I Didn't Mean It Literally...

Cain raised his weapon for now. But at that exact moment, a thought flashed through his mind. If I look too strong right now, won't that backfire? There were seventeen other players here besides the two idiots right in front of him. If he showed off his strength, he would immediately become the next target. Cain spun on his heel and bolted in the opposite direction. The trials and tribulations he had suffered under Tae-hyun had truly made him grow!

"Aaaargh! Save me!"

"?!" The watching players were slightly taken aback when Cain simply turned tail and ran. Wait, is his level not that high?I feel like I could easily take a guy like that...

In the end, the two who had been chasing Cain were the ones who got targeted first. Boom! Crash! As soon as one mage launched an attack, the other players followed suit, unleashing a barrage of spells and skills. Once you were cornered in the arena, there was no escape!

"W-Wait... Urgh!" "Nooo!" Both of them logged out cleanly. Cain scanned his surroundings. Who would be next?

"Let's get the mage." "Yeah, mages first!" "You cheap bastards... Argh!" Mages were always the primary target of crowd control and focus fire! Giving them too much time was dangerous because there was no telling what kind of devastating spell they might chant. The mage player desperately tried to fight back, but under the overwhelming dogpile, there was simply no way to hold out.

In the next skirmish, and the one after that, Cain surprisingly avoided becoming the target ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the arena's political targeting. Screaming and running away during the very first clash had unexpectedly worked in his favor. Everyone shared a similar sentiment: We can just leave that weakling alone and clean him up later.

Before he knew it, only five players remained. Cain realized something was off. Why aren't those three even looking at each other? By this point, everyone should be eyeing one another, sizing up who to strike first... But those three only stared at Cain and the one other remaining player.

"Let's take out that Paladin!" "...!" The one singled out was the player standing right next to Cain. Only then did Cain realize the truth. Those three are a team!

"Great! We need to kill the Paladin quickly!" The trio smirked at Cain's reaction. They thought this would be a walk in the park.

"Here we go—cough!" "??!" As the three casually approached the Paladin player, Cain struck them hard from behind. It was a completely unexpected blow!

"W-What do you think you're doing?! We agreed to attack the Paladin!" "Why are you so flustered? I didn't attack you, I attacked him." "T-That's... Anyway, we agreed to target the Paladin, so why are you doing this?!" "Because you three look like a team. You're in the same guild, aren't you?" "..."

The three exchanged ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glances and nodded. Since there were only two other players left besides them anyway, there was no harm in revealing their identity. "Yeah, we're in the same guild, you idiot!" The three charged at Cain instead of the Paladin player.

"If you were going to figure it out, you should've done it sooner! What's the point of realizing it now? A low-level trash like you... Urgh?!" Cain slammed his greatsword directly into the charging player, then rammed his shoulder into the guy next to him.

Seeing him display a completely different level of combat prowess, the players finally realized the truth. This bastard was pretending to be weak!

"You underhanded bastard?!" "Calling me underhanded is a compliment these days!" What did it matter if he was cheap? Winning was all that counted! Cain relentlessly pressured the three, fully unleashing his newly developed skills. The Paladin, who had almost been targeted, also jumped in to assist Cain.

"N-No!" One player logged out.

Boom! Crash! Two more players logged out. Only one opponent was left! At that moment, Cain abruptly spun around and struck the Paladin.

"?!?!" Caught completely off guard by the sudden assault, the Paladin stared at Cain in sheer bewilderment. "Hey! Aim properly! It's not me, it's that guy over there!" "I am aiming properly, you bastard! I'm attacking you!" Cain swiftly pressured the Paladin. The other remaining player had already taken a beating and was extremely low on HP. Once that guy died, Cain would have to fight this Paladin anyway. Besides, if he was a Paladin...

"Aren't you from that guild?" "No, I'm a—gasp!" The Paladin, who had instinctively started to correct him, quickly covered his mouth in shock. So many people got his class name wrong that it had become an automatic reflex! "Aha! If you're from that guild, you've gotta die!" Boom! Crash!

Unlike Cain, who was having a tumultuous time, Tae-hyun was breezing through the preliminaries. Absolutely no one was trying to target him! Unlike Cain, Tae-hyun, who was disguised as an ordinary player using Deception, looked completely harmless. He simply waited for the others to tear each other apart, and when only three players remained, he pretended to engage in a fierce struggle before quietly finishing them off.

"W-What?!" The defeated players logged out in vain, not even realizing what had hit them!

This is way too easy. Because there were so many eye-catching individuals gathered in the arena, Tae-hyun wasn't receiving any attention at all. Between the guild players who had been active in Avalab City long before his arrival, the high-level players seriously aiming for the championship, and all sorts of other eccentric characters, Tae-hyun was completely overlooked. The effect of his mask and equipment disguise was far greater than he had anticipated!

I was planning to use Cain as a decoy along the way, but maybe I can just cruise all the way to the finals? He had assumed his identity would be exposed after a round or two, but thanks to the complete lack of interest in him, he was progressing with absolute ease.

