The Top Contributor

Just as Park Seong-chan had said, the players were all buzzing over who they thought would take first place in this contribution-point quest.

Even players who had no chance of placing anywhere near the rankings were gossiping about it out of pure curiosity. Thanks to that, Tae-hyun had it easy.

Whistling to himself, Tae-hyun strolled over to a corner of the royal army barracks.

Rain or shine, the man never wavered in his diligence.

Even after clearing a quest that huge just moments ago, Tae-hyun remained completely unfazed. Whenever he had spare time, he did what he always did—grinded skill proficiency.

Right now, he could only command weak, frail specters, but someday, surely, he'd be able to control truly powerful ones.

With that thought in mind, Tae-hyun kept using the skill over and over.

"Uh... you really shouldn't be doing that here..."

An NPC Demer Priest working with the royal army had seen Tae-hyun using black magic and hurried over in flustered alarm to stop him. The only reason he was even trying this gently was because it was Tae-hyun. If it'd been any other player, he would've started yelling on the spot.

Do enough for the kingdom, and people treated you differently.

"Oh, come on. Do you know how much I've done for this kingdom? You're saying I can't even do a little practice?"

"Th-that's not what I mean... but still... the gods are watching... maybe if you did it somewhere else..."

The Demer Priest mumbled helplessly, unable to bring himself to outright forbid it.

"Quit whining and give me a blessing. I'm running low on MP."

"Sob... the gods ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are watching..."

"Pipe down."

Anyone seeing this would think Tae-hyun was bullying him.

And so Tae-hyun stood there in the corner, receiving buffs from a sniffling Demer Priest while practicing black magic.

It was an impressively efficient use of time.

After meeting Tae-hyun, Bae Jang-wook opened the Fantasy Online 2 website.

He had only one reason for doing it.

He wanted to check how far the Sadiq Church subjugation quest had progressed.

He already knew it was a hugely popular large-scale quest, but he'd been too busy lately to look into the details.

"Let's see how things are going... huh? What the hell? It's already over?"

As he scanned the uploaded video titles, Bae Jang-wook tilted his head.

From the videos, it looked like the Sadiq Church had been defeated and had fled from the Valley of Despair and Sorrow.

Bae Jang-wook scratched his head.

Had it simply been too much to expect even from Tae-hyun? Maybe, no matter how skilled he was, it was hard to stand out among a crowd of monsters like these players.

He'd been hoping a little, but if that wasn't the case, then so be it.

I really am too greedy...

Shouldn't Caterand Island have been enough? Why was I expecting something from this quest too?

Bae Jang-wook realized he was asking too much.

The Caterand Island quest alone was the kind of thing most players could never hope to pull off in their entire gaming career.

"What are you watching?"

"Oh. A Fantasy Online 2 video. There's this new player we recruited—Kim Tae-hyun. Rare class, pretty skilled, good instincts too. Shame we couldn't lock him into an exclusive contract, but what can you do."

The person approaching him was Kim Su-a.

Long black hair. A clear, graceful smile.

She'd once been a famous film actress, but these days she worked as a game broadcast host. She was also well known as a celebrity who actually played Fantasy Online 2.

She was one of the faces of MBS's gaming lineup.

"Kim Tae-hyun? Kim Tae-hyun... I feel like I've heard that name before."

"Kim Tae-hyun was that blacksmith from Fantasy Online 1 who went around hunting rankers, remember?"

"Oh. Right, that's it. Though I feel like I've heard it somewhere else too..."

"...?"

"It's nothing. So that's the player you recruited?"

"No, no."

Actually, yes, it was.

"If it were that Kim Tae-hyun, do you think recruiting him would've been that easy? Do you know what a twisted bastard he was? I sent him messages every way I could think of, and he never replied once."

In truth, Tae-hyun had blocked him without even reading them, so he had never cared in the slightest who'd sent what, or how desperately they'd written it.

"Then it's just someone with the same name?"

"Right. But this guy's no joke either. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seriously impressive. Want to watch the Caterand Island quest video when it comes in?"

People often got the wrong idea because of Kim Su-a's pure, elegant image, but she was a serious gaming addict in her own right.

Everyone around her knew it.

There was a reason she hosted game broadcasts so naturally and did so well at them.

"I'm the one introducing it, aren't I? Then of course I should watch it."

"Knew you'd say that."

"But what's this one?"

Kim Su-a pointed at one of the video titles.

There were a lot of videos with Fire Demonic Beast at the front.

"Raid footage for a boss monster, I guess. Why?"

"Kill steal, interruption... doesn't that sound like something happened?"

"Honestly, if nothing happened during a boss raid that big, that would be weird."

Bae Jang-wook knew exactly how raids like that usually went.

Big guilds, rankers, high-level players—everyone would've swarmed in. Of course they'd fight over who got there first, who had claim, who was sniping what.

So naturally, videos titled things like That bastard shamelessly stole the kill! and That bastard's the real villain here! would go up afterward.

Thinking that, Bae Jang-wook opened the video.

"...!"

"!!!"

But what appeared on screen completely overturned his expectations.

First came Tae-hyun, suddenly appearing like the wind and charging the Fire Demonic Beast.

Then came Tae-hyun standing atop the rampaging monster, hammering it with a flurry of consecutive strikes.

The mouths of both viewers slowly fell open.

