Tsk. You've Really Hit Rock Bottom.

Tae-hyun clicked his tongue inwardly.

Come on. This guy used to strut around with his guild members behind him, acting like hot stuff. And now look at him, pulling this crap in the middle of a mountain range. It's starting to get a little pathetic.

Of course, if Kane knew the very person who'd driven him to this point was thinking that, he would've clutched the back of his neck and keeled over.

Tae-hyun took off his mask.

It's not like anyone in Fantasy Online 1 knows Kim Tae-hyun is me anyway. The mask doesn't really matter.

He'd only started wearing it because of what he'd done to the Red Zone Guild.

He'd figured they might come after him and make things annoying, so he'd hidden his face—but from the look of it, the Red Zone Guild had gone completely bankrupt and dissolved into thin air.

There was no longer any reason to worry about taking the mask off.

The real thing I need to be careful about is people finding out I'm Kim Tae-hyun from Fantasy Online 1.

A grudge so deep it couldn't even be compared to whatever resentment the Red Zone Guild might hold.

Slowly.

"...?"

Kane had been speaking with a pitiful look on his face, but the moment the man in front of him removed his mask, his eyes flew wide and he blinked in shock.

"Y-you, you, you...!"

"You've really hit rock bottom. So this is where you ended up? Stripped down and mugging people? Doesn't that make you feel a little pathetic? Hm?"

"Y-you were Kim Tae-san?!"

Kane had at least seen the Katerand Island quest footage.

There wasn't a single person who hadn't seen the video of the Gold Dragon appearing and sweeping the island clean.

This bastard was that Kim Tae-san?

"Yep. Small world, huh? I never expected to find you out here robbing people either. I'll kill you again, so go do your mugging somewhere else next time. By the way, where are your friends?"

"...This isn't mugging!"

"...?"

"I really did get robbed!!"

Kane's cry was thick with grievance.

Once the death penalty ended, Kane and the Red Zone Guild members logged in again.

The instant he got back online, Kane shouted, "We're going after that bastard!"

Within Red Zone, there was only one person "that bastard" could mean.

Kim Tae-hyun.

But the guild members didn't feel the same way.

Tae-hyun had turned out to be far stronger than they'd expected.

And Kane himself hadn't exactly put on a convincing performance whenever he fought him.

In that situation, chasing after Tae-hyun again looked an awful lot like suicide.

"You idiots! What if we lose him again? Shut up and do as I say!"

Kane exploded, stomping and fuming.

His mind was filled with only one thought.

What if Tae-hyun slips away?

But all that did was make the guild members even more dissatisfied.

They were following Kane so they could pick off easy targets, not because they wanted revenge.

In the end, things blew up.

"What quest?"

"What the hell are you talking about? We have to find that bastard!"

...

Watching Kane obsess over Tae-hyun to the bitter end despite all the available targets, the guild members made up their minds.

"What?! Really?!"

Of course, no friend had actually seen him go to the Jure Mountains.

It was just a trap the guild members had set.

If we attack him in a city or near a city field and he gets away, we're the ones who'll be screwed.

Exactly. That bastard's insanely persistent. He'll definitely come after us.

So how about the Jure Mountains? We lure him there, jump him all at once, kill him, split the loot, and leave clean. And once we come down from the mountains, we can head to the Valley of Despair and Sorrow and loot even more.

That's perfect.

And if it's the Jure Mountains, the guildmaster won't even be able to fight properly.

The guild members never imagined they'd accidentally guessed Tae-hyun's real location.

"Then we're going to the Jure Mountains!"

Completely oblivious to the trap his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own guild members had set, Kane had eagerly headed there.

And naturally...

"Graaagh?!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

At Kane's roar, the guild members answered coldly.

"Guildmaster, this is what happens when you don't know when to quit!"

"You think we were following you around to avenge you?"

"We've already got more than enough easy prey to rob—who's got time for revenge? That's why you got robbed yourself!"

Kane trembled all over.

"Y-you pieces of trash!"

"You're the trash!"

"Yeah. Who the hell are you calling trash?"

The moment one of them spoke, he tore open a scroll.

The instant Kane saw it, he realized the truth.

These bastards came prepared.

In other words, even if he ran, they intended to chase him to the end.

Kane stared in alarm as curses etched themselves into his armor, gauntlets, belt, and other gear.

His mind spun furiously.

Out of everyone there, he had the most combat experience.

And that experience was telling him one thing.

I can't win this.

The guild members had come fully prepared to take him down.

Magic, skills, scrolls—the works.

Meanwhile, he'd been ambushed, and the terrain was against him.

I can't even swing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a greatsword properly in a place like this!

With trees and boulders packed in this tightly, fighting effectively was nearly impossible.

So what was the answer?

Run.

"Huh?!"

"That bastard's bolting!"

Apparently even the guild members hadn't expected Kane to cut and run so quickly, because they shouted in surprise.

"After him!"

"We've got the tracking curse on his gear, so he can't get far!"

Kane ground his teeth.

Then, with tears in his eyes, he checked his inventory.

There was no way to lift the curse.

There was only one way to shake the pursuit.

"Ugh... sob, sob, sob...!"

Destroy the gear.

It felt like his heart was being ripped apart as Kane destroyed his treasured equipment with his own hands.

But if he simply threw it away, those bastards would obviously pick it up.

Thankfully, the curse hadn't been placed on his weapon.

