Slipping Away, One Adamantium Dream at a Time

In his head, Tae-hyun had already planned out exactly what he would do with the adamantium...

It was the equivalent of marrying someone for their looks and planning out your entire retirement on the first date!

'Urgh...' Tae-hyun ran through his available options.

The Soul Reliquary...

'...True. The Soul Reliquary is... too risky. What about transforming into Sadiq's Holy Knight Commander or a Battle Angel?'

The Noble Slayer set. It was one of the armors Tae-hyun had crafted, allowing him to transform into a Battle Angel. It was one of his carefully saved trump cards!

Even in Carbanog's eyes, Tae-hyun possessed an absurdly diverse array of Authorities. Would giving up all those Authorities just to transform into a Battle Angel actually make him that much stronger? Usually, crafting armor with a transformation skill was meant to be a final trump card, but Tae-hyun simply had too many trump cards. It was a classic case of having so many secret weapons that they ceased to feel special!

'Sigh... Fine. I'll just let it go.' Tae-hyun finally gave up. Normally, Tae-hyun wasn't this greedy. He was a man who knew when to fold! The mere mention of adamantium had just temporarily blinded him.

"What does the King of Humans think?"

"Hmm? Should we kill it?"

His true thoughts had slipped out!

"...Excuse me?"

"He's definitely out of his mind..." the dwarves whispered among themselves. To think a human would casually suggest hunting down an Ancient Giant! They really should have known the moment he showed up trailing a demon, a goblin, and a giant!

"No, I didn't mean we have to hunt it... If you don't want to, we can't force it. Wouldn't it be best to just leave it alone?"

"Even the King of Humans agrees."

"Indeed... It seems we have no other choice..." The dwarf elders nodded at their king's words, preparing to finalize their decision.

'If I suggest waking it up and luring it away, they'll definitely think I'm a lunatic, right?'

If he voiced that aloud, his already sky-high Terror stat would probably shoot through the roof!

"Y-Your Majesty! Disaster has struck!"

"???"

"It has awakened! We've received reports that it's on the move!"

"!!!" Every dwarf in the room turned pale as a sheet.

Thud, thud, thud— The dwarf rangers on guard duty near the tunnels panicked as they sent in their report.

"It's awake! Hurry, get to the surface and report!"

"Ugh! Urrgh... Graaaah!" The Ancient Giant let out a low, rumbling groan as it rose, striking terror into the hearts of the dwarves.

The dwarves were well-accustomed to all sorts of monsters emerging from the deep underground. They were a hardy, resilient race, not easily shaken...

But an Ancient Giant was a different story entirely.

Thud, thud, thud— As the heavy footsteps drew closer, the dwarf rangers gave up on running, diving into a side tunnel and pressing themselves flat against the ground.

"I smell... dwarves..."

'!!'

"Mmm. Never mind." The Ancient Giant hesitated, then turned its head. It sensed a much larger concentration of life force further away. After all, a feast was always better than a snack! The awakened Ancient Giant began lumbering toward the Galkard Kingdom.

Pure panic! The dwarf elders scrambled in utter chaos, completely at a loss.

"We must evacuate!"

"Abandon our kingdom? To go where?!"

"If we stay here, we'll only die!"

"Let's bring out all our magical armaments and fight!"

"Have you lost your mind?! How can we fight that thing in a place like this? Even if we win, half of us will die and the city will be reduced to rubble!"

"Why, you... insolent brat!"

"What?! You were born literally one day before me...!"

"Enough!" Tae-hyun intervened, channeling his Speech skill. His voice, laced with commanding authority, made the dwarves freeze.

"Is this really the time to be fighting among yourselves? I have a good idea."

Carbanog wanted to stop him. No matter how alluring adamantium was, picking a fight with an Ancient Giant was insane! Of course, Tae-hyun remembered Carbanog's warning perfectly well.

"We lure it outside!"

"Lure it... outside?"

"Would an Ancient Giant really fall for that?"

"If it sees the city, won't it just attack us first?" one of the elders asked skeptically. Tae-hyun nodded.

"Naturally, we have to hit it hard enough to make it chase us."

"Preposterous! An Ancient Giant is not an opponent you can easily provoke like that!"

"Whoever goes in to lure it will die. We should use that time to evacuate instead!"

"Don't worry. I'll do it."

"!!!" The dwarves gasped in shock.

"I-Is that true?"

"Even so, asking an outsider to take on such a burden..."

"Who do you think I am? Out there, I am a human hailed as a hero."

"For the dwarves who treated me so warmly as a guest, this is the least I can do!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Oh... Ohhh...!"

"I completely misjudged you! I thought you were just a tyrant who traveled with a demon, a giant, and a goblin!"

"I honestly thought the human kingdoms had gone to ruin if someone like you was their hero!"

