What Bastard Is It?!
Karag, caught in a surprise attack he had never anticipated, roared in fury.
His voice was so thunderous that even the surrounding Orcs staggered.
“It’s me, you bastard!”
“?!”
“Kim Tae-san, you wretch! I looked favorably upon you and even granted you Orcs! And now you dare betray me?!”
“Betrayal, my ass! I never had any intention of following you in the first place!”
The one who had attacked Karag was Kim Tae-san.
His whole body was flashing with every kind of gaudy color imaginable. He’d been stacked with so many buffs it was impossible to tell where they ended.
“You fool, Kim Tae-san! Is there any reason for you to betray me now? Did you think that if you killed me, all these Orcs would become yours?!”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”
Kim Tae-san raised his hammer and pointed it at Karag.
“If not that, then why have you betrayed me?!”
“...If anyone’s going to beat up my son, it’s going to be me!”
“?!”
That was right.
The reason he had attacked Karag was a simple one.
He couldn’t stand watching some other bastard beat on Tae-hyun anymore.
It wasn’t for the Orc army, nor for the position of Great Chieftain.
At first, when Tae-hyun climbed up and started getting pounded, Kim Tae-san had nodded with a pleased expression.
“Look at that bastard panicking! See?”
“Even Tae-hyun’s got that guy rattled! Khahaha!”
The Orc Ahjussis laughed uproariously.
Behind them, the Orc warriors watched and whispered among themselves.
“Chwik, to laugh like that at an enemy trapped in a snare. They’re wicked beyond reason.”
“Chwik, we should never defy them.”
The Orc warriors’ obedience has increased.
“Huh?”
Kim Tae-san found the sudden rise in obedience strange, but let it go.
What mattered right now was watching Tae-hyun get what was coming to him.
“Where’s the popcorn? We got ready for this day!”
The Orc Ahjussis all pulled out their items at once.
The items they had prepared for exactly this moment.
They’d been planning to sit back and watch Tae-hyun get beaten up and run away in disgrace, but things took a strange turn.
Smith appeared at the dungeon exit.
“?!”
And it didn’t stop there.
Lee Se-yeon came out too and started summoning undead.
“Isn’t that the mage we let in earlier?”
“I-I think so?”
“But why does she look so strong...?”
One of the ahjussis hurriedly searched up Lee Se-yeon’s identity.
“She’s a Necromancer ranker?!”
“What?!”
The situation kept getting weirder and weirder.
Tae-hyun, who should’ve been escaping, fought Smith instead, then got pinned down by the Orcs’ bombardment of spells.
On top of that, the Great Chieftain himself piled on.
By this point, Kim Tae-san was starting to sweat.
Tae-hyun, who should have run, wasn’t running.
“Why the hell isn’t that idiot bailing?!”
“I-I don’t know.”
Most of Tae-hyun’s skills were the sort that could let him escape easily the moment he wanted to.
Kim Tae-san didn’t know every single one of Tae-hyun’s skills, but he knew that much.
And yet, for some reason, Tae-hyun wasn’t fleeing. He stayed right there.
Even when the Great Chieftain gave him an opening, he still looked ready to fight.
“Grrr...”
Kim Tae-san let out a groan heavy with anguish.
Seeing that, Yang Sung-gyu gestured.
“Hey. Let’s throw some buffs on him.”
Galloping Footsteps
The Ancient Spirit’s Sixfold Blessing
Surging Arms
Blessings piled onto Kim Tae-san in an instant.
Some came from players with shaman classes. Others came from buff scrolls.
“What are you doing?”
“So you can do what you want, hyungnim.”
“...”
Kim Tae-san hesitated and looked at Yang Sung-gyu.
Yang Sung-gyu had already figured out exactly what Kim Tae-san was thinking.
Given how long the two had spent together, of course he had.
“Won’t you regret it if you do it?”
“Wouldn’t you regret it even more if you didn’t?”
“That true?”
“Like you always say...”
“If you’re going to regret it either way, do it and regret it after. Right! I’m going to help that brat!”
Kim Tae-san hefted his hammer.
The Orc Ahjussis only shrugged, like they’d known all along this was coming.
“I’m the only one allowed to lay a hand on my son, Karag, you bastard!”
