The Undefeated Monsters
'I wish there were more NPCs from other churches. No. Wait.'
Tae-hyun recalled the heroes of other churches currently residing in his Sky Castle. He had brought them along because they were called "heroes," but now they were nothing but a nuisance to deal with! If he took them outside, other churches would react like: "Huh?? Elder? Why are you in the Archisus Church? What? You belong to the Archisus Church? No, you belong to our church... You bastards of the Archisus Church!!!" So he couldn't even use them properly. Their main use was guarding the Sky Castle!
'Come to think of it, meeting them will only cause headaches, won't it?'
Carbanog advises you to think carefully. He notes that those church heroes would have posed no issue if the Avatar had simply returned them to their respective churches.
If he hadn't scammed them using the name of the Archisus Church and had just quietly returned them, it would have been a quest resolved without any issues. The other churches would have wept with gratitude, and Tae-hyun would have received a massive amount of Contribution Points! Restoring relations would have been a bonus!
'No. I can't do that. If I did, the other churches would become too strong.'
In terms of level alone, the heroes of the churches were terrifying NPCs. What if those heroes returned to their respective churches and fully recovered? In the future, they would return as a massive threat to the Archisus Church!
Carbanog expresses deep admiration for the Avatar's thoroughness in preemptively treating every single church on the continent as an enemy!
"Haha. You never know when we might end up fighting."
Anyway, Carbanog was right.
'This time, if I find church NPCs, I won't pull any tricks and will just return them quietly.'
To stack up Contribution Points and recover some affinity...
Carbanog remarks that he doesn't believe the relationship is something that can be salvaged at this point.
"No way. Nothing is impossible in life. Didn't I make up with Su Ning?"
????
Was... was that making up? Could that really be called making up?
"I don't see any people around?"
"Shh. Quiet. I hear something over there."
From afar, the sound of hounds barking and frantic running could be heard. Someone was being chased!
"..."
"..."
"Do you think Alcott is drawing their attention for us?"
"That must be it!"
"No, it sounds like he's being chased..."
"Shh. Quiet."
Tae-hyun's party decided to compromise and agree that Alcott had sacrificed himself. Thank you, Alcott!
"This is a scam!"
"Yeah. This was way too weird."
The players of the opposing team grumbled. Looking at them, their coach had a pathetic expression on his face.
"You guys got utterly crushed, and now you're talking nonsense? Don't say that anywhere else. You'll only get mocked more."
They had just been thoroughly thrashed by Team KL.
The countries that sent the most teams to the Pan-On 1st Division were the United States and China. Next was Korea! The fact that they had made it through the fierce competition within their own countries proved their skill.
However, the league wasn't won by the country that sent the most teams. The country with the most powerful team received the spotlight! And Team KL was now a powerhouse whose skill no one doubted.
At the beginning of the season, people said things like: "They haven't been fully verified yet," "Since they're a small gaming team, they'll be analyzed and their weaknesses will be exposed as the league progresses," "Their limits are clear." Now, those people had shut their mouths and lowered their heads.
Instead, the headlines of articles were filled with praise:
Team KL, the Undefeated Monsters!
Who Can Stop Team KL?
The Myth of the Small-Scale Team Continues!
By the middle of the season, no one doubted Team KL's skill anymore. An undefeated winning streak! Right now, every other team had at least one loss, but Team KL, running solo and undefeated, was overwhelming.
Now, instead of doubting Team KL's skill, people talked about other things.
Losing to a team that was seriously being discussed for an undefeated championship was indeed nothing to be ashamed of. What was truly shameful was making weird excuses after losing! Knowing this, the coach sternly admonished the players.
"Kim Tae-hyun is an incredible player. We were just weak. Let's raise our levels and train our skills more."
"But Coach. It really was weird."
"Our damage barely registered."
The coach got angry at the players' continuous excuses.
"You bastards! Are you really that weak and pathetic?! We already knew Kim Tae-hyun had high evasion!"
"No. It didn't register on the other players either."
"Did they change their equipment?"
"?"
At the players' words, the coach finally noticed something strange. Kim Tae-hyun was one thing, but even the others?
"We targeted Choi Sang-yun to try and cut him down, but even in a situation where a critical hit should have landed, it didn't trigger."
"Yeah. We attacked Cain, but that guy was way too sturdy."
"Isn't that just because he has multiple arms?"
"It's not that, Coach. Sure, he was holding multiple shields, making him hard to hit, but even when we landed a hit on his torso, it just bounced off."
"...!!"
The coach's expression turned serious. Team KL got new equipment? Since they were clearing all the legendary quests in Pan-On, it wouldn't be strange if they had obtained new gear. But still, the opposing team's equipment was also incredibly expensive, so for there to be such a massive difference...
"I'll have to report this to the higher-ups. We might need to secure new equipment as well."
At the coach's words, the players buzzed.
"Can we even get anything better than what we have now?"
"We barely managed to get this gear too."
"But Team KL got theirs. There must be a way for us as well."
The players were moved by the coach's reassuring words.
"Ah. And don't talk about the equipment. Especially to other players."
"???"
