Weak Against Beginners

Tae-hyun was weak against beginners. Just as he had been with Ji-su.

"Fine. Hand over the box."

"Th-thank you!"

"Here's one gold. Take a carriage and just level up diligently. Don't go gambling in places like this."

As he spoke, Tae-hyun felt a slight prick of conscience. Come to think of it, he wasn't exactly in a position to say that, considering he was the one who had created this place.

"Sniff... Yes. I will do that from now on."

"I'm telling you, these boxes drive people crazy. Watch. You open them, and nothing ever comes out."

Tae-hyun opened the box he had bought from the beginner right in front of him. He wanted to teach the newbie a lesson.

But then...

A brilliant flash of light burst forth! Anyone could tell at a glance that he had pulled one of the best possible items from the box.

"..."

"..."

Tae-hyun and the beginner stared at each other in silence.

"Waaaaah! I'm quitting this trash game! I'm quitting!"

"Hey! Hey! Wait a minute!"

The beginner wailed and ran away. Watching him go, Tae-hyun felt an unwarranted wave of guilt. It wasn't even his fault!

As the two of them made a scene, the surrounding players turned their heads.

"Huh? Isn't that Kim Tae-hyun?"

"Kim Tae-hyun is back!"

"It's Kim Tae-hyun! Grab him!"

"If we grab Kim Tae-hyun while enhancing, it'll definitely succeed!"

A crowd of players swarmed toward him. Seeing this, Tae-hyun silently drew his sword.

But Cain grabbed his arm.

"No, you crazy bastard! No PK-ing!"

"Why are you stopping me from PK-ing in my own territory?"

"We can't chase away the people we worked so hard to bring here!"

"Then are you going to block them?"

Cain flinched. The eyes of the swarming players burned with a deep, unhinged madness.

Give us your luck!

"Ugh, u-ugh..."

"What is the meaning of this disturbance?!"

At that moment, a solemn voice boomed from above. It was Pelmas.

The players flinched upon seeing him.

Tae-hyun and Cain were dumbfounded. What on earth had Pelmas done to make these players freeze like dead mice in his presence?

"W-we are sorry, Lord Pelmas!"

"Please forgive us!"

Pelmas puffed out his chest and cleared his throat pompously.

"Disperse this instant! If you do not retreat, I shall not issue any Luck Tickets!"

"Luck... Tickets?"

At Tae-hyun's muttered question, Pelmas whispered back.

"It is one of the items sold at the temple."

"..."

Tae-hyun wanted to ask what else they were selling, but he suddenly felt a chill of dread.

Thanks to Pelmas's intervention, the crowd was brought to order. The players who had swarmed them retreated with dejected expressions. Of course, they didn't forget to shout desperately at Tae-hyun as they left.

"Please! Just a blessing! Give us the Blessing of Akisus!"

"I feel like my enhancement will succeed if I get it just one more time...!"

Ignoring the screams of the crowd, Tae-hyun spoke to Pelmas.

"Leave those guys alone. For now, let's build some structures. We need to hire paladins and priests."

"Of course, Lord Tae-hyun. I, too, can finally have subordinates to order around..."

"Not you."

"Why?!"

During Tae-hyun's absence, Pelmas had turned the territory into a place that truly lived up to its name. Although he had successfully multiplied their gold and gathered a massive crowd, Tae-hyun wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing.

What am I even doing...

-Checking constructible buildings.

Thanks to the advantage of being the headquarters of the Akisus Cult, several buildings could be upgraded to superior versions related to the cult.

But wait, aren't there zero actual residents in this territory?

The only people here right now were the players who had swarmed in from the outside!

Then let's skip those for now.

"Build, build."

Since he had plenty of gold, constructing these buildings was a breeze. There were dozens of constructible buildings available. Tae-hyun started by installing the essential ones first.

A low castle wall made of reinforced stone was built around the perimeter of the territory. Inside, various buildings related to the Akisus Cult were erected. Since this place was the headquarters of the Akisus Cult, there were numerous benefits. There was no reason not to exploit them. Building Akisus Cult structures was far more profitable than standard buildings!

"Build!"

"Gasp!"

Tae-hyun froze right after confirming the construction. What on earth had he just done?

Because of his deep love for arenas, he had reflexively clicked 'Build' the moment he saw the notification!

N-no... an arena will... have its uses... just like the other buildings...

No matter how he looked at it, it was an absolute luxury, but Tae-hyun didn't cancel it. It was a bizarre obsession of his!

"There are plenty of crafters here, right? Perfect."

Due to the nature of the location, many of the players gathered here were crafters. They were people who relied heavily on luck when making items! Even if they weren't specialized architect players, having crafters around would be a huge help in constructing the buildings.

"I guess I should issue a quest to recruit them."

"Pardon? There is no need for that."

Tae-hyun tilted his head at Pelmas's words.

"Why not?"

"For the person who accumulates the highest contribution points during the construction quest, you can simply bestow a special blessing, Lord Tae-hyun! Or perhaps some items."

A truly devilish idea! Of course, Tae-hyun had no reason to refuse.

"Excellent. I should go brew some holy water."

"As expected of you, Lord Tae-hyun!"

The two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of them were in perfect, wicked harmony.

"Senior!"

"Oh. You're here."

