Bluff or Masterpiece?

"Could it be a bluff?"

"Huh?"

"Maybe they couldn't actually make it, but they're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bluffing to save face?" Lee Se-yeon conjectured.

It was a highly plausible theory. After all, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yuseong Gaming hadn't been able to craft it yet!

Although the New York Lions were a prestigious team, Yuseong Gaming was currently receiving so much corporate backing that people joked, "The chairman has gone mad!" If Yuseong Gaming couldn't make it, it was hard to believe the New York Lions had beaten them to it.

"Are they really that petty?"

"Petty? It's called strategy."

"I think someone got cursed out for saying that before..."

Poked in a sore spot, Lee Se-yeon glared at Tae-hyun.

"I don't think they'd lie about making the armor when they didn't, though."

"But the psychological effect is real."

"Hmm..."

Tae-hyun fell into thought. Honestly, while Adamantium Armor was great in Pan-On, it was absolutely vital for the League. In Pan-On, you could rely on subordinates, mobilize allies, and exploit level differences. But in the League, those advantages disappeared, and the level gaps shrunk to almost nothing. In such an environment, the presence of high-tier items made a massive difference.

It was only natural to prepare various PVP items in anticipation of the League, and Adamantium Armor was the core of that preparation.

"Others will be cautious when facing them. It'll buy them a few matches."

"If it's going to be like this, maybe they should just ban items altogether like in the early tournaments."

"If you win one more championship, they probably will."

The League needed tension. In a game like Pan-On, changing even a single rule could completely shift the meta, so rule changes were made with extreme caution, utilizing all of Pan-On's advanced AI systems. And honestly, Tae-hyun was the number one target for a nerf. An undefeated championship in the first season! Normally, an immediate item ban notice wouldn't have been surprising.

The reason they hadn't done it was likely...

They probably think allowing items makes it easier to keep me in check than banning them.

The Pan-On AI had made its judgment: *Allowing items is a better check than banning them!*

It made sense. Honestly, Lee Se-yeon didn't think banning gear would stop Tae-hyun either. It was far more effective to find items that could counter him.

We didn't have time during the season, but now is different.

Physical damage reduction, critical damage reduction, a curse aura... well, Adamantium made the aura hard to pull off, but they would find something. People weren't stupid. If they put their heads together, they would find a counter eventually.

Looking at that murderous glint in her eyes, she's definitely planning to hunt me down. Tae-hyun thought, looking at Lee Se-yeon. Just look at those terrifying eyes!

How did the New York Lions make the Adamantium Armor?

The answer was simple: brute force until it worked!

"...Are you joking?"

"No. I'm dead serious."

Hammerman, Lucas, GeneralGodTaehyun, and Nadir looked dumbfounded. They were all famous ranker blacksmiths. The kind of master craftsmen whose gear made players weep with joy upon receiving it.

Naturally, when they were invited, they had assumed, Ah, they must want to commission something from me.

But the proposal they received was completely unexpected.

"We want all the blacksmiths gathered here to pool your strength and craft the Adamantium Armor."

"......"

"......"

Their pride was stung, but the rankers held their tongues. After all, they had already come this far. Moreover, they each had a history of failing to craft it individually. Those failures forced them to keep their mouths shut.

"Sigh. I know I failed on my own, but having to work together like this... it really hurts my pride."

"You think you're the only one?"

"Hahaha. Everyone, calm down. No need to fight." GeneralGodTaehyun smiled, trying to mediate. He gave a refreshing smile and said, "Since you're all trash anyway, why squabble over who's slightly better trash?"

"You bastard?!"

"I knew his username was suspicious from the start!"

The other blacksmiths flared up at GeneralGodTaehyun's smiling insults. How dare he insult their skills?

"You're blacksmiths who couldn't even make a single piece of Adamantium Armor and fell behind, so why get so ugly and angry? Is it self-loathing??"

"You punk! Are you any different?"

"Didn't you get invited here because you couldn't make it either?"

"Ah. I'm different."

"???"

"I just came to mock you guys..."

"Drag him out!"

The New York Lions staff quickly entered and dragged GeneralGodTaehyun out. Even as he was being hauled away, he shouted, "The Adamantium Armor you guys make will be cursed!"

Thanks to him, the atmosphere was thoroughly ruined.

"Ahem. Apologies. We didn't know GeneralGodTaehyun was such an eccentric person."

"How could you not know with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a username like that?"

"His name literally screams weirdo..."

"Ahem. Anyway, back to the point. You have all failed to craft the Adamantium Armor individually. That's why we want you to cooperate."

"Our pride..."

"We will pay you triple your usual rate."

"...is ultimately about creating better items. For that, cooperation is a small price to pay."

"Indeed. Well said."

They all nodded in unison. Money truly was the best motivator!

"But you seem to be misunderstanding something. The reason we failed is because we lacked Adamantium, and we didn't have a forge capable of handling it."