"We can't be the only ones suffering a defeat."
Ah... Coach...! So cool! The players unanimously agreed.
'I hope Team KL beats up the teams ranked above us!'
'In the meantime, we can prepare a countermeasure.'
Clank—
Opening the door of a nearby building and stepping inside, they were greeted by iron bars stretching out to the sides. A building used as a prison! True to its name, most of the buildings inside the fortress were used as prisons.
"It just opens?"
"Yeah."
What Tae-hyun had obtained outside was the Fortress Key and Warden's Journal. Usually, these kinds of items were designed to be used anywhere. Especially if it was a key. But looking at it, the iron bars weren't locked, and the doors were already open...
Carbanog points out that since this is a facility from the Ancient Empire, there is absolutely no way the doors would still be locked after all this time.
'...Well, that's true.'
Come to think of it, the prisoners were already roaming around outside. It was safe to assume there were no guards left to watch them.
'Still, it'd be nice if there was something useful. A treasure chest... or maybe where they stored the prisoners' belongings.'
Carbanog snorts at the Avatar's expectations. He asks if you aren't trying to get a free ride too much, even if you are the Avatar of Luck.
'...'
"It's creepy. Usually in movies, something pops out in places like this."
At Cain's words, the guild members glared at him. This tactless bastard...!
Crash!
Before he could even finish his sentence, the sound of a window shattering echoed, and something leaped in from the side.
"Aaaack!"
"It's because of Cain!"
"!?"
What did I even do?!
While everyone was startled, Tae-hyun was already lunging forward. When in doubt, strike first!
As the Roughly Made Unstable Steel Sword flashed, savage damage exploded from the tip of the blade.
'Is it a beast?'
"Intruder, eliminate. Intruder, eliminate."
'It's a golem!?'
Hearing the mechanical voice, Tae-hyun realized his opponent's identity and immediately swapped weapons. If it was a golem... Ancient Hammer!
Boom!
With a terrifying sound, the Ancient Hammer struck the golem. However, the golem didn't budge.
The Ancient Hammer has failed to inflict any damage on the Hybrid Golem!
Carbanog warns you that this creature is a hybrid, a mix of all elements!
'What did the Ancient Empire people make this golem out of?'
Carbanog remarks that it was created precisely to stop people like the Avatar who try to get a free ride!
The Hybrid Golem was a golem focused on eliminating weaknesses. If Lee Se-yeon had seen this, she would have admired it, saying, "Wow, I need to write down this recipe!"
A bit of fire attribute, a bit of ice attribute, a bit of lightning attribute, mixed with some living organisms... Because it was made by mixing all attributes, it had no specific weakness! It was a golem designed to prevent players from taking an easy victory by exploiting elemental weaknesses.
"It'll just take some time, but it's not like I can't kill it."
Tae-hyun swapped weapons again. Even if the Hybrid Golem attacked with various attributes, it didn't really matter. Most of them would just be evaded anyway!
Evaded the fire attribute attack...
Evaded the ice attribute attack...
Occasionally, it would cast a curse, but there was no way Tae-hyun would get hit by such attacks.
'Actually, wait. Let me get hit once.'
Whoosh!
As the Hybrid Golem shot a curse, Tae-hyun didn't dodge and took it head-on.
Successfully blocked the curse!
Reflecting the curse back at the attacker...
Thud!
The curse was reflected right back. Tae-hyun's face brightened.
'Not bad!'
At this rate, trying to overwhelm him with a barrage of curses would definitely fail. Was one of Tae-hyun's weaknesses not curses? If dozens or hundreds of unavoidable curses were cast on him, he would inevitably weaken. Usually, instant-cast curses had weak effects, but getting hit by hundreds of them would still bind his feet. The Hybrid Golem's level was nothing to scoff at, and if he could reflect its curse, it meant most ordinary curses would be blocked.
You have recklessly blocked an attack with your body!
Constitution stat has increased.
'Oh.'
Because he played by constantly evading attacks, his Constitution stat increased even if he got hit just a little.
'Come to think of it, I have been neglecting this kind of training.'
Back in Pan-On 1, he had a blacksmith class and an incredibly high HP pool. To train his Constitution stat, he used to intentionally get hit, take off his equipment and get hit, and lower his HP to get hit repeatedly. Stats weren't only obtainable through leveling up! They could be earned by overcoming various situations. Of course, once you did it, you had to keep raising the difficulty. Just like how Tae-hyun had dived bare-bodied into lava in Pan-On 1...
Carbanog is utterly horrified, asking if you really dived bare-bodied into lava in your past life.
But in Pan-On 2, Tae-hyun hadn't done much of this "getting hit to raise stats" training!
Thud! Thud!
"...Aren't you going to kill it?"
"Ah. Hold on. Let me get hit a few more times."
Tae-hyun began to get beaten up in various ways—getting hit from the front, from the back, falling down and getting hit. Moreover, the Hybrid Golem was an opponent that attacked with various attributes. Getting hit by those attributes could increase his Constitution or his elemental resistances! Though most of them ended up as evasions...
'If I keep getting hit, won't at least one land?'