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

I turned and dashed up to the second floor.

[Though the first day of Round 1.5 was temporarily suspended due to the commotion, the second day will proceed as scheduled. Participants will return to their original fields at the start of the second day, and upper-tier players will have their field entry counts reset, so please replenish your subordinate groups as you did on the first day.]

While listening to the broadcast, my hands and eyes were busy checking the status screen to confirm that Akata hadn’t been deleted.

[Guild Management: Members]

Lilith

Gio

Unahar

Kanel

Akata

Seeing Akata’s name on the guild member list made me sigh in relief.

When I refocused, I realized I was already standing in front of Unahar’s room.

I flung the door open.

“Rudel, Akata is now a member of our guild!”

Lilith, inside the room, watched my expression and, seeing my bright face, celebrated even more than I did, as if it were her own joy.

Rejoicing more fervently than the person directly involved, Lilith’s reaction was truly healing.

Holding Lilith’s hands, we shook them up and down energetically, and then I made an excuse to send her out on a small errand, wanting a moment alone with Akata.

I looked down at the peacefully sleeping Akata and then collapsed onto the bed beside him.

I opened the guild member management screen.

[Name] Akata / [Level] 1

At last, with my guild leader privileges, I was able to access the guild member status screen. Only then did I truly believe I had acquired this boy character.

The momentary joy faded, and I attempted to use my cheat to view Akata’s status.

“…”

My cheat as a possessor still didn’t work on Akata.

I was briefly engulfed in a sense of emptiness.

Surviving fiercely through Round 1 and preparing for Round 1.5, I hadn’t felt this void and futility before.

The disparity I felt upon seeing Akata since entering this game hit me again.

I am certainly a real person. Or at least, I was.

But all those memories have vanished, leaving only vague impressions of the game and a hazy understanding of the situation.

Something is odd about this situation. It all feels artificially orchestrated.

‘Honestly, living this life isn’t too bad…’

As someone who loved games, nurturing myself and my comrades and climbing the ranks brought me joy.

I had adapted to this world to the extent that it seemed as if I might originally be a game character, with memories of the real world being mere errors.

‘But can I live like this forever?’

What is the end for a game character? The termination of the game’s service?

Would that mean the end for me, Lilith, Gio, Unahar, Kanel, and all of us?

Humans in reality live for over 80 years before they die, but does our life end with the termination of the game?

It’s not just me. All of us think and act like real people.

Why are we trapped here, playing along with the whims of the game developers?

…Whether I was really a person in the real world no longer matters.

As someone who knows, I have an obligation to uncover the truth about this game.

This is a matter of a different level than just surviving, climbing the ranks, and pleasing the viewers.

Even though I felt the heavy weight pressing on my shoulders, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

‘Right, let’s not be scared and fearful from the start.’

If I keep running forward, eventually, I will grasp something more valuable than just game rankings.

…Maybe all this is because I met Akata.

I turned my head back toward the bed.

Akata, you are a benefactor to me.

While my guild members up until now were all discovered by my own efforts, you seem like you came to me by chance.

Listening to the gentle breathing of the sleeping boy, I placed my hand on his delicate, slender one.

‘Please take care of me, my guild member. There’s much I need to learn from you.’

* * *

Thus, Akata became the sixth member of the Rudel Guild.

With him as the last addition, Rudel never added another guild member for as long as the guild existed.

* * *

Day 2 of Round 1.5.

Though it was only for two days, it was nevertheless the final day of the round.

Before the start of the second day, I gathered the guild members to give today’s instructions.

As a guild leader who had regained my resolve.

“Unahar, Gio. You two head out into the field and bring back any weak participants who haven’t been chosen yet. Our subordinate group limit is 50 members, so let’s aim for at least 30. More is fine too.”

I sent the two men into the field.

The remaining members were me, Lilith, and Kanel.

“And Kanel, you’ll sit at the lookout in my place.”

“Me? But I can’t communicate with the guild members since I’m not the guild leader.”

“That’s why I just made you the deputy guild leader.”

“Ah, I see-. What?”

Kanel’s eyes widened as he replied absentmindedly.

He quickly opened his status screen with a bewildered face and confirmed his name prominently displayed, looking extremely flustered.

