It was storming, with rain pouring down as if the sky itself had turned into a battlefield. Thunder rolled throughout the day, casting the scene in an almost ominous light.
In the rain, seven individuals stood armored, their sigils displayed over soaked cloaks. They hovered above the muddy plains, looking down from the hill at the massacre. Craters were scattered everywhere, with sigils and banners whipping in the wind. Thunder crashed, briefly revealing their hooded faces. The storm cracked again, casting the valley in a harsh white flash. Their cloaks snapped in the wind, soaked and heavy, but none of the Seven Hands moved from the ridge.
"It's been a few months since we've all gathered together," the Leader said, voice steady despite the thunder.
"Geez… there's nothing left of them," the Second muttered, kicking a melted piece of armor half-buried in the mud.
"Gustafson underestimated the Unfallen," the Third added, her tone analytical, almost bored.
"The Unfallen didn't do this," the Fourth countered, hand on his chin as he surveyed the cratered plains. "Something — or someone — else did this."
"It doesn't matter who did this," the Fifth said with a flirtatious lilt, brushing wet hair from her face. "The King will not be happy knowing his vanguard for the western campaign has been wiped out."
"Sounds like we're going hunting then…" the Sixth remarked, fidgeting with excitement.
"…Gustafson…" the Seventh whispered, barely audible under the rain.
"ENOUGH!" The Leader's patience snapped. His voice cut through the storm like a blade. "Gustafson was clearly outmatched. Completely. Whoever did this didn't just kill him — they erased him. They erased his regiment. They erased his legacy." He pointed toward the center of the valley — where a deep crater sat, still steaming, but no sword remained.
"That's the part that bothers me," the Fourth said quietly. "His weapon is gone."
"Taken?" The Third's eyes narrowed.
"Claimed," the Leader corrected. "Whoever did this walked away with Gustafson's blade."
Lightning flashed as if it were cracking the sky open, illuminating the devastation on their faces, with a hint of annoyance and irritation in their eyes.
"And for that," the Leader growled, "whoever they are… whatever they are… we will take everything they love and cherish. We will break them. We will make them beg."
Thunder answered him like a war drum. Boom. Faster, louder, as if it were coming closer to them. Boom. For a moment, there was silence, then the loudest thunder roared through the sky. BOOM!
The second-in-command sneers, "You don't think any Omega had any involvement in this, do you?"
"HIGHLY Doubtful! We've wiped them out except for the remaining members, one of whom is the Unfallen…I truly DON'T THINK OMEGA will recover from the ashes that we had left them, as with the coalition of the other clans." The leader remarked.
"He's going to be pissed when he hears about his vanguard unit…" the fifth one says once more, reminding the others.
"He can get mad all he wants…" the leader replied as he took out a pocket watch to check the time. "We're the ones cleaning up after HIS MESS…"
At the guild Tavern…
"Is this right?" I asked through a mumble, with a nail still in my mouth, and pointed with my chin. I held the plank sideways with one hand. In my free hand, I held the hammer with the claw facing forward and the blunt side back, already driving in one nail.
"NO!! What are you hammering? YOUR FACE!?" the guild master yelled.
The guild receptionist was smiling the entire time as she processed paperwork at the desk with the guild maids.
A small status window appears as the guild receptionist looks at me (I can't see it; only the receptionist can).
Construction level: 0
Building level : 0
Tool level : 0
The guild receptionist couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Was it this way or that way?" I asked once more, this time putting the plank straight, but the hammer's claw remained forward while the nail fell from my mouth onto the floor.
"YOU'RE CAUSING A WORK HAZARD!!" the guild master yelled, pulling out a random white colored hard hat.
"Hehe," I giggled. "Sorry… I don't know what I'm doing." I added, with a blank expression and a smile that still held so much pride, as if I had done nothing wrong.
"WHY ARE YOU SMILING!?" The guild master slapped both hands on his head, nearly knocking his own hard hat off. "THIS ISN'T A GAME!!" he barked, pointing at the plank that now had three dents and zero nails in it.
I blinked slowly. "I thought I was doing well…"
"You bent the nail into a U‑shape!" he yelled, holding up the mangled metal like it was evidence of a crime.
