A Heartfelt Misunderstanding
"...?"
Someone suddenly shouted.
Everyone turned their heads at once.
What appeared were the three blacksmiths: Kim Ji-sahn, Park Seong-chan, and Woo Jeong-sik!
With a resolute look on his face, Kim Ji-sahn shouted, "Please wait a moment!"
"What?"
"And who the hell are you?"
Even in the face of those hostile reactions, Kim Ji-sahn didn't back down.
He spoke firmly.
"Of course I know that Mr. Cain here used to run around with the Red Zone Guild bullying other people! But Mr. Cain has changed."
"...?"
"??"
"???"
Every player there was stunned.
Even Cain was stunned.
Changed? How the hell have I changed?
"Mr. Cain came to reflect on what he'd done!"
"??"
What kind of nonsense is that?
Cain couldn't make heads or tails of it, but he kept his mouth shut for the moment.
It looked like they had come to help him.
"Why do you think Mr. Cain keeps following Lord Tae-hyun around? That's the man who destroyed his guild!"
"That... huh. Good point."
"You're right. Why is he following him?"
At Kim Ji-sahn's words, the players murmured in agreement.
"Did he get blackmailed or something?"
"No way. Even if he did, come on, the guy's got pride. A guild master who ran a guild like that wouldn't trail after someone just because of a little blackmail."
"......"
The other players were tossing those comments out casually, but to Cain they hit like deep wounds.
"The reason Mr. Cain follows Lord Tae-hyun is simple! It's because he reflected on what he'd done and wants to atone for it!"
"?!"
Even Cain, listening to this, was shocked by the sheer audacity of the lie.
But Kim Ji-sahn was serious.
"After fighting Mr. Cain, Lord Tae-hyun explained in detail exactly how Mr. Cain had gone wrong. After hearing that, Mr. Cain realized just how terrible the things he'd done really were!"
"......?"
People looked at one another.
Was that... actually possible?
"No, wait. What exactly did this player Kim Tae-hyun say to persuade him?"
"Lord Tae-hyun may look cold on the outside, but inside he's a man with a warm heart and burning justice! If you ask the other players who cleared the Katerand Island quest, you'll find out how kind he really is. People just misunderstand him because of how he looks!"
Sometimes, when people lie long enough, they start believing the lie themselves.
Cognitive dissonance.
What Kim Ji-sahn and Park Seong-chan were going through right now was something like that.
At first they had only been half-convinced, but at some point they had come to trust Tae-hyun completely.
Because otherwise, all they'd really done was follow around a guy with a rotten personality and suffer through one miserable ordeal after another.
It was much better to believe they were going on thrilling adventures, clearing all kinds of quests alongside Tae-hyun, who only seemed cold on the outside but was warm within.
And so Kim Ji-sahn passionately explained just how amazing Tae-hyun was.
"And Mr. Cain was moved by that persuasion!"
But the players weren't so easy to sway.
About half of them looked tempted to believe it, but the other half clearly thought it was utter bullshit.
"You expect us to buy that?"
"Yeah. Like hell that bastard suddenly reflected on himself."
The mood was turning ugly.
Then someone opened their mouth.
"What he said is true."
"...?"
The ones who appeared were Choi Ha-jun and Choi Ha-yeong's party.
They'd come over after hearing the commotion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Some former Red Zone guild members joined our party and tried to betray us, but that man stepped in and stopped them. He PKed his own guild members and took them down himself."
"......!"
At those words, people's expressions changed.
He'd taken down his own guild members directly?
Wasn't that the kind of thing you couldn't do unless you really had repented?
Cain, listening from the side, was getting more and more flabbergasted, but he held it in.
Somehow, things felt like they were working out in a very strange way.
In a situation like this, staying quiet was the best strategy.
Still, as expected, a few people refused to buy it to the bitter end.
They shook their heads and said,
"That still doesn't erase what he did."
"Exactly. Isn't he just trying to save his own skin by selling out his guildmates?"
!
That one hit Cain right in the conscience, and he flinched.
But instead, other players stepped in to defend him.
"No, aren't you being a little too harsh? He knows what he did was wrong, and now he's fighting against his old friends. How spotless a life have you lived, exactly?"
"Wh-what? At least I didn't camp roads and shake people down for protection money!"
As soon as the arguing started, the place became noisy in an instant.
Bang!
And the one who cut through all of it was Tae-hyun.
With an annoyed look on his face, Tae-hyun slammed his longsword into the ground.
That alone was enough to make everyone gathered there fall silent at once.
Some people could control the whole atmosphere just by existing.
Tae-hyun was exactly that kind of person.
He showed up, swung his weapon once, and the mood was instantly under control.
"Why are you making all this noise in front of here on such a nice day? There are plenty of other places you could be."
Looking thoroughly irritated, Tae-hyun glanced around at the others as he asked.
This was in front of the Royal Army barracks.
At the moment, Tae-hyun had been in the middle of some very serious contemplation about how best to exploit the territory of the Valley of Despair and Sorrow.
Then it got noisy outside, so the blacksmiths had gone out to check what was happening, and when that still didn't quiet things down, Tae-hyun himself had come out.
"No... um... well... that... Cain... Red Zone guild master... really bad guy..."
As someone muttered, Tae-hyun turned his gaze toward him.
"A bad guy?"
"Uh... isn't he?"
"Then I guess you can settle it one-on-one. Plant the flag."
"Plant the flag" was a very traditional expression dating all the way back to Fantasy Online 1.
In one word, it meant a duel.
In two words, it meant: fight me.
In four words, it meant: if you're so tough, prove it.
All of that was neatly summarized by one phrase:
"No... that's not really what I..."
"Then you didn't come here because you wanted to fight?"
