The Avatar of Mountaineering

Did this guy bribe someone while I was gone?

There was no way he could have found it this quickly through normal means! Unless those three guys had set up a signpost or something...

—"Why? Am I not allowed to find it already?"

—"N-No, it's just... amazing! I'm saying you're amazing."

—"What's the situation at the fortress?"

—"It's... seriously no joke."

—"...Alcott. Your information delivery skills are on par with Cain's."

—"N-No, you really have to see it for yourself to understand. It's not something I can explain in just a word or two."

Alcott turned his gaze, tense. Before his eyes, a massive fortress loomed, its silhouette flickering through the viciously howling blizzard.

Whooooosh—

It had been a long time since he had encountered a map that felt this menacing before even setting foot inside. Perhaps because it was meant to keep prisoners in, the fortress walls were ridiculously high, and its exterior was incredibly massive.

A pitch-black fortress painted entirely in obsidian! It felt as if the structure itself was screaming with its entire body:

"Enter and die!"

Why is there a fortress like this in a place like this? Alcott had never heard of such a place existing in Frozeland. Other players probably hadn't expected a massive fortress to be hidden here either, concealed as it was by powerful magic and the freezing cold...

Creeeeak—

As he watched, the fortress gates began to close.

—"I see. Alcott, I'm counting on you."

—"Huh?"

—"You need to slip inside and scout it out. We can't let this opportunity slip away."

—"Wait, hey. I just said it's dangerous... going in alone is a bit..."

—"But if it's you, the world's greatest assassin, I know you can do it. I believe in you."

Tae-hyun saying "I believe in you" carried a completely different weight compared to when anyone else said it. To think the Kim Tae-hyun believed in him! In that split second, Alcott lost his mind and blurted out an answer.

—"...Leave it to me!"

—"Great. I'll be there soon."

"..."

Did I lose my mind?!

His sanity returned a mere second later. Alcott clutched his head with both hands, groaning in agony. Why on earth did he...

Ugh... that bastard Kim Tae-hyun is getting more and more devilish by the day...!

In the past, he was only good at wielding the whip, but now he was getting dangerously good at offering carrots too!

...Wait a minute. We already found the stone tablet, so there's no reason to go inside the fortress, is there?

By the time Alcott realized this, he had already slipped inside.

"Hmm. The trick I use on Cain works on Alcott too."

Tae-hyun marveled. He wondered if it would work on everyone else. He'd have to test it out later!

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Alright, we got the stone tablet, so let's move."

"But Kim Tae-hyun. Since we found the tablet, can't we just back out now?"

At Cain's words, the rest of the party looked at him in sheer horror.

"You want to abandon Alcott?"

"Wow, that's a bit..."

"N-No! We can just tell him to come out!"

"We can't just leave a quest like this behind, Cain. We should clear it while we have the chance. What if some other bastards come along and clear it instead?"

Tae-hyun's fundamental way of thinking was different. If a normal ranker saw a quest that was too difficult to clear right now, they would think, Hmm, let's avoid this and clear it later.

But when Tae-hyun saw a difficult quest, he thought, Hmm, if I avoid this, someone else might snatch it, so I have to find a way to clear it right now!

He acts exactly like Lee Se-yeon. Choi Sang-yun thought.

Tae-hyun's mindset was identical to Lee Se-yeon's, who kept throwing herself at the ancient giants. Of course, Sang-yun didn't say this out loud. No matter how close they were as friends, saying something like that to Tae-hyun was a one-way ticket to getting PK'ed!

I might even get PK'ed in real life...

Upon discovering the fortress, the party finally understood why Alcott had been so terrified. Normally, a fortress was a smaller unit than a castle. City > Town, Castle > Fortress. That was the general feel!

The walls should be lower, the defense lower, and the level of the NPC soldiers guarding it should be relatively low...

But this Fortress of Iron and Blood was monstrously huge!

"What kind of prisoners did they have to lock up to build something like this...?"

"Scaling those walls isn't going to be an ordinary task."

"Cain. Can you do it?"

"...You're not asking me just because I have six arms right now, are you?"

"I-I was just asking."

Choi Sang-yun quickly changed the subject. This guy's gotten sharp!

"Hmm. It certainly looks difficult."

Tae-hyun circled the perimeter of the fortress, making a quick assessment. If it were simply high and steep, everyone here was high-level, so they could climb it given enough time...

The moment anyone tried to grab the wall and climb, the wall would interfere in all sorts of ways! Under these conditions, no one could climb it except Tae-hyun.

I think I can?

