Shouting from the Outside Won't Reach the Inside

Shouting from the outside was never going to reach the inside. Communication itself was a skill! Figuring out how to convey messages to teammates was all part of the strategy.

Lee Se-yeon immediately raised the fallen orcs as undead, biding her time. A chaotic, three-way melee was currently unfolding between the two teams and the monsters. Orcs versus players versus players! With things so incredibly hectic, surviving defensively took priority over directly targeting the opponents.

The Japanese team held a significant advantage, having already set up numerous totems beforehand. As the captain, Lee Se-yeon couldn't help but feel a heavy sense of responsibility.

"Ryu Tae-su, fall back! Ryu Da-young, push forward! We need more aggro! Draw their attention!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Once the orcs' numbers are cut in half, we strike! I'll put the undead in the vanguard, so stick close to them and attack!"

Beside her, Lee Da-bi tirelessly cast buffs and healing spells on Ryu Da-young. Honestly, this was much easier than her time with Team KL. Back then, she had to babysit multiple chaotic players at once, but here, as long as she focused on keeping the main tank, Ryu Da-young, alive, the others barely needed any attention. Ryu Tae-su had also been harshly whipped into shape by Lee Se-yeon's constant scolding, so he knew better than to do anything that would burden the healer in a situation like this.

"The path is open! Ryu Tae-su, push in! Ryu Da-young, hold the line! Do not take a single step back!"

With the orcs finally thinning out and a path opening, Lee Se-yeon initiated an all-out charge alongside her teammates. It was a clash of souls!

As the Korean team surged forward, the startled Japanese team immediately scrambled to respond. They had to block them!

"Group up! Don't get separated!"

"Get behind the tank and stall! If we drag this out, we win!"

While the tanks clashed and the damage dealers unleashed brutal attacks from behind them, Tae-hyun returned from the rear.

Though the battlefield was chaotic with orcs, debuffs still lingered, and the totems continuously spewed curses...

...Tae-hyun made his decision the instant he arrived. Even if meteors rained down and lava pooled around him, his mental fortitude wouldn't waver in the slightest! Tae-hyun immediately targeted the enemy healer.

"Kim Tae-hyun is here! Help me!"

At the healer's scream, the other teammates frantically tried to fall back. But there was no way Lee Se-yeon would let them.

The Japanese team was instantly bound! Her ability to deploy the exact skill needed at the worst possible moment for the enemy left everyone—from the victims ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to the watching fans—in absolute awe.

Thanks to Lee Se-yeon, Tae-hyun was able to cleanly eliminate the healer.

'...Wait, did she prepare that spell to use on me?'

It was effective, but it left him with a strangely uneasy feeling.

The first round ended rather anticlimactically after that. Once pushed back, the Japanese team tried to regroup and hold their ground, but it wasn't that simple. They attempted to survive by revealing their hidden skills, but Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon countered them head-on, crushing them from the front while shaking them from the flanks in a relentless onslaught.

A flawless victory!

"Whew. That was a tough win."

"It really was. Since it's the World Cup, everyone seems to be a force to be reckoned with."

"...???"

Listening to Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi's conversation, Lee Se-yeon tilted her head in confusion. A... tough win?

"Wasn't this actually a pretty easy win?"

"Didn't we win incredibly easily?"

"I also think this was an easy victory."

The other three stared at them as if they were speaking gibberish. By any standard, this was an incredibly easy match! There were no unexpected variables, and barely any dangerous moments...

Of course, they had been tense. But that was just the natural nervousness of playing in such a match! It would be weirder not to feel any tension at all.

"Uh... wasn't it a hard-fought battle?"

"I'm pretty sure we struggled...?"

"?????"

Only then did the other three realize that those two were completely serious.

Are they actually being serious right now?

How utterly shameless...

Lee Se-yeon stared at Tae-hyun in disbelief. Granted, compared to the first season of Pan-On, where he would brutally plow through any attack to slaughter everyone in sight, this was indeed more of a struggle. Looking back at the first round, Tae-hyun had actually put in quite a bit of effort just to take down a single enemy tank.

But that was only normal. The opponents were the same level, had their own skills, and possessed functioning brains; it would be weirder to just toy with them. Even with the advantage of positioning, the enemy players had barely managed to scratch Tae-hyun.

"Hmm. If the Japanese team, who was considered relatively weak, is this tough, China or Canada might be even worse."

"I know, right?"

Watching the two converse with such grave expressions, Ryu Tae-su whispered.

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"...He needs to be in that mindset to perform at his best, so let's just leave him be."

Come to think of it, maybe that was the secret behind Tae-hyun's monstrous performance. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠self-imposed sense of responsibility to carry the entire game! Even if what he said made absolutely no sense...

