The Price of Sincerity

"Mother!!" Cain wailed.

It was a cry filled with passionate emotion. No wonder!

"Hey! Why did you send the gift certificates to my parents instead of me?! Are my parents the ones playing in the matches?!"

"Wow, look at this passionate filial son."

"Seriously, first time seeing this in my life."

Despite their teasing, Cain did not back down. Leaving me out...! Leaving me out!

"As the owner of the gaming team, I just sent them as a token of appreciation, saying I'm taking good care of their son. Your parents said they received them well, though?"

"Fine, my parents are one thing! But even Ye-ri?!"

Betrayed by the younger sister he trusted, Cain shed hot tears. He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

The group listening in was dumbfounded. Even Tae-hyun!

"You... really... crossed the line!"

"Wow. This is really..."

"That's right. Apologize with cash," Su-hyeok chimed in.

The call ended there.

"Trash..."

"How did such a sister come from a brother like that?"

"Aaaargh! I'm reflecting too! I'm reflecting! I'm sorry! It's my fault!"

Cain wailed, face-planting onto the floor. Though Cain was a passionate filial son to his parents, he desperately wanted to be a good older brother to his sister. They had always been a close-knit pair—though it was closer to his sister unilaterally looking after him!

"Hmm. So, what do you think would be a good gift for Lee Da-bi? It has to be something she can receive happily without feeling burdened."

"...Can't I just go hunt down Lee Se-yeon in Pan-On instead?"

Choi Sang-yun tried to make a run for it, but Tae-hyun held him fast.

"This is a captain's order. Each of you, come up with one idea."

"What kind of first captain's order is this...?!"

If anyone else found out, they'd lose their minds! Still, since Tae-hyun—who rarely acted like this—had issued an order, the two shut their mouths and fell into deep thought.

"First of all, for someone like Lee Da-bi to receive it without feeling burdened, it shouldn't be too expensive, right?"

"How about a letter filled with your heart?"

Tae-hyun, listening from the side, snorted.

"If you give such a worthless item, will your sincerity even be delivered? That's a gift only Cain would like. Price is sincerity. Raise the price!"

"......"

"......"

For the first time, Jeong Su-hyeok thought that the senior he respected so much might actually be a bit of a handful. How are you supposed to raise the price while making it not burdensome?!

"Was Senior always like this?"

"He was always like this. You just had the thickest rose-colored glasses for the longest time."

It seemed Jeong Su-hyeok was finally opening his eyes. Tae-hyun had always been like this!

"But he is our captain, director, owner, and the landlord of our lodging."

"He certainly wears a lot of hats."

"Even if it's unfair, what can we do? We have to do it. Sigh. What kind of good gift is there... Honestly, Lee Da-bi is the type of person who would be happy even if Tae-hyun gave her a single disposable chopstick."

"What about a Pan-On item?"

"Let's not think like Cain."

Meanwhile, Cain snapped out of his daze and spoke up.

"No, guys! You have to help me! My sister hates me now!"

"Deal with it yourself, dude."

"Exactly. Isn't it your own fault?"

The two were cold. Honestly, Cain's problems were his own to solve.

"Hmm... Can't I pay with my body?"

"...What the hell are you talking about?" Choi Sang-yun asked, bewildered.

"You know, like those charity events where they auction off the right to have lunch with a celebrity for an hour."

Lunch with a celebrity! While one might wonder who would buy such a thing, it was surprisingly a time-honored tradition. People showed far more interest in it than one would expect.

"I think if Senior did something like that, it would sell for a high price."

"Oh..."

"But why are you startled?"

"N-Nothing."

Choi Sang-yun turned red. Such pure eyes!

On Sky Island, there were countless cities, castles, and villages scattered about. Some facilities were relatively intact, some were ruined, and some were completely gone.

Players moved quickly, gathering information on which city or castle was best. Securing a spot early was of the utmost importance!

Since all you had to do was go, plant a flag, and claim it, nothing could be easier.

Of course, players weren't just focused on land-grabbing. They also searched for various dungeons on Sky Island.

The most eye-catching dungeons were, without a doubt, the ruined Sky Castles floating above Sky Island!

Just looking at a ruined Sky Castle was enough to pique anyone's curiosity. After all, ever since Tae-hyun stole a Sky Castle from the Demon Realm, Sky Castles had become the center of everyone's attention.

"What does 'qualification' mean?"

"Don't we need to own more territory for it to open?"

"...?!"

It was a completely baseless claim, but once a rumor starts, it spreads like wildfire. All sorts of rumors began circulating among the players.

Some said you had to find a specific item, others claimed you needed a title, and some insisted it was territory...

Among them, a few sharp-witted explorer players realized something.

"Wait a minute... this was originally the land of the Ancient Empire. Those Sky Castles must have belonged to the Ancient Empire too. In that case, shouldn't we need a qualification related to the Ancient Empire?"

"But all the NPCs related to the Ancient Empire are dead."

"The kingdoms of the Central Continent today are split-offs from the Ancient Empire—in a way, they're its descendants. A king of one of those kingdoms might have the qualification."

