The Face of a Hero

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Exactly. Think of all the history we have with the Erangs Kingdom."

The party wasn't worried at all. Tae-hyun agreed. Few people were as close to the Erangs Kingdom as him. He had a personal friendship with the King of Erance, Cain was the 4th Prince's bodyguard, and they had even cured the mysterious poison that plagued the kingdom.

If they met any knights, Tae-hyun could easily boast: Do you know who I am? I literally had dinner with your King yesterday before heading down to the Demon Realm! That was the kind of influence Tae-hyun wielded.

"I'm terribly sorry, but you cannot enter here."

"???"

"Have these guys lost their minds?!"

Cain flared up and reached for his weapon. The soldiers flinched in surprise.

"Agh! A monster!"

"No, wait! That's the bodyguard from the Atali Kingdom."

"Ah, I see."

"Cain, calm down."

Tae-hyun stopped Cain. He was a bit taken aback himself that the guards blocked them the moment they set foot in the Erangs Kingdom. But in Pangaea Online, everything happened for a reason.

"I'd like to know the reason."

"Well... you see..."

The soldiers hesitated, stammering. Tae-hyun pressed on.

"Ah, how tragic. After everything I've done for the Erangs Kingdom—all the achievements I've built, my close friendship with the King, and even going all the way to the Demon Realm to rescue the princes..."

"Tae-hyun, please don't cry!"

"Please don't weep, Senior!"

Tae-hyun covered his face, feigning deep sorrow, and his companions rushed to comfort him while glaring at the soldiers. How could you be so heartless!

"W-well, the thing is..."

Eventually, the centurion stepped forward to explain.

"The Prince..."

"What? The 4th Prince?" Cain snapped. That ungrateful little...!

"No, the 1st Prince."

"Ah, really? Phew. What a relief."

"And the 2nd Prince as well..."

"Well, those two always did look like jerks."

"Yeah. Their attitudes were rotten from the start."

Recalling their struggles in the Demon Realm, they still shuddered at the thought of those princes. Those rude bastards who did nothing but get in the way while everyone else was suffering in the Demon Realm!

"The 3rd Prince also ordered us not to let you in, however."

"……."

"……."

Tae-hyun and his party fell silent. Essentially, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Princes had all joined hands to slap them with an entry ban!

"...What did you do?"

"I've done so many things, I honestly don't know..."

Tae-hyun pondered. He had caused so much chaos that he couldn't pinpoint the exact issue. Was it the plague? Was it because he hid the poison? Was it because he allied with demons? Or was it something else entirely...?

"Your Majesty! We deeply respect you! We believe the princes will also understand your true intentions one day!"

The centurion of the Erangs Kingdom spoke with absolute sincerity. Because Tae-hyun's Reputation and Rhetoric skills were so absurdly high, and his achievements so legendary, the low-level NPCs were actively defying orders from above to show him respect!

If other players had witnessed this, they would have screamed, "Wow, is that even allowed? What a broken cheat code!"

"My true intentions?"

"Yes! Right now, they are being misled by those wicked adventurers from the Auston Kingdom, but the princes will surely realize soon..."

My true intentions...

If the princes ever found out his "true intentions," they would realize he wanted to murder them.

I agree.

"Tae-hyun has done a lot of things, but it's a bit strange for them to suddenly find out now," Lee Da-bi pointed out calmly.

Normally, shouldn't you say the things he did were actually good things? Choi Sang-yun thought to himself. Truly, anyone who hung around Kim Tae-hyun for too long became just like him...

"Maybe the princes are trying to keep you in check, Tae-hyun?"

"Hmm. With a Reputation stat this high, that's definitely a possibility."

The side effect of an excessively high Reputation stat! It was the NPCs trying to keep you in check. Average players were ignored by NPCs, but they were never perceived as threats to be kept in check. Tae-hyun's Reputation, however, was at a level where such wariness was completely natural.

I'm probably the only one who has surpassed 200,000 Reputation, so I can't even look up a guide for this.

"Looks like we'll need to use disguises for the first time in a while."

Everyone nodded at Tae-hyun's words. Cain looked slightly disappointed.

I finally got used to having six arms...

"Cain, aren't you glad you get a chance to play a race other than a Chimera?"

"Y-yeah. Of course!"

Cain lied in response to Choi Sang-yun's question. The Chimera race was surprisingly addictive!

"Your Highness! The King of the Atali Kingdom attacked us!"

"He's an incredibly wicked bastard! Please punish him!"

Players like Silved hadn't attacked Tae-hyun out of sheer madness. Naturally, they had a backer. The prominent princes of the Erangs Kingdom had promised them: "We will fully support you! No other kingdom's bastards will dare touch you!" With such backing, their shoulders were bound to be stiff with pride.

The 2nd Prince, Thomas, flew into a rage.

"How dare he! The King of the Atali Kingdom dared to attack my forces! This cannot be forgiven!"

"Your Highness. But the King of the Atali Kingdom is a great hero, a warrior who has spared no effort to fight the evils of the continent..."

"Could there have been some misunderstanding?"

The knight commanders under Thomas spoke up, looking puzzled.

The players grumbled inwardly.

Just how many players has Kim Tae-hyun slaughtered? Why is his popularity still so insanely high?

Doesn't Kim Tae-hyun have a pretty high Infamy stat too? Look at that instead!

