The Answer is Someone Else's Army!
There was no player with as much tactical experience as Tae-hyun, who had commanded all kinds of diverse races—from tribes he had never seen before to holy orders of knights, demons, and angels.
“M-Ms. Lee Da-bi! I'm a huge fan!”
“Could I get an autograph...?”
“?!”
Lee Da-bi was startled. Of course, her popularity had been skyrocketing lately thanks to Team KL. However, she rarely had a chance to feel it in person. Why? Because she was always hanging around Tae-hyun! Usually, when they were together, people only had eyes for Tae-hyun. He was, after all, the literal face of Team KL.
It wasn't for nothing that Cain always whined, “Ugh, whenever I hang out with Kim Tae-hyun, people ask if I'm his little brother... I should've made my avatar look exactly like my real face too...”
But Lee Da-bi had a massive fanbase of her own. Furthermore, the players currently approaching her were all Merchants! To those in the Merchant class, Lee Da-bi was an object of absolute envy. The Hope of Merchants! The Star of Merchants! High-ranking players were rare among the Merchant class, which made Lee Da-bi stand out even more.
I think the only times I've ever signed anything was when my guild members begged for autographs so they could sell them... Da-bi thought to herself. It was all because the Power Warrior guild members would constantly pester her whenever they were bored, saying things like, “Guild Master, if I do exactly what you say, will you give me your autograph as a reward?” or “Omg, will Kim Tae-hyun's autograph be a reward too?”
“Ms. Lee Da-bi, do you have any advice for merchant guilds like ours?”
“I'm trying to settle down on the Prica Continent, but do you think it's better if I switch continents even now?!”
“What kind of trade is good these days? Last time, I traded a massive amount of cotton, but my EXP barely went up...”
The Merchant players from the merchant guilds gathered around Da-bi like baby birds, chirping out all the questions they had bottled up. When else would they get a chance to ask! The Merchant class basically leveled up by buying low and selling high. The bonuses varied depending on the items they handled, the distance they traveled... and handling rare items usually yielded a massive amount of EXP! Therefore, to maximize efficiency, they always had to search for new markets and new items. Though close to a crafting class, Merchants were a unique breed that had to risk their lives traveling the world.
“We've been trying to advertise like Power Warrior, but we're just getting cursed out! What should we do?”
“W-Well, I'm not really sure about that either.”
To be honest, Da-bi didn't fully understand Power Warrior's popularity either. They had just shamelessly plastered advertisements everywhere, and somehow, it had become a massive trend.
“First of all, you shouldn't include lies in your advertisements...”
“Gasp. Is that so?”
“Ah, I wrote that we'd give a full armor set to anyone who joins. I guess I should delete that part.”
“...”
Da-bi was temporarily lost for words before offering more advice. “And isn't the Prica Continent actually quite decent? There are fewer competitors, and the items dropped here are relatively rare.”
“But because there are so few players, it's incredibly hard to even buy items!”
“It's basically like the Salz Kingdom here!”
The Salz Kingdom, suddenly dragged into the conversation just to get beaten up! At least the Salz Kingdom was located right in the middle of the Central Continent, so people would drop by while traveling. The Prica Continent, on the other hand, required taking a ship to cross the ocean, making the player shortage an even worse issue.
“If there are few players, you can just hire NPCs to gather resources for you. And if things get really tough, you can instigate a war between two NPC factions and then... Ah, wait. Please forget I said that.”
“No! Please tell us more about that!”
“That sounds like the best tip of all!”
“It's far too dangerous...”
“No, it's not! We can do anything!”
The players were completely mesmerized by this practical merchant lecture!
Tae-hyun glanced over at Da-bi. Seeing this, the surrounding players quickly chimed in.
“As expected, we should have left the Merchant players behind!”
“They're barely any help in hunting, and they sell items at such rip-off prices!”
“I don't think so.”
