The Burden of Absolute Victory

Contrary to Kim Tae-hyun's suspicions, Lin Zhipeng's offer was made with one hundred percent good intentions. And contrary to what Lin Zhipeng had said, his assistance proved to be incredibly useful. While Lin Zhipeng himself was a high-ranking player, the status of him and his party leaders was what truly mattered. They were guild leaders heading competent, mid-to-small-sized guilds! Though these guilds weren't as famous as the mega-guilds, they possessed solid, underlying power. Individually, they couldn't compare to the giants, but when they joined forces, even the largest guilds couldn't afford to ignore them. After all, wasn't the Guild Alliance itself originally formed by a coalition of Chinese guilds?

"Alright. If I need anything, I'll call you."

"Understood. Thank you once again."

Lin Zhipeng bowed politely several times before taking his leave. Tae-hyun's companions watched him go, thoroughly impressed.

"He's exceptionally polite."

"A rare breed in Pan-On."

"Usually, guild leaders are a lot more shameless."

"..."

Lee Da-bi listened with a highly conflicted expression. They weren't talking about her, but for some reason, she felt a sudden prick of guilt.

"Ahem. Kim Tae-hyun. So..."

"?"

"What about the movie?"

"Are you really that desperate for an interview? You do them all the time after matches anyway."

"That's completely different from being in a movie!"

Showing his face on the big screen and talking smoothly in a movie couldn't even be compared to a standard post-match interview!

"What a vain bastard..."

"Y-you guys want to be in it too!"

"Honestly, my conscience would prick me too much to say much in an interview."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Choi Sang-yun fell into deep thought. If they interviewed Team KL for the movie, what would he even say?

"How did you feel when you went to raid Nittinger?"

"Uh, Tae-hyun said he'd handle it, so I just followed him thinking, 'Well, it'll work out somehow, just like it always does.'"

"...Ah. I see."

"Yeah, even if I said that, they'd probably edit it out, right?"

"Exactly. If you get greedy for things beyond your station, you'll only end up burning your nose. Even if you don't obsess over interviews, as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long as you prove yourself with raw skill..."

"But I want to be treated way better than my actual skills deserve!"

"Wow. What a shameless prick."

"He's always been like this."

"Shut up! What do you guys know? I want to go to my school reunion and have everyone treat me like a big shot! I want to be treated like a legend among my friends!"

"Aren't you already treated well enough?"

Lee Da-bi asked, genuinely puzzled. The players of Team KL were fundamentally evaluated as world-class, top-tier pros.

...Of course, most of the public had no idea how things actually ran behind the scenes within the team...

"But there are still guys who tease and look down on me!"

"I don't think that's going to change just because you get better tournament results..."

"Shh. Cain's going to cry."

Tae-hyun, who had been listening quietly, slowly spoke up.

"Fine, Cain. Since you're so determined, it's hard for me to stop you."

"!"

"If you follow whatever I tell you to do from now on without a single complaint, I'll consider letting you appear in the movie."

"O-of course!"

Cain answered instantly, without a moment's hesitation. Choi Sang-yun gasped in shock at his response.

"Hey. Do you even know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means Tae-hyun is going to work you to the bone in his own special way."

"...Hasn't he been doing that already?"

He's surprisingly sharp.

The others thought to themselves. That was certainly true! However, Choi Sang-yun shook his head with a dead-serious expression.

"What he's done so far... was actually him being incredibly considerate of you. Once you experience Tae-hyun when he gets truly serious, you'll naturally find yourself crying out, 'Ah, I was being treated with so much kindness before!'"

Choi Sang-yun, who had run dungeons with Tae-hyun back in Pan-On 1, shuddered as if recalling a trauma. Even now, he occasionally had nightmares about running dungeons with Tae-hyun.

"...So you're saying that the Kim Tae-hyun who ran dungeons and trained skills with me up until now was the 'kind, considerate' version of Kim Tae-hyun?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"...I don't need to be in the movie anymore, so I take back what I just said—"

"Like I'd let you."

A guillotine match! In sports, this term referred to a clash between two incredibly desperate teams. For example, when two teams on the brink of relegation faced off near the end of the league... Even if it didn't go quite that far, there were often situations where a single loss would deal a devastating blow. Just like the Beijing Fighters right now!

