22 Episode 3: News (1)
"Phew. Well, that's over with." Upon confirming the death of the giant wolf before him, Shinto ushered out a tired sigh. "Now then... Let's see what we got."
With a glance over towards the multitude of items that he received from the boss' death, he took the liberty to scan over the details of the rewards, taking a look at the item descriptions.
[ Black Fang Ring ]
Rarity: Epic
Type: Accessory (Ring)
Durability: 250/250
Stats: Max HP +120 / STR +25 / +4% Lifesteal
*Upon attacking a target, there will be a 25% chance for the attack's damage to increase by 30%. Then, the user's strength will temporarily increase by 20% (Stackable) for 3 seconds.
A black ring imbued with the strength of Black Fang. It was said that the leader of the pack holds tremendous power, however, with its lack of understanding of its own power, Black Fang would typically only rely on raw strength.
Condition(s): The boss [ Black Fang ] must first be defeated by the user once before equipping.
Weight: 15
...
[ Black Fur ]
Rarity: Rare
Type: Material
A soft black fur of Black Fang. Unlike the rough fur of wolves that could be found just about everywhere, Black Fang's fur is fluffy and satisfying to touch.
Weight: 2
...
[ Fanged Claws ]
Rarity: Rare
Attack Power: 2 ~ 6
Type: Material
The claws of Black Fang. It is extremely sturdy and hard to break, with its edge sharp as a sword, it can be used as a weapon or cutting tool.
Weight: 4
...
[ Black Fang's Tooth ]
Rarity: Rare
Attack Power: 3 ~ 5
Type: Material
A sharp tooth of Black Fang. Resilient, big and strong, this tooth can tear you apart if you're not careful. Due to how sharp it is, it can be used as a weapon.
Weight: 4
...
As he skimmed through the item descriptions, he scratched his head in thought. "Oh? To think that the Black Fang Ring would drop..." Muttering out to himself, his eyes moved over to the empty open field. "Hmm... I never would've expected for this to happen after that whole ordeal."
All Shinto wanted to do was to test out his supporting capabilities. However, that trial run came to an end after both Jerome and Kris fell prey to Ractron's plan. By the end of the night, he went from supporting to taking all the aggro from the boss.
"Well whatever," he shrugged, now turning his head to the cheerful Frey. "What's done is done. All that's left is to..." As his gaze met with Frey, the brawler hurriedly scrunched forward towards Shinto with bright shining eyes.
"Phew! Thanks for the help, Shinto!" she cheered. "You were so cool back there, dodging all those attacks! How did you even do it?!"
"Aha... It's no problem." Waving his hands in reply to Frey's gratitude, he moved on with the topic. "I just invested my stat points into agility, that's all. But, in any case, how do we go about the rewards?"
"Rewards? Oh yeah!" Realizing that there were spoils from battle, her eyes glinted excitedly. "What did we get? What did we get?!"
"Materials and an accessory. A ring to be precise," he stated, as he took out the items and showed them to Frey. "Is there anything specific your group wants?"
"Hmm..." As if in deep thought, Frey remained silent. But, in the next second, she shook her head. "Nope! Just keep the items! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have even gotten anything!"
"Oh?" He raised his brow in curiosity. "In that case... Could I just keep the materials then? You can have the ring."
"Huh?" She blankly blinked at Shinto's statement. "I-I get to keep the ring?"
"Yep," he nodded his head. "I've got no use for it anyways. So you can keep it."
"Woah! Thanks!" Her eyes sparkled even brighter as she received the ring from Shinto. "Hehe! Time to show this off to Jerome and Kris!"
"Ahem... Speaking of which, they're probably waiting for you in town right about now, yeah? You should go back to them," he said. "It's getting pretty late as well, so we can call it a day."
"Oh, huh? It's gotten that late already?" she tilted her head. "Eeep! If it's like that then... I'll be going first! See you around, Shinto!" Amid the realization, Frey began to scurry out of the forest in a rush. "I'm so dead!"
