LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 69
Chapter 69
A suddenly posted thread.
The title alone was enough to draw immense attention in the current situation, but the content was even more shocking.
[Guys, I think I just saw Kaiser.]
[Author: FactOnlyPlz]
-I’m in the Salt-Rock Forest, and I think I saw Kaiser.
Did we succeed in recruiting him?
They were saying he was biding his time, so why is he out hunting here?
In less than a few minutes, the post had accumulated dozens of comments.
Most of the reactions were similar.
-There’s no way you saw him when even the scouts can’t find him, lol.
-Ah, of course, I was wondering when the trolls would show up.
-You shouldn’t feed into nonsense like this, but man, it’s hard to resist clicking this time.
-There’s no way he’s in Salt-Rock Forest when he hasn’t even entered Brion yet, lol.
If you’re going to troll, at least try harder.
-Ugh, pathetic. Just go die already. Why even live like this?
-Living up to your username? Guess not. Smh.
The idea that Kaiser somehow snuck through the crowds at Brion’s entrance to secretly go hunting in the field?
It made no sense.
The post’s author faced a barrage of insults, including comments about their family, before retreating in disgrace, and people quickly forgot about them.
Or, more accurately, they tried to forget.
-What the…? I’m also in Salt-Rock Forest, and it really does look like Kaiser.
-I haven’t verified it yet, but… honestly, if that’s not Kaiser, then what else makes sense?
-The timing lines up perfectly… Wait, am I seeing things? No, that’s not it.
-Guys, don’t jump straight to flaming. Let’s think about this seriously. There are more than a few eyewitnesses now.
Until comments like these began popping up.
When the opinions started leaning toward defending the possibility, the internet users were thrown into confusion.
The sincerity in the comments made it hard to dismiss outright.
-Is Kaiser really out hunting right now?
-Does that even make sense?
-Probably just another fake. I mean, he’s not a god. How would he sneak out unnoticed to hunt?
The matter was decisively settled at that moment.
[Guys, you’re idiots. It’s actually Kaiser.]
[Author: FactOnlyPlz]
-It’s frustrating. If you don’t believe me, just come to Salt-Rock Forest yourself.
There’s some lunatic solo-hunting orcs here like crazy.
He keeps switching weapons, and when he shoulder-bashes an orc, they go flying.
If that’s not Kaiser, then what is it?
I don’t want to get sued for invasion of privacy, so I’ve pixelated it, but here’s a short clip.
(Photo attached)
(A man slaughtering orcs atop a mountain of orc corpses)
P.S. To those who insulted my family, I’ve saved all your comments. See you at the police station, scumbags.
The author, presumed to have retreated in shame after being flamed, returned with evidence.
A field covered in a mountain of orc corpses.
And a lone man hunting amidst them.
Faced with undeniable proof in the form of a photo, netizens had no choice but to believe it.
-…It’s real?
-No, seriously, why is Kaiser there?
-But is that really Kaiser? The pixelation makes it hard to tell.
-If not him, then who? What else makes sense?
-Is it another fake, though? It’s gotta be Photoshopped this time.
-I dabble in this kind of stuff, and I’ve zoomed in to max detail.
It’s clean. No editing.
Even self-proclaimed experts did secondary checks and confirmed it was authentic.
Why was someone who hadn’t even entered Brion yet here?
More importantly, how?
-Is he some kind of Robin Hood? How does this even work?
-At this point, maybe he’s not even human.
-Lol, guess he’s actually a Hogwarts graduate. That’s why he started late—academic commitments.
-Author, I’m sorry. You really lived up to your username.
Caught in a scene so absurd it felt magical, even the netizens were confused.
But one thing became clear.
-This means he’s not joining any guild, right? He just ignored all the invitations.
-Wow… Do we call this cool or just crazy?
-Where are the people who said he’d join to share guild contribution points? Come explain this.
-Hello, that’s me. I think this just proves that Kaiser is Kaiser.
-Yeah, he’s always hated guilds.
Guess it’s like they say—lose your teeth, and you’re still a tiger.
Then someone raised a question.
-So what does this mean? Were the scouts just sitting around waiting for Kaiser this whole time?
-Well…
To this, everyone had the same answer.
-They were just wasting their time.
Netizens imagined the guild scouts, reduced to dogs staring up at chickens perched on the roof, and nodded in agreement.
-Bring me more popcorn. Hurry.
-Lol, so it was real. His next moves are gonna be wild.
-We’ll see when Brion kicks off.
-But doesn’t he have too many enemies now? Being #1 will be tough. The current leader’s way ahead.
-True, in Brion, Berge’s dominance is practically a given. Good-looking and skilled—it’s infuriating.
-Is that the issue? He just made thousands of enemies in one go.
-One versus thousands… My heart swells with pride.
Everyone knew.
Pride turned into fame, and fame became power—guilds wouldn’t stand idly by.
The news reached Brion’s scouts as well.
“What? Kaiser’s hunting here?”
“How is that possible?”
“First, check this…!”
“What the hell!”
“Move! Head to the Salt-Rock Forest immediately! No, I’ll go myself. You stay here and wait, dammit!”
Presuming a long wait, they had been relatively calm until this bombshell dropped.
