Singing to the Dead

Thinking he had explained enough, Alexeos even brought up the quest window. He seemed to take it for granted that Tae-hyun would help him.

Hmm. I came here with a light heart, just hoping to grab some rewards...

But Tae-hyun's thoughts were different. What he needed to clear right now was his Avatar of Archisus class quest, not save Alexeos's life. Just looking at it, any quest related to Alexeos was bound to be ridiculously difficult.

I still need to cook, finish my magic quests, and level up my singing skill.

"—...Surely you aren't thinking of refusing?"

"Well, if I refuse, are you going to attack me?"

Once he realized his opponent was in a weakened state, Tae-hyun's attitude became incredibly cocky.

Of course, even in a ghostly state, Alexeos was still a powerful foe, but Tae-hyun was no pushover either. With his various divine authorities, he was confident he could trash this lair and make a clean escape if necessary.

However, Alexeos responded in an unexpected way.

"—Ugh... This is truly too much. And here I thought I had forged a deep friendship with the Avatar of Archisus..."

"...??"

"He's not trying to use Rhetoric on you right now, is he, Tae-hyun?"

"I-I think he is."

Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi were dumbfounded. What do you think you're doing?

But Alexeos shed ghostly tears, showing his deep disappointment.

"—Where has the friendship and respect between us gone, O Avatar?"

"We never had anything like—"

"—I was always so certain that you were the hero who would save the continent from crisis and bring peace."

"No matter how I look at it, he's lying," Lee Da-bi said coldly. "Tae-hyun, they say dragons will lie through their teeth when cornered. It's not just Black Dragons that are cunning; other dragons are too..."

"—..."

"—..."

Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk were hurt at the same time. Splash damage!

"A-Ah, no! I didn't mean you guys...!"

"—But she isn't wrong, Master."

"—Indeed. Not just Black Dragons, but all dragons become incredibly petty when cornered. Just look at Nitinger, Master."

Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk didn't deny it. Dragons had an image of being dignified and powerful boss monsters, but they were also creatures capable of cunning deception. Usually, they were so overwhelmingly powerful that they didn't need to resort to tricks, but when disadvantaged, they would use any underhanded tactic available.

Even Alexeos, who was arrogant in his prime, would readily appeal to tears when cornered!

"—Sob, sob, sob. O Avatar..."

"—...!"

Alexeos was shocked. How could a mere human resist my Rhetoric?!

Come to think of it, that damn Avatar of Archisus somehow possessed the Word of Power skill, which was normally exclusive to dragons!

"—Once my power is fully restored, I swear I will reward you handsomely, starting with my divine blessing!"

"Ah, fine, fine. I'll do it. I'll do it."

Tae-hyun's voice carried absolutely zero sincerity. A level of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sincerity that even Alexeos could easily read! It was the kind of "I'll look into it if I happen to pass by" level of sincerity.

"...Wait."

"—Oh. Have you finally decided to take this seriously?"

"This actually worked out perfectly. Listen to a song of mine."

"—???"

To level up a skill like Singing, one needed an audience to listen. The higher the level of the NPCs listening, the faster the skill would level up!

The problem was that using a clumsy skill on a high-level NPC could easily backfire. Singing a terrible song or serving bad food to a noble NPC could, in the worst-case scenario, trigger a reaction like "Off with his head immediately!"

But Alexeos was the perfect target. He was too desperate to get angry over a bad song, and Tae-hyun had already practiced on him before when leveling up his Word of Power...

It's a shame there's only one of him. The skill levels up faster if you rotate through multiple people.

Even if the target was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a high-level NPC, there was a limit to how much you could gain by repeatedly targeting the same person. Tae-hyun almost asked if he had any dragon friends, but stopped himself. Other dragons wouldn't be in such ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a desperate situation as Alexeos!

"—Why a song?"

"Seeing your pathetic state, I felt like I should comfort you..."

"—No, I don't need comfort, just hurry up and go—"

"Alright, here comes the song."

Tae-hyun ignored Alexeos and cleared his throat.

To Alexeos, who had heard the masterpieces of countless legendary bards, Tae-hyun's low-level singing was nothing short of pathetic.

"Hmm. What should I title this song? How about 'The Pathetic Red Dragon Alexeos'?"

"—How about 'The Most Pitiful Red Dragon'?" Yong-yong suggested.

"—How about 'The Red Dragon is the Most Miserable of All'?" Heuk-heuk chimed in.

"My title sounds the best."

Lyrics and themes were important for songs. A song describing a rabbit playing in a field carried no risk, but a song declaring "The King of the Auston Kingdom is bald!" required risking one's life.

