“Mister?”
An Orc who looked uncannily like Yang Sung-gyu—Kim Tae-san’s close friend and the gym owner who had honed Tae-hyun’s fighting skills—was walking past.
Tae-hyun flinched.
He had definitely seen it: the Orc’s shoulders had jerked the instant he heard the word “mister.”
“Mister? Who are you calling that?”
“Come on, Uncle Sung-gyu. Let’s not do this. I saw your shoulders jump.”
“No, it’s just... when some stranger suddenly calls me ‘mister,’ of course I’m startled—”
Shing!
Without a second’s hesitation, Tae-hyun drew his longsword.
Yang Sung-gyu recoiled in horror.
Father and son really do have the exact same personality!
If words didn’t work, they went straight to fists!
“You still don’t recognize me?”
“I’m having trouble remembering...”
“If you don’t recognize me, I’ll just kill you right here.”
Tae-hyun sounded utterly sincere.
There was no way Yang Sung-gyu could miss that.
“Haha. Tae-hyun! It’s been so long I didn’t recognize you, you punk!”
“Haha, Uncle!”
At a glance, it looked like a heartwarming reunion.
“Tae-hyun, just because your father and I might end up fighting doesn’t mean we have to fight too, right?”
“Of course not, Uncle.”
The two of them tried to read each other’s minds through their eyes.
The first to make a move was Tae-hyun, tightening his grip on his sword hilt.
“So where’s my father?”
“Ahem. Your father is...”
Yang Sung-gyu was slick in his own right.
You could tell just from the way he acted when he hung around Kim Tae-san.
Even the way he loudly called him “hyungnim, hyungnim” where everyone could hear was deliberate.
Tae-hyun knew that, which was why he never let his guard down around Yang Sung-gyu.
In some ways, Yang Sung-gyu was more difficult to deal with than Kim Tae-san.
“...I’m not really sure either.”
“Uncle. I’ll be seeing you around. Let’s start three days from now.”
“Wait, wait! Hey now, Tae-hyun! You can’t do this!”
The moment Tae-hyun immediately reached for his longsword, Yang Sung-gyu hurriedly waved both hands.
“Your father’s busy clearing a quest right now.”
“You could just ask him.”
“If I ask, he might catch on, don’t you think?”
“I doubt it... but fine. Got it.”
“Tae-hyun, I’m neutral! You know what I mean, right?”
Neutral, my ass...
That was what Tae-hyun thought to himself.
Yang Sung-gyu might act slippery, but his friendship with Kim Tae-san was the real thing.
If the crucial moment came, he’d obviously side with Kim Tae-san.
Still, there was no reason to fight now.
No point making trouble right before the arena.
“Haha. I trust you, Uncle. We go way back.”
“Haha, right? Drop by the gym more often. We’ve got a new kid these days, so it’d be fun.”
“You banned me from sparring. Said the kids lose all confidence.”
“Ah. Sang-cheol’s fine.”
“Oh? He’s that good?”
Tae-hyun’s eyes lit up.
If Yang Sung-gyu was saying that, just how talented was this guy?
“No, it’s more that he needs to get the crap beaten out of him a few times to come to his senses. He’s gotten too full of himself because he’s hot stuff among kids his age.”
“Uncle, wow... your character...”
“You’re one to talk. I watched the broadcast too, you punk. How much did you pay the station?”
“They’re the ones paying me.”
“You don’t need money. You sure you didn’t pay off the editors?”
“I’m telling you, no. Anyway, why are you here?”
“Me? I came for the arena.”
“You too?”
“Sure. Better than hunting around here. If I can just place high in the arena, it should be pretty profitable.”
“Why not just whale your way through?”
“The items that come out of here look like the kind you can’t easily buy even with cash.”
“True...”
Judging by the guilds willing to risk their lives to get them, the top-ranked rewards probably wouldn’t be for sale.
“You planning to do the arena too?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, then if we end up in the same arena, we team up. I was worried because everyone said people were colluding.”
“Sure, fine.”
Listening to them, Cain yawned and thought that whatever anyone said, the two of them seemed to get along pretty well.
But what they were actually thinking was completely different.
Once everyone else is dead, I’ll stab him in the back later.
I should kill Uncle first.
In sheer heartlessness, Tae-hyun was a level above.
After learning that there were no other guild members nearby, and that Kim Tae-san was apparently leading the Orc guild members around with Orc classes while clearing Orc quests, Tae-hyun parted ways with Yang Sung-gyu.
Orc, huh... It does suit him.
Tae-hyun started thinking about how he should catch Kim Tae-san.
From what he’d heard, his father had clearly picked a strong class, was getting help from his guildmates, and was steadily walking the proper path.
And on top of that, he was probably spending cash like water.
Would it be better if he came at me right now in Abalab City? If I give him more time, he might get even stronger... Ah, forget it. Hold back. I need to do the arena first.
If Yang Sung-gyu tipped Kim Tae-san off to Tae-hyun’s location, Kim Tae-san would obviously come charging over in excitement.
Kim Tae-san became especially impulsive whenever Tae-hyun was involved.
But now was the time to endure.
“Whew... That brat Tae-hyun. He’s seriously terrifying.”
Yang Sung-gyu muttered to himself as he walked away.
He had no intention of telling Kim Tae-san where Tae-hyun was.
If he told him now, Kim Tae-san would gather the guild members and rush over immediately.
Trying to deal with Tae-hyun right now seems a little reckless. Better to wait.
