Did He Really Just Ask That?

"Hmm. Did he really just ask that?"

Tae-hyun nodded without batting an eye at Zalere's question. After all, wasn't he just a ghost NPC who would vanish once time ran out? There was absolutely no reason to fear him.

"What is this absolute mess? I suppose it's fitting for an Avatar of Archisus, but still..."

"Just because I'm the Avatar of Archisus doesn't mean I always cause chaos," Tae-hyun replied.

"Is that so? From what I know, Archisus usually brings nothing but chaos and disaster."

"..."

The dead had nothing to fear. Zalere simply blurted out whatever came to his mind.

"Whatever. Just help me out here. We need to take down that demon below."

Tae-hyun, starting to find Zalere annoying, began treating him with half-hearted indifference. King or not, he had already gotten what he wanted, and time was ticking. He intended to squeeze out every last drop of usefulness as quickly as possible!

"By the way, what kind of skills do you have?"

"I am highly skilled with the bow and exceptional at magic—"

"Oh, dear. Then hurry up and help."

"Are you not being incredibly rude?!"

"We have a contract, don't we? Just help."

Even if the man was an ancestor of the Erangs Kingdom, Tae-hyun didn't particularly care. He didn't belong to the Erangs Kingdom anyway...

Besides, he had a certain feeling about Zalere.

The feeling that he won't be of any help.

Specifically, a feeling very much like Pelmas!

What did it matter if he was a king? He had to be useful to earn respect...

"Hmph. Just watch."

Zalere was furious at Tae-hyun's poor treatment, but since he had been summoned by the song, he intended to show off his abilities.

"Summon Bow of the Erangs Royal Family!"

"..."

"A-Ah, no. This... It's my first time being summoned like this, so a man can make a mistake!"

"Ah. Yes, of course."

"That ghost doesn't seem very helpful..."

As the rankers whispered behind them, Zalere's face flushed red, and he cast another skill.

"Secret Hymn of the Erangs Palace!"

Kwaaaaaah!

Holy power began to rain down from the sky like a torrential downpour. It was a powerful, wide-area holy magic that only bishop-level NPCs could perform!

"!"

Even Tae-hyun, who had been dismissing him, was surprised by the sheer force.

Oh... If I hadn't contracted with Archisus, I might have respected him a bit more.

"Kweeeeek!"

Goladon roared at the sudden attack. The Garuda warriors' attacks were already dealing steady damage. On top of that, it was a fierce onslaught utilizing explosive equipment! With Zalere summoned into the mix, Goladon couldn't help but feel the creeping sensation of danger.

"Evade! The beast is going wild!"

The Garuda warriors quickly flew upward. Being winged warriors, they had a massive advantage in situations like this. The convenience of attacking when they wanted and retreating when things got unfavorable!

Even Lee Se-yeon couldn't help but admire it.

"Wow. Having wings really is convenient."

She had never even considered a race change, but seeing this made her feel quite tempted.

"Huh?"

Tae-hyun was taken aback for the first time in a while. Wait... What did I even do??

"..."

Why on earth did it have to be this...

I'd rather Sadiq's growth have been the one to trigger!

For the first time, Tae-hyun was actually rating Sadiq highly! If Sadiq had heard this, he would have wept tears of deep emotion.

"Kyaho!"

"Hey, you absolute nuisance of a red dragon!" Heuk-heuk shouted, his voice laced with irritation. If Bulbul-i collapsed, Heuk-heuk was the one who had to babysit him.

"Kyahooo..."

"Seriously, why are you using a skill you can't even handle, like Sadiq's Authority! Do you think Sadiq's power is some kind of joke?"

"Kyaho..."

"A-A joke? Did you just say everything you wanted to say?!"

"Kyaho..."

"No... of course, Master says it's a joke, but that's just a joke, not serious! He loves Sadiq's Authority so much!"

Heuk-heuk felt a surge of indignation. Just as Yong-yong took pride in Archisus despite being scammed by him, Heuk-heuk felt the same way about Sadiq. Besides, unlike the gold dragons who had been subjected to fraudulent contracts, the black dragon's contract was reasonably fair. To have it dismissed so easily!

"Heuk-heuk, shut up! You're too loud!"

"Yes, Master..."

Hit and run, hit and run.

As Goladon gradually grew exhausted, the frequency of his counterattacks dwindled.

Seeing this, Tae-hyun nodded.

"We're going in."

The rankers nodded with excited expressions. Finally, they were going to coordinate with Kim Tae-hyun!

Among the players who had reached the ranker tier, there was probably not a single one who hadn't dreamed of playing in a party with Tae-hyun. It was a dream of sorts! It felt like it would be even more thrilling than driving a supercar.

"We'll do what we usually do. Golgol-i and Heuk-heuk will flank him, while Yong-yong attacks from the front with his skills. Activate Tactics!"

"!"

A window showing each other's locations appeared for every player. Everyone was startled by this sight.

"Was there always a feature like this?"

"Uh, I thought this was only available in special quests..."

"Se-yeon, did this originally exist?"

"It's my first time seeing it too. What is this?"

"?!"

Since even Lee Se-yeon seemed to be seeing it for the first time, everyone was thrown into confusion!

"What kind of effect is this? It's amazing."

There weren't many skills that allowed players to see each other's locations, even in a simplified format. Usually, they had time limits or were only shareable under very specific circumstances. However, Tae-hyun's skill shared their locations instantly without any such restrictions.