In that sense, a song mocking a Red Dragon was something only someone with a liver the size of a house could create. A song that, if sung, could literally summon a Red Dragon to fly down and tear you apart!

"Let's all sing together. Come on. 'Oh, the pitiful dragon Alexeos...'"

Tae-hyun began to lead a chorus with Yong-yong, Heuk-heuk, and Golgol-i. Lee Da-bi even joined in from the side, adding harmonies to help.

"—..."

And Alexeos had to sit there and listen to the song with the most annoyed expression in the world.

"—If you're done singing, can you finally leave—"

"What should the next song be?"

"How about singing about the time you defeated the Demon Duke Furneus?" Lee Da-bi suggested.

"That sounds great."

Unlike others, Tae-hyun had a massive advantage: his ridiculous list of achievements! Just picking his past achievements one by one and turning them into songs granted additional buffs. While other bards had to write songs based on rumors, Tae-hyun wrote songs based on his direct experiences!

"—Stop singing! My condition is worsening!" Alexeos shouted.

He was currently in an undead state himself. Of all things, Tae-hyun had to write a song like that!

"Ah, my bad. Sorry about that," Tae-hyun apologized.

Come to think of it, Alexeos had no choice but to take damage from it!

"—Then now, please leav—"

"Should the next song be about Uipoatl?"

"?"

"Or maybe 'The Emperor's Lost Crown'... Yeah, composing songs is actually pretty fun."

"But Tae-hyun, you've been using the exact same melody since earlier..."

"Who cares? We'll just change the lyrics."

Rather than creatively composing a new melody, Tae-hyun chose to win with the lyrics! It was a strategy only possible because of his legendary achievements.

Tae-hyun had stubbornly ground his way to Advanced before leaving. Reaching Advanced in a single day was a monumental task for any skill. For Tae-hyun, it would have been impossible without his achievements and Alexeos.

The title granted additional effects when singing to ghost-type targets.

Isn't this a bit niche?

He didn't think he'd have many occasions to sing to ghosts...

"Still, the Singing skill isn't bad."

Singing was a classic buff-type skill. It allowed the user to provide the right buffs for any situation using various songs. For someone like Tae-hyun, who technically swapped between a wide variety of skills, it was a perfect fit.

"Your songs are... certainly something, Tae-hyun."

Starting with the lyrics, they were on a level no one else could ever hope to replicate!

"Hmm... Honestly, I was thinking of setting up in a plaza and singing, just like with cooking, but I've changed my mind."

"?"

"Singing to monsters still levels up the skill, right?"

Comparing players to monsters, the latter often had much higher levels. What if he went to find those high-level monsters and attacked them with songs?

"Since I need to level up my magic anyway, I'll try fighting them with a combination of singing and magic."

"That sounds like a solid plan."

"I'll also cook some food and feed it to the monsters."

"That sounds like a terrible plan," Lee Da-bi said firmly. Wrong was wrong!

"Can't cooking be used as an attack too?"

"...Tae-hyun. I can compromise and accept hunting with singing and magic, but killing monsters with cooking is just wrong..."

A truly mad idea! No matter how much he wanted to level up his cooking skill, trying to kill monsters with food was absurd.

"Besides, if you deal damage with cooking, wouldn't that just increase your Infamy instead of your Cooking skill?"

"My skill isn't normal cooking, it's Archisus's Cooking. I think it might be different."

"Even with Archisus involved, dealing damage with food shouldn't give skill experience..."

Lee Da-bi trailed off. Wait, could it actually work?

"...Do you want to find a monster and test it?"

"Heh. That was my plan."

Tae-hyun used Archisus's Cooking to create a mysterious dish. It was a highly suspicious-looking concoction that even the players of the Asbian Empire would refuse to eat!

One. Two. Three.

Swoosh!

A giant scorpion monster burst out from beneath the sand. Tae-hyun immediately hurled the dish at it. His throwing form was that of someone who had lobbed quite a few bombs in his time!

"……."

"……."

It actually leveled up! What kind of ridiculous nonsense was this...!

Of all things, though chefs did sometimes use food to set traps...

"Perfect. Let's go."

"Tae-hyun, even if it works, this is just wrong...!"

Tae-hyun pretended not to hear and kept moving. He had to level up his other skills alongside cooking, so he was incredibly busy.

"Singing, The Demise of Demon Duke Furneus!"

"Cold Curse!"

All of Tae-hyun's magic had been replaced by Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic, but Cold Curse was an exception. It was a skill he had been forced to acquire after interacting with the Frost Core!

Crack, crackle—

What a garbage skill.

Tae-hyun grumbled and leaped backward. To think he had to run out of the skill's range every single time he cast it!