The Vanishing Prince and the Power Warrior Way

Tae-hyun wanted to create more, but as expected of an Authority, the cooldown was incredibly long.

Forget it. I'd rather not use it.

Tae-hyun was cold. It was a level of coldness that would have made Idergo weep. He didn't show even the slightest hint of falling into corruption or becoming intoxicated by Idergo's power!

Ah. This plague jar...

Tae-hyun immediately caught on. He had already guessed that the Idergo Cult bastards were busy preparing some sort of ritual. He had wondered what they were up to, and it seemed this plague jar was one of those preparations.

Do I have to find and destroy these plague jars to delay the ritual? What a pain.

Frankly, there was no telling how many secret temples the Idergo Cult had. Even if Tae-hyun searched with [Detection], he would have to get close to use it efficiently. Blindly spamming it would drain his MP before he even found their locations.

"Hmm. Did I kill Do Dong-su for nothing?"

"Do Dong-su is definitely at fault here," Lee Da-bi chimed in. "Why did he have to die so easily..."

"Right? It's Do Dong-su's fault. Why did that jerk have to die so quickly?"

Lee Se-yeon, listening to Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi's conversation, doubted her ears.

No... of course, she didn't like Do Dong-su either because of their grudge from the tournament, but this wasn't Do Dong-su's fault, was it?!

As multiple message windows popped up, the players were overjoyed. Coming under Philip III's banner, trusting Tae-hyun's name, had definitely paid off. It was the typical atmosphere of a winning faction!

The quests were successful, the NPCs' expressions were bright, and the rewards were generous...

"To be honest, before coming here, I heard a lot of people telling me not to get involved in the Erangs Kingdom's civil war, so I was hesitant. But I came because of Kim Tae-hyun's name, and it's much better than I expected!"

"Exactly. We worried for nothing."

"It would've been a disaster if we had joined the 1st Prince's side first. I heard the guys who joined the 1st Prince are currently captured?"

Since there were so many players on the 1st Prince's questline, information was being shared to some extent. The atmosphere over there was the absolute worst!

Hmm. The situation is good, but at this rate, we might clash with the 1st Prince even sooner.

Tae-hyun fell into thought. It was good that he had cleared Philip III of the suspicion of colluding with the undead—or rather, the Idergo Cult. The problem was that this might make the anxious 1st Prince launch an attack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much faster!

Considering everything from the order of knights to the mages under the 1st Prince's command, they would strike like lightning once they moved. There wasn't as much time as he thought.

I need to be careful. Should I start preparing right now?

He wanted to subjugate more of the Idergo Cult, but doing so might provoke the 1st Prince. Yet, if he focused on preparing for the 1st Prince's attack, the Idergo Cult would be a nagging concern...

Come on. They're not that bad. ...Right?

As Tae-hyun was agonizing, new information arrived.

"Tae-hyun! The 1st Prince has disappeared!"

"What?!"

"You bastard, it's all because of you! Because of you!"

"Why is that because of me?!"

"It's because this guy advertised in his video that the 1st Prince was great! Hang him!"

The players trapped in the 1st Prince's camp were tearing into each other.

The target of their wrath was the American ranker, Silved. He was a player who had worked hard on quests, even earning the rank of a commander in the Erangs Kingdom's army!

Of course, he also had the painful memory of picking a fight with a passing Tae-hyun, getting beaten to a pulp, and being forced to log out.

But Silved had risen again. He had used his contribution points to switch over to the 1st Prince's side.

Quite a few players had been lured in by that video. Even rankers.

"You guys... just try it! Let's PK!"

"You think we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won't if you tell us to?"

"Are you the only ranker here? We're rankers too!"

Silved had hoped that acting tough would make them back down, but when they became even more aggressive, he flinched.

"...H-Hey. Calm down. If you have the energy for this, why don't we try an escape quest..."

"We're stomping you first!"

"Everyone! Look at the gear Silved is wearing! That shiny, expensive equipment—where do you think he got it?"

One of the rankers among the players pointed at Silved and shouted.

"What do you mean where did I get it? I got it while doing my class quest—"

"It's definitely gear bought with the dirty money he made from streaming!"

"What kind of bullshit—"

"That beautiful golden armor is forged from the blood of a thousand players! That jade shield is greased with the fat of ten thousand players!"

"Who the hell are you!?"

