The Art of the Bait

"Damn it." Of course, his bad feelings were always spot on! Unaware of Tae-hyun clicking his tongue, the players fighting in the forest were absolutely thrilled.

"Our attacks are landing, right? They're definitely landing!"

"Wait, are we actually stronger than we thought?!"

The expeditionary force had previously been utterly crushed on the plains despite outnumbering the enemy dozens of times over. Now, holding them off with a fraction of those numbers, their confidence was bound to soar.

The ancient bear beastman warriors gnashed their teeth at the hellish forest, where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every single step triggered an explosion or a trap.

"What kind of dog-shit trickery is this...!"

"Who the hell did this?!"

"If I catch them, I'll tear them limb from limb!"

"This has the stench of that bastard Akisus all over it!"

But these beastman warriors were undeniably strong. It wasn't just because of their massive health pools and devastating attack power. Their combat intelligence was incredibly high!

"Aim for where they are standing! Where they stand is the safe zone!"

"Push through to that spot!"

"!!" The players gasped in shock. Cain was equally startled.

They knew how to deal with Akisus, and now this? Their intelligence is no joke!

"They've been frozen solid all this time, so how is their brain power so perfectly intact?!" Cain yelled.

"That creature insulted us! Kill him!"

"Kill him first!"

"I-I didn't! That's not what I meant!" Cain stammered.

"Kill him!!"

"I said I didn't, you blockheads!" Overwhelmed with frustration, Cain swung his weapons at the approaching warriors.

"S-Six arms... He's a monster!"

"What a repulsive freak!"

"Bring it on!" Cain charged forward, determined to take down at least one of them. A furious charge! Boom!

Though he charged recklessly, Cain surprisingly wasn't pushed back immediately. He was a high-level ranker himself, decked out in incredibly overpowered gear, and currently stacked with every single buff imaginable.

On the other hand, the beastman warriors had been battered relentlessly by traps while forcing their way through the forest. No matter how strong they were, they couldn't easily overpower Cain in his current state.

Thud!

"Th-This guy... He's a freak, but he's strong!"

"Help! This one is no pushover!"

Realizing how tanky Cain was, the beastman warriors immediately called for backup. Crash!

Of course, calling for help didn't mean backup could just instantly teleport through the trap-filled woods! Regardless, thanks to Cain drawing all the aggro, the other players found themselves with plenty of breathing room.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"Fall back!"

"Hey, shouldn't we help Cain?"

"He'll manage! Besides, they're too close to us!"

They had been thrilled when they held the upper hand, but seeing the beastman warriors charge through the forest with fire in their eyes made them lose their nerve. The players retreated along the path, widening the gap. Only then did Cain realize what was happening and screamed:

"Hey! Where the hell are you guys going?!"

"We're retreating to the next rally point!"

"You crazy bastards! If we're retreating, we should do it together! Why are you leaving me behind?!"

"You're the one who didn't move! Just shake them off and get over here!"

"There are literally... cough! ...enemies right in front of... argh! ...how am I supposed to just shake them off?! You guys are dead... Once we get back, I'm assigning you the absolute worst quests imaginable!"

The players flinched at Cain's venomous threat. Cain was absolutely petty enough to follow through on it!

"Should we go back?"

"Hey, a bad quest is still better than dying."

"Exactly. Just keep moving back! The path is narrow, so if you guys don't move, we're all stuck!"

"Get this guy off me!"

"Aaargh! We should have brought a shaman! We can't hit this bastard at all!"

"Hold still, damn it! My swordsmanship skill isn't going up!"

Tae-hyun chased after the fleeing beastman warriors, thoroughly annoyed. They had high levels, high defense, and high health, and they had absolutely no way of harming him. They were the perfect training dummies. Training dummies to level up his swordsmanship!

I can't see it yet, which means I still have time before it gets here!

Once the giant beast arrived, the situation would change entirely. Until then, he intended to grind his skills as much as possible. He was the type of person who would grind his skills today even if the world were to end tomorrow!

