Notorious Guild

After opening the gift pack, something materialized in his hand along with a puffing sound. Upon seeing it, his eyes grew wider.

T-this…

He mumbled.

"This is a Book of Talent, right?" He asked himself.

When he read the title, he learned that his guess was right. It was truly a Book of Talent.

"Wow, this surprised me. I didn't know that there's also something like this in this game. This is almost the same as my previous game. In my previous game, I got a Book of Talent that boosted my fire element. It gives me a head start over my peers. A Book of Talent isn't actually a rare item. There were many ways to get them.

However, that also depends on what kind of talent you can get. Some talents were super rare and very difficult to get.

They could only be obtained through special means. Such as liberating a high-difficulty labyrinth or an unusual mission. But here, I got it on the onset."

Ranz grinned widely.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes when he realized something.

Wait, it said Jack Of All Trades? What kind of talent is this?

He was stunned and stared at the book.

If so, does that mean I can use any weapon? Not just a greatsword?

Obviously, when anyone hears the term Jack Of All Trades, only one thing comes to everyone's mind about what it refers to.

Ranz thought again. In my previous game, I don't remember anyone getting a Book of Talent like this. Even those in the top rank players like me, I don't remember someone who owned a talent like this. So, this must be original here.

He surmised.

Anyway, according to the description, to activate the Book of Talent, he just needs to apply his bloody hand on the first page where the hexagram magic circle can be seen.

Flip!

After he opened the black cover of the book, the alleged hexagram printed on its first page immediately greets his eyes. Ranz bit his index finger to bleed. However, instead of blood, red particles of light dripped from the wound.

Those red particles were the blood in this game. After biting his index finger, he applied the bloody hand to the hexagram itself. The hexagram immediately glowed in red color.

Ranz was a little surprised when the black energy that looked like fire suddenly flowed into his hand. He backs away a little. But, the black energy had already crawled towards his whole arm and was still crawling to engulf him whole.

Although he was shocked by the incident, he immediately noticed that he did not feel anything strange. So he just let the black energy creep all over his body.

Eventually, the energy gradually disappeared as it seemed to merge with his body. Simultaneously with the loss of black energy was the disappearance of the book that had lately been in his hand.

His whole body returned to normal. In front of his face, he tried to close and open his palm.

"It seems like I am fine."

He didn't feel anything strange even after that black energy submerged into his body.

He glanced at his class in the status window and noticed that Warrior was still written on it.

Ranz wondered the possible reason why. He thinks that's because his Iron Blade is still the equipped weapon at the moment.

To find out if his hunch about his talent is true, he needs a different weapon. But, at the moment, he only has the normal-tier Iron Blade.

Ranz decided to return to the village first because he saw that his stamina had only 15 percent left. He needs to rest to regain his stamina.

He also noticed that the damage of his attack seemed to have weakened after his stamina dropped by 25 percent. So he could no longer continue to kill monsters.

It was dangerous to continue killing monsters because he might run out of stamina in the middle of the fight.

While tiredly walking on the way back to the village, Ranz suddenly heard roars. Based on the sounds, they seemed to come from the rapid sound of footsteps. The slight tremor on the ground was also noticeable.

Reflexively, he turned around and saw clouds of dust not too far from him. Inside those clouds of dust, there were many silhouettes.

In just a few seconds, they were only a few meters away from him. Now he could clearly see their appearance and their total number.

About twenty players riding various ferocious high-level and cool ground-type beastmounts were fast approaching his direction.

Just by the speed of their running, it wasn't difficult to guess that they were in a hurry. For whatever reason, he had no idea. Since they were heading in the same direction he was heading, he believed that Lightwood Village was also their destination.

Ranz immediately stepped aside to avoid being run over because they didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down. Sure enough, right after he stepped aside, they passed by him without losing their speed, leaving dust on their trail.

*Cough! Cough!*

"Tsk! So damn rude," he whispered.

Regardless, the dust seems very real.

Instinctively, he covered his mouth and nose using his arm.

Except for two people, he saw that all of them were veiled in red cloaks, so he could not see their faces fully. But the person on the lead was a blonde man with squinty red eyes. There was a cunning smile on his face as he was staring toward the village. And the person beside him was a beautiful female with long black ponytailed hair. She was riding a black dino and a slim scabbard was on her side.

