A Very Different Kind of People
The Power Warrior guild members shouted so loudly, with such pointed emphasis, it was obvious they meant for other people to hear.
And of course, people who didn’t know the truth behind it couldn’t help being intrigued.
When the Power Warrior guild members noticed heads turning their way, they raised their voices even more.
“I usually never get items with prefixes attached, but after I got the prayer buff, I pulled them three times in a row.”
“Same here. Weapon attack speed options are usually a pain to roll, but I got them way more easily.”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Players who heard the Power Warrior guild members started chattering among themselves.
“Does it really do that?”
“Hey. You said you started following the Archisus Church, right? Go make something.”
“Okay.”
Whether it was real or not, the players who had joined the Archisus Church first just because of Kim Tae-hyun’s name began testing it for themselves.
Quite a few of the people gathered there were production-class players, after all.
Clang, clang, clang!
Items were produced to a bright, lively rhythm.
Everyone stared with expectant, nervous eyes.
Would it really work?
“W-well?”
“...It’s true!”
“What? Seriously?!”
“I’m trying too!”
Once one person started, the others hurried into the church, got the prayer buff, and began crafting things of their own.
Chefs, painters, blacksmiths, tailors—everyone threw themselves into making something, no one waiting for anyone else.
In truth, the buff wasn’t all that powerful.
When production classes made something, there was always a certain chance of creating something better than their current skill level should allow. The buff just nudged that probability upward a little, and made rare item options slightly more likely to appear.
And they had gotten it just by joining the church on the spot, without doing anything at all.
Of course it had limits.
If a beginner-level buff like this were much stronger, it would’ve been outright broken.
But fortunately, the first few people to receive the prayer buff got lucky and immediately rolled rare item options that normally hardly ever appeared.
That was all it took for the mood in the area to heat up fast.
“Mine’s not showing up. What about me?”
“Hey, if it worked every single time, would that be a buff? That’d be a scam! Do you have no shame?”
“N-no, I was just saying it didn’t show up...”
“Shut up! You’re jinxing us, so keep your mouth closed!”
“Exactly! Your effooort just isn’t good enough!”
Production-class players were the kind of people who would do absolutely anything to raise their crafting skills.
So the moment they heard that one prayer might let them break through one of those walls, their eyes rolled back in excitement.
“Spin it! Spin it!”
“I’m doing enhancement rolls right now!”
“What? Enhancement too? Is that guy insane?”
“No! It might work!”
“Hey, but how many people have actually benefited from the buff, exactly?”
“How should I know, idiot? If you’re just gonna stand there yapping, get lost! This is why you always fail at crafting! Crafting isn’t done with your head, it’s done with your heart!”
“You’re not joining? Why aren’t you joining? You planning not to ever? Then get out!”
“Throw out anyone who hasn’t joined!”
Mob psychology was a terrifying thing.
Once everyone started blindly shouting that the effect was amazing, rumors spread that it did all kinds of things it had nothing to do with.
Then a handful of people here and there who actually did get results only exaggerated those rumors even more.
Anyone who didn’t get results was quickly accused of lacking effort.
And Kim Tae-hyun, who had come in secret to check the situation in front of the temple, blinked.
“...?”
How, exactly, had things turned into a scene this deranged?
“T-the Power Warrior Guild’s more capable than I thought...?”
It was enough to make even Tae-hyun stammer.
Of course, Lee Da-bi was just as shocked.
As far as she knew, there was no way the Power Warrior guild members were capable of driving people this insane.
“O-our guild is just that good.”
“Why are you stammering?”
“I-I’m not stammering.”
The atmosphere in the Valley was getting strange.
If a newcomer saw it, they’d be baffled enough to ask, What on earth is wrong with this place?
People had come to help construct buildings, people had come for the auctions, people had come just to catch a glimpse of the famous Kim Tae-hyun and maybe do some hunting nearby...
And then there was the most unhinged group of all: the production-class players who had rushed in after hearing rumors about the Archisus Church.
The Valley was pure chaos, all kinds of people mixed together in one place.
“K-khuhuhu... this time it’ll definitely hit.”
“What’s that?”
“A random low-grade treasure box. I bought it so I could open it here after getting the prayer buff!”
“That works too?”
“Hey, it’s a luck-related bonus! Of course it will!”
“I-is it?”
At this point, it was becoming difficult to distinguish real effects from made-up ones.
The hype around everything related to the Archisus Church had grown so intense that people were now saying things like this:
“Luck-related bonuses actually seem pretty decent. Should I raise my Luck stat too?”
The reactions from everyone else, however, were icy.
“Are you insane?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Do you have stat points to burn or something?”
“...”
Criticism flew at him from all directions.
Honestly, the reaction made sense.
There were countless people playing Fantasy Online 2, which naturally meant plenty had already experimented with raising their Luck stat.
But among all those people, not a single one had gotten satisfying results.
Which was only natural.
You needed to raise Luck by hundreds, like Tae-hyun had, before the effects really started to show. Other players had stopped after investing maybe a few dozen points at most.
Stats weren’t free.
While other players invested in Strength or Agility and grew quickly, putting points into Luck only made you fall behind.
After investing dozens of points and seeing absolutely nothing happen, no one kept going.
