Chapter 27: Malleable Chewy Cow(2)

What’s the best method to handle a small group facing a much larger group in a game?

I believe guerrilla warfare is the answer.

There was no need to engage in public opinion battles either.

The guild “Singsing” was already ruining its reputation on its own.

It was the moment we blocked Singsing’s reinforcements from joining at the village entrance.

The guild members waiting inside the village simultaneously used their Return Stones.

Unable to regroup in this state, they seemed to have moved to the capital city.

I immediately dispersed my guild members.

To outsiders, this short skirmish would look like our victory.

Now was the time to solidify that impression.

“Everyone, disband and farm on regular fields today. Dungeons are fine too. There’s no rush for the new area, is there? The items aren’t that great anyway.”

At my words, everyone nodded.

However, some hesitated, their hands fidgeting slightly.

These were players who primarily focused on PvP, such as battlegrounds or arenas, and whose gear wasn’t particularly outstanding.

Before they could voice their concerns, I prempted them.

“Some of you haven’t completed your raid sets yet, right? I’ll personally ensure you get the raid gear later.”

I promised raid equipment.

No matter how good the new area’s items were, they couldn’t surpass the performance of the current season’s endgame gear.

At my assurance, they finally smiled with relief.

Before the guild members dispersed, I singled out a few exceptionally skilled players.

“Helena and Iyeap, please stay behind.”

Helena, a mage, Iyeap, a rogue, and Harang, an archer.

All three excelled in mobility.

Helena, despite being a mage, had an item called Azure Gem of Grace, which allowed her to Blink faster than most mages.

“We’re planning guerrilla warfare. A small group will move discreetly, patrolling the new area. Can you assist?”

“Are you planning to kill them the moment you spot Singsing?”

“Yes.”

“Even ordinary players?”

“Yes. Until they start believing they’re dying simply because of the Singsing guild mark. Until their resentment is directed not at us but at their guild. We’ll keep repeating that action.”

Thus, the operation began.

Iyeap and Harang, skilled in stealth, were assigned as scouts to gather intel.

Helena and I hid behind a large rock, waiting for their messages.

“Guild leader.”

“Yes?”

“You’re so cool.”

At Helena’s compliment, I gave a sheepish smile.

I knew it too.

That I probably looked very impressive right now.

The timing worked out perfectly.

A new, fledgling guild standing up to a notorious large guild on the server.

Regardless of the outcome, it was a good narrative.

Our guild would gain fame in no time.

“You’re like a prince.”

“What…? A prince?”

I was startled by Helena’s sudden comment when a message from Harang arrived.

Harang:
[Singsing guild has gathered about 160 members in the first village. Looks like they’re looking for us.]

Yeon:
[Keep observing them. Don’t get caught under any circumstances.]

Harang:
[Got it.]

“They’ve gathered 160 members in the village. Let’s get ready for battle.”

I stood up and raised my sword.

Even though 160 people had gathered to fight, their opponents were nowhere to be seen.

They would soon grow restless in the village and scatter in search of us.

However, we wouldn’t move even then.

We needed to wait for the moment their patrols ended, for them to confirm we weren’t there and let their guard down.

Singsing’s strength lay in the sheer numbers of its members.

Their individual skills weren’t exceptional, so if they split up, the four of us could easily take them down.

Iyeap:

[They’ve started dividing up. Groups of 10 are scattering… Should we keep watching?]

Yeon:

[Please keep observing. After about 30 minutes, their numbers should start thinning out. That’s when we’ll strike.]

Helena and I began to move cautiously.

With my knowledge of the future, I was fully aware of the main quest’s progress routes.

As expected, the 30 minutes I mentioned passed.

Helena and I lay half-buried in the snow, holding our breath.

Iyeap:

[They’re starting to spread out.]

Yeon:

[Let’s begin.]

I began wriggling my hand in the snow.

Accessing the system interface, I opened the guild menu and clicked on the Guild War tab.

“War?”

“Yes.”

Nodding, I tapped the translucent message, and a server-wide notification spread instantly.