It was simple but incredibly convenient, and above all, a skill highly coveted in the professional league!

"It's an additional effect that unlocks when you max out the Highest-grade Tactical Skill."

"..."

"..."

Just when on earth did he max out his tactical skill to the highest grade...

"Alright. That's not what's important right now. Kim Tae-hyun, give us our orders."

"I'll go in and deal damage, so just watch and bind his feet whenever you see fit."

Lee Se-yeon nodded. Ryu Da-young, who had been listening from behind, asked in bewilderment, "...Is that all?"

"Huh? Is there anything else to instruct?"

With those final words, Tae-hyun swooped down.

"Archisus's Charge, Archisus Swordsmanship, Archisus's First Strike, Critical Explosion!"

"Kweeeeeeeeeeek!"

The impact of Tae-hyun's attack felt entirely different. Moreover, his newly crafted sword was a masterpiece of unstable steel. Goladon staggered under the might of the sword, which was far more powerful than the previous Dae-man-bul-gang-geom.

"???"

Tae-hyun was taken aback. How could he suddenly miscalculate his MP, something he had done thousands of times before?

Oh, damn it!

Tae-hyun immediately realized the reason. It was because of Zalere, who was floating around up above.

"When are you going to be unsummoned?!"

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Pop!

Dammit. Now that I think about it, there was no way there wouldn't be an MP drain.

The thought of being forced to look at some hero's face and have his MP sucked dry every single time he sang a song was utterly ridiculous. It basically meant he couldn't even sing freely anymore. It had been one of his most useful buff skills...

Gulp, gulp—

Tae-hyun drank the potions while dodging Goladon's fierce onslaught. Normally, if a player was attacked while drinking a potion, the action would be canceled or its effects drastically reduced, so players typically dodged first before drinking...

But Tae-hyun didn't do that. To minimize wasted time, he took the enemy's attacks head-on with his body while using the potions to restore his MP!

The rankers were horrified, but Tae-hyun didn't even bat an eye as he pulled it off.

"Is he a dealer or a tank?!"

Once he drew Goladon's aggro, Tae-hyun focused entirely on defense rather than offense. Dodging attacks, deflecting them, and when that wasn't possible, relying on evasion to graze past them...

People often described Tae-hyun as the world's best damage dealer, but if he set his mind to it, he could easily play the role of a tank.

"...I'm starting to wonder if my being recruited was completely pointless," Ryu Da-young said in a low, speechless voice.

Lee Se-yeon and Lee Da-bi quickly chimed in.

"No, of course not!"

"Player Ryu Da-young, you have your own role to play!"

"Exactly, sister. It's only natural that you're not as good as Player Kim Tae-hyun, so I don't think there's any need for you to lose heart over something like that."

"..."

Ryu Da-young glared fiercely at Ryu Tae-su.

Startled, Ryu Tae-su asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"That would take too long to explain... and since I'm busy supporting Kim Tae-hyun right now, both of you just get a grip on your mental state and shut up."

Lee Se-yeon, starting to find them annoying, quickly shut down the issue.

Ryu Da-young stared at Lee Se-yeon with wide eyes. This was completely different from the polite, well-mannered, and cold image she usually showed on broadcasts...

Well, actually, was this still considered a cold image?

"Curse of Evil Darkness, Great Power of the Necronomicon, Chain Summon Golem..."

Kradaddack!

Lee Se-yeon was an outstanding ranged dealer. As she poured out additional skills, magic rained down on Goladon like a carpet bombing.

"Don't let him get away! We've got him!"

"Make sure he can't escape!"

The Garuda warriors were thrilled. It was obvious to anyone that Goladon was on the verge of collapsing.

While Tae-hyun dealt explosive damage and kept him pinned, the other rankers piled on additional attacks, dropping Goladon's HP below 10%!

"Oink... Oink oink! I surrender! I surrender!!"

"???"

"What? Why is he surrendering??"

The people gathered were bewildered by the demon's sudden surrender. Weren't demons supposed to fight to the bitter end and meet a glorious demise? Seeing a demon of this caliber surrender was a first for everyone, leaving them utterly shocked.

"Hmm. He's surrendering. Well, I suppose he could."

"Indeed."

However, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi calmly accepted the surrender.

These days, demons tended to surrender if they got beaten up enough!

"Oink oink! I don't need Lalgrgal anymore, so just let me go! I'll go back!"

"My, my. You haven't been surrendered for very long, so you don't seem to know the rules very well."

Tae-hyun shook his head. Unlike many of his senior demons, this demon named Goladon didn't seem to know the rules of being under Archisus.

If you don't know? You have to learn!

"Garuda warriors. I'm going to need your help with this."

"???"

"We only know how to fight, though?"

"Don't worry. It's not that hard."

Tae-hyun cut down a nearby tree to fashion a club, then poured Archisus's Holy Water over it and set it ablaze with Sadiq's Flame.

An instant etiquette injector!

If they wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠take it to an advanced level, they could bring over the magic extractor in the Valley to drain all his mana, but there was no need to teach him such advanced courses right from the start.

"You just have to beat him with this."

"That is remarkably simple!"

"To think the Archisus Church had such an excellent culture!"

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

The Garuda warriors excitedly began swinging the clubs.

"Kwoooooh! Oink oink!"