A Scepter of Lies

"If it's Quarada, he's the God of Curses and Pain, right?"

"Yeah. That's what it says... No, wait. How do you know that?"

Tae-hyun was flustered. He knew because Carbanog had told him, but there shouldn't have been any way for Lee Se-yeon to know.

'Ah. Is Lee Se-yeon a follower of Quarada?'

Then again, curses and pain certainly suited a Necromancer...

Tae-hyun was having incredibly rude thoughts, but Lee Se-yeon didn't notice.

"Quarada was briefly popular a while back."

"...When?? This is the first I've heard of it."

"Ah, it was just a rumor circulating among rankers, so it probably wasn't posted on the public forums."

"..."

Tae-hyun was speechless. Were all those ranker bastards close friends except for him?

'I bet if there's a ranker group chat, they're all talking trash about me.'

Of course, it wasn't quite that bad. There were thousands of rankers worldwide; they couldn't all be close. Rankers usually played solo!

...Though it was true Tae-hyun had exceptionally few ranker friends...

"As you know, there are many attempts among rankers to advance to Epic or Legendary classes, right?"

"Of course."

Even though it was his first time hearing this, Tae-hyun lied without blinking an eye. Of course! I knew that too!

"Naturally, advancing to a Legendary class gives you an edge in competition and helps with your reputation..."

In the beginning, there were only a few Legendary classes, but now the number had grown quite a bit. According to Pan-On analysts, there were about a dozen, and if you counted those who hadn't revealed themselves, it was probably around twenty. That showed how desperate rankers were for Legendary classes. It was a highly competitive era for rankers. To stand out now, you had to do something. You had to get a Legendary class to shine!

"Who was it again? Back then, a secret temple of the Quarada Order was discovered during a quest, and some rankers formed a party to go in, hoping to get a Legendary class."

Not all evil god cults dreamed of world domination. Some just lived quietly in a corner! The Quarada Order was one of them.

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

"So, did they change classes?"

"Who knows? I only heard rumors that they formed a party and went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in..."

'Not very helpful.'

Tae-hyun smacked his lips. He had hoped to ask around if there were players related to the Quarada Order.

Well, even if he didn't know, he had always figured things out by throwing himself into them. Hadn't he cleared everything like that so far?

"Third Prince. Looking at your countenance, it seems you have made a covenant with a certain god."

"Kuooo... (How did you know?)"

"Seeing your dull eyes and your entire body covered in armor, it is clear you have made a covenant with the god Quarada!"

"Kuooo!"

The Third Prince was startled. Tae-hyun was diagnosing his symptoms as if possessed by a divine spirit!

"What are you trying to do?"

Lee Se-yeon asked Tae-hyun, her heart in her throat. To her, Tae-hyun's methods were too... reckless. One slip-up, and a fight could break out right here.

'The place is crawling with the Third Prince's NPCs...'

Lee Se-yeon was tense. If a fight broke out, she would have to summon her undead to block the surroundings, protect Lee Da-bi, and retreat outside... Kim Tae-hyun? Kim Tae-hyun would find his own way out!

But Tae-hyun didn't care and kept talking.

"Prince, are you satisfied with your covenant with the god Quarada?"

The prince shook his head side to side. Quarada was the God of Curses and Pain. He granted immense power upon covenanting, but simultaneously inflicted curses and pain. He was a cruel, evil god even to his believers.

"Mmm..."

Tae-hyun hesitated upon seeing the quest pop up. His original plan was to drive a wedge between them by saying, "Isn't the god Quarada kind of mediocre?" and earn his trust that way... but lifting the curse!

"Understood. I shall give it a try!"

"Do you have a way?"

"No. I'm just going to accept it."

"..."

Thinking about it, there was no need to actually clear the Third Prince's quest. In the first place, wasn't the Third Prince one of the guys who, along with the First and Second Princes, tried to keep Tae-hyun in check? There was no need to give an extra favor to someone he disliked. He could just accept the quest and ignore it.

'I only came here to find the King's location anyway. I'll just earn a decent amount of trust and slip away.'

"Kuooooo!"

However, the Third Prince seemed quite moved. He began shouting and gathering his vassals.

"Kuo. Kuooo..."

Even if they didn't understand the exact words, the meaning was clearly conveyed. He was telling them to follow Tae-hyun's example!

At those words, the vassals glared at Tae-hyun.

'Oh, damn it.'

He had planned to earn a moderate amount of trust and then pry out the King's location... but now, all the vassals except the Third Prince were keeping him in check.

"No, it's really nothing grand. It's not like I can do it easily either..."

"Kuoo (And he is humble as well!)"

"..."

Only after the commotion died down could Tae-hyun ask his question.

"By the way, Third Prince. Do you happen to know where His Majesty the King is?"

"!"

The Third Prince stiffened at the sudden question. No matter how trustworthy someone was, there were questions that simply could not be answered.

Sensing the Third Prince's suspicion, Tae-hyun immediately followed up.

"It is none other than... among the treasures possessed by His Majesty..."

Tae-hyun whispered to Lee Da-bi.

