A Coincidental Encounter

When a little boy he had never seen before pointed a finger at him, Cain looked utterly bewildered. Who on earth is that kid?

"Gasppp...! I see. You Guild Alliance bastards!"

"?"

"Since you can't beat us with raw skill, you cowardly brought a child to use as a human shield...!"

"..."

"..."

The Guild Alliance rankers stared at Cain in sheer disbelief. Did this bastard Cain really think that lowly of us?

"What is that idiot spouting just because he has a mouth to speak with?"

"Hmph! Did I say anything wrong? You guys do all sorts of dirty tricks on a daily basis anyway!"

"And like you guys are any paragon of fair play!"

"We're a hell of a lot better than cowards who rely on sheer numbers! How can someone who issues kill-on-sight orders to force players to quit the game be so shameless?!"

Hearing this, Su Ning's nephew tilted his head in confusion. "Uncle, what's a kill-on-sight order?"

"...Y-you misheard, my boy. There's no such thing!"

When the boy called Su Ning "Uncle," Cain grew even more suspicious. Uncle? No way...

"Aha! I knew it! You Guild Alliance scoundrels!"

"???"

"You kidnapped an innocent child to use as a shield, but knowing people would get suspicious, you forced him to call you 'Uncle'! You truly are filthy, cheap, despicable bastards! How can you call yourselves human and do such a thing?!"

"He's my actual nephew!!"

"...What? Your real nephew?"

Cain froze. A real nephew. If so, the hidden implication of those words was... As Cain fell into deep confusion, Tae-hyun quietly chimed in from beside him.

"Cain. From the way they're acting, I think he really is his nephew."

"B-but... why would he bring his nephew along? That guy isn't the family-man type! He must be pulling some cheap stunt to salvage his image! It's too late for that, you bastard!"

Twitch! Su Ning's temper flared at Cain's wild accusations. It was one thing if it came from Kim Tae-hyun, but anyone would explode after hearing such nonsense from a guy like Cain. In fact, all the Guild Alliance rankers were seething.

Tae-hyun is one thing, but who does this Cain bastard think he is, running his mouth like that...

As if your own image is any good, you punk!

"You're the one who had a massive character controversy for making your team owner do your chores! A guy like you is the number one trade target once the season ends!"

"Yeah! Exactly!"

As the rankers hurled insults at him, Cain panicked. He glanced back and asked, "Y-you're not going to trade me, right?"

"I won't," Tae-hyun replied casually.

"He said he won't, you bastards!"

His confidence instantly restored, Cain barked back at the rankers. The rankers cursed inwardly. Ugh, this guy literally survives on pure nepotism!

Tae-hyun, who had been watching their petty squabble, finally spoke up. "So, why is the Guild Alliance here? Are we fighting?"

The Guild Alliance rankers, who had laughed off Cain's words, flinched at Tae-hyun's cold tone.

"W-what are you talking about, Kim Tae-hyun? We forgot the past and made up, didn't we?"

"Y-yeah. We're even cheering for Team KL in the league. Don't say such hurtful things."

The rankers spoke with forced smiles, but Tae-hyun's party didn't believe a single word. Cheering? They were probably praying for their downfall every single night!

"I don't care whether you cheer for us or not. Just tell me why you're here. If you don't answer within five seconds, I'll assume you set an ambush and were waiting for us."

Tae-hyun spoke with absolute coldness. The Guild Alliance had never been spoken to so rudely in their entire lives. Usually, they were the ones power-tripping over others! Having the tables turned on them felt incredibly unfair and sorrowful.

"Hey, we could have just run into each other while passing by, why are you being so..."

"Five, four."

"Hey! I told you it's a coincidence! Stop thinking the entire world is out to set traps for you!"

"Three, two."

Tae-hyun kept counting down, completely ignoring whatever the Guild Alliance barked. The moment he reached one, he immediately drew his weapon.

"!!!!"

A chill ran down the spines of the Guild Alliance rankers. Tae-hyun's terrifying combat power was one thing, but his sheer willingness to start a fight right then and there, despite being outnumbered by over a dozen of their elite rankers, was truly frightening.

