A Very Direct Cure
"Ah... so that's how he cures a curse...!"
Jekas had honestly expected Tae-hyun to use some kind of holy spell, given that he was a Pope and held a class related to Archisus. In fact, since Jekas wasn't actually cursed, it would have been a perfect, clever excuse for Tae-hyun to cast a spell and say, "Oh, look at that, you weren't cursed after all!"
Instead of a holy spell, however, Tae-hyun had pulled out a hammer and smashed the item to pieces.
And because the mask's durability was already low, a single strike from Tae-hyun was all it took to shatter it completely!
"..."
A heavy silence fell over them. Dozens of thoughts flashed through the minds of both Jekas and Do Dong-su in that split second.
Then, driven by pure survival instinct, Do Dong-su screamed at the top of his lungs:
"That guy is Jekas, Kim Tae-hyun!"
What should you do when you're walking through the woods with a friend and run into a bear?
Playing dead is fine, backing away slowly is fine—honestly, anything is fine... but the most important thing is to run faster than the friend next to you.
After all, the bear is going to eat the slowest one!
Kim Tae-hyun wasn't exactly a bear, but he was close enough.
I just have to throw Jekas to the wolves!
Trying to PK Kim Tae-hyun—especially when he was surrounded by a horde of allies—was absolute suicide. The only thing that mattered right now was making a clean getaway.
Sorry, Jekas. But this is just how Pan-On is. It's a game where the weak don't survive.
With the shameless pragmatism befitting a Thief, Do Dong-su glanced over at Jekas. He expected to see Jekas staring back at him, wide-eyed with shock and betrayal...
But—
• Your movement speed has been reduced!
• Your skill failure rate has increased. Your field of vision has narrowed.
Jekas had already been casting spells and ripping scrolls while Do Dong-su was still busy shouting.
...And he had targeted Do Dong-su, not Tae-hyun!
Immediately after, Jekas bellowed:
"That guy is Do Dong-su, Kim Tae-hyun!"
With those words, Jekas spun on his heel and bolted. All that was left was to escape this place alive.
"..."
"...You son of a—!"
Do Dong-su was absolutely furious. Sure, he had sold Jekas out, but he hadn't hit him with debuffs first! There was a right way and a wrong way to betray someone, and doing it this underhandedly was just plain immoral.
That guy is truly evil!
Whoosh!
Do Dong-su bolted as well. As expected of a ranker, his reflexes were incredibly fast even in an unexpected crisis. Though he was still a step behind Jekas...
"Uh. Well then."
Watching the two of them flee, Tae-hyun looked utterly dumbfounded.
From his perspective, he had simply helped out a fellow player, only for the two of them to suddenly start pointing fingers—"He's Jekas!" "He's Do Dong-su!"—before bickering and running away.
It was completely absurd.
Well, I might as well catch the closer, weaker one first.
Since they had practically served themselves up on a silver platter, it would be rude not to oblige. Tae-hyun moved instantly.
"Why are you chasing me, you bastard?!" Do Dong-su screamed.
"...Are you seriously asking me that?" Tae-hyun replied.
Clang!
Tae-hyun swung his sword, lightly brushing aside Do Dong-su's desperate counterattack. Do Dong-su leaped backward, barely evading the follow-up slash. Tae-hyun thrust his blade forward once more, and Do Dong-su narrowly twisted his body to dodge it by a hair's breadth.
"?"
Tae-hyun was slightly surprised that Do Dong-su was managing to evade his basic attacks so well.
When people thought of rankers in Pan-On, they usually focused on their flashy skills. This ranker is strong because they have Skill A, no, that ranker is stronger because they have Skill B...
While that wasn't entirely wrong, there was something far more important: the fundamentals.
For melee classes, it was the ability to land basic attacks. For ranged classes, it was the ability to hit targets with basic shots.
Tae-hyun had practically perfected these fundamentals.
There was a reason why professional esports teams constantly downloaded clips of Tae-hyun's gameplay to analyze with AI and use as training textbooks!
