Paranoia is a Weapon
Unlike other rankers, Tae-hyun, who had gone all-in on evasion, was capable of this kind of play: ignoring the oncoming enemies and charging straight through them with his bare body! If any other player with high defense or high HP had tried the same thing, they would have been pummeled by attacks and immediately pinned down. But with high evasion, this was possible.
"Kim Tae-hyun! You're supposed to be fair and honorable! Why are you pulling the kind of stunt only dirty thieves do?!"
The rankers behind him were so desperate they were shouting things like that. Of course, none of them actually believed Tae-hyun was fair or honorable... but if they could stop him right now, they were willing to shower him with any compliment imaginable.
"Hey. Did you just call us 'dirty thieves'?"
"Ah... N-no. You know what I mean. I wasn't insulting you."
One of the Thief-class rankers snapped. As the phrase "stunt only dirty thieves do" implied, the Thief class had a terrible reputation in these situations. Thanks to their unique skills, it was incredibly easy for them to betray others during party play. Sprinting ahead in a dungeon to snatch the rewards and bolt, abandoning party members using mobility and escape skills when things looked grim, slipping into stealth while everyone else was fighting to steal the loot...
...Of course, that was only a subset of Thief players, but saying such things in front of a perfectly decent Thief player was bound to provoke anger.
"Kim Tae-hyun! Get back here!!"
But whether they called him a dirty thief or anything else, nothing could stop Tae-hyun.
"Mage-nim! His Majesty the King is trying to enter the inner castle!"
"Understood!"
It wasn't just soldiers. The inner castle mages, who had been waiting in reserve, stepped forward and targeted Tae-hyun.
"Your Majesty! How can you attempt to enter in such an undignified manner?!"
"You must not enter like this!"
"Oh, so colluding with the Hungry Chaos is a highly dignified act, then?"
Tae-hyun retorted, utterly dumbfounded. Even though they were enemies, the mages still politely addressed him as "Your Majesty" because of his King title, which only made them feel more obnoxious.
Having nothing to say to that, the mages answered with magic.
"Chains of Corrupted Illusion!"
"Swamp of Boiling Mud!"
The Chains of Corrupted Illusion has failed to bind the target.
...
However, Tae-hyun had already used his Explosive Swordsmanship to widen the distance. His intuition was already exceptionally sharp, but it had been honed to an even keener edge ever since he advanced his class. It was only natural, considering he survived on evasion rate instead of a pitifully low HP pool. Since getting hit by a single skill could spell disaster, the ability to distinguish which NPCs cast threatening skills was an absolute necessity.
Those two are fine to get hit by, but that guy looks dangerous...
Recognizing a curse that looked like it would bypass his evasion rate, he quickly moved out of its line of sight.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
It's started!
Hearing the familiar sounds echoing from various parts of the inner castle, Tae-hyun breathed a sigh of relief. Lee Se-yeon had successfully made her way inside as well.
"Your Majesty! Stop right there!!"
"If you surrender, we will treat you as a prisoner of war!"
The mages of Scalo Castle seemed deeply shocked by the breach of the inner castle gate. The outer gate was one thing, but the inner gate was the final threshold leading directly to the Lord's chamber. Having the inner gate breached during a siege was fatal—it was practically exposing one's heart to the enemy.
"Soldiers, fall back! Support the inner castle!"
"Mages have infiltrated the inner castle! Stop the explosions!!"
If they were players, they would have tried to hold their ground and assess the situation, but the NPCs reacted far more violently. They had to protect the Lord of Scalo Castle at all costs.
The soldiers fall into a state of confusion!
Their combat power has decreased significantly...
The soldiers who had been relentlessly pressing the guild members outside began to retreat. At that sight, the guild members finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"They were fighting like absolute maniacs."
"My HP is at 8%... and my armor's durability is already cut in half. Is this for real??"
Although they had done some research in preparation for the siege, the sheer combat power of the soldiers far exceeded their expectations, leaving the guild members thoroughly shaken.
"But it's thanks to us that they managed to get into the inner castle, right?"
"Yeah, definitely."
"What absolute nonsense... It must have been our guild's rankers who broke through."
"Ha, here we go again. You were practically begging me for heals earlier, and now that you have some breathing room, you're talking smack?"
"W-what? If I hadn't tanked for you, you would've died before you even got over there...!"
Now that the pressure was off, the two guild members began to bicker.
"Stop fighting and head to the inner castle! Get ready!"
"Yes, sir!"
At the party leaders' shouts, the guild members finished reorganizing and prepared to move out. Even if the rankers had already entered, the support of the regular guild members was essential in a battle like this. Above all, they had to stay ahead of the rival guild!
...But their consumption of resources was far worse than expected.
"I'm completely out of potions."
"All of them?! You had so many!"
"If I hadn't used them back there, we'd all be dead by now."
"We're short on scrolls, too. The blacksmiths are all outside, so we have to use repair scrolls, but we don't have enough."
"If only we could get support from outside..."
The officers clicked their tongues. It was frustrating because there were plenty of supplies just outside, but they couldn't go out to retrieve them. If only they could step out for just a moment!
"There's no need to go outside!"
"??"
"Now! Tell me what you need, one by one."
"...?????"
When Lee Da-bi, who had been digging around the gate, shouted, everyone stared at her in bewilderment.
"You're not even a Merchant. What are you trying to sell?"
"Actually, I am a Merchant."
"...Seriously?!"
Everyone was shocked. They had assumed Lee Da-bi was a Priest.
"Wait, wasn't she a Priest?"
"No... if she's a Merchant, how did she even participate in the tournament?"
"Is it some kind of hybrid special class?"
Among the whispering guild members, there was one whose brain worked exceptionally fast.
