Chapter 107: World Boss Raid (4)

“The reason I called you here is… to confirm something.”

Something she wants to confirm with me, huh…

Could it be that the former princess Rebecca, who seems to hold quite a high position within the opposing guild alliance while concealing her identity, has something she needs to check with me?

No matter how keen she is, there’s no way she would think the boy standing before her is actually GM.

Albus thought as he tensed up.

“Are you, by any chance, a messenger of GM?”

“…What?”

But the question that popped out of Rebecca’s mouth was beyond his imagination.

“This familiar yet mysterious aura I feel from you… It’s the same feeling I get when I’m near GM.”

She feels my divine energy from this playful avatar of mine, which doesn’t possess a single grain of divinity?

That unexplained kindness she’s been showing, which seemed contrary to her stoic demeanor—was that the reason?

Albus hid his surprise and feigned ignorance.

Hearing Albus’s response, Rebecca quietly nodded.

“I apologize. My sudden question must have confused you.”

“It’s fine. You helped us when we were in trouble, didn’t you? A question like that is no issue at all.”

“Good. We’ll be fighting the World Boss together soon, as comrades. I look forward to working with you.”

Rebecca extended her hand, and Albus took it, shaking it firmly.

“By the way, there’s a joint meeting for the World Boss raid coming up shortly. Would you care to join?”

“A meeting?”

Following Rebecca, Albus moved into a large tent.

“Yes.”

As Rebecca led Albus up to the seat of honor inside the tent, countless players showed her the highest form of respect.

‘It seems Rebecca hasn’t revealed her true identity, but even without showing her face, she’s made them all submit to her power alone.’

Albus was reminded of how powerful the apostle he once served was.

“He is my guest.”

At Rebecca’s words, guild members brought over a soft chair and refreshments for Albus.

“Thank you.”

Surprised by the unexpected treatment, Albus expressed his gratitude to Rebecca.

“There’s no need for thanks. It’s only natural as your host.”

But why?

Rebecca felt an inexplicable urge to keep caring for the man in front of her.

‘He said he has no connection to GM…And if GM had an apostle, there’s no way I wouldn’t know…’

“Try this as well.”

“T-Thank you.”

Rebecca, like a grandmother on a holiday, kept urging him to eat.

The items she handed him were all rare goods with the effect of powerful elixirs.

‘What’s with her?’

Although she was offering them like they were simple refreshments, Albus, who could see through all items in Rudera, couldn’t help but feel flustered by her actions.

“Guildmaster, the meeting announcement has arrived.”

“It’s finally time.”

Just as Albus felt he couldn’t eat anymore, a player approached with the news.

“Let’s head there now.”

‘I’ve been wanting to see this.’

With an excited heart, Albus followed Rebecca.

“Halt. Identification, please.”

“I am the Guildmaster of the Don Quixote Alliance.”

The guards were exceptionally strict.

It seemed that the high security was due to the sheer number of players gathered for this top-tier event, the World Boss raid.

“Don Quixote Alliance… Ah, confirmed. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After a polite bow from the guards, Albus and Rebecca stepped into the meeting room.

It seemed the guards viewed Albus as one of Rebecca’s attendants.

Bringing along someone she just met, in place of her subordinates, wasn’t exactly normal behavior.

“I told you, we need to discuss this and come to a decision! How can you just make the call without any debate, you stubborn fool?!”

As they entered the large meeting room, passing through the long corridor, Albus witnessed a heated scene filled with players.

‘The Empire, the Republic… the Holy Kingdom, the Sacred Nation, Elves, Dwarves, and even Beastfolk nations…’

Not only were the top guilds of Rudera present, but also countless elite players known across the continent were gathered here.

“This makes no sense!”

A woman, presumably a player from the Republic, was fuming with anger.

‘Her name… It was Lena, wasn’t it?’

Albus was familiar with her.

She was the player who had accompanied his loyal follower, Leighton, to a past duel tournament. 

Moreover, she was one of the Republic’s strongest enforcers.

“I’ve already told you! This World Boss raid is the first ever collaborative content for all players in Rudera’s history! If the announcement emphasized cooperation, that means we’ll be facing an opponent that can’t be defeated without it!”

‘Huh. That’s a pretty solid theory.’

Her words weren’t entirely wrong.

The World Boss, which appeared across all servers, had such a massive health pool that it couldn’t be compared to any other monsters.

However, its attack patterns and difficulty weren’t all that high.

‘The best part of enjoying a game is achieving victory after a fierce battle,’ Albus thought.

Winning too easily or losing too quickly could ruin a player’s motivation, according to Albus’s philosophy.

He hoped that after this event, the Boss Raid mechanic would become popular among the players, and they’d be able to snatch a close victory.

‘The boss’s specs were exactly as the guide predicted.’

If the specs reported by the guide when he came to report the World Boss creation were accurate, there wouldn’t be any issues even if the players attacked in a disorderly manner without perfect cooperation.

He never expected the guilds to cooperate easily in the first place.

‘In my previous life’s games, alliances between guilds were like castles made of sand.’

Even in his past life, the in-game politics where grown men fought like childish brats was something to behold.

If that was the case back then, there was no way real cooperation would happen here in Rudera, where real-life stakes were involved.

Even if the meeting didn’t wrap up smoothly, it wouldn’t interfere with the Boss Raid, so Albus watched the players’ disputes with ease.

‘At least they’re all being polite.’

Perhaps because rude behavior in-game could result in serious consequences in real life, even the most ambitious players blinded by greed conducted the meeting with a certain level of etiquette.

As the meeting dragged on, and Albus began to feel bored, a commotion stirred near the entrance of the hall.

What’s going on?

Albus craned his neck to see what was happening.

‘That’s… Dua?’

A group of players surrounded Dua, who stood at the front.

Albus immediately recognized them as players from the new server.

‘Come to think of it, Dua did say she would participate.’

It looked like she had shown up with her guild members, as well as top-tier players aiming for the uppermost levels of the raid.

Not only her guild, but it seemed that other guilds from the new server were also relying on her.

However, the atmosphere among the existing server’s players wasn’t very welcoming.

The glares alone from some players directed at the newcomers revealed the hostility towards the new server users.

They were probably resentful, just like that man who had picked a fight with our party, linking their real-life status or power to their in-game grudges.

Albus didn’t have much of an opinion about the conflicts between players.

Of course, if he sensed that these conflicts would escalate into war or massacres in the real world, he would intervene immediately. But for now, a certain level of conflict was fine.

‘But I don’t like that they’re looking at Dua’s guild like that.’

Dua and her group reached the center of the meeting room.

The person who had been leading the heated argument earlier, Count Schmidt, the guild master of the Empire’s royal guild, greeted them.

“Well, well, who do we have here? Aren’t these the newbies from the new server?”

From his tone, it was clear that the noble was looking to pick a fight. 

He extended his hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dua.”

Dua stood tall, stretching her petite body as she accepted the handshake.

That bastard. 

He’s planning to humiliate our Dua, I can tell just by looking at him.

There’s no way I can let him hurt her.

Should I discreetly intervene?

Just as Albus cautiously opened his command window…

“…Cute.”

Albus thought he heard wrong and turned to look at Schmidt. 

The noble had a shocked expression as he covered his mouth.

Well, Dua is pretty cute, after all.

Albus quietly closed his command window.

Thankfully, it seemed the expected confrontation wouldn’t happen.

– By the way, the current commander of the player alliance is Dua.

– Why?

– Because she’s cute.

It felt like an entirely different scenario was unfolding instead.