The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

After roughly finishing the work at the office, Rudel and Akata finally returned to the game world.

“This is now our world, a place that Rudel must lead and be responsible for.”

Rudel was alive. Just that fact alone made everything start to have meaning again for him.

Akata silently vowed to always support her, now burdened with a tremendous role.

Back at the refuge, Akata saw their four companions one by one.

Everything Rudel held dear and everything he learned to treasure was right here.

They were the first to notice Akata. A mix of surprise and joy came out in exclamations.

Akata didn’t hesitate and ran over.

“Ah…?”

She hugged each one tightly.

Despite it being the second time, Lilith was moved, while Kanel felt awkward.

The mixed reaction stemmed from their struggle to adjust to Akata’s now larger appearance.

Then, behind Kanel, a handsome blonde man appeared.

“….”

Akata released Kanel from her embrace and slowly approached.

He opened her arms wide and embraced him with all his strength. Feeling immense relief, he sighed deeply, grateful that Unahar was safe.

Though Unahar slightly tensed his jaw, he didn’t push him away.

Rudel, who had been talking with other guild leaders, kept glancing over as if thirsty.

As soon as Akata finished hugging Unahar, Rudel hurriedly intervened. She then showed the brightest smile Akata had ever seen.

Slightly, just slightly discontent with Akata and Rudel’s joyful smiles, Unahar finally made a small, jealous remark.

“I was by Rudel’s side the whole time you were gone. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“It does bother me. But I’ll set it aside for a bit.”

That was because the leader of the subordinates group, Nahean, was waiting sullenly in the background. Akata quickly went over.

With an apologetic expression back on his face.

Rudel’s gaze followed him with delight.

* * *

I was taking over the role of representative from the Mijon staff and had the freedom to explore the underground archives of the office.

When I tried to access the data left by Aria, a biometric password blocked my way.

On a whim, I tried my fingerprint and iris, and it quickly unlocked.

…Could this also have been arranged by Aria?

When I opened the files, she had left records on almost all characters.

These were records of certain humans in the real world who seemed completely unrelated.

“The ability to handle souls.”

If what Aria said was true, it meant that all the game characters were made from these people’s souls.

However, due to Aria’s indiscriminate killings, there were many cases where the deceased’s identity was not properly recorded, making it difficult to locate their families.

Everyone had traces of having lived in the real world, including Taggiros…

Except for one person, whose space was left blank.

Akata.

That was the end. There was no more information.

“Just what kind of existence is Akata? I thought that now, after everything is over, I could find out why Akata is a bug character.”

I searched through the materials thoroughly, but I couldn’t find out how this special entity was created.

“I should have somehow found out from Aria before she died….”

Regretting it, I felt a bit like a psychopath for thinking so, even though someone had died.

I might have been the one who stabbed, but I’m the one who has to bear the responsibility. I decided to take on the weight of the murders Akata committed. 

Of course, I didn’t exactly make an agreement with Akata about it…

Anyway, if I had to pick someone who might be related to Akata’s identity, it would be Taggiros, who oddly resembles her in appearance and aura. 

Strictly speaking, Taggiros has an Eastern look, while Akata is mixed-race.

With that thought in mind, I closely examined the detailed records left behind of “that person.”

Specifically, the records of Taggiros before his death, who was Aria’s schoolmate and the first one she killed.

* * *

Thus, the current situation of us characters, who have been liberated from those troublesome tasks, is as follows:

With the disappearance of the ruling system, we were like kindergarteners who had lost their teacher, gathering aimlessly at the refuge.

It’s truly a relief this sight isn’t being broadcasted to the viewers. How embarrassing this would be.

Anyway, since I ended up taking the representative position (not through unanimous election but by simply settling in), I decided to start with what I do best.

“Aleon, can you quiet everyone down?”

This is precisely about assigning tasks to the guild leader characters.

While they controlled the characters on my behalf, I began the restoration of the damaged guild fortresses.

“First, send everyone home. Tell them to take a hot bath and rest at their own places. That should reduce some of the complaints.”

This is my effort to win over the public despite being an uncharismatic, disheveled representative.

When I told them to go home, people left obediently. I overheard their conversations as they walked away.

“So, is Rudel really the representative?”

“Shemarin’s probably the real power.”

“Could be Aleon.”

“What about Akata?”

“Akata’s just the figurehead.”

I’m not just a puppet representative, you jerks.

I gathered only the guild leaders and mobilized about 30 people to pull out the fallen characters from the production facilities. It was much faster with more hands.

“Then, Aleon, Ifrea. I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

“I’m not sure if my face looks kind, but I will do my utmost.”

Aleon and Ifrea were assigned to distribute clothes and comfort the confused characters who had just been revived.

The idea was to forcefully adapt them using their demonic charisma.

“Ifrea, didn’t I tell you to smile at people? You really look beautiful when you smile.”

“…I don’t recall ever smiling.”

“Haven’t you occasionally smiled at me?”

Just then, Blance, who was monitoring the main computer for me, called out.

“Rudel, I think you should see this player.”

Though he hadn’t fully mastered the computer command system, I had taught him enough to read and interpret the language to some extent.

Smart guy. I should train him well to use him as my work proxy.