Shouting that, Kim Tae-san charged at Karag with everything he had.
“If you wish to die so badly, then die with him, Kim Tae-san!”
Karag swung his enormous weapon with frightening ease.
Like a windmill, the greatsword came in a relentless flurry.
Clang!Ka-clang!Ka-ka-ka-clang!
You have been struck by an attack containing monstrous physical strength.
Your weapon’s durability is decreasing rapidly.
Your arms have been afflicted with paralysis.
You resisted thanks to the Surging Arms spell.
“Aaargh! Why the hell is this bastard so strong? Boys!”
Kim Tae-san knew he could hold out for now thanks to all the buffs, but he also knew it wouldn’t last long.
He hadn’t come here to kill Karag in the first place.
“Chaaaarge!”
The moment Kim Tae-san gave the word, the Orc Ahjussis charged.
Boom! Boom! Craaash!
“Ch-chwik! Traitors!”
“Traitors, my ass! You think just because we’re all Orcs we’re supposed to be buddies? Naive idiots!”
The elite Orc warriors nearby quickly faltered under the Orc Ahjussis’ assault.
Swinging double-bladed axes and greatswords, the Orc Ahjussis pressed in with crushing force.
They were decked out head to toe in expensive cash-shop gear, and before the fight they’d layered themselves with buff scrolls.
Their combat power was terrifying.
“Hey, punk! What the hell are you doing? Why aren’t you running?!”
“F-Father?”
Even Tae-hyun, of all people, stammered in shock.
There was no way he’d expected Kim Tae-san to suddenly come charging in to help him.
“Run, idiot! You planning to die to some lousy Orc like this?”
“What did you say?”
Karag’s broad forehead bulged with veins at Kim Tae-san’s provocation.
Great Chieftain’s Killing Blow
KRAAACK!
“Aaaagh!”
Kim Tae-san screamed as he felt his feet being driven deep into the ground.
Thanks to the buffs, he still had over ninety percent of his HP left, but the sheer pressure was no joke.
“...Cain! You run first!”
Though rattled, Tae-hyun took in the situation and moved immediately.
With Kim Tae-san and the Orc Ahjussis here to help, they had a chance to catch their breath.
He sent a whisper to Lee Da-bi.
“Take everyone you’ve got and run as far as possible. If you can’t get away, then you’ll have to fend for yourselves.”
“What? What? What are you—”
“Just run, damn it!”
“O-Okay!”
Thanks to Kim Tae-san and the Orc Ahjussis, Jung Su-hyeok, Lee Da-bi, and the others came under a little less pressure from the Orcs’ attacks.
Using that opening, they punched a hole in the encirclement and started fleeing.
“Chwik! Great Chieftain! They’re escaping!”
“Hmph! Let them go! They’re insignificant rabble anyway!”
Karag bellowed arrogantly.
And to be fair, he had reason to.
Kim Tae-san clenched and unclenched his tingling hand.
Just what level is this monster?
Even setting Kim Tae-san aside, every member of the Choigang Jizon Mussang guild was hovering around Level 100.
Their name might have been ridiculous, but in raw combat power they were one hell of a serious guild.
And they’d come into this fight with all kinds of buffs stacked on top of that.
Yet even after all of them attacked Karag together, it didn’t feel like his HP was dropping in any meaningful way.
Higher level than Marquis Marden? Then he’s got to be over Level 250. If we’re unlucky, he could even be above 300...
Kim Tae-san had planned to pull out together with Tae-hyun once Tae-hyun got clear.
After all, he still had the Orc warriors Karag had given him. With those under his command, carving out an escape route wouldn’t be hard.
How far has that brat gotten?
Kim Tae-san glanced back.
If Tae-hyun had gotten far enough away, he intended to pull out too.
But...
Pak! Pak! Pak-pak-pak!
A critical hit has been triggered!
“Ghk, you little—!”
“Hey! I said run!”
Instead of running, Tae-hyun was rushing the Great Chieftain.
Kim Tae-san felt the back of his neck go stiff.
“You go first, Father!”
“You shameless little brat! I come save you and this is what you say? You call me ‘hey’? And now you’re telling me to run first? Are you serious?”