"...hmm?" Unsure of what just happened, Shinto could only wave goodbye to Frey. "Well... See you, I guess?" Soon after seeing Frey off, Shinto opened up his status window as he then logged out of the game in the next moment.
...
Within the elegant halls of Erendek Castle, home to the members of the guild, Vainblood, a short blonde haired man—Bunnix, could be seen furiously stomping on the carpets laid out across the hall.
"$%^&!" Cursing at every step, Bunnix made his way through the hallway with bloodshot eyes. It was near the server's reset, however, the guild had called for an emergency meeting, which annoyed him. "Kaisus! You're so f$!@#!g gonna get it from me!"
Continuing down the hallways, his grumbles grew louder as they could now be heard echoing throughout the castle. Although it was nighttime, he didn't care for the atmosphere at all.
"Wait till I get to that room and I'll—" His words cut short as his movements soon abruptly stopped. "—Argh! Who the hell...?!" As he angrily looked up, he noted a bearded man, humongous in size, blocking his way.
"Oi! Bunny boy! Would you shut the #^$! up?!" The man—Wenzhou, frowned in irritation. "The whole damn castle can hear you! Are you trying to disturb everyone's sleep?!"
"Hey... You dumb musclehead. Look into my eyes. Does. It. Look. Like. I. Care?" he scoffed. "I could've been sleeping by now! But no!! Kaisus decides of all opportune time to hold an emergency meeting, it's now!"
"You! What's with that attitude?!" Wenzhou shouted out in anger. "You should be respecting your seniors and—"
"—Oh just shut up musclehead! What's this about seniority?! We came at almost the same time!" he clicked his tongue. "Bah! There's no point in dealing with you! Your head is too far up there."
"Hah?! What's that supposed to mean? I'll have you know, that I am—" As Wenzhou was about to continue with his sentence, a silent grunt could be heard interrupting him from the side.
"...hey. Will you two quit yapping and get into the room already?" The masked black-haired man—Revelen, spoke out as he began entering the meeting room. "The longer you delay this, the less time you have for sleeping."
"ARGH! This is annoying! Annoying, I tell you!" Throwing a small tantrum, Bunnix soon walked into the room whilst Wenzhou followed up from behind him.
...
Entering the meeting room, Bunnix and Wenzhou were immediately greeted by the prevalent silence that pervaded the room. It was an awkward and depressing atmosphere. But, that didn't stop the bunny from angrily hopping over to his seat.
"Ah, Bunnix, Wenzhou. It's nice of you two to finally arrive." Kaisus greeted with a cheery voice as the two of them took their sit. "With you two here, I guess we can finally begin, yeah?"
"Yeah, yeah! Just get on with it!" Irritated by Kaisus' playful voice, Bunnix gestured over to the guild leader, who was at the forefront of the meeting table to continue. "What's the news, huh? Are you guys going to just keep quiet about the situation? Come on, explain!"
"Jee, bunny boy. No need to be so impatient!" Wenzhou scoffed. "You're not giving anyone a chance to explain!"
"Ugh. Just shut up!" Pissed at the musclehead beside him, Bunnix slammed the table in anger. "If not for the fact that everyone here is taking their damn sweet time to explain this predicament that we're in, the guild wouldn't be in utter chaos!"
At the instance that Bunnix's hand slammed on the table, Hikari, who was in front of him, stood up abruptly to calm the situation. "B-Bunnix...! Please calm down. I know this situation may be sudden but... That's no reason to get angry."
"Hah? The hell do you mean, 'calm down'?!" he raised his brow in annoyance. "Did you not hear what I just said? The guild's in utter chaos! Did you guys not think to give a heads-up? I have the right to be angry right now!"
"As much as bunny boy's anger is mostly on fumes, he has a point. This is out of the blue, no?" Wenzhou nodded his head in agreement with the angry Bunnix. Then, his head turned in the direction of Kaisus and Rienla. "There was no explanation on why Shinto left. You all just left us in the dark since this morning. Just what's up with that?"
"Well, I for one, do not know anything about this." Revelen, who was facing an empty seat, helplessly shook his head. Moments after, he turned his head towards Hikari, who was sitting beside him. "What about you, Hikari? Did he say anything beforehand?"