That sword doesn't seem like an ordinary sword. Ranz believed so.

And also, she had a pair of red eyes like the others.

Ranz felt that their eyes met for a second. He could not help but gulp down nervously. Her glance, although elegant, brought heavy pressure on him as if a mountain was pressing him at that moment.

What kind of intimidation was that?! Ranz shouted in his mind.

Maybe it was only his imagination? But he actually felt that heavy pressure from just a glance.

It only took a blink of an eye for all of them to disappear in front of him. Ranz looked at their backs with a sigh as they became smaller and smaller in his vision.

He also noticed badges floating above their titles. It was probably their guild's badge.

"From what guild are they?" He couldn't help uttering in the air when he noticed that all of them were wearing the same cloaks and the same red eyes and even their badges. There was even a strange print on the back of their cloaks.

The print looked like the eyes of a ferocious entity.

He wasn't particularly asking someone those questions.

However,

"They are the Red Phantom Guild, or better known as RPG."

"Eh?!"

Ranz was surprised by this unexpected answer, so he quickly turned around, to his right. Sure enough, after he turned around, he saw a player standing about three steps from his right rear.

He was wearing iron armor and was holding a shortsword and a shield was hanging on his back. It looks like the level of this player was higher than his, just based on his attire.

The title Noble Traveler floated above his head. They were in bright blue text.

"Red phantom?" Ranz repeated what he heard.

Like him, this man was also looking in the direction in which he was looking.

"Yes. And they are one of the strongest guilds in this server."

"Ah. So that's why those guys are very intimidating," he said in his honest opinion.

"Fufufu. Did you see the two in front?" The Noble Traveler asked him with a grin.

Ranz nodded of course from that question. "Yes. Are they the leader of their gang?" He asked.

The Noble Traveler chuckled. "Hehe. Those two are among the higher officials of their guild but they are not the main leaders."

"Ah~ I see..."

Suddenly the nonchalant disappeared from Noble Traveler's face and his expression became serious.

"Do be careful towards them," he suddenly warned him.

Ranz narrowed his eyes and uttered a single word, "Why?"

"Because if one of their members is irritated at you, everyone will hunt you down like a flock of angry bees. Their entire guild will be your opponent. You won't only suffer a beating, they will really hunt you wherever you hide until you have no choice but to leave your account and buy a new one."

Ranz looked dumbfounded at what he heard. D-damn… a bunch of psychopaths. That group was truly dangerous.

"It's a pity to be their victim," he said.

"True."

"How about the Rolling Judgment? Aren't they helping the victims?" Ranz asked.

"Of course, the Rolling Judgment will do everything to help, but their power in this server wasn't as solid as in the other servers so don't rely on them too much."

Ranz was a bit surprised to hear it.

Wait.

He means… So all servers have a Rolling Judgment guild? Oh my god! This Rolling Judgment must be a large organization. This was beyond his thoughts.

Regardless, they seem to have a counterpart on this server according to Noble Traveler.

Ranz suddenly remembered something. "Uh, what do you think is the reason they're heading to that small village?" He asked.

"Ah, it's good that you asked that. I remembered I read world announcements earlier. It looks like one of their members was killed by a mysterious player."

"Wow, a PK (Player Killing)?" Ranz sounded excited.

He continued saying, "Hehe, who could be stupid enough to kill a member of that fierce guild? Uh, maybe that person is also from a strong guild because only OP (Overpowered) players like them would have the courage to do that."

The Noble Traveler did not reply right away. He fell silent as he looked like he was pondering. "Hmm… I honestly don't know either because it's the first time I've heard that player's name."

"Is that so? Maybe just one of the silent players. Many players are like that."

"Maybe."

There was a three-second awkward silence before Ranz opened his mouth again.

"Can you tell me what that player's IGN is?"

"Alright, let me try to remember. Uhm, hmm… I think it's Jack… "

Jack? Such a common name. Uh, this is probably the reason why when I put this name earlier in the player creation mode, the text 'name already existed' appeared.

"Ah! I remember now!"

"Eh? Isn't it Jack?"

"That also, but not just that."

"Oh, is that so? Then, what is the real name?"

Noble Traveler looked at him with a serious face. "The real name of the mysterious player who killed one of the members of the Red Phantom is Jack… Jack No Ripper. He was also that player who achieved a special mission."

".."

After a slight pause, "EEHHH!?"