Anyway, I followed Blance to the main computer and saw a very familiar name written in computer language for the next resurrection character.

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh first. Then, Shemarin, candidate number two for my proxy, appeared out of nowhere. She read the monitor and spoke.

“Hmm, I can see why you’d be upset. Should I handle him for you? Taming a half-baked man is no big deal.”

“No, it’s fine.”

This is something I have to do. It’s not something that can be done through someone else’s hands.

Even so, the thought of facing him again was piling up internal stress, so I meditated in front of the monitor for a while, thinking “A mountain is a mountain, and water is water.”

Suddenly, a pale hand rested on my shoulder from behind.

“Why does Rudel have to deal with him? Leave it to me.”

Akata’s red hair brushed against my back as his face came closer.

“What? …No. I’m the one who used him, and I’m the one who holds the grudge. You don’t need to step in.”

“Then let me put it another way.”

The gentle light in his brown eyes seemed to darken from the center. His low voice surrounded by gritted teeth spoke.

“I don’t even want Ispan to glance at you. You taught me before, Rudel. If someone attacks you, make sure to retaliate. I haven’t done that to Ispan yet.”

I sighed audibly. Akata quickly gave a cute smile.

Seeing that right in front of me made me sigh again.

Yeah, I’ve never been able to handle you the way I wanted, Akata. It’s been like that for quite some time.

“Akata.”

Just before Ispan appeared in the glass chamber, I shouted to Akata, who was waiting endlessly.

“That guy is, after all, a resident of our world. You know that, right?”

Even though he committed heinous acts against me, Akata, and others, if we had met outside the game, our fate might have been different.

So he can’t be blamed 100%.

Of course, his cruel and savage nature won’t change since it’s part of his character setting, so we’ll have to think about reformation.

Akata nodded.

“Yes.”

Does he really understand…?

Akata threw a large piece of cloth to the bewildered Ispan who was getting up in the glass chamber and then glared at him as if he would kill him.

“What the! You… that red-haired kid?”

“It would be best if you followed quietly.”

Instead of sighing for the third time, I exhaled deeply through my nose.

“Shemarin, would you mind following them and keeping an eye? If I go, Akata might try to behave and nothing will get resolved.”

“Gladly.”

After Akata had a conversation with Ispan, Shemarin arranged a detached house-like residence for him.

He would be separated from other players for a while.

The fallen guild characters were given restored fortresses, but those who had been eliminated from the selection or headhunting games had no separate dwelling.

I remembered the old fortress customization system and arranged for those without a guild to form a large village where each could live in a small house of their desired design.

It was already evening by the time I finished this work.

The game world had been bright during the day but turned cloudy in the evening. Instead of a sunset, the sky darkened with storm clouds.

Now, time in our world flows like it does for humans. Day and night come equally.

Characters, who had only ever seen clear weather and never experienced bad weather, found the drizzling sky fascinating.

“You all rest. I still have a lot of work to do.”

The issue of the characters’ residences wasn’t fully resolved yet.

Now, the people I need to look after are those who, despite belonging to a guild, would prefer to live independently rather than in a group setting if given the choice.

As I reviewed the list of those hoping to live independently, my heart sank.

[Unahar]

I entrusted Shemarin to handle my current tasks and rushed out of the production facility to find Unahar.

* * *

With the boundaries between guilds now dissolved, it takes about five minutes to run from the production facility to our guild fortress.

This area is marked by evergreen trees and decorated with colorful azaleas.

My pace gradually slowed down as I ran.

A man was leaning against a wall on the other side of the path.

“You came running right away.”

Unahar knew I would come. He remained leaning against the wall, speaking calmly.

My footsteps felt unusually silent and heavy. The flow of my approach to him felt like a slow wave.

The words I had planned to say faded in the brilliance of his eyes. It was just me looking up at him and him looking down at me.

What emotions was Unahar feeling right now? I remembered the “emotion state inquiry function” that I had disabled.

‘You were easy to read, but sometimes it was hard to gauge your emotions.’

With just one impulsive action from me, your emotions would ripple like waves crashing this way and that.

I will never forget what Unahar did for me, even in death.

“I’m too narrow-minded to live with you. It’s a separate issue from you still being important to me.”

Unahar smiled sadly. I suddenly remembered what I wanted to say.

I couldn’t let Unahar go out alone.

Even if it wasn’t me, Unahar was especially close to Kanel, Gio, and Lilith. I didn’t want him to distance himself from such friends.

“As the representative, I’m busy and can’t stay with you all for long, so I thought I might live separately.”

“With Akata?”

That wasn’t what I meant. I was at a loss for words.

Even though Unahar had misunderstood, I had to correct him, but…what’s the point? I could only remain silent.

He snapped his fingers in front of me to get my attention and then pointed at his face with his finger.

His smile was peculiar, and it lingered in my mind for a long time.

“I’ll come visit you sometimes. Will you welcome me then?”

“…Yeah.”

In accordance with Unahar’s wish, I eventually arranged for his relocation.

“What is it?”

The place he moved to was just the neighboring subordinates group’s villa, though.

Right, Unahar always hung out freely with the entire subordinates group, not just Lilith, Gio, and Kanel…

I ended up feeling a bit embarrassed for no reason.