Chapter 43 : Rule – What is Broken (2)

Gulping down expensive potions like they were bottled water, After a hellish struggle, they finally managed to take down the hidden boss.

But the reward—why is that in their hands?

For a moment, CritZone almost experienced cognitive dissonance.

“They took down the Land Kraken… with just two people?”

Blinking in disbelief, CritZone struggled to accept the reality.

Was that monster even designed to be cleared by just two players?

「😊😊😊😊😊😊😊」

「This is insane LOL」

「Didn’t CritZone love that boss yesterday?」

「His brain is fully fried LOL」

「Eleven got wrecked by just two!」

「Boss Crit is crying LOL」

The moment Silver Hair pulled out the item, the chat in CritZone’s stream exploded.

As with most streamers, the viewers had no hesitation in trolling their own host.

Floods of messages meant to poke fun at CritZone.

But he wasn’t even reading the chat at that point.

His mind was consumed with one thought: Where did they get that?

“Did they team up with another streamer?”

No matter how he looked at it, it was impossible for just the two of them.

So it had to be a temporary alliance.

That was the only plausible explanation.

It wasn’t a monster meant to be taken down by two people, but if they formed an alliance—then the story changed.

Maybe they had teamed up with other clans and managed to defeat it ahead of everyone else.

“Uh, Silver Hair? Where did you get that?”

Silver Hair casually dangled the “Pulsating Kraken Core.”

Rydel was staring at it with the same expression as CritZone.

Eyes wide in disbelief.

As if she were seeing it for the first time.

‘Huh?’

CritZone tilted his head in confusion.

At first, he thought it was a joke—but Rydel genuinely looked like she didn’t know anything about it.

‘Weren’t they the ones who went to take it down? Why doesn’t she know?’

CritZone grew even more bewildered.

Aren’t they in the same clan?

They must’ve taken it down together, so why is Rydel unaware?

The answer revealed itself soon enough.

“Last night… I went and took it down,”

Yoo Seoyeno said, like it was no big deal.

“…By yourself?”

“Yes. By myself.”

“…How?”

“I just blocked all the incoming attacks, and it eventually died.”

CritZone broke into a cold sweat as he listened to their conversation.

She wasn’t wrong.

The Land Kraken’s only weapon was its countless tentacles.

And tentacles, by nature, aren’t exactly sturdy.

If you block them with a sword, they just get sliced off.

Once the tentacles are gone, its body is basically defenseless.

So if someone could block well enough, technically, it was possible to solo it.

‘She could see them?’

The real problem was speed.

If it were that easy, his elite 11-man squad wouldn’t have been wiped out repeatedly.

The tentacle attacks were so fast, they were nearly invisible to the eye.

The moment you heard the whip sound—it usually meant your head was already flying off.

In the end, it had taken all eleven of them huddled together in a tight formation, defending like they were performing a ritual, just to barely clear the fight.

And she soloed that?

Sure, it wasn’t theoretically impossible.

But theory was just that—theory.

To perfectly block all the attacks that even eleven people had a hard time surviving, even when divided among them—that was basically fantasy, the kind of nonsense you only say out loud.

Yet Silver Hair had turned that nonsense into reality.

The Kraken Core she was now casually toying with like a toy—that was the undeniable proof.

「Did she solo the raid by herself??」

「Wow……」

「I can’t do anything but respect that…」

「No way that’s real」

「That item’s the same as the one CritZone got. You can’t even buy it. She had to have gotten it from the boss.」

「CritZone’s going through it LOL」

「Silver Hair’s actually insane」

「Her voice is nice too tho」

CritZone’s eyebrow twitched.

His chat was now full of viewers outright praising Silver Hair.

The worst part was—he had nothing to argue with.

The Land Kraken, which he and his team barely managed to take down after countless attempts.

The one he had proudly shown off, talking up how hard the boss was to beat, over and over to his audience.

The same boss that Silver Hair had just… soloed.

From the viewers’ perspective, of course they were losing their minds.

What made it worse was Silver Hair herself—she didn’t even act like it was a big deal.

That was what truly drove the viewers wild.

“Anyway, I went through all that trouble to beat it, but now I don’t even know where to use this thing…”

Yoo Seoyeno fiddled with the wriggling Kraken Core, looking troubled.

It wasn’t like she was trying to mock CritZone on purpose.

She had great instincts and physical skill, but her knowledge of the game Pixel Wars was lacking.

She had a sharp sense for reacting to problems in the moment, but when it came to things like item crafting—problems that required pure knowledge and experience—she was weak.

“Kh, khm! That’s… for the Kraken Greatsword. It’s a demon sword crafting item…”

CritZone was overwhelmed with embarrassment and awkwardness, not knowing where to put himself.

But even so, he couldn’t just not tell her.

The chat was already going crazy.

He was already being clowned for being outplayed by Silver Hair, and if he didn’t tell her the recipe now—after bragging about it earlier—he’d just come off as a jerk with no skill and a bad attitude.

Besides, Silver Hair’s voice didn’t sound like she was mocking him.

She was asking purely because she genuinely didn’t know.

Getting mad at someone like that would only make him look like a lunatic.

“The Kraken Greatsword? I actually needed a weapon—so is that a good item?”

“I-I haven’t made it myself yet… but I heard it has a lifesteal effect…”

His voice, squeezed out with great difficulty, trembled thinly like a goat’s bleat.

He deliberately avoided looking at Silver Hair, eyes drifting to empty air.

The Kraken Greatsword.

Infused with the Kraken’s power to absorb its opponent’s strength, it was known for its powerful lifesteal ability.

