Gear Dreams and Guild War Sparks

All my gold went to enhancement stones, and those stones are long gone.
Even the ones PatchNote gave me.

Time to grind for gold? Or buy with cash?
Thinking of the insane market prices post-update, cash wasn’t an option.
Staring blankly at the monitor, I sighed.
Everything’s piling up.
I could skip enhancing since I’m missing some *Iskaria* gear, but the impatient Korean in me was dying to enhance.

“Damn… used up the stones in my alt’s storage ages ago…”

No gold either.
What do I do?

—

(2)

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Anyone… selling enhancement stones?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Cash, not gold… ㅎ]

[Guild/PatchNote: I’ll give you some.]

“What?”

With stone prices skyrocketing, he’s just giving them?
Covering my mouth in shock, I hurriedly typed.

[Guild/DontOrderMe: How much?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Name your price.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Wait, where are you? I’ll come to you.]

[Guild/PatchNote: No, I’m heading to town, I’ll come.]

[Guild/PatchNote: Where you at?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Ferrant Village, by the forge…]

PatchNote zipped to Ferrant Village like the wind.
Spotting me, he opened a trade and casually dropped thousands of enhancement stones.
How’s he carrying *that* many?
Did he spend all his gold on stones?

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Give me your account, I’ll send cash.]

[Guild/PatchNote: It’s fine.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Huh?]

[Guild/PatchNote: Guild war’s coming, right?]

[Guild/PatchNote: Powering up is a must.]

Giving away *that* many stones for that?
I’ve got a conscience!

[Guild/DontOrderMe: No, send your account in a whisper.]

[Guild/PatchNote: Cash trades get you banned.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: You tried?]

[Guild/PatchNote: Yup.]

Tried it, huh?
Nothing to say to that.
But doesn’t cash trading happen all the time?
Myth’s guild master solved everything with cash.
The trade window was stuffed with 2,000 stones.
At current prices, that’s worth billions of gold.
Gold I don’t have.

[Guild/PatchNote: I’ve got more, so take it easy.]

Even so, I’m not *that* easy.
Maybe I’ll skip enhancing.
Racking my brain, I hit accept.

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Use me like a s*ave.]

[Guild/PatchNote: lololol]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: I’ll follow you like a s*ave.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Want me to sub-tank in Iskaria?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Just say the word.]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: Gotta coordinate with me for that.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: You’d welcome it, right?]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: Obviously.]

OneHit’s matter-of-fact reply made me chuckle.
Too confident to argue with.
Snickering, I crouched at the forge, diving back into enhancing.
With PatchNote’s stones, I’d push to +10 at least.

“+12… think it’ll hold?”

From +10, success rates plummet, and gear can break.
Deep breath, I rolled the dice.
Success, fail, fail, fail… fail.
Barely hitting +9, I tore my hair out and kept going.

[Enhancement Failed.]

[Enhancement Failed.]

[Enhancement Failed.]

.

.

.

[Enhancement Succeeded.]

“YAAAAAA! YES! YAAAH!”

Finally +10!
No more—this is enough.
My bad luck burned so many stones for +10; trying for +11 would bankrupt me.
The weapon’s dazzling effects brought a wave of emotion.
I made it this far.
I could fly from joy.

[Guild/DontOrderMe: PatchNote… need a DPS s*ave?]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Or an alt carry…?]

[Guild/PatchNote: Success? Congrats ㅎㅎ]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Without you… impossible…]

With *Iskaria*’s final raid weapon at +10, I’d out-DPS most players.
Maybe grind gold and give it all to PatchNote?
A normal player might need a DPS s*ave, but him?
No way.
Gotta pay him back with gold.
That resolve was soon buried.

[<System> Myth Guild declares war on RunawayTrain Guild.]

[Guild/Beta: What’s that?]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: lol]

“What did I just see?”

They declared war *this* fast?
I knew it was coming, but isn’t it polite to warn first?
I stared at the bold system message.

[Guild/PotteryMaster: Looks like they farmed Iskaria.]

[Guild/PotteryMaster: Otherwise, would they declare so boldly? lol]

Nodding at PotteryMaster’s words, I agreed.
They can’t win on skill, so they probably stacked gear.
Easter, the rich jerk, likely cashed up.

[Shout/QuitMyJob: Hoo! First guild war, congrats!!!]

[Shout/KoreanKimchi: Never heard of RunawayTrain, what’s that?]

[Shout/WantYangkkochi: Myth vs nobodies]

[Shout/BaldCape: Runaway’s unknown, but their members are Myth’s ex-main raiders.]

[Shout/HappyCircuit: Iskaria run! Need tank, healer! @@@@]

[Shout/Imitation: Myth GM: Looking for lost main raiders.]

[Shout/stellar: Who runs Iskaria in pubs? Who runs Iskaria in pubs? Who runs Iskaria in pubs? Who runs Iskaria in pubs?]

I clicked my tongue at the sudden shift.
This kind of attention sucks.

“Planned, huh?”

Easter, Myth’s guild master, craves attention.
He loves the spotlight.
This war’s probably to claim “first guild war” while others hesitate.
Gamers go wild for “first” titles, don’t they?
Easter’s the same—always chasing first clears despite trash skills.
Eight out of ten reasons I left Myth were him.

He wanted a guild war but lacked a good target, so he picked RunawayTrain.
Petty and attention-hungry, he’s likely jealous we left and cleared *Iskaria* first.
After brief thought, I typed.

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Let’s kill any Myth we see.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: They started it, they should expect this.]

[Guild/PotteryMaster: Ants swarming are still ants lol ;]

[Guild/Beta: Easter’s pettiness pisses me off; time for a massacre ;]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: Myth crew’s swarming here.]

[Guild/OneHitForTheLord: So many? Insane numbers. I’m screwed.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: Drop coords.]

[Guild/DontOrderMe: PatchNote, I’ll invite, grab a mount.]

[Guild/Beta: Heading to kill now.]

Checking OneHit’s coords, I invited PatchNote and teleported.
That spot’s close—teleport, then mount up.
As loading finished and we moved, damage hit out of nowhere.

Attacked on arrival?
Pulling my character back, I checked.
As expected—Myth guild members.

—