In truth, all of the chaos surrounding the Beijing Fighters had begun with their defeat in the previous match against Team KL. Because they had been performing well near the top of the league standings before that, the fans' disappointment was all the greater. In the eyes of the fans, it looked as though a coach suffering from a delusion of grandeur had tried some bizarre tactics, causing the entire team to collapse.

Of course, from the perspective of Sabet, the coach, this was incredibly unfair... but he had already half-resigned himself to his fate.

I was the idiot for coming here just because they offered a mountain of cash...

Sabet gave up. *Fine, do whatever the hell you want!* Once the coach checked out, the assistant coaches aligned with the general manager's faction tried to take the reins and implement various ideas, but naturally, none of it worked. With the players' teamwork already shattered, they tried to field unprepared players, resulting in them getting thrashed even by weaker teams...

And in the midst of this disaster, their second match against Team KL loomed! It was the worst possible opponent they could face.

Come to think of it, we're the only ones in a guillotine match. For them, it's just another day...

Honestly, Team KL had nothing to lose even if they were defeated. They were currently holding an overwhelming lead in first place. Losing their undefeated streak might sting a little, but if they dared to complain to other teams, saying, "Ugh! We didn't get an undefeated championship, we just got a regular championship... I'm so frustrated...!" they would immediately get punched in the face.

*Murmur, murmur—*

"What are you guys doing?"

Sabet asked, looking bewildered. For some time now, the coaches from the general manager's faction had taken complete control of the match strategies, so Sabet had only been receiving the final results. Watching them ruin a roster of excellent players was both hilarious and tragic...

"We're preparing magic scrolls."

"I know those are scrolls... but why are you packing those specific scrolls...?"

Sabet was flabbergasted as he watched the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠players grab every area-of-effect magic scroll they could lay their hands on. Of course, AoE skills were always great when used correctly. But the scrolls the players were packing now were on an entirely different level.

These were high-tier magic scrolls that players weren't even supposed to be able to handle yet! They were incredibly rare and expensive items, hard to find even on the auction house. Their power was undeniable, but using such scrolls was practically a mutual suicide pact. To use something like this in an official tournament match... Had they completely lost their minds?!

"Why are you taking these?!"

"Uh, the coaches told us to use them this time. They said if we take them down with us, we can force a draw."

"What kind of bullshit is that?! What if you guys die first?! What do you think the fans will say?!"

No two defeats were the same. Fighting your hardest and losing was worlds apart from trying to cheese a win and failing miserably! If the highly expectant fans saw them blow themselves up and die, would they say, "They lost, but they fought well"? No! They'd say, "Since you're dead anyway, just uninstall the game!"

"Even if you say that, it's what the coaches ordered..."

"...Agh, seriously! This godforsaken team!!"

Tae-hyun's family group chat was always most active right before and after his matches. Tae-hyun was about to reply that he would work hard as usual, but then he noticed something strange.

...?

His father and mother weren't talking about Team KL at all; they were discussing other gaming teams!

Tae-hyun felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deeply wronged. He could understand Kim Tae-san's antics, but why was his mother watching lower-middle tier teams instead of the league leaders?

Tae-hyun felt a bit sour, but he decided to accept it. Even if his parents cheered for other teams, it didn't mean they had stopped supporting him. Still, he had never imagined they would stop watching his matches simply because his team was too good!

Well, at least I should be glad they didn't become fans of Yuseong Gaming.

If they had started cheering for Lee Se-yeon, that would have truly stung...

Rumble, rumble, rumble, crash!

"..."

"..."

"...Are those Beijing Fighters bastards actually insane?!"

Cain muttered with a dazed expression. The match had ended in just five minutes! They hadn't even managed to see the faces of the Beijing Fighters players before it was over. Not long after the match started, system messages suddenly popped up warning of falling meteors and earthquakes... and as they simply stood their ground and endured, the match abruptly ended because the opposing team's base had been completely obliterated.

"We're not going to get suspected of match-fixing because of these idiots, are we...?"

"What on earth were they thinking? Were they trying to force a draw?"

"Tae-hyun. What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking... that I finally understand why my parents stopped watching our matches."

"????"

Contrary to Tae-hyun's thoughts, countless Pan-On fans around the world were finding Team KL's matches incredibly entertaining.

The only ones who couldn't laugh while watching the match were the fans of the Beijing Fighters!