The Undead Labor Force

'!' As expected, the guild members' warnings were spot on. The immediate consequence of working hard to dig the ground was hunger and thirst! However, Tae-hyun didn't panic. He calmly reached his hand toward Towang-i's mouth.

"Gwer-gwer-gwet!"

"Uh-huh. Towang-i, hold still."

Those cold fruit drinks were prepared purely for taste. While Tae-hyun and Cain could survive in the desert by chugging bitter herbal medicine, Lee Da-bi might not be able to stomach it. But the real prize was this!

'If we eat this periodically, we can survive even in the desert.'

At the same time, Tae-hyun pulled out loaves of bread. He planned to get buffs from the drinks, so the bread was purely to satisfy their hunger. But that didn't mean it was tasteless. This was bread that Tae-hyun had baked like a madman while leveling up his cooking skill. It was bread made with top-tier ingredients, superb skill, and of course, absolute luck!

While Tae-hyun ate and drank to satisfy his hunger and thirst, the players waiting outside filed down one by one. Although the underground space was still cramped, there was just enough room for everyone to squeeze in.

"Huh? How did you bring all this?"

"I have my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ways. Here, take some."

When Tae-hyun handed out the bread and grape juice, the Power Warrior explorers choked up. A sudden wave of intense emotion washed over them!

"...What's with you guys?"

"Ugh... sniff... No one has ever shared food with us before..."

"Aren't you guys taking this game a bit too seriously?"

Despite Tae-hyun's deadpan remark, the Power Warrior explorers wept openly. It was a sorrowful gratitude that only those who had survived in the desert for a long time could truly understand! In this harsh wasteland, sharing food was practically unheard of.

"It's because... hic... you've never had to survive here, Tae-hyun-nim... sob..."

Lee Se-yeon's guild members, who entered the tunnel last, were utterly bewildered by the sea of tears before them. What is this? Did Kim Tae-hyun do something 'Kim Tae-hyun-esque' again?

Yet, the atmosphere was surprisingly heartwarming. Lee Se-yeon's guild members watched in confusion as the others happily munched on bread and drank grape juice.

"Is... is this some kind of special ritual of the Archisus Church?"

"Shouldn't they choose a better time and place for this?"

To an outsider, it truly looked like a religious ceremony! A crowd of players weeping openly with Tae-hyun standing right in the center.

"Let's check our status down here first."

"The penalties are way less severe!"

"Hunger and thirst are dropping much slower too..."

"As long as we stay underground, it's slow, but it's definitely doable. Let's just wait it out here, and once it rains or gets dark outside, we can head out."

"??"

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. What on earth were they talking about?

"...You want to just sit here? We need to keep moving."

"Uh... but didn't you use up all your food just to dig this far down?"

"Even if the penalties are reduced, moving around will immediately drain your HP. You should just stay still and endure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it."

Lee Se-yeon's guild members were under a massive misunderstanding. They assumed Tae-hyun had recklessly consumed all his food supplies just to dig this single underground passage! Of course, that wasn't the case. Tae-hyun would never do something so reckless for such a meager ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠result. He had dug this path specifically so they could keep moving underground!

"By the way, does night ever fall here?"

"Yes. But it's extremely rare."

"And rain is even rarer than that..."

'Ah. I see.'

Hearing that, Tae-hyun realized the intended design. Usually, even in maps or dungeons that made players scream, "How is anyone supposed to beat this!", there was always a hidden weakness if one looked closely enough. The reason Tae-hyun was called a world-class player was because he was exceptionally good at finding those loopholes and clinging to them with dogged persistence! While other players threw up their hands saying, "I'm not doing this!" or "We need to level up more before trying that," Tae-hyun would simply shrug and say, "Well, let's give it a shot anyway," and dive right in.

This place was likely the same.

'They wanted players to slowly make progress by moving only during the rare nights or rainy days.'

Indeed, if the desert sun was blazing, any sane person would wait for nightfall or rain. Who in their right mind would start digging a tunnel through the earth? Granted, those weather changes were incredibly rare here, but still...!

"Don't worry, I brought plenty of food."

Tae-hyun grabbed Towang-i and gave him a vigorous shake. Shaking back and forth, Towang-i began hacking up loaves of bread.

"A... a rabbit is spitting out food?!"

Even veteran players of Pandemonium Online had never witnessed such a bizarre spectacle. Everyone was left utterly speechless. What kind of rabbit was that?

"Our HP won't drain as fast down here, and if you get hungry or thirsty, I'll supply the food. Let's expand this underground tunnel."

"Yes! Understood!"

Lee Se-yeon's guild members answered enthusiastically. When they first joined forces with Tae-hyun, they had been plagued by doubts. Is it really okay to party with him? Are we going to get killed by Kim Tae-hyun? Those doubts had only intensified when they saw him venting his anger by tormenting his undead army! But as they played together, those suspicions gradually melted away, replaced by a growing sense of trust. As expected of Kim Tae-hyun!

'Kim Tae-hyun's personality might be terrifying and evil, but his gameplay is definitely reliable.'

'Kim Tae-hyun's face is terrifying too...'

'...'

'...'

Tae-hyun felt a sudden, inexplicable prickle of discomfort. It was the exact same sensation he got whenever Cain was muttering complaints behind his back.

'Are these bastards talking trash about me?'