The receptionist was wheezing behind the counter, trying to hide her laughter behind a stack of paperwork. One of the guild maids had to hold her shoulders because she was shaking too hard.
Another status window popped up for her eyes only:
Repairing Level: 0
Life skills Level: 2
Tool enhancement Level: 0
She snorted so loudly she had to cover her mouth.
I crouched down to pick up the fallen nail, but my fingers slipped, and it skittered across the floor like a runaway bug.
"Hehe… oops."
"STOP SAYING 'HEHE' LIKE THAT FIXES ANYTHING!!" the guild master shouted, stomping over and snatching the hammer from my hands. "You're going to break the floor, the wall, the ceiling, and possibly yourself!"
I tilted my head innocently. "So… I shouldn't help?"
The guild master froze. The receptionist froze. Even the maids froze. All of them stared at me.
"No, no," she said gently, walking over and patting my shoulder. "You can help. Just… maybe not with tools." The receptionist's expression softened instantly.
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!!" The guild master pointed at her as if she'd betrayed him.
"Why don't you help by… um… handing us things? Soft things. Non‑dangerous things." The receptionist ignored him completely, smiling warmly at me.
I nodded proudly. "I can do that!"
The guild master muttered under his breath, "Gods help us all…"
Cerelia then stops by my side as she finishes hers. "Master, would you like some assistance?"
"I got this. Hehe." I then grabbed the sledgehammer, ready to drive in a stubborn nail to the plank.
"Wa-WAIT!!" The guild master covered his head with his safety helmet.
Too late…
BOOM.
There's another hole in the middle of the entrance now, and the plank with 3 dents and 0 nails in it is still in the same spot. The nail gently rolls towards the guild receptionist's desk with a soft but audible tap.
I looked up. "Did I get it? Did I hit the nail?"
Accuracy percentage: .00000000005%
The guild receptionist burst out laughing so hard she was in tears: "AND YOU STILL ATTEMPTED TO HIT IT!?!??!!"
Cerelia froze mid‑step, her eyes widening as the shockwave rattled the tavern windows.
The guild master slowly lowered his hands from his helmet, staring at the new crater in the floor as it had personally insulted his ancestors.
"…How," he whispered. "How did you MISS the floor and STILL break it!?"
I looked down at the plank, still perfectly untouched, still with zero nails in it, still sitting politely where it had been before the explosion.
"I think the nail moved," I said with a straight face.
"It did NOT move!!" the guild master screamed, voice cracking. "YOU SWUNG A SLEDGEHAMMER LIKE YOU WERE TRYING TO SUMMON A GOD!!"
The receptionist was gone.
She had collapsed over her desk, face buried in her arms, shoulders shaking violently as she wheezed for air. One of the guild maids was patting her back, tears streaming down her face from laughing too hard.
The nail, having rolled across the floor with the gentlest tap, finally came to rest on the receptionist's boot.
She lifted her head just enough to see it. Then she absolutely lost it.
"YOU— YOU— YOU MISSED EVERYTHING BUT THE FLOOR!!" she shrieked, slamming her hand on the desk. "HOW DO YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE SUCCESS RATE!?!?"
A new status window flickered in front of her eyes:
Structural Damage Inflicted: 247%
Recommended Action: Remove Tools From Subject Immediately
She slapped the desk again, wheezing.
Cerelia, meanwhile, stared at the crater with her mouth slightly open.
"…Master," she said softly, "perhaps… perhaps we should… um… reconsider your involvement in repairs."
"But I hit something!" I held up the sledgehammer proudly.
"YES!! THE FLOOR!! THE FLOOR THAT WASN'T BROKEN UNTIL YOU TOUCHED IT!!" The guild master grabbed his head with both hands.
"Oh." I blinked.
But I hit it. I hit something… at least that counts… right?
"NO MORE TOOLS FOR YOU!! EVER!!" The receptionist slid halfway out of her chair, still laughing, pointing weakly at me.
I pouted my lips and puffed up my cheeks. "I'll show you…"
I grabbed the nearest tool… a screwdriver.
"Surely I CANNOT mess this up," I said as I screwed the nail into the plank, the nail rotating.
