The Triple Crown of Trash

Regardless, Kim Tae-hyun nodded as if he understood. "Right. If you say so, then it must be true."

"You're completely misunderstanding me right now!"

No matter how much Icarus protested, Tae-hyun didn't budge. Without giving him a single chance to clear up the misunderstanding, Tae-hyun simply turned and walked away.

"Hey, Icarus. Didn't you say last time that the Guild Alliance doesn't micromanage things like that?"

"You sounded so cool when you said it, too..."

The rankers standing nearby asked in confusion.

Icarus replied coldly, "...Shut up, all of you..."

"Look at this guy. He couldn't say a single word to Kim Tae-hyun, but look at him taking it out on us."

"Aren't you embarrassed?"

"Finally... we finally found him!"

"Everyone, you've worked so hard!"

Su Ning spoke, holding back his overwhelming emotion. Su Ning and his elite guard rankers were trembling with joy. They had finally found him.

"So that NPC is the one carrying the bloodline of the Auston Royal Family?"

"Yes. The king of the Auston Kingdom from two generations ago was this NPC's grand-uncle's father... wait, what was it again? Anyway, the bloodline is definitely connected."

"Good. That's enough! Who cares about the exact title!"

There was a reason why the Guild Alliance, who had ruined the Auston Royal Family and usurped the country, was now desperately searching for a royal descendant.

It was because of the quest to purify the Southern Plague Lands of the Auston Kingdom.

The Southern Plague Lands of the Auston Kingdom!

There were plenty of crazy people in Pandemonium Online. One of them was a sore loser who, after losing a territory war, detonated a plague bomb in his own territory, dragged all his citizens away, and left. Because of this, the Guild Alliance had to suffer immense difficulties.

Not only could they not collect taxes from the south, but the toxic miasma was spreading to nearby areas, contaminated monsters were spilling out, and the roads through that region were completely blocked...

Purifying this plague zone had become one of the Guild Alliance's ultimate long-term goals.

Fortunately, the brilliant rankers of the Guild Alliance gathered to brainstorm and managed to make some progress in conquering the plague zone.

...But then, a bizarre army of Death Knights appeared in the center of the plague zone.

The Death Knights, claiming to be the loyal knights of the Auston Royal Family, made this stubborn threat.

In the end, the Guild Alliance had no choice but to shed tears of blood and search high and low for a descendant of the Auston Royal Family.

It was an incredibly difficult task to find a royal bloodline that had completely vanished.

"You all did an amazing job," Su Ning said sincerely. He felt proud of his guild's rankers, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeing their true worth during this quest.

"Tang Changzhang. Without your skills as an Explorer, we would never have found him. I believe you are far superior to those washed-up has-beens like Hallus, Jekas, or Homa."

"Thank you, Guild Leader!"

"Lin Chanhui. Thanks to your abilities as a Warlock, we were able to search this area. I believe you will become even greater than Warlocks like Lee Se-yeon or Tegosa."

"Thank you, but I think that's impossible!"

"...What a brutally honest bastard. Lee Jung-su. At first, I didn't trust you because you're Korean."

"I didn't trust you either, Guild Leader, because you're Chinese!"

"...But working together, I've realized you're a trustworthy guy."

"No, I'm just doing this for the money. Just hurry up and pay me!"

"..."

Su Ning felt his blood pressure rising at the blunt, back-talking retorts of his elite rankers.

Inhale. Exhale.

Su Ning didn't get angry over things like this anymore. No matter how angry he got, could it possibly compare to the anger he felt when Kim Tae-hyun blew up his territory? Not a chance.

Wow, Su Ning actually held that in.

His patience has really grown lately, hasn't it?

"I thank everyone here for their cooperation. Now! Come forward, descendant of the Auston Royal Family!" Su Ning said grandly to the NPC.

Steinhauer, the royal descendant of the Auston family, trembled as he spoke.

"D-Don't come any closer, you greedy adventurers! What are you planning to do to me?!"

"We won't do anything to you, Steinhauer! We're here to treat you with the respect you deserve!"

'Damn it.'

Su Ning regretted not leveling up his Speech skill. Though he doubted it would have made a massive difference anyway...

"Steinhauer. Do you want to die here instead? We truly intend to give you the proper treatment you deserve!"

"Proper treatment? What does that mean?"

At the NPC's question, the Guild Alliance rankers looked at each other. Proper treatment... Come to think of it, what did that entail?

"Are you going to return the crown to me?"

"Are you insane??"

"...I knew it!"

"N-No, calm down, Steinhauer. Think about it logically. You were never the king to begin with! Giving the crown to someone who could never have become king makes no sense, don't you think?"

"Hmm. I suppose that's true."

Steinhauer was surprisingly easy to persuade.

Su Ning continued, feeling relieved. "I plan to give you... a high noble title and position."

"What kind of position?"

"Uh... what do you want?"