The players who had descended into the tunnel swung their tools with all their might to expand the passage.

"I should put the undead to work too."

"What? That's dangerous!"

'Why do these guys try to stop me every single time I try to do something?'

What a spineless bunch! Had they learned absolutely nothing from hanging around Lee Se-yeon?

'If they've been running around with Lee Se-yeon, they should have mastered the holy trinity of conspiracies, underhanded schemes, and dirty tricks by now. What on earth have they been learning?'

He was harboring thoughts that would have made the guild members choke with rage had they heard them.

"Why is it dangerous?"

"Undead aren't capable of precise actions."

"Even our Guild Master doesn't make them perform complex tasks unless they're elite summons she personally raised."

"Ah. Is that so?"

Tae-hyun nodded. It was true that undead, having lost their minds, struggled with delicate tasks. They needed to swing pickaxes to break through the walls and carve out a path, but a single wrong swing could strike the ceiling and cause a cave-in!

"But it'll be fine."

"..."

"...W-well, if you say so."

Tae-hyun noticed something peculiar about them once again. They would try to stop him, but the moment he insisted on doing it anyway, they immediately backed down and listened!

'Lee Se-yeon's guild members are pretty weird too...'

-They seem just as eccentric as the Power Warrior guys, Da-bi.

-Tae-hyun-nim... no matter how you look at it, that's a bit too harsh...

Lee Da-bi was appalled. No matter how loose his standards were, how could he compare Lee Se-yeon's guild members—who were all high-ranking players—to the chaotic bunch of Power Warrior?

-We are honorable warriors! To insult us like this—Aaargh! Urgh! Aaaaah!

"..."

"..."

The watching guild members were struck dumb with horror. What kind of insane necromancy is that?!

-Hey. What kind of magic is that?

-Is it even magic? It doesn't look like magic to me.

-Don't tell me he's threatening them with brute force to make them follow him?

-Does that even make sense? They would have deserted ages ago if that were the case.

Among the offhand remarks they threw out, one was incredibly close to the truth, but the guild members dismissed it. How could anyone possibly threaten and control such a massive army of undead!

Besides, they were shocked by something else entirely.

"The undead are actually working!"

"They're even mining...?!"

The undead were swinging pickaxes perfectly! It was an incredibly shocking sight. Although the fact that Tae-hyun was standing behind them cracking a whip was a bit—no, extremely—concerning...

'Let's just pretend we didn't see that for now.'

'How on earth is Kim Tae-hyun controlling the undead? Is it an undead strengthening skill?'

'A skill that restores the sanity of the undead must be incredibly rare.'

There were indeed such skills among black magic spells. Skills that strengthened the undead to such an extreme degree that they regained their past memories and sanity! To think Kim Tae-hyun possessed such a skill... But then again, this was Kim Tae-hyun...

Tae-hyun smiled warmly. Thanks to this underground setup, leveling up his skills was becoming a breeze.

"Oh, right. I should whip up some food for the undead."

"...?"

"I didn't mishear him, did I?"

"No. He definitely said 'food'."

The guild members felt their minds drifting further away. Fine, let's assume whipping the undead was some kind of skill. But why on earth was he cooking for them...?!

-Archisus's Cooking: Undead!

Tae-hyun initially thought about molding some sand to make the dish, but he decided to show a shred of sincerity and pulled out some bread instead. After all, if he fed them sand while they were working so hard, they might misunderstand his intentions, regardless of how it tasted!

Tae-hyun ground up the bread, mixed it with meat, and molded it using his cooking skill. When the Archisus's Cooking skill merged with his undead-specialized skill, a loaf of bread specifically for the undead was created!

'Oh. This actually turned out quite nice.'

However, the undead's reaction was cold.

-We do not consume such humble fare.

-It seems you do not realize how noble our status is.

"...Hmm. I see."

Tae-hyun pushed the bread dish aside and picked up a handful of sand again.

-Why the sand...?

Beside him, Golgol-i shook his head. Had those fools still not grasped the situation even after getting beaten half to death?

'They're definitely lacking in intelligence because they aren't Death Knights.'

-Aaargh! Aaaah!

-Screeech! I will eat it! Please give me the sand bread!

A title that granted additional bonuses during construction command had actually appeared!

Despite being beaten into eating it, the taste of the dish was truly astonishing. Wait...? It's delicious?!

-H-he clearly made this by molding sand, didn't he?

-Did he swap the dish when we weren't looking?

-...Why would he do that?

-How should I know...

"Alright! Now that you've had your fill, get back to work! When I say 'one', swing your pickaxes! When I say 'two', raise them! Don't stop!"

Tae-hyun drove the undead like a man possessed, carving out the tunnel at a breakneck pace! The surrounding players could only stare at his back with eyes filled with equal parts awe and sheer terror.

'I should have understood what our Guild Master meant when she said Kim Tae-hyun was completely insane...!'

'Hasn't Kim Tae-hyun's condition gotten even worse than it was in Pan-On 1?'

'If we're not careful, we might end up joined to that labor line too!'

To the guild members who knew of Tae-hyun's past exploits, the endless forced labor of those undead didn't feel like someone else's problem. If they slipped up, they could easily be dragged into that line!

"Let's work... let's work hard!"

"If we work any harder in this heat, we're going to collapse from heatstroke!"

"Still better than ending up over there!"