The Butcher of Avalab City
“Everyone listen up! If you see players from other guilds, attack first! Every last one of them is the enemy! And anyone around the city who can still fight, get over here by my side right now!”
Su Ning hurriedly shouted to all his guild members, but Tae-hyun was a step ahead.
Infamy has increased.
You have obtained an item.
“Y-you son of a bitch… you’re Kim Tae-hyun?!”
“So what if I am?”
“Why the hell is Kim Tae-hyun PKing?!”
One of the Su Ning guild members shouted as if he genuinely couldn’t comprehend it.
Seeing that, Cain smacked him with his greatsword and snapped, “He was always like this, you idiot!”
“N-no way… This has to be a conspiracy!”
The players kept denying reality.
From Cain’s perspective—as someone who’d been played by Tae-hyun over and over—it was utterly absurd.
“Hey! If you’ve got eyes, open them and look! Look at that!”
Cain grabbed one of the players and pointed at Tae-hyun.
There he was, holding a longsword and mercilessly beating players down without the slightest hesitation.
Seeing Cain making such a racket, Yang Sung-gyu asked Tae-hyun, “What’s wrong with that guy?”
“He gets like that sometimes. No need to worry about it.”
“He didn’t seem like that on the broadcasts…”
Yang Sung-gyu muttered as he knocked down one of Su Ning’s guild members.
This guy seriously doesn’t care about Infamy? No, more importantly, he’ll be on the broadcast too…
Tae-hyun truly did not care about his image in the slightest.
In no time at all, every Su Ning guild member on the street had been dropped.
Tae-hyun’s group was strong enough on its own, but with Edaor’s demons he’d brought along joining the fray, ordinary guild members had no way to stop them.
“Pick up the items. Loot fast, then we move to the next place.”
Tap.
As he spoke, Tae-hyun grabbed Lee Da-bi by the wrist.
Da-bi smiled awkwardly.
“I was the one who caught this one.”
“I was just going to walk past…”
“Yeah right. Take your hand off.”
“If I pick up the drops, better stuff comes out. So if you leave it to me…”
“No matter how good your drops are, I doubt they’d be better than mine. Where’s all that confidence coming from?”
Thanks to his Luck stat, Tae-hyun received ridiculous bonuses whenever he PKed someone and looted their items.
That was why, instead of finding the ring taken by the Sadiq Church, he’d somehow ended up walking away with some bizarre holy relic instead.
“You’re only saying that because you don’t know what my class is.”
“What is your class?”
“My class is… wait, it feels way too wasteful to tell you for free. If you pay me gold, then…”
“Do you want to just tell me, or do you want to die to a demon?”
“Death's Golden Merchant! It’s Death's Golden Merchant!”
“What kind of class name is that? Is it a merchant class? I thought you were a warrior.”
“Its performance is similar to a warrior’s. It just has a few extra merchant skills… and aside from that, using buffs or skills costs a lot of gold…”
“…”
The look in Tae-hyun’s eyes as he stared at Da-bi abruptly changed into the look one gave a truly pitiful person.
A class that consumed gold every time it used a skill.
It was basically a money-eating hippo.
Now he finally understood why she advertised so much and ran a guild nonstop, yet never seemed to save any money.
Still, it seems pretty good performance-wise?
The curse that had caught Tae-hyun by the ankle in the arena had been an excellent skill.
Even without dealing damage, it ignored Tae-hyun’s evasion and landed anyway.
A class with warrior-tier combat ability and that kind of curse magic on top of it was not common.
“So if I loot the items, more stuff will come out than for other people, so—ah!”
Tae-hyun ignored the rest of what Da-bi was saying and scooped up the fallen players’ items himself.
“Now I know what your class is, but that doesn’t mean I’m handing this over. I’ve got a class specialized in looting items too—just as much as yours, if not more.”
At Tae-hyun’s words, Da-bi’s eyes gleamed.
Wait… is this a chance to find out what Tae-hyun’s class is?
Ever since Tae-hyun had appeared on the broadcast, countless people had tried to figure out what class he had.
Some were simply curious. Some wanted to keep him in check. Others wanted to identify his class and try to obtain it themselves.
If she could get information on Tae-hyun’s class, it would sell for whatever price she named.
That was how rare and valuable that information was.
“W-what class is it? I’m not really interested or anything, I’m just curious…”
But Tae-hyun didn’t answer. He simply mounted a demon and headed off to the next location.
“Ugh, seriously!”
While Tae-hyun led Edaor’s demons around attacking players who looked like they had decent gear, players from the other guilds were locked in a blood-soaked battle of their own.
“Crush Su Ning Guild! This is our chance to drive those bastards out of Avalab City for good!”
“Don’t you dare lose to those punks! Call in more guild members!”
On the once-peaceful streets of Avalab City, guild members gathered in scattered groups and clashed head-on.
As the alliance between Crying Hammer and Holy Knight Size King began losing ground, Su Ning frantically called in even more guild members from elsewhere and dragged them to Avalab City.
If they got pushed back here, the damage would be enough to shake the guild itself.
This was a battle they absolutely could not afford to lose.
Magic flew from all directions, and flashy melee skills exploded across the streets.
The funniest part was that Edaor and Edaor’s forces were barely doing anything, and yet the guilds were fighting each other with all their might on their own.
“Do humans enjoy fighting this much?”
“It is all thanks to your overwhelming power, my lord!”
“Is that so? Kuhahaha! Yes. It’s all thanks to me. But Count Kim Tae-hyun is quite useful too. To think I found such talent!”
Edaor’s Affinity has increased.
You can command more of Edaor’s forces.
Your standing within Edaor’s army has risen.
“...?”
While beating down Su Ning guild members, Tae-hyun tilted his head at the sudden burst of messages.