“No, I’m saying I have a way to survive, so you should go first!”
“You idiot! I have a way to survive too, so you go first!”
Karag stared at the two of them as if they were insane.
What in the world was this...
“An opening!”
Divine Foresight
Shadow Dive
Shadow Leap
Critical Explosion
“Kraaaagh!”
The moment Karag’s focus loosened even slightly, Tae-hyun drove in with a vicious strike.
You absolutely could not let your guard down in front of Tae-hyun.
“Khahaha! Fool! Letting your guard down in front of my son! How’s that feel? Bet the back of your head’s still ringing!”
“Father, this really isn’t the time to be taunting the enemy...”
Even after taking Tae-hyun’s burst damage, Karag’s momentum didn’t falter in the slightest.
The eyes that had loosened for just a moment flew wide open, and his counterattack came immediately.
Great Chieftain’s Wrath
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAAANG!
You have been hit by Great Chieftain’s Wrath.
Evasion failed.
HP recovery has been blocked.
A shockwave erupted outward from Karag’s body.
Tae-hyun and Kim Tae-san were blasted back before they managed to catch their footing.
Damn it. When’s this debuff going to wear off?
It seemed he’d failed the evasion check because the Orc shamans had been carpet-bombing the area with curses.
“So how exactly were you planning to get out of here?”
“What about you, Father?”
“Me? I was going to put the Orc warriors I got in front, block the road, and get out with my guildmates.”
“I was going to get the people I brought out first, and then...”
“And then?”
“Blow up the whole area.”
“...What?”
For a moment, Kim Tae-san thought he’d heard wrong.
What did he just say?
“I said I was going to blow up the area.”
“How?”
“Mechanical engineering and bomb items.”
“Hold on. Then you’d die too, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ve got a skill that lets me avoid dying once.”
When the hell did this brat get a skill like that too?
Kim Tae-san clicked his tongue inwardly.
Now that he’d heard Tae-hyun’s plan, it felt like he’d rushed in to help way too quickly.
He could’ve just left him alone and the brat would’ve handled it himself.
“Anyway, Father, now that I’ve told you, go first.”
“What? Hell no, brat! I told you to go first!”
“Why are you being this stubborn at a time like this? Should I just detonate it?”
The utterly pointless father-son competitive streak picked this exact moment to flare up.
“...Fine, you little punk!”
Kim Tae-san and the Orc Ahjussis moved in perfect unison, starting to carve out a retreat route.
Karag tried to strike Kim Tae-san, but there was no way Tae-hyun would just stand by and watch.
Pa-pa-pa-pak—!
“You gnat-like little pest!!”
Tae-hyun spread out rapidly and attacked Karag from all angles.
This time, unlike before, the situation was different.
There were no other enemies nearby now, and Tae-hyun could focus solely on Karag.
And there was no situation where Tae-hyun’s control shone brighter than a one-on-one fight.
Karag’s arm swung, driving the tip of his greatsword forward.
It was unbelievably fast and deadly, but Tae-hyun kept his eyes open to the very end and tracked its path.
Once he read it with cold precision, all that remained was to evade by the narrowest of margins.
Even if Tae-hyun’s Luck was bound and his evasion suppressed, none of it mattered if the attacks still couldn’t land.
Circle of Counterattack
“Kraaagh!”
Karag took another counter.
Grinding his teeth in fury, he stomped the ground.
Maybe it’s about time I blew this place.
Thunk.
Keeping a fixed distance from Karag and stalling for time, Tae-hyun took a step back and realized he’d bumped into something.
“?”
“Huff, huff...”
“...Why the hell are you still here, you idiot?!”
“You think I ran because I wanted to?!”
Cain snapped back, indignant.
While everyone else had already fled, Cain had come back alone.
“A sudden quest popped up...!”
“What?”
Avatar of Archisus’s Slave wasn’t a class just anyone could take.
Only someone with the unshakable loyalty to protect their master even at the cost of their own life could become one.
If your master was in mortal danger, there was no such thing as escaping first.
Return to your master’s side and protect him.
⚠ Failure Penalty: ?
🎁 Reward: ?, ???
...What kind of bullshit class is this?
Even Tae-hyun, the one who had given him the class, was dumbfounded by the quest.