"Hey…I'm doing it…I'm REPAIRING!! I'm DOING it!! YAAAAAAY!!!"
Crack…
I stopped.
The guild master covered both eyes as the hard hat sank over his hands. It was as if he aged ten years just witnessing my HELPFULNESS.
I looked at the plank; there was now a crack along the side that led to the nail I was trying to screw into.
"Where'd this crack come from?" I asked.
The guild receptionist begins coughing and choking from her laughter at this point.
Cerelia puts a hand on her head. "Oh, dear…"
"Please, Lord Almighty, this girl will destroy the guild tavern before any monster known to mankind…" the guild master began praying, "My ancestors are probably twisting and rolling in their graves now…"
I was about to try again when Cerelia took the screwdriver from my hands and grabbed the hammer, nails, and sledgehammer, piling them together. Cerelia gently smiled and held me from behind while she guided me, holding my hand.
"Master, precision, and most of all Patience…to ensure top accuracy and build level." Cerelia whispered in my ear as she took the plank, lined it up with my hands, and put the nail in place, "Decide where to strike, like when you fight…use the proper side."
Cerelia flips the claw from the claw side to the blunt side, "One side is for taking out; the other is for putting it into place."
She holds my hands as she guides my aim, "Hold with one hand, while you hammer the top with your blunt hammer to drive it in place and then-"
THONK!
The nail went into the plank—one fine plank to cover the still somewhat visible crater in the floor.
"I…I did it?" I looked at Cerelia.
Cerelia nodded happily.
I smiled proudly as I looked to the guild master for approval.
"You still have 200 more nails to drive in, young lady, for all the damage done…" the guild master groaned, then started hiding in his safety hat. He reluctantly surrendered to the disaster that may befall this guild tavern. He sighed as if he had been holding his breath this whole time.
I was going to start with another one when Cerelia stopped me.
"Master, allow me. You should get some rest."
I guess she's right; perhaps it'll make me better if I observe her. I agreed with Cerelia as I sat at the nearby table to observe and watch how she handled it.
Cerelia immediately went to work. She finished the nails in the planks and helped hold up the structure with flooring into stone. The place basically looked REFURNISHED and brand new. That small area stood out. Compared to the rest of the wooden-planked floors, that one had stone flooring.
The guild receptionist, curious, decided to pull up Cerelia's building skills level window.
Tool handling level: Max
Building level: Max
construction level: Max
Tool enhancement level: Max
Repairing level: Max
The guild receptionist had her mouth hanging wide open.
Cerelia then, after finishing, put all the tools and the items away in the employee janitor closet as she dusted off her hands.
What did we just witness? A house makeover was done in seconds.
"What?" Cerelia looked confused.
"Ho-how did you?" I stuttered.
Cerelia smiles softly "I always did repairs on my master's mansion…at least I did…until I was evicted…" Cerelia's face saddened.
We both silently tried to repair the other areas I had damaged, and a cloaked man wearing a Tyrant banner stepped into the guild Tavern.
He studies the room, then makes his way to the Guild master and the Guild receptionist.
Guild master panics upon seeing him, "AHH! Err-I mean…good day, Lord Ren!"
The man then takes off his cloak, wet from the rain outside. "Guild master…" he then nods towards the guild receptionist, "I don't believe you two have seen anyone suspicious around here?"
Guild master then answers honestly, "Out of suspicion, I'd like to inform you that two Dark paladins came in earlier in the day yesterday trying to cause trouble. LOOKING for the left hand of the Unfallen! Geez, can you believe it? They tried to strangle me for answers!"
Ren looks at the floor, guilty about his knights and his discipline of them. "I'm sorry, Guild master, do accept my apologies for their lack of discipline, and by law they shouldn't have done to you what they did. May I ask where they are?"
The guild receptionist then replies, "The Platinum enforcers took them to their department, not too far from here, my lord."
Ren sighs, more trouble for him, "Thank you, madam. May I ask how they were restrained or perhaps…coerced from further not harming you both?"
The guild receptionist then points at me and Cerelia, who are repairing the flooring.
Ren walks on over as he confronts us. "I must… thank both of you for… what you've done…" Ren praised
Cerelia bows politely as I follow suit after watching Cerelia.