"...no. Shinto didn't tell me anything," she sighed. "I can't reach him either."
"What? You're Shinto's closest friend! The hell do you mean he didn't tell you anything?" Bunnix clicked his tongue. "If neither Revelen nor Hikari knows, then what gives? Shinto wouldn't randomly leave like that!"
"What about Rienla? He's the secretary, no?" A silver-haired woman—Ensia, asked. "He should know."
"...unfortunately, I don't know either," Rienla shook his head in reply. "However... All I can say is this: I can understand where Shinto is coming from. Perhaps... That is the reason why he left."
"And that reason is??" Bunnix continued to pester for answers.
"Ahem. I am not the person to whom you should be asking this." With a calm voice, Rienla pointed toward the man at the forefront of the table, who had a smile on his face. "Let's all hear from Kaisus—the person who clearly knows the details of the situation, shall we?"
The aimless discussion amongst the members of the guild stopped. Their gazes now all turned to face their guild leader, Kaisus.
"So, Kaisus. Care to start explaining?" Rienla gestured.
"Aha. And here I thought I wouldn't get a chance to talk," Kaisus chuckled. "Now then... Let's see... Where do I begin?"
"Ughh! Just get on with it already!" Bunnix creased his brows. "Tell us. Why the hell did Shinto leave? Did he hop guilds? Quit the game? Stop taking your sweet time and explain!"
"Well, to put things simply, I gave a simple order to Shinto," he casually explained. "And that order was for him to take a break," he grinned. "As such, he has been kicked out of the guild."
Concluding his explanation in a laid back manner, the room went silent. All the players who sat at the meeting table all had a look of stiffness on their faces, as they attempted to process the information given to them by Kaisus.
"WHAT...?!" As the members stared blankly at one another, one of them finally spoke up. It was Bunnix. "You did what now?!"
"I see... So that's how it is." Rienla nodded his head as if he had understood everything. "Then with Shinto out of the equation for the next few matches... How do we go about our team composition?"
"Huh? You're accepting this fact easily?" Wenzhou blinked in a dumbfounded manner. "Shinto's our core ace here. And you kicked him out because you decided Shinto needed a break? What is this nonsense?!"
"It is how it is," Revelen calmly agreed. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Fortunately, the best-case scenario happened."
"Harh?! How could kicking out a core member of the guild be the best-case scenario?!" Bunnix's mouth opened wide with shock. "Isn't that a loss for us?!"
"...well, Shinto had been pushing himself to the limits for us since the very start. And, we've been relying on him far too much," Hikari solemnly said. "I can understand this sentiment from everyone here. The fact that he needed to take a break."
"What?" Wenzhou raised his brow in confusion. "If he wanted to take a break, why couldn't he just request it instead of having Kaisus order him to? And, why did he have to leave the guild? Couldn't he have stayed and not cause discord?"
"You may not know this since you're new and rarely ever spoke to him, but he has a hard head," Rienla bluntly stated. "So, this was the best for all of us."
"Ahem. Now that we're done with this topic, shall we move on to discussing our new team composition before we end the meeting?" Kaisus coughed, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Without Shinto, our new top laner to handle Titus would be..."
As Kaisus was about to move on to a new topic, a sudden notification window appeared before all the members within the room. It was the server's reset announcement.
[ System Alert: The unified rankings have been updated. ]
"...?!"
However, unlike the usual notification that they would typically receive, this was different.
[ There has been a major change to the unified rankings! ]
[ History has been made! ]
[ Your rankings have been moved up by one. ]
"...huh? A sudden change in the rankings?" The guild members all questioned as they continued reading through their respective windows.
[ The top three players on the unified rankings are now the following: Arceus, Titus, Vladimir. ]
"...huh?!" Their eyes all widened to see the sudden changes. "What's the meaning of this?!"
Without wasting any time, Rienla swiftly opened up his status window as he soon began to glance over the unified rankings as well as the swordsman class ranking.
"S-Shinto's out of the rankings?" Rienla cried out in surprise.
