Chapter 112 -112-Has the Black Rose Guild Fallen?

Chapter 112: Chapter112-Has the Black Rose Guild Fallen?

Next came the gold coins.

John opened his account.

A ridiculously long string of numbers appeared before his eyes.

He had already emptied a massive amount of gold from Night City’s treasury.

Along the way, he had also slaughtered countless members of the Dark Race.

On top of that, the dungeon he had modified earlier had been running continuously.

As long as players kept entering it, the entrance fees would automatically be settled into his account.

John stared at his gold balance for a few seconds.

Then he simply closed the panel.

At this point, gold coins were honestly starting to feel like nothing more than a string of numbers to him.

Finally—

Military Merit.

Before entering the Dark Realm, his accumulated Military Merit had been 499,500.

After factoring in the Night City mission, all the kills, and the various legion objectives he had completed, he had gained another 800,000 or so.

[Current Military Merit: 1,299,500!]

Almost 1.3 million!

John looked at the number on the panel, unable to stop the corners of his lips from curling upward.

The goal he had set for himself earlier had already been exceeded by a huge margin.

The next time he logged in, he would have to make a proper trip to the Military Merit Exchange.

With over a million Military Merit in hand, he had to be able to exchange for something genuinely useful.

After finishing up, John finally felt the mental exhaustion rushing back over him.

He really had gone all out today.

The Dark Realm military camp.

Night City’s treasury.

The Night King’s projection.

Grey.

Rosaline.

And in between all of that, he had died more times than he could even remember.

The mission had been turned in.

His loot was more or less sorted out.

It was time to log off and get some rest.

But before leaving...

John suddenly remembered something.

"The rankings."

He had shot straight up to Lv45.

His weapon had evolved into SSS-grade.

And Ice Rose had reached Lv30.

The rankings must have changed quite a bit.

He casually opened the leaderboard.

[Level Ranking]

[1st Place: Endbringer, Lv45!]

No surprise there.

He was still firmly in first place.

In fact, his lead was even more ridiculous than before.

John switched directly to the equipment rankings.

[Equipment Ranking]

[1st Place: Void Staff]

[Grade: SSS]

[Owner: Endbringer]

[2nd Place: Bloodbattle Greatblade]

[Grade: SSS]

[Owner: Endbringer]

"..."

The top two spots.

Both belonged to him.

Only from third place onward did SS-grade equipment begin appearing again.

John casually switched tabs.

A new ranking that had never been available before was now lit up.

[Pet Ranking Unlocked!]

[1st Place: Ice Rose]

[Grade: SS]

[Level: Lv30]

[Owner: Endbringer]

First place again.

John barely felt anything anymore.

Normal.

Finally, he casually opened the guild rankings.

He had only intended to see how the major guilds had been developing lately.

But after sweeping his gaze across the top ten, John suddenly stopped.

He checked once.

Nothing.

He went through the list again from the beginning.

Still nothing.

"Hm?"

John sat up slightly straighter.

Where was Black Rose?

They had clearly been near the top of the rankings before.

But now...

They had fallen out of the top ten?

John frowned.

Something was wrong.

Black Rose might not be able to compete with the long-established super guilds in terms of overall strength, but Zoey had managed to build such a massive guild in such a short amount of time.

That definitely wasn’t something she had achieved through luck.

Especially in Dawnstar City.

Black Rose had always been one of the most influential player factions there.

How could they suddenly drop out of the top ten?

John opened his private messages.

The next second, he froze.

99+.

Zoey’s messages had already piled up beyond the display limit.

Nonoa’s messages were just as numerous.

John scrolled upward.

The earliest messages had been sent several hours ago.

[Zoey: Endbringer, where are you right now?]

[Zoey: Reply as soon as you see this.]

[Zoey: Gray Ledger has begun attacking Black Rose’s headquarters.]

[Zoey: They’re preparing to launch a Guild War.]

Further down, the messages became increasingly urgent.

[Nonoa: Endbringer, please help our guild leader.]

[Nonoa: There are too many of them.]

[Nonoa: We’re almost unable to hold them back.]

John remained silent for a moment.

Then he opened the World Channel.

Sure enough.

An announcement offering a server-wide bounty had become the center of discussion among countless players.

[Black Rose Guild Bounty!]

[Kill a member of Gray Ledger and receive a cash reward of 10,000 dollars!]

The messages beneath it were flooding in.

Some players thought Black Rose had gone insane.

Others believed the guild had already been pushed into a corner.

John stared at the announcement.

The image of Zoey’s serious yet stubborn face surfaced in his mind.

To be fair, he didn’t have a bad impression of that woman.

She had dared to compete with so many massive guilds from the very beginning of the game.

She had been willing to throw nearly all her resources behind the goals she wanted to achieve.

Sometimes, she was even a little reckless.

But that was also what made her interesting.

Still...

John rubbed his forehead.

He had no intention of getting involved in a conflict between two major guilds right now.

Solo player.

That was the path he had decided on from the moment he entered the game.

No guild restrictions.

No complicated interests tying him down.

He could go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

More importantly, he still had no idea what had actually happened between Black Rose and Gray Ledger.

Why had things escalated this far?

If this was nothing more than a conflict of interests, then blindly stepping in could easily make things even more complicated.

"I’ll see how things develop first."

John closed the chat window and prepared to log off.

That trip through the Dark Realm had already drained him mentally.

And there were still matters at the Ocean Hotel waiting for him in the real world.

But just as he was about to press the logout button—

Golden text suddenly lit up across the sky.

[Server-Wide Announcement!]

[Gray Ledger has issued a special declaration!]

John’s hand stopped.

The next moment, the announcement appeared before every player in the game.

[Gray Ledger Declaration:]

[First: All players are forbidden from entering the special dungeon area established by Endbringer in the Novice Village.]

[Second: Endbringer must issue a public response within 24 hours and guarantee that he will not interfere in the conflict between Black Rose and Gray Ledger.]

[Otherwise, Gray Ledger will take necessary measures.]

The World Channel instantly exploded.

"What the hell?"

"Has Gray Ledger lost their minds?"

"They’re openly targeting Endbringer now?"

"They’re even banning people from entering his dungeon? That thing is one of his sources of income!"

"They’re trying to cut off his money?"

John stared at the first clause.

His expression gradually darkened.

The second one?

He could understand it.

They simply wanted to force him to choose a side.

But the first one...

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

His dungeon.

What right did Gray Ledger have to seal it off?

He had spent his own resources creating it.

Players entered the dungeon.

He earned the revenue.

It belonged to him.

And now Gray Ledger thought they could simply make one announcement and stop everyone from entering?

They wanted to smash his rice bowl?

John smiled.

There wasn’t a trace of warmth in that smile.

The next second—

A silver-gray rift unfolded beneath his feet.

John vanished instantly.