Genesis Guild's Base - Brynhildr Fort

Leon and the Seven Stars gathered in the Conference Room, discussing about the recent events.

There are 8 chairs in the center of the room that was prepared for Leon and the Seven Stars, but Hecate's chair was empty without anyone to sit. That's because she was currently sitting in the Rena-cchi's lap with a disgruntled face.

With Rena-cchi's hands hugging her, Hecate was unable to move away.

"Rena... I want to sit in my chair."

"No, I won't let you! Hecate-chan can just sit here!" (*mugyuu*)

Hecate protested, but that makes Rena-cchi to tighten her embrace.

With pleading eyes, Hecate looked at the female elf next to their seat to ask for her rescue. 

"Emi..."

"Just give it up, Hecate... Rena can't be stopped."

Unfortunately, the elf, Emilia refuse her plead. As for the others, they only watched in their seats with warm eyes.

"Yup! Emi-cchi is right! I missed you so much since yesterday, you know? Just let me cuddle you for a bit." (Rena-cchi)

'But we already met in the morning class...'

Hecate sighed helplessly.

For a moment, Hecate considered to blast Rena-cchi away and make her disconnect by death penalty again. But she can't do that because the consequence aftermath is definitely not good. Her image as the guild's cute, harmless mascot would also be lost and it wasn't something she wanted to see.

To ensure their cordial relationship, she had no choice except enduring Rena-cchi's cuddle.

Looking at Hecate's pouted expression, Leon smiled, but he continued the meeting with a serious face.

 "As you know, our boss raid has failed. We got KS-ed by Black Phantom. This point is clear, right?" (Leon)

The warm atmosphere instantly freezes again.

"Just a bit more and we would've got the boss... But that fukker! He really dared to mess with us! " (KA✰ZU)

"Yeah, Kazu is right...  Our Genesis Guild's dignity has been trampled. We have to revenge!" (Astrid)

"Revenge? How? We didn't know his PN (Player Name) or GID (Game ID). How can we got our revenge if we didn't even have any of his information?" (Emilia)

The room instantly filled with silence after they hear Emilia's words.

Yes, they had forgotten one important question. Who the heck is this Black Phantom?

An unidentified existence covered with a cloak, no one knew his real PN or gender. His unrivaled strength was the only thing that people knew. Every time he appeared, only destruction followed his path.

That power was not scientific!

Many times the players reported him to the CS (Customer Service) for suspected cheater, but the answer every time they get was completely different than they expected. The corresponding player used a legal means and did not cheat!

It's not just Genesis Guild that want to hunt down this player. But there was nothing they could do, because they didn't even know his PN in the first place. They can't set a bounty to a player that they did not known his name.

The one that break the silence was Shuna.

“By the way, Grim… Did you succeed in copying Black Phantom's skill? Maybe that will give us a clue.” (Shuna)

"Yes, that's right! If you can see who is the owner of the skill that you've copied..." (Astrid)

Everyone instantly focused their glance at Grim, the Trickster. They almost forgot the special characteristic of his class. Tricksters can copy skills from others, whether they were players, natives, or monsters.

However, once more, their hope was splashed with cold water with Grim's denial.

"Nah, my Plagiarize Skill did not even react. Mind you that I already upgraded the skill to the max." (Grim)

Hecate secretly grinned in Rena-cchi's lap.

She already took precaution against Tricksters, so they couldn't copy anything that can lead to her.

Plagiarize Skill was a skill that only triggered when the user had been hit by the skill by someone else.

The said skill will be copied as a semi-permanent skill regardless of acquisition requirements, which can be used infinitely until the skill disappears after 3 days. The copied skill level will be determined by the lowest number between the level of the original skill that the attacker use and the Trickster's own Plagiarize Skill.

Of course other prerequisites for using the skill must be met. For example, they cannot use Hunter's Rapid Shot with weapons other than Bows. They also couldn't use monster skills that required certain organs they didn't have, such as Dragon Breath.

Grim had the Plagiarize Skill maxed out up to level 10, meaning if he had hit with a level 10 skill, he would have copied the skill as a level 10 as well.

That is... if the attacker has actually learned the skill.

The skills Hecate used to kill them came from her equipment, especially Death Sentence and Mana Explosion. She didn't even use his Skill Points to learn Cyclone Storm.

In other words, the level Hecate learned from those skills were 0. Grim had nothing to copy from her.

"I see... That's okay..." (Leon)

"Sorry everyone." (Grim)

Leon and the others sighed with a depressing mood.

The revenge was ended before it even started!

"Why are you so pessimistic? Don't you feel sorry for Hecate-chan? She has looking forward for that raid, you know?" (Rena-cchi)

"Yes, Rena is right! Don't you forget about our blood that was spilled by him. Our hard working EXP and the items we have lost because of the Death Penalty!" (KA✰ZU)

Hearing the Death Penalty from Kazu, Leon's facial expression turned ugly. He was reminded once more that he had dropped Skill Assimilation Orb because of that.

"Hecate-chan, you also feel the same too, right? You prepared almost everything for our last raid." (KA✰ZU)

Hecate's eyes slightly twitched by Kazu's question.

'Kazu... Why the heck you dragged me into this?! I already finished my objective from that raid, so I was more than enough satisfied with the result...'

If she answered yes, then she would have to play along with harboring hatred for a nonexistent enemy. She didn't feel confident with her acting skills, they would eventually sense something wrong. But of course, she couldn't just tell them the truth.