“...As expected, bringing the Merchant players along was the best decision ever!”
“They're incredibly helpful for hunting! How hard would it be for us without the items merchants sell!”
The players flipped their attitudes instantly at a single word from Tae-hyun!
“You bastard! How dare you insult our esteemed Merchants? Have you lost your mind?!”
“I-I'm sorry!”
They even turned on the guy who had spoken up first!
Carbanog stares at you with utter pathetic disappointment.
“I'm not looking at them because they're useless... It's just that Da-bi...”
“Ah! You're upset because they're only talking to player Lee Da-bi instead of you, Tae-hyun!”
“Will you let me finish my sentence?”
“S-Sorry.”
“Da-bi can't just spend all her time dealing with them, can she?”
Usually, Da-bi would be right by Tae-hyun's side, discussing quests. But now that she was completely occupied with answering the Merchant players' questions, Tae-hyun felt a slight pang of disappointment. She's my companion, not yours!
“Well... I mean...”
“Isn't she allowed to do at least that much...?”
The players stared blankly at each other. Can't she at least answer a few questions?
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
Tae-hyun was convinced by the players' words. Indeed, she could do that. However, the players seemed to have interpreted his reaction completely differently.
“No! You are absolutely right, Tae-hyun!”
“Just say the word, and we will chase all those merchant bastards away right now!”
“You guys aren't trying to screw with me on purpose, are you?”
“I'm sorry! They kept asking so many questions, I got caught up answering them...”
“No, it's fine. You can answer them.”
Carbanog is bewildered by how your mood suddenly improved.
I was always in a good mood, Carbanog.
“Raptors! Tae-hyun! It's a pack of Raptors!”
A pack of Mountain Marauders, Raptors, has appeared!
The Raptors are using Surprise Attack!
Successfully resisted the status ailment using the Highest-grade Tactical Skill!
...
...
All kinds of monsters infested the path leading to the volcanic region. The reason the Prica Continent was so infamous was that traveling even slightly south of the coast led straight into dense, rugged mountain ranges! Fighting in a wide-open field was completely different from fighting in a claustrophobic environment. Dealing with monsters that suddenly leaped out of the surrounding jungle was incredibly tedious and annoying. It possessed every single condition players absolutely loathed in a map: a complex layout, ambush-heavy monsters, and irritating status ailments!
“Raptors aren't even that high-level, are they? Why is everyone so tense?” Tae-hyun asked, genuinely puzzled.
“Because those bastards constantly hit and run! They're so incredibly annoying...!”
“The moment you kill one or two of them, the rest immediately flee!”
“Well, we just have to make sure they can't run. Yong-yong, fly up and bind their feet. Heuk-heuk, set fire to their rear.”
The Raptors were circling the group, biding their time. When it came to pure speed, they were among the fastest monsters in the game! Because of this, the Archers and Mages in the party didn't even dare to fire, simply grinding their teeth in frustration. Even if they shot, they were bound to miss!
It would've been so much easier if Cain were here.
With his Slave's Chain, he could have dragged them right over!
“Ugh... those obnoxious pests...!”
“Should we just charge in and wipe them out?”
The damage dealers ground their teeth as well. Using a movement skill to quickly charge and strike one of them wasn't the issue. The problem was that the moment anyone stepped out of formation, the Raptors would instantly surround and swarm them!
Archisus's Charge
Thud! With a crisp, satisfying sound, Tae-hyun accurately struck down the nearest Raptor.
Screeech!
At that, the Raptors circling nearby swarmed Tae-hyun all at once. Their intelligence was chilling!
[Evade Successful...]
[Evade Successful...]
[Evade Successful...]
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED: Circle of Counterattack, Archisus's Second Attack! ⚡
[Luck stat consumed! Activating Archisus's Second Attack!]
[Raptor defeated. Cooldown for Archisus's Second Attack has reset.]
[The Raptors are fleeing!]