"Kim Tae-hyun! Help me! Help!"

Tae-hyun, who had been happily beating down the fleeing beastman warriors, turned around and blinked in surprise.

"...Why is it just you guys?"

Aside from Tae-hyun's core party, the rest of the players were fleeing deep into the forest! Cain was left entirely alone, screaming as he bore the brunt of a coordinated assault from several warriors.

He was only barely holding on because Choi Sang-yun was peeling enemies off him, Jeong Su-hyeok and Yu Ji-soo were pouring down massive ranged damage, and Lee Da-bi was literally throwing gold around to spam her skills. Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.

"Those jerks fell back and left me all alone!"

"Then why didn't you fall back too?"

"B-Because of the atmosphere...?"

"..."

Tae-hyun stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. Then, he spoke.

"Cain. Just get out of the forest."

"???"

"I said, get out."

"Y-You want me to die? Are you making me self-destruct?!" Cain asked, on the verge of tears. Sure, I made a mistake, but to force me to self-destruct over a single slip-up!

Hearing Cain's words, the beastman warriors were even more horrified.

"Even if he made a mistake, how could you force your own comrade to self-destruct?!"

"What a terrifying bastard!"

"This guy is a freak, but he's still your ally!"

"Stop talking nonsense and just get out of there."

Cain did exactly as he was told. That was his greatest virtue: he talked a lot of nonsense, but once given an order, he followed it to the letter!

As Cain and the rest of the party fell back and exited the forest, the beastman warriors excitedly surrounded them and... did absolutely nothing of the sort. Instead, they cast extremely wary glances at them.

"Why did they come out?"

"Let's surround and attack them!"

"Fool! It could be a trap. Leave them be and target the weak ones first. Attack the ones still in the forest!"

"Oh...! Garga, you are truly wise!"

"I am rather intelligent. Even the mages of the Ancient Empire were stupider than me. Come! Do not be deceived by that lowborn follower of Akisus! Into the forest, sweep them all away!"

"I figured they'd do that," Tae-hyun said, nodding in satisfaction.

Those bear warriors might have had hulking frames and terrifying appearances, but when it came to battle, they were highly tactical. If the party fell back and grouped up with Tae-hyun, would the bears keep targeting him? Absolutely not. They would go after an easier target!

"Hmm... I was planning on helping them defend, but since they're so graciously sacrificing themselves... why don't we head outside Nodranche and investigate where these guys came from?"

"Yes, Senior!" Jeong Su-hyeok agreed instantly.

"That sounds like a great plan!" Yu Ji-soo chimed in.

"An exceptionally good idea!" Lee Da-bi smiled.

It was a unanimous decision! Quests always tasted sweeter when kept to oneself. Since the other players had so thoughtfully retreated to handle the defense on their own, it was only polite to accept their consideration with gratitude.

Only Cain looked flustered as he asked:

"H-Hey. Is it really okay to just leave them like that?!"

"It's fine, it's fine. They won't die."

A classic, highly ominous line! Seeing Cain fidgeting with anxiety, Tae-hyun explained further.

"There are hundreds of players in the expeditionary force, right? And most of them are high-level. Even if those beastman warriors are over level 300 or 400, they aren't completely unstoppable. Their attack patterns are pretty simple, too."

Most of the skills the bear warriors possessed were standard warrior-type abilities. Slashing, striking, bashing... as long as the players didn't panic, these kinds of attacks were easy enough to deal with.

"But they got wiped out and ran away earlier, didn't they?"

"That's because there was no one to take responsibility. Why would anyone risk their lives fighting when there was nothing to gain?"

By contrast, they now had a vast forest packed with traps and fortifications. It was the perfect setup for players to dig in and fight. Even if one defensive line collapsed, they could retreat to another makeshift fort and hold out. It was the ideal environment for a stalling, guerrilla war!

