Even an Evil God Has Nothing to Say

To be fair, even Idergo had nothing to say. It was true that his cultists had never lost a fragment before... but wasn't one currently sitting in someone else's hands?

"If I gather all of these and put them together, does Idergo resurrect? Come to think of it, that seems like a pretty convenient system..."

If Archisus had been like that, it would have made his life a lot easier!

...

Could you maybe say it a bit more gently...?

Tae-hyun ignored the curses radiating from Idergo's fragment. It wasn't Idergo himself, after all, but merely one of his shattered shards, so it couldn't actually deal any damage to him. It was just a useful item!

'Carbanog. Can I use this?'

Tae-hyun still remembered the scene vividly. The last time the Leviathan, the beast of the Demon Realm, had appeared, the Idergo Cult had fought against the Demon Duke!

At first, he had thought, 'Are they insane, trying to take on a Duke with those numbers?' But surprisingly, the cult had pushed the Duke back. It wasn't just a matter of elemental compatibility. It was the items the Idergo Cult NPCs had been holding.

'Back then, I thought they were holy relics, but they were actually fragments of Idergo.'

The Idergo Cult could amplify their power when using Idergo's Authority, whereas Tae-hyun could only activate it. Of course, even Carbanog didn't know what would happen if he did. Would it summon a plague storm of Archisus?

Tae-hyun obediently offered a prayer. Immediately, along with a message window, the wall engraved with the emblem of Archisus began to glow with a brilliant light.

"!"

Tae-hyun clenched his fists without realizing it. All of Archisus's Authority skills had been enhanced. The hardship of coming all this way had finally paid off.

The Avatar of Archisus quest was unique compared to other classes. Instead of encouraging the player to focus on one or two skills, it urged them to develop a wide variety of skills!

Of course, Tae-hyun cleared the quest the moment it appeared. Reaching Intermediate rank or higher was too easy. Just looking at the skills Tae-hyun had already raised to Advanced rank or higher: Swordsmanship, Magic, Stealth, Cooking, Mining, Speech, Taming, Engineering, Blacksmithing, Tactics...

'Wow. Looking back, I really raised this character like a madman.'

'Aren't they giving away way too much?'

The quest window was showering him with rewards to an almost bewildering degree. In truth, rather than a handout, it was closer to receiving all the backlogged quest rewards he had missed out on until now. Tae-hyun had barely received any rewards from the Archisus Church quests so far!

While other players received dozens of quests, Tae-hyun rarely got any from the Archisus Church, forcing him to hunt down holy relics all on his own.

'...Ah. It's because my level was too low...'

Tae-hyun realized. Normally, there was no Avatar of Archisus with a level as low as his!

Because Tae-hyun had reached level 200 so late, his stats and skills had grown abnormally high. As a result, he had already maxed out the skills that players were supposed to raise after passing level 200. He didn't know whether to be happy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about this or not...

Two levels in an instant. Tae-hyun finally felt that all his effort in raising those skills had paid off. The sweet reward of smacking Cain on the back of the head every time the Chimera whined, "Do you really have to raise such a random assortment of skills?" and pushing forward anyway!

"Uh..."

Tae-hyun paused. He had held massive expectations for an item belonging to the Avatar, but this was actually a bit baffling. Tae-hyun's main focus was Swordsmanship, Engineering, and his Avatar Authorities; it certainly wasn't Taming. Though he had recently learned it...

'Is it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠given at random?'

Well, there was no harm in receiving it, and if it was related to Taming, it was undoubtedly a top-tier item... but he doubted he would ever have a use for it.

'Wait. More importantly, if this keeps going, does that mean...'

...

The quest window felt slightly mocking. It meant that none of the previous Popes or Avatars had ever grinded their skills as diligently as Tae-hyun!

In truth, that made sense. If you were a Pope, you should be raising your Holy Power and managing the church's followers; who would have the time to level up all these miscellaneous skills? Yet, the path Tae-hyun was walking was the correct one. Even if it seemed like a massive detour, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was actually the right way!

'No!'

But despite the sense of accomplishment, Tae-hyun was filled with a sense of dread. The reason was simple. Ten skills to Intermediate -> ten skills to Advanced -> what was next?

'Ten skills to Master rank would be a disaster!'

No matter how skilled Tae-hyun was, demanding him to raise ten skills to Master rank when he already had so much on his plate was too much. Only Swordsmanship, Speech, Engineering, Blacksmithing, and Tactics were at Master rank, meaning he would have to raise five more...

