The Immortal Body!
You have suffered a critical hit!
Your opponent's weapon is boiling over. A demonic aura is invading you.
Mana is being drained.
His vision rocked violently.
Even after absorbing most of the damage with a skill, the impact had been enormous. Lee Se-yeon immediately opened the distance between them.
Black Shift!
And then came a chained combo of rapid-fire skills.
Tentacles of the Abyss
Curse of Confusion
Shadow That Binds Your Steps
Death Knight Rising
Spells that ordinary mages would cast one or two of, then pause to recover from—Lee Se-yeon unleashed them one after another without giving him even a second to breathe.
Tentacles of the Abyss bind you!
You successfully evaded.
Curse of Confusion strikes you!
You successfully evaded.
Shadow That Binds Your Steps binds you!
You successfully evaded.
“...”
Lee Se-yeon stared at Tae-hyun with an utterly dumbfounded look.
She already knew about his absurd evasiveness.
That was why she'd chosen only the skills with extremely high accuracy...
And yet every last one had missed!
She'd expected at least one to land!
“What the hell even is your class?!”
As always, he was interesting to the point of absurdity.
Lee Se-yeon shouted in confusion, but there was clear delight in her voice.
All right then. Let's really fight.
In an instant, undead began to fill the chamber.
Death Knights drew their swords with oppressive menace.
Seeing that, Cain let out a deep sigh.
Am I going to die here?
A Death Knight with the Eye of the Abyss is present. You cannot use Shadow Dive.
You cannot use Shadow Leap.
“...!”
Tae-hyun, who had been trying to burrow back in around Lee Se-yeon one more time, clicked his tongue.
Just as expected of Lee Se-yeon. She'd already prepared a way to deal with rogues trying to slip into stealth around her.
Absorption of Death
Absorbing the Death Knights to restore her strength in a hurry, Lee Se-yeon fixed her gaze on Tae-hyun.
When he'd attacked her just now, Tae-hyun had put away his hammer and pulled out Meteor.
If that's the case, that hammer can't damage me. Could it be that it only works on nonliving things? No matter what, would an option like that really exist?
Lee Se-yeon had, by pure instinct, landed on the correct answer.
“Don't give Kim Tae-hyun time to switch weapons!”
The Death Knights surged forward.
Even if they couldn't hurt him, if they could just pin his feet in place, it'd be well worth it.
I need time to recover my strength.
If this turned into a long fight, the advantage would be hers.
You have been afflicted by a Death Knight's Poison of the Underworld. This poison cannot be evaded.
Damage will continue over time.
Your Weird Food Cooking skill has acquired the method of creating Poison of the Underworld.
Circle of Defense
Critical Explosion
For the moment, he had no way to force his way back in around Lee Se-yeon.
Tae-hyun fought off the Death Knights alongside Cain.
“Wait... what are those?”
Only then did Lee Se-yeon notice something strange.
Players were pouring out from the dog-sized hole behind the statue in a steady stream while she was busy fighting Tae-hyun.
“How did they get in here?!”
The moment the players realized Lee Se-yeon had noticed them, they broke into a run.
“Hey! Run! Run!”
“That's Lee Se-yeon! Why's she in here?”
“Don't tell me Kim Tae-hyun scammed her too? Shook her down or something...?”
“No way! Surely not! Surely not!”
Power Warrior guild members, Jeong Su-hyeok, even the Orcs.
None of them looked back as they bolted for the dungeon exit.
Lee Se-yeon was startled, but she didn't attack them.
Right now she was recovering and stockpiling her strength to deal with Tae-hyun.
If they wanted to run off on their own, that actually made things easier for her.
There was no reason to waste strength on them.
While Lee Se-yeon recovered HP and MP, Tae-hyun steadily cleaned up the Death Knights.
As Cain tanked, Tae-hyun immediately pulled out his hammer and started pounding away.
Lee Se-yeon shook her head.
She had never once underestimated Kim Tae-hyun.
Even so, she'd had confidence in her own skill, but this was really...
It was enough to make her wonder if he'd specifically raised his class just to counter Necromancers.
“Kim Tae-hyun, you don't secretly have a grudge against me and levelled your class like this on purpose, do you?”
“That's my line. If anybody's got a grudge, it's you. I never even wanted to get involved with you.”
“It isn't a grudge... I just planned to keep attacking you until you joined my guild. Doesn't that count more as affection?”
“Affection, my ass. You call that affection? That's hatred.”
While the two of them traded words and searched for openings in each other...
“LEE SE-YEON!!!!!”
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
A furious Smith smashed through the stone chamber wall and burst inside.
Behind him, Black Rock guild members came rushing in after him.
“Are you really going to play dirty like this?! Huh?!”
Smith stormed in shouting, then froze when he saw the scene inside.
What the hell was this situation?
It looked like a serious fight had already broken out, but why were...
Kim Tae-hyun and Cain in there?
“What now, Smith too? Did somebody smear honey all over this dungeon or what?”
Tae-hyun muttered as he looked at Smith and the players behind him.
He'd been too distracted by Lee Se-yeon to notice before, but thinking about it now, this dungeon seemed to be some kind of important one.
What is it? Why's this dungeon so important?
“W-Why are you here, Mr. Kim Tae-hyun?”
“Just sort of happened.”
“Don't trust that woman!”
Smith shouted, pointing at Lee Se-yeon.
Tae-hyun answered in a flat voice.
“I never did.”
“Aren't you two being a little unfair?”
