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

Morning, while waiting for the Champion Challenge notice.

“Aleon? …You want to meet? Hmm, I really want to go too, considering the wrong I did to you, but I can’t leave because I need to take care of our guild members. Next time, okay? Yes, I understand.”

I was about to end the call with Aleon when he called out to stop me.

[“By the way, Rudel, is everything okay over there?”]

“What do you mean?”

[“The player chatroom… never mind, if you don’t know, it’s fine. It was nice talking to you today.”]

What was that about? He almost said something important but stopped.

I felt uneasy even after hanging up the call. I’ll have to look into it later. For now, I need to prepare for the morning.

Rolling up my sleeves, I headed to the kitchen. I had woken up a bit earlier to personally prepare Unahar’s breakfast. I made a Korean-style soup, steamed eggs, and sautéed mushrooms.

I wondered how long he intended to stay in his room.

‘Unahar, if you’re not going to come out, at least let me in.’

If you’re going to be depressed, don’t do it alone. Do it in front of me instead. I’m worried sick about you.

As I struggled to remove an eggshell piece from the bowl, Kanel approached and deftly scooped it out with a spoon.

“Is your body all better now?”

“Yes.”

It seemed like Kanel had something to say, as he hovered by my side while I was seasoning the soup.

“But, Rudel, I just entered the player chatroom.”

As soon as I heard those words, my expression turned sour.

The player chatroom was our own community, unrelated to real-life viewers. It was a space where characters could tell dad jokes, banter, stir up trouble, or even fangirl over Aleon.

I rarely had a reason to visit it unless I was checking for unusual events.

But hearing that one of my guild members, Kanel, had been there, I glared at him.

“I told you not to waste time there. It’s just a place for slackers to fool around instead of training.”

“We’re in a training prohibition period now. Anyway—”

What was Kanel trying to say?

“What’s this ‘Guild Member Emotion Status Check Function’? Do you have that too, Rudel?”

At his words, the soy sauce I was pouring into the spoon overflowed.

* * *

“Guild leaders can read our thoughts.”

“Isn’t that just because you’re easy to read? Don’t misunderstand.”

“No, it’s true.”

Damn it…

As I scrolled through the player chatroom, I found myself smirking wryly. Underneath the initial suspicious comment was a chaotic mess of confusion, distrust, and shock from the non-guild leader players.

This whole mess had been caused by a low-ranking guild member’s exposure. It was a futile attempt to disrupt the next third-quarter round and create internal turmoil in other guilds. As a result, the existence of the emotion-checking function had quickly spread throughout the game world.

Thanks to Kanel stumbling upon it, our guild hadn’t been spared. While I had previously confessed to Unahar, the other guild members had no idea, so it was certainly a bolt from the blue for them.

Technically, this was the moment for me to bow my head in apology. I had been keeping the fact that I could read their emotions a secret. 

However, the atmosphere in our guild was surprisingly…

“So, what’s my emotion right now?”

Lilith asked, curiously, as if she had discovered someone with psychometry powers. There was no sign of betrayal or distance in her eyes.

Relieved, I straightened my tense shoulders.

“Your emotion? ‘Feeling good!’ Is it because Gio is beside you?”

“Yes!”

She beamed proudly without a hint of embarrassment. Beside her, Gio blushed. His emotional state oscillated between ‘fluttering’ and ‘ecstatic.’

“Then guess my emotions too.”

“Kanel, yours? It says ‘sleepy.’”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Yes, it does. That’s what it says.”

Kanel stared at me for a moment before yawning.

“Remarkable. I didn’t know I was sleepy until just now.”

“It’s not that I’m remarkable, but yeah. So, should I turn off your emotion-checking function?”

“I don’t mind. I don’t mind showing you my body and mind, Rudel.”

“I’d rather not see that much…”

Anyway, except for Unahar, no one had asked me to turn off the emotion-checking function. Our members didn’t seem to value privacy much.

But there was one more person who might be sensitive to the emotion-checking function, besides Unahar.

I wondered how he would react. Would he be as distressed as Unahar?