From simple slashes and thrusts to feinting a left slash before shifting to the right, or making it look like he was going for a right slash only to plunge his blade into a low thrust...
Rankers generally had excellent fundamentals and high adaptability, but Tae-hyun's control was on an entirely different level.
"He throws out an insane number of feints in a ridiculously short window. We're talking dozens of them."
"Spectators always ask why his opponents just stand there and take a beating without reacting, but you have to actually fight him to understand. In a one-on-one, he's an absolute nightmare. Melee combat against him is just impossible..."
"He reads and dodges your attacks instantly, while his own strikes slip right through your guard."
Yet, Do Dong-su had actually dodged his basic attacks. He hadn't even blocked them with a shield; he had dodged them purely with footwork. Tae-hyun was genuinely impressed.
Did his control improve?
"Huff, pant, gasp! Go after... Jekas... ugh, hack!" Do Dong-su wheezed.
Tae-hyun couldn't quite make out the words, but it sounded like he was begging him to go chase Jekas instead.
"Ah. Did your gaming house give you some kind of counter-strategy? Told you to watch my videos and practice?" Tae-hyun asked, a sudden thought striking him.
Since Do Dong-su had joined a Chinese esports team, it wouldn't be surprising if they had analyzed Tae-hyun's playstyle and given him pointers.
"How did you kno—argh!"
• A critical hit has been landed!
• Due to concentrated damage to the legs, your movement speed has been reduced!
"You underhanded coward!" Do Dong-su shrieked.
"I've been talking to you this whole time while hitting you. It's your own fault for losing focus," Tae-hyun retorted.
Tae-hyun immediately shifted his attack pattern.
Changing one's attack pattern mid-fight was far easier said than done. It meant completely altering all of one's deeply ingrained habits and muscle memory. It wasn't something you could do just by thinking about it...
?!
In an instant, Do Dong-su felt as if he were fighting an entirely different person.
His breath caught in his throat. He had genuinely believed he stood a chance after studying the counter-strategies against Kim Tae-hyun, but now he realized with bone-chilling clarity how foolish that delusion had been.
Thud, thud, thud, crash!
As basic attacks clashed and a dozen skills flew back and forth, Do Dong-su was rapidly pushed into a corner. His HP plummeted below 20% in the blink of an eye.
Damn it!
Do Dong-su wasn't a Tanker. His pool of HP wasn't particularly large, so dropping below 20% put him in extreme danger. He felt like he had landed quite a few hits of his own, but Tae-hyun hadn't even blinked.
"Kim Tae-hyun, let's negotiate! I'll tell you everything I know about the Idergo Cult!"
"Ah."
Splat!
• A critical hit has been landed!
• The target has been forced to log out!
• You have defeated a vanguard of the Idergo Cult...
• Your Reputation has increased!
Tae-hyun had been beating him so enthusiastically that he couldn't stop his attack mid-swing.
"Sorry. You should have said that sooner."
"Argh...!"
Without being able to utter another word, Do Dong-su was forced to log out, his face frozen in an expression of utter grievance.
• You have acquired multiple items.
• You have acquired [Idergo's Plague Vessel]!
Do Dong-su already had a high Infamy stat and a long history of PKs even before joining the Idergo Cult. Given his record, it was only natural that he dropped a massive pile of items upon death.
• [Idergo's Fragment] is reacting violently!
• [Idergo's Fragment] is attempting to tempt you.
The fragment of Idergo in Tae-hyun's inventory began to pulse with frantic energy, its voice echoing in his mind as it tried to win him over.
"Accept my infinite power and submit to me. Unlike the gods who have abandoned this continent, my power is on an entirely different plane of existence."
Hmm.
Tae-hyun considered Idergo's offer. It was true that Idergo was different from the other gods in that he had used a clever trick to remain on the continent, much like Carbanog.
Carbanog is furious and demands that you stop calling it a "clever trick"!
