The Dagger Division Assembles

"Power Warrior Dagger Division, Sniper Division, assemble here!"

At Tae-hyun's command, the waiting Power Warrior guild members began to pour out in droves. Most people, even many within the Power Warrior guild itself, didn't know this, but Power Warrior actually possessed several armed factions.

There was the [ ] formed by newly recruited rankers, and the [ ] who went completely gearless, roaming naked until the very end. But there existed an even more sinister and ominous group formed long before them. A group that remained unknown precisely because they were part of Power Warrior!

Armed with [ ] that granted damage buffs based on their numbers, [ ] that only Level 1s could equip, and [ ] that drained their levels the moment they put them on, they were one of the most terrifying military forces Power Warrior possessed. Occasionally, the rumors surrounding Power Warrior stemmed precisely from them.

They were players who had completely abandoned defense and health, putting everything into raw attack power.

"Just attack any players who refuse to follow orders or try to escalate the fight toward the spectator stands," Tae-hyun ordered.

"Yes, sir!!"

The guild members looked incredibly excited. They had never regretted choosing to stay at Level 1, but they had never imagined they would get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a chance to shine alongside Tae-hyun like this.

I can't believe a chance like this is coming to me!

I've always wanted to join in when others were bragging...!

I'll finally have something to brag about when this is over!

The guild members who joined the Dagger Division or the Sniper Division had a highly twisted mindset. I don't care if I can't level up, I just want to crush those bastards who cockily show off their high levels!

...And the players currently brawling here just because they were high-level were the absolute perfect targets.

"You bastard!"

It started with a very petty argument. PenguinPanda of the Beijing Fighters had targeted and eliminated Huang Ronghao of the Hangzhou Wyverns. If they had just bumped into each other once or twice while running, it would be one thing, but being trampled in cooperation with other nameless players made his blood boil.

"You did this because you're jealous of my popularity!"

"Why the hell would I be jealous of your popularity?!"

"You're jealous because you did something stupid and got eliminated in the World Cup qualifiers!"

"Are you done talking?!"

"I'm completely done, you washed-up hack! The national team went down in flames because of you, and you still have the nerve to show your face around here?!"

"...Let's see what you've got!"

"Did you think drawing your weapon would shut me up? You should've fought like that when you faced Kim Tae-hyun—Argh! You actually attacked?!"

"Show me what you've got with your skills, you bastard!"

Normally, throwing a tantrum at a tournament like this was something even the greenest of amateurs wouldn't do. Let alone semi-public figures engaging in PVP here—it was sheer madness! But players were human too, and when their tempers flared, they occasionally did crazy things. After bickering and letting their competitive rivalry overheat, this massive disaster had finally erupted.

The directors of the Chinese gaming organizations, still unaware of the situation, were waiting for the match with pounding hearts.

—They accepted the special match proposal?

—Yes! They say the players will be decided by a popularity vote.

—Excellent. If it's a popularity vote, our players won't lose.

—You are absolutely right, sir.

—It's boring just waiting around. Let's watch the tournament.

—Ah. Didn't you say you wouldn't watch a boring, small-scale tournament held in some backwater Korean countryside?

—...Shut up.

The director silenced the tactless employee and turned on the broadcast on the large screen in the conference room. To be honest, he was curious, but his pride had made him pretend to be indifferent.

—Get out here, you bastard! You think you're that good at fighting? Follow me to the racetrack!

—Where does a bastard who got eliminated in the qualifiers think he's going?!

Click.

The conference room suddenly fell dead silent. The director blinked and asked.

—...What did I just see?

—Th-that... I'm not quite sure either. Could it be an event?

Of course, no matter how much the employee tried to make excuses, there was no defending the situation currently unfolding. The Chinese players were having a brutal, curse-filled brawl right in front of countless spectators!

—Stop... Stop those crazy bastards right now!

—Yes! I'll stop them!

—...You son of a bitch!! Do you think I'm an idiot? You don't even have a way to stop them right now, yet you say you will just to pacify me?!

—Choke... cough! I'm sorry!

A brawl broke out inside the conference room as well. Of course, the spectators couldn't cheer for this one!

"Waaaaah!"

The crowd roared. What an incredibly entertaining match! PenguinPanda attacked Huang Ronghao, casting ice chains left and right.

"Say that again! You're nothing but national team reject trash!"

"You couldn't even land a hit on Kim Tae-hyun, yet your mouth is still running!"

Huang Ronghao swung his spear wildly, blowing away everything in his vicinity. As a Spearman, and a ranker with a Heroic class at that, his attacks were no joke.

"Hey, you crazy bastards, it's splashing onto us too!"

The players from other countries watching from the sidelines cursed. If they were going to fight, they should keep it to themselves! But they didn't know yet. The Chinese players were far more enraged than they could possibly imagine.

A rational person would think, Well, even if we fight, we should only fight our own countrymen and leave players from other countries alone... But right now, most of them had completely lost their minds.

"Move, you son of a bitch!"

Boom!

Hit by an unexpected attack, a Texas Cowboys player tumbled backward.

"Gonzales!!!"

"Have these Chinese bastards lost their minds?!"

