The Arantis Anglers

There was a famous saying in Pandemonium Online.

"Beware of the elderly and children!"

Both were groups of people with endless time to pour into the game. It was never easy to catch up to those who spent all day, every day in Pan-On. And what if they also poured money into it?

"Hey there, young fellas. Come over here."

The older man beckoned with his finger.

The raider players hesitated. Should they fight? Or should they run?

—Hey. He's an old guy, his controls are probably trash. Should we strike first?

—S-should we?

—We might lack gear, but we don't lack pride!

Fearless raiders! But fortunately, there was still one player among them who hadn't completely lost his mind.

—Are you still going to say 'we don't lack pride' after we're dead? Look at his emblem. That's the Angler mark!

—...?!

The undersea kingdom of Arantis.

It was one of the newly discovered kingdoms by players. If it had been closer to the Central Continent, its player population would have been dozens of times larger. However, Arantis was so far away and situated deep underwater that players generally avoided it. There was simply no reason to go all that way!

If any other player had been the ruler of Arantis, they might have given up on it. But the one who claimed the throne of Arantis was none other than Chairman Yoo!

He poured astronomical amounts of money into the kingdom to draw players in. Moreover, Chairman Yoo hadn't lured players to make a profit. He simply wanted to build a kingdom for fellow fishermen like himself.

The result was a literal paradise for anglers!

Whether they were brand-new players or seasoned veterans, anyone who considered themselves a decent fisherman sold off their in-game assets, packed up, and headed straight for the Arantis Kingdom. The level of support and subsidies was just that incredible.

And this trend didn't stop inside the game; it spilled over into the real world.

—Hmm. Buying a new fishing rod in Pan-On actually seems cheaper than buying a real one.

—Hyung-nim, who goes fishing outdoors these days? Just buy a capsule and let's fish together. You don't even have to manage real bait. It's incredibly convenient.

Fishing fanatics had begun playing Pan-On!

When people who never hesitated to spend fortunes on real-life fishing gear started playing Pan-On, all that money flooded into the game. Their adaptation speed was terrifying!

—Wait. Why did you buy that armor instead of a new fishing rod?

—Aigoo, you don't get it. This armor increases your fishing success rate by a whopping ten percent.

—Really? It looks pretty decent too. Where do you get that?

—There's this place in the game called the Archisus Church. Joining them is highly beneficial in many ways.

—But I don't even go to church.

—Oh, there are no services or anything like that. You just put your name on the registry. And if you recruit others to join like I did, you get a bonus.

—...Th-this isn't a pyramid scheme, is it?

It didn't stop there. Chairman Yoo sent invitations to all his acquaintances in the political and business sectors who had even a passing interest in fishing.

—What kind of crazy bastard sends an invitation like... wait, what?!

—What's wrong, sir?

—G-get me a capsule right now! Hurry!

Though they started playing half-coerced out of social obligation, they too became passionate Pan-On players over time. Even if you only focused on fishing, Pan-On offered endless content!

From hardcore fishing fanatics to corporate CEOs who bought every new fishing rod the moment it dropped, everyone flocked to the Arantis Kingdom.

Consequently, while the Arantis Kingdom had a relatively small player population, it became a kingdom that absolutely no one could ignore.

The land of the ultimate pay-to-win whales!

A place where you had to pour in the equivalent of several houses just to claim you spent "a little bit" of money! In the Arantis Kingdom, nobody bragged about their wealth. There was always someone who had spent more.

Despite prospering the Arantis Kingdom to this extent, Chairman Yoo was surprisingly devoid of greed. While Tae-hyun was pulling all sorts of stunts to manage his territory, Chairman Yoo simply had to press the pay button.

And the more people gathered, the more he gave away!

—Just who is our Lord that he hands out so much free stuff?

—There's a rumor he's a highly successful corporate chairman.

—Come on, why would a chairman do this?

—But boss, aren't you doing this right now too...?

—Oh. Right.

Thanks to their incredibly generous king, the anglers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the Arantis Kingdom possessed immense loyalty. They went so far as to engrave the kingdom's emblem onto their own gear!

Seeing this, other players began calling them the Arantis Anglers.

Normal Angler = A regular player.

Arantis Angler = A crazy pay-to-win whale who had likely poured the value of several houses into Pan-On!

The friendship among the Arantis Anglers was famously tight-knit. Even if these raiders somehow managed to defeat this older man by luck, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a brutal retaliation would surely follow.

"Young fellas, what are you doing? Should I make the first move?"

"Aigoo! There seems to have been a misunderstanding!"

"A misunderstanding?"

"Yes!"

"What kind of misunderstanding could possibly come from our previous conversation?"

"We were trying to say we wanted to pay you a tax, but it came out wrong!"

"...Hahaha! You young fellas have quite the sense of humor!"

"Ha, haha... thank you..."

The raiders let out a sigh of relief as the older man laughed. However, his face instantly went cold.