"What's a famous treasure held by the King of the Erangse Kingdom?"

"The scepter is famous, right? The Erangse Royal Scepter."

"...I need the Erangse Royal Scepter to lift the curse..."

"Kuooo (Is that true?)"

The Third Prince looked troubled at Tae-hyun's words. The Erangse Royal Scepter was a treasure that only the King possessed.

"Yes! We must have it to lift the curse. Without it, the curse can never be lifted, so you must cooperate!"

Tae-hyun spoke with absolute conviction. To anyone watching from the side, there was no scammer quite like him. He lied without even blinking!

"Kuooo (That is problematic...)"

There was a reason the Third Prince was troubled. After His Majesty the King collapsed from illness, the princes—excluding the Fourth Prince—had made a pact.

"Let's leave Father out of this and divide things among ourselves!"

They locked up the collapsed King in a place where no one could find him, and the princes decided to run things on their own. The Erangse Royal Scepter was highly likely in the possession of the First Prince, who was probably putting it to good use.

"Did His Highness the First Prince take it?"

The Third Prince nodded.

"Kuooo (If you need it, I shall go and retrieve it.)"

"Oh, well... yes. Please do."

Tae-hyun was flustered as things began to drift in an unexpected direction. He needed to find the King, but now he was about to be sent to the First Prince.

'Wait, where on earth did they hide the King? Do I have to ask the First Prince?'

"The infinite power of the heavens!"

"The world of eternal blessings!"

"Incredible! The French National Team! They are showing a strength that defies all expectations!"

At the excited shout of the caster, the crowd roared in response. The Pan-On players selected for the French National Team were showing unexpectedly formidable strength.

Currently, the French National Team ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was playing a practice match in the arena. Their opponent was none other than the Chengdu Bears, a first-division team in the Pan-On League!

Since both were powerful teams, everyone expected a close, competitive match, but that was not the case. The French National Team was utterly crushing the Chengdu Bears.

"Waaaaah!"

"Magnifique! Magnificent!"

"H-how did this happen?"

"Is it just because it's a practice match?"

"No, those aren't second-string players. That's their main roster..."

The first season of the Pan-On League had taught many people a lesson. Especially Team KL's undefeated championship run. How did they achieve an undefeated championship? As a result, several people realized:

- Simply filling a team with players famous for high levels and decent PvP skills isn't enough.

- Sure, they might be generally strong, but that alone won't beat top-tier teams like Team KL.

- The key is skills! Even if their level is a bit low and they are less famous, you must find and gather players with broken skills!

- When you combine these skills, the synergy becomes even more broken...

Until now, players were usually selected from high-level rankers. In hindsight, it made sense. They were famous, so their skills were somewhat guaranteed, and they had plenty of PvP experience...

But now, people prioritized skills, even if the player's level was slightly lacking or their ranker standing was low. The idea was to snatch a victory using unique classes and broken skills! If a sequence of unknown skills unfolded, a round was practically as good as won.

The French National Team had thought the same, and now the results were showing. Once their buffs and skills aligned, the Chengdu Bears were simply pulverized.

"Merci! Thank you!"

"Truly amazing, Baudouin! Of course, this is just a practice match, but what do you think was the key to this victory?"

"I believe it is thanks to the skill I possess."

Baudouin was a player who had advanced to a class in the Garuda Kingdom after Sky Island recently opened. He had obtained the Epic Class, Myriarch!

It was worth moving faster than everyone else. The Chengdu Bears had been completely caught ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up in his skills.

"I see. That skill was indeed magnificent. With a skill like that, we can certainly expect great results in the World Cup, wouldn't you say?"

"We intend to do our best! Of course, we know the other teams are strong, so we won't let our guard down."

"Is there any opponent you are particularly wary of?"

"We are keeping a close eye on the Korean National Team. Especially their players..."

"Ah, yes. The Korean players are indeed terrifying."

Unlike in the past, Korea wasn't as dominant in esports, but after Pan-On, the story had changed. Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon, who had utterly dominated the Pan-On League, belonged to Korea. Honestly, just having those two was terrifying enough.

"We are prepared. I've analyzed Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon's matches over a hundred times. We will definitely exploit any opening!"

They were formidable opponents, but Baudouin had a plan.

'I will target Cain!'

Kim Tae-hyun's insane burst damage combos were only possible because Cain drew everyone's attention. As a tank who could self-destruct at any moment, Cain was a dangerous variable. Baudouin planned to completely bind Cain and deal with him early on before fighting the rest. He had already prepared the perfect skills for that very purpose!

"We should put Cain on the reserve list."

"Are you sure about that?"

"What else can I do when there are so many good tanks? Honestly, I even feel a bit self-conscious about putting him on the reserve list."

"Why are you being self-conscious? If you want to pick him, you pick him."

Lee Se-yeon was dumbfounded by Tae-hyun's uncharacteristic words. Tae-hyun, feeling self-conscious?

"I suppose you're right."

Thanks to Se-yeon's words, Tae-hyun made up his mind. Cain would be a reserve!