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

I’ve always been the guild leader, but here in South Korea, the sense of responsibility as a leader feels even greater. The three behind me are like infants, knowing nothing about this world…

“How many locals are there in this world?” Kanel, the fastest to adapt, asked with curiosity.

In our game, including the subordinate groups, there were roughly 1,300 people.

“Well, the population of Pangyo is about… I don’t know, maybe 20,000?”

“What?”

My country bumpkin friends were stunned. I grinned mischievously.

“But above Pangyo-dong, there’s Bundang-gu, and above Bundang-gu, there’s Seongnam City. This country has many such administrative divisions. If you add up all the people, it’s about 50 million!”

“What?”

“And that’s not all! There are many other countries outside of Korea! If you combine their populations, it’s about 7 to 8 billion!”

“What??”

“That’s impossible!”

“Won’t the ground collapse?”

Their bewilderment was so endearing that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Smiling, I said,

“Think about how small the world we were in was compared to this.”

And how many people might have been passionate and excited about us in that tiny game world.

Lilith, overwhelmed by the thought of billions of people, collapsed right in the middle of the bushes, and Unahar hurriedly supported her.

Kanel, trying to summon his inventory and realizing it was gone, looked momentarily dejected but quickly regained his composure.

Not only the inventory is gone. We also don’t have unique abilities or status screens.

At least our physical abilities remain the same as our game stats.

After carefully moving my body, I was satisfied to find I was in the same condition as before.

With this, each of us could probably take on seventeen ordinary people and win.

Though I should probably wait to tell Kanel that firearms are banned in Korea…

“Should I go look for a place to hide?” Kanel offered, trying to be helpful while Unahar and Lilith were still in shock.

“Maybe there’s a cave deeper in the forest.”

But it wasn’t much help, unfortunately.

“No, we’d be reported as vagrants or wild men to the locals. You can’t act like we did in the game here. Besides, even this forest has an owner…”

Undeterred, Kanel pointed to the buildings.

“Then we should take one of those buildings. Drive out the occupants and take it over?”

“I told you, no violence here. This world is ruled by money.”

“Do you have any money, Rudel?”

“Not a single cent.”

“So, what do we do…?”

“Well, we’ll have to find a place to crash.”

“I dislike the idea of Rudel doing something so degrading.”

“Listen, this isn’t the game world! We’re level 1 nobodies among level 100 people! Drop the arrogant attitude!”

Feeling a bit exhausted from the conversation, I decided to change the topic. The weather was getting chilly, and if we continued to stay hidden in the bushes, we wouldn’t accomplish anything important and would just get more tired. That wouldn’t do.

“Let’s quiet down for a bit! Once we find a place to settle, I’ll explain everything you’re curious about.”

These guys are in big trouble. I’m barely coping with the adjustment myself, and I need to figure out how to teach and help these three adapt.

“Oh, by the way, we need to come up with new names for you guys.”

While searching for a place to stay, I remembered that we needed to blend in with the locals and disguise our identities.

“We can’t use our real names in front of people here. I’ll give you each a new name, following the naming conventions here.”

I pointed to Unahar and Lilith in turn.

“Kim Cheolsu. Park Yeonghee.”

They repeated their new names to themselves and memorized them.

“Call each other Cheolsu and Yeonghee. Try it.”

“Cheolsu.”

“Yeonghee.”

Good. Now for Kanel and me…

I had only given two names, but I was already running out of ideas. After some effort, I managed to come up with new names for us.

“I’ll be Lee Sookhee. And you’ll be Choi Gildong.”

“Understood.”

Cheolsu… Cheolsu. As Unahar repeated his new name, he tilted his head in curiosity.

“Are you sure this is a good name for me?”

“Of course, it’s a great name. It’s very traditional in this country.”

Unahar soon accepted his new name.

Next, we needed to address our appearance. We had to blend into the background as much as possible among the people here in Korea.

Kanel and I, with our black hair, wouldn’t stand out as much…

“Going out in public will have to be Kanel’s and my job. You two stand out too much.”

Lilith’s sparkling silver hair and green eyes made her look unmistakably foreign. Unahar’s yellow eyes were also extremely rare among humans.

We could try to pass them off as mixed-race, but the real problem was how striking their appearances were. It made me realize just how outrageous it was to drop the top male and female characters into Pangyo, South Korea.

“We need to get some colored contact lenses, but for now, let’s try to cover your hair with masks and scarves.”

