The Gathering Storm

Everyone was buzzing at the sudden news. The Erangs Kingdom had declared war? People who had been busy debating how Tae-hyun conquered the Plague Fortress instantly shifted their attention. The Plague Fortress was one thing, but a war with the Erangs Kingdom was far more exciting!

The name of the Erangs Kingdom was enough to tempt many players. No matter how fast the Auston Kingdom or the Atali Kingdom grew, could they really compare to the Erangs Kingdom? Erangs boasted dozens of archmages and high knights, not to mention the order of knights they led! When an order of knights easily exceeding level 500 or 600 charged, they were like an unstoppable hammer in territory wars.

The Erangs Kingdom—a name that made even players who had avoided the countless previous conflicts hesitate! Within moments, dozens of posts flooded the bulletin boards, asking what rewards would be given for participating. Meanwhile, an emergency was declared for players in the Auston Kingdom.

And a similar conversation repeated itself within the Midas Guild. The Erangs Kingdom intended to completely wipe out anyone and everyone in the Auston Kingdom. They had to join hands with whoever they could. Even if it had to be Kim Tae-hyun!

While things inside Pan-On were in utter chaos with no one able to predict the next step, schedules outside of Pan-On proceeded in an orderly fashion. Team KL decisively won their final remaining match. Expectations like 'They must be too distracted clearing the Idergo Cult quests to practice properly' meant absolutely nothing to Tae-hyun. That was that, and this was this!

Against Team KL's full power, unleashed as usual, the opposing team was utterly crushed.

"Argh! Those useless, good-for-nothing freeloaders!"

Su Ning stomped his feet in frustration. The reason he was angry wasn't because Tae-hyun had won the championship. Their championship victory had already been locked in a long time ago. It wasn't even because of an undefeated season—honestly, everyone had expected them to go undefeated anyway. The real reason Su Ning was furious... was because the Beijing Fighters had ultimately finished the season in dead last!

"Seriously, they need to purge everyone from the CEO and the front office to the entire roster! What a bunch of incompetent bastards! How can they call themselves professionals?!"

Anyone watching a match from the comfort of their room was bound to become an armchair expert, and Su Ning was no exception. Going from first place at the start of the season to dead last at the end was quite a historic achievement in its own right! Thanks to that, the news articles about the Beijing Fighters were filled with nothing but humiliation. Now, the Beijing Fighters had to worry about what came after the league, not just the season. The promotion-relegation match that would determine whether they would be demoted to the 2nd Division or survive in the 1st Division! No one could have ever predicted that the Beijing Fighters would end up playing in the promotion-relegation match.

"Ugh... as if I wasn't already pissed off enough..."

"Drop dead!!"

Su Ning turned off the screen in a rage. Fans of every other team were ruthlessly mocking the Beijing Fighters.

"What is all this racket?"

"Ah. Brother."

Su Ning jumped up at the strict, dignified voice coming from behind him. Su Ning's older brother, who was much older than him, was always a difficult and demanding person to deal with.

'Are you still playing games at your age?'

Su Ning felt like he could hear those unspoken words even now! It was a relief that he had hit the jackpot with the Guild Alliance, but Su Ning still couldn't put his mind at ease. He had a guilty conscience. Did my nephew snitch on me? If his nephew had told his brother, 'The bad guys from the Guild Alliance abandoned me, waaaah,' Su Ning might literally get thrown out of the window. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Unlike Su Ning, his nephew was a sweet, good-natured boy.

"Thank you for taking good care of your nephew. He said he had an incredibly fun time."

He certainly must have. It was a full course of crazy adventures starting all the way from Sky Island! It was a level of fun and excitement that no one else in Pan-On could have ever provided. Honestly, even Su Ning had gasped in disbelief when he watched the video!

"...Yes! It was no trouble at all!"

"You did well. Here."

Su Ning bowed his head deeply as his brother handed him an envelope. It was a thick envelope, the kind that made brotherly love instantly overflow!

"Brother, actually, I think I need to secure more investment. Could you introduce me to some of your connections...?"

"What? For that game?"

"..."

"Hmm. Yes. Perhaps it might not be a bad idea."

"!"

Su Ning was genuinely shocked. His brother, who usually paid zero attention to games he knew nothing about, was actually reacting like this! Thank you, nephew! It was undoubtedly because his nephew had spoken so highly of it.

"He talked about it so excitedly that I looked into a few things. I hear a player named Kim Tae-hyun is quite extraordinary?"

"Ah... yes."

To make matters worse, the news articles were currently plastered with announcements of Team KL's league championship victory. Even the Chinese articles were busy discussing how amazing Kim Tae-hyun was, why China didn't have a player like him, and whether the Beijing Fighters would be demoted to the 2nd Division. Even to a complete layman, it was enough to make them think, Wow, is this Kim Tae-hyun guy really that amazing?

"I can introduce you to more connections who might invest."

Su Ning's brother ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had personal connections with major corporate chairmen and CEOs. If he just said the word, he could introduce them immediately. Su Ning's face lit up.

"However, those people do not know much about games."

"You should have them play it! It's really fun..."

"Little brother. How could a busy corporate CEO find the leisure to play games?"