"...Keep those thoughts to yourselves, please." Tae-hyun felt a vein throb. The dwarves' brutal honesty was enough to make him regret offering help in the first place!

[...]

Tae-hyun had several reasons for stepping up. First, it was to progress the Adamantium quest...

'And there's no downside to getting on the dwarves' good side.'

He wanted to use this opportunity to squeeze some favors out of them. When else would he get the chance to make these fiercely independent dwarves indebted to him? He had to strike while the iron was hot.

'Hmm... The quest description is a bit ominous, but it's not like I have to kill it. I can at least run away, right? Given how many tricks I have up my sleeve.'

"King of Humans! If you successfully pull this off, we, the Galkard dwarves, will support you unconditionally."

"Oh? Does that mean if a war breaks out in the future, you'll lead your dwarves to fight alongside me?" Tae-hyun asked, his eyes sparkling.

Dwarven support was invaluable in any situation. It was true for raids, but even more so for territory wars.

Currently, the Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild were at each other's throats in the Auston Kingdom, but Tae-hyun knew better. In Pandemonium Online, there were no permanent enemies or eternal friends!

Both factions were undoubtedly chanting 'Die, Kim Tae-hyun, die' hundreds of times in their heads, so he had to prepare. The dwarf tribes would make incredibly reliable allies.

'Just imagining them rolling up with magic tanks and magic cannons is reassuring.'

"Mmm... As long as it is not for an evil cause, we shall aid you."

'Oh.' Even if they had refused, he would have done it anyway out of sheer greed for the adamantium! Tae-hyun smiled warmly. Having the dwarf tribes on his side would be far more reassuring than a few mediocre guilds.

"The plan is simple. We wait. When it comes up, we hit it with everything we've got. Then, I'll draw its aggro and run toward the surface."

"What if it doesn't chase you, Tae-hyun?"

"Has there ever been a boss monster that didn't chase me?"

"..."

"..." The party fell silent. It was too true! There wasn't a single boss monster in existence that could ignore Tae-hyun once he set his mind on provoking them.

"Senior. Please take this back with you." Yu Ji-soo handed over a gun with a worried expression.

"Mmm... Right. You're telling me to throw this at it if things go south?"

-??????

"N-No. It attacks on its own as long as you're holding it..."

"Ah. So that's what you meant. Of course, I thought so too."

'Liar!'

'Senior...!'

Amidst their banter, a scream echoed, warning them that the giant was approaching. Tae-hyun stood up.

"Oh, right. If the giant ignores me and heads for the dwarf city instead, just leave the dwarves and run."

"Of course. Don't worry." Lee Da-bi replied.

'How can they have such a trashy conversation with such heartwarming expressions...?' Choi Sang-yun watched the exchange between Lee Da-bi and Tae-hyun in utter disbelief. Stop acting like you're saying something sweet!

"So many dwarves here. A feast!"

Dash! The moment the giant's voice boomed, Tae-hyun sprang into action. He activated his stealth skill to get as close as possible, planning to unleash a devastating blow amplified by Lucky Strike!

'I'll start by creating a weakness with Archysis's Third Attack.' And at the same time, Archisus's Curse! A surprise attack, burst damage, and a powerful debuff. It was a combo that could melt even top-tier rankers if they took a direct hit. Even if the target survived, the additional weaknesses exposed by the Archisus Swordsmanship would only make the wounds deeper.

"!"

"Huh?!" The Ancient Giant seemed startled, having used the skill without much thought. A human had suddenly materialized right in front of its eyes.

'What kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cheat skill is that...?'

"Archisus's Curse!" If Tae-hyun were the type to panic when a plan went awry, he wouldn't be where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he was today. He quickly recalculated and moved.

"Archisus! Is that you, Archisus?!"

'What kind of broken monster is this...?' Tae-hyun found himself thinking the exact same thing Lee Se-yeon had thought not too long ago.

'Aiming for the head or neck is out of the question! I'll go for the ankles!'

While the head and neck were ideal vital spots for triggering bonus effects, the Ancient Giant was simply too massive. Under normal circumstances, he would have trusted his own physical mechanics and gone for it anyway, but...

'Right now, the goal isn't to kill it. It's to run away.'

He would create a weakness in its ankle! Tae-hyun's plan was to reduce the giant's movement speed. Of course, all of this hinged on surviving the giant's first strike.

'Bring it on. A physical strike? Magic? Whether it's an AoE attack or a curse, I'll counter it no matter what!'

Tae-hyun checked his arsenal of skills, his fighting spirit burning bright. Whatever came his way, he was determined to block it once and retaliate with a counter. But then...

"????" The Fallen Ancient Giant did something incredibly bizarre. It picked up a nearby boulder and shoved it directly into its own ear. Then, it grinned with immense satisfaction.

"Bwahaha! Take that, Archisus! If I can't hear you, you can't deceive me!"

"...!"

"Graaaaaah!"