The Shape of Reputation
“Still, I thought he’d keep it hidden longer. But he announced it. Isn’t that dangerous? He basically gave away information. People are already saying it must be a Legendary Class.”
“It was something he was going to have to deal with sooner or later anyway. Maybe it’d be different with some other Legendary Class, but Avatar of Archisus is the kind of class that has to go public and gather people.”
“That’s true. Still, I can’t help thinking it might’ve been too hasty...”
“Kim Tae-hyun must’ve thought it through.”
“When are you going to announce the number of Legendary Classes? You said you would last time too, then pushed it back.”
“How many players are attempting Legendary Classes right now? Around five? Let’s wait until two or three more of them class up.”
“Come on, even if you are a fan...”
“I’m not delaying it because I’m a fan, all right? I just want to announce it when the number looks nice and clean.”
If they announced the current number of Legendary Classes later, after a few more had appeared, Tae-hyun would draw relatively less attention.
Yoon Ju-hwan decided not to argue.
If Choi Myung-sung got irritated for no reason, the one who suffered for it would be him.
“Haha. Anyway... but forget the announcement for a second—shouldn’t Kim Tae-hyun be worried about something else?”
“What?”
“The thing MBS is broadcasting this time. They’re advertising the hell out of it. I heard they already locked in a timeslot.”
“Ah. The Espa Kingdom quest.”
The two of them knew exactly what had happened in the Espa Kingdom.
A quest line where Tae-hyun’s evil personality had exploded in spectacular fashion.
Of course, Choi Myung-sung had known what kind of person Tae-hyun was for a long time, so he wasn’t shaken in the slightest.
“We know that, sure, but won’t viewers be disappointed once they see the quest?”
“No need to worry about that.”
“Huh? Ah, editing? Still, how are they going to edit away the part where he plundered Bardo City and ran? Everyone already saw it.”
“I wasn’t talking about editing. I’m saying it doesn’t matter even without editing. Why do you think Kim Tae-hyun is popular?”
“Well, ever since Fantasy Online 1, he’s been a ranker...”
“Hey. The viewers don’t know that.”
“R-right. Then... even if you only look at Part 2, the quests Kim Tae-hyun has cleared are insane. Enough to make other rankers grind their teeth. Unless you’re talking about someone like Lee Se-yeon or Smith, nobody even compares...”
The list of Tae-hyun’s quest lines revealed on broadcast was absurdly luxurious.
Starting from Katerand Island all the way to the Sadiq Church.
Other rankers had thrown out their own trump cards on stream too—things like clearing secret dungeons or tackling undisclosed quest lines—but against Tae-hyun, they weren’t even in the same league.
It wasn’t comparable.
A complete slaughter.
“Right. The quests Kim Tae-hyun cleared are amazing. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“...?”
“Kim Tae-hyun is popular because viewers find him satisfying to watch vicariously. He’s easy to project onto.”
“???”
Yoon Ju-hwan tilted his head.
“Isn’t that true for other rankers too?”
“No. It’s a little different. Most rankers belong to major guilds, right? And even if it’s not a major guild, they’ve usually got one solid guild of their own backing them. They get support. And guilds, by nature, are selfish to a certain extent. Major guilds especially.”
Fantasy Online had nearly limitless freedom.
Guilds formed to secure profit together had no choice but to act selfishly.
Sure, guilds that got a lot of broadcast exposure tried to be careful. But even then, it was just for show.
Take a guild like Suning—they’d tried indiscriminate PK in Abalab City. And the Restaurant Guild had gone as far as monopolizing ingredients and even poisoning food.
“But there are way more ordinary players in Fantasy Online than there are players belonging to guilds. And those people are the usual viewers. So how do you think Kim Tae-hyun looks in their eyes? As someone who doesn’t join guilds, but fights back against them. Just think about the Red Zone Guild incident.”
“I see. But even so, doesn’t Kim Tae-hyun have a good-guy image? Wouldn’t this Bardo City thing hurt that a little?”
“No, I’m telling you, it won’t. Sure, Kim Tae-hyun somehow ended up with this wholesome image, but viewers aren’t idiots. Deep down, they don’t genuinely believe, ‘Kim Tae-hyun is an upright, honorable saint.’ Just look at the broadcasts. How many times has Kim Tae-hyun not fought fair? There’s only one reason he got that kind of image. He fights major guilds, and he doesn’t mess with ordinary players.”
Choi Myung-sung had a precise grasp on why Tae-hyun was popular.
It wasn’t just because he was a ranker.
It wasn’t just because he cleared incredible quests.
It was because he fought viciously, without backing down an inch, against guilds that had villain reputations.
That image had become the foundation for everything else.
That was why people interpreted it positively when he sweet-talked players into going to Katerand Island with him.
That was why people interpreted it positively when he dragged Kane around.
Once a hero, always a hero.
Choi Myung-sung understood people’s hearts exactly.
Tae-hyun’s image wasn’t going to collapse easily.
“If Kim Tae-hyun’s image were going to take a real hit... he’d probably have to start indiscriminately PKing passing low-level players or something. And even then, the people who like Kim Tae-hyun might still defend him and say, ‘He must’ve had a reason.’ That’s what makes image so scary. Once you build it well, it lasts a very long time. This PK business in Abalab City? If anything, it helps his image. The only ones who got hit were major guilds.”
“What about plundering Bardo City?”