Even if the walls suddenly shot upward, flowed like water, and vibrated, as long as he held on tight...

Did Alcott manage to slip in before the gates closed? I should ask him to open them.

—"Alcott? Can you sneakily open the gates for us?"

He didn't know what the atmosphere was like inside, but if Alcott could open the gates, it would be a massive help. Assuming he could open them, of course!

—"Alcott? Hey. Alcott. What are you doing?"

However, there was no reply.

"...I think Alcott's dead."

"Already?!"

"It hasn't even been that long since he went in! Tell that guy to quit being an assassin!"

Complaints erupted all at once.

"Even if he's not dead, he seems to be in quite a pinch. Hmm. What should we do..."

"Should we break the wall?"

"No. Breaking it would draw too much aggro. We don't even know exactly who's inside."

"What about flying mounts..."

"That would be the same. Usually, flying in on a mount gets noticed immediately."

In Pan-On, any place with decent defenses had countermeasures to prevent players ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from entering on mounts. Usually magic, or anti-air artillery, or...

"We'll have to climb the nearby mountain and glide in using parachutes. They won't have countermeasures prepared against Engineering items."

Digging into unpopular skills was highly convenient at times like this. It allowed him to exploit blind spots!

"Wait, if Alcott isn't responding, doesn't that mean it's dangerous?"

"Perfect. We can test out our Adamantium gear."

"..."

Alcott, who had barely managed to slip inside before the fortress gates closed, moved swiftly. His stealth skill was exceptionally high, but Pan-On was not a game where one could afford to get cocky relying solely on skills! It required precise control.

"..."

Alcott's face stiffened. Wait, wait, wait...!

Ugh!

He had forgotten because the torch was so convenient, but this was Frozeland! Alcott grumbled and quickly pulled out a potion to drink. To keep from freezing, he had to keep eating and drinking.

Growl.

"?"

Ugh!

"What is it?"

Whine. Growl. Whine.

"What? An intruder slipped in? You're not confusing them with the guys we brought in earlier, are you?"

Hearing the hounds' growls, the Chimera prisoners began looking around.

Did my stealth break?!

Alcott panicked. Either his stealth had failed, or that hound was stronger than he thought... Either way, he had to move.

A safe place. I need to find a safe place first!

In an unfamiliar area, the first rule of survival was to find a safe spot before making a move. Fortunately, the inside of this fortress was ridiculously vast. There were plenty of buildings that looked like prison blocks scattered around. If he slipped into one of them, he could figure something out!

Roar!

"..."

Alcott felt like crying. Why did I lose my mind and come in here alone...!

—"Hey, Alcott. What are you up to? I found a great quest, want to clear it together?"

A whisper arrived from his friend Crawford, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but Alcott didn't have the mental capacity to reply. He ran for his life!

Growl! Bark! Snarl!

Snarl!

Hounds were appearing from all directions! If the distance closed any further, his stealth skill would completely break. Then he'd be chased by the prisoners too! Alcott ran desperately, scaling walls and leaping over roofs. He had to shake them off somehow.

Ah, a map that penalizes skills.

This was one of the types of areas players hated most—places that increased skill failure rates! Normally, the difficulty of such places skyrocketed. Skills that would normally activate without a hitch would end up dragging them down.

But to Tae-hyun, such penalties were practically meaningless.

...Of course, it was a different story for the others.

"Aaargh! The controls! The steering is messed up! Kim Tae-hyun?! Did you make this parachute half-assed?!"

"Sigh."

"Blessing of Archisus!"

The moment Tae-hyun boosted the party's Luck, the controls finally began to work properly, as if the penalty had been lifted. There was no way Tae-hyun, with his absurdly high Engineering skill, would have made a faulty parachute. It was simply the fortress's penalty!

"Since this place penalizes skills, be careful when you use them."

"Hmph. I already anticipated that much."

"..."

Seeing Cain act like that suddenly made Tae-hyun feel uneasy. That guy...

The members of the Power Warrior guild who had followed them seemed to think the same.

"In movies, guys like him are always the ones who cause trouble, right?"

"I swear, Cain is even more shameless than we are."

Hmm, I see.

Additional information obtained thanks to his status as King!

"..."

Why are we having a reunion here of all places...!

I wanted to find a facility, not meet NPCs...!

To be honest, he really didn't want to meet any Archisus Church NPCs! Just give him the Authority and the facility! He'd handle the rest himself!

That might be true, but out of all the good-aligned churches, I feel like the Archisus Church would have the most people locked up here.

Carbanog? This is where you're supposed to tell me I'm wrong.