The Undead King's Dilemma and an Unexpected Offer

"!" Tae-hyun flinched.

He already knew that Philip III's temper had worsened after becoming undead. Although the surrounding nobles whispered, "Hey, isn't this a bit strange?" those murmurs quickly vanished once Philip III handled the aftermath flawlessly. Most of all, Philip III had personally grabbed a few of the gossiping nobles by the neck and snapped them. At that, the nobles quickly changed their tune: "Haha, now that I think about it, His Majesty was always this hot-blooded!" and hurriedly fell in line.

Since Philip III was successfully suppressing the rebellion, defying him would only lead to a swift and painful end.

But it's going to get even worse?

Hmm. That is a bit unsettling.

For now, Philip III was highly favorable toward Tae-hyun. He had brought the King back to life, helped suppress the rebellion, and even brought him the First Prince's head... Their affinity was currently so high it could barely go any higher. Even if Philip III's temper got worse, it didn't seem like it would harm Tae-hyun, but...

He felt uneasy! Tae-hyun's instincts were screaming at him.

Tae-hyun realized why he was anxious. Right. Having a madman as the ruler of a neighboring country is always dangerous.

No matter how much Philip III liked Tae-hyun, if the King started running wild, the Atali Kingdom would likely get dragged into the mess!

That's true too.

There was no real way to change Philip III's personality. Sending him to the afterlife was practically the same as killing him...

Well, it shouldn't have that big of an impact, right? Erangs Kingdom is a perfectly normal, massive place. What could possibly go wrong?

Still, just to be safe, I should hold off on bringing him the heads of the other princes.

Besides, the 4th Prince was an NPC who was quite close to Cain. He couldn't just go and chop his head off!

"I understand. I will pursue the traitors and bring you their heads," Tae-hyun said.

"I knew I could trust you! Ah, and there is something I must discuss with you in private..."

"?"

The King dismissed the nobles and spoke to Tae-hyun.

"This is truly a task that no one else can be entrusted with."

What is it? Is he going to ask me to chop off his wife's head next?

Fortunately, it was nothing of the sort.

Many of the treasures handed down through the Erangs Royal Palace possessed holy energy, making them unusable for an undead body. The crown and sword of the Erangs Kingdom fell into this category. While reclaiming his kingdom was grand, being unable to use his own family treasures was highly problematic.

I already have so many quests to clear. Isn't this a bit too much?

Tae-hyun tried to subtly make an excuse.

"I know nothing about this, so it might be difficult for me..."

"If you can just find a way, I will grant you any territory you desire!"

"Oh. You have territories available to give?"

"I can simply create one. I just need to execute a few nobles."

"..."

Tae-hyun was about to reflexively say, Whoa, what a great idea! before snapping back to his senses.

No... let's not. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I don't want to get ambushed by a coalition of noble knights.

He really didn't want to see that kind of message window again.

"I will do my best."

"Urgh! You Archisus Church bastards! Release me this instant!"

Persmes protested wildly, but the ruthless, cold-blooded priests of the Archisus Church didn't even bat an eye.

"Lock him inside the temple."

"Yes, sir!"

"Let go of me! Where are my comrades?!"

Thud—

After locking the struggling Persmes inside, the priests muttered to themselves in sheer bewilderment once the door slammed shut.

"How on earth did the Pope capture that guy?"

"Setting aside the fact that he's the successor to the Bishop of the Idergo Cult... what did the Pope even do to make him believe the Pope is his comrade?"

It was an utterly absurd situation! Tae-hyun had simply brought him over and said, "Lock him up tight so he can't escape," so they did... but they couldn't help but wonder if this made any sense.

"You worked hard."

"You really did, Tae-hyun."

The Sky Castle floating above the Valley.

The party members who had been waiting for Tae-hyun's return gathered to welcome him.

"I didn't really do much."

"What do you mean you didn't do much..." Lee Se-yeon muttered.

She had watched the live broadcast of the escape video with Lee Da-bi. It was so thrilling that they couldn't take their eyes off it for even a second. The undiscovered mysterious island, the Plague Fleet of the Idergo Cult, the desperate escape...

"Those evil bastards dare! Se-yeon! Is there no way we can catch them?!"

"It's... it's too far, so wouldn't it be impossible?"

...Da-bi had been so angry while watching that she was practically stomping her feet. It was the first time Se-yeon had ever seen Da-bi get that furious.

"Did you find anything useful in the Ancient Empire University?"

"I've been looking around, but this place is wider than most cities. Just clearing the daily quests takes up all my time."

Finding what they wanted in the vast Ancient Empire University was no easy task. Even seasoned rankers like Se-yeon had to spend ages wandering around just to find NPCs.

"Since no other players have entered yet, we have to find everything from scratch."

"True, that must be annoying. How are the NPCs? Are they manageable?"

