Not Bad at All
"Pant, crazy, pant. That, pant, bastard..." Silved collapsed onto his side. He was utterly exhausted mentally!
In the past, back when Silved wasn't as famous, he had watched Tae-hyun's videos and thought to himself:
—Ah. Why is he overreacting so much? I really can't stand that Cain guy. How hard could it possibly be for him to make such a fuss?
—But they say Kim Tae-hyun's party is seriously hardcore. Apparently, they've been famous for it since Pan-On 1.
—Nonsense. It's all staged.
Even when Cain was screaming, "Everyone, save me! I'm Cain! My current location is the underground mine dungeon...!" Silved had assumed it was just a concept.
For a ranker, skipping meals to do nothing but hunt wasn't even that surprising. Yet he was whining about that?
...But once he actually teamed up with Tae-hyun, those thoughts vanished completely.
What a psychopath...!
While the Black Rock Sect guild members happily cheered, "Whoa! We're free!" and went off to scout the surroundings, Tae-hyun worked with Silved to build a fortress.
"Silved. I heard that out of everyone here, your Strength stat is the highest."
"You're well-informed. Yes, my Strength stat is on the higher side."
No matter what anyone said, Tae-hyun was the most famous ranker. As a rising ranker whose stock was currently soaring, Silved found no reason to be displeased by the compliment.
"And your Endurance stat is pretty high too?"
"Of course. For a warrior, Endurance is just as crucial."
"I see. Hearing you say that, I now know exactly what role you should take."
"Oh. What is it? Hunting monsters?"
"No. Go over there and chop some wood."
"...Are you joking?"
Silved was momentarily taken aback. Hearing this, Tae-hyun nodded.
"Actually, did I say something too unreasonable?"
"Exactly. Don't make jokes like that."
"It wasn't really a joke... Fine. I'll make you a cart. If you load it up, you can bring back a lot more at once. Doing it barehanded would be tough, right?"
"N-No... That's not what I meant...!"
Silved wanted to argue, 'A ranker like me has other things to do, make some low-level guy do it,' but he knew it wouldn't work. If Tae-hyun were the type of person to listen to reason, Cain wouldn't have suffered so much!
"Why aren't you doing it then?!"
"I have to build and craft. Can you do that?"
"..."
How dirty of him to push his crafting skills like that! Having never bothered to level up his crafting skills, Silved had no comeback.
"Hmm. If you have that many complaints, there is one other way."
"Oh... What is it?"
"Let's duel, one-on-one. If you hate listening to me that much, I guess we have no choice."
"...If you make the cart, I'll work hard..."
Maybe in the past he would have, but after witnessing how Tae-hyun fought right in front of his eyes, there was no way he could easily say, "Fine, let's throw down a duel flag!" In the end, Silved diligently chopped wood, shattered stones, and mined and hauled minerals.
• Your Logging skill has increased!
• Your Strength stat has permanently increased!
• ...
• ...
• Your Construction skill has increased!
• ...
If anyone had seen this, they wouldn't have believed it. A top ranker doing manual labor all by himself on some remote, unknown island!
Am I really playing Pan-On right now? I didn't log into a different game by mistake, did I?
Silved thought to himself as he hauled the cargo. His HP was full, and his status window was perfectly fine, but constantly chopping and carrying wood was starting to take a mental toll. Time for a break!
"What are you doing?"
"Taking a break."
"Why?"
"...Huh? Because I'm tired...?"
"It's not like you were fighting monsters, and you're certainly not under level 10, so why are you resting? Did your HP drop?"
"...No. It's not that, it's just mentally..."
"So there's nothing wrong with your stats, right?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Then keep moving."
"..."
Ah...! Enlightenment was slowly dawning upon Silved. He finally understood why players like Cain acted the way they did!
"Wait, you built this in that short amount of time?"
"This is truly incredible."
The returning Black Rock Sect guild members marveled at the sight of the fortress. It was far too grand and well-constructed to have been built by just two people!
When venturing into remote areas without towns, establishing a camp like this was an absolute necessity. It provided a safe space for players to rest, evade monsters, and perform various activities.
However, they had only expected a crude temporary camp at best. They never imagined he would erect such a proper fortress.
They said Kim Tae-hyun's crafting skills were high, but this is insane...
Still, to build a whole fortress by himself?
"Even so, to build a fortress all by himself..." Phil, the blacksmith of the Black Rock Sect, muttered in disbelief.
Just like the items Tae-hyun crafted, seeing the results of his work always left people dumbfounded. Just how on earth did he build his character to make things like this possible?
"He didn't build it alone. I did all the helping."
"...R-Right. I'm sure Kim Tae-hyun couldn't have built it without you."
"Is it just me, or is Silved surprisingly petty?"
As the Black Rock Sect guild members whispered among themselves, Silved felt a surge of anger. Since he was the only outsider here, there was no one to take his side.
"So, did you find anything nearby?"
"Ah. About that..."
These were the guild members who had gone scouting while Tae-hyun was constructing the fortress.
"First, we found out two things."
"?"
"The forest here is a bit strange."
You have entered the Mysterious Forest. A powerful, mysterious force protects the forest!
"Well... isn't that the kind of message window you get anywhere you go?"
Such message windows popped up frequently in almost any dungeon.
[This dungeon is a historic dungeon that has existed since the era of the Ancient Empire, imbued with the magic of the Ancient Empire...]
[This dungeon was constructed by none other than Lord Sadiq himself, and Sadiq's Flame blankets the entire dungeon...]
If you got scared by every single one of those, you couldn't call yourself a ranker.
"But it wasn't just a normal message window. Strange things kept happening."
The guild members began to recount their experiences.