"Cut the crap and bring it on."

"Aigoo! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

"That's right!"

The raider players tried to shamelessly brush it off, but the older gentleman was not so easily swayed. Seeing this, one of the raiders quickly changed his strategy.

"Ah! Wait! Sir! I have some highly valuable information!"

"?"

"A rare fish spawns near here..."

"If you're talking about that fish, I've already caught fifty of them and offered them to the Archisus Church. What else you got?"

"......"

The raider player shut his mouth. It was supposed to be rare information, but this older man had clearly bought that information beforehand.

Damn it...! Pay-to-win is seriously so dirty and unfair!

—What do we do?

—No, I think the method itself is solid.

—What?

—We just need to give him information he doesn't know yet.

—Is there even such a thing? He looks like he knows more than us.

He had the exact look of a VVIP on the information boards!

"Sir!"

"Stop calling me. What is it now?"

"There is an incredible quest going on in Nodranche, which is further north from here!"

"Hmm..."

The older man stared at the players with skepticism. The raiders desperately gestured and pleaded to convince him.

"It's true! It's absolutely true!"

"Why would we lie about something like this!"

"If it's a lie, I'll put a bounty on your heads."

"Ha, haha... what a joke..."

"I'm not joking. Anyway, thanks. I'll go check it out."

Having finished his piece, the older man sat back down in his boat.

Whooooosh!

With a sound like a motor engine, the boat spun around and shot forward at a blistering speed! It looked like a normal fishing boat on the outside, but it was packed with absurdly high-tier options.

"Oh, how have you been? Yeah, it's nothing major. I was just off the coast of Bectel trying to catch some fish. Yeah, yeah. But apparently, there's an incredible quest going on. Why don't you join? You just finished fishing? Great, great. Bring them along."

Calling his close friends among the Arantis Anglers...

"Can I bring some people I know?"

"Ah, of course, my friend! Pan-On isn't a game you play alone!"

Those close friends called their own close friends...

And as a result, the Arantis Anglers assembled!

The Elf warriors followed closely behind Tae-hyun. Gellendel asked in bewilderment,

"Why are you all behind him instead of me?"

"......"

"......"

The Elf warriors avoided answering.

"Ah, Duke. Look over there," Tae-hyun said, and Gellendel was easily distracted.

"What is it... could it be an Orc... gasp!"

Gellendel gasped in shock.

Beyond the path cleared by the City Destroyer, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deep within the ocean, lay a colossal block of ice. Inside it, several sleek ships were completely frozen whole.

They were undoubtedly the ancient Beastmen who had frozen while trying to attack Nodranche.

"Your Majesty, it must be them!"

"I see them too."

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. It seemed these ice blocks were scattered all over the deep sea, and once they thawed, the ships would float up to the surface to attack.

But...

How on earth was he supposed to stop this??

Though a sea path had been opened thanks to the rampaging City Destroyer, they couldn't stop all the ice from melting. They didn't have the capacity, and even if they stopped one, others would thaw elsewhere...

'The scale is way too big for that. This is bad.'

They were too large, and there were too many of them. This wasn't something Tae-hyun could handle alone.

"......"

Tae-hyun stared at the message window and pondered for about a second.

Should I just switch sides?

But that was out of the question. First of all, Cain would burst into tears, and now that he knew an ancient imperial city lay beneath Nodranche, he couldn't just let it go. It was too valuable a card to throw away!

'Is there any way I can exploit this?'

Pwooooooo—

While Tae-hyun was deep in thought, the colossal beast, the City Destroyer, veered off the path, charged into the sea, and pulled out a massive block of ice.

Tae-hyun cried out in horror.

"Hey! You shouldn't pull that out!"

No matter how hungry you are, why would you pull that out!

The perfect countermeasure of Archisus! Plugging its ears!

Excited, the City Destroyer began to stomp on the ice block with its massive hooves.

Under the beast's mighty blows, cracks began to spiderweb across the incredibly thick, powerful ice.

"Your Majesty! Should we shoot that thing?"

Gellendel shouted aggressively, nocking an arrow to his bowstring.

Tae-hyun replied firmly, "Stay still..."

"Just shut up for a second, will you?!"

"?"

"??"

One of the Elf warriors had finally snapped and yelled!

Gellendel, doubting his own ears, asked, "Who just insulted me..."

Crack, crack, craaaack—

The ice shattered completely, and a ship crashed heavily onto the ground.

Thud—

A werewolf warrior crawled out of the ship's cabin, looking around in confusion.

"???"

Then, looking at Tae-hyun, he asked, "Are you the one who released us from our seal?"

"......"

"......"

Gellendel was silent.

The Elf warriors were silent.

And Tae-hyun immediately replied,

"Indeed I am!"

"!??!?!"

Wait, how are you going to handle the consequences of that?!

The Elves stared at Tae-hyun with expressions of absolute horror.