The Fine Line Between Genius and Madness

"Don't look at me like that," Daniel said in a gentle, warm voice.

It was an incredibly mild manner, but that only terrified the two of them even more. If someone among a group of lunatics looks normal? ...They are highly likely to be the craziest of them all! This was a truth the two had learned the hard way while traveling with Kim Tae-hyun.

Daniel reached into his coat. The two squeezed their eyes shut.

"...?"

But what Daniel pulled out wasn't a bomb. It was a tiny model rocket.

"What's that?"

"Is it a miniature bomb?"

"No, it is not."

"Gasp. He heard us."

"We're doomed. He'll never let us go now..."

"I literally just said it's not!" Even the good-natured Daniel was starting to lose his patience, raising his voice. "I rarely make bombs. I respect the mechanical engineering blacksmiths in the Valley, but I am walking a different path."

"A different path? Do you mean a different kind of bomb?"

"A holy bomb? A magic bomb? A poison cloud bomb?"

"..."

Daniel rummaged through his coat and pulled out a bomb. It was one he carried for self-defense.

"Eek!"

"Keep talking nonsense and I'll throw it."

"C-calm down. We like bombs too."

Daniel sighed. "I like making items other than bombs. That's why I left the Valley. If you don't believe me, ask the Power Warrior guild members around here. I've been making mounts for them."

This caught their interest. Oh? Really?

Choi Sang-yun nodded. "I-I see. Sorry. We misunderstood."

"It's fine. I get that a lot."

Actually, Daniel often used that misunderstanding to his advantage.

Usually, crafting classes kept their heads down in fights, but mechanical engineering blacksmiths were different. If one of their colleagues was touched, they would swarm in and carry out a brutal bombing campaign. If you got on their bad side, your life was practically over!

And if you wanted to retaliate, they lived in the Valley, and the Valley was... Kim Tae-hyun's territory.

"Ahem. So, are mechanical engineering mounts good for this race?"

"Yes. Of course, every mount has its pros and cons, so they aren't perfect."

The Sky Island Race got deeper the more they dug into it. Large mounts were vulnerable to attacks and had poor endurance. Small mounts were good for dodging but lacked weight, making them disadvantageous when colliding or breaking through obstacles. Having wings allowed them to take shortcuts but made them vulnerable to attacks, and vice versa.

"The advantage of mechanical engineering mounts is that they don't require endurance. They're stable. Plus, they're easy to customize depending on the situation." Daniel spoke passionately. Just like the other mechanical engineering blacksmiths did when talking about bombs!

As expected, someone from the Valley is indeed from the Valley, Choi Sang-yun thought.

"With other mounts, you have to find and swap them out depending on the map or situation, but with mechanical engineering mounts, you just modify them."

"Oh... The more I hear, the better it sounds. But what's the catch? What's the disadvantage?"

"If you're unlucky, they explode."

"..."

"..."

Choi Sang-yun and Jeong Su-hyeok's faces went stiff.

"O-of course, that is extremely rare! Usually, it's just a malfunction or a defect."

"But you're saying they can explode in the worst-case scenario! What if we die?!"

"It's inside the arena anyway, so it's fine if you die! You just get disqualified from the race!"

"Ah. True."

Come to think of it, the death penalty didn't really matter here.

Wait, put that way, it actually sounds decent?

Mechanical engineering mounts had no endurance limits and were immune to various curses, but the more attacks they took, the higher the chance of malfunction or defect. Sure, they might explode if they were unlucky, but they could die on other mounts too, so wasn't it basically the same?

"If they're so good, why don't we see many of them? Is it because of a lack of engineers?"

Blacksmithing, especially the mechanical engineering school, occupied a very peculiar position in Panon. It was famous and had clear advantages, yet the number of people who actually learned it was strictly limited! Such a skill tree was truly rare.

Currently, the only place to properly learn mechanical engineering was the Valley, which meant you had to hang out with those crazy mechanical engineering blacksmiths... Usually, people either quit halfway or got corrupted by them.

"Yes. Very few people make them."

"Ah. So that's why..."

"Wait. Didn't Boiled Egg not ride one either?" Jeong Su-hyeok astutely pointed out.

Boiled Egg cleared his throat and avoided their gaze. "Well, Daniel's rockets are currently a bit unstable..."

"..."

"..."

The two stared blankly. Of course, they knew that crafting classes had to keep making items to raise their skill level and improve quality. Even if the initial products were poor, someone had to use them for the creator to gain extra experience.

...The problem was that with mechanical engineering, using a low-quality item was directly linked to your life! And it was highly suspicious that Boiled Egg himself refused to ride them.

What a selfish jerk, just like Cain.

"Why aren't you riding one?"

"Well, I'm currently doing quite well in the race, so I can't just swap my mount, can I?" Boiled Egg had a point. He was a top contender consistently placing high, so he couldn't just suddenly change his mount. This was a job for someone who had nothing to lose.