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
With five or six of their pack wiped out in a single blow, the remaining Raptors immediately turned tail and fled. This was precisely why players detested Raptor-type monsters! The moment they felt even slightly disadvantaged, they would run away, regenerate their HP, and then come back to poke at you from behind. It was incredibly infuriating.
Carbanog wonders if that isn't just the classic Archisus tactic.
Isn't that exactly what Tae-hyun usually does??
“...These cowardly bastards!”
Tae-hyun completely ignored the voice of his conscience and gave the signal. At once, Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk moved in unison. They were mages of a caliber that ordinary players couldn't even dream of matching! They weren't called Dragons for nothing.
Yong-yong immediately swooped down, crashed into the Raptors, and swiftly cast a spell to bind their feet. Meanwhile, Heuk-heuk...
Ruuuuuumble—
“?”
“?”
“?”
What the hell are you gathering so much power for?
“Incomplete Sadiqe's Flame Breath!”
“!!!?”
Fwoooooosh!
A Dragon's ultimate skill, Breath! Hadn't both Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk suffered immensely, losing levels just from unleashing a single powerful Breath? Yet here he was, trying to use it again. Tae-hyun was utterly horrified.
The flames are spreading rapidly due to the surrounding terrain!
Sadik's Flame is burning down the surrounding area!
“What about your level?!”
“It is perfectly fine, Master! This is a new skill I have developed myself so that I can unleash it without consuming my levels!”
“Oh...”
Tae-hyun was genuinely impressed. Heuk-heuk...! The guy who did nothing but get scolded had actually prepared something like this to show off his worth!
Yong-yong also wore a look of absolute shock.
“T-To think I would fall behind a Black Dragon...”
“...”
“...”
Though the nature of his shock seemed a bit off... Tae-hyun was satisfied nonetheless. Wasn't this the greatest advantage of summons? When they evolved on their own, far exceeding the expectations of their summoner!
Crackeeeee—
“...??”
The domain of the flames is expanding further!
“Uh, excuse me...”
“T-Tae-hyun. Is this... really okay?”
Because there was so much foliage to burn, the fire was spreading at an astronomical speed! The players behind him, who had been watching in awe, were finally starting to realize the severity of the situation and were turning pale with horror.
“I am so sorry...”
“No, it's fine. You were just trying to do a good job, so it's understandable.”
In the end, Tae-hyun and the players had to scramble frantically to put out the fire. Getting burned to death and forced to log out before even reaching the volcanic region would have been a terrible joke.
Still, Heuk-heuk, being Sadiq's demonic beast, can use a breath related to Sadiq's authority... Does that mean Yong-yong can use a breath related to Archisus's authority?
A Luck Breath? A Random Breath?
Carbanog states that it would likely be closer to a Random Breath.
What kind of nonsense is that...!
A breath had to have a fixed element to be useful. If you didn't even know what would come out, that wasn't a breath—it was a gacha pull!
Archisus, as always...
Tae-hyun grumbled as he moved to collect the dropped items. Since they had wiped them out, they might as well loot them.
[Acquired Item...]
[Acquired Item...]
...
“???”
“??????”
The players tilted their heads in confusion at the endless stream of item acquisition notifications. Did we really kill this many Raptors?
“I mean... did we kill like a hundred of them? Why are there so many drops?”
“An item like Raptor's Claw should have a drop rate of less than 1%...? Why did it drop?”
“A-Archisus! It's Archisus!”
“What?”
“That's the effect of the Archisus Church! It boosts drop rates and crafting success rates!”
“I know that, but for it to go up this insanely...”
Since the Archisus Church had spread quite widely, most players knew a bit about it. It was a church specialized in boosting all kinds of probability-based rates! But even so, there was a limit. They had never heard of multiple rare items dropping when usually not even one would appear.
The... The Pope!
Is it because he's the Pope?!
This was the sheer difference between an ordinary priest and the leader of the church!