In that case...

"Not really. I died because I was weak, that's all. In that aspect, I did not hold any grudge." (Hecate)

"Eh?" (×6)

Everyone seemed shocked with Hecate's unexpected answer. But she still not done and continued further.

"Rather, I was enlightened. That was the true power of Spellcaster class! The peerless power! The absolute destruction...!" (Hecate)

Something is not right.

"I decided to make him as my goal. I wanted to follow his step!" (Hecate)

She said it with passion, like a child that had found a new toy.

Looking at Hecate's excited expression, the alarm inside Leon and the other Seven Stars' head ringed loudly. Even Rena-cchi unconsciously stopped her hand from caressing Hecate's hair. They had simultaneously thinking in their mind,

'Urgent! Our precious loli has been bewitched by Black Phantom... She had become his fan!'

While its true that Black Phantom always seeks trouble and draws hatred everywhere, he also unexpectedly got a lot of diehard fans in the community.

They are mainly people who simply idolized strong players, or people who liked to watch the world burn. Hecate most likely was the former. It was said that girls is easily attracted to bad boys.

Oh NO!

The loli is about to be kidnapped by a big bad wolf!

Rena-cchi immediately asked Hecate with trembling voice.

"He... Hecate-chan? You didn't intend to leave this guild, right?" (Rena-cchi)

"Huh? Why?" (Hecate)

Since Hecate was in Rena-cchi's lap, she had to tilt her doll-like face upward to respond.

The cuteness overload has far exceeding 9000!

Rena-cchi couldn't help but want to smooch all over her cheek, but she quickly suppress her desire. This is not the time to playing around.

"But you said you want to following his step... NO!!! Don't go! Don't leave us!" (Rena-cchi)

"Yeah, don't be fooled by that bastard, Hecate-chan!" (Shuna)

"If you want to look at a strong people, this big brother is enough!" (KA✰ZU)

Hecate shakes her head with a frown.

"Who said I will leave this guild? What I mean is I will aim to be as strong as him... No, I'll exceed him."
'It wasn't a lie, I still aiming to continue grow stronger than yesterday.'

"The last time was quite unfortunate... But, that won't happen again!"
'Well, I can't overmilk this guild and make it weak, right? I still need this guild to be strong, after all.
Perhaps once every year should do without affecting the guild's overall strength.'

So, she said with a firm tone, implying her determination. In the others' eyes, it looked like Hecate was developing a sense of rivalry with Black Phantom. Everyone sighed with relief. At least, they're glad that the thing they feared the most will not happen.

There was no way their Hecate would switch sides into Black Phantom's side.

Astrid decided to open her mouth.

"By the way, did you check the Auction Hall? It seems our items has been anonymously auctioned. Moreover, without buyout price for the duration of a week. (Astrid)

Leon, Emilia, Rena-cchi: "What!?"

"Ah... that?" (Grim) | "Yeah, I did." (KA✰ZU)

Astrid immediately shared the screenshot she had taken to everyone via Private Message. 

The screenshot shows a long lists of items that Genesis Guild members dropped from the confrontation with Black Phantom. It was not clear who the one that auctioned those items, since it only shows ??? in the system. But obviously, everyone in the room clearly know who it was.

Grim and Kazu seems already known of this, as they didn't look surprised. Emilia and Rena-cchi's expression was not good. They could recognize their equipment was on the lists. Shuna did not feel too upset since her dropped equipment was actually self-made, so at most she only need to make them again.

Meanwhile, Leon's face was distorted with anger. A week of no buyout. This means these items will unavoidably remained for a full week regardless how much people will bid them. This was clearly a provocation, indeed.

Black Phantom intended to show off his feat of trampling his guild to the public.

All of the items in the lists was precious, especially the equipment. He did not want those items went to his rival guilds and strengthen them further and threaten his Genesis Guild.

"Total current bid:  725.450.000..."

Leon couldn't help but want to vomit blood when he saw the amount.

Such amount was not cheap. If the gold was converted into real money, it would be around ¥360~ million. He was a bit surprised that Black Phantom was extorting that much money from his guild.

The room fell into silence once more.

It would cost way too much to redeem those items. But even if they have the golds, many people can still give a higher price during those 7 days duration. There was no guarantee that those items will come back to them.

Leon gritted his teeth. It seems he had to take another ¥1 billion from his bank balance.

"Astrid, monitor those items first. You can use the gold coins in the Guild Treasury to make a bid. Just don't let anyone to get the items, especially the equipment." (Leon)

"Haah... okay..." (Astrid)

Astrid sighed with a troubled expression. It seems she had to stay in the Auction Hall for a while.

Emilia continued the discussion.

"Just because we didn't know Black Phantom's PN, it doesn't mean that we should give up. Like an idiom says, a good marksman may miss. Sooner or later, he will definitely left a trace. We can strike at that time!" (Emilia)

"That's right. Even if we can't use the bounty system, our hunt of Black Phantom will not stop! Shuna, Kazu! Gather more information about this Black Phantom. I'll give you each 5 million, use them well. (Leon)

"I understand." (Shuna) | "Okay, boss!" (KA✰ZU)

Leon nodded with a serious expression.

Ten million gold was definitely a lot of money just for gathering information. However, this is war! He had no intention of skimping on removing any obstacles in his path.

Now that Black Phantom's treatment had been decided, all that was left was unimportant talk.

Hecate remained still in Rena-cchi's lap for the rest of the meeting.