[The guild ‘MalleableChewyCow’ has declared war on the guild ‘Singsing.’]

The declared war zone was restricted to the new area.

The war would last for four hours, and I planned to harass them as much as possible before logging off.

With war declared, we could now engage in PvP against their guild without any penalties.

It was an environment where we could wield our swords freely.

Declaring a guild war required a hefty fee of 300 gold per hour.

But as someone running a raid gold party, this expense wasn’t too burdensome.

Although we had guild funds contributed by members, I chose to cover the cost out of pocket to save those funds for later.

“Didn’t you spend a lot of gold?”

“I did spend quite a bit…”

“Hmm…”

At my response, Helena nodded, then raised her hand to the air.

In an instant, the guild fund balance surged dramatically.

[Guild member Helena has donated 3,000 gold to the guild.]

“Let me know if you need more.”

Even after donating 3,000 gold in one go, she still looked completely at ease.

I nodded, stunned.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

The four of us began moving quickly.

When Harang or Iyeap spotted a Singsing guild member while remaining hidden, Helena and I would rush out and obliterate them.

Iyeap also contributed by using stealth to ambush Singsing members, stabbing countless daggers into their chests.

Among us, Harang was accumulating the most overwhelming war points.

The heavy snowfall limited visibility further.

Harang used this cover to remain hidden, launching powerful sniper attacks from all directions.

One by one, guild members with weak defenses, like mages, were being obliterated with each shot.

Harang deliberately avoided targeting melee fighters clad in heavy armor.

The battles had to be quick.

Every second was precious. If the enemies began to regroup, it would be disadvantageous for us.

We focused only on groups that could be dealt with within 10 seconds. Areas with more than ten people were entirely avoided.

An hour passed like that.

Each of us had racked up over 50 kills, but Harang alone had surpassed 100 kills.

Singsing wasn’t foolish. Once they confirmed that our numbers were small, they began positioning their guild members in the quest zones.

But it didn’t matter much.

Harang’s long-range sniping came from incredible distances. The only ones who could survive such attacks were high-defense classes like Paladins or Knights.

As Harang’s relentless sniping continued, Singsing began organizing patrols.

The three of us, excluding Harang, targeted those patrols.

Even for Singsing, the number of guild members they could deploy at once was limited.

If they assigned many members to patrol, it left other areas vulnerable.

Helena employed a highly aggressive tactic, using her extremely short blink cooldown to dive deep into enemy lines.

She would cast powerful magic, and as soon as it completed, she would plunge into enemy ranks and detonate massive fireballs.

The patrol team organized to catch Harang was wiped out in this manner.

Not a single kill was conceded. We drained their resources through relentless attacks.

Yeon:

[Hey, Harang.]

Harang:

[Yeah?]

Yeon:

[Having fun?]

Harang:

[Of course.]

Even as Harang responded, their kill score was rising rapidly.

Harang was sniping in the area critical for progressing the main quest.

The enemies kept coming, even if it meant dying over and over again. To progress the quest, they had to speak to an NPC, but Harang’s sniping constantly disrupted them mid-conversation.

The end was approaching.

The dreaded shutdown time was nearing.

I swung my sword with growing urgency.

If only I had more time, if only I could play for 24 hours straight, I could have completely eradicated the Singsing guild mark from this new region.

At 9:45 PM, a server-wide message appeared.

[The guild ‘MalleableChewyCow’ has won the war against the guild ‘Singsing!’]

Score
782 vs. 0

The message was visible to the entire server.

The score was there for everyone to see as well.

What would the Singsing guild members think when they saw that their guild had lost?

Especially when the defeat was by such an overwhelming margin.

The losing guild in a war received a server-wide debuff called [Dishonour].

This debuff made it impossible to interact with NPCs in the fields where the war had taken place.

Of course, there were ways to lift the debuff.

If one went to the guild management NPC in the capital city of Lunaris and donated a substantial amount of gold, the debuff could be lifted.

“It’s about time to log off.”

“Yes, it’s a shame, though.”

I replied to Helena’s comment while composing a message.