"Hmm... My dream was always to become the Knight Commander of the Kingdom."

"Are you out of your—"

Just as Su Ning was about to curse again, the Guild Alliance rankers held him back.

"Guild Leader, if you keep rejecting him and he dies or runs away, we're screwed."

"But the Knight Commander position? Is he insane?! Do you know what kind of position that is?!"

Currently, all the official positions in the Auston Kingdom were occupied by members of the Guild Alliance. Holding a position like Knight Commander provided a massive boost to Reputation, not to mention incredibly lucrative weekly bonuses. These titles were one of the main driving forces keeping the Guild Alliance running. If loyal members didn't receive appropriate rewards for their hard work, who would bother staying in the Guild Alliance?

"Still, if we can purify the plague lands, it's a highly profitable trade-off."

"Ugh..."

Persuaded by the other rankers, Su Ning finally relented. He was terrified of losing the Auston royal descendant they had barely managed to find.

"Fine! Steinhauer. I will appoint you as the Knight Commander of the Kingdom! Since we are doing this much for you, you had better show us your capabilities!"

"You kick out my family and then act like you're doing me a massive favor..."

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

Now that it had come to this, Su Ning prayed that Steinhauer's stats would at least be decent. If an NPC appointed to a high position had terrible stats, all sorts of penalties would follow.

Su Ning had already suffered enough from discontent penalties while ruling the Auston Kingdom to the point of developing a neurosis. He had barely managed to stabilize things; he did not want to add more. But surely, as a noble of royal blood, he would have some decent stats, right?

"...Where on earth did you find this lunatic?"

"Uh... we found him in an underground gambling den in the back alleys of the city."

Su Ning pressed his hand to his forehead. He felt like he had made a terrible mistake!

Pandemonium Online didn't just have noble, upstanding aristocrats. There were also complete lunatics like this.

Incompetence + Greed + Gambling Addiction = The Triple Crown!

'This is driving me insane.'

"Put a tail on him. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"...Yes, sir."

But what choice did they have? To purify the plague lands, they had to tolerate this much.

"Now that everything is set, post a guild-wide announcement. We are starting the plague lands purification quest, so tell everyone absolutely not to provoke Kim Tae-hyun."

Fortunately, they had recently participated in the tournament together. Thanks to the "friendship fee"—or rather, the appearance fee—they had paid to Team KL, their relationship had improved slightly. At this rate, they might actually be able to ask him to show his face to help clear the quest.

"..."

Hearing the guild announcement, Icarus's face turned completely pale. How on earth did things get this twisted?!

"Even before today's match begins, we have an incredible number of viewers tuning in."

"Indeed. It's a record-breaking crowd! Just look at the people gathered in the arena!"

An esports arena where fans could watch Pandemonium Online matches in vivid, three-dimensional holograms. Everyone had gathered today to watch one specific match.

The South Korean National Team vs. the Chinese National Team.

Even though it was a group stage match and not the bracket stage, the crowd was unprecedentedly massive. And this was in the United States!

"Today's match isn't the only one happening in this group, so could you explain why so many people are tuning in?"

"Ah. First of all, the South Korean and Chinese national teams are traditional powerhouses in esports."

"That's right. Korea has been a traditional titan for a long time, while China is a powerhouse that recently claimed the throne through massive investment and support."

"But of course, that's not the only reason!"

At the caster's words, the crowd in the arena began to laugh. Exactly. Depending on today's match results...

...the Chinese national team could be eliminated in the group stage.

"In a shocking turn of events, the Canadian national team defeated the Japanese national team yesterday! A clean 2-0 victory. The Canadian national team secured a win against Japan."

Canada's score: 1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw. Japan's score: 3 losses. China's score: 1 win, 1 draw. Korea's score: 2 wins.

"The South Korean national team has already secured their spot in the Round of 16 on their own merit! Even if they lose 2-0 today, Korea will still advance. However, the Chinese national team is in a very tight spot! If they don't secure at least a draw in today's match, they might face a shocking elimination in the group stage!"

The caster's voice was filled with excitement. Honestly, even to the caster, this was an incredibly entertaining scenario. If he were Chinese, he'd be clutching the back of his neck in stress, but he was American. If the Chinese national team got eliminated early, it would be a very welcome outcome!

"What if they lose? If they lose, won't they have the same record?"

"Unfortunately, no! While Canada secured a 2-0 win against Japan, China accidentally dropped a round. They have to make up for that difference!"

"Ah...! That sounds like an incredibly difficult task!"

"Indeed. The pressure must be immense. Actually, there is one simple way to resolve this complex web of scenarios!"

"What is that?"

"They just have to win! If they win, they don't need to worry about any complex scenarios and will advance to the Round of 16 on their own merit!"

"That is absolutely correct!"

The Chinese viewers watching the American broadcast began spewing curses. That damn caster and his big mouth...!