'Wait, now that I think about it, I actually have quite a few Master rank skills.'

Listing them out, it surprisingly seemed doable. The rest were all at Advanced rank, and several of them had already surpassed level 5...

Fortunately, the quest was not that cruel.

'Oh, if it's random, does that mean I can just choose them myself?'

Of course not.

'Ohhh...!'

He got lucky with the first two. Both were skills he had already raised to Advanced rank! Of course, pushing them to Master rank from there would still be difficult, but it was far easier than starting from scratch. Now, as long as the last one was decent! Please! Please!

"..."

"..."

Tae-hyun and Carbanog fell into despair at the exact same time. What kind of crazy, out-of-nowhere skill was this...!

"Look, it's the players!"

"Ohhhhh...!"

The gathered fans marveled at the appearance of the players. It felt as if a halo of light was radiating from behind them just from the way they walked!

Of course, there was no actual halo behind the players. It was just how the fans perceived them.

But they couldn't help but feel that way. The players walking in right now were those who had recorded spectacular achievements this season. Were they not some of the top-ranked players in the entire world?

Unlike in the past, Korean teams had struggled to find their footing for a while. While American and Chinese gaming organizations received massive capital investments, Korean teams received little to no support, so a gap in performance was only natural. It had gotten to the point where even Korean players were desperately trying to join foreign teams.

When the Pan-On League first began, everyone had predicted that the American and Chinese teams would dominate...

But defying all expectations, it was the Korean teams that stole the show.

"Sigh..."

"Whew..."

"?"

"?"

Lee Se-yeon and Tae-hyun both let out deep sighs, then turned to look at each other.

"Is something wrong?"

"What about you?"

"...Me? Everything has been going so well lately that I don't have a single worry."

The moment the words left her mouth, Lee Se-yeon winced. This had been the perfect opportunity to tease or bait Tae-hyun, and she had completely blown it!

"Must be nice. Well, the Asbian Empire is located far away, so you probably have the most peace of mind these days."

Tae-hyun nodded in agreement. The Asbian Empire was currently the most peaceful place amidst all the chaos. Since it wasn't on the Central Continent, it was only natural that she could rest easy!

"The Atali Kingdom is in absolute chaos with the Idergo Cult and monsters... and on top of that, there's another uproar happening up north."

"Ah. The guild war? How do you think it'll turn out?"

"The Guild Alliance will probably stop it. Surely they can't fail to defend with that many people."

"True. I think so too."

Both Tae-hyun and Se-yeon agreed. Even if the Guild Alliance was notoriously incompetent, if they couldn't even defend their territory with that much land and that many players, they might as well quit the game!

"So, are you worried about managing the Atali Kingdom?"

"Ah, the Atali Kingdom is actually doing fine. It's finally stabilized."

He had sold off the southern region to players he was close with, conquered the northern region himself, and the rest was somehow running on autopilot... Money went out as fast as it came in, but as long as no major disasters occurred, it was fine. Tae-hyun was highly satisfied.

"Then why the sigh?"

"Because I have to learn how to sing..."

"..."

Lee Se-yeon froze.

"...Are you going on King of Mask Singer?"

"What kind of nonsense is that? I'm talking about Pan-On."

"Ah. Oh... Ahhh!"

Lee Se-yeon felt a flush of embarrassment. Right, there was absolutely no reason for Kim Tae-hyun to appear on a show like that!

"...Wait, but why are you learning how to sing in Pan-On?"

She knew Tae-hyun was picking up all sorts of random skills, but singing was truly... unexpected! Was he moving past crafting skills and trying to master the performing arts now?

'Are you ever going to level up?'

Se-yeon stared at Tae-hyun as if he were some bizarre specimen. While everyone else was running themselves ragged trying to break past level 300, or aiming for level 400 if they already had, Kim Tae-hyun was agonizing over learning how to sing. Anyone looking at him would think he was a casual player just messing around, not a top-tier ranker in Pan-On!

"Singing in Pan-On probably has basic techniques that make it easier, just like other skills," Se-yeon offered some advice anyway.

Singing was a skill primarily used by classes like Bards. Since Pan-On was a virtual reality game where players physically moved their bodies, their real-life abilities naturally carried over. It was only logical that someone who had swung a sword in real life would handle the Swordsmanship skill better!

"Are you a good singer?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure. I haven't really sung much."

"...Sing! Sing a song!"

"You seem a little too excited about this."

"No, I'm not."