Chapter 186

"Hey! You're going alone?!"

Ha-Jin blocked Jeong-Hoon, who was about to leave.

"It's okay. Even if I die, I'll just be forced to leave, right?"

"Then I'll go with you. Will it be a problem if one person like me is missing here?"

Jeong-Hoon shook his head.

"No, it will be a problem."

"...It will be a problem?"

"Yes. So stay here and protect this place."

Dogjeon, like Ho-Yeong, had concentrated their members on the important castle and assigned a moderate number of people to the remaining smaller castles.

Jeong-Hoon was aiming for those smaller castles first.

"Alright..."

His mother and Yeo Min-Ji were also full of worry, but they didn't say anything due to Jeong-Hoon's stubborn attitude.

"Then I'll be back."

"Be careful..."

"If you need any help, whisper to me anytime."

With their farewells.

"Brother! I'll protect this place!"

Kim Bong-Goo grinned and saw Jeong-Hoon off.

He looked like he was happy to be apart.

"Look at your face. Do you want to come with me?"

"...Haha! If I get poisoned, I'll only hold you back, Brother! That can't happen!"

"You little rascal, if you can't even talk properly."

Jeong-Hoon waved his hand and left the castle.

***

Myth had fallen.

Moreover, they were defeated while charging to conquer Ho-Yeong's castle.

As this fact spread, the guilds that were watching closely were thrown into confusion.

Dogjeon was no exception.

"Sa Jae-Hyeok... That guy was defeated?"

Min Jin-Ho also had a bewildered expression.

Of course, it was Myth.

The guild that held the title of number one in the Korean Siege War for the longest time.

Currently, Dogjeon held that 1st place, but they thought it wouldn't be strange if it was taken away at any time.

But less than 30 minutes into the Siege War, Myth had fallen.

"Ho-Yeong has become that strong...?"

No matter how much Ho-Yeong was evaluated as a guild comparable to Myth, that was only when considering Sa Jae-Hyeok and Yeo Sun-Woo.

In terms of overall strength, Ho-Yeong was inferior.

"Guild Master!"

At that moment, one of Dogjeon's executives rushed in.

His role was to receive reports from guild members deployed to other castles and provide briefings.

The fact that he came in urgently meant that a problem had occurred.

"What's going on?"

"One of the castles is under attack!"

"Attack? By whom?"

"That's... a bit strange."

Strange?

Min Jin-Ho tilted his head.

"Strange?"

"Yes... They say the attacker is showing no reaction to the poison."

"No reaction?"

"Yes. Because of that, they're on the verge of being conquered."

"That's absurd."

"...What should we do?"

"Abandon that castle. Tell the survivors to return to the main castle immediately."

"Understood!"

The executive hurriedly went outside.

However, he soon returned with a hardened expression.

Min Jin-Ho quickly guessed the situation from his expression.

"Don't tell me they were all wiped out?"

"...Yes."

***

The first castle Jeong-Hoon targeted was the furthest away from where Min Jin-Ho was stationed.

'To take first place, I need to conquer as many as possible.'

Not just first place.

An overwhelming first place.

Since the criteria for 'overwhelming' in this Siege War was vague, securing as many castles as possible was crucial.

"Michael."

Jeong-Hoon called out to Michael, who was inside.

"Yes, Master."

Michael bowed respectfully.

"How's the Coffin of Death?"

"I've completely tamed it."

"Really?"

To tame the Necromancer inside that coffin in such a short time.

He truly was skilled.

"Good. Then summon all the ghosts."

"Pardon?"

"We're going to smash the barrier in front of that castle. You can do it, right?"

Michael looked at the castle and nodded.

"I can do it!"

After spreading his senses, he found that there were only about 20 people deployed in the castle.

It was a castle with a capacity of 200 people, but only 1/10th of that was deployed.

It would be strange if they couldn't take it.

"Then begin."

"Yes!"

At Jeong-Hoon's command, Michael summoned the ghosts.

Among them was the Necromancer from the Coffin of Death.

The summoned ghosts headed towards the castle.

There was a barrier in front of it, and the ghosts struck the barrier with the weapons they were holding.

*Bang!* Bang!

The guild members who were lying in wait were startled by their attack.

"What?!"

"What's this?!"

"These crazy bastards! They dare to touch Dogjeon?"

This castle wasn't very valuable.

Attacking such a castle meant declaring war on Dogjeon.

"Then shall I start too?"

Jeong-Hoon slowly pulled the bowstring.

'Ultimate Arrow.'

The target was the barrier surrounding the castle.

As Jeong-Hoon released the drawn bowstring, the Ultimate Arrow shot out in a parabola.

The fired arrow hit the barrier.

A small crack appeared in the barrier.

'Got it.'

The corners of Jeong-Hoon's mouth crept up slightly.

At that moment, the Necromancer controlled by Michael chanted a spell.

The weapons held by the ghosts turned black.

Perhaps it was amplifying their attack power, because soon the cracks in the barrier grew larger.

Crash!

The barrier couldn't withstand it and shattered instantly.

In front of it stood the deployed defensive NPCs, holding their shields firmly.

"Shall we go then?"

Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique and dashed forward.

Then, he pushed an NPC holding a shield with his body.

"Ugh!"

The NPC couldn't withstand it and fell backward.

"Michael, take care of all these guys."

"Yes!"

At Jeong-Hoon's command, Michael started controlling the ghosts to attack the NPCs.

Meanwhile, Jeong-Hoon passed the NPCs and headed for the castle gate.

However, there wasn't a single user at the gate.

