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

This man, who aspired to a life of laziness, was also a meticulous planner, foreseeing every possible misfortune.

Despite possessing unparalleled S-rank stats, he was always cautious, ensuring he wouldn’t be ambushed.

So who would dare to kidnap Jail?

Of course, no matter how careful he was, he couldn’t completely block the recruitment attempts from higher players.

Some players, who happened to land near Jail and thus had a quicker opportunity to headhunt him, kept trying to drag him forcibly.

“Grrr…”

Each time, Jail would dunk their heads into the nearby river, administering a form of water torture until they returned to their guild base.

As a result, Jail could now enjoy being alone in peace.

“You arrogant brat!”

Some of those who had been harshly dealt with scattered various unique abilities in their rage.

“Oh…?”

But with basic stats at S-rank, even being enveloped in electricity didn’t seem to affect him much.

Since more lethal attacks were restricted by round rules, these players had no choice but to retreat empty-handed.

Jail wandered leisurely, yawning widely, as he looked for a spot where wolves appeared more frequently.

“Wait!”

Once again, a woman’s voice stopped him from behind. Jail sighed, feeling annoyed.

He was getting tired of these guild recruitment attempts.

Jail turned around with an indifferent expression, only to widen his shadowed eyes.

A woman, more beautiful and arrogant than anyone he had seen before, reminiscent of a seductive demon, stood there.

She was panting heavily, as if she had been sprinting for a while, which seemed uncharacteristic.

Despite the slit in her skirt, it looked tight and very uncomfortable.

Had she run all this way wearing that?

“Thank you for turning around. I’m Shemarin, the guild master of ‘Red Monarch.’”

He wasn’t particularly interested.

He merely thought, ‘I’ll need to hold her skirt tightly when I dunk her in the river to avoid it flipping up,’ as he looked at her.

“I wanted to get here sooner, but I fell on the opposite side of where you were-. That’s why I’m late.”

Even someone exuding natural charisma like her ultimately had the same goal as the other guild masters: to recruit Jail.

“What’s your goal-? Are you trying to get first place? If you do, which guild will you join as a full member-?”

Shemarin didn’t treat Jail like a component to boost her guild’s combat power; she treated him as a person, asking about his ‘goal.’

This felt somewhat novel, though her intention was obvious. In the end, she wanted to recruit Jail into her guild.

“I don’t listen to anyone. I’ll decide for myself.”

Jail cut off the conversation with a concise answer.

“Then decide to join my guild.”

“Impossible.”

A woman exuding such a strong aura wouldn’t be running a guild in a lax manner without ambition to be ranked number one.

Thus, she didn’t align with Jail’s life philosophy at all.

“Then fight me, and if you lose, you’ll join my guild.”

An unexpected proposal.

The woman before him wasn’t joking. There was no playful tone in her voice, only seriousness.

Jail’s interest was piqued.

‘Higher players always looked down on lower players, but this is the first time someone formally requested a duel.’

He became curious.

‘Lower players can kill their opponents, unlike higher players…’

What confidence did she have to challenge him? Was her unique ability that extraordinary?

He felt a slight stir of interest. Jail glanced at Shemarin up and down before agreeing.

“Alright.”

While Shemarin’s appearance might be enough to seduce a man, her physical strength didn’t seem particularly impressive.

And even if appearances were deceiving, who could defeat Jail?

He was unique among both higher and lower characters, an S-rank character.

“The winner will be the one who knocks the other to the ground first. And, I think it’s only fair to tell what unique ability you possess.”

Being cautious by nature, Jail couldn’t rule out the possibility that Shemarin might catch him off guard with her unique ability.

Shemarin smiled slyly.

“Vines. Vines will grow from the ground. Watch your feet.”

Jail nodded curtly at her words. He then stepped forward, assuming a ready stance.

Shemarin bent her knees slightly and raised her arms, ready to defend herself.

Her serious stance was surprising.

A moment later, Jail pushed off the ground, sending a spray of dirt forward.

In an instant, he closed the distance between them.

Whoosh-!

His movements were heavy yet sharp, and the air he stirred seemed to push Shemarin back.

“…!”

At that moment, just as Jail was about to knock her down, he hesitated.

He focused more on his footing as Shemarin advised, not expecting to be momentarily lifted by her technique.

