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

As I looked down, Akata was still in my arms.

A lower-tier character from round 1.5, coming back to the main fortress with me instead of staying at the guild’s subordinate quarters.

‘See, I told you there’s something off about this character.’

The existence of Akata itself might be a serious ‘bug’ in the game.

At that moment, I heard the sound of footsteps running down the hallway from a distance. I gulped, realizing my mistake.

I felt as if cold sweat was trickling down my blood-stained forehead.

Now it’s time to get scolded.

“What on earth have you done!!”

As expected, Kanel came running, his face pale, and shouted loudly upon seeing my disheveled appearance.

His voice was so loud that my eardrums felt numb for a moment.

“Recruiting new guild members…?”

Under Kanel’s pressure, I unintentionally answered meekly.

“Yes, you certainly did. Both I and Lilith saw everything from the lookout!”

Lilith saw this too?

Before Kanel could finish speaking, Lilith’s small body flew over and wrapped around me.

She must have just arrived due to her slow running.

“Rudel, this is so severe…”

Lilith, with tears streaming down her face, examined my body.

Seeing Lilith like that, the venom from the recent incident seemed to drain away.

Sudden fatigue washed over me, and my eyes grew moist.

Holding Lilith’s hand, I tried to soothe her.

“I understand. I’ll listen to all the nagging later, but first, can you get me some health potions?”

“I already brought them.”

A chest full of red containers was placed beside me.

“If I drink all of this, my stomach might burst.”

“Drink until it bursts.”

It was just a joke, but neither the glaring Kanel nor the tearful Lilith found it funny.

“Can you give some to this kid too, Kanel?”

The two awkwardly avoided looking at Akata, who was still in my arms, until I mentioned it, then glanced down uncomfortably.

“…”

But the next moment, without a word, Kanel did as I asked.

He moved the boy’s body onto his lap and started pouring potions into him one by one.

Seeing that made me feel relieved. As long as he was alive, those health potions would heal all the wounds he had sustained.

Contrary to my earlier joke, these potions had no effect on stomach capacity, which was a relief.

After a few potions, Akata’s broken bones and damaged skin began to restore to their original state.

“Phew…”

Confirming that Akata’s breathing had stabilized, I sighed and looked up again.

Two pairs of contrasting eyes were glaring at me.

“Why are you so reckless? What will we do if you die!”

As soon as my stamina recovered a bit, Kanel’s nagging started again.

“Well, I’ll just return to the guild fortress even if I die.”

“…I don’t want you to go through such pain.”

Kanel, at a loss for words, hesitated before adding, “Reckless? I had a plan. Look at this item. I brought it to defend against threats from lower-level players like earlier.”

Desperately trying to defend myself, I pulled out the ‘Blade of Madness,’ now bright red from my blood, and explained. However, the sight of the sword only served to intensify their scolding, as it evidenced my severe injuries.

“At the very least, you could have contacted us! Why didn’t you inform Gio or Unahar? Why did you surprise us like this?” Kanel’s frustration was palpable.

“Oh right, Gio and Unahar.” To avoid further scolding, I changed the subject. Come to think of it, I left them out in the field. I immediately used my ‘Guild Member Forced Recall’ authority to summon them to the fortress.

However, the only result was another pale-faced, handsome nagger joining the scene.

“Rudel, you…!” Even Gio was glaring at me silently.

“You were all really worried, huh? I’m sorry.” I lowered my eyes and mumbled. Unahar bit his lip but said nothing more, letting go of my shoulder.

“You know you scared us. I was so upset I ended up breaking part of the lookout controls,” Kanel confessed unexpectedly.

“Why?”

“I was furious. The potion dispensing function isn’t even activated yet, which makes it practically useless!”

…We haven’t known Kanel long, so I’m still figuring out his personality. Should I add ‘unexpectedly hot-tempered’ to his otherwise calm demeanor? I thought he was as composed as me, but it turns out he’s only calm in appearance. Maybe it’s because he’s only 20.

I suddenly felt all the guild members staring at me, some with accusatory looks, waiting for me to say something. Slowly, I realized that my unilateral actions had disappointed all my comrades. Just as I blamed myself for Akata’s suffering, they must have been constantly worried seeing me in pain.

I had to admit it. Consumed by thoughts of Akata, I failed to consider my comrades’ feelings.

“…I thought it was my fault that this kid ended up like this.” I confessed my true feelings, hoping to make amends. “So, I wanted to handle it alone without involving you all. It was foolish. I’m really sorry.”

