The Ancient Empire's Training Tower
"I apologize, everyone. There was a brief commotion."
"……."
"……."
The judges tried their best to hide their bewildered expressions. It was a spectacle unique to Pan-On, never seen in other tournaments or official events! In the real world, fans didn't charge forward like this.
"What is that bastard on the roof of that building trying to fly over here on a mount?!"
"Catch him! Block him!"
"Ah, those absolute lunatics!"
The members of the Guild Alliance scrambled in a frenzy. Even though they had controlled the perimeter to the best of their ability, some crazy bastards were attempting insane stunts just to catch Kim Tae-hyun's eye.
Please, do that in the Valley! Don't do this here!
Why are they doing this in the Auston Kingdom of all places!
"Kim Tae-hyun! Are you watching?! I'm a player of this caliber!"
Tae-hyun ignored Lee Se-yeon's whisper. How was he supposed to answer that?!
"I'm flying! I'm flying! Look! Everyone! The Guild Alliance bastards are oppressing the people!"
"Shut up, you psycho! Why are you doing this here?!"
It took some time for the commotion to completely die down.
"Whew... I apologize, everyone. There was a brief commotion."
"Are there no more? That was fun."
"……."
At Tae-hyun's words, the guild members cursed him inwardly. It's because of you, you bastard...!
The host barely managed to control his expression and spoke.
"The response is passionate, truly fitting for fans gathered from all over the world. Isn't that right? To think they would welcome you so fervently..."
"No. That's not a passionate response, that's just crazy—"
"Shh. Quiet."
McKinley nudged Ames in the ribs. Ames glared at McKinley.
"Now, with the introductions out of the way, the participating players will prove their abilities by performing quests given by the judges!"
"Oh...?"
Tae-hyun looked around. The other judges didn't seem very surprised, as if they already knew.
"Is something the matter, Player Kim Tae-hyun?"
"No, it's just... I didn't hear anything about the judges giving out missions."
"Isn't that... obvious?"
Well, that was true! Before attending, the judges had been told, "Please think of missions or quests that can filter out the participating players."
"I didn't hear about it..."
"You didn't hear? Hmph. To think they wouldn't even tell you this. Was it because it was too obvious?"
In truth, the Guild Alliance had intentionally not told Tae-hyun.
"But usually, isn't this kind of thing designed by the organizers?" Tae-hyun tilted his head.
If Tae-hyun were in the Guild Alliance's shoes, he would have utilized various dungeons and high-difficulty quests within the Auston Kingdom. It would run the tournament and promote the kingdom at the same time! He couldn't understand why they would just hand over such an opportunity.
"That's because if they did that, everyone here would have protested."
"Ah..."
That made sense. The judges gathered here were high-status individuals who didn't even need to participate. They participated because it served as promotion and benefited them! If the organizers told such people, "We will provide the missions," the response would have been, "So you Guild Alliance bastards are finally showing your evil colors!"
"But we can't solve the judges' missions individually, can we?"
"It will probably be decided by a draw, right? After everyone writes down their missions."
"?"
Lee Da-bi, who was listening from the side, tilted her head.
Wait... isn't this inside a game?
Writing down the desired missions and drawing them from a box was fine. It allowed everyone to choose their desired mission fairly.
But this was inside Pan-On.
Do they not know Tae-hyun's Luck stat?
Even a simple dice roll would show it, but Tae-hyun was incredibly strong in anything related to luck. A draw might be random, but there was a high probability it would be influenced by the Luck stat!
Well, Tae-hyun won't be drawing it himself, so maybe it'll be fine...?
"Then I suppose I should write one down too. What did you write?"
"Wouldn't a dungeon raid be the safest bet for the first mission? I chose a dungeon."
Since he had no intention of hiding it, McKinley answered readily.
It was a high-difficulty dungeon where monsters struck and flew from all over a dark, forest-like area. It was so difficult that it was actually unpopular! Among players, popular dungeons were those with good rewards and easy hunting, not difficult ones.
But conversely, it was helpful for a test like this.
Since the difficulty is high, it will be good for judging their skills.
"A dungeon... a dungeon, huh."
Tae-hyun fell into thought. Which dungeon would be good?
"How about the Nest of the Forgotten Evil Dragon?"
"Are you trying to wipe out the participants?"
"Or how about a desert dungeon in my empire?"
"I'd be too jealous, so no."
"……."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a dungeon, does it?"
"True. As long as it tests the players, anything works. Still, a dungeon would be the most convenient... Ah."
Tae-hyun suddenly had a great idea.
"Wasn't there one in the underground city of Nodranche?"
That cold northern island, Nodranche.
It was the territory Kane had received after being scammed. At first, he had shed tears, crying that he had been scammed, but as they cleared the island's quests, an unexpected fact was discovered: there was an ancient empire's city underground!
One of the facilities in that city was the Ancient Empire's Training Tower.
Of course, because of its extreme difficulty—where most players were eliminated without even clearing the first floor—only a few people were currently clinging to it...
"Perfect. I'll use that."
"What kind of place is that?"
"If it's the Ancient Empire's Training Tower, wouldn't the difficulty be too high?"
"A mission has to be difficult to be a mission. And above all, it allows us to test them regardless of differences in skills, levels, or classes."
"I asked what kind of place it is..."
Lee Se-yeon pouted. Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi were talking about something only they knew. She felt subtly left out!
"Sorry. There's a facility like that underground on the island of Nodranche," Tae-hyun began to explain.