No matter how high his Infamy was, his Reputation stat completely overwhelmed it! As long as that existed, any badmouthing of Tae-hyun fell on deaf ears when it came to the knights. Of course, fortunately for them, the prince was on the players' side.

"Silence! No matter how great of a hero he is, did he not attack my forces?!"

"Wasn't he merely dealing with a lowly, insignificant adventurer?"

"Indeed. He was not even a noble."

"……."

The players fell silent. What an obnoxious NPC bastard! They only held their tongues because they needed his help; otherwise, they would have cursed him out on the spot.

"I shall speak with His Majesty. His Majesty has always held the King of the Atali Kingdom in high regard..."

"Insolent! Did I not tell you? His Majesty is ill!"

"But surely he still has the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strength to speak..."

"I said he is too ill to even speak!"

"Then how have his decrees been issued?"

"...He occasionally regains his strength and issues commands! Do you not realize that having outsiders like you visit would only worsen his condition?!"

The players listening to this exchange began to whisper among themselves. At first, they thought this was a quest directly issued by the King of Erance... but listening to this, something felt incredibly fishy.

"Hey, is this really a quest from the King?"

"If it's actually from the princes..."

"We'd better keep it quiet. Nothing good will come from exposing this."

"Uh... I'm streaming right now."

"...You crazy bastard! Why are you streaming this?! A quest like this is top-secret information!"

"Am I the only one?! Everyone else is doing it too!"

Normally, quest details like this should have been kept strictly confidential, but with so many rankers participating, the information leaked instantly through personal streams. If someone else is going to reveal it anyway, I might as well get the views first!

Thanks to this wonderful display of selfishness, the information flowed directly into Lee Da-bi's ears.

"Tae-hyun, it seems the princes are the ones leading this, not the King. No one has seen the King's face."

"Did they kill him?"

"Ah, no, that's a bit..."

"Surely not..."

"Why? Isn't it a possibility?"

The party stared in shock at Tae-hyun, who immediately jumped to murder. Surely they wouldn't go that far!

"Even if they didn't kill him, they might have imprisoned him."

"That sounds plausible."

A scenario where the King is locked away while the princes run the kingdom as they please. The picture was clear.

"If the King isn't around, it makes sense why they're treating you so poorly."

"Is there any way to find out where they've locked him up?"

"Even the players probably don't know that."

"Hmm."

Tae-hyun fell into thought. Should he find and rescue the King?

"Let's leave the King for now and focus on the Archisus quest first."

"!"

The Archisus Church quests had been delayed for far too long. If they tried to rescue the King, it would inevitably trigger a chain of linked quests, delaying the Archisus quest even further!

"But won't we keep getting harassed within the kingdom?"

"It doesn't matter since we'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be moving in disguise anyway. Besides, most of the NPCs can be persuaded."

Tae-hyun had absolute confidence in his Rhetoric skill. Even if someone recognized him and spoke to him, he could easily talk his way out of it!

"And I'm sure the King of Erance can handle himself."

"Oh, by the way, is the 4th Prince doing okay?" Cain suddenly remembered and asked.

Come to think of it, how was the 4th Prince doing? While the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Princes were actively making a name for themselves, the 4th Prince was nowhere to be seen.

"Didn't he go to live on Nodranche Island after returning from the Demon Realm?"

"If he's on Nodranche Island, he should be safe."

Since it was an isolated island far to the north, it was relatively safe. No matter what chaos erupted on the continent, he would be secure there!

"There are plenty of players and other NPCs on Nodranche, after all."

"Ah, that's true. What a relief."

"...You're the 4th Prince's bodyguard and the Lord of Nodranche. How do you not know this?"

"……."

Cain had absolutely no excuse. Tae-hyun stared at him with a look of pure pity.

Is this guy actually managing his territory properly...?

"Uh..."

Tae-hyun paused. Why did it have to be an art-focused city of all things? If it were combat-focused, he was confident he could excel. If it required blacksmithing, he had the skills. Even if it required rhetoric, bombs, or magic, he could somehow manage...

"Um... is anyone here good at art?"

At Tae-hyun's question, everyone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠avoided his gaze.

"...Well, even if we lack art skills, we can still raise our affinity. Let's not worry too much."

"Right? We can just do escort quests or something..."

Though I doubt they'll make it that easy for us.

With a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, the party prepared to pass through the city gates. But at that exact moment, they ran straight into a group of NPCs exiting the city.

A grand procession adorned with various colorful flags, paintings, and sculptures! Following behind the Count were painters, bards, musicians, and more. One look was enough to tell anyone: I am a noble NPC who absolutely loves art.

"Don't make eye contact."

"It'll only get annoying if we run into them."

"Wait!"

"?"

But Count Besgo called out to Tae-hyun first.

What? Was our disguise off?

Tae-hyun and his party's disguise skills were near-perfect. Unless the NPC possessed some highly specialized skill...

"You... you possess the face of a hero!"

"……."

"Come here for a moment! You are absolutely overflowing with inspiration!"

"No, wait..."

"See? Why did you raise your Reputation so high in the first place?!"

"Did I raise it on purpose?!"

Tae-hyun felt utterly wronged. His Reputation had simply skyrocketed on its own; it wasn't like he had actively tried to increase it!

Should I seriously look for an item that lowers Reputation?

There were items on the auction house that lowered Reputation. Usually, they were considered penalties, but...