As the news spread, they scrambled into action.
They swarmed the Salt-Rock Forest, searching every corner.
How long did they search?
“?”
“??”
About an hour later, question marks floated over their heads.
“What the… Why isn’t he here?”
“We’ve combed the whole area. Could he be in a dungeon?”
“No… There aren’t any dungeons in Salt-Rock Forest. His last sighting was in the thick mist, but…”
“Then where is he? Why can’t we find him?”
A subordinate, hesitating under a senior scout’s glare, cautiously replied.
“He must have already left.”
“…”
The senior scout, Bae Jin-chul, froze.
Bae Jin-chul.
A man with ties to the Baekdusan Guild’s master and elevated to executive rank despite being a scout.
Even in his agitated state, his mind worked quickly.
“So you’re telling me that while we were guarding the entrance, he snuck out, hunted, and then left once word got out?”
“…Yes.”
“Hah.”
Bae Jin-chul let out a hollow laugh and ground his teeth.
What could this mean?
That Kaiser had no intention of joining a guild?
That might be part of it, but if that were the only reason, there would be no point in going this far to mock them.
It would have been more advantageous to choose a path of mutual benefit.
Even if he couldn’t maintain friendly relations, there was no reason to create enemies unnecessarily.
So, the remaining possibilities boiled down to two.
Either he was completely unaware of the situation, or this was a direct challenge to the guilds.
The judgment was quick.
It made no sense for him to be unaware of the situation.
At the entrance alone, there were over a hundred people asking if he was Kaiser—how could he not know?
Just opening the homepage would show nothing but discussions about him.
There was no way he couldn’t know.
The idea that he had dodged everything by sheer coincidence was even more absurd.
He was moving while keeping tabs on the situation in real time.
Kaiser was expressing his intent with his actions.
“Alright, so this is what you’re saying?”
Don’t dare try to possess me.
I have no intention of joining your ranks—not even the slightest.
If anything, I’d rather do everything myself.
What he initially thought was an invitation to impress Kaiser had turned out to be a bold challenge.
“Hah. Unbelievable. Even if he’s fallen behind, a tiger is still a tiger, is that it?”
Bae Jin-chul had heard of Kaiser reigning alone like a tiger in DemRock, but to see him pulling the same thing here?
It was ridiculous.
This was someone blinded by past glory, unable to grasp the current reality.
“Everyone hypes him up so much he thinks the world revolves around him.”
To be fair, his achievements were impressive.
He had dethroned Myeolsal and claimed the #1 spot—a remarkable feat.
Even if it was in the past, it meant his skills hadn’t completely dulled.
But so what?
“The world has changed. It’s not the same as it was back then.”
Past glory?
An undefeated emperor who had everyone underfoot?
That was just in DemRock—a relatively small pond with only tens of millions of players.
This place was a whole different world.
And given that he was already a year and six months behind, it wasn’t even worth discussing.
Ssshhk.
Grinding his teeth, Bae Jin-chul began walking.
“Team leader? Where are you going?”
His subordinate followed, asking cautiously.
Pausing for a moment, Bae Jin-chul smirked.
“I’m going to remind a legend of the past.”
The one-and-a-half-year gap.
No matter how great he was, he couldn’t overcome the solidified power structures that had been built in that time.
Bae Jin-chul wasn’t the only one with this thought.
“Ah… so that’s your stance. I understand you well, Kaiser.”
From the Phoenix Guild:
“Hmph. No matter how great Kaiser is, this is arrogance.”
“Then again, maybe this is what makes him Kaiser. This is beyond expectations.”
“Heh, has there ever been a man like this before?”
“Hah. He’s just a relic of the past. The leagues are different between where he was and here.”
“Still, he did reclaim the #1 spot immediately after his return. Honestly, seeing Myeolsal dethroned felt great. That guy was insufferable.”
To Jenion Guild and Baekdusan Guild,
And even among the top 100 guilds, reactions varied widely.
“What? Kaiser rejected every recruitment and just went straight for it?”
“Wow… as expected of Kaiser. Every move he makes is on a completely different level. There’s no predicting him.”
“Showing this level of confidence means he’s still got it, doesn’t it?”
“I’m curious to see how far he’ll go.”
Even other guilds and netizens, upon hearing the news, began to focus on Kaiser.
And so, thanks to a misunderstanding, Kaiser had unintentionally amassed a sea of enemies and an audience of spectators.
* * *
Meanwhile, unaware that he had become the center of attention, Do-hyeon…
[The ‘Blue Goblin Warrior’s Blue Leather Belt’ you registered in the auction house has been sold.]
[The ‘Red Goblin Warrior’s Leather Armor’ you registered in the auction house has been sold.]
…
[The ‘Blue Goblin Warrior’s Blue Leather Pants’ you registered in the auction house has been sold.]
[All items you listed in the auction house have been sold.]
[Please confirm the settled amount.]
[Current amount: 16,471,640 won.]
“…Wow.”
Do-hyeon savored the joy of his first earnings from God of Savior.
An incredible 16 million won—not 1.6, but 16 million.
A mere level 24 had earned 16 million won in a single day.
The only word that came to Do-hyeon’s mind was:
“…Insane.”