I bet the ones who want to play would still play... Su Ning thought to himself, but he couldn't bring himself to argue. After all, it was a fair point!

"To persuade people who don't know much about games, you must show them something that even a layman can understand. Yes. Hosting a tournament that includes this Kim Tae-hyun player wouldn't be a bad idea. Host a tournament and build friendly relations. Host it under the name of the company you lead... no, your guild. That is how you build reputation."

"What?! No, why should we do him any favors?! If we're hosting a tournament, we should make it so only Chinese players can participate..."

Why on earth would they invite Kim Tae-hyun? Even if they did, he was a detestable guy who would just eliminate all the Chinese players and take the prize money all for himself!

"Tsk, tsk. If we restricted participation like that, how would we have ever witnessed the legendary matches of Lee Chang-ho or Lee Se-dol? You must broaden your perspective."

Ugh, this old man... What was he talking about Go for?! Like a typical older Go fan, Su Ning's brother wasn't particularly surprised by Korean players dominating. In fact, he seemed to take it as a matter of course!

"By the way, Korean players have always been remarkably good at games, despite their smaller population. Why can't you beat Kim Tae-hyun? Didn't you say your guild is the strongest in Pan-On?"

"A-Ah, no, Brother. That's... it doesn't exactly work like that..."

"Is that so? At any rate, think about the tournament. If even I know his name, there is a high probability that the people I introduce to you will know Kim Tae-hyun's name as well. It is much easier to persuade them by showing his face once than by handing them a thick report. And your nephew would surely be delighted to meet him in person."

"..."

Somehow, that last line felt like his true motive... But his brother wasn't wrong. Now that the league schedule was over, Kim Tae-hyun would probably have some free time. If they invited him to a tournament, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there was a high chance he would show up. If Kim Tae-hyun participated, then regardless of how annoying he was, the tournament's success would be absolutely guaranteed. And if success was guaranteed, the guild hosting it—Su Ning's guild—would gain even more reputation and trust.

In the end, investment was something that could be secured regardless of profit margins or expectations, as long as you could capture the investor's heart!

Damn it. Come to think of it, that guy sent by the investors said something similar... He had told Su Ning to cozy up to Kim Tae-hyun, and back then, Su Ning's reaction had been, 'What kind of bullshit is that?' But now, he actually had to seriously consider it! Above ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all, investment was desperately needed right now. The attack from the Erangs Kingdom was incredibly chilling.

"Wow, this is a massive amount."

The creature was already huge, but thanks to Tae-hyun's Luck stat, multiple items had dropped. It was almost a problem deciding where to use them all!

"Can't we craft equipment with this?"

"It's a bit awkward to make leather gear, and besides, it's severely damaged..."

The downside of the bomb-hunting method! Whether it was leather or anything else, the damage was always extreme.

"Let's pack it up for now and think about where to use it later."

In truth, Tae-hyun coveted something far more than the leather. The meat and the blood!

This will make excellent ingredients for Abnormal Cooking.

Furthermore, within his Abnormal Cooking skill, Tae-hyun possessed a sub-skill to craft Monster Essences. An incredibly powerful skill that allowed him to cook dishes that borrowed a monster's power!

With this much quantity, it's going to be spectacular!

Lee Da-bi looked at Cain with pity. The others sent him similar looks. They could all guess who would be the first to eat it.

"K-Kim Tae-hyun. Is that snake really safe to eat?"

"Well, it should be fine if we drain the poison properly. Besides, your HP is so high that a little poisoning won't kill you anyway, right?"

Tae-hyun cut the meat into large chunks, stacked them, and fed them to Towang-i. Although Towang-i looked extremely displeased, it dutifully stored them away inside its stomach.

Sssss-

"Gasp!"

A few drops of the snake's blood fell to the ground, making a terrifying sizzling sound as they burned through the soil.

"Hey! Look at that! It's poison! Deadly poison!"

"Ah, I told you it's fine. Besides, poison is just another form of medicine. If you eat a lot of it and endure, your stats will go up again."

Tae-hyun was speaking with absolute sincerity, but to Cain, it sounded like the ravings of a madman. Who in their right mind farmed stats using poison!

"Hey, guys. Are we just going to ignore that fortress over there?" Choi Sang-yun asked, pointing toward the fortress.

The battle at the fortress was growing fierce in an entirely different direction. When the soldiers of the Erangs Kingdom arrived, the members of the Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild looked at each other in utter bewilderment.

The Erangs Kingdom soldiers spared them the trouble of deciding. They simply attacked both sides without hesitation!

Unleashing fiery magic and charging in droves, the Erangs Kingdom soldiers swept forward! The guild members, who had been fighting mindlessly, panicked and fled inside the fortress... while still bickering and fighting among themselves!

Thanks to that, the current situation had become incredibly bizarre. The Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild were warily sizing each other up, unsure whether to fight each other or not... while the Erangs Kingdom was happily battering them from the outside... and Tae-hyun's party was happily gathering loot on the sidelines.

"Your Honorable Majesty!"

"Huh?"

Tae-hyun stopped cutting the meat and turned his head. An NPC knight of the Erangs Kingdom was standing right in front of him.