Ren looks at both of us as he studies, "You both are adventurers, I'd presume?"
"Yes, sir…" Cerelia explained.
Ren smirks, then hands me an invitation letter. "An invitation from the king: we are recruiting the FINEST bunch in the land to replenish for the loss of our vanguard…it'd be an honor to recruit heroes such as yourselves to our banner!"
I was about to take it when Cerelia stopped me, pulling my hand to hers as she gripped it.
Ren spotted the gesture.
"I'm sorry, sir…We're VERY busy repairing the guild tavern and still have other areas to repair, if you'll excuse us…" I replied as Cerelia, and I went about my way, hammering nails into planks on the floor.
Ren retracts the invitation letter. "Not a problem, though DO KEEP in mind that should you EVER change your mind." He closes his eyes, then opens them. "Please don't hesitate to look for me; my name is Ren of the seventh hand of the Tyrant…"
He flips his cloak hood over his head and waves his cape as he leaves the Tavern, followed by his knights outside.
"Any news, Lord Ren?" a knight asked.
"No, nothing. Two knights of our own assaulted the guild tavern, and they were beaten by two girls in the guild tavern who were adventurers." Ren smirked.
"Beaten? Two of ours? That's impossible!" the knight yelled as he marched onwards with Ren.
Ren smirked again, "Those girls are probably very strong, but that's not surprising. What surprises me is that they didn't defeat one, but TWO paladins."
"What are your orders, then, Lord Ren?" the knight asked.
"Nothing, we still have to look for the ones that offed Gustafson, and we still have to confront the Platinum Enforcers about our two who are being detained for their actions."
"They are being detained?" the knight questioned.
"Yes, anyone, general or not, the guild laws prohibit players AND hostility towards any members of the guild; such law is absolute and is a felony." Ren answers.
Back at the Tavern…
The guild receptionist is busy explaining Ren to us.
"Ren is the seventh of the eight hands of the Tyrant, each of them commanding brigades of soldiers who are players, all of them.
There are eight of them in total.
The leader is Reverant77789.
The second in command HexaLynx2345
The third hand is Seraphgoth080991
The fourth is Spectrejesus124321
The fifth is Araare0_0
The sixth is SakaiSan03887
The seventh is Ren0benkyo
And finally, the last one is Gustafson79
Reverant is the one who controls the might of the Tyrant's kingdom; he commands the Dragoon riders.
Lynx is known for controlling the kingdom's archers and snipers.
Seraph is the magician of the Hand; she's the one who inhabits the spell tomes throughout the kingdom.
Specter is the kingdom's logistics; he manages the pay, supplies, and inventory.
Araare is the one behind the kingdom's forbidden spells; she leads the shamans and the warlocks.
Sakai is the one who leads the executioners, the knights, the heavier hitters, the heavy cavalry.
Ren is the one who leads the infantrymen and the sieges.
Then you have Gustafson, who's their vanguard.
The guild then takes out a list book featuring the world progression clan and such.
"Each of the Tyrant's hands is responsible for the fall of the Fallen Kingdom's doom…"
I gasped in shock; they were responsible for Noobie's kingdom.
"Not only so, but they ALL also participated in the Coalition Event against Omega."
I gasped in horror.
No matter where Noobie was, they followed right behind him.
I then asked the guild receptionist with undying hate. "Who was the tyrant that ruled them?"
She skimmed the page…
"Ah, yes, that'd be ThanaLord, the tyrant King." The guild receptionist answered.
I had a sudden flashback of the Fall of Omega…It was the King…The Tyrant King, who laid waste to the Unfallen kingdom, was the one who destroyed and robbed Omega of its glory. Most of all…It was because Noobie stood up to him when nobody else dared, and thus is why he continues to hunt Noobie… I didn't like it…not one bit. For once, I felt like there had to be retribution for Noobie, no, not just Noobie, for those who fell. I somehow recalled what Noobie had said when he stopped Kit and Exile from killing Serina.
"Mercy…mercy for the wicked…and forgiveness for those who've fallen."
I didn't think they'd deserve ANY mercy or forgiveness, Noobie…Not after what they've done to you.
Not what they've done to shape the world to be…