In the end, Luck had long since been classified as a nice stat to get for free, but far too precious to spend your hard-earned spare stat points on.
“Weren’t you already suffering because your Constitution stat is too low? Sounds like you’ve got some room to spare if you’re talking about putting points into Luck.”
“N-no, I don’t. I’m not planning to invest in a stat like Luck.”
“...”
Tae-hyun, who happened to be passing by, suddenly felt unfairly offended.
It was one thing if he insulted himself, but when someone else did it, it somehow stung.
I hope that guy’s box goes up in flames.
Nobody recognized Tae-hyun as he walked right past them.
Change your outfit, put on a mask, and people failed to notice.
Thanks to that, even the assassin players wandering around searching for Tae-hyun couldn’t find him.
“Where the hell is that bastard Kim Tae-hyun?”
“Didn’t they say he was in front of the temple building?”
“He’s been gone for a while. He’s not around the merchant group either.”
“Getting in there under stealth is rough. All the NPCs are high-level.”
“...”
Tae-hyun stared at the assassin players gathered in a shady corner of the territory, whispering among themselves.
“What are you looking at?”
“You wanna get lost, or should we PK you right here?”
Tae-hyun immediately turned his head and walked away.
The assassin players never even imagined their target had just slipped past them in plain sight.
Even so, Tae-hyun made sure not to forget their faces.
I’ve got those bastards memorized... more importantly, I wonder if they finished what I told them to do.
To check on the task he’d left to the Power Warrior guild members, Tae-hyun started moving again.
“So this is where Kim Tae-hyun is?”
“That’s what I told you. And apparently the Archisus temple buff is insanely good. Especially for production classes...”
“Then let’s hurry to the temple, pray, and then go paint.”
The two players who had arrived in the territory were painters.
They had come because they figured they could get the Archisus prayer buff, and since the territory was being newly developed, maybe there would be some decent painter quests too.
“Welcome, everyone, to the Valley!”
“?”
“Judging by your gear, you’re painter classes, correct?”
“W-we are, but... why?”
It was only common sense to be suspicious when a complete stranger suddenly approached you like an old friend.
“Perfect! I’ve actually been looking for painters. Would you happen to be interested in a quest?”
“A quest?”
The one word that could tempt any player’s heart: quest.
“What kind of quest?”
“You can’t tell anyone else about this. Because...”
“?”
“It’s a quest being run personally by Kim Tae-hyun.”
“?!?!”
The two painter players’ eyes went wide.
A quest being run by Kim Tae-hyun!
Among production-class players, there were many who envied the production players who had participated in the Katerand Island expedition.
Sure, they’d been tricked into going and forced into labor—but from the outside, it had looked cool, prestigious, and full of opportunity.
And the people who came back from it had even rewritten their own memories.
They forgot how hard it had been and went around bragging, Yeah, we did a quest that incredible.
And how had that whole Katerand Island quest started?
Didn’t Kim Tae-hyun gather those people himself?
What’s the difference between us and them?
None. The only difference is that they happened to be there in that plaza.
Most people thought of it that way.
More than skill, it had been luck that got them in.
And now Kim Tae-hyun was running another quest?
There was no way they wouldn’t be dazzled.
“We want in! Please let us do it!”
“Shh. Shh. Other people can’t know. If they do, everyone will want to join.”
“R-right. Of course.”
The players should have realized something right then.
What was so special about them that they were being recruited in secret, hidden from everyone else?
He’d only just met them.
But blinded by greed, the two of them failed to notice.
“...”
“Now then. If everyone understands, let’s begin.”
“No, I mean... the quest...”
“This is a quest.”
“I was expecting something a little more cool and dramatic...”
“If you don’t want to do it, do you want to leave?”
“N-no, that’s not what I mean...”
The painter players gathered there all wore conflicted expressions.
Because they had finally learned why they had been called in.
“Thank you all for coming. What you’ll be doing is painting fake maps.”
“That’s it?”
“Did we get scammed?”
Someone had accidentally said the correct answer out loud, but no one could bring themselves to accept it.
“N-no. This is definitely the start of some massive quest... something like that...”
Some of them had already begun running their own fantasy circuits in overdrive.
The same symptoms as the people outside, lost in frenzy in front of the temple.
“Painters really are good at drawing.”
Tae-hyun nodded with a satisfied expression.
There was a reason he was doing all this.
If you want to live long, you always prepare in advance.
He had only met Gardu because he happened to recycle an old pirate flag, but complaining about it wouldn’t change anything.
Gardu probably wouldn’t attack immediately, but once enough time had passed, there was no telling when or where Tae-hyun might have to fight him.
And when he thought of that overwhelming fleet, he had no confidence in facing it head-on.
“So, Rufo? What do you think of my method?”
“Um... Tae-hyun.”
“Yeah?”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just give him the map?”
The simplest possible solution.
But Tae-hyun looked at Rufo as if he were the dumbest man alive.
And as a bonus, Ed-an clicked his tongue beside them.
“Just give him the map? You work for a merchant group, so why are you this naïve?”
“Exactly, Tae-hyun! It seems Rufo still doesn’t understand how the world works.”
“...”
Rufo silently shut his mouth and glared at Ed-an.