Yeon:
[You’re going to keep going, right?]

Harang:
[What about your studies?]

Yeon:
[If you’re planning to keep doing this, I’m out.]

Harang:
[Am I really allowed to keep playing?]

Yeon:
[I’d really appreciate it if you did.]

Harang:
[Alright.]

Harang readily accepted my request.

Ah.

It seems they’ve taken a liking to the war.

Yeon:
[How late will you play?]

Harang:
[Probably won’t sleep tonight.]

Upon seeing Harang’s response, I immediately initiated another war.

[The guild ‘MalleableChewyCow’ has declared war on the guild ‘Singsing.’]

The war duration was set for 10 hours.

The war zone was restricted to the new region.

Since guilds engaged in war cannot be declared upon by others, the members farming in other zones wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked.

If someone forced a PvP without declaring war, they would incur severe penalties.

For every kill, their outlaw points would increase by 10.

If those points exceeded 30, they would enter an [Outlaw] state, barring them from entering towns.

Attempting to enter a town while in the outlaw state would result in powerful guards dragging them to jail.

Of course, if someone was willing to endure such penalties to stab us in the back, there wasn’t much that could be done…

“I guess I’ll head out now.”

“You too, Helena?”

“Yes, I can only stay until 10.”

Helena said this as she used a return stone and vanished.

“What about you, Iyeap?”

“I plan to roam around here until bedtime.”

Iyeap smiled lightly as he drew his dagger.

The dagger, its blade coursing with a crimson aura, was a weapon obtained from a raid.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Leaving the aftermath in their hands, I used a return stone.

While it wouldn’t achieve the same overwhelming results as before, if Iyap and Harang were the only ones scoring kills in the new region, this war would also end in victory.

***

The war result message between Yeon’s guild, MalleableChewyCow, and the Singsing guild was visible to every player in Deron Online.

Singsing and Yeon had a history of conflict.

Now that the tension had escalated to war, posts about it began flooding every site related to Deron.

[Deron Online Gallery]
[MalleableChewy guild master annihilates Singsing scum LOLLOLLOLLOL] [72]
(A screenshot of the war results between MalleableChewyCow and Singsing guild.)

782 vs. 0

LOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
32 guild members vs. 300
LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
If I were Singsing, I’d bite my tongue and die LOL

Comments

• [Is MalleableChewyCow a middle school ninja guild?]
• L[00]
• [Heuuung… MalleableChewy Middle Schoolers…]
• [MalleableChewyCow of Middle Schoolers… How delightful.]
• [Even Singsing wouldn’t take someone like you.]
• [Singsing here LOL Your guild members are still getting beaten, huh?]
• [LOL not Singsing] [The Singsing guys are about to roll up in their SingsingCars LOLLOLLOLLOL]
• [Is the guild master offline now? I want to hire myself as a mercenary.]
• [Yup, went to bed. Middle schoolers have to sleep.]
• [Middle schooler? LOL It’s just a hairy old guy playing a role.]
• L
• [Singsing here? Singsing, get lost LOLLOLLOL]
• [Why isn’t the guild name HiddenLeafVillage?]
• [Look at these cowards mouthing off anonymously. They wouldn’t say a word if they met in person LOL]
• [Oh no… Singsing~ (sounds of the SingsingCar approaching)]
• [Welcome, Singsing.]

As the posts began to pile up, time ticked by.

11 PM turned into midnight, and then 1 AM.
The war was still ongoing.

During the war time that Yeon had set, Harang was incredibly active.
Without dying even once, he kept sniping Singsing guild members.

As time went on, small cracks began to form in the Singsing guild.

[Wasn’t Singsing supposed to have 300 members?] [16]

(Image of the Singsing guild info)

[It’s 292 members now? Eight people quit LOL.]

Comments

[Singsing~ (sound of the SingsingCar fleeing)]

[LOL these guys start getting beat and just quit the guild.]

[Maybe they were just clearing inactive members?]

[Doesn’t seem like it? Just checked, and the number keeps dropping. It’s 290 now LOL.]