"Mwahaha... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Watching these pathetic insects tear each other apart in such a pathetic manner is truly magnificent!" The Governor of Avalab watched the battles unfold from the highest vantage point of the arena. His subordinates, completely unaware that their master was a demon in disguise, bowed obsequiously and chimed in.

"It is all thanks to your brilliant foresight, Master!" "You are truly magnificent!" "Enough. Hearing praise from worthless fools like you brings me no joy."

"Master, the first round has concluded. However, the numbers do not align perfectly, so we must filter them out once more..." "Then do so. Why are you asking me?" "How should we filter them, Master?"

"Hmm... How tedious. We only need to leave twenty survivors, correct? Do whatever you want—pitting them in 1v1s or 2v2s—until exactly twenty remain. Oh, and as for the noble who looks like this, just pass him through to the next round." "Is he an important figure?" "He is of no consequence, and he will die eventually anyway, but I quite liked his attitude. He is a fellow who knows how to handle pathetic insects!"

Tae-hyun, a man who could win the favor of even a demon! Thanks to this, both Tae-hyun and Cain were exempted from the convoluted process of narrowing down the pool to the final twenty after the first round. However, from the perspective of the other players, this completely derailed all their carefully laid plans.

"Wait, why a 1v1 all of a sudden?! And why are those guys doing a 2v2?!" "If you do not wish to participate, you are free to leave. We will refund your entry fee." "...I'll do it!"

The players had no choice but to bite the bullet and participate. There were 1v1s, 2v2s, and the most absurd of all—coin tosses. "What on earth is this?!" To make matters worse, the coin landed on tails five consecutive times. A player who had fought tooth and nail to climb up the ranks looked on the verge of tears. He had barely survived the poisoned food distributed by the guilds by detoxifying himself with a dish provided by a kind chef... He never could have imagined that there was something else entirely hidden within that kind chef's dish!

Cain thought to himself, Befriending a demon... That is so incredibly like Kim Tae-hyun!

Out of all these players, surviving the filtering process to make it into the top twenty was proof of strength in itself. Tae-hyun counted on his fingers, calculating the odds. Even though many guilds participated, they wouldn't have all made it through with the matches being decided by sheer luck like this. I wonder who made the cut... Actually, solo players might have had a better chance of advancing.

The results were revealed shortly after. The Guild Master of Guild A, the Guild Master of Guild B, the Guild Master of Guild C, and an oddly dressed Orc (whom Tae-hyun immediately recognized as Yang Sung-gyu)... While those prominent players were well-known figures in Avalab City, making it obvious how they had reached the finals, there were far more players whose identities remained shrouded in mystery. Tae-hyun estimated that at least a few of these unidentified finalists were members ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of those top guilds.

I can't let my guard down. If he slipped up for even a second, he could easily be dogpiled and crushed. Unlike the preliminaries, anyone who made it to the finals was at least a high-level player. Regardless of their class or skills, they were bound to have at least one hidden trump card up their sleeve!

"Adventurers who have ascended to this grand stage! You have fought valiantly to reach this point. May you triumph to the very end and prove yourselves as the absolute strongest!" Following the Governor's speech, soldiers marched out carrying silver trays laden with chalices.

"...?" "??" As the gathered players stared in confusion, the soldiers spoke politely. "These are chalices bestowed by the Governor himself. Please accept them as a great honor."

"..." Of course, it appeared to be ordinary wine. However, the players gathered here could not bring themselves to drink it so casually. The memory of the countless conspiracies that had swirled before the arena tournament began was still fresh in their minds. Surely the Governor wouldn't poison the wine, right?But just in case... I really don't want to drink this... One Guild Master even summoned a guild member to inspect the wine.

"It's just ordinary wine." "Really?" Everyone verified the wine using their own methods. One by one, they began to drink. Since they had checked it, everyone else was drinking, and it was directly bestowed by the Governor, they figured, Surely no other player could have tampered with this.

But Tae-hyun was different. His intuition was screaming in alarm! While the others were oblivious, Tae-hyun knew the truth—the Governor of Avalab was not human. I'm supposed to drink wine given by a demon? Surprisingly, even with Tae-hyun's high-level cooking skill, he couldn't see any hidden options on the wine. It was either truly normal wine, or it was laced with something using a method that completely surpassed his skill level.

There was only one way to find out.

At that exact moment, the wine began to flash with a frantic, blinding white light! It was so dazzlingly bright, it looked as if a high-powered lightbulb had been stuffed inside the chalice.

"..." Even if no hidden options were visible, there was no way he was drinking this. Tae-hyun immediately sent a whisper to Cain.

Crash! Cain hurled his chalice onto the stone floor.

In an instant, every single eye in the arena locked onto him! The glares practically screamed, Who the hell do you think you are, talking smack like that?

Ha... Haha... Cain resigned himself to his fate. At this rate, he was probably going to be eliminated the very second the finals began.