Tae-hyun lightly tapped Cain on the back of the head with the sheath of his longsword.
It looked like the way someone handled a dog.
Seeing that, the players all nodded to themselves.
Ahhh.
He really had reflected on his actions, hadn't he?
Of course, the truth was just that Cain was scared witless.
"No, it's not that I wanted to fight him one-on-one. It's just... he was the Red Zone guild master. He went around doing bad things. So shouldn't he be punished...?"
The last part came out trembling under Tae-hyun's gaze.
Tae-hyun yawned and nodded.
"Sounds like he deserves punishment. So plant the flag."
"What? No, I mean... not me... I thought maybe you'd punish him, Lord Tae-hyun..."
"What are you even talking about? That's ridiculous. Why would I punish him? If you've got a grudge, you deal with it yourself. I already dealt with my grudge. If you've got beef, go at him. I won't stop you."
Tae-hyun meant every word.
Why the hell would he take Cain's side?
Even if someone else challenged Cain to a duel, Tae-hyun had no intention of interfering.
But the players gathered there misunderstood him completely.
They thought Tae-hyun was indirectly saying, Don't touch Cain.
"So who's fighting him?"
"......"
"Hey, let's go."
"Yeah... let's go..."
The players scattered almost instantly.
Seeing that, Tae-hyun was baffled.
No, wait. Why not even one?
He had kind of wanted to watch Cain suffer a little.
"Lord Tae-hyun... I'm moved!"
"Just as expected—cold on the outside, warm on the inside..."
The two blacksmiths looked at Tae-hyun with sparkling eyes as they spoke.
"What kind of nonsense are you guys talking now?"
While that was happening, Choi Ha-jun and Choi Ha-yeong walked over.
"That's incredible. To make someone like that repent."
"Repent?"
"You don't have to be so modest. Honestly, shouldn't you be bragging about this?"
As Choi Ha-yeong said that, Choi Ha-jun cut in too.
"Exactly. To be honest, I was pretty moved too. And surprised. You were hiding your level when you were with us before, weren't you?"
Only then did Tae-hyun realize that these two were the leaders of the party he'd met before while traveling with Yu Ji-soo.
They were so unimportant I'd forgotten about them.
If Choi Ha-jun had heard that inner thought, he'd have been trembling with humiliation.
"You could say that."
"And you were doing that because you were carrying that party member?"
"More or less."
They seemed to be misunderstanding things however they pleased.
They thought Tae-hyun had originally been a ranker all along, and had just joined their party while hiding his level in order to power-level Yu Ji-soo.
"But what's this about repentance?"
"Heh. Seriously, you don't have to be so humble."
Choi Ha-jun said that with a laugh.
"No, I really don't know what you're talking about. What repentance?"
"You don't have to be so hum—"
"Want to plant the flag? I'm asking what this repentance crap is. Explain."
As Tae-hyun's voice turned rough, Choi Ha-jun snapped back to his senses.
"...Uh, well, I thought the reason Cain repented was because of you, Lord Tae-hyun... wasn't it?"
"I made that thing repent?"
"Like... you made him kneel and reflect on himself..."
"I beat the hell out of him and messed with him a lot."
"Exactly!"
"But I don't think that means he reflected on anything. Is that really the kind of guy he is?"
Tae-hyun tilted his head as he looked at Cain.
He knew players like that very well, all the way back from Fantasy Online 1.
The type that never reflected.
The type who, when they lost or got caught, just thought, Next time I'll do better.
"Maybe it's because you spoke to him so sincerely?"
Choi Ha-jun's attitude was completely different from the last time they had met.
Back then, there had been a faint arrogance in his eyes.
Now he was looking at Tae-hyun like a fan staring at a star.
Which, honestly, made perfect sense.
Back then, he hadn't known Tae-hyun was this incredible a player.
Breaking the Red Zone Guild had been impressive, sure, but at the time Choi Sang-yun had been there as a top ranker, so Tae-hyun had faded into the background.
But now, Tae-hyun was a ranker no one could deny anymore.
The Katerand Island quest, the Sadiq Church subjugation quest.
Only a ranker could leave a mark in both of those back to back.
Sparkle. Sparkle.
"Because I spoke sincerely... Hmm. I definitely messed with him very sincerely."
"Exactly!"
Tae-hyun looked at Cain and asked,
"Did you reflect?"
Cain flinched.
There were still plenty of players around them.
This was a situation where he had no choice but to say yes.
"I... did. I reflected a lot! I realized how awful I was!"
The moment they heard that, the blacksmiths excitedly grabbed Cain by the shoulders.
"Just as we thought!"
"It's okay, Mr. Cain! You can do better from now on!"
"Let's stick together from now on and get closer! People will come to understand your heart!"
"?!"
Cain was startled out of his mind.
What the hell were these blacksmiths talking about now?
Tae-hyun looked at Cain curiously.
"You want to keep following me around? Didn't know you liked me that much."
"N-no, that's not what I..."
Cain glanced around at the other players.
There were still suspicious looks in their eyes.
...Damn it.
Swearing inwardly, Cain let out a sigh.
"I... want... to stick together..."
"Works for me. You're useful to boss around, and you've still got debts to pay. Nice that you're close with the blacksmiths too. Stick with us from now on."
%^#*&$^@&*#^$!
Cain thrashed wildly inside his own head.
Once this quest ended and Tae-hyun let him go, this had been his perfect chance to make a run for it...!
And he'd thrown that chance away with his own two hands.
Aaaargh! AAAAAARGH!
"What's wrong with Mr. Cain?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's just happy?"
"Haha! He's getting shy!"
The blacksmiths, having no idea what was going on inside Cain, excitedly grabbed each other's hands and celebrated together.