When Lee Se-yeon cut in, Smith replied in a voice thick with outrage.
“That woman deceived me and came here alone!”
“Well, life is all about deceiving and getting deceived. What's so new about that...?”
Tae-hyun wasn't particularly surprised by the claim that Lee Se-yeon had tricked him.
They'd known each other well enough ever since Fantasy Online 1.
When it came to winning, both Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon were the kind of people who'd do whatever it took.
But when Tae-hyun showed no surprise, Smith thumped his own chest in frustration.
“You mustn't be fooled by the image she presents on broadcasts!”
“What do you mean fooled? Can't you see we were literally fighting just now?”
“Th-That's what this was?”
Only then did Smith seem to grasp the situation, and he nodded.
“As expected, it seems Ms. Lee Se-yeon deceived even Mr. Kim Tae-hyun.”
“...Other way around.”
“Stop lying! There's no way Kim Tae-hyun deceived you! If anything, it'd obviously be the reverse!”
“It really was the reverse... Not that you'd listen.”
Lee Se-yeon shook her head.
But there was no chance Smith would believe her.
Two against one is bad enough... I should just take the item and get out.
Lee Se-yeon began searching for her chance.
Her target was the crown atop the statue.
The moment she picked it up, some boss monster would probably appear, but that would be the others' problem to deal with.
Smith sent the Black Rock guild members a whisper.
“Uh...”
Gu Sung-wook muttered before he could stop himself.
At Gu Sung-wook's words, Smith looked toward the two of them.
Though they seemed motionless, Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon were locked in a taut standoff.
Tension so tight it felt like the air itself might snap.
It was the very image of a clash between masters.
The Black Rock guild members swallowed nervously.
At the very moment the Black Rock guild members exchanged glances and whispered to one another, Tae-hyun grinned.
The instant Lee Se-yeon saw that smile, she knew the situation had gone wrong.
“Those idiots!”
“So that's it. The statue, huh!”
“What are you doing, acting that obvious in front of Kim Tae-hyun, you morons?!”
Grumbling, Lee Se-yeon moved to stop Tae-hyun.
But right now, she had no means of pinning him down.
That ridiculous evasiveness of his!
Even before Smith and the guild members arrived, Lee Se-yeon had been carefully controlling her gaze.
She knew exactly how quick Tae-hyun was, how sharp his perception was.
She hadn't looked toward the crown on the statue even once, afraid he might figure out what she was after, and had focused only on the fight...
Only for those clueless Black Rock guild idiots to stare at the statue and nod at it, practically handing the answer to Tae-hyun.
Then I have no choice but to grab it first!
Lee Se-yeon charged while firing off spells in succession.
A mage avoiding close combat was common sense, but a mage on Lee Se-yeon's level could still hold her own up close with magic support.
“Cain, block her!”
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
With a scream, Cain threw himself in front of Lee Se-yeon.
My faith does not waver!
A skill of the Slave of Archisus class that shaved off his HP and gave him temporary invincibility.
Energy Drain
Rapid-Fire Arrows of Hell's Curse
Hell Energy Explosion
Lee Se-yeon layered the spells into a combo to clear Cain out of the way, but Cain endured it.
“That's impossible!”
“Urgh... Kim Tae-hyun! You bastard! Hurry the hell up!”
That brief instant was enough.
Tap.
The Crown of the Forgotten Dead has vanished. The Forgotten Dead awaken.
Due to your high Luck, you successfully prevented the Forgotten Dead from awakening.
Your Fame has increased.
“...”
“...?”
Standing on the statue's shoulder, Tae-hyun read the message window.
Of course, he'd assumed there was a chance the statue might start moving the moment he took the crown.
But...
You can prevent it from waking up?
“M-Mr. Kim Tae-hyun!”
“Hm?”
Smith called out to Tae-hyun in a flustered voice.
“That crown... is the item we were looking for!”
“Was it?”
“Ms. Lee Se-yeon may have interfered, but we were the ones who entered first in order to obtain that item. We will reward you generously, so if you could return that item—”
“Smith, Kim Tae-hyun left.”
“...”
Smith lifted his head at those words.
Tae-hyun and Cain were already sprinting toward the dungeon exit.
Completely ignoring Smith's plea!
Seeing that, Lee Se-yeon let out a sigh.
Honestly, if Kim Tae-hyun got away, she had no confidence she could catch him.
If that happened, there'd be no realistic way to recover that crown.
“This is your fault!”
“What? No matter how I look at it, this is your fault! How do you act that obvious in front of Kim Tae-hyun?!”
“It's because you attacked Kim Tae-hyun. That's why he took the crown to get revenge on you!”
“Do you even know who Kim Tae-hyun is before saying things like that?”
“Kim Tae-hyun is Kim Tae-hyun. Who else would he be?”
“...”
Lee Se-yeon started to say something, then stopped.
She didn't want to tell anyone his true identity.
A kind of possessiveness.
If she told him who Tae-hyun really was, then no matter how kind and gulli—no, diligent Smith was, he would definitely be furious.
That would work in her favor, but...
I can beat him without that.
Confidence.
“Mr. Smith! We have to chase him!”
“Understood. We'll catch him again and try to persuade him!”
“...I don't think that'll work...”
Smith and the Black Rock guild members hurried off in pursuit of Tae-hyun.
Watching them go, Lee Se-yeon shook her head and raised her staff.
She didn't know whether they could really take it back from Kim Tae-hyun, but shouldn't they at least try as far as they could?