FBPP C5

Chapter 5

—…So tomorrow another post will go up. Just like yesterday, please leave at least a short comment, and once you receive the Loeun coffee machine, we’d appreciate if you could upload a nice selfie with it.
“Ah, do I receive the coffee and the machine through Tae-hyun hyung?”
—Yes, yes. As for the variety show offer, please think about it until next week. These days, it’s not all about being mysterious, but more about being easygoing, right? You know, the charm of contrast—that’s what resonates. Of course, what you want is the most important.
“Yes, understood. Thank you very much for your consideration.”

Ending the call with polite words, Ji-han didn’t even glance at the bagel. From the start, it was only there for a social media upload. He never ate breakfast, and he didn’t like that bland bread anyway.

The room he had set up solely for gaming always preserved a late-night atmosphere. Any distracting LEDs were off, and his custom PC was equipped with the best graphics card and CPU available, focused entirely on cooling and performance. His gaming chair was designed for comfort during long hours, the desk adjusted for perfect eye level so his posture wouldn’t collapse, a curved 32-inch main monitor with two vertical side monitors. His black-switch keyboard had shimmering pearl-black keycaps for the WASD keys, each designed with different tactile sensitivity. Even a wrist rest was ready to protect the pianist’s precious hands.

It was the space he loved most, second only to his piano studio.

When he powered on, the fans whirred softly, the loading sounds hummed, and the desktop appeared. Ji-han opened the game client on the main monitor and the official website on the side monitor.

At last, the event announcement had gone up.

But the title looked suspicious.

Founding Anniversary Special Event – “Bloodroad Festival: Siege of Fate” Notice

“…What?”

Blinking in disbelief, Ji-han rubbed his eyes.

Siege? What the fuck are you doing here…?

“Is this a dream?”

He pinched his cheek. The sting was real.

Zenox was an AOS—or MOBA—game. Unless you were a pro, it was just about random 5v5 matches where the goal was to destroy the enemy base.

No one liked “guild siege” or guild brawls in a game like this, full of solo queues and duos. If the guild content was fun and rewarding, maybe things would be different. But this trash game had long since shown it had no idea what to do with guilds. Joining one or participating in sieges had no benefits outside of pointless socializing. Hardly anyone joined guilds, and Ji-han had never cared.

And yet the developers suddenly stuffed siege into the anniversary event.

No way. They had to realize their game wasn’t an RPG. Ji-han’s face twisted as he clicked on the post.

Hello, this is the Zenox Operations Team.

Thanks to our players’ love, Zenox is celebrating its 7th anniversary this year.
To commemorate, we will be holding a special event available only this season:
“Bloodroad Festival: Siege of Fate.”

■ Event Overview
“30 vs 30, a war of guild honor and pride.”
Only those who dominate the battlefield will seize the legendary avatar.

• Event Name: Bloodroad Festival: Siege of Fate

• Duration: May 29, 20xx (Thu) – Sept 24, 20xx (Wed) maintenance

• Entry Conditions: See “Participation Eligibility” below

• Rewards: Limited untradeable avatar set [“Clear Shadow”] for all members of the winning guild

■ Pre-assembly Period (Key Acquisition)
“The battlefield is already fated. Now is the time to prepare.”

• Period: May 29, 20xx (Thu) – June 30, 20xx (Mon) 23:59

• This period is for acquiring “Battle Keys” required for participation.

■ Eligibility
Only warriors who earn the right may join.

1. Be in a guild and play at least 10 ranked matches

2. Of those, win at least 3 or earn MVP at least once

3. Meet the conditions → receive 1 “Battle Key”

4. Holding 15 keys → can enter Siege
   ※ Keys obtainable only through ranked / non-tradeable, non-storable

■ Event Details (Renewed Siege)

• 30 vs 30 large-scale guild siege

• Map composition same as before, but with “Enhanced Neutral Objects” at capture points

• Victory condition: accumulated capture points + strategy points (simplified from before)

• Reduced match time, buff enhancements
  “Not boring anymore—miss it, and you’ll regret it.”

■ Siege Schedule
“The Bloodroad cannot be forged with one battle.”