"Hmm."

"Mmm..."

"Ugh..."

"Can someone actually say something? Stop just groaning."

Unbeknownst to Tae-hyun's group, as soon as the first round ended, countless players from other countries were already rewatching their match. Part of it was because it was the very first match held in the World Tree Arena, but mostly, they wanted to analyze the Korean national team's playstyle.

— Both Team KL and Yuseong Gaming were strong teams, but mixing them together and adding a new player might actually mess up their synergy.

— Aren't Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon on bad terms since Pan-On 1? There can't be two leaders in one team, so they might end up fighting.

— No, please, I wish they'd fight! Someone patch the balance!

...There was certainly a bit of wishful thinking along those lines.

But the actual match was shocking. Gathering only the strongest players simply made them exponentially stronger! The newly introduced Ryu Da-young was highly stable and possessed a diverse skill set, making her incredibly resilient. In fact, she seemed even more stable than Cain.

Ryu Tae-su was a high-risk, high-reward Berserker type, but Lee Se-yeon had already mastered keeping him in check since their days at Yuseong Gaming...

Lee Da-bi, playing the healer, also appeared flawless. Having accumulated massive experience babysitting the chaotic, unpredictable members of Team KL, managing stable players like the national team members gave her more than enough breathing room.

"Well, there is one good thing."

"?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Kim Tae-hyun can't just run wild on his own like before."

"..."

"That sounds like pure copium..."

The player who spoke up snapped at the other players' murmurs.

"We have to find some silver lining! What, do you just want to surrender right now?!"

"Y-yeah, sure. Since Kim Tae-hyun doesn't have his usual gear, his HP actually drops and he gets cursed. He's become more human."

'Though his average tournament kill stat has doubled or tripled...'

'More than that, it's shocking that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he has zero deaths despite playing so aggressively.'

"We have to figure out a way to deal with him somehow."

"How about we spread a rumor that Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon are dating to make things awkward between them?"

"Wait, aren't they already dating?"

"That's just a baseless rumor."

"If you spread a rumor like that and they actually end up dating and playing on the same team in the league, what then? Are you going to take responsibility?"

"I-I was just joking..."

"That bastard Kim Tae-hyun is seriously bottomless. Just when we think we've memorized his patterns..."

He was like an onion, constantly revealing new layers. They had painstakingly studied his patterns and prepared counter-skills, only for him to pull out entirely new patterns and skills.

"There's nothing we can do about Kim Tae-hyun's raw skill. We just have to do our best with the skills we've prepared. What else can we do at this point?"

Complaining here wouldn't suddenly make Tae-hyun weaker. No matter how monstrous his physical mechanics were, Tae-hyun was still human. There had to be a way to counter him.

"More importantly, didn't the monsters seem a bit strange?"

The newly added monsters in the World Tree Arena. Everyone had been curious about how much of an impact they would have, and this match clearly demonstrated it. They were enough to completely disrupt a close game! At this rate, the monsters themselves had to be considered a major variable.

"What was strange about them?"

"They ran away the moment they saw Kim Tae-hyun."

"...! You're right!"

The players rewatched the footage and confirmed it. The orcs had flinched and backed away!

"Is it because of a level difference?"

"Everyone else is the same level, what do you mean level difference?"

"It's a title. It has to be a title. Didn't Kim Tae-hyun clear a ton of orc-related quests? He even cleared the Great Chieftain quest, didn't he?"

Looking at the list of legendary quests in Pan-On, Tae-hyun's name occupied more than half of them. He was practically a legendary quest collector!

"...Wait, doesn't this mean having a good title gives you way too much of an advantage?!"

"I should've cleared more quests beforehand...!"

The First Prince's faction, now devoid of the First Prince himself. Even in his absence, the atmosphere remained grim.

"Isn't that bastard naming things way too blatantly?"

Putting "Chaos" in the name and then insisting he didn't make a contract with Hungry Chaos is just completely shameless, isn't it?

"Tae-hyun, here is the map."

"Thanks."

There were plenty of maps available since many players had participated in the First Prince's faction.

"But the First Prince already owns castles and cities, so why did he build a fortress out here in the wilderness?"

"Since he made a covenant with Hungry Chaos, he had to keep a low profile."

If we were to rank the things that must never be discovered in the Erangs Kingdom, would the power of Akisus be at the top?

'Hungry Chaos's power seems way too versatile.'

'Come on, Akisus is... wait, actually, is he?'

Carbanog's words actually made sense. A versatility perfected by stealing other gods' authorities left and right! Honestly, there might not be much difference between Hungry Chaos, who absorbs and swallows gods, and Akisus...

'...Well, thinking too deeply about it is just terrifying, so I'd better stop!'