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

The sovereign of Redmonarch remained silent for a moment. Soon, her lips twisted into a slant.

“Are you saying that if I want to become a game planner, I should sell myself to you?”

Her voice, lowered to an almost whisper, sounded more like a test than an expression of anger.

A faint trace of shame flickered across Akata’s face, but it quickly vanished.

“That’s not what I mean.”

The atmosphere was as thin and sharp as paper.

It was like a battle over a table, each trying to discern the other’s hand of cards.

Shemarin seemed to briefly appraise her own beautiful face and figure.

“Pretending to be a fake lover, you’ve insulted me. And becoming a game planner isn’t exactly an enticing reward for me.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Hmm. Perhaps… your services at night?”

At this, Akata cast aside his pride. Nothing was more valuable than avenging Rudel.

“Yes, as much as you want.”

Shemarin’s smooth index finger soon caressed his chin.

Her finger, stronger than Akata’s, lifted his chin, making him look up.

Even as she did so, Akata remained kneeling, satisfying her.

Surprisingly, there was no sensual intent in her touch.

Holding Akata’s chin for a while, Shemarin suddenly smiled faintly.

Akata was bewildered by the incongruous smile.

In truth, Shemarin laughed because of a peculiar sense of déjà vu.

‘Come to think of it, that man who willingly came under my control once had the same eyes.’

Although he eventually fled into Rudel’s embrace.

The look in Akata’s eyes now was exactly the same as that man’s when he approached her under false pretenses to obtain an item.

Realizing this, Shemarin quickly caught on.

‘You haven’t forgotten Rudel, have you?’

She was certain because she saw traces of the person she missed in Akata’s negotiating style.

Shemarin didn’t want to refuse such a person’s request.

“Alright. I’ll do as you want. And don’t worry, I have no intention of desiring you, so unclench the fists you’ve hidden behind your back.”

“Then…?”

“For the record, I haven’t slept with anyone. If it’s not Jail, I plan to keep it that way.”

Akata couldn’t hide his confusion and turned his head, having learned something he didn’t want to know.

Shemarin unintentionally let out a small laugh.

In any case, following this conversation, she decided to side with the Agasa guild member. Deceiving even her guild members, she declared Akata as her man.

With Shemarin’s cooperation, Akata smoothly became one of the game’s main characters.

However, despite constantly acting with a look of bliss, he never once blushed at Shemarin.

* * *

While staying at Redmonarch, Akata always trained alone. Rather than his already A-rank base stats, he focused on honing his unique abilities.

His unique ability was far above the S-grade threshold. If S+ or SS grades existed, they would surely have been his.

But until now, he hadn’t been able to fully utilize this power because his body couldn’t withstand it.

So he devised a method to maximize the effect in a short period.

“Guh-… Huh.”

Anyone who witnessed his training would have paled and immediately tried to stop him.

After all, seeing someone swallow the flames emitted by their own phoenix while fully conscious was a shocking sight.

When writhing in pain, Rudel’s face wouldn’t come to mind. So, truly, rolling on the training ground floor felt more comfortable.

Forcibly training his body, he nearly exhausted the guild’s stamina potions.

Eventually, he had to ask Shemarin for more potions.

“I’ll heal you with vines. They have a stronger recovery effect.”

She said this without hesitation, in a serious tone.

She likely understood why Akata was training so intensely, but chose to silently support him rather than show her understanding.

Akata didn’t form any attachments within the guild, nor did he want to. Thus, he avoided everyone’s eyes.

He moved silently through the castle’s corridors, which felt as cold as a knife’s edge, unnoticed by anyone.

No one knew when he ate or if he ever left his private room. Even if he skipped meals, no one would notice.

“You only act like a dewdrop-laden flower when Shemarin is watching…”

“All the flowers are dead.”

“It must be exhausting to be so two-faced.”

No matter what the guild members said, it didn’t reach his ears.

However, during rounds or guild interview specials, he shamelessly changed his attitude.

Like a person wearing ill-fitting clothes and standing alone at a high-society party, he moved around with a kind smile, mingling with the men.

He made sure to appear humble despite his proximity to the queen, bowing to other men to seem like a character who knew how to get along.

Akata’s attitude was consistent with everyone.

“I’m Aleon from Ice Castle. Won’t you come to me?”

Even to those who had a past relationship with Rudel.

“I just… just wanted to see your face.”

He even turned his back on the only friend he ever had.

In the training ground, wiping away the sweat and tears that flowed from his eyes, Akata repeated to himself:

‘I’m not struggling. I have a goal, and I just need to achieve it.’

The path stretched in one direction. Becoming the number one rank was easy. Just do it.

When he finally faced Taggiros again and defeated him, shockwaves spread among everyone.

His status window was filled with overwhelming support. Truly overwhelming.

Yet, Taggiros did not acknowledge him until the very end, even as he revealed his face and turned away.

In his daze, the announcement declaring him as the new game planner echoed distantly. Suddenly, he staggered.