• Period: July 3, 20xx (Thu) – Sept 24, 20xx (Wed) maintenance

• Detailed schedule will follow.

“These bastards have lost their minds!”

Ji-han’s hands trembled with anger. Meeting people in real life already drained him enough—gaming was supposed to be his haven, alone. He prayed the avatar would be ugly, clutching his chest nervously as he scrolled down.

But when he saw the Clear Shadow set, even his fury melted away.

It was stunning.

With a nine-tailed fox tail attached, it would be flawless.

Scrolling back up, Ji-han carefully reread the details. Keys had to be earned within just over a month, fifteen required in total. That meant 45 wins or 15 MVPs. And only the winning guild received the avatar. Since “strategy points” factored into victory, he’d have to pick his guild carefully.

He clicked into the event tab. Other anniversary events had been posted too. The pattern was obvious: three separate events pushing players to join guilds.

The one with the avatar reward. Another where joining a guild entered you into a lottery for real-life merch like figures or plushies.

And the last, absurdly titled: “Guild War: The Connected Battlefield.”

■ This Is the Turning Point
Guilds are not emotions—they’re choices for battle.
This season, it’s time to rise from a battlefield of one to a battlefield of renown.
Guild War: The Connected Battlefield – Under which banner will you stand?

…

• Complete 15 guild battle missions: new “Ultimate Skill Effect Skin” (character-specific, account-bound)

• Top Contribution Guild: exclusive title [“Banner of Domination”] / lobby theme skin / unique guild mount (Combat Drone) for all members

…

These people were dead serious.

Ji-han rubbed his forehead. Winning sieges to get an avatar was something many wouldn’t bother with. But ultimate skill effect skins? That was different. Easy to achieve, too—you only needed 15 guild missions, a breeze if you played duos. That meant most players would definitely join guilds.

Sure enough, the in-game chat window on his other monitor was blowing up.

[Server] FluffyFoxEars (16CH): Zenox devs, are you crazy???? Crazy???? What age is this, forcing guilds???
[Server] ButIAmTheProtagonist (3CH): @@@[Icarus] Recruiting@@@ Adults@@@ Gold+ welcome@@@
[Server] SEVENTH (8CH): How is that forced??? Who even cares?? If you hate it, just don’t join lol
[Server] GodUraMaura (1CH): Seventh, you again? You missed your meds. Go take them.
[Server] Salute (11CH): New ult skin cute? New ult skin cute? New ult skin cute? New ult skin cute?

Even Salute, a famous ranged DPS who only played at Legend tier, was interested in guilds. That showed just how brutal the sieges were going to get. Guys who did nothing but eat, shit, and game all day would farm keys with no problem if the reward was flashy enough.

Ji-han grimly opened his alt’s profile.

Platinum 3.

Sure, sieges weren’t as dependent on mechanical skill. But between Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum and Master/Legend, there was an unbridgeable wall. He’d need a strong guild. But would any high-tier guild even accept someone at Platinum?

Maybe he should aim for a guild experienced with sieges instead, to take advantage of strategy points.

He pulled up the website’s ranking page, clicking the Siege tab. He’d never checked it before, but apparently, it was considered real content.

1. Blue Wave / 17,450 pts / Captured: Soul Valley, Juno Fortress / Guild Leader: Noct7 / Members: 40/50

2. ConveyorBeltSushiUnion / 14,330 pts / Captured: Myogum Mountain, Battlefield of Misfortune / Guild Leader: NoTanksNoDPSNoHeals / Members: 49/50

3. WannaDealCrits / 13,990 pts / Captured: East Sea Byukryeon / Guild Leader: SoySauceChicken / Members: 48/50

Over a hundred people had already joined guilds even before the event started. Well, you needed at least 30 vs. 30 to even make it work.

And the gap between #1 and #2 was massive. While #2 and #3 were less than 400 points apart, #1 had a 3,000-point lead.

Ji-han stared at the top guild names like a fox eyeing unreachable grapes. Below the top 10, point totals barely reached 500 and weren’t worth noting.

“This shitty game. Holding skins and avatars hostage just to force life into dead content.”

Shoehorning guild sieges into an AOS was insane. If they were going to do this, they should’ve just spun it off into a whole different game.