Seeing Jeong Su-hyeok running toward him from a distance, Tae-hyun waved.

Having completed a massive quest in the Auston Kingdom and returned to his territory, he had plenty of free time. After erecting buildings, checking his items, and finishing his preparations, he had some downtime before his next quest. Tae-hyun decided to meet up with Jeong Su-hyeok during this break. Su-hyeok had been the one to ask for a meeting.

I was curious to see how things were going anyway...

Jeong Su-hyeok had set off for the Uruk region again with the Orc shamans. Tae-hyun was curious to know how much the Akisus Cult's influence had grown in that area.

"It's been a while! Have you been well?"

"Yeah, I've been fine. Let's head inside and grab a bite first."

Jeong Su-hyeok greeted him with polite respect. Tae-hyun led him to his usual sundae-gukbap restaurant.

"Is he the junior you mentioned?"

"...?"

Choi Sang-yun was already seated inside.

"Who might you...?"

"My friend. He plays Pan-On too. He's a ranker."

"Oh! It is an honor to meet you! What is your in-game name...?"

Tae-hyun and Choi Sang-yun avoided his gaze at the same time. Jeong Su-hyeok stared at them with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠puzzled expression.

"So, I saw you put out that fire in the Auston Kingdom."

Choi Sang-yun quickly changed the subject. Tae-hyun immediately played along.

"Yeah."

"As expected of you, Senior! Taking the initiative to help others. I am truly..."

"...I highly doubt that was the case," Choi Sang-yun muttered.

No matter how he looked at it, Tae-hyun was not the type of person to just step up and put out a fire for others.

"I was the one who started the fire in the first place."

"Hey! Someone I know even got a fortress out of that! You were the one who set the fire?!"

"As long as you weren't the one who got hurt, it's fine."

Tae-hyun showed not a shred of remorse.

"Oh, and I ran into Lee Se-yeon and Smith there."

"What? Really?!"

"Yeah. We fought over an item in a dungeon."

Choi Sang-yun was shocked. What on earth had happened while he wasn't looking? Since this information hadn't been released on broadcasts or community sites, it was even more surprising.

"Did you win? You won, right? Don't tell me you lost?"

"We didn't fight to a decisive end. Man, Smith was stronger than I expected. He's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bad matchup for me."

"Ah... definitely. He would be a tough opponent for you."

Smith had an incredibly sturdy class that absorbed massive amounts of damage, making it difficult for Tae-hyun to deal significant damage to him.

"Well, I'll have to figure out another way to deal with him."

"What about Lee Se-yeon?"

"Right. Lee Se-yeon... as for Lee Se-yeon..."

Tae-hyun sighed. He had a bad feeling that she would become a major headache later on.

"I think she knows I played Pan-On 1."

"What?! How?!"

"I think she just guessed. You know what she's like. Once she believes something, she rarely wavers."

Choi Sang-yun looked at Tae-hyun with pity. Of all people, why did he have to get caught by a woman like her...

"Come to think of it, Lee Se-yeon's guild members were sweeping up all the golem materials at the auction house. Was that because of you?"

"...She's already rebuilding it? This is why I hate people who play in guilds."

Tae-hyun grumbled, clicking his tongue. It was true that players operating within a guild had advantages over solo players in many ways.

"That's why I keep telling you to make a guild. If you and I team up, we'll be invincible!"

"Whoa, Senior! Are you going to make a guild? Please let me join too!"

"...No. I'm not making a guild."

"Ah, this stubborn bastard... I'm telling you, things are different from Pan-On 1."

Tae-hyun clicked his tongue at Choi Sang-yun's words. Although he had always insisted on playing solo, Sang-yun wasn't entirely wrong.

"Let's think about that later. So, why did you want to meet up, Su-hyeok?"

"Ah, yes! Actually, I'm thinking of starting a personal stream, and I wanted to get your permission first, Senior..."

"Why do you need my permission to stream?"

"Well, because what I'm doing is closely tied to you, Senior. I didn't want to cause you any trouble..."

"Forget it. I don't care, so do whatever you want."

"Thank you so much!"

Jeong Su-hyeok bowed his head repeatedly with a joyful expression.

"A few of my university classmates actually recognized me."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Some friends showed interest, and some asked how I ended up hanging out with the player Kim Tae-hyun..."

Choi Sang-yun tilted his head and cut in.

"Aren't you guys in the same department at the same university?"

"Yes, we are."

"And they don't know Tae-hyun?"

"Well, he is our senior... and, uh, his social life..."

"Just say he's an outsider."

"Yes. Since he's an outsider..."

Jeong Su-hyeok actually said it just because he was told to! Tae-hyun felt a sudden, inexplicable pang in his chest.

"I don't think they ever imagined it was actually you, Senior."

"Well, I'd probably think the same."

It wasn't easy to believe that a famous celebrity appearing on broadcasts was actually attending the same department. Since 'Kim Tae-hyun' was a common name, most people would just assume it was a coincidence and move on.

"What do you mean? I didn't even customize my appearance; I play with my real face. Why wouldn't they recognize me?"

"When you're wearing full gear on broadcast, it's surprisingly hard to tell. Your vibe changes completely. And besides, you're not exactly one to talk when it comes to recognizing faces..."

"What? Why not?"

"Never mind."

Choi Sang-yun shut his mouth.