Confidence! Tae-hyun possessed a dominant, overwhelming confidence that no other ranker could replicate. And to his enemies, that confidence translated directly into pure terror. It made them feel like they could never win, no matter how advantageous their position was!

"The explorers called us! We didn't want to meet you either!"

"!"

At those words, Tae-hyun turned his gaze toward the explorer party. The explorers were currently scrambling to dive off the edge of the Sky Island.

"Catch those bastards!!" the Guild Alliance rankers roared in fury. How dare these punks try to get us killed?!

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up. The explorer party sobbed as they explained themselves.

-Sob... We really thought neither of you would show up...

-We never imagined both of you would actually come, waahhh!

The explorers actually had a point. Honestly, they had contacted both Kim Tae-hyun and Su Ning, but who could have predicted that both of them would respond? It was a genuine, bizarre coincidence.

"Hmm... Maybe the explorer party and Su Ning plotted together to set a trap..."

Hearing Tae-hyun's low murmur, the Guild Alliance rankers practically jumped out of their skins.

"What kind of crazy delusion is that?!"

"Do we look like we have the brains to pull off such a sophisticated trap?! You're the only one who does that kind of stuff!"

"True, that was a bit of a stretch."

Once Tae-hyun seemed convinced, the rankers let out a collective sigh of relief. They had come here without much thought and had nearly ended up in a bloodbath.

"K-Kim Tae-hyun! Please give me your autograph! I'm a huge fan!"

"Oh, sure. Hmm... but you're... Su Ning's nephew?" Tae-hyun asked, looking down at the boy. The kid nodded eagerly.

"Uh, by any chance, do you know what kind of relationship Su Ning and I have?"

"Aren't you guys close friends?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

An icy silence instantly descended upon the area. Neither Tae-hyun's party nor the Guild Alliance rankers could bring themselves to look up. My god... the sheer shamelessness...

"Uncle. You said you guys were close, right?"

"...We are. Very close."

Su ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ning couldn't bring himself to tell the truth. He couldn't exactly tell his nephew, 'Actually, we've been fighting Kim Tae-hyun since the early days of Pan-On, haha. We were his greatest enemies.' So he insisted, "We're close!"

"What kind of bulls—"

"See? We're this close! Of course we are!"

Su Ning quickly threw an arm around Tae-hyun's shoulder. Without his expression changing in the slightest, Tae-hyun asked:

"What do you think you're doing? Do you want to die?"

"Please, just play along for my sake!"

"Do I look like the kind of person who does charity?"

"...My nephew is watching!"

"I feel bad for the kid, then. He's about to watch his uncle get beaten like a dog."

"...Haven't I given you so much stuff up until now? Can't you show some basic human decency just this once?!"

Su Ning pleaded, resorting to words he would never normally utter. To the prideful Su Ning, the Guild Alliance's defeats and fractures were taboo topics he never spoke of. Yet, he was willing to bring them up now.

Seeing him go that far, Tae-hyun felt a slight pang of sympathy. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Well, I did squeeze a massive amount of resources out of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Guild Alliance! I've extorted so much from them that I should probably engrave 'Built with donations from the Guild Alliance' on the temple walls.

"Fine. I'll say we're reasonably close." Tae-hyun turned to Su Ning's nephew and spoke in a gentle voice. "We're quite close, actually."

"Wow! Please sign this!"

"Sure, sure. Here. By the way, do you know what your uncle does in Pan-On?"

"He said he punishes bad guys and protects justice in Pan-On!"

"..."

Tae-hyun's party stared at Su Ning as if he were a complete lunatic. This shameless piece of work...

"But I like Kim Tae-hyun better! Because you're on the side of justice too!"

"Uh, well, I don't think that's quite right, but let's just go with that." Tae-hyun signed his name as requested, even signing the gear the boy was wearing. The kid looked like he was about to die of happiness.

"Now that we're done, shall we head up to the Sky Castle? ...Su Ning, aren't you taking your nephew home?"

