The Accidental Commander
Basic magic was Jeong Su-hyeok's specialty. While other mage players went to extreme lengths to track down powerful and rare spells, Jeong Su-hyeok had stuck strictly to the basic magic provided by the Magic Tower.
"Gale Force Wind!"
Jeong Su-hyeok cast the movement speed buff on a single Orc.
The magic is cast upon the Orcs.
“Chwiiiiiiik!”
“Chwik! My body is burning!”
“?!”
Jeong Su-hyeok stared at the Orcs in sheer panic. It seemed the spell had been cast on every single Orc warrior in the vicinity.
'Why does this only happen at times like this!'
Though his passive skill sounded incredibly bizarre from its description, it wasn't actually that terrible of an ability. It was a skill that randomly triggered an additional spell whenever he cast magic. Normally, the extra spell was completely harmless and irrelevant. Casting a fireball might trigger a low-grade heal, or using a short-range teleport might grant an attack speed buff.
But without fail, whenever the stakes were high, some massive, large-scale spell would pop out and torment him.
“Kuwaaaaah!”
“?!”
Suddenly, the Orc warriors' skin flushed a deep crimson as they began to run wild!
Boom! Crash! Kaboom!
“Chwik! Power is surging within me!”
“Chwik! Fight me! I am stronger than you!”
It didn't stop there. Once an Orc gained immense power, they had to unleash it—it was their nature! Blinded by rage, the Orc warriors began attacking their own comrades.
“Chwik! These guys have gone mad!”
“Human! What is going on?!”
“Aaaah! I don't know either!”
Jeong Su-hyeok quickly backed away to create some distance. The Orc commander who had ordered him to cast the spell fled right alongside him. It was absolute pandemonium!
Boom! Crash!
The Orcs affected by Jeong Su-hyeok's magic glowed red, completely overwhelming the other Orc warriors.
'Th-they won't die from that, right?'
Jeong Su-hyeok began to worry. As a mage, he was quite knowledgeable about the nature of spells. A magic that boosted combat capabilities so drastically, and could be cast on multiple targets at once, was usually...
Dark magic. And a highly volatile kind with severe side effects!
Of course, it could just be a powerful, beneficial spell with no side effects, but for some reason, an ominous feeling crept over him.
'Please, please...!'
“Grrr... Growl!”
“Grrrr!”
“Grrk? Chwik, what was I doing?”
The rampaging Orc warriors finally snapped out of their frenzy, looking utterly bewildered.
Jeong Su-hyeok tensed up.
'Please don't die! Please don't die!'
Fortunately, the Orc warriors didn't die. Still flushed red, they approached Jeong Su-hyeok and roared:
“Chwik! Loyalty!”
“Chwik! Great Mage! You are our master!”
“???”
Due to the influence of Archisus, the Orcs swear their absolute loyalty to you.
'This is dark magic, isn't it?!' Jeong Su-hyeok screamed internally.
He didn't know exactly what spell had triggered, but making them stronger while simultaneously forcing them to swear loyalty? No matter how he looked at it, it was a deeply sinister spell!
He looked over at the Orc commander, who was staring at him with his jaw hanging open.
“Uh, well, that is...”
“Chwik! Incredible, human mage! Bama-eo didn't send you to us for nothing!”
“...”
“Keep up the good work! If you keep doing this, there won't be any problems!”
The Orc commander left with a highly satisfied expression.
After that, Jeong Su-hyeok's luck continued. Whenever magic was needed, his spells summoned another magic spell alongside the intended one...
As a result, Jeong Su-hyeok's status within the ranks kept climbing higher and higher.
“Chwik, I heard that human mage is quite decent.”
“Chwiiik, they say that if that incredible human mage just waves his staff, even a weakling becomes a monstrous warrior!”
“Chwiiiiik! Just a single glance from Lord Jeong Su-hyeok can make us Orcs great!”
• The loyalty of the Orcs has increased.
• Your name spreads widely among the Orc Shamans. Renowned Orc Shaman NPCs may come to seek you out.
• You can now command these Orc warriors as your subordinates. They will obey only your commands.
• The influence of Archisus spreads among the Orcs. Although they do not know what Archisus is, they believe it is something beneficial and have begun to place their faith in it.
“...”
Only when he found himself leading a small army of Orcs did Jeong Su-hyeok realize how serious the situation had become.
'H-how did it end up like this?!'
“...”
“...”
Cain and Tae-hyun shared a rare, identical reaction. They were utterly speechless!
“I-I'm sorry, Senior. I was just trying to do my best...”
“N-no. You did well. You did great.”
Tae-hyun opened the status window of the Archisus Church.
“...”
Instead of persuading the other tribes as he had been sent to do, Jeong Su-hyeok had returned after converting the Orcs to the faith!
Archisus was spreading rapidly among the Orc tribes.
'What on earth is the "Jeong Su-hyeok Orc Tribe"?!'
It seemed to refer to the band of Orcs that Jeong Su-hyeok was now leading.
Tae-hyun looked up and scanned the Orcs waiting outside. Orcs were already far from having any fashion sense, but these guys looked like they had been handpicked for being the most uniquely bizarre and grotesque-looking of the bunch. Furthermore, their skin colors were red, blue, black...
'What kind of magic did they get hit with to end up like that?'
Aside from that, there was an unusually high number of Orc Shamans in the crowd.
“W-well, isn't this a good thing anyway?”
Cain, recovering from the shock, spoke up.
Tae-hyun nodded. For one, the number of Orcs they had to fight had decreased, and they had gained a free Orc army to command. It was a good thing, but it felt incredibly bizarre—like receiving free food as a gift, but worrying whether it was past its expiration date!
“Let's use this to draw up a plan on what to do next.”
All across the continent, players were busy clearing their respective quests. Thanks to everyone eagerly rushing to fight the Orcs, Tae-hyun's group was able to catch their breath, but that didn't mean the danger had completely vanished.
“The ones coming toward the Atali Kingdom have decreased quite a bit, right?”
Tae-hyun had swallowed up the Orc vanguard led by Jeong Su-hyeok, and the other Orc forces were attempting to attack Genoma City first.
“Yes, they've decreased significantly. Right now, the main Orc army led by Great Chieftain Karag is waiting at the border of the Auston Kingdom. It seems they haven't decided where to go yet.”
“Really? Wait, Lee Da-bi, how do you know that?”
“Well, some of our guild members joined the Orc army...”
Lee Da-bi averted her gaze sheepishly. Guild business was guild business! Personal profit was personal profit! It was a guild where not a shred of unity could be felt.
'Some are heading to the Salz Kingdom, some are coming down to the Atali Kingdom, and the main Orc force led by the Great Chieftain is still lingering in the Auston Kingdom... At this rate, my territory might not even get raided.'
At first, Tae-hyun thought the Great Chieftain would track down Cain and march straight into his territory, but that hadn't happened. Pretext was pretext, but war was war! Orcs were bound to strike the most lucrative and easily plunderable places first. In that regard, Tae-hyun's territory was essentially junk food!
A whisper came in for Tae-hyun. It was MBS PD Bae Jang-wook.
Tae-hyun furrowed his brows. He had just thought of a plan, but of all people, why did it have to involve Lee Se-yeon?