The Art of the Shortcut
[Turtle is using Iron Wall!]
[Defense has increased by over 500%!]
[Due to the additional blessing of Phytos...]
“Ugh.”
A groan escaped Kim Tae-hyun’s lips as he watched the scene unfold.
The sheer number of stacked defense buffs was absolutely disgusting. From a damage dealer's perspective, seeing a tank layer defense skills like that was enough to give anyone goosebumps. A dealer would have to pierce through all of that just to get a single kill.
“The Phytos Church is seriously impressive.”
“Yeah, they're incredibly sturdy.”
The gathered guild members whispered in admiration.
Hearing this, the priests of the Sadiq Church flared up in anger.
“Who do you think brought that beast here in the first place?!”
“You fools have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear!”
The Sadiq Church had done all the hard work, yet the Phytos Church—who wasn't even present—was getting all the praise. The Sadiq priests burned with jealousy and rage. Literally, they were actually catching fire.
“What's wrong with those guys?”
“Just ignore them. They're Sadiq. Being weird is their default state.”
“True, they are Sadiq fanatics...”
The captured guild members had already half-adapted to the Sadiq Church. Sadiq equaled weirdos!
“By the way...”
“That guy, Kim Tae-hyun...”
“Seriously...”
“Doesn't he seem completely insane?”
“...What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“Watch your mouth, you idiot!”
The guild members quickly hushed the clueless player, terrified. Is this guy trying to get us all killed?!
“We're standing right next to Kim Tae-hyun's companions, and you're badmouthing him? Are you a spy from the Midas Guild?! Trying to drag us down with you?!”
“N-No! Of course not! I just spoke my mind without thinking...!”
The clueless player turned pale. He realized just how dangerous his slip of the tongue had been. He could feel the Midas Guild members nearby watching them intently.
If we catch them slipping, we're telling Kim Tae-hyun!
That exact sentiment was practically radiating from them.
The Guild Alliance members lowered their voices and resumed their conversation.
“Anyway, did you see Kim Tae-hyun's monster army?”
“He's crazy... I mean, he's truly amazing.”
“Yeah. I thought I was looking at a Necromancer.”
There was a reason for their awe. The monster army Tae-hyun had cobbled together on the spot was far more formidable than anyone had expected.
When Kim Tae-hyun first announced he would 'borrow the power of the Sadiq Church to use taming skills on the monsters,' the guild members thought he had lost his mind.
—Hey. Did Kim Tae-hyun have a Tamer-related class?
—No...?
—I thought he summoned those dragon pets.
—Then where does he get the nerve to try taming monsters?
—Maybe he secretly leveled up a taming skill?
—Dude, Kim Tae-hyun's main focuses right now are Swordsmanship, Engineering, and Blacksmithing.
—He uses magic too. Even if he doesn't use it often, his magic skill must be at least Advanced rank.
One of the greatest mysteries of Pan-On! Just how many primary skills did Kim Tae-hyun possess? It was hard enough to diligently level up one or two, yet Tae-hyun actively utilized three or four. People constantly speculated, but their theories rarely hit the mark. Tae-hyun's class wasn't something that could be easily guessed.
—Still, there's no way he has a taming skill.
—Then what is this?
—Maybe he does have it?
—Dude, his main skills are...
—But it's Kim Tae-hyun we're talking about.
—......
—......
At the words “But it's Kim Tae-hyun,” everyone fell silent. Well... that was hard to argue with!
And indeed, Tae-hyun had successfully tamed the monsters. It was now confirmed that he possessed taming-related skills!
“If Kim Tae-hyun starts summoning monster armies out in the open world...”
“He'll be just as terrifying as a Necromancer...”
People often said a Necromancer was an army of one, but other classes could achieve similar feats. Monster Tamers were a prime example! Though they couldn't summon the overwhelming numbers of a Necromancer, a heavy, lumbering army of giant monsters was, in some ways, even more terrifying than a legion of undead.
Boom! Crash!
Watching the monsters clash fiercely, the guild members suddenly felt a chill.
...We won't be his next targets, right?
Taming skills are actually pretty fun.
Controlling the monsters was surprisingly entertaining. He couldn't jump in and swing his sword directly, but there was a distinct pleasure in supporting them from behind.
—Archisus's Blessing!Archisus's Dice!Tyrant's Command!
“Roaaar!”
“Turtle of Phytos! Charge forward and draw their attacks! If you retreat, it's the Archisus Punishment for you!”
“Groan!” Thud!
[Turtle charges forward!]
[Turtle endures the attack!]
I was thinking too narrowly.
Until now, Tae-hyun had focused heavily on Swordsmanship, Engineering, Blacksmithing, and Speech (though the last one was unintentional). He had assumed that expanding his skill set any further would be realistically impossible, even for him.
However, after clearing the Sadiq Church quest and receiving Sadiq's taming Authority all at once, his perspective shifted.
Ah! If he could absorb the Authorities of various churches, he could easily acquire high-level class skills without any of the usual grind!
Is there a church out there that specializes in tailoring? Having a tailoring skill would be pretty useful...
[Karbanog is utterly appalled, claiming they have never seen such an avatar in all their life!]
Crunch! Crash! Boom!
The brief but intense battle came to an end.
[You have won the battle by commanding the monsters!]
[Your taming skill has increased!]
[Your Reputation has increased.]
Perfect!
Tae-hyun pumped his fist. The victory was great, but the most significant achievement was that they had completely avoided the effects of the Plague Wasteland. The Plague Index hadn't risen, and they hadn't received any debuffs.
