The Art of Persuasion

If he didn't quickly persuade them and make them understand "why I attacked you," their discontent would explode! However, Tae-hyun replied with absolute confidence.

"From now on..."

-?

"Anyone who doesn't listen to me gets the death penalty."

-What the...

-When did we ever give you that authority! A lowlander from the ground dares to be so arrogant!

An arrogant statement that even Tae-hyun's Speech, Reputation, and Infamy couldn't cover! But Tae-hyun had already made up his mind. If they wouldn't listen to reason, he would make them listen with force!

-I'll kill you first!

-We treated a lowlander with respect, and this is how he repays us!

The Ancient Knights possessed immense defense and health. There was a reason the Guild Alliance rankers had struggled and retreated. But Tae-hyun had always been an expert at melting down these tin cans.

Dozens of attacks exploded, and bombs spewed fire. Boom, boom, boom, boom! Tae-hyun slipped between the knights and began relentlessly dealing damage. Shaken by the heavy damage, the knights panicked and tried to grab him.

But such skills couldn't bind Tae-hyun. Using his overwhelming evasion as a shield, Tae-hyun swept through the battlefield, striking the knights.

-What is this guy! Even when we hit him, the attacks don't land!

-You fools! It's Archisus! If you don't aim perfectly, the attacks won't register!

-!

The knights came at him with two methods. First, accuracy-boosting skills. Players had tried to hit Tae-hyun by raising their accuracy several times, but none had ever succeeded. But these knights were different. With their overwhelming levels combined with the Unique skills of the Ancient Empire, damage finally began to register on Tae-hyun.

Shoot. I need to be careful. Although his armor and other skills covered him, taking hits consistently meant a critical blow could land, which was threatening. After all, Tae-hyun's total HP was incredibly low compared to these knights.

-Circle of Counterattack, Critical Explosion!

-Aaargh!

Tae-hyun parried their basic attacks directly, knocking the knights down.

-!

The second method was wide-area skills. These area-of-effect attacks were actually easier to deal with.

-Archisus's Charge, Aki-sus's Divine Territory!

The domain expanded around him, completely overriding their area-of-effect skills. Once experienced, anyone would tremble at its viciousness and sheer annoyance! The knights were no exception.

-Ugh!

One of the knights collapsed. Even though Tae-hyun had the chance to finish him off, he didn't. He simply left him alone and moved on to the other knights.

-?

Dumbfounded, the knight used a recovery skill to get back on his feet.

-You bastard! You must have lost track of me, now let's—Argh!

Tae-hyun immediately spun around and attacked him again! The knight collapsed backward once more.

Knock them down when they recover and stand up, knock them down again when they recover and stand up... Only then did the knights realize. This crazy bastard is planning to beat us until we submit!

-How dare you look down on us?!

-Do you think such a pathetic trick will work on us?!

Surprisingly, it worked.

"Everyone. Please pay more taxes."

"Why do we have to pay more taxes?"

"Good question. Because if you don't, Kim Tae-hyun will invade."

"But Kim Tae-hyun hasn't invaded."

"He will soon."

"But Kim Tae-hyun actually defended us against the invading NPCs."

"Shut that bastard up."

"What the..."

The player who was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠questioning them so closely was dragged away. The players standing nearby were dumbfounded. These guys are finally showing their true colors!

"Are they really the Guild Alliance?"

"Their skill at collecting taxes under false pretenses is..."

The players grumbled. When they first came to Sky Island, they had expected a new world free from large guilds and tax worries, but now that they were up here, it felt exactly the same. They were all the same!

As time passed, other guilds began raising their taxes as if showing their true colors as well.

"Uh, why did the tax go up by 5%?"

"The neighboring guild raised theirs too. We had no choice."

"They raised them at the exact same time, didn't they collude?"

"No, we didn't. Shut that bastard up."

"Argh! I can't take this anymore! Everyone! These guild bastards are absolute piece of sh—muffled noises!"

But in reality, Tae-hyun didn't invade. In the first place, Tae-hyun had very little interest in the lands of Sky Island! He only fought because the guilds told him to "piss off." If they had left him alone, he wouldn't have fought them at all.

Instead, Tae-hyun hunted down the knights like rats. Near the crashed Sky Castle, Tae-hyun's party could constantly be seen roaming around, beating the absolute crap out of the Ancient Knights.

-Aren't the guild guys just using Kim Tae-hyun as an excuse when he isn't even invading?

-No matter how you look at it, it seems like they're doing this to prepare for territory wars.

-Yeah. Looking at the facilities, they're definitely preparing for territory wars.

No matter how they thought about it, preparing this much against a single person was far too excessive!

...Of course, they really were preparing to face Kim Tae-hyun, but it didn't look that way to the players. These guys are using Kim Tae-hyun as an excuse to build up their territories!

While ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the players' discontent steadily piled up, Tae-hyun finally defeated the last group.

"Whew. You should've stopped running."

-Ugh... We... will never lose...

These were the guys who had tried to attack a village to escape Tae-hyun's pursuit, only to get thrashed! Tae-hyun relentlessly beat them again and again. Until the knights cried, "Surrender!"

"I can't believe such a method of persuasion exists...!"

"Don't even think about copying him, you crazy bastard."

Choi Sang-yun scolded Cain from beside him as the latter muttered in awe. How could anyone copy that!

Tae-hyun's method of persuasion was truly spectacular. He left the knights with only about 5% of their HP, and every time they recovered, he beat them again and again. After repeating this dozens of times, even the most stubborn knights screamed, "Surrender! We surrender!"

"From now on, anyone who doesn't follow my orders and acts on their own will face Archysis Punishment."

Archysis Punishment was an upgrade from the death penalty! The knights nodded with faces full of terror. There was a reason they had been warned since ancient times never to associate with anyone associated with "Archisus"!

-They really are out of their minds.

-There's a reason they were called the thugs of the Empire...

-Thug... No, Lord Archisus. What are your orders?

"Go into the castle and stay locked up forever?"

-...

-...

"What. You don't like it?"

-N-no, of course not. We will obey.

Ever since the Empire settled on Sky Island, the fierce and violent Garuda Kingdom had been biding its time. To counter them, the Ancient Empire had surrounded Sky Island with Sky Castles to complete a grand barrier, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as time passed, the Sky Castles crumbled and fell into ruin.

"......"

[......]

The culprits behind the crash couldn't help but feel awkward. Tae-hyun looked at the knights and asked,

"Did you guys know about this?"

-Huh? There was such a thing?

-The castle we were in had that kind of effect? We thought it was just a regular castle.

"......"

Seriously, these guys...!

"The Garuda Kingdom is a kingdom of fierce and violent warriors. To withstand their grand invasion, all adventurers of Sky Island must unite!"

"Reward: ?, ???, ????"

"Quest Grade: Legendary"

"Uh... we have to unite?"

The difficulty already looked worthy of the Legendary rank!

Well, Sky Island was too good to be completely without risk.

There was no such thing as a free lunch. If you wanted to reap the sweet rewards of a new region, there had to be a price. Was this the price?

Ah, how was I supposed to know? Why is it my fault that those guys are idiots?

"Tae-hyun, is it even possible for us to unite?"

"There's absolutely no way that's happening."

"Then what are we going to do? Pulling the kingdom's NPCs out to bring them here is a bit..."

"But now that I think about it, I don't even need to step forward, do I?"

"?"

"I have my kingdom down below anyway. If they're desperate, they'll come to me."

"...!!!"

-Ryu Tae-su. Now that the league schedule is nearing its end, which team do you think will win the championship?

-Realistically, wouldn't it be Team KL?

-Ah. Isn't it still possible for Yuseong Gaming to make a comeback?

-Even so, Team KL is still... *oof*.

-I-I see. Then, what about second place?

-If nothing unexpected happens, I believe our Yuseong Gaming will take it.

Lee Se-yeon shut Ryu Tae-su up before answering. Since the casual question turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, the reporter asked with an expectant look.

-May I ask for your predictions on the other rankings as well?

-Hmm...

Meeting the reporter's expectant gaze, Lee Se-yeon fell into thought. Meeting these expectations and hyping up the atmosphere was also a player's duty!

-Then, shall we make a light prediction?

Lee Se-yeon had no idea at the time. She didn't know that this ranking prediction would trigger a far more enthusiastic response than she could have ever imagined! With the response being so hot, people naturally began asking players from other teams as well. And that question eventually reached Tae-hyun's team.

-Kim Tae-hyun. All the other teams are predicting Team KL as the tentative first-place winner. What are your thoughts on this?

-Thank you for the high praise. We will not become complacent and will do our best to finish the remaining schedule.

Tsk. How boring.

The reporter grumbled inwardly. What a textbook, perfect answer!

Tae-hyun was notorious among reporters. A man who ran so wild while playing Pan-On became an absolute iron wall, sharp and precise, whenever they tried to get an interview in public. He was the definition of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an iron man, showing not a single opening!

While perfect from the perspective of a team owner and captain, it was highly disappointing for a reporter. If Tae-hyun made even a slight slip of the tongue, it would be an absolute sensation...

Since his popularity was sky-high even without him drawing attention, they couldn't even complain about such answers. If a reporter dared to say, "Please give us a more interesting answer," they would probably be buried alive by his fans that very day.

As expected, Kim Tae-hyun is impossible.

I have to target Cain.

-Cain. The other t—

-Thank you for the high praise! We will do our best and work hard!

-I haven't even asked the question yet...

-Thank you! We will work hard!

-??? Is he carrying a tape recorder around?