Bracing for Infamy

'In this world, doing great things sometimes requires bracing yourself for a bit of infamy.'

Like tracking down and claiming someone else's inheritance, for instance!

Ignoring Carbanog's commentary, Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. 'Adamantium... Yes, the more, the better.'

If anyone were asked what the rarest metals in Pan-On were, the answer would undoubtedly be Orichalcum and Adamantium. The ultimate spear, Orichalcum! The ultimate shield, Adamantium! These two metals were only discovered on the rarest of occasions, and for all intents and purposes, there were no mines that yielded them reliably.

Yet, Tae-hyun was the only player in Pan-On who steadily acquired Adamantium, even if only in small quantities. In exchange for finding a new home for the Adamantium Giant Golem, he had agreed to receive a small monthly tribute of the metal! If Tae-hyun were playing solo, that amount would have been plenty, but he was now the king of an entire nation. That trickle was nowhere near enough.

'The Adamantium I secured last time was barely enough to craft my own armor. If I had my way, I'd make a full set of Adamantium gear. And if there's enough left over, some for my party members too.'

A party fully clad in Adamantium gear! Just the thought of it promised an astronomical boost in combat power. The fact that Tae-hyun's Blacksmithing Skill would skyrocket in the process was an excellent bonus.

If other blacksmith players heard of this dream, they would have scoffed, "Gathering that much Adamantium is absolutely impossible!" And they wouldn't be wrong. Even Tae-hyun's current armor wasn't 100% pure Adamantium, and he had gone through hell and back just to gather enough for that single piece. To craft other gear out of Adamantium, let alone gear for his entire party...

'I might not even finish gathering it all before I quit the game.' But if he could secure a substantial amount of Adamantium from this quest, he could at least make decent progress toward his goal, even if he couldn't complete it fully. He could worry about the rest after getting his hands on it!

'Hmm. What does my current gear look like?' Tae-hyun decided to review his equipment for the first time in a while, starting with his accessories.

'My rings, necklaces, bracelets... I've been using them for a long time. I should probably enhance these too.'

Most of his accessories were focused on increasing total MP or boosting mana recovery. Tae-hyun's primary weakness was his low HP and MP due to his low level, so these choices were made to compensate for that.

'The Soul Crown's effect is powerful, but its base stats are terrible.' It was a mighty artifact he had obtained after defeating Uipoatl. The Soul Crown. Its physical and magical defense stats were flat zero, but its options were utterly broken. By sealing and consuming the souls of defeated formidable foes, it granted Absolute Defense! Tae-hyun was saving this for a true emergency.

'Honestly, what I need more than something like this is a standard MP recovery necklace for everyday use.'

Indeed, Tae-hyun was so adept at crisis management that he rarely had any use for the crown. A simple necklace that steadily restored his MP was far more practical. After the accessories came his undergarments.

'Hmm. I won't need to change my undergarments for a while.'

His shirt and belt were insanely powerful pieces of equipment obtained from the Uipoatl raid. The defense stat on the shirt alone rivaled heavy armor... and the options were just as absurd. Various passive skills were constantly active, and they even granted stat bonuses to his party members.

'Next is my armor...' Tae-hyun possessed more than just one or two sets of armor. Of course, he didn't wear them all. Usually, he melted them down to extract materials, but he had kept a few select pieces. Certain items had been spared from the furnace because of unique options, like the ability to disguise himself as someone else. He might need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them someday!

The diligence to hoard items in preparation for some future scam! He was indeed the perfect representative of Akisus. At any rate, while he possessed multiple sets of armor—each of which would make rankers drool if put up on the auction house—they all paled in comparison to his main armor. A broken, Legendary-grade armor with infinite durability! It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, crafted by Tae-hyun with every bit of assistance he could muster. Its options were equally absurd; when equipped, it granted additional bonuses to any nearby classes related to Akisus, with various active skills as a bonus!

'Honestly, I thought I'd end up using some of these armor skills during the tournament.' Skills like absolute barriers or reflect. The fact that items were permitted in the league meant Tae-hyun could unleash these broken gears. Other professional teams assumed their massive capital would give them the upper hand, but the items in Tae-hyun's possession defied all common sense! They weren't things you could simply obtain by throwing money at the game.

'But why expose my strategies by using them when it's not absolutely necessary?'

'Let's see... my weapons...' Ignoring the rabbit, Tae-hyun checked his arsenal. His main weapon was the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom, supplemented by his other swords, the Spear of Karbanog, and his Orichalcum crossbow. His weaponry was practically flawless.

'Yeah, yeah.' Since the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom was a disposable weapon that Tae-hyun crafted and consumed constantly, its quality improved every time his Blacksmithing Skill leveled up. Once the magic sword his goblins were currently working on was complete, he would have another weapon to add to his arsenal... and Emperor Uipoatl's weapon was a handy trump card to play whenever the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom fell short.