Yang Sung-gyu decided to bury the fact that he’d seen Tae-hyun.
For now, the arena came first.
At last, the day the arena in Abalab City opened had arrived.
In the meantime, Tae-hyun had spent his time crafting one thing after another.
The area in front of the arena grounds was packed with players.
“Get your item buffs at the lowest price before entering the arena! Takes less than thirty minutes!”
“Selling blessing magic! Pay and I’ll cast it for you! Essential if you’re entering the arena!”
The crafters were all advertising, trying to seize the opportunity.
Players swarmed them, trying to get buffed right before the fighting started.
And of course, that led to competition here too.
“I was in line first!”
“Bullshit. You just got here!”
“My friend was holding my spot!”
“Holding your spot, my ass! If you came late, get in the back!”
You might think the crafting-class players would be the ones at a disadvantage here, but in reality they were the ones in control.
The reason was simple.
Even if a lot of crafting-class players had gathered here, only a handful of them were actually skilled.
Maybe it would be different if this were regular hunting, but in a place like the arena, where you fought other players, people wanted the absolute best buffs possible.
Naturally, everyone flocked to the most capable players.
That made the lines longer and the commotion worse.
“Hey, have you tried the food over there? It’s on a whole different level from the other cooks. This is a secret, but I think they’re better than our guild chef.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m telling you. If you’re gonna go, get in line now. People who know are already gathering. The buff feels like at least one and a half times stronger.”
“Then I’m going right now!”
Oh-ho. Who is it?
Hearing the players talking as they passed, Tae-hyun grew curious.
Of course, Tae-hyun had decent cooking skill himself, plus his Luck buffs, but he still had plenty of shortcomings compared to a true specialist chef player.
Seeing the skill of another exceptional player was always useful.
Tae-hyun followed after them.
“Warrior-type classes, line up here! Mage-type classes, over there!”
“We’ve got plenty of food! No need to shove, everyone will get to eat before the arena starts!”
“Buffs for just 1 gold before the arena begins!”
The place buzzed with noise.
And there wasn’t just one chef.
More than ten chefs had gathered in one place doing business.
And not just selling one dish—they’d divided the lines by specialty, offering different dishes depending on what you needed.
Impressive. Is it really worth going this far?
Tae-hyun tilted his head as he stared at them.
The faces looked familiar somehow.
Why does this city have so many faces I swear I’ve seen before— Ah!
The guild.
It was the Restaurant Guild—the chef guild that had taken part in the quest in the Atali Royal Palace.
Their guild personality definitely wasn’t what you’d call kindhearted.
Even during the Atali Royal Palace quest, they had gone around buying up cooking ingredients by the armful and earned the resentment of other chefs.
Then why are they doing business here?
At first he wondered if they were broke, but that made no sense. Even if they were short on money, a guild of this caliber wouldn’t be earning it like this.
And the prices weren’t high enough to suggest they were here for profit, either.
What the hell is this, then?
By the time he finished thinking, the line had moved up and it was Tae-hyun’s turn.
The Restaurant Guild chef at the end of his line handed over a bowl with an easy smile.
“Here you go! Enjoy!”
Giant Earthworm meat is a healthy ingredient. That is, if you can get past the revulsion its appearance inspires.
Skilled and experienced chefs used spices to prepare this dish. Simply eating it should grant many effects.
◈ Temporarily increases Strength, Agility, and Constitution upon consumption.
◈ Temporarily increases Physical Defense upon consumption.
◈ Temporarily increases HP Recovery Speed upon consumption.
The dish’s options were undeniably good.
Now he understood why everyone was lining up here.
You have observed a well-made dish. Your Cooking skill increases.
You possess the Intermediate Cooking skill. You see through the dish.
You possess the Poison Crafting skill. Bonus granted.
...?
Seeing through the dish was one thing, but why was the Poison Crafting skill granting a bonus?
Giant Earthworm meat is a healthy ingredient. That is, if you can get past the revulsion its appearance inspires.
Skilled and experienced chefs used spices to prepare this dish. Simply eating it should grant many effects.
◈ Temporarily increases Strength, Agility, and Constitution upon consumption.
◈ Temporarily increases Physical Defense upon consumption.
◈ Temporarily increases HP Recovery Speed upon consumption.
Additional Option
◈ Lugar Poison — activates after a set amount of time following ingestion.
“?!”
A hidden extra option.
Poison!
The Restaurant Guild chefs were selling food laced with poison.
And not immediate poison, either—delayed-action poison.
In this situation, there was only one possible reason.
So these bastards are sabotaging the arena competition too!
No wonder they were selling food at such cheap, reasonable prices.
Tae-hyun was impressed.
If he snuck into a place full of people he hated and started selling food laced with poison...
And most high-level players didn’t have enough Cooking skill to see through dishes like this.
Bold and clever.
Tae-hyun casually put the dish away and fell into thought.
Why exactly was the Restaurant Guild doing this?
The Restaurant Guild was a guild of chefs.
It would be hard for chefs themselves to enter the arena and fight.
So if they were going this far to sabotage people, then...
They’ve joined hands with someone.
Because of their nature, production-class guilds often maintained close ties with other guilds.
They probably had a few guilds they were friendly with.
Once he grasped the situation, Tae-hyun smacked his lips.
It felt like a waste to just let the guild have its way.
In that case...
Guess it’s time to wreck the table.
Overturning the feast someone else had laid out was Tae-hyun’s specialty.