Crying in his heart, Kane fled.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

And as he ran, he swore to himself that he'd hunt down those guild bastards and kill them all.

"So that's what happened..."

"Man. That's honestly kind of sad."

Kim Ji-sahn and Park Seong-chan listened to Kane's long, miserable story with sympathetic expressions.

Tae-hyun, on the other hand, remained completely unmoved.

"Well, you've said your last words, so I can kill you now, right? Those guild bastards probably already left the mountains, but if I run into them later, I'll kill them too. So go peacefully."

"W-w-wait!"

Kane dropped to his knees and begged.

After being betrayed even by his own guild members, he'd attained a certain revelation.

Even if life is a field of dog shit, being alive is still better.

His guild had already been smashed apart, and after dying over and over, he'd fallen behind in the ranker competition.

He couldn't afford to die again.

"Please spare me!"

"Why should I? Why would I spare some idiot who keeps chasing me around because he doesn't like me?"

"No! I've given up on all of that now!"

Kane cried out desperately from his knees.

"Whether you've given up or not isn't my problem. The important thing is, there's absolutely no benefit to me in keeping you alive. Understand?"

Tae-hyun pointed at Kane as he spoke.

Watching from the side, the blacksmiths all thought the same thing.

No matter how you look at it, this guy seems like the villain.

"So if you want to live, give me a reason to let you. Got one? No? Then just die."

"I-I-I'll swear loyalty! I'll work under you and do whatever you tell me!"

"Hm. I still think it'd be better if you just died."

"...Anything but that!"

"You idiot. If your loyalty comes with exceptions, what kind of loyalty is that?"

At Tae-hyun's attitude, Kane's whole body heated up with panic.

It felt like Tae-hyun might kill him at any second.

"J-just not dying...! I can't attack you anymore anyway! Just look at me!"

Kane jabbed a finger at himself.

He was standing there in a humiliating state, stripped of everything except his greatsword.

"I lost to you before. There's no way I could beat you looking like this!"

His desperate cry rang out.

Tae-hyun snorted.

To be fair, it was a convincing argument.

"So you want me to spare you?"

"Yeah! Please, just let me live!"

Kane lowered his head until it touched the ground.

He'd already thrown away what little pride he had left.

After being stabbed in the back by the last of his guild members, Kane had all but given up on everything.

"You'll do anything?"

"Yeah!"

"Really anything?"

When Tae-hyun asked again, Kane muttered back in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a slightly weaker voice,

"N-not literally anything... I mean, at least within reason..."

"Damn it. We should've caught him."

"He won't come after us for revenge, right?"

"No way. All his gear got wrecked. He's got nothing decent left now. Even if he does come after us, he can't beat us. Not against these numbers."

The guild members who'd stabbed Kane in the back had finally given up the chase and were making their way down the mountains.

They'd believed they could finish Kane off for sure, but Kane had been far smarter than they'd expected.

He'd fled toward where the monsters were, and he'd even destroyed the cursed equipment with his own hands.

Destroying your own gear was something most people couldn't bring themselves to do even if they knew it was the right move.

"Seriously, that guy's a lunatic."

"Forget it. He's done for anyway."

Kane had nothing left now.

The set items he'd been carrying—the last worthwhile equipment he had—were the ones he'd destroyed himself.

And the other guild members?

These were the last of them.

Everyone else had already found their own way out when the guild collapsed.

What was Kane supposed to do now, with no money and no gear?

Once they descended from the mountains, the guild members moved quickly.

Their destination: the Valley of Despair and Sorrow.

"I see fire over there."

"Damn, look how many people there are. That's all money."

"You're getting excited already? Calm down, idiots. What if we get spotted? Watch your expressions."

Their target was obvious.

The players who'd come to the valley for the quest.

Of course, with this many people around, they couldn't PK openly.

If they did, they'd get killed in an instant.

Heh. There are ways around that.

The easiest method, naturally, was slipping into someone else's party.

Join another party, do the quest with them for a while, then stab them in the back at the crucial moment.

You got the party members' items, the quest reward, and plenty else besides.

It was efficient in every way.

"So where should we start...?"

"Pick weak-looking ones. Don't accidentally target a major guild and get us screwed."

"I know, I know. Stop worrying."

When it came to plundering like this, target selection was everything.

If they picked a high-level player or someone from a major guild, they could end up getting crushed instead.

So the former Red Zone members looked around, searching for prey.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

"...?"

At that moment, a heavy sound echoed up from the valley.

At first, the guild members thought they'd imagined it.

"What the hell was that?"

"Didn't it come from the valley?"

"You heard it too? I thought I was hearing things."

"What is that?"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

Awoooooooooooo!

"?!?!"

With the earth-shaking noise rising from the valley, the demonic beast monsters led by the Sadiq Church came pouring out in a flood.

"Aaaagh!"

"Run! RUN!!"

The former Red Zone members just happened to be closer to the valley than anyone else.

And they understood the situation immediately.

If they stayed where they were, they were dead.

"Sweep away the mortals!"

"Offer your souls to the great Sadiq!"

Behind the demonic beasts came the holy knights and priests of the Sadiq Church.

They attacked everything in sight.

An ambush aimed at both the gathered players and the other churches.

No one had ever imagined they'd strike first against this many people.

Smack!Smack-smack-smack!Smack-smack!

"N-no...!"

The former Red Zone Guild members had barely even arrived—and they were the first ones to die.