"M-my boy. It's dangerous up there. Come over here."

Specifically, our lives are in danger! Su Ning tried to pull his nephew back into the safety of the rankers. That way, if anything happened, the boy would be safe. However, the kid clung tightly to Tae-hyun and refused to let go.

"Can't I watch from right next to you? I promise I'll be really good!"

"I don't really mind."

I mind, you bastard! If his nephew accidentally got logged out, Tae-hyun would just go, 'Oh, he died,' but for Su Ning and the rankers, the gates of hell would open.

-Send him back over here! Convince him!

-Whatever.

Su Ning frantically sent hand signals, but Tae-hyun completely ignored them. After all, the Guild Alliance was the desperate party here, not him.

"Alright, be careful. Oh, right. Do you want to ride on Cain's shoulders?"

"Huh?! Really?! Can I actually do that?!"

"Sure. Go ahead, sit on Cain. He has six arms. Pretty cool, right?"

"Whoa! Awesome!!"

Tae-hyun was naturally popular with children. Unlike adults, kids were simple and didn't require him to be on guard or hostile.

"Lee Da-bi. Show him Towang-i. He'll love it."

"Sure. Here, do you want to pet him?"

"T-thank you! Here, I'll give you this as a present!"

"Oh, no, it's fine. You don't have to give me anything." Lee Da-bi declined with a warm, gentle smile. How great could a little kid's item possibly be? It felt wrong to accept a gift just for letting him pet Towang-i once...

"...!!!"

"Da-bi. You know ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you can't accept that, right?"

"B-but... but...!"

Lee Da-bi wept inwardly as she handed the necklace back. That single necklace looked like it was worth the entire annual budget of the Power Warrior Guild. What kind of crazy necklace is made to be that expensive?!

"Hey. Escort us."

"...We only take orders from the Guild Alliance, not from you, Kim Tae-hyun."

"We are doing this purely out of our own free will! Got it?!"

The Guild Alliance rankers spoke with proud, upright postures as they formed a tight defensive circle around Tae-hyun. Their words and actions were completely contradictory! Cain watched their proudly submissive display in sheer admiration. Next time I rebel, I should do it exactly like that.

Creeeeak—

The rusted gates, which had refused to budge no matter what they tried, swung open with a heavy, grinding sound. The explorer party gaped in astonishment. It actually opened!

"O-our prediction was right!"

"See? I told you Kim Tae-hyun was the key!"

"...Ahem. Cough." One of the Guild Alliance members cleared his throat loudly. Aren't you guys forgetting one other possibility?

"Ah... right. Well, I suppose it could also be thanks to the Guild Alliance..."

"Why is this punk being so cheeky?!"

"Cheeky? How is that cheeky! Honestly, it opened because of Kim Tae-hyun, not you guys!"

While they bickered, Tae-hyun's party immediately stepped inside. The interior was pitch-black, so dark that nothing could be seen. The players quickly cast light spells and used items to illuminate their surroundings.

"It looks like a factory," Da-bi noted.

"Yeah. It'd be nice if there were some items related to Engineering here."

"A bomb blueprint would be great," Cain suggested.

"That does sound good."

"..."

The Guild Alliance members following behind them wore incredibly complicated expressions. Just what on earth are you planning to do with those bombs?

"Hmm... things look blatantly suspicious from here on out."

After passing through a corridor that resembled a factory floor, they encountered a massive door. It was the kind of door that practically screamed 'boss fight' the moment it opened. Naturally, opening such doors was a job reserved for Cain—or anyone else whose death wouldn't be a major loss.

"Alright, Guild Alliance. Step up. Hurry up and open it."

"..."

Tae-hyun was fairly certain he heard someone mutter "Drop dead" from among the guild members, but he chose to ignore it. Lee Da-bi watched in sheer awe. To think she would live to see the day they ordered the elite rankers of the Guild Alliance around like errand boys!

Ah. Come to think of it, we've already been exploiting their guild members for the construction projects back on the Central Continent.

When she really thought about it, this wasn't even that surprising.