"They're quite diverse. Ghosts, undead, stone statues, and so on. For now, there haven't been any NPCs so tricky that they're impossible to deal with, but I don't know what will happen as we go deeper."

True to its name, the Ancient Empire University was home to all sorts of bizarre ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠NPCs. It was fine for now, but it wouldn't be surprising if some truly strange ones appeared later on.

"Do you want to go right now? It would be so much easier if you were with us."

Se-yeon had absolute trust in Tae-hyun's ability to handle NPCs. His Devil's Tongue could easily win over even the most hostile NPCs!

"No. I have to clear my class quest first."

"What do you have to do?"

"I have to offer up the First Prince's head."

"...Isn't that a class quest for the Archisus Church???"

"Yeah, it is."

"????" Se-yeon looked utterly confused.

"Just wait for me while I visit the temple. After I get back..."

"We'll head straight in, right?"

"No. After I get back, I need to organize the items I got this time. Do some crafting. Check if there's anything I can buy with my contribution points. Take a look at what those Idergo Cult bastards are up to, manage my territory..."

"..."

"...And then I'll head in."

"...Do your church NPCs literally do nothing for you?!" ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Se-yeon was forced to ask the fundamental question. It felt like a church where the Pope did absolutely all the work.

"By the way, did anyone try to start a fight over the entry rights?"

"Oh, Tae-hyun. What are you talking about? Se-yeon is right here," Da-bi said with a smile.

Unless a player was incredibly reckless, no one would dare challenge them with a "Why do only you guys get to go in!"

Furthermore, the group had played carefully, keeping their broadcasts off and avoiding public exposure. Da-bi was thoroughly experienced in these matters from following Tae-hyun around. Thanks to that, they had succeeded in completely hiding their identities, to the point where the rest of the group was deeply impressed.

"We weren't attacked, but we did receive a few offers. Asking us to reveal the footage inside, or to let them enter with us..."

"I received some too."

"Me too."

The level of interest in the Ancient Empire University was beyond imagination. If it had been open to everyone from the start, it might have been different, but since only a select few could enter right now, the hype had ballooned immensely. Consequently, those who had access received astronomical offers.

"Did you reject them all? You could have accepted some."

"None of them were particularly useful offers. It's not like I'm lacking money," Se-yeon said.

Her words were true. First of all, appearing on someone else's personal broadcast for "publicity" was an absolute joke. Who was promoting whom! And since she wasn't desperate for cash, there was no reason to sell such an opportunity. They needed to milk the monopoly while others still couldn't enter.

"I am considering the exclusive early footage release, though."

"We've been getting a lot of those offers lately too," Da-bi added.

Many offers had come to Team KL and Power Warrior as well. Broadcasting stations and platform companies were practically begging: "If you let us release your gameplay footage first, we will pay you a massive sum!"

As had been proven time and again, the ripple effect of Pandemonium Online videos was immense. A single dragon raid had been turned into a documentary and became a massive hit.

But they couldn't just use any footage. Since tens of millions of people uploaded videos, theirs had to stand out. And Team KL and Power Warrior were partners well worth contracting with. They possessed overwhelming recognition among players worldwide!

"There's nothing wrong with accepting an offer just to release the footage a little earlier... but I plan to follow the opinion of Yuseong Gaming on this."

The old man is going to weep tears of joy.

For a captain to put the gaming team first and say, "I'll release it early wherever the team wants," would undoubtedly bring tears of joy to any owner's eyes.

"Still, the pressure should ease up a bit now. Since someone else was just granted entry permission."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, Chairman Yoo had been granted entry permission by Philip III as a reward for delivering Tae-hyun. Right now, the spotlight of curiosity was likely shifting toward Chairman Yoo!

"If you transfer your entry rights... do not be shocked. We will transfer this amount to you immediately. It is an amount easily enough to buy a small building."

"...Hmm! That is indeed a very unshocking amount."

"!?!"

Chairman Yoo dealt with the people who came to find him with utter indifference. *Transfer the rights, do you want to die, who do you think you are to take Kim Tae-hyun there, do you have any intention of releasing the footage early,* and so on.

Despite his position as the King of the Arantis Kingdom, Chairman Yoo wasn't particularly famous in Pandemonium Online. Fishermen focused on finding good fishing spots among themselves rather than participating in the game's major quests or events.

However, due to this quest, Chairman Yoo's face had become known worldwide. All sorts of guilds and players were grinding their teeth, wondering, Who is that old guy?!

While this kind of attention was awkward and uncomfortable, Chairman Yoo decided to endure it. If he could obtain Arcane skills, he was so serious about Pandemonium Online that he would willingly reveal his character at a shareholders' meeting.

"Do not be shocked. I am from LK Galaxy. Considering the skill and buzz you've shown this time, we believe you would be a perfect fit for our gaming team..."

"..."

Chairman Yoo's jaw dropped.

This was a completely unexpected offer!

What kind of clueless fools are they to try and recruit me...?!