He had originally planned to use that weapon to shine in today’s event.

But now, Silver Hair had basically gotten the exact same weapon as him.

“Well, th-then I’ll be off… I, uh, have some urgent stuff to do…”

He didn’t want to stay in this humiliating situation a second longer.

CritZone quickly signaled to his clan members and tried to turn away.

「Running with his tail between his legs lololol」

「Came to show off his loot and got wrecked instead lololol」

「Truly shameful, Mr. CritZone…」

「This is a surrender announcement lololol」

Even the clan members, drenched in cold sweat, picked up on the signal and began moving to retreat.

They had to get out of here as fast as possible.

Ding—!

At that moment,a crisp system chime rang out across the entire server.

At the same time, a translucent pop-up appeared on every player’s screen.

[One-Month Server Anniversary! Special Event Announcement]

‘…What?’

CritZone, who had been calculating his escape path while trembling with shame, came to a sudden halt.

The once-chaotic chat window was momentarily filled with question marks.

「Is that event today?」

「Something big is coming lololol」

「Double event let’s gooooo」

And just like that, the anticipation over new content sent the chat into a frenzy again.

Screeeee—!

A sharp sound tore through the sky.

A hawk with silver feathers divebombed from above in the blink of an eye.

The scene was rendered with such precision that the rush of wind felt almost real.

The hawk circled above Ryedel, Yoo Seoyeno,and CritZone and his clanmates—who had yet to fully make their escape.

Soon, the hawk released a small scroll clutched in its talons.

Swoosh.

Before the antique-looking parchment even touched the ground, it gracefully unfurled midair.

Clear text appeared in the air like a hologram.

A quest window with identical content appeared before everyone’s eyes.

「The animation is insane 😅😅😅😅😅」

「Is the event starting now?」

「Legendary timing lololol」

「What kind of quest is this?」

「Hurry and show the details.」

[Defeat the Star Demon]

The ancient collector Elderyn holds the “Pass” to the hidden “Altar of Stars” shrouded in darkness.

But nothing in this world is free.

If you want the Pass, you must gather 10 specific materials he desires!

▶ Quest Objective:

Collect and deliver 1 of each of the following 10 rare materials to the collector NPC Elderyn and receive the “Pass to the Altar of Stars.”

▶ Required Materials (Total: 10 types):

•Shining Deep Sea Pearl (Undersea Cave)

•Burning Heart of Magma Stone (Lava Golem in Volcanic Zone)

•Frozen Ancient Tree Sap (Icy Snow Mountains)

…….

•Dew of the Awakened Forest Spirit (Top of the World Tree)

•Unstable Mana Core Bomb (Handle with care!)

▶ Reward:

•Receive the “Pass to the Altar of Stars.”

▶ Upon obtaining the Pass,you may challenge the hidden boss raid: “Star Demon”!

▶ The entrance to the Altar of Stars is guarded by an ancient golem.

•Submit the Pass to the ancient golem and challenge the “Star Demon”!

▶ Hidden Boss Raid: “Star Demon”Clear Reward: ???

▶ There may be many Passes,but the raid reward is given only once—to the first party to clear it.

In the Olympics, there’s a silver medal.

Here?

There’s no such thing.

Beat everyone else to the punch!

※ Without a Pass, you cannot get past the ancient golem!

※ The ancient golem is immune to all types of attacks! Please do not make reckless attempts.

……

In summary:

1. Collect and deliver 10 items to the collector.

2. Receive the Pass.

3. Use it to enter the altar and fight the boss inside.

4. If you defeat it, you get a special reward!

5. However, only the first party to clear the raid gets the prize.

Though it wasn’t said outright,it was clear that this had been a long-prepared, large-scale event.

The reward was bound to be incredible.

‘We’re screwed…’

Rydel’s expression stiffened as she quickly skimmed through the quest details.

‘10 different materials? All from extreme-difficulty zones?’

Ocean, volcano, snow mountains, highlands, caves, forests, desert…When are they supposed to travel all those places?

Logistically, collecting everything with just two people would take forever.

‘We’re way too short on manpower…!’

This was clearly… a quest heavily tilted in favor of large clans.

「Wow… that material list is insane. Is this for real?」

「When the hell are we gonna gather all that? lol It’s basically a world tour from one end of the map to the other」

「So we go to the ocean, then the volcano… What is this, a delivery driver experience quest?」

「If you don’t have the numbers, you’re just here to watch, huh?」

「This is totally a quest tailor-made to pamper Mr.CritZone, isn’t it? LOL」

Rydel and the chat were in complete agreement.

While everyone was stunned by the brutal quest conditions,they also instantly realized exactly who this quest was rolling out the red carpet for.

And that “who” was…,“Ahem! Well then… haha…”

CritZone, barely holding back a grin.

The more he read the quest description, the more his stiff expression began to ease.

Color returned to his face, which had been pale just moments ago,and a euphoric smile began to creep up the corners of his mouth.

The shame and humiliation he’d felt just before had melted away like snow in spring.

‘This is basically already ours!’

In contrast…,Rydel’s expression remained dark.

Even if Yoo Seoyeno’s skills were impressive.

‘It’s physically impossible.’

Just the travel time alone made it hopeless with only two people.

No matter how fast they collected items,there was no way they could beat CritZone, who could dispatch eleven members across the map.

And the reward?

It only went to the first team to clear the raid.

A no-win situation.

Rydel looked toward Yoo Seoyeno.

She wore a slightly conflicted expression for a moment.

Then said—“Well then, shall we go craft the greatsword first?”