'Hmm... Right. The easiest things to upgrade right now would be my accessories and armor.' Inner items like his shirt, belt, and boots were difficult for Tae-hyun to modify. It was also hard to find better weapons at the moment. That left accessories and armor as his best options! 'Alright. Shall we go hunt for that inheritance?'

"Where does the family of the miner Bekelf live?"

"Bekelf doesn't have any family."

"...Then what about his friends?"

"That guy didn't have any friends either..."

"..."

Tae-hyun, who was about to begin the quest, paused as a bad feeling washed over him.

'Since when has any quest I've taken not been ominous?'

The miner Bekelf was a dwarf notorious for being an eccentric, living entirely alone without friends or family.

'Well, I suppose that's why his inheritance went missing in the first place.'

"Then I'll have to search his workplace first."

"The places where dwarves work aren't easily accessible to outsiders..."

"Hmm?"

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. I only said "Hmm?"!

Even if Tae-hyun had no such intentions, his mere presence made intimidation completely automatic!

"Y-you... you may enter."

"...R-right."

Since they were giving him permission, there was no reason to refuse. Tae-hyun smacked his lips and stepped inside. But... something felt incredibly off!

The underground mines where the dwarves worked required descending far deeper beneath the dwarven kingdom. Because it was so deep, unexpected monsters were bound to appear. Occasionally, sleeping demons would awaken and threaten the dwarves. Why else would the demon Calcason have suddenly burst forth? The deeper one went, the more dangerous the underground became! It was common for an emergency to be declared whenever a powerful monster appeared. The only difference was that such emergencies usually occurred deep inside the mines, not within the kingdom itself!

Rumble—

"??"

Tae-hyun's party, who had been descending along the mine shafts after receiving permission, watched in confusion as a crowd of dwarven miners came sprinting from the depths.

"What's going on?"

"Run! Run for your lives!"

Hearing the dwarves' frantic shouts, Tae-hyun didn't waste time asking why. Instead, he immediately barked an order.

"Retreat!"

'We can ask for the reason later!'

What Tae-hyun had learned from playing Pan-On was that when an NPC runs away screaming "Run!", you run. Anyone who wasted time asking "Why?" in that situation was bound to take a few hits. The moment the command was given, Tae-hyun's party retreated without a single complaint. The giants hurriedly picked up their cannons and dragged the cages holding the demons as they ran.

"So, why are we running?" Tae-hyun finally asked once they had put some distance between themselves and the danger.

One of the dwarven miners, looking completely out of his mind with fear, stammered, "A-an ancient giant has been discovered!"

"!"

He had expected some large monster, but an ancient giant?

"Aren't those things supposed to live outside?"

"Exactly!"

Why on earth was a creature that was supposed to be roaming the mountain ranges outside lurking down here in the depths? The dwarves' faces were pale at this completely unexpected turn of events.

'Just how terrifying is this thing to make them react like this?'

'...Akisus is a benevolent god, you know.'

"I don't hear anything. Is it actually chasing us?"

"The beast was sleeping! We had to flee as quietly as possible so we wouldn't wake it!"

"Oh?"

Tae-hyun paused at those words. If it was sleeping, wasn't that actually the perfect opportunity to strike?

'Well, that's true, but...'

To reach the workshop where Bekelf used to work, they absolutely had to pass by the ancient giant. Even if they didn't kill it, they had to at least get it out of the way!

"Your Majesty! We must flee quickly!"

"You aren't planning to go back down there, are you?!"

"N-no, of course not."

Sensing Tae-hyun's true intentions, the dwarven miners hurriedly urged him away. Left with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no choice, Tae-hyun smacked his lips in disappointment and retreated.

"We must ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠close the mine and shut down all the other nearby mines as well!"

"But the financial loss would be too severe..."

"Who cares about losses right now?! What if that ancient giant climbs up and reaches the kingdom?!"

"We've already suffered massive damage because some crazy demon burst out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a treasure... Ah, I didn't mean you, Your Majesty."

"I didn't think anything of it."

Tae-hyun was currently attending the Galkard Clan Council.

"The mine isn't the problem right now. Shouldn't we be preparing for when that thing climbs up?"

"Why did a crazy giant have to be down in the underground of all places...!"

'It's a good thing the giants are outside.' If they had heard that, they would have been deeply offended!

'Mmm. I'd love to suggest we hunt it together, but the atmosphere is definitely not receptive to that.'

Possessing the Highest-grade Eloquence Skill, Tae-hyun was highly adept at reading the room. He knew instantly whether his words would carry weight. No matter how much he tried to persuade them, they would never listen in their current state of panic!

'But it's such a waste.' If he gave up and moved on, he would be leaving far too much on the table.