"...Like us?"

"Yes!"

Choi Sang-yun wanted to smack him but held back. The words were incredibly annoying, but they weren't wrong.

I guess it makes more sense for us, who have no results yet, to do it rather than someone who's already placing high... Choi Sang-yun smacked his lips.

"If you two ride them, I will do my absolute best to craft them!"

"The Power Warrior guild members nearby will also do their best to help you!"

"...Sigh. Fine. Let's do it."

"Oh...!"

"I thought only someone like Cain would agree to this! Thank you!"

"Did you just say something weird?"

"Must be your imagination."

Choi Sang-yun and Jeong Su-hyeok decided to ride the mechanical engineering mounts and enter the race to help Daniel. Even if they were at a huge disadvantage at first, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things would get better!

"If rankers like you ride them, it will give a massive boost to my skill level."

"By the way, do you still get extra experience if a ranker rides it and dies in an explosion?"

"No."

"Whew. I thought you would."

"..."

"Would it be alright if we head to Sky Island and continue the quest there?"

"I don't mind. Sky Island is a great place to level up, and more than anything..." Lee Se-yeon trailed off.

She was about to say, 'Being next to Kim Tae-hyun attracts all kinds of heinous enemies, which makes it great for leveling up,' but she felt that might be a bit rude.

Ryu Tae-su, who was listening nearby, spoke up as if he understood. "I see. Is it because you enjoy playing together, Captain?"

"...What are you talking about?!" Lee Se-yeon shouted in embarrassment.

"Isn't it fun to play as a team like this, building teamwork and coordination? The other national teams are always bickering and fighting over positions..."

"Ah. Is that what you meant?"

"What else would it be?"

"...Never mind. Just shut up."

At Lee Se-yeon's words, Ryu Tae-su tilted his head in confusion and fell silent.

"I agree as well. As long as we can maintain this level of difficulty, there's no reason not to follow him," ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ryu Da-young added. She felt the exact same way Lee Se-yeon did.

Even in a peaceful kingdom, they had faced a demon like Goladon. There was no telling what kind of powerful enemies they would encounter once they went up to Sky Island. It was the perfect environment to build cooperation as a national team and level up.

Though most people didn't know it, the reason all members of Team KL were rankers was largely thanks to Tae-hyun. Without any of the usual mob-pulling, grinding, or dungeon monopolization, the entire party had reached ranker status!

...It was because every single quest Tae-hyun dragged them along to was of monstrous difficulty.

While Tae-hyun himself struggled to even pass level 200, his party members' levels had shot up like crazy.

Cain had even gone so far as to call him "the ultimate leveling shuttle" behind his back.

Instead of looking for good dungeons or hunting grounds, his method of growth was to clear high-difficulty quests and make enemies seek them out!

...It sounded insane, but it actually worked!

"Is everyone in agreement? Thank goodness. Then we should head up to Sky Island."

"It's those bastards!"

"?"

Stepping out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the cave, Tae-hyun was puzzled to see a crowd of players gathered in front of them. Guild members dressed in chef outfits were pointing angrily at Tae-hyun's group.

"Those guys attacked us! We were just purely trying to take a little bit of their gold!"

"They seem to have even less of a conscience than Cain," Tae-hyun marveled. How could someone say something so shameless with a straight face and absolute sincerity? It was impossible without a natural-born talent.

"Hey. Are you the ones who PKed our guys?"

"Yes!"

When Tae-hyun answered immediately and proudly, the gathered players looked dumbfounded. Usually, people would make excuses like, 'It wasn't me!' or 'They picked on us first!'

Who the hell are these guys to be so confident?

Do they have some kind of backing? Are they high level?

Why would high-level combat classes come to a cave only visited by chefs? Do they have nothing better to do?

After whispering among themselves, the players spoke up.

"Compensate us ten times the damage you caused, or die."

"Can't be helped then. I'll inflict ten times the damage we caused."

"Right. Glad you made the wise choi—wait, what?"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The player who had recklessly gotten close to Tae-hyun was instantly logged out. Perhaps he already had a record, because Tae-hyun's reputation actually went up!

"I-Is this bastard crazy?!"

The other players panicked. They hadn't expected a fight to break out so suddenly.

Tae-hyun clicked his tongue. How naive!

This is what happened when you only threatened people all the time—you became soft. If you were always fighting like Tae-hyun, you would never let your guard down for even a second!

"To your positions."

At Lee Se-yeon's command, Ryu Da-young dashed forward to prepare for tanking, while Ryu Tae-su fell back behind her. If any player tried to bypass Ryu Da-young to target Lee Se-yeon or Lee Da-bi, he was ready to intercept them.

Excellent coordination!

Ryu Da-young suddenly grew curious and asked, "By the way, is he picking fights like this to level up too?"

"Of course, little sister. This is all part of his grand plan!"