"I can't see a thing. Cast a spell on me. I need to increase my field of vision."
"Okay. Hold on..."
[A spell has been cast.]
Due to the powerful, mysterious force, the magic has been amplified!
"...Isn't that a good thing?" Tae-hyun asked. "Your magic gets amplified for free."
"No. That's not the end of it."
"I can see perfectly now. Thanks."
"Whoa. When did you level up your skill this much? This is insane."
"It wasn't me, it's the forest... Oh. Look, a rabbit."
"Do you like rabbits or something? Why are you suddenly bringing up rabbits?"
In forests like this, there were bound to be plenty of weak, trash mobs alongside the strong monsters. Creatures like rabbits, deer, and wild rats were great targets for beginners.
But for rankers, there was no reason to pay attention to such weak creatures. They gave no experience, and if they needed meat or leather, they could just hunt higher-level beasts!
"No. The rabbit..."
"Yeah, yeah. There can be rabbits in a forest."
"You crazy bastards! Look at the rabbit in front of us!"
"-???"
Only then did the Black Rock Sect guild members see it clearly. A rabbit the size of a house was walking toward them!
"..."
"..."
"W-What kind of giant beast monster is that?"
With a size that rivaled most giant boss monsters, the guild members tensed up. Normally, they wouldn't be afraid of a rabbit, but this was just... way too... terrifying!
"Retreat! Retreat!"
"Is this place insane or something?"
No sooner had those words left their mouths than a deer leaped out from the side. A deer with a massive body that easily rivaled the giant rabbit!
"...Holy crap!!"
"Just get out of here first!!"
"Huh."
Tae-hyun found the story fascinating. The monsters living in this forest were fundamentally in an incredibly buffed state.
It would be one thing if it were filled with all sorts of unique and powerful monsters, but a forest where even normal, everyday monsters are buffed to this extent...
When he thought about it, if the normal monsters were already at that level, it was terrifying to imagine how much stronger the actual powerful monsters would be.
Carbanog says that at least it's a relief there are rabbits here.
Huh? Ah. Tae-hyun wondered what that meant for a second before immediately understanding.
Tae-hyun possessed everything from Carbanog's Authority to various rabbit-related titles. Out of all the monsters, rabbits were the ones he was best equipped to deal with.
...Carbanog says it seems you had forgotten about that.
Haha. As if I would. I always keep your Authority ready.
"If we want to head deeper into the forest, we'll need to go in fully prepared," Phil remarked.
"Indeed..."
The Black Rock Sect guild members were startled by the absurd state of the forest, but they didn't despair. If they joined forces with Tae-hyun, they would surely be able to break through step by step!
This was only possible because they subconsciously trusted Tae-hyun. Of course, if anyone pointed this out to the Black Rock Sect members, they would vehemently deny it...
"By the way, did you find any sign of the 1st Prince or those Idergo Cult bastards?"
"No sign of them. Tae-hyun, this is just my theory... but do you think they might have ended up somewhere else?"
Hallus, one of the Black Rock Sect members, spoke up. Hallus was a famous explorer player, known within the guild for solving difficult quests with ease. As such, he was capable of making sharp judgments in situations like this.
"Somewhere else?"
"Yeah. Teleportation items like that often send people to random locations. They could have been sent somewhere else entirely. According to my gut, I'm about ninety-nine percent sure."
The other guild members nodded in agreement.
"That sounds plausible."
"As expected of Hallus, always using his head."
Just as everyone was praising him and Tae-hyun was beginning to wonder, 'Is that so?' a tattered Idergo Cult priest NPC stumbled out from the beach.
• A Crusader Priest of the Idergo Cult has appeared!
• Priests belonging to the Crusader Order wield the most potent forces of Idergo's Plague...
"...Sent somewhere else, you say?" Silved asked, staring deadpan at Hallus.
He had acted so smug, only to be proven wrong immediately... However, Tae-hyun reacted calmly.
"Anyone can make a mistake."
"E-Exactly! Anyone can make a mistake. Do you never make mistakes?!" Hallus shot back.
"Says the guy who backed the wrong prince and lost all his contribution points!"
"Why, you little bastards..."
Having one slip of the tongue turn into a barrage of insults, Silved seethed with rage.
"Don't be too hard on him," Tae-hyun said, stepping in.
When Tae-hyun defended him, the Black Rock Sect members stopped their teasing. Silved felt a brief wave of gratitude. Then, he immediately fell into a pit of self-loathing.
...I shouldn't be touched by something like this...!
How on earth did his life end up like this? Just a short while ago, he was leading the armies of the Erangs Kingdom, dreaming of becoming a lord...!
"So, what do we do with him?"
"Should we attack?"
"Since there's only one of them, he might have been separated from the rest."
Tae-hyun quickly assessed the situation. The priest's gear was in tatters, he was alone, and he looked to be in terrible shape. It was highly likely he wasn't sent here on a mission by the Idergo Cult, but had simply been separated and lost!
"Let's capture him and lock him up inside the fortress."
Tae-hyun utilized his master-tier Tactics skill to coordinate all the players around him. He wanted to capture the target in one fell swoop to avoid a drawn-out, risky battle.
"Three, two, one, go!"
Crash! The players instantly lunged from all directions. Since the opponent was a priest, as long as they closed the distance...
"Don't move!"
"Argh! Who are you people?!"
"...Wait. You don't know who I am?"
Tae-hyun paused. It felt a bit conceited to say it himself, but there was no way anyone from the Idergo Cult wouldn't recognize his face. They probably had his picture pinned to their internal bulletin boards, cursing him on a daily basis...
"Excuse me, but... do you know who I am?"
"..."