Why’s this going up again all of a sudden?
Well, if it’s good for me, who cares?
Thanks to Tae-hyun, the guilds that had never gotten along in the first place were now fighting like their lives depended on it.
For Edaor, who wanted humans to fight each other, the situation was insanely entertaining.
◈ Durability 45/45, Magic Defense 25, Attribute Defense 50
◈ Mana Recovery Speed +15%
◈ Restores 2% of consumed mana when using magic
◈ A special ring awarded to mages who rendered great service to Kandata Magic Tower
◈ If someone unrelated to Kandata Magic Tower wears it, Kandata Magic Tower will not be pleased
◈ Durability 75/75, Magic Defense 35, Attribute Defense 15
◈ Mana Recovery Speed +8%
◈ A bracelet crafted by a blacksmith with outstanding magical craftsmanship
◈ Wearing it alone accelerates mana recovery
Tae-hyun whistled as he collected the items.
There might not have been any ranker-level players here, but Tae-hyun’s Luck gave him the ability to sniff out the most valuable item any player carried.
With smooth efficiency, he picked out the mana-recovery gear and equipped it on the spot.
-Magnificent, Tae-hyun-nim.
-You are truly worthy of commanding us!
Edaor’s demons marveled at the sight of Tae-hyun mercilessly cutting players down.
Yong-yong, however, was deeply displeased.
-Master! How long do you intend to keep these stinking creatures around?
-At least until we finish wiping out the other guild bastards here.
-What kind of answer is that? You mean to keep these foul-smelling things around until then?
-Yeah, yeah. But they’re just too useful.
Tae-hyun let Yong-yong’s complaints go in one ear and out the other, then called over a winged demon.
“Those guys still fighting?”
-Su Ning Guild is retreating.
“Really? Perfect. Guess it’s about time we headed over.”
After listening to Tae-hyun’s conversation with his subordinate demon, Yang Sung-gyu asked, “What do you mean, ‘headed over’?”
“Crying Hammer and Holy Knight Size King should be running out of steam by now, so I’m going to attack them too.”
!!
Such perfectly cold-blooded efficiency, not even one second’s hesitation before stabbing someone in the back.
Standing nearby, Lee Da-bi shivered with admiration.
Isn’t that exactly how you make money?
If I wipe out all the guilds that entered the arena today, there won’t be anyone left to annoy me later, right?
A method that eliminated future enemies in advance while also scooping up items and experience. Two birds with one stone.
Where other players hesitated, unable to bring themselves to go that far, Tae-hyun moved without the faintest bit of doubt.
“Su Ning Guild is running!”
“Good!”
“They’re gathering at the west gate of Avalab City! We’ll pursue and encircle them!”
“Good!”
“Attack from the rear! Attack from the rear!”
“Good—…what? Who the hell is attacking us from behind?”
“Demons under Edaor’s command!”
“Has that demon bastard gone insane?!”
Crying Hammer’s guild master shouted in disbelief.
Since he’d drunk as well, he too technically belonged to Edaor’s army for the moment.
So why on earth was Edaor attacking his guild?
The answer came almost immediately.
“Kim Tae-hyun is attacking us with demons!”
“Guild Master! Kim Tae-hyun is wreaking havoc in the rear! He’s got the Power Warrior guild master and that Orc warrior bastard with him too! What do we do?!”
“Th-that son of a bitch, seriously…”
He had expected a lot, but not this.
He had never imagined Tae-hyun would stab them in the back before the battle had even ended.
Infamy has increased.
Edaor trusts you. You can command more of his forces.
You have been granted a seat.
He hunted down players affiliated with guilds and attacked them, earning contribution points in return.
As his standing rose, he used that authority to summon even more demons and attack even more guild-affiliated players.
It was a strategy only Tae-hyun could pull off, especially since he already possessed an Advanced Tactics skill.
“The damage is too severe! Adel’s party got wiped too!”
“F-first, contact Holy Knight Size King’s guild master! And Su Ning’s too…”
“You want me to contact Su Ning’s guild master too?”
“It’ll take more than one or two people to stop that lunatic! If Su Ning has a brain, he’ll understand!”
Logically speaking, that was the right call.
But the world rarely worked by logic alone.
Not after blood had already been spilled.
There was no way Su Ning Guild was going to join hands with them now.
“I’d rather die than team up with you bastards!”
“You idiots… do you really not know how to read the situation? What about the Holy Knight guys? They’ve got to understand what’s happening, right?”
“Th-that’s…”
“What?”
“They’re attacking us too.”
“What?!”
Holy Knight Size King’s guild master had already fallen for Tae-hyun’s temptation.
The moment Tae-hyun told him, If you crush Crying Hammer, there won’t be a guild left in Avalab City that can stand against yours, he bought it completely.
Crying Hammer’s guild master pounded at his own chest in frustration.
“That idiot…! Is his brain really that broken? You’re next after us, damn it!”
But when greed blinded a man, it also dulled his ears.
And so, the result was this—
Infamy has increased greatly.
You have obtained the title: Butcher of Avalab City.
You have been granted a seat.
“...Did I go a little too far?”
Tae-hyun muttered as he looked over the mountain of corpses from the guild players.
Standing beside him, Cain nodded.
In a single night, every guild in Avalab City that strutted around like it owned the place had been shattered.
He’d set them against one another, waited until one side looked half-destroyed, then stabbed them in the back again. When the survivors rushed in, he fought them too. And every time he killed them, items and experience poured out.
With each kill, more loot dropped and more experience flooded in, and Tae-hyun got so excited he started actively hunting down every remaining guild player he could find and flattening them.
Considering his Luck had already passed 3,000 and made leveling absurdly difficult, the fact that he had still managed to level up through PK alone said everything about how many people he had slaughtered.