By Zephyria 
“They’re telling us to participate in the Siege Warfare?”
Siege Warfare.
“Until now, they’ve only had the higher-rank members go to the Siege Warfare for the rewards.”
“Since the notice is for all Alliance Members, I guess everyone is going together today.”
Because the System Error Alliance had so many people, they hadn’t sent Siege Warfare notifications to the low-level Alliance Members until now—likely because distributing rewards would be problematic if everyone participated. But it seemed this time was an exception.
“Should we try participating?”
“Of course!”
They couldn’t miss this great opportunity. Once the Siege Warfare began, the high-rank Alliance Members who usually stayed in the interior would appear.
‘I’ll be able to properly verify if System Error is popping the core. If I see that, I’ll know for sure if they really are VITA.’
The possibility of witnessing a decisive scene would also increase. Up until now, no matter how much System Error seemed like VITA, there had been no definitive evidence.
Just then, with a ding, another notification arrived.
[Notification] @L5, @L6, @L7, @L8, @L9, @L10
Since we will be explaining the strategy for the Siege Warfare up to L5, please all gather at the designated coordinates!
“Seeing as they only tagged up to L5, it looks like those from L4 and above are moving separately,” Kwon Mi-eon analyzed in a low voice. Mo Yeon-hu smacked his lips. If he had stayed up all night yesterday to push through the quests and hit L4, he could have moved with the higher ranks.
“Shall we go for now?”
“Yeah.”
Leaving the regret behind, the two moved to the promised coordinates.
“Wow, there are so many people. But why are they lining up?”
At the coordinates, a massive crowd of users had already gathered, all standing in a single line. At the end of that line was a large box.
(Alliance) nnppcc: Please put all your equipped gear and weapon items into bags and place them in the box! This is a non-lootable box, and since I will be taking screenshots of the names you write on them, no one can steal from each other. 🙂
Mo Yeon-hu’s eyes widened as he saw people putting bags containing their gear and items into the box.
“If it’s a Siege Warfare, aren’t we supposed to go fight? Why are they taking off their gear now?”
“It is strange.”
It was completely incomprehensible why they were being told to strip off all their equipped gear and weapons when they should be upgrading them if anything.
“More than that, I don’t understand why they’re mobilizing such low-level users for a Siege Warfare in the first place.”
The sight of mobilizing every single beginner, who looked like they couldn’t even throw a stone properly, was logically unacceptable.
(Alliance) nnppcc: Please don’t delay and put your gear and bags in the box quickly~!
While they were talking, it was soon Mo Yeon-hu and Kwon Mi-eon’s turn.
‘Ah, I don’t want to hand them over. Should I just pretend to put them in?’
Wouldn’t it be incredibly strange to charge into a war without a single sword? However, it was awkward to just pretend since nnppcc was watching. Just then.
Ding, ding! Notifications rang in succession, and the mailbox lit up.
“Take this, Hyung.”
“What is this?”
“Gear.”
It seemed Kwon Mi-eon had sent something. When he clicked the mailbox, a gear set appeared.
‘This is way better than what I was wearing!’
Mo Yeon-hu was shocked to see gear and weapons that were incomparably better.
“What is all this?!”
“I think it’s better to put everything you’re currently wearing in the box and switch to these.”
Exactly.
“…You mean we just pretend to have no gear?”
“Yes. How can you go to a war without weapons?”
Kwon Mi-eon had no intention of going to the Siege Warfare without weapons from the start. Seeing Kwon Mi-eon speak as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Mo Yeon-hu forgot the situation and laughed a little. It was because trying to bring weapons by any means was so typical of Miu.
“I could have just bought some…”
“Transfer quickly. It’s almost our turn.”
“Yeah, okay.”
While the two performed a Stat Transfer from their old gear to the new gear to deceive the others, most of the Alliance Members also seemed to have handed over their gear.
‘I wonder how my 0momo0 is doing…’
Seeing everyone wearing the shabby default look of a basic character, Mo Yeon-hu felt a momentary wave of nostalgia for his bald main character.
The mechanic he switched to fit his hand quite well and was fun, but the affection for one’s first character was indeed a powerful thing.
(Alliance) nnppcc: Then, everyone please take one sleeping bag and one backpack from here and move out~ Please follow me closely!
Soon, following nnppcc, the people took a sleeping bag and a backpack and began to move. Inside the backpacks were a few medical tools and resources such as stone axes, wood, and iron ore.
“It looks like we’re going quite far.”
“Indeed.”
