Look, I Prepared This For You
"Look. I prepared this for you."
Tae-hyun pointed toward a mountain of food piled high. The giant beast's eyes trembled violently.
"Eat as much as you want!"
Chomp, chomp, gulp, gulp—
Before the words could even fully leave Tae-hyun's mouth, the beast was already charging headfirst into the feast.
"Everyone, stay on guard."
"Why? It's eating just fine."
"If it's not satisfied after eating all that, we're the next course."
"..."
Cain felt a chill run down his spine. This beast was on a completely different level from any pet they had ever dealt with before!
Using Supreme Eloquence...
Title effect activated...
Authority of the Avatar of Archisus...
[Success] You have temporarily satisfied the Beast!
The Beast's satisfaction has increased.
[Warning] The Beast temporarily joins your side. However, please exercise caution! If its satisfaction drops, it may turn and attack you!
Fortunately, there was no need to worry about that. The mountain of food was more than enough to satisfy the creature.
"We must find a way to defeat that beast eventually, one way or another."
'I agree.'
Tae-hyun understood Carbanog's concern. Unlike the other divine beasts, this creature didn't follow Tae-hyun out of loyalty. It was a contract bound purely by food! He couldn't afford to spend this much time preparing feasts for it forever.
'Should I mobilize the chefs of the territory to bring food?'
Tae-hyun even considered that. Normally, he would have loathed wasting gold on such things, but the situation demanded it. Besides, thanks to his various successful scams, his personal treasury was practically overflowing.
"Tae-hyun-nim. The Atali Kingdom is very stable right now, but overall, everything is rising."
"What is?"
"The prices of ingredients and food."
"!"
At Lee Da-bi's words, Tae-hyun realized what was happening. Because they had successfully defended the kingdom from the disaster, he had forgotten that the rest of the continent was currently suffering under a sweltering, suffocating heatwave.
Due to the intense heat, crops are withering...
Due to the intense heat, water sources are drying up...
...
Just as it had been when the extreme cold struck, the heatwave was devastating. In fact, in some ways, it was even harder to mitigate! Quick-witted players had already begun hoarding, which only drove prices higher.
"Farming? Why would we do that? Life is all about hitting the jackpot!"
"You can't hit a jackpot with farming!"
"I mean, sure, farming is a bit of a lottery too... but it's way too tedious! No way!"
The Power Warrior guild members, who usually ignored farming because they found it too troublesome, were now green with envy as they watched the few members who had actually cultivated crops.
"Ughhh... why didn't you tell us to farm!"
"But you guys said you hated doing honest work..."
"You joined the Power Warrior Guild, and you're allowed to farm diligently?! Is that even allowed?!"
"Hey. Separate them. They're going to corrupt the diligent newbies."
The officers quickly pulled the veteran guild members away. Because the Power Warrior Guild was so massive, there was actually a decent number of diligent players—innocent souls who had joined simply because of the guild's friendly, chaotic atmosphere!
One of the officers' primary duties was to keep the veteran, overly "rotten" guild members from interacting with the fresh recruits. They kept corrupting them with their degenerate habits!
"Tsk tsk. Idiots."
"Right? As expected, life should be lived diligently..."
"No. Farming is the true lottery. Once you get a taste of farming, you'll never go back to goblin spawners or opening chests. Plus, if you add the Archisus faith to it, it gets even more thrilling!"
"..."
The new guild members looked horrified at the veteran farming guild member. They thought he was a diligent, honest person, but he was just another degenerate gambler!
"Hmm. Then we definitely need to save our ingredients. It's too wasteful to just offer them to the beast!"
"We have quite a stockpile in the territory's warehouse, so let me know if it's urgent."
Lee Da-bi had already made thorough preparations. Her expression was calm as usual, but she seemed secretly delighted. This was the true joy of a merchant—stockpiling items in anticipation of a coming crisis!
"Da-bi... you look really happy right now."
"Ah, no... is it that obvious?"
"Very."
Da-bi blushed in embarrassment.
"Well, being happy is a good thing. Look at Cain. He's happy every day."
"Th-that's a bit different... but anyway, I am happy."
"As expected, this is the best time to make a profit. I almost want to give a prize to whoever triggered the Curse of the Volcano."
"No, it's not that..."
"?"
Da-bi, who was about to say she was happy just because she was traveling with Tae-hyun, suddenly snapped back to reality. Am I crazy?!
"...I mean, it's great that prices are rising!"
"Ah... right."
Tae-hyun, having successfully tamed the beast for now, gave an order.
"I'll prepare new food for you. Move to the coast and eat every single warrior that comes up!"
"Buuoooooh."
The Beast is satisfied!
Its satisfaction level increases.
The giant beast was pleased with the order that perfectly suited its taste! It seemed it would faithfully follow Tae-hyun's orders until it got hungry again.
'For now, the Bear Tribe is blocked... we've bought some time.'
While the beast was rampaging, the Bear warriors would be too terrified to come up. He had to find a solution in the meantime!
As time passed, the seals would melt, releasing more tribes. Frankly, Tae-hyun wasn't confident if enemies of the Bear Tribe's caliber multiplied. If enemies over level 300 or 400 surrounded them while casting various curses...
"Alright. Let's think. What's the best way?"
Tae-hyun sat his companions down and began a discussion. Except for Cain, who was just sighing from being too full, everyone offered active opinions.