Instead, as he approached the gate, poison gas was sprayed towards him.

These were a group of users who specialized in handling poison.

So instead of direct confrontation, they trapped people with poison.

Just like now.

It was sprayed from an unavoidable distance, so he had no choice but to take it head-on.

[Thousand Poison Immunity activated.]

[You are not poisoned.]

However, the attack didn't work on Jeong-Hoon.

He had acquired One Poison Immunity early on.

That One Poison Immunity had grown into the Unique grade Thousand Poison Immunity.

It meant that most poisons were useless against him.

Jeong-Hoon quickly approached the castle gate and swung it open.

Bang!

Four users in front of him looked at Jeong-Hoon with startled faces.

Then they hurriedly sprayed the poison they had prepared.

[Thousand Poison Immunity activated.]

[You are not poisoned.]

This time too, they couldn't penetrate Jeong-Hoon's Thousand Poison Immunity.

Jeong-Hoon slowly walked towards the users.

The Dogjeon Guild members froze, seeing him unharmed despite the poison spray.

"He's fine...?"

"I'm sorry, but this level of poison can't kill me."

Jeong-Hoon grinned and swung his sword once.

The head of one of the guild members in front of him fell to the ground.

"Ah, Aaagh!"

As one of their comrades was forcibly removed, the users screamed and started to run away.

However, Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique and cut their throats one by one.

"It's over."

Jeong-Hoon climbed the central stairs to the upper floor.

As he went up, a variety of poisons greeted him, but they were all dealt with by his Thousand Poison Immunity.

"Intruder!"

"Damn it! The poison doesn't work!"

The Dogjeon Guild members fled in panic to the top floor.

Jeong-Hoon easily cut off their breaths as he climbed upwards.

He finally reached the top floor, where the conquest was possible.

The remaining users there glared at Jeong-Hoon.

"Who are you?"

"Which guild are you from?"

Jeong-Hoon chuckled at their questions and said,

"Why do you need to know when you're about to be conquered?"

"What...?"

Their words were cut short.

Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique to get close to them, swung his sword, and cut their throats.

Thus, the number of Dogjeon Guild members remaining in the castle became zero.

"Master! I've taken care of all the NPCs!"

Just then, Michael arrived at the top floor.

"Okay."

Jeong-Hoon approached the center and pulled out the flag.

[You have conquered the castle!]

With this, the ownership of this castle went to Ho-Yeong.

"Master! Congratulations on conquering the castle!"

"We're not done yet. There are many more castles to conquer, so let's hurry."

"Yes!"

Jeong-Hoon immediately sent a whisper to Yeo Sun-Woo.

[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: I've conquered one of Dogjeon's castles.]

[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: Huh... You've already conquered one?]

[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: Yes. Then I'll go conquer the next castle.]

***

Yeo Sun-Woo couldn't believe it.

It hadn't even been 30 minutes since Jeong-Hoon left, and he had already conquered one of Dogjeon's castles.

"He says he conquered a castle..."

"I see."

Lee Na-Yeon nodded without surprise.

She had personally experienced her son's extraordinary abilities in the game, so she firmly believed he would succeed.

"We might actually take first place in the Siege War."

In terms of the number of castles alone, they were now on par with Dogjeon.

Of course, other named guilds would also rise up, but if they could conquer a few more castles like this, 1st place was a sure thing.

"Guild Master! Wings are coming!"

"Wings?"

"Yes! It seems that after the clash with Myth, they judged that Ho-Yeong's forces aren't at full strength!"

"Huh..."

What a huge misunderstanding.

It was Jeong-Hoon, not Ho-Yeong, who wiped out Myth.

"What should we do?"

"What do you mean what should we do? We absolutely cannot lose this castle."

With Jeong-Hoon working so hard, losing this castle was unthinkable.

They had to protect this castle at all costs.

***

"Ugh!"

"Ack!"

Jeong-Hoon quickly moved on to the next castle.

And just like the first castle he conquered, he succeeded in conquering it in an instant.

'So Ho-Yeong now has 5 castles?'

However, there was no reaction from Min Jin-Ho.

That meant these castles weren't that valuable.

'To achieve an overwhelming 1st place, I need to take a few castles from other guilds besides Dogjeon.'

Therefore, before conquering the next Dogjeon castle, Jeong-Hoon additionally conquered two nearby easy targets.

He felt sorry for the small and medium-sized guilds that owned the castles, but it couldn't be helped for the sake of 1st place.

"Master, where should we go for the next castle?"

Michael asked in an excited voice.

He was happy to be on a rampage after a long time.

"To where Dogjeon's leader is."

In reality, if they couldn't conquer that castle, achieving an overwhelming 1st place would be impossible.

So confronting Min Jin-Ho, the leader of Dogjeon, was not a choice but a necessity.

'Min Jin-Ho, wait for me.'

I'll break you here.

"Understood!"

"Let's go."

The castle where Min Jin-Ho was stationed was a massive castle located in the east.

It was the only castle that Dogjeon had been occupying for quite a long time.

[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: I'm heading to their headquarters.]

[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: Understood! Please don't push yourself too hard.]

[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: Yes. By the way, what's the current situation?]

[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: The Wings Guild attacked, but we're somehow defending.]

[Whisper/Hoon -> Sunwoo: Can you hold them off?]

[Whisper/Sunwoo -> Hoon: We have to stop them no matter what.]

That was a very satisfying answer.

I don't have to worry about Ho-Yeong.

Jeong-Hoon headed towards the castle where Min Jin-Ho was, along with Michael.