"And most importantly, they'll fight well because they have nowhere left to run. When people are backed into a corner, they tend to tap into hidden potential."

"What do you mean they have nowhere to run? They can just flee... wait." Cain gasped as realization struck.

Now that he thought about it, Tae-hyun had covered every single inch of the area in traps, except for this one narrow path. A forced last stand!

Was this his plan all along?!

A shiver ran down Cain's spine once more. At first, he thought Tae-hyun had set up those traps simply to block any incoming enemies. But he was wrong. The real target was the players! He had effectively corralled the players—who would normally flee at the first sign of trouble—and forced them to act as a cohesive fighting force.

This is absolutely brilliant...!

A genius! A literal genius at exploiting human labor!

"Are you cursing me out in your head right now?"

"N-No. Not at all."

"If you're really that worried, you can go help them. It's your territory, so I'll leave the choice to you. Do we go clear the quest, or do you want to go help them?"

"...Let's go clear the quest!" Cain immediately changed his tune the moment he heard they would be safe. Now that I think about it, why should I bother helping those jerks who just abandoned me anyway!

A complete sell-out! The sheer fervor was enough to shock even the staff at MBS, who were no strangers to producing hit shows. Even by their standards, having every single advertising slot sell out so instantly was an incredibly rare phenomenon.

Sponsors threw money around without hesitation the moment they heard Tae-hyun's name, even engaging in fierce bidding wars just to secure the prime slots. Although the producers had anticipated high viewership ratings, they were still stunned by this explosive level of enthusiasm.

"His value is skyrocketing by the day, isn't it?"

"They're already asking when his next appearance will be."

"It would be great for us if we could broadcast him every time, but that's just not realistic. The players are incredibly busy. The league schedule is packed as it is. They have to play the game while preparing for official matches..."

"In Team KL's case, they must have absolutely zero free time."

"They probably spend every single spare second training, right?"

The producers, who knew nothing of the actual inner workings of Team KL, applied standard common sense. For ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a team to produce those kinds of results, they must undergo incredibly rigorous training, right? A small-scale gaming team like Team KL would have no choice but to train twice as hard to defeat the massive, corporate-backed powerhouse organizations.

Is that so?

They didn't really seem to have the time for that, though...

The producers, who were personally highly invested in this broadcast, kept asking questions about Tae-hyun's quest.

"But does Cain really order Kim Tae-hyun around like that? He didn't seem like the type..."

"Come on. That's obviously just an exaggeration for the camera. How could an employee boss around the team owner?"

"I was shocked too, but it's actually true."

"?!?!"

"Alright, that's enough. Aren't we here to brainstorm how to secure more appearances from Kim Tae-hyun?"

An oblivious rookie producer raised his hand and spoke up.

"If we offer him a higher appearance fee..."

"Are you out of your mind? He's a player who wouldn't do it even if we offered ten times the amount if he didn't feel like it. Think about it. With how successful he is right now, do you really think a bit of extra cash is going to sway him? Honestly, the only reason we got this footage was because of PD Bae Jang-wook's past connection with him. Otherwise, we wouldn't have stood a chance."

Tae-hyun had already been famous, but with the massive success of the current Pan-On League, his popularity had soared to astronomical heights! Even though he only permitted advertisements that used pre-recorded gameplay clips rather than appearing in person, sponsors were still lining up around the block. Calling him the hottest star of the era was an understatement.

"In the end, isn't it all about showing sincerity?"

"...It sounds like nonsense, but I'll bite. What do you mean by that?"

If sincerity was all it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠took, I would have filmed 'Kim Tae-hyun vs. Lee Se-yeon' ages ago! There are things in this world that sincerity can solve, and things it absolutely cannot.

"Since Team KL is currently in the middle of the league, what if we find a quest or an item in Pan-On that would be helpful to them and offer it as a gift? Think about how many players we have connections with at this station. Surely we can dig up that kind of information if we look hard enough, right?"

"...Oh...?"

Surprisingly, that actually sounded plausible!