Tae-hyun's companions were now top-tier rankers who could hold their own anywhere. Even Yu Ji-su, who had started as a complete Pan-On newbie, was now capable of offering sharp insights.
Tae-hyun felt a sudden wave of pride. It was a feeling he had never experienced when playing alone in Pan-On 1! Watching the growth of the players who ran with him was unexpectedly rewarding.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just happy."
"Do... do I have to be a bomb again?"
Cain misunderstood Tae-hyun's words and asked. Tae-hyun stared at him with a grimace.
Does this guy think whenever I'm happy, I'm planning to torture him? Well, he's not wrong, but still!
"What about building a fortress on the coast?"
"It would cost too much and take too long. With constant battles going on, it'd be hard to build anything usable."
"How about evacuating everyone to the underground city?"
"That doesn't sound bad. I'm actually considering that. If we're going to keep fighting, it might be better to just pull back to the underground city. Upgrading the fortress there seems much better too."
If they just confidently barged in saying, "Haha, let's live together!", what could the people of the Ancient Empire do? They'd have to live together!
"But just defending forever isn't the answer. We have to deal a blow somehow to clear the quest..."
"The problem is that it's underwater."
"It really makes me realize all over again how weak I am underwater."
At that, Choi Sang-yun looked dumbfounded.
"Tae-hyun... everyone is weak underwater...!"
Humans generally can't breathe underwater! If you're strong underwater, you're not even human!
Boom, boom, boom—
"?"
"??"
The sound of drums echoing from afar made the group turn their heads. A fleet they had never seen before was approaching from the horizon.
"What is that? An enemy?"
"There are too many things that want me dead... I can't even guess."
"Wait. I've seen that flag somewhere."
"Isn't that the flag of the Galkard Dwarves?"
"Huh? Really?"
The Galkard Dwarf Kingdom, whom they had befriended in the Zaion Mountains! A flag bearing their emblem was fluttering on the ships.
"Do... Dwarves ride boats?"
"Y-yeah? That doesn't seem to suit them."
The group was bewildered. Dwarves were fundamentally a race of the mines and underground! Flying in the sky or sailing on boats didn't suit them at all.
"...Wait a minute... there's another flag. Why does it look so familiar?"
"..."
Tae-hyun and Cain suddenly felt a wave of foreboding. The flag next to the Galkard Dwarf Kingdom's... why was it so familiar?
"I have an extremely bad feeling about this."
"Isn't that the flag of Duke Gellendel of the Dungland Kingdom?" Lee Da-bi recognized it immediately.
At that name, Tae-hyun gasped in horror.
"That crazy bastard?!"
"To be called a crazy bastard by the Avatar of Archisus... that is one truly magnificent Elf."
The Dungland Kingdom, an island nation of Elves in the northern reaches of the central continent. And its Duke, Gellendel! Tae-hyun had befriended him under the pretext of hunting Orcs.
Of course, Tae-hyun had disguised his identity as a mere adventurer, and after getting everything he wanted, he immediately fled. An NPC like Gellendel was definitely not someone you wanted to hang around. He was the type of person who brought misfortune to everyone around him...
"Like Archisus?"
'No way. More like Sadiq.'
Carbanog agrees on Sadiq.
An NPC like Sadiq! Whenever he saw an Orc, his eyes would roll back and he'd scream about splitting their skulls. There was no way things would go smoothly with him around. Especially since one of the tribes Tae-hyun was currently leading was the Orcs...
'If he finds out I'm the king, things are going to get extremely complicated.'
There was no telling how things would unfold!
"I did warn you never to underestimate the obsession of Elves."
'No, what mistake did I even make?'
Tae-hyun felt wronged. He hadn't made any mistakes, so how did this guy suddenly show up here? No matter how unreasonable Pan-On was...
'Whatever. What's done is done. As long as I don't get caught.'
If he changed his appearance with a mask and played dumb, Gellendel wouldn't possibly think that the adventurer he used to happily slice Orcs with was actually the King of Atali!
'But why is Duke Gellendel coming here in the first place?'
* * *
"We haven't been in contact for a long time, yet you came all this way to help us. We are truly grateful."
The Galkard Dwarf elders bowed politely. Duke Gellendel politely returned the gesture.
"How could I ever forget those pure and beautiful memories of our ancestors cracking Orc skulls together in the ancient past?"
"..."
The Dwarves thought Gellendel was completely insane, but they quietly held their tongues. After all, they were receiving his help!
Although the Galkard Dwarf Kingdom was located deep beneath the distant Zaion Mountains, in the ancient past, they had maintained contact with Elves in other regions. One of them was Duke Gellendel of Dungland! The ancestors of the Galkard Dwarves and Gellendel's ancestors had a history of joining forces to fight Orcs.
'Elder. Do we really have to accept this Elf's help? The murderous glint in his eyes is terrifying...'
'But if we don't accept his help, how else are we going to get ships?'
'Ugh...'
Dwarves and Elves naturally didn't get along, but what the Dwarves feared right now wasn't just racial friction. Gellendel was just a psycho, regardless of being an Elf!
'And they said that although Duke Gellendel is obsessed with slaughtering Orcs, he's not a bad Elf. Let's trust him.'
'No... that statement itself sounds like a contradiction...'
'Then what do you suggest? Do you want to go back to the Atali Kingdom empty-handed?'
'...I wouldn't want that either...'
Why did the Galkard Dwarves secure ships and come to meet Tae-hyun instead of waiting in the kingdom?
It was all because of Pelmas.