Fumble, fumble.

Bae Jang-wook hastily pulled out his phone with trembling hands.

Seeing that, Kim Su-a tilted her head.

"What are you doing?"

"Te-texting him."

Bae Jang-wook hurriedly sent Tae-hyun the message.

"Nothing much," my ass!

He'd said it was nothing much, so Bae Jang-wook had really believed it was nothing much—but this was absolutely not nothing much.

If this counted as nothing much, then every other player currently broadcasting ought to walk around with their heads bowed in shame.

But Bae Jang-wook didn't know why Tae-hyun had dismissed it so lightly.

Compared to the videos that weren't here, this really was nothing much.

"They're about to reward us in front of the king. This should be a good moment. So why're you acting like that?"

Tae-hyun prodded Cain with a finger as he asked.

Cain was glancing around nervously, jumpy as hell.

"Don't talk to me."

"What?"

"N-no, I mean..."

The moment Tae-hyun's voice dropped, Cain folded immediately and started explaining himself.

Acting tough had never worked on Tae-hyun. Not even once.

"So... what happened was..."

Cain recounted the whole story in painstaking detail, wearing the most pitiful expression he could manage. He was afraid that if he said the wrong thing, Tae-hyun would tear into him all over again.

"Hmm. Hmm. So. Oh. Right. I see."

After hearing the whole explanation, Tae-hyun smacked one fist into his palm.

Then he said:

"So basically, you got carried away trying to get revenge without knowing your place, and now you've made people suspicious. That's what you're saying?"

"No, that's not it! It's not that they're suspicious yet, it's just..."

Clang, clang, clang—

Tae-hyun tapped Cain's helmet with the sheath of his Meteor.

The sound that rang out was bright and cheerful.

"If they weren't suspicious, they wouldn't be hanging around here staring at you. You used your skills when you fought, didn't you?"

"How the hell was I supposed to win without using them...?"

"Then if any of the players there know about Red Zone, they're already suspicious. Your skills are distinctive as hell. You using that head just for decoration or what?"

Clang, clang, clang—

Tae-hyun kept hitting the helmet while he talked.

"Stop hitting me already!"

"If you're using your brain for show, what difference does it make? Anyway, handle it yourself. If you get caught, that's your problem. Don't drag me into it."

"Aren't you being too harsh? After everything we've been through together..."

"What?"

Tae-hyun smiled as he started to draw his longsword.

"Want me to show you what kind of bond we have? They say even bad blood is still blood."

"N-no! It's fine!"

Cain was now absolutely certain.

Tae-hyun was exactly the kind of bastard who'd smile like that and then PK you on the spot.

He's even scarier than I am!

"Be grateful I made you a helmet that hides your face. Keep it on. Always."

"...I said I got it!"

Meanwhile, players had begun gathering in droves around the platform set up in front of the royal palace.

They all had the same goal.

Every last one of them had eyes glittering with greed.

"Blacksmith Kim Ji-san. For your exceptional devotion in standing against the wicked Sadiq Church, we bestow this reward upon you."

Kim Ji-san beamed as he received his quest reward.

He'd gotten experience, gold, fame, and even a reward item from the royal blacksmiths.

There was no better gift for a blacksmith than a good blacksmithing item.

Being rewarded with equipment used by the palace blacksmiths themselves—what could make him happier than that?

Kim Ji-san and Park Seong-chan alike all received their rewards below the platform and grinned from ear to ear.

"...?"

While checking his reward, Park Seong-chan looked up.

All at once, the area had gone quiet.

"And now, we will announce the greatest contributor to this subjugation!"

"...!"

Park Seong-chan immediately understood why everything had gone silent.

The main event of the quest had arrived.

It was finally time to announce who had taken first place in the contribution-point rankings.

Looking around, he saw that even people who had no stake in it whatsoever were leaning forward with shining eyes, desperate to know.

"First, third place! Lee Jun-seop. Step forward!"

Immediately, the players began whispering.

Not only the other players were shocked—Lee Jun-seop was stunned too.

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

What? How did this happen?

As the head of a major guild like Acacia, Lee Jun-seop had gathered information after the quest ended.

And based on what he'd heard, he'd been sure of one thing.

If not first, then second is guaranteed.

And yet the result was third.

Something was wrong.

Though rattled, Lee Jun-seop stepped forward anyway.

For now, this was not the moment to do anything except what he was told.

Once Lee Jun-seop's turn was over, second place was announced.

"Second place, Johansson. Step forward!"

Just like before—but louder this time—the players erupted into a stir.

Lee Jun-seop whipped his head around.

In the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠distance, he spotted the Fighters guild master.

Crackle!

Their eyes met, and sparks practically flew.

You bastard... what did you pull behind the scenes?

Lee Jun-seop glared at him with that thought in mind.

The Fighters guild master didn't so much as blink.

And in that instant, Lee Jun-seop realized something.

He'd underestimated him too much.

That calm face of his—that composure.

He must have secretly amassed a massive amount of contribution points.

Otherwise there was no way he could have taken first.

It's my complete defeat.

Lee Jun-seop clenched his teeth in frustration.

He had no face to show his guild members.

Fine. Go on up there!

I'll watch you receive it with my own two eyes. And remember this—

"The greatest contributor—Kim Tae-hyun! Step forward!"

That was... definitely not the name he'd been expecting to hear.