A Bamboo Spear of Luck

Though caught off guard for a moment, Jeong Su-hyeok slowly began to explain. No matter how much of an outsider Tae-hyun was, surely someone had heard of him.

"I mean, you know that senior. The one from the year above us, who got top of the class but never participated in department activities..."

"Ah, that guy?"

"His name was Kim Tae-hyun too, right?"

"He was really good at games..."

"Didn't Senior Dong-hwan say he got beaten up by him?"

"Shh. Senior Dong-hwan still gets furious if you bring that up. It must have left a deep scar."

"So the Kim Tae-hyun he cursed out every time he drank was that Kim Tae-hyun?"

Even though he was an outsider, what Tae-hyun had left behind was so legendary that Su-hyeok's friends recalled him instantly.

"How did you get close to him?"

"Well, you see..."

He couldn't exactly admit that he had dropped to his knees and begged, 'I want to be popular! Please help me get good at games!' Even Jeong Su-hyeok had his pride!

"I-I just found out he plays games and asked him if we could play together..."

"What? Really? Just from that?"

"Isn't he unexpectedly nice?"

"I thought he had a terrible personality..."

"Come to think of it, Senior Dong-hwan was the one who said that. And he hates Senior Kim Tae-hyun, so..."

Su-hyeok's friends chattered away, nurturing the dream: 'If we ask him to play together, maybe he'll actually say yes?' They were getting way ahead of themselves, counting their chickens before they hatched! They could only say such things because they didn't know Tae-hyun's true nature.

Tae-hyun had only accepted Su-hyeok because he was terrible at games and had desperately knelt and clung to him, which softened Tae-hyun's resolve! If any player confidently walked up to him and said, "Let's play together!", Tae-hyun's immediate response would be: "Who the hell are you to ask me to play? Do I know you? Are you crazy? Want to plant a flag and duel?"

He only hid his true colors to keep his identity secret in Fantasy Online 2; back in Fantasy Online 1, Tae-hyun had a notoriously rotten personality. Why else would the players from Fantasy Online 1 still be sharpening their blades of vengeance to this day?

Sensing an ominous foreboding from his friends' conversation, Jeong Su-hyeok quickly changed the subject.

"S-so, what have you guys been up to lately?"

"We formed a party and are moving together. Have you ever heard of our party?"

His friends asked with expectant looks, clearly hoping for a "Yes, I've heard of you" in response. But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he had absolutely no idea!

"It's... the first time I'm hearing of it."

"Really? That's too bad. It's our party's name. The five of us are running the Arena together. You know the Arena is the hottest place these days, right?"

"Of course I know."

The Arena was a popular attraction in any city. However, Jeong Su-hyeok couldn't think of the Arena without a shudder. Because the absolute chaos Tae-hyun had unleashed in the Arena was still vividly burned into his memory!

People poisoning food before the fight, secret alliances and betrayals, strapping bomb armor onto an ally and forcing them to charge, and in the end, a literal demon appearing...

'No, the Arena isn't normally like that!'

No matter how he