I have more knowledge than others because I’ve been transported into this game world. I possess a rational and intelligent mind befitting my high intelligence stats, yet I still have a long way to go. There is still much to learn, and I’m far from perfect.

As I sincerely apologized, the men who had been scolding me sighed deeply and then asked if I was okay. Lilith buried her tear-streaked face into my shoulder.

“Don’t do that again…”

I patted Lilith soothingly and turned my gaze to the man who had stepped back and remained silent.

“Gio, why are you breathing so heavily?”

Now that I thought about it, both Unahar and Gio had been gasping for breath ever since I forcibly summoned them back to the guild. Unahar must have been running around frantically looking for me, but what about Gio?

“Are you still hung up on the deer meat? Have you been running around trying to catch a deer?”

“…”

I expected a snarky retort if I was right or wrong, but instead, an awkward silence filled the air. Unahar seemed to be gauging Gio’s reaction.

Strangely, Gio’s face started turning red. He scrunched up his features until his jawline was pronounced.

“I don’t know.”

He turned abruptly and stomped off towards the individual quarters on the second floor.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen him sulk,” I said, bewildered. Unahar looked at me with a troubled expression.

“I think you made a mistake just now, Rudel…”

“What did I do?” I asked, puzzled. Unahar opened his mouth as if to explain, then sighed.

“Let’s talk about it later. For now, you should rest. You too, and…”

Unahar trailed off, his gaze dropping to the boy I had just brought in, Akata, who lay unconscious.

A strange boy who had suddenly fallen into our guild fortress, not immediately classified into the subordinate group. Before Unahar could point out how odd this was, an announcement blared throughout the game.

[Round 1.5 is temporarily suspended. Higher-level players remaining in the field will be recalled to their guild fortresses, and lower-level players will be sent to their individual quarters.]

[A response will be taken regarding the recent anomaly.]

It seemed that bringing Akata here hadn’t resolved everything. The admins, having noticed the anomaly with Akata, had finally begun to take action. Only the system’s judgment to eliminate the error remained.

* * *

In the real world.

The chat exploded with comments when Ispan, having captured Akata before Rudel, stomped on his ankle.

‘Wow, that must hurt so much.’

‘A broken ankle really does hurt.’

‘Can an ankle break that easily from a stomp?’

‘Typical F-rank, brittle as glass.’

‘Ispan isn’t dead? Came back again?’

‘He died, but he’s back?’

‘See, I told you leaving Rudel’s enemies alive was a bad idea, but Gio killed him?’

‘Back from hell.’

‘As expected, hostage drama, lol.’

‘The acceptance necklace given to him.’

‘Isn’t it psychopathic to torture a kid like that? LOL.’

‘It’s just a game, who cares?’

‘Rudel’s gonna cut him down anyway.’

‘Rudel is really pissed off right now. RIP Ispan.’

‘Ispan knows how to set up a scene.’

‘If Rudel’s special abilities are sealed, she’s got nothing. Would she really drink that?’

‘No way, that’s stupid.’

‘She’s probably got a trick up her sleeve.’

‘Nope, she’s just drinking the sealant.’

‘Whoa, badass.’

‘What confidence!’

‘Even if Rudel’s playing it cool, she must have something up her sleeve, right?’

‘Ispan is really the perfect trash villain…’

‘First time seeing all four limbs broken like that;;;’

‘Is the boy even alive?’

‘Ispan is such a well-crafted villain.’

‘Leave him. It’ll just trigger Rudel’s awakening button again…’

‘Our director must be scheming hard on how to milk this for points.’

‘?’

‘?’

‘Rudel’s just getting beat up.’

‘…How is Rudel going to turn this around♥’

‘How much are they trying to excite us?’

‘? LOL’

‘I hesitated above.’

‘Okay, that’s enough, Rudel. Stop showing us!’

‘I’ve seen enough beating!’

‘;;;;;;;’

‘Stop making us excited!’

‘Aaaahhh, you people! Face reality! Rudel is just getting beaten up!’

‘No, Rudel has a plan!’

‘LOL XBARU ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ’

‘Rudel just called Gio. Here’s the evidence: Rudel instructed Gio not to use his special ability, so Gio hasn’t used it in round 1.5. But the cave Rudel entered is underground, so Gio can use his ability without being detected.’

‘? Gio isn’t coming?’

‘? He’s just getting beaten up!’