As soon as they clashed, Shemarin used his strength against him, flipping him over her back.

Jail quickly countered in mid-air, kicking to block Shemarin’s attack. Even as his lemon-colored hair flew about, his large palm sliced through the air.

Whack!

Shemarin staggered backward as if about to fall but managed to catch herself with a hand on the ground, flipping in mid-air and landing gracefully.

Rip-!

It was an unusual sound. Jail couldn’t immediately understand what it was, causing him to hesitate.

Following Shemarin like a predator, Jail suddenly found his vision obscured by a piece of torn skirt fabric she had thrown, which stuck perfectly to his face.

In that moment, blue vines began to climb up Jail’s legs. The vines, emerging from the ground, quickly wrapped around his arms as well.

Shemarin’s agile form then pounced on the man whose limbs were fully restrained.

Boom-!

A thunderous sound echoed through the ground, and a cloud of dust rose.

When the dust settled, the two tangled figures became visible.

The blue-black hair spread wildly on the dirt belonged to Shemarin, while the lemon-yellow hair fluttering lightly above was Jail’s.

Behind Jail, the vines that had been snapping with crackling sounds began to crumble.

Jail then removed his hand from Shemarin’s neck and stood up from over her.

“I win.”

His voice was dry and emotionless, devoid of any exhilaration from victory.

‘I won purely due to physical ability. If joining a guild wasn’t a condition of losing, I’d declare this a loss.’

Internally, Jail quietly acknowledged and admired his opponent.

Even after Jail fully stood up, Shemarin lay there, staring blankly at the sky.

She had crashed into the ground with such force that her back ached, even for someone as resilient as her.

But her head didn’t hurt at all.

Just a moment ago.

When Jail had grabbed Shemarin’s neck and was about to slam her into the ground, his other arm had simultaneously cushioned her head.

With astonishing reflexes, he had protected her head from injury at the last moment.

As a result, it was Jail’s hand and elbow that hit the ground instead of Shemarin’s head.

A moment later, Shemarin got up and looked at Jail’s back.

Due to the earlier impact, Jail’s left elbow had torn clothing, and there were minor scratches on his hand.

Shemarin walked forward, then abruptly grabbed Jail’s arm.

Unprepared for the sudden move, Jail was spun around.

Shemarin stood on her tiptoes, and their faces briefly overlapped.

“…”

Receiving a kiss from a woman praised for her devilish beauty, Jail remained unshaken, raising only his eyebrow.

“That move earlier, it was definitely a seduction move, you know-?”

Jail turned his gaze away indifferently.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Despite Jail’s indifferent reaction, Shemarin didn’t waver and lifted the corners of her mouth into a smile.

“So, I’ve marked you as well. We’ve each left our mark on the other, haven’t we-?”

“Even if I say I don’t understand.”

“You’ll keep thinking of me now. Somewhere in that stubborn heart of yours, I’ll have taken up a tiny bit of space.”

“Unlikely.”

Jail looked at Shemarin dryly, then, uncharacteristically, made a small remark.

“Instead, you should worry about yourself. While you wasted time with me, other top candidates have likely been scooped up. You’ve incurred a huge loss.”

Realizing that Jail wasn’t someone who would easily join or be persuaded by any guild, other guild masters had already given up on him and moved on to recruit secondary candidates.

But Shemarin had clung to Jail, wasting valuable time.

Thus, she had missed the opportunity to acquire useful auxiliary characters.

However, Shemarin only smiled in response to his concern.

“It’s fine. Just leaving a mark on your mind fulfills my purpose in this round.”

Jail clicked his tongue softly, a reaction that wasn’t outright disdainful or dismissive, but rather ambiguous.

Shemarin added a few more words.

“I’m not as ambitious as Rudel. I don’t throw myself into ranking battles with reckless abandon. My immediate desires and the safety of myself and my team are more important.”

True to her word, when round 1.5 started, Shemarin hadn’t even looked at Jail’s basic stats; she had traversed the field’s edges based solely on his appearance and aura.

“Anyway, I’m the loser here, so I won’t bother you any longer. Goodbye-. I’ll always remember you. Please remember me and my guild too-.”

Though she might still have lingering feelings, Shemarin’s innate nature allowed her to withdraw gracefully without clinging.