“That’s not a plus, but it’s not a minus either. Ordinary players didn’t die, did they? Only the Bardo City players will complain a bit. And there are way more players who’ll enjoy watching Kim Tae-hyun beat up major guilds in Abalab than there are players inconvenienced by Bardo City getting looted.”
Choi Myung-sung’s prediction turned out to be exactly right.
I’ve still got a lot to learn.
After Tae-hyun’s Espa Kingdom quest broadcast aired, Bae Jang-wook found himself reflecting all over again.
So Kim Tae-hyun predicted this too!
Of course, he hadn’t.
Tae-hyun had simply said, I don’t care what other people think of me, and told them to air it.
But the reaction was so explosive that Bae Jang-wook couldn’t help misunderstanding.
With that broadcast, the ratings record was shattered once again.
Hardly anyone cared about the fact that Tae-hyun had plundered Bardo City.
Of course, not everyone liked Tae-hyun.
They were obviously people who’d been on the receiving end of Tae-hyun a few too many times.
And naturally, everyone could tell exactly who they were.
The reactions of the people who disliked Tae-hyun had almost no impact on public opinion.
“What kind of bullshit is this...? You can’t do this. This isn’t right!”
“What else was Kim Tae-hyun supposed to do if he wanted to develop his territory?”
“What? Aren’t you a Bardo City player? We can’t even use half the facilities now because of Kim Tae-hyun, and that’s what you have to say?”
“Oh, come on, they’ll probably recover after a while! If you hate it that much, go to another city!”
Even in Bardo City, opinion was split.
“That bastard Kim Tae-hyun—just you wait! Next time I see him, I’ll definitely...”
“Definitely what?”
“...call other players over...”
“Pfft.”
“That bastard was obviously raised with zero home training!”
Twitch.
The player casually badmouthing Tae-hyun suddenly flinched at the aura of fury swelling up behind him.
“W-what?”
Thud.
Huge, burly Orcs suddenly threw their arms over his shoulders.
“Smile. Go on, smile. Pretend we’re friends.”
“Come quietly. The boss is in a bad mood.”
Their voices were low and grim, openly threatening.
The player who’d been insulting Tae-hyun nodded in terror.
“It’s fine if you insult Kim Tae-hyun. But do you really have to insult his family upbringing too? Huh?”
“Yeah. If you’re gonna curse somebody out, curse Kim Tae-hyun only!”
“U-understood...”
After getting a lecture from the Orcs, the player ran off looking half dead.
“Boss, we sent him off after a nice little talk.”
“Good.”
Kim Tae-san nodded.
Roy stood in front of him.
“Did you write it all?”
“I told you I wrote it all.”
“That answer was a little short, wasn’t it?”
“I-I wrote it all, sir.”
“Good. Kid. From now on, with loyalty and doglike deva— no, forget that, just do what you’re told.”
Abandoned by Tae-hyun and surrounded by Kim Tae-san, Roy had dropped to his knees and screamed surrender.
If he died a few more times and lost more levels, he’d be in real trouble.
The result was the contract Kim Tae-san had forced him to write.
If broken: Level -5 and stat reduction...
Where the hell did he even buy a cursed contract like this? Looks like something made by a ranker mage—one specialized in curses, at that.
The answer, of course, was cash shop spending.
Kim Tae-san had been buying every imaginable item with real money.
“Guild Master, what are you going to do?”
“We’re going to Tae-hyun’s territory!”
“What? An all-out war?”
“No. Fighting in that bastard’s territory is suicide. Send a few guild members there in disguise. Buy back Sung-gyu’s equipment, and if you see any useful items, buy those too.”
“Ah...”
Only then did the guild members realize what Kim Tae-san had in mind.
He was planning to recover the equipment Yang Sung-gyu had lost in that PK—and while they were at it, scout out other valuable items too.
It was moving, really. Even after getting screwed over that badly by Tae-hyun, the man could still calculate rationally.
“Kgh... Boss...”
“I said Guild Master, you punks!”
As the leader of the church, you must determine the church’s level of militancy. The higher the militancy, the more hostile the church becomes toward other denominations.
Related events will occur depending on the level of militancy.
“Hmm...”
It was a church-related message window.
Tae-hyun fell into thought.
Unlike other churches, the Archisus Church was one he had to build from scratch himself.
And since Tae-hyun was the leader, the choice was his too.
“Militant! Let’s go militant! Ultra-hardline!”
Pelmas, whom Tae-hyun hadn’t seen in a while, made a huge fuss from the side.
“A mighty church ruled by iron and blood! A mighty church in which everyone who came later gives absolute obedience to those who came first! That is the kind of church I—”
“Ah, shut up.”
Tae-hyun kicked Pelmas.
“I can see right through you. Since you got here first, you’re trying to play king. Pelmas, you’re really useful to me. If I just go the opposite direction from the one you’re heading, I’m usually safe.”
“T-that’s a misunderstanding!”
“Anyway, militancy goes to the lowest setting. Hardline, my ass.”
“If a newly founded church is like that, it will have no dignity, Lord Tae-hyun! A newly founded church must show people a thorough and powerful image if it wants followers to gather!”
“Dignity, huh... The members themselves don’t have any dignity to begin with. If I wanted dignity, I’d have to kick you and your friends out first. Want to leave?”
“Now that I think about it, dignity may not be necessary after all. What the continent needs right now may be a church like a friend—one that reaches out and warmly takes people by the hand.”
“...”