I raised a crooked smile as I looked at his surprised face.

“What? Can’t handle it? Lacking confidence?”

“No, that’s not what I mean… Won’t Unahar object?”

Indeed, Kanel, despite lacking a bit in sociability, had quickly grasped the temperaments of the guild members.

He knew who would be conscious of the deputy guild leader position and who was just as smart as he was.

“It’s a joke. I temporarily assigned you for the sake of guild communications.”

“…So, it’s just temporary, and you don’t think I’m suited to be the deputy guild leader?”

“That’s not it. I just don’t want to divide ranks like guild leader and deputy guild leader among us. I think you, Gio, Unahar, and Lilith all have different strengths. None of you are lacking in any way.”

Lilith, who had been listening, seemed a bit hesitant when her name was mentioned, but she just smiled and listened quietly, as if she liked seeing me speak this way.

Of course, in larger guilds, the guild leader might appoint their most favored or most competent member to maintain order.

But I consider us all a family, and aside from myself as the leader, I see no need for a designated second-in-command.

We don’t have enough members to warrant such a hierarchy anyway.

“The guild leader can’t be replaced, but the deputy can be changed as needed. So, I plan to appoint the deputy role to different people each round, depending on what’s needed for our ranking.”

“Understood. I see your point.”

“And by the way, I already talked to Unahar about this yesterday, so he knows you’re the deputy now.”

Last night, when Akata officially joined our guild, our villa… no, our fortress expanded to accommodate six people.

A new private room was added to the male corridor.

When Unahar and I moved Akata to his new room, I had already discussed the deputy role with him.

“Got it. I’ll monitor the field and support Gio and Unahar in recruiting subordinates as instructed.”

Kanel climbed up to the lookout as per my instructions. Now it was just Lilith and me.

“Lilith, stay with Akata. You know how eagerly I’m waiting for him to wake up, right? Let me know immediately if he does.”

Lilith smiled brightly at my request.

“Sure, I’ll do anything you ask. But what are you going to do, Rudel?”

“I have something only I can do.”

It was something I should have done yesterday, but it was postponed due to the Akata situation.

People were probably expecting great things from the ‘Guild Leader Rudel’s’ pick, but they must have been quite shocked to find the subordinates’ quarters empty.

According to Unahar, Nahean had lost the will to live and was in a state of lethargy. Leaving him like that was clearly my mistake.

“I’m going to check the quarters for our new subordinates and have a talk with Nahean, who we brought in yesterday.”

“Got it. Good luck! I’ll make sure to watch over Akata closely so he can wake up soon.”

Lilith’s enthusiasm was touching, especially considering she was essentially being entrusted with looking after a sick child.

Having you in our guild is truly a blessing.

* * *

As Lilith headed up to Akata’s room on the second floor, I made my way to the ‘subordinates’ quarters’ connected to the fortress living room.

Zing.

The barrier-protected wall lowered, allowing me to step inside.

A space where upper-tier players could enter, but lower-tier players could not.

Inside, the quarters mirrored the design of our official guild fortress, like a reflection in a mirror.

Except it was absurdly larger, expanded to accommodate fifty people.

In this vast dormitory, a 16-year-old boy spent the night alone.

The corridor seemed to echo with a lonely breeze. Despite the warm and cozy atmosphere, it felt as empty as a haunted house.

“Nahean, Nahean.”

Calling the name of our guild’s first subordinate character, I walked down the wide corridor.

“…”

Could he be sulking because he was left here alone?

Well, leaving a 16-year-old in a place like this by himself would be enough to drive anyone mad!

From that point on, I searched frantically, like a mother looking for a lost child.

I thoroughly searched the study, which was as large as a library, checked the dining area, and even opened the door to the only private room.

There was only one place left to check…

“Nahean?”

When I cautiously opened the door, I was greeted by the dim light of a screen in the darkness.

The boy I had been frantically searching for was sprawled in front of the screen with a large pillow.

In front of him was a game controller, a stack of game CDs on the left, and an empty plate with sauce stains and a large bag of potato chips on the right.

So, nothing was wrong after all. He had been engrossed in gaming.

Feeling relieved, I sat down beside him and gently patted his shoulder.