The more she listened to the explanation, the stranger Lee Se-yeon's expression became.
...Did he really have to include a place like that?
"Can't you just use a normal dungeon? There are plenty of normal dungeons in the Atali Kingdom too."
"Lee Se-yeon. We have to take the missions seriously. We can't just half-ass it. Think of the people participating."
"What...?!"
Suddenly painted as someone trying to take the easy way out, Lee Se-yeon felt incredibly wronged. How was that half-assing it!
For a moment, she wondered if Tae-hyun was teasing her, but looking at his face, he was dead serious. He had chosen that training tower in absolute seriousness!
"...Do whatever you want. Come to think of it, if it's a random draw, no one will even know who chose what."
"Hmm. I think they'll know..." Lee Da-bi muttered.
No matter how she thought about it, Tae-hyun was the only person who would submit the training tower in Nodranche as a mission.
"I hope the one I submitted gets drawn," Ames said seriously.
"Oh. What did you submit?"
"The Nest of the Forgotten Evil Dragon."
The Nest of the Forgotten Evil Dragon was one of the famous dungeons of the Auston Kingdom. Of course, no dragons actually appeared there... but regardless, it was a popular dungeon because of its high difficulty, good rewards, and straightforward hunting.
"Why would you submit that, you crazy bas—"
"Shh. Shh."
The problem was that the dungeon was currently occupied by Smith and the White Knight guild!
From the Guild Alliance's perspective, it was a choice that practically screamed, Are you mocking us right now?
If that dungeon got drawn, they would end up promoting their rivals for free!
"Don't worry. There's no way that will get drawn."
"Y-yeah. There are so many people. ...What did Kim Tae-hyun submit?"
"Who knows?"
"What do you mean, 'who knows'?! You were right next to him and you don't even know that?!"
"W-well, you know very well that Kim Tae-hyun isn't the type of person to share those things..."
"Sigh. Fine. Whether it's Kim Tae-hyun or Ames, there's no way guys like them will get drawn. Look at how many people there are. And Kim Tae-hyun is human too; surely he has a conscience and wouldn't submit some bizarre dungeon."
"Like breaching the palace of Arene City?"
"Hearing you say it specifically makes it sound even more obnoxious. Keep your mouth shut."
Surely he wouldn't submit a quest like "Infiltrate the Guild Alliance palace and decapitate Su Ning," right? Surely he had a conscience...
Location: Nodranche Underground, Ancient Empire City
Selected Mission: Ancient Empire's Training Tower
"!"
The crowd began to buzz with excitement and confusion.
"What kind of place was the Ancient Empire's Training Tower?"
"The name sounds pretty grand..."
"They say it's an ancient empire facility."
"I could tell that much just from the name."
"Ah! It's that place!!"
A player with a good memory shouted, drawing the attention of everyone around.
"What kind of place is it?"
"It's an island near Frozeland, up in the cold north..."
"Ooh..."
"There's an ancient empire city underground..."
"Oooh...!"
"I heard people haven't even cleared the first floor yet."
"...Isn't that place a bit weird?"
"I trust you aren't trying to pull some trick to run away right now."
"Coach...! Do you still not trust me?!"
Kane appealed with teary eyes. Every single time he did something, his coach, Sabet, would nag him: You're not running away right now, are you? You're not about to log off, are you? Even when you eat, make sure you swing your shield.
Kane was slowly beginning to understand why Tae-hyun had brought this coach along. This coach was just as relentless and persistent as Tae-hyun. They were a perfect match!
"Yes. I don't trust you."
"...No, usually in times like this, people say they trust you..."
"I trust my players, but I also don't trust them. That is what makes a good coach."
How cool! Kane was momentarily filled with admiration before snapping back to reality. This wasn't someone else's problem.
"But really, I'm not running away... Prince Cain, the 4th Prince of the Erangs Kingdom, really asked for my help."
"I understand. I believe you."
"Your eyes don't look like you believe me at all!!"
Kane was currently heading down to Nodranche after receiving a summons from Prince Cain. Sabet, who had been putting him through intensive training, had no choice but to allow this.
"Oh. So this is Nodranche. I've only seen it in videos."
"It is my territory. Hehe."
"Compared to the Valley... it's a bit empty, isn't it?"
"……."
Kane bristled.
"Nodranche might be smaller than the Valley, but it's a great territory! We have a pioneer group that was dragged here after being scammed, and various races from the Valley like Orcs, Vampires, and Goblins!"
"Oh... really? That's impressive."
At the coach's praise, Kane's mood lifted again. Nodranche was definitely developing.
But it was also true that it still lacked many things.
In truth, the development speed of the Valley—which Tae-hyun had raised alone with his blood, sweat, and the tears of others—was what was abnormal. For a territory raised by a single player, this was actually extremely fast...
It really is lacking, though.
To properly grow a territory, one usually needed at least a guild!
Hmm. Should I go to the Auston Kingdom alone and do some plundering?
Ripping gold off people through PK...
But Kane quickly abandoned that thought. Traveling with Tae-hyun had made him realize that there was always a bigger fish. The world of Pan-On was vast, and there were plenty of bastards who were good at PK!
"Coach. Do you happen to have any good ideas to develop the territory?"
"Shouldn't we get more players to come here first?"
"Hmm. What if I ask the Power Warrior Guild to spread rumors on the community boards about how great Nodranche is?"
"...C-could you perhaps look for a different method instead of that?"