Even if several ranker blacksmiths joined forces, the fundamental issues remained.

"We have secured the Adamantium."

"It takes at least a dozen attempts to succeed once. You secured that much? And if you fail to craft Adamantium, it vanishes completely without recovery."

"Yes, we secured that much."

"...How?"

"We bought it all."

The blacksmiths were shocked. Large gaming teams really had insane capital! It was a scale completely different from individual players.

"What about the forge? Kim Tae-hyun used a special forge."

"We prepared a special forge as well."

"?"

The New York Lions had approached the problem differently. If they couldn't get their hands on the Primeval Fire, they would just scale up the forge! A larger forge naturally meant hotter fire and higher thermal output.

As a result, they had built a forge the size of a large village on Sky Island. It was absolute madness, driven by the singular obsession to craft the Adamantium Armor.

"..."

"..."

"For the first time, I'm actually a bit scared..."

The blacksmiths were repulsed at first, but they soon accepted it.

"Well, this is an opportunity."

"Once we make it once, we can keep making it!"

"We would like you to focus on options like physical damage reduction and critical damage reduction."

"Isn't that too blatantly targeting Kim Tae-hyun? What about other players?"

"Honestly, besides Kim Tae-hyun, we don't really need to go this far for anyone else..."

The New York Lions weren't lying. Soon, an official video was uploaded by the team. It showed Smith wearing the Adamantium Armor!

"Ugh. Horrifying." Tae-hyun grimaced. Tanks needed to chill!

"But if a tank doesn't wear it, who will?" Ji-soo asked.

"Quiet."

"..."

What was worse was that others would start making it too. Other teams would copy the method.

"Is an armor revolution coming to Pan-On... Well, it's about time."

With the Level 300 cap broken and rankers rising, it was natural for armor quality to step up. The era of Adamantium-infused armor was upon them.

"Hey. Will next season be okay?"

"Well... you guys will have to do well. I did my part last season."

Everyone was speechless. He wasn't wrong, but...! The pressure was immense!

"Can we really perform as well as other first-division players?"

"I don't know. Honestly, didn't you always lead the charge and kill everyone, Senior?"

"They won't die as easily as before, so we'll have to engage in real power struggles."

"Right. Tae-hyun. What about your singing skill?"

"Ah, that."

He needed to max out Magic, Cooking, and Singing to Master level. Magic and Cooking were manageable, but Singing...

"Lee Se-yeon said she'd help? She said she'd introduce a Bard."

"What?"

"Isn't it a trap?"

"She might try to sabotage you on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠purpose..."

The team's reactions were swift and suspicious. Tae-hyun was slightly flustered by their cold assessment.

"No... Ji-soo. Lee Se-yeon isn't the type of person to sabotage someone over something like this, is she?"

Yu Ji-soo was the closest to Se-yeon here. But even she couldn't answer immediately.

"She... might... sabotage you..."

"..."

To everyone else, it was highly plausible! Tae-hyun sighed deeply.

"While Lee Se-yeon is certainly capable of doing that, and seems like the type..."

"?"

"???"

Is he insulting her or defending her? The team stared at Tae-hyun in confusion.

"Smith is doing well right now, so she won't attack me first while we're allied. ...Probably."

"Probably."

"Probably... sigh. Damn it. I have to learn the singing skill, so stop talking nonsense. You're making me anxious too! Lee Da-bi, is what I asked for ready?"

"Ah, the cooking? Yes. When I brought it up, they were all crying tears of joy."

To raise the cooking skill, he had to cook a massive amount. Especially since he was already at the Advanced level. The key was cooking various ingredients in different situations to get more skill EXP.

So Tae-hyun had called the chefs of the Power Warrior Guild.

These were people who traveled the continent seeking fortunes through cooking! They were meticulous enough to bake popcorn near territory wars and sell cotton candy near demon summonings.

Joining them would raise his skill quickly.

Of course, the deeply distrustful Power Warrior Guild members didn't believe it easily. They didn't want to be scammed, but the temptation was too great! The guild members looked at Lee Da-bi with teary eyes. Please... please tell us the truth!

"It's Kim Tae-hyun!!!"

"It's Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!!!"

"What did I tell you! I told you warm sincerity still exists in this world!"

"The Guild Master might be cold-blooded and ruthless, but she's not that evil!"

The guild members hugged each other and wept. Seeing grown adults shedding fat tears made Lee Da-bi's face turn bright red with embarrassment. She wanted to scream, "They're not my guild members!"

"Sniff... I'll believe whatever you say from now on."

"Me too, me too."

The guild chat was on the verge of exploding. The guild members who didn't believe and didn't participate were dying of regret!

"I look forward to working with you. Where should we go first?" Tae-hyun asked.

"Huh?"

"I asked where we're going first..."

"I-I'm so nervous right now, I can't hear you properly..."

"..."

Tae-hyun began to seriously wonder, Was calling these guys really a good idea?