed Kim Na’s foot and started rubbing their shoe against it to wipe something off.

“?”

All eyes turned to Yorkshire. They didn’t care—they were too busy scrubbing.

“…What the hell are you doing?”

Theo finally asked, unable to watch any longer.

Yorkshire looked up with a pitiful face.

“I think I stepped in shit!”

Every gaze snapped to Kim Na’s shoe. Sure enough, it was smeared with whatever Yorkshire had wiped off.

“Uwaaaaah!”

Kim Na shrieked, rampaging like the Hulk. He shoved Yorkshire away, smashing at everything around him, and bellowed in fury.

“Fuck! You all make me sick!”

His voice rang out, shaking the air. Father and Holanghee, watching his tantrum with disdain, spoke together in unison.

“Swallow it.”

A short, clean suggestion. Kim Na laughed hollowly, then spat out a chilling threat.

“You bastards really wanna die?”

His aura turned razor-sharp. Kilimanjaro’s guild members behind him looked at his back with trust, but Father and the Guest Guild only looked on with flat, uninterested eyes.

“So what?”

At this point, he wasn’t even worth toying with. Father sighed and straightened her disheveled clothes.

“Why don’t you say that with Murderer Mode on?”

“…What?”

“You drop Murderer Mode and then bark about killing us? What, you scared? Took a swing and realized you’re no match? Pissing yourself, knees buckling already?”

Kim Na’s face twisted even darker with rage.

“Tighten your ass and come at me. I’ll go easy on you. You’re still a guild master, so I’ll let you save face. Hell, I might even let you win once.”

Kim Na, who had been glaring at Father like he wanted to kill her, suddenly broke into a laugh.

“Criminals sure talk a lot.”

“Hm?”

“You lot use illegal programs, don’t you? You think it’s something to brag about, winning through dirty tricks? Thanks to you idiots using them so blatantly, we were able to file reports.”

“…?”

Father looked around at her guild members with a puzzled face. Illegal programs? But they all looked just as confused.

Murmurs spread. Behind Kim Na, the Traffic Light Trio giggled at Theo, pointing and whispering.

“Ah.”

Theo finally realized what they meant. They must’ve been talking about Eternal Fog’s special ability—the one he’d used without weapons. They were dead convinced it was some hack program.

Theo leaned toward Father and murmured a word. Father snorted with laughter.

“Oh no, looks like they’re gonna arrest our Theo.”

Her eyes curved into perfect half-moons as she stared at Kim Na, eager to tease. She jabbed Theo in the side, and Theo, resigned, played along.

“Yeah, I’m terrified. Whatever will I do?”

His voice was flat, like he was reading a textbook. No emotion at all.

Kim Na assumed they were just pretending to be calm, but inside must be shaking. He basked in the thrill of being the victor, snorting proudly as he turned away.

“Once the illegal part’s handled, we’ll meet again. I’ll skin you alive then.”

With a show of bravado, Kim Na turned his back. The Traffic Light Trio flipped Theo and Blaine the middle finger, sneering as if they’d won.

Theo stayed expressionless throughout. Blaine flinched but held his gaze steady, not looking away.

That unexpected defiance made the trio even more irritated. They thought their confidence came from hiding behind hacks and an illegal guild. But with no way to act immediately, they had no choice but to leave. Not before spitting on the ground, of course.

Several days passed since they’d surrounded Ratteon on guard duty. The Kilimanjaro guild that had sworn to “see them later” never showed up again. They were probably scratching their heads by now, wondering why their reports yielded nothing.

And still, no word of Noquia. At this point, they were starting to worry where she had gone. The guild members were growing tired.

“Should we just tell her to surrender and pay her bail?”

Father muttered with her chin propped on her hand, her voice heavy with fatigue. Holanghee, poking at the campfire with a stick, shook her head.

“No. That makes it feel like we lost.”

“…”

“Her fatigue must be insane by now. The moment she shows up, we can just beat her into the ground.”

Holanghee snapped her stick and tossed it into the fire. Father looked around. The mood had dropped. Unlike the beginning, spirits were low. They’d been sitting around near the town with nothing to do—it was only natural morale would sink. Even the NPCs were quiet.

“Not a single report coming in from the NPC side either, huh.”

“Where the hell is she hiding? She wouldn’t seriously just quit the game to screw us, right?”

“Ugh, don’t even say that…”

Father shuddered in disgust.

“This is so boring. I wanna go hunting.”

Holanghee stretched, yawning. Around them, the air was calm, and huge cotton clouds drifted lazily across the sky. The peaceful monotony nearly lulled them to sleep—when suddenly the NPCs grew restless.

Everyone turned, watching in confusion. A town guard rushed up to Father, shouting breathlessly.

“The wanted fugitive has been sighted at Guildhead Camp!”