Chapter 39 - GND

As soon as their attack finished, MasterAhn collapsed on all fours, panting out of exhaustion.

"Brother!" Sword exclaimed.

He raised his hand, stopping the former from his stride. "I'm fine… I just ran out of stamina and mana." He then proceeded to sit down, and took a health and mana potion from his inventory.

"Okay… I'll go check on Isshin's body first." Sword turned around and jog towards Isshin's headless corpse.

"Yeah, sure." MasterAhn finished drinking them, sighing briefly with relief.

Sure enough, their final attack really did work effectively. Just like the previous game, Tower of Eternity's combat system mimics the real life, there is no real "Critical Chance" in the game that's dictated by luck. But hitting the opponent in their vitals count as Critical Hits, these spots includes but are not limited to: the head, upper torso, neck, and internal organs: including heart, brain, lungs, and arteries and veins.

Additionally, destroying or penetrating the heart or brain can also lead to a one hit kill depending on the method of how it is done.

"What's wrong?" MasterAhn called out because Sword's taking a bit too long.

"N-nothing… I'm just checking thoroughly." He answered in a hurry.

"No way that guy's regen is strong enough to recover from that kind of damage, he's basically unkillable if it's like that. The devs would've noticed."

"Yeah… right…" Sword walked towards a nearby tree and also sat to recover his stamina.

Because all movement cost stamina in the game, even the simple act of walking, stopping to sit down will naturally be a more effective method of recovering stamina instead of just idling around standing awkwardly or lowering one's speed.

A sudden crackle of lightning then grabbed their attention as lightning strikes descended from the skies in an area far away from them.

"That guy had arrived…"

"Is that one the NPC you're talking about last time?"

"That's right. It's cool, isn't it?"

"I mean... I appreciate the help…"

"That's not a help, it's an exchange. When I contacted him for help in this one, he said he'll help but we must also help him next time around."

"When will that be?"

"No idea, he said he'll say it when he needs our help, that's all."

"Really, huh…?"

Swish—!

A player arrived swiftly in front of them and quickly knelt down on one knee.

"Guild Master..." The player uttered with reverence towards his resting Guild Master.

"Why?"

"The Vice was killed."

"By who?"

"Phoenix Guild. They appeared there."

"… As I expected, did my ally took care of them?"

"They flee, but the NPC killed off many hostiles."

"You sure he didn't accidentally killed any of ours?"

"Negative, none of us died because of him."

"Will you be able to set up the fortification now?"

"Yes, we still had enough manpower left there, the dead ones are most likely already on the way back after res."

"Mm… thanks. Just go back there and tell them to hurry with the defenses. Don't worry so much about me, I already have a guard."

"Guard?!" Sword said with a hint of irritation as he looked at his brother.

"Yes…" The messenger watched helplessly as the two argues before dashing away. "What a silly relationship…"

After some time later, the two got up and made their way onto that area.

They talked nonchalantly as they dashed forward as fast as they could to quickly arrive there.

On the way there, they came across the newly revived players that quickly made their way back from the nearby Green Zone. Among those players was F0rsaken.

"Oh, big brother...!" Sword called out.

"Ah, you guys done with Isshin?"

"Of course!" He replied with pride and glee.

MasterAhn joined in on the conversation. "Hey, what happened to you? Those guys done you in?"

"Yeah, Sanggano did. My bad."

Even though he's amongst the ones who died, the atmosphere was not even remotely heavy and they are all quite cheerful while traversing the forest. After all, it's not like they lost a revival or lost the ore deposit to the enemy forces, which is why no one is mad, and even if that did happen. The bond between the members of GND are very strong and they wouldn't start blaming each other for things like that. They will just take it in and do their best to improve for the next time.

"Oh! The Guild Master and Vice are here!" One player shouted out, directing all of their attention towards their leaders.

MasterAhn waved his hand and spoke. "Good work, everybody. Now, let's focus on this first, we can celebrate later after this."

Every single present member over there answered in unison. "Yessir!"

"Hm… This is how it should be, great work, guys..." However, his mood quickly turned grim as he saw Yun approaching.

He smiled awkwardly, "Ah… Good work, thank you…"

"You owe me one. Make sure you won't be going back on your word."

"How can I… we made a Contract anyway…"

"That's right… Wasting my time and dragging my ass onto something as trivial as this... Ridiculous…"

"Yeah, the Namgoong Clan must be overflowing with money for you to think this is trivial…"

"That's true. We own a monopoly for the ThunderCore ores after all. Giving you money that values as much as this discovered Eternium deposit is nothing to me, since I'm the direct heir anyway."

MasterAhn's face twitched while smiling after hearing Yun.

Sword whispered to F0rsaken. "This guy's fucking bragging…!"

"Language." F0rsaken sternly replied.

"Oh—my bad!" Sword covered his mouth in fear.

The two's conversation continued. "So, you now have any ideas now how we'll need to help you?"

"None, I'm still looking for companions to climb the tower with."

"Well… found any?"

"Two, yes."

"Oh… do we count as allies of yours?"

"Somewhat, just a little."

"You're looking for companions, this means you have an idea, don't you?"

"I did, but he rejected me." Yun caressed his chin while thinking.

"Aren't you famous? I've read a lot about you… Prodigy of the Namgoong Clan, this and that, a lot. How come anyone will reject you?"

"He's someone way more famous than I am, and way more powerful too. Even if there's two of me, I am not remotely confident I can beat him without thorough preparation."

MasterAhn paused briefly as he racked his brain while looking down and holding his chin with one hand. "That kind of description… Are you talking about Sun Ugong?"

"You nailed it..." Yun spoke softly, "He rejected my offer. I think he's just prideful to reject the leadership of someone who's not even a God-Kin and someone who's way below him in terms of power."

"I see... I'll try helping you find a companion…"

"There's no need, I don't want to owe you a favor." Yun then turned around and began walking away.

"The hell do you take me for…?"

"I'll be going, I'll contact you when I need you." And with that, Namgoong Yun disappeared in a flash, leaving sparking trail behind as he goes.

The GND members continued their work with the fortification. They do not have any time to waste as more hostile players could attack them at any moment, even after they had finished their fortifications.