"...Are you suggesting we kidnap the King of Erance????"

The other players gasped at this incredibly novel idea. In all their lives, they had never heard of kidnapping a king!

If they messed with the king of a powerful nation like the Erance Kingdom, they might literally have to quit Pan-On.

"What nonsense... when did I say that?"

"You just said 'a king'."

"Is Erance the only one? There are kings among the players too!"

Su Ning of the Auston Kingdom! Kim Tae-hyun of the Atali Kingdom!

For now, both were players wearing crowns!

"What about the Orc guilds in the Uruk region?"

"That's just a nation of barbarians with no pedigree, so no."

If Kim Tae-san had heard this, he would have been absolutely furious, but it was the truth.

Tae-hyun's crown was the historic crown of the Atali Kingdom, which traced its lineage back to the Ancient Empire.

Kim Tae-san's position as Great Chieftain, on the other hand, had no history to speak of.

If it felt unfair, he shouldn't have played an Orc!

"So if we bring one of those two, the castle gates might open?"

"Sounds plausible...! It's worth a shot."

"But who do we bring?"

"......"

The explorer parties looked at each other's expressions. When they actually thought about it, both were awkward to bring.

Su Ning...

"If we bring him, won't those bastards just bring their guild members and occupy it?"

"Highly likely."

"They're absolute bandits."

The explorer parties, who had been burned by large guilds several times, ground their teeth. There were no bastards more selfish than large guilds!

How many times had explorers painstakingly searched the wilderness to find a dungeon, only for large guild members to swarm in and say, 'Oh, the scenery is nice here, we'll take over. What? You don't want to? Then you'll have to die, haha,' and kick them out?

Thinking about that, they couldn't help but worry.

"But with so many players here, can a single guild really occupy it?"

"I don't know about the probability, but just the fact that they *can* do it makes me reluctant."

"True... then what about Kim Tae-hyun?"

"Kim Tae-hyun is rumored to have a great personality."

"...What kind of bullshit is that? Are you a newbie who didn't play Pan-On 1? Don't you know Kim Tae-hyun slaughtered everyone who tried to enter the dungeons he occupied back in Pan-On 1?"

"Oh, come on. That's just a false rumor spread by the large guilds to slander him. If those guild bastards hadn't tried to force their way in, they wouldn't have died."

"...?????"

Hearing the words of a player who started in Pan-On 2, the explorer player who had directly experienced Tae-hyun in Pan-On 1 was dumbfounded.

My god...! History is being rewritten!

From the perspective of a player who had watched from afar as Tae-hyun slaughtered people without giving them a second to speak, he couldn't understand this friend who thought, 'Kim Tae-hyun is nice, right?'

It felt like watching someone pluck a tiger's whiskers while saying, 'He won't get mad, right?'

"Still, Kim Tae-hyun is human. If he opens the castle, won't he want to take the rewards first?"

"True."

"Guys, you're missing one thing..."

"??"

"First of all, would either of them even come just because we called? Honestly, whichever one comes, we should be extremely grateful."

"...!!!"

Come to think of it, that was true. They called themselves a ranker explorer party, but compared to Su Ning or Tae-hyun, they were like fireflies in front of a full moon.

For rankers of that caliber, thousands or tens of thousands of requests of all kinds were probably flying in every day...

"I thought of a good way."

"?"

"Let's send it to both. If even one of them bites, it's a jackpot."

"Are you a genius?"

"Sending it to both definitely seems to have the highest chance."

"Hey, what if both of them come?"

"Does that make sense? Honestly, I don't think even one will come. Two? No way."

"I'll do my best to send the request. Hmm, we need to write something enticing..."

"How about [Clickbait]?"

"...Are you crazy?!"

"N-No, I mean, Power Warrior succeeded with this..."

"Copy something worth copying! Just request politely! We should seriously request by offering the quest info we got!"

"The Guild Alliance is currently interested in the Demon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Realm. So, I prepared a Demon Realm-related quest."

"Ooh! As expected! What is it?"

"It's the [Edaor] quest, but it looked too difficult so we weren't doing it. But for the Guild Alliance, it'll be a different story."

"Isn't Edaor a Demon Duke? Isn't the difficulty too high?"

"He was heavily injured last time, so it should be doable. Either way, it'll catch their interest."

Explorer players were free in this regard. A quest looks too hard? Then let's not clear it ourselves—let's pass it to someone else!

"Do we have anything good for Kim Tae-hyun?"

"I have a collection of history books and quests related to the Archisus Church."

"Isn't that too modest? If he's the Pope, he probably has all of that already."

"Ugh... but... we don't have anything else..."

The explorer player, having his weak point poked, grumbled. Honestly, they didn't know what would convince Kim Tae-hyun! If this didn't work, then it just couldn't be helped.

"Yeah. Sending it is what matters. Let's send it."

"Great!"

The explorer players finished their work and sent the requests. To Su Ning of the Auston Kingdom, and to Tae-hyun of the Atali Kingdom.