Perhaps because they were moving as a group and feared being noticed, nnppcc took a roundabout route, moving only through the forests. After walking for a long time—a distance that should have taken one minute felt like four or five—nnppcc stopped in a forest and instructed them to set this as the Respawn Zone.
“If it’s a Respawn Zone, does that mean if I die, I wake up here?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
To be resurrected in a forest like this. Regardless, since the Shelter Construction skill was max level, it didn’t take long, and the same went for the other Alliance Members.
Everyone quickly built shelters, buried the sleeping bags that signified the Respawn Zone, and began moving again, until finally.
(Alliance) nnppcc: We have arrived in front of the Alliance we will be facing! Thank you all for following me so well!
They reached the destination. And Mo Yeon-hu was bewildered seeing the fortress laid out before him. In truth, he had thought that if beginners were participating, they would be fighting a relatively weak opponent.
However, the place he was looking at now was…
(Alliance) nnppcc: Today, we will strike the <1st> Alliance!
From the name alone, 1st—they were the number one Alliance on the Eden Server!
“They’re saying they’ll hit the number one Alliance with beginners?”
“Yes.”
“But System Error is… only around 12th place.”
“That’s true.”
The difference in scale was far too great.
“And why did they tell us to come stripped of all our clothes to fight such a strong Alliance? Against an opponent like that, shouldn’t they be handing us weapons instead? I feel like if they fire just one cannon, ten people will die here…”
Furthermore, no matter how many members System Error had, most of the people here were beginners, making it even more incomprehensible.
(Alliance) Battery: We’re hitting that place???? T_T
(Alliance) ASi: Me..?
(Alliance) Jeong-seok is Jeong-seok: Wow fr? For real?? Is this a true story??
(Alliance) Dungdung Manana-deo-a: Is this even possible…
(Alliance) ipioi: Wow, crazy lol
Naturally, the Alliance Members were all visibly shocked.
“I had a feeling, but this is the method. It seems we’d only be at a loss if we kept our gear.”
“You’re saying we should also keep our gear off?”
“Yes. I’ll mark a coordinate, so let’s store our gear there for now.”
On the other hand, while Mo Yeon-hu was panicked, Kwon Mi-eon seemed to have noticed something and was moving quickly.
“Why…?”
Mo Yeon-hu, unable to follow the flow alone, remained bewildered. However, as nnppcc began giving orders via chat, Mo Yeon-hu soon realized what Kwon Mi-eon had noticed and exactly what this operation was.
(Alliance) nnppcc: The group lists will be sent to the Alliance window shortly. You will form groups, scatter to your designated coordinates, and continuously build watchtowers there!
The reason this Alliance recruited beginners in the first place was not to raise them well.
(Alliance) Battery: Uh… T_T what happens if I die?
(Alliance) nnppcc: It’s okay if you die! If you die, you’ll resurrect at the Respawn Zone, so just run back here and build the watchtower again.
‘The people here are people who don’t matter if they die…’
All this time, System Error had been cultivating low-rank Alliance Members as unlimited shields equipped only with the functions absolutely necessary for Siege Warfare.
They could build watchtowers quickly, move Alliance resources at a high speed, possessed all sorts of repair skills, and could respawn infinitely.
Even their ulterior motive didn’t stop there.
(Alliance) nnppcc: Just keep building, building, and building, and when we join, just transport the resources according to the orders!
(Alliance) nnppcc: We won’t make the newbies fight a difficult war! Just do the transporting and tower building, and we will take all the responsibility and fight at the front!
(Alliance) nnppcc: Of course, we will distribute the contribution points properly!
“The way they talk is funny.”
Kwon Mi-eon let out a hollow laugh.
“In Siege Warfare, if you die, the contribution points you’ve accumulated are reset.”
“What? Then…”
“This means the beginners will keep dying, so their contribution will be nearly 0, and they won’t be able to receive anything.”
In fact, the low-rank Alliance Members who would keep dying here were set up to get no contribution points at all!
(Alliance) ipioi: That’s a relief lol
(Alliance) 0Intersection0: Wow, I was worried, thx thx
(Alliance) Kang Ya-ji: T_T you always work so hard for us
(Alliance) nnppcc: This is only natural! We should all help each other live!
(Alliance) Case S: But wouldn’t it be better for us to wear full gear and fight together?
However, nnppcc didn’t mention that at all.
(Alliance) nnppcc: That would be too dangerous for you all T_T
(Alliance) nnppcc: Even if we get looted, we must ensure your items aren’t stolen! hehe
Instead, they were packaging it as if they were the ones making a great sacrifice.