I've found a way to clear the Plague Wasteland!
“How do we clear the Plague Wasteland? There is only one way,” the Bishop of the Phytos Church declared to the players.
“We must unite our strength!”
The Bishop of the Demer Order nodded in agreement. “Indeed, the only way to conquer this plague-ridden land is through unity!”
“The arrogant Idergo Cult seeks to trap countless adventurers in this wasteland, believing we can never escape a realm created by their god.”
“But if we join forces, no matter how powerful this plague is, it cannot stop us!”
“We must unite and strike at the heart of the Plague Wasteland! Go, gather other adventurers!”
Many players and NPCs had been dragged into the Plague Wasteland. Naturally, some of the NPCs had fought the Idergo Cult before and knew exactly what kind of place this was.
It was a wicked divine domain where plague monsters would endlessly spawn unless the central stronghold, the Plague Fortress of Idergo, was destroyed.
The only way to conquer this fortress was to avoid unnecessary combat, gather as many adventurers as possible, and storm it all at once! They had to endure the enemy's attacks silently without raising the Plague Index.
“Everyone! Gather beneath our banner!”
“Let us drive out the Idergo Cult with sacred light!”
“By the way, you guys from the Sadiq Church fought the Idergo Cult before. Why don't you know anything about clearing the Plague Wasteland?”
“......”
“......”
“Should we try setting a bigger fire?”
At the Sadiq Bishop's words, the guild members whispered among themselves.
—Hey. The Sadiq Church is hopeless.
—Warn our guild members never to join them. I'd rather they join the Archisus Church than that place.
The warnings were growing more severe by the second. And with good reason—everyone was walking on eggshells to avoid raising the Plague Index, and these guys wanted to burn down the entire area.
Tae-hyun's gaze turned cold.
The Sadiq Church NPCs quickly made excuses.
“Well, knowledge regarding the Plague Wasteland isn't recorded in the Sadiq scriptures...”
“But since Lord Sadiq's power is fire, wouldn't we have just burned everything in our path? We figured if we burned the entire area to ashes, the plague would eventually clear up...”
“......”
Tae-hyun decided to ignore the Sadiq Church fanatics.
Currently, he had 17 small monsters, 8 medium monsters, and 2 large monsters.
Hmm. I want to increase the numbers, but these plague monsters keep rushing us.
Capturing and taming them had to be done one by one. If too many attacked at once, even Tae-hyun would struggle.
An illusion of the Plague Fortress materialized before Tae-hyun's group.
Plague warriors stood atop massive stone walls, exhaling green, toxic breath, while bizarre, mutated beasts resembling twisted Archisus creations swarmed and flew within the courtyard.
And at the very center stood a colossal tower that seemed to pierce the heavens.
The Plague Tower! It was the source of the immense power maintaining this entire pocket dimension.
“Whoa!”
As the illusion faded, the guild members gasped in shock. The scale of the fortress was far grander than they had anticipated.
In their current state, raiding it was impossible!
“Kim Tae-hyun, we need to gather more people.”
“Since players are still being dragged into the Plague Wasteland, we can put out a call.”
“Heh, you should thank us.”
The guild members puffed out their chests. The Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild were both top-tier organizations in Pan-On. They had more than enough influence to rally players.
Seeing this, Lee Da-bi asked with a puzzled expression, “Can't we just use Tae-hyun's name to gather people?”
“......”
“......”
The guild members slumped their shoulders. Well... she wasn't wrong!
“No, there's no need to gather more people,” Tae-hyun said.
“???”
The guild members looked at him in confusion. No need to gather more people? What did that mean?
“Ah! I get it!” Cain slapped his knee.
“What is it?”
“He's going to turn everyone here into bombs, send them in one by one, and blow the fortress to pieces!”
The guild members immediately took a step back. That sounded terrifyingly plausible!
However, Tae-hyun shook his head. “No, that's not it.”
“O-Oh, it's not? Whew...”
“I knew you wouldn't do that!”
“Even if I blew them up one by one, the firepower wouldn't be enough. We don't have enough monsters, either. Besides, that fortress looks incredibly sturdy. I doubt that tower would collapse so easily.”
“......”
Could you not just say 'because that's inhumane' instead?
“But I did think of a great method.”
“...?”
“Let's disguise ourselves, guys.”
[You begin applying plague-infested mud to your equipment! Equipment durability is decreasing!]
[Plague spores are being smeared on your face...]
[Poison damage is...]
“Do we really have to go this far?! Seriously?!”
“Why are you guys always looking for the easy way out when playing a game? Are you really rankers?”
Of course we want to play comfortably! Why would we want to suffer?!
The guild members wailed internally. Having walked only the most comfortable, standard paths, Tae-hyun's methods were pure torture to them.
Disguising themselves as NPCs of the Idergo Cult!
“We'll be moving alongside the monsters to stay hidden, but we still need a basic disguise.”
Tae-hyun meticulously helped the group with their disguises. Thanks to his absurd Luck stat, he received additional bonuses, and his own equipment durability didn't drop at all.
“Hmm. Compared to the rest of us, their disguises look a bit... lacking in quality.”
“We did our best...”
“Yeah, but there's only so much we can do.”
“Tae-hyun,” Lee Da-bi suggested, “how about we set it up so they look like prisoners we've captured?”
“That's perfect. Very realistic.”
“Then why did the rest of us even bother disguising ourselves?!” the players complained.
And they had even ruined their equipment's durability for it...?!