However, we didn’t have masks or scarves. We had put them in our inventory before coming out of the game, but only our bodies came through, not our belongings.

That wasn’t the only issue.

I noticed that our clothes were not the ones we were wearing in the fortress but the basic outfits from the beginning of the game—a simple white top and bottom.

“No wonder it’s so cold.”

When transitioning out of the game, we must have left everything else behind, only retaining our physical stats.

We had no choice but to tear the lower parts of our clothes to make makeshift masks and scarves.

With the makeshift masks and scarves ready, I covered Lilith and Unahar’s distinctive hair colors.

“Make sure to pull the cloth down to cover your eyes too.”

Then, I sneaked over to the road, grabbed some discarded cardboard boxes, and ran back.

I had Lilith and Unahar sit in the bushes and covered them with the boxes.

“If anyone passes by, hide well and don’t let yourselves be seen, okay? Kanel and I will go on a scouting mission.”

Lilith’s eyes quickly became teary.

“You’ll come back soon, right…?”

“I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“Even if you don’t find anything, don’t stay out too long, okay?”

“Don’t worry. Just curl up and stay warm.”

With the boxes over them, they looked even more pitiful. Seeing them like this, I felt the heavy weight of responsibility on my shoulders.

‘I need to find a warm place for them quickly so they can settle down and get some peace of mind.’

Cardboard boxes might provide some insulation, but I couldn’t let them live in boxes.

Kanel and I tied our white masks behind our heads and carefully stepped out onto the road. A few passersby glanced at us immediately.

“We need to stick to narrow alleys. This way!”

We quickly ran through the broad street, crossing the pedestrian crossing as soon as the light turned green, and entered an area with more buildings.

‘I feel so exposed. This fear, like everyone is watching us, is suffocating.’

We finally found some relief as we ducked into an alley between buildings. Kanel let out a tense breath.

“We wore the masks to avoid being recognized as game characters, but wearing just white T-shirts and pants in this weather makes us stand out even more. Should we ditch the masks?”

“For now, let’s keep them on, just in case.”

Yes, just in case.

Since we were now in a busier area, there were quite a few people walking around even during the day.

If nobody recognizes us, that’s good, but if even one person does, it could be a disaster. We needed to be as cautious as possible.

“People are staring at us as they pass by,” Kanel said, clinging to my arm, his face showing signs of anxiety. Seeing brave Kanel nervous in this strange new world was a new sight.

“Pretend like you’re smoking. Then they won’t look.”

“How do I smoke with a mask on?”

“Good point. Just pick up a cigarette butt and pretend.”

But then…

I froze as I saw an electronics store across the alley.

“Gildong, we’re on TV.”

“What? …Ah.”

The screen was showing the opening sequence of the game, with images of Aleon, Shemarin, and other guild leaders along with guild names and logos.

Of course, my face was there too, appearing last as the leader of the number one guild.

‘What’s the use? I’m already out. That must be an older video, not showing the latest Champion Challenge results.’

The sight of our game being played so prominently on the glass display at the electronics store left both Kanel and me speechless.

“…Rudel.”

“It’s Sookhee.”

“Sookhee, are we that famous and important here? In this world?”

“Apparently so. I didn’t expect it to be this much.”

The screen displayed the name of the game company and the game itself. It seemed to be a promotional video.

[Ranking of Soul, 8th Round Raid: Tens of Millions Simultaneously Online Worldwide]

Tens of millions?

Did that many people see Gio and Aleon fighting, and me embracing Aleon?

No, if that’s the simultaneous online count, the actual viewership must be several times higher.

I tried to hide my shock from Kanel, but it was evident. I muttered as calmly as I could.

“Keeping the masks on was the right decision.”

What has this world turned into?

While I stood there dazed, Kanel bravely peeked out of the alley, his eyes widening as he ran back to me.

“Look over there.”

He pointed to a large building opposite our alley. It was a merchandise shop in Pangyo.

A pamphlet for ‘Ranking of Soul’ was plastered on the glass. Next to it was a solo photo of ‘Tian.’

I glimpsed plush animal toys through the glass. A cutout of ‘Aleon’ stood at the entrance, guiding customers inside.

The shop seemed bustling, the door’s bell constantly jingling.

I watched young people, some buying figurines of ‘Shemarin’ or ‘Yudirei,’ and felt utterly stunned.

“The world is coming to an end.”