Ironblood Blade slammed his fist into the sand and released his corpse—again.
He had already corpse-ran over a dozen times. And it wasn't just him—the entire elite squad of Ironblood Covenant had been wiped, repeatedly. Over and over, the raid group had been decimated. Around them, the atmosphere was suffocating. Other players nearby had gone dead silent. That massive, black boar pacing in the distance had scared the life out of everyone.
Some of the smaller guilds, realizing the futility, began pulling their members out. Most of them were still hovering at level 1, with only a few scraping into level 2. There was no point wasting their early-game time grinding against what seemed like an unbeatable boss.
"Are you sure?" a priest beside Ironblood Blade asked, glancing sideways at a rogue who could only shake his head. "There's really no other way to get the Dungeon Scroll besides this Guardian?"
Their elite group hadn't shown any signs of giving up—but after being wiped out so many times, frustration was starting to bubble under the surface.
"Positive," muttered Ironblood Shadow. "All the quests available at level 1 and 2 have been taken. None of them point toward a scroll. That damn thing must only drop from the Guardian."
They weren't the only ones searching either. Several friendly guilds had shared intel, confirming the same thing. Nothing led anywhere—except that boss.
"Boss, that Featherlight guy posted something—says he's got a guide for killing the Guardian."
One of the bored elite members, idly browsing the forum while dead again, suddenly sat up. A new post had just been pinned by a moderator. He didn't even open the thread. The title alone had him shouting.
"Quick, check it out! What does it say?" someone else yelled.
Ironblood Blade stomped once, fired up, then muttered, "Screw it, I'll check it myself."
He dropped straight onto the sand, pulled up his forum window, and the moment he entered, there it was. Pinned to the top in bright red font:
[Featherlight's Step-by-Step Guide to Killing the Guardian!]
The title made him pause. Then he clicked and immediately, his expression twisted.
It was a paid post—priced at three hundred bucks.
"This bastard…"
He didn't buy it right away. Instead, he scrolled down to the replies—and sure enough, the comment section was on fire.
"Featherlight's gone greedy. Three hundred dollars? Seriously? That's daylight robbery!"
"Why are you mad? It's not your money, is it?"
"Come on, this is obviously targeting guilds. Everyone's scrambling for the next Dungeon Scroll—he knows it."
"Didn't his last video only cost a cent?"
"Upvoted."
The chaos was unreal. Comment after comment piled up, many of them angry, others mocking, and some just reveling in the drama. The more thoughtful replies quickly rose to the top. The thread had already split the community into two factions—those supporting Featherlight and those cursing his name.
Ironblood Blade didn't see any official guild tags in the replies—no recognizable IDs from the bigger names—but that didn't mean they weren't there, lurking behind anonymous accounts, stirring the pot.
"Featherlight's clearly trying to rob guilds blind. Didn't you see the post is only paid for five hours? After that, it's free."
That caught his attention.
He backed out of the post and refreshed the page—only to see another thread with an explosive number of replies.
He clicked it open—and what he read made his eyes narrow.
Ironblood Blade quickly reopened the post. Sure enough, the timer beside the paywall read: 4 hours and 50 minutes remaining.
He swore under his breath and clenched his jaw, then—without hesitation—paid the three hundred dollars.
As soon as the transaction processed, his expression changed.
You are the 27th purchaser.
"Twenty-seven…" he muttered, grinding his teeth before a wicked grin spread across his face.
He didn't even bother reading the post. Instead, he shut the forum down, stood up, and turned to the nearby officers.
"Get every single one of our members from the Orc side online. I don't care if they're eating lunch or asleep—get them all here. Seal off this whole damn region!"
Just as the order left his mouth, he spotted several other guild leaders approaching, grinning smugly, each of them flanked by their own elite teams.
Ironblood Blade's eyes narrowed.
"You," he said to one of his lieutenants. "Go keep them busy. Stall them as long as you can."
Without another word, he pulled the forum back up and finally opened the guide.
The one named "Ironbro K" nodded and headed out toward the approaching group, already prepping small talk to slow them down.
Meanwhile, Ryan grinned to himself, editing the post to unlock five hours after launch, setting the price firmly at $300, and then logging out.
He wasn't in a hurry to level up right now.
Lunch was nearly ready, and he could practically smell it through the door. His stomach was about to riot.
Besides, turning in the remaining quests would shoot him up to level 4 instantly. After that, he'd be heading straight to Blood Hollow, where his real grind—and his first serious gold—would begin.
The payout from the post wouldn't hit immediately. The game's community system imposed a seven-day lock period for all paid content—an anti-scam measure to prevent clickbait schemes. Ryan wouldn't see any of that money for at least a week.
But he didn't mind. It was already worth it.
When he saw Ironblood Covenant gathering so many members to brute-force the Guardian, he knew exactly what was coming. It was going to be a disaster.
Because sheer numbers had never been the answer.
Not against the Guardian class.
Even a level 10 Guardian, surrounded by a million max-level players, would still be nearly unstoppable—thanks to the game's World Boss Scaling Protocol.
Only five players could engage a Guardian at any given time. For every extra player beyond that limit, the Guardian would summon three equal-level allies using its special "Call of Reinforcements" ability. Worse still, each additional player would cause its health and damage to scale upward exponentially.
And if the player count passed a certain threshold? The Guardian would gain access to every skill in the game.
No cap.
Meaning: the more players you threw at it, the more monstrous it became.
Looking through the Ironblood guild's combat logs, Ryan noted that the Guardian had already unlocked over a dozen abilities. Its health had ballooned past 10,000 HP.
The guild wipe was no surprise.
They had strengthened the enemy just by trying too hard.
So Ryan just laid it all out in the guide: take it slow, fight with a single squad. That's the only viable strategy. Now all he had to do was sit back and watch the impatient ones throw their money at him.
"Lunch is ready, Ryan! We've got pork stew and braised belly!"
Molly's voice rang from the kitchen, bright and sweet. The scent hit him seconds later, sweeping through the small house like a warm breeze.
His stomach rumbled in response.
Perfect timing.