But was Idergo's offer really all that appealing?
Tae-hyun had rejected the Hungry Chaos's offer because it seemed incredibly shady...
Let's compare the two:
• Idergo Cult: Ignored by dragons and other powerful entities. They claim to be strong, but they don't get any respect.
• Hungry Chaos: Even dragons and other cults tremble in fear of it.
...Isn't Idergo just a budget version of the Hungry Chaos?
Idergo is extremely furious!
He can be as angry as he wants, but facts are facts.
Tae-hyun wanted to just tell him to get lost, but from Idergo's perspective, Tae-hyun was an indispensable asset. Not only did Tae-hyun possess his fragment, but he had also secured the Plague Vessel. Idergo had to tempt and corrupt him at all costs.
• A portion of Idergo's power has been consumed.
• All poison-related skills have been merged into [Idergo's Plague Magic]!
• Your poison resistance has significantly increased...
"...?!"
Tae-hyun had previously possessed only two major magic skills: Nebuchadnezzar's Blackmagic and Cold Curse. He used to have more, but they had been forcibly stripped away, leaving him with only those two.
And now, Idergo's Plague Magic had been added to the list.
What an incredibly extreme lineup...
Carbanog remarks that even if someone tried to build their character this way on purpose, they could never end up with such a bizarre skill set.
Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Carbanog, or Archisus, Idergo was not a shameless god. Along with the plague magic, he generously provided all the essential basic sub-skills. It was like getting a main course served with a full spread of side dishes!
"No way, all of this?"
Tae-hyun tried to keep a straight face, but he couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his lips. His lack of magic skills had always been a major source of concern for him!
Plague Mist is a weak area-of-effect spell, Plague Barrier is for defense, Plague Cloak is a buff... and what is Plague Creation?
Borrow the power of the great Idergo to craft a malevolent plague. The deeper your faith in Lord Idergo, the more potent the plague created.
Ah. So it's a poison crafting skill.
Classes like Thieves or Bizarre Chefs had similar skills. Poison Crafting!
Poisons crafted this way could be coated on weapons, applied to throwing stars, or slipped into dishes. A well-crafted poison was incredibly useful. Used correctly, it could easily turn the tide of a battle against an equal opponent, or even take down a much stronger foe.
But this probably requires Idergo Cult contribution points or reputation.
"If you wish to taste my true power, kneel and submit! Become my loyal servant!"
Well, I just won't use it then.
"..."
Tae-hyun had absolutely no desire to help the Idergo Cult just to craft some poison. He had far too much to lose.
Let's see what happens if I try to use it anyway.
— Creation of Idergo's Plague.
• [Abnormal Cooking] skill level is extremely high...
• [Luck] stat is extremely high...
• [Authority of Archisus] is active...
• Multiple [Titles] are active...
• Due to an overwhelming number of bonuses, additional effects are being applied!
But there was one thing Tae-hyun had forgotten.
Even without Idergo's direct help, Tae-hyun already possessed an absurd number of achievements and abilities.
His Luck, his Authority skills, and all the achievements and titles he had accumulated while dealing with plagues and deadly poisons...
Even without any divine backing, his crafting was already ridiculously overpowered!
• A result far exceeding the current skill level has been produced!
• [Plague of Ghoulification] has been created!
• Your Magic skill level has increased!
Targets infected with this plague will have their race temporarily changed to Undead (Ghoul).
...?!
An entirely unexpected and bizarre effect!
But it wasn't a bad effect at all. In fact, temporarily changing an opponent's race was an incredibly useful utility.
This is actually amazing. Yeah, I definitely don't need his help.
"To control such power, you will surely need my guidance..."
Tae-hyun shoved Idergo's Fragment back into his bag. The god was getting too noisy; it would be better to listen to him later.
Carbanog timidly chimes in, pointing out that it isn't noisy at all.
Compared to Idergo, your voice is practically music to my ears, Carbanog.
Carbanog puffs its chest out with pride!