‘Now I have power equal to the game managers.’

The screen showed his cold, mocking smile to the viewers. It was, in fact, his first genuine smile since he had awakened.

Soon, he was relocated. No longer returning to Redmonarch’s quarters, he was assigned to a new location.

This was part of the process of separating the Redmonarch guild member who had gained game planner rights and promoting their subordinates to higher-level players.

[You will be moved to Redmonarch’s planning room. The planning room reflects the preferences of the champion or guild leader.]

As the scenery changed, Akata’s pupils quickly froze.

The space, even including the wooden chair that Gio had once broken, was vividly reminiscent of the place he had longed for even in his dreams.

He had missed it so much that it had been recreated exactly.

Seeing Akata’s pale face, Shemarin quickly grasped the situation and adeptly covered it up with a glib excuse.

“Oh dear, I was just reminiscing about old times, and the planning room ended up modeled after it. Do you like this design, Akata?”

Shemarin played it off as if she had inadvertently conjured the room by recalling old memories of another guild.

Thus, an alibi was swiftly created.

Their eyes met, and Akata was the first to look away.

Just then, the men of Redmonarch followed and stepped into the pension.

“What’s with this outdated room?”

“It does feel cozy.”

“But compared to our palace, it’s downright shabby.”

Not just the guild leader, but all ten of the Redmonarch guild members had become game planners.

Shemarin’s cooperation made sense, but those ten were entirely fortunate.

With the efforts to win over the viewers over, what did it matter now? Akata’s eyes flared with anger as he glanced back.

He hated seeing their feet defile this space. This was his sanctuary.

“This place is for Shemarin and me only. I’d prefer if the rest of you could arrange your own spaces.”

Saying it was his alone would have aroused GM’s suspicion, so he quickly added Shemarin’s name, which ended up causing trouble.

The atmosphere chilled as if doused with cold water.

“…There’s a limit to how much you can ignore us.”

Finally, Muraul rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

“So, you used us to become the champion, and now you’re done with us?”

Akata saw the punch coming but didn’t bother to dodge it. He was willing to take one hit to avoid further hassle.

His vision flashed, and he fell back.

“Stop it.”

Zaet barely managed to intervene and pull Muraul away. Muraul snorted and turned on his heel.

“We’ll leave. Your Majesty, the mighty champion.”

Although Zaet had stopped Muraul, even he and the other men didn’t look kindly at Akata. They stormed out together.

Despite having a newly bruised face, Akata sat there, feeling indifferent.

Instead of looking down at him, Shemarin squatted beside him and offered a handkerchief.

Akata silently accepted the handkerchief. He roughly wiped the blood from the cut on his lip and handed it back.

Shemarin was not a negligent ruler who would let internal conflicts among her subordinates fester.

However, she refrained from intervening in disputes involving Akata. It was unlike her, but she exercised patience.

Shemarin showed great consideration for Akata.

During his acts, she filled in any gaps, and even when he acted on a whim, she never complained.

He ought to have felt gratitude and guilt, but he had no intention of expressing either.

Every step on the wooden floor felt like walking on a surface densely embedded with nails.

‘I have to hide my pain. The game managers would get suspicious….’

Even as a game planner, he was just a character.

Game Planner Rights:

– Can submit round plans

– Broadcasting rights

– Can train new players

‘I thought being a game planner would give me strong control, but it’s not like that. It just allows me to influence broadcasts.’

In the end, he was just a ‘character’ with a slightly elevated rank.

Despite all his efforts to gain the game planner’s authority, he remained stagnant.

Feeling powerless, he buried his head in his hands at the desk in what would have been Rudel’s private room.

‘What was the purpose of the being that created us to design such a game…?’

Even this fleeting question soon crumbled like ash. He had no energy to waste on such thoughts.

‘I need to find a way to climb higher. Once I rise to the top and destroy the world that killed Rudel…’

I’ll probably die too.

But with Gio here, I can’t truly die. I’ll live as if I were dead.

Should I kill Gio and follow him to death? Without Lilith, Gio wouldn’t survive. Yes, I should do that.

As he muttered maniacally, he heard the sound of Shemarin closing the door behind her.

At that moment, a faintly familiar voice echoed from somewhere.

“…I think we’ve returned to the pension where we originally stayed.”

Now he was hearing things.

Maybe because the place was so familiar, it felt as if Rudel might still exist somewhere in this stronghold.

He covered his ears and lay down. Fortunately, the voice didn’t continue.

‘No. I actually want to hear it. Just a little more….’

Like someone drawn to a siren’s song into the sea.

He slowly uncovered his ears and lifted his head, but the voice had already vanished.

Just then, the door creaked open.

“…Akata, could you come outside for a moment?”

Shemarin called him with a strangely excited tone. Her face was tense with an unusual anxiety.

Initially, Akata intended to ignore her, but sensing something amiss, he changed his mind and stepped into the living room.

And the moment his eyes fell on a familiar figure—

“Ha.”

The world came alive again.