"I told you to move! It's your fault for standing in the way!"

"You'd better keep your neck straight. I'm going to blow it clean off!"

The enraged Texas Cowboys players and their friends began to join the fray. The Hangzhou Wyverns players who had followed Huang Ronghao also jumped in to face them! The crowd grew even wilder. When else would they ever see such a spectacular, lawless team clash?

This is truly going to be a match for the history books!

Boom! Crash! Bang!

Area-of-effect skills ran rampant, and spells flew everywhere as things began to shatter one by one. The spectators who still had their wits about them scrambled to flee.

"Die!"

"You die!"

The basic requirement for a ranker was to manage their life tenaciously. Since the logout penalty was no joke, anyone who died frequently could never become a ranker. There was a reason why the saying "Don't go near dangerous places or Kim Tae-hyun" existed among rankers.

But today, this place defied all imagination. Dozens of rankers were beating the living daylights out of each other without a care in the world! In a situation like this, nothing was out of the question.

"I-I am...!"

PenguinPanda, who had started the fight, was the first to fall under a four-man concentrated assault. What was even funnier was that the ones who defeated him didn't even realize they had done so.

"Just trample everything that catches ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠your eye!"

"Maintain formation! Formation!"

Next was Huang Ronghao, then Gomez... One by one, illustrious rankers were logged out in this absurd place.

"There's KingTaehyunNo1!"

"Kill that bastard! His name is bad luck from the start!"

The Chinese players spotted KingTaehyunNo1 mid-fight and rushed him.

"Ugh! Taking your anger out on me just because you got eliminated in the qualifiers. That's why you got eliminated!"

"...Seriously, kill that bastard!!"

No matter how well KingTaehyunNo1 fought, it was hard to win when outnumbered.

"L-Look over there, it's Kim Tae-hyun!"

"What?!"

The attacking Chinese players gasped and whipped around. Of course, Kim Tae-hyun wasn't there. There were only people beating each other up.

"You actually fell for that?"

"...Hey!! Everyone, get over here!"

The Chinese players' rage pierced the heavens. Even if KingTaehyunNo1 was going to get logged out, he had successfully pissed off his opponents to the very end.

"K-Kim Tae-hyun... sir... please... avenge me... Those bastards are making a mess here..."

"This bastard is still talking nonsense even as he dies!"

KingTaehyunNo1 spoke dramatically while looking back, but the Chinese players weren't falling for it again.

Stab!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, explosions began to ring out. The sound, entirely different from AOE skills or magic, made the brawling players realize the situation.

"It's Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Everyone, stop fighting!"

"......"

Tae-hyun shouted, but no one stopped. It wasn't because they looked down on Tae-hyun's words. It was because they couldn't stop in the heat of battle. Who would stop when they felt they could kill their opponent with just a few more hits, or when they feared the opponent would attack the moment they let their guard down? Some pretended not to hear over the noise and kept swinging their weapons.

"If you do not stop, I will use force!"

Yeah, right.

One player sneered inwardly at Kim Tae-hyun's words. People who didn't know much about Pan-On said things like, "Wow, is Kim Tae-hyun the strongest in Pan-On? He could probably beat a hundred rankers at once, right?" But rankers scoffed at such claims. No matter how great Tae-hyun was, that was impossible. Tae-hyun taking on all the dozens of brawling rankers here? That was out of the question.

Of course, Tae-hyun had absolutely no intention of doing so either. Why on earth would he stick his head into a place where terrifyingly broken skills were flying around?

"Commence attack," Tae-hyun commanded.

"Commence attack!!!"

The Archisus Artillery and the Mechanical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Engineering Blacksmiths began to fire the bombs they had brought with them like madmen. The downside of the Engineering skill was that it took time to prepare. However, in anticipation of any unforeseen circumstances before the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tournament, the Mechanical Engineering Blacksmiths had already completed all their preparations nearby. Cannons and bombs were piled up everywhere. The rankers were horrified by the sheer firepower pouring down relentlessly without a single cooldown.

"Stop!! Stop, you crazy bastard, Kim Tae-hyun!"

How many hundreds of bombs was he firing? Even though they blocked most of them, the few they couldn't block dealt massive damage.

Furthermore, for some reason, even the ground beneath them was exploding.

"...Which bastard buried bombs in the ground?" Tae-hyun muttered, glaring at his surroundings. He hadn't known about the bombs planted in the ground.

"Surrender!! I surrender!!!! Kim Tae-hyun! I surrender, you bastard!! Is this how you treat tournament participants?!"

Unable to bear it any longer, one of the players quickly bolted from the battlefield and screamed at the top of his lungs. It was a desperate move to survive, but fans all over the world were currently watching. And it was a highly... embarrassing sight.

"I surrender!! I surrender!"

"Spare me!!"

One by one, the players ran out, shouting their surrender. Those who surrendered with some semblance of dignity were the lucky ones. Players rolling out and prostrating themselves, players waving their gear, players frantically pulling out white flags and waving them... Thanks to this, the tournament participants certainly made their names known. Though in a completely different way than they had intended!

"...Wait. Where the hell did all the guys who are supposed to participate in the finals go?"