Silved was furious as an unknown player spread wild rumors. Of course, Silved had advertised and recruited players to exploit them for his own quick quest clears. But this was Pan-On! They chose to join of their own free will, so why were they blaming him now?!

"How dare you insult Great Axe Warrior!"

"Do not insult Great Axe Warrior, who came from Power Warrior!"

"P-Power Warrior? No wonder..."

Hearing the guild name, the behavior suddenly made sense! But in this situation, it was a mistake.

"Insulting Power Warrior? How dare you?"

"Everyone! That bastard Silved is someone who PKs people behind their backs whenever he's bored and badmouths his fellow rankers!"

"H-How did you know that?"

Silved flinched at the casually thrown accusation!

"Stomp him and take his items!"

"What do you think you are doing!"

As the NPCs rushed over, Silved felt a wave of relief. Even if they were blocking him from escaping, there was nothing more reassuring than NPCs at a time like this.

"Hehe. Vice-commander. Here is a little bribe."

"...I saw nothing!"

"?!?!?"

Great Axe Warrior knew how to use his brain, fitting for someone from Power Warrior. He had prepared a bribe in anticipation of the NPCs' arrival! He had learned a lot from watching Tae-hyun complete quests.

"As expected of Great Axe Warrior...! You truly are from Power Warrior!"

"I heard you were selected for the national team of... what was it, North Korea?"

"You idiot, it's South, not North!"

"Anyway, doesn't that mean you're on the same team as Kim Tae-hyun? You really are amazing!"

The surrounding players, completely blinded by admiration, praised Great Axe Warrior. Fitting for someone from Power Warrior, his skills in manipulating the crowd were quite impressive.

Silved cursed Power Warrior in his heart.

Just you wait!

"The 1st Prince has disappeared!"

"What?"

"What do you mean?"

All the players present were thrown into confusion.

"They say the 1st Prince and all the guards escorting him have vanished..."

"Is that just a rumor?"

"My friend is a thief, and he sneaked all the way to the front of the tent in stealth. He said it's completely empty!"

The players whispered among themselves at the shocking news.

Silved breathed a sigh of relief as the attention shifted away from him. But Great Axe Warrior remained cold.

"Let's tie him up first."

"Yes, Great Axe Warrior!"

"No! No! Great Axe Warrior! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's compromise! Compromise! You heard them, the 1st Prince is gone! This is our chance to escape!"

"We're catching you first."

As the scale of Power Warrior grew, quite a few rankers from Power Warrior were emerging. These weren't outside rankers who had been tricked into joining, but original guild members from the early days of Power Warrior who had grown into rankers!

Most of them shared a similar trait.

...Their role model was Kim Tae-hyun!

"Information! I'll tell you some really amazing information!"

"If you don't summarize it in three lines within ten seconds, we're catching you. Ten, three, one..."

"The 1st Prince has disappeared. What on earth is going on?"

Tae-hyun's group was also whispering about the baffling news.

"He made a covenant with Hungry Chaos, right? He might have been dragged away by it."

"He might have run away because he thought the situation was unfavorable."

"Or he could have been kidnapped by a group like the Idergo Cult..."

"It's good news, but not knowing the reason makes me uneasy. Should we go scout the 1st Prince's camp first?"

"And grab any remaining items while we're at it?"

"Exactly."

Lee Se-yeon marveled at how perfectly in sync their conversation was. This was clearly not their first time doing this. A duo of professional looters!

The vicious cycle where the more they worked hard, the less normal races visited! Now, Nodranche had no choice but to rely solely on players.

But to think so many would come!

"Sob... Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty...!"

Cain shed tears, deeply moved by Tae-hyun's grace. There was only one person who could draw this many people to Nodranche.

"As expected of Kim Tae-hyun. What incredible mobilizing power."

"Right?"

"People are so interested in the national team selection program this time. Could it be that Cain is also participating?"

"What are you talking about? Haha. Coach, I didn't even apply."

Cain waved his hand as if it were absurd. It made no sense! Cain was already a professional player. There was no need for a pro like him to participate in a selection trial to become one.

"Ah. I didn't mean it that way... Since you're here, it seems you'll be clearing that tower underground. Since it's quite difficult, I thought they might call a pro player like Cain to give a demonstration..."

"!!!"

Cain was startled by the coach's spine-chilling prediction.

That... that sounds way too plausible?!