I have to buy first!
When supplies are limited, you have to buy faster than anyone else.
"I'll buy! Give me all the potions you have!!"
"Uh... I don't think that's possible."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Because there are so many, I doubt you could afford to buy them all by yourself."
"Do you know what level I am? Of course I can buy them! Just give me everything..."
"That bastard is cutting in line?!"
"Get out of the way! Line up by level!"
Not only members of rival guilds, but even members of the same guild began to fight. Securing potions was a matter of life and death, so no one was willing to yield.
Clatter! Clatter!
"..."
"..."
However, the moment Lee Da-bi dumped her inventory in front of them, everyone fell dead silent.
"Are you really going to buy all of it?"
"...Just a little bit, please!"
The inner castle of Scalo Castle was magnificent. Built from carved stone blocks, it contained dozens of rooms, and looking up, the winding staircases stretched so high they were dizzying to count. Yet, in this vast fortress, only one place truly mattered: the Lord's Chamber!
If one could penetrate the deepest depths of the inner castle where the Lord resided and capture it, the ownership of the castle would change. There was a reason why the rankers chose to bypass frontal combat and take a detour. No matter how many defenders there were or how powerful the enemies might be, if they could just slip inside and capture the Lord's Chamber, the castle would be theirs.
Boom! Crash!
"What kind of magic is being cast in there?!"
The rankers who followed late were bewildered by the continuous explosions echoing from within. Lee Se-yeon was a Necromancer, so she wouldn't be using this kind of magic, and while Tae-hyun was a Maestro of Engineering, the explosions were occurring simultaneously in too many different locations. Unless Tae-hyun was teleporting around throwing bombs, it was physically impossible.
"That doesn't matter right now! Get inside and find the Lord's Chamber!"
"Yes!"
The rankers had almost no information regarding the inner castle. No matter how much they had tried to explore it beforehand, the NPCs had never allowed it. Consequently, all they had to go on were rumors and historical records. The rest had to be figured out through trial and error.
"How dare you set foot here!"
"It's the royal guards. Take them down!"
The rankers calmly prepared to face the royal guards that appeared. There were only five of them, while the rankers numbered over ten. They were confident they could win.
Thud!
"Aaargh!"
However, upon the first clash, it was the rankers who were sent flying.
The opponent's Strength is overwhelmingly high!
Equipment durability drops significantly!
You are temporarily unable to move...
"T-they're no joke! Watch out!"
When they fought outside the inner castle gate earlier, the rankers thought that was the extent of their strength. Even then, the royal guards had been incredibly powerful. But the royal guards they encountered inside the inner castle were on a completely different level. What kind of monsters are these?
"Spam your debuffs at maximum power! Unleash all your ranged DPS! I see you saving your MP by casting weak skills, but if you keep doing that, we're all going to die!"
"W-what are you talking about?!"
The rankers began scraping the bottom of the barrel, pouring every ounce of their power into attacking the royal guards. These were skills they would normally save for the Lord's Chamber, but now was not the time to hold back. As they fought desperately, a sudden thought crossed the rankers' minds.
...Wait, where did Kim Tae-hyun go?
After Lee Se-yeon detonated her undead left and right to throw the inner castle into chaos, the three of them reunited. The first thing Tae-hyun did upon regrouping was prepare disguises.
"Do I look like a royal guard?"
"You look incredibly convincing... but what about the two of us?"
Tae-hyun pulled out an Engineering item, the Imperial Stealth Ray Toy. A powerful arcane toy he had learned to make at the Ancient Empire University!
"Are you really using an Engineering toy to stealth...?"
Lee Se-yeon looked skeptical, finding it hard to believe, but the toy's effect was undeniable.
Durability decreases by 1!
The Imperial Stealth Ray Toy grants a powerful stealth state...
"!!?!"
"Am I going into stealth too?"
"No. It's a waste of durability, and I have a different excuse for you."
"??"
Ryu Da-young was puzzled, but Tae-hyun was already fully prepared.
"Alright, turn around."
"???"
Tae-hyun loosely bound her with a rope. Instantly, Ryu Da-young looked like a prisoner of war.
"I'm going to use my Speech skill to claim that we need to deliver a prisoner who holds crucial information to the Lord. I needed a prisoner for that."
"...Are you sure you brought me along as a tank...?"
Ryu Da-young asked, her expression slightly deflated. Lee Se-yeon shot him a look.
Don't go crushing her confidence for no reason!
I know, I know.
"Of course! I brought you along because I highly value your abilities as a tank."
"T-thank you."
No matter how strange and terrifying Tae-hyun could be, praise was always nice to hear. However, the moment she heard his next words, Ryu Da-young's expression turned complicated.
"I actually rate you much higher than Cain."
"...Even so, comparing me to him is a bit too much, don't you think?"
Ryu Da-young stared at Tae-hyun in disbelief. Since he had just delivered such an absurdly unrealistic compliment, she couldn't even bring herself to believe his previous words.
"Wait... why?"
"...It's fine. I'll do my best."
Ryu Da-young said in a slightly dejected voice. Lee Se-yeon glared at him.
This is so unfair!
Tae-hyun felt genuinely wronged. It had been a sincere compliment...!
The elite royal guards of Scalo Castle have appeared!
"Halt! What is your business?!"
"We have captured an intruder who was trying to sneak into the castle! Please allow us to present her to the Lord!"
"To sneak in... How terrifying! I've heard that King Atali is a master of disguise. Is that true?"
"Yes!"
As he spoke, a sudden thought struck Tae-hyun. I wonder if this will work too?
"Oh! He might have already disguised himself as someone close to the Lord!"
"Is that true?!"
"This prisoner said so herself!"