Honestly, I had no excuse if he ended up despising me.

If Akata found out about the existence of the ‘emotion-checking function,’ he’d know exactly what emotions I’d been seeing from him all this time.

“Doesn’t it bother you that I’ve been hiding this?”

Because of this, I cautiously called Akata aside to talk.

“Are you asking if I’m upset?”

However, Akata didn’t show any signs of disdain or even discomfort. After pondering for a moment, he looked up at me.

“Quite the opposite.”

He then gave an answer I hadn’t expected at all.

“I’ve always struggled with how to express my feelings to you, Rudel… It’s a bit embarrassing to realize all that worry was unnecessary, but I also feel relieved.”

Following Akata’s feelings has always been challenging. It’s not that his feelings are burdensome but that they are so pure and intense that they are hard to grasp.

“I was really looking forward to the growth event. I hoped I would win.”

It seemed Akata had decided to lay everything out. I, feeling guilty, couldn’t interrupt or change the subject. His face, flushed pink, showed not only embarrassment but also a different kind of warmth.

“Because I’m still just a kid who hasn’t even had a chance to challenge yet.”

As he said this, he looked into my eyes more clearly than ever before.

In Akata’s brown eyes, my gaze, trembling with confusion, was reflected.

“What’s my emotion right now?”

“What? You’re…”

“Please read it.”

I tried to evade, but Akata persistently demanded it.

After hesitating several times, I finally read his emotional state in a voice barely above a whisper.

As if he had been waiting, he spoke again.

“How was it? Have I always felt that way whenever I looked at you, Rudel?”

“…Yes.”

“Always?”

“Always.”

In the end, I admitted it straightforwardly. I felt like I was sinking into a trap Akata had set.

“Except for moments of urgency or importance in the rounds… you’ve always been in that state.”

I was almost dazed, but Akata, instead, seemed enchanted by my answer, slowly breaking into a smile.

“If I were to tell you my honest feelings right now… I’m happy. I feel good.”

This seemed to be Akata’s response to the revelation of the ‘emotion-checking function.’

“It feels like I’ve had my love for you confirmed once again through the system. I’m actually grateful.”

In the face of Akata’s feelings, I felt like a flickering candle, constantly swaying.

“So please don’t turn off the emotion-checking function. I’d like to ask you to keep it on. Please keep watching and remembering how I feel about you. Don’t forget.”

Akata said this, then slowly opened and closed his eyes.

[Emotion status: In love]

He was confident and unafraid. Regardless of the response, his pure heart was ready to face it.

“Akata, I…”

Akata waited patiently for me to speak, but in the end, no words came out of my mouth. Foolishly.

The boy simply smiled, as if he understood everything.

“I always bless you. Congratulations on earning the right to challenge for the Champion.”

Blink, blink.

My eyes slowly blinked.

Just now, Akata sitting in the chair appeared to be a long-haired man.

It was an illusion. When I refocused, only the clear-faced boy remained in his place.

* * *

“Sigh.”

It felt like I had sighed more than a hundred times today alone.

Once, I accidentally sighed in front of Akata, and he widened his eyes and said, “Is it because of what I said earlier? I’m sorry if I troubled you, Rudel…”

Because of this, I had to emphatically assure him that it wasn’t because of him.

Well, in truth, my head was a bit troubled because of Akata… but the bigger issue right now was Unahar.

Late at night, after sending all the others to their private rooms, I crossed my arms in front of Unahar’s private room.

The food tray outside was still cold and untouched.

“No matter what, not eating all day is too much. Is he protesting?”

It was do or die. I banged on the door with enough force to break it down and drag him out.

“Let’s talk. Open the door.”

At this point, I had to address what happened during the raid. If left alone, Unahar would deteriorate first. It was time for some tough love.

Just then, the door suddenly swung open from the inside. Unaware, I continued knocking and almost fell forward.

Huh? Unahar…

Through the door crack, a haggard-looking handsome man reached out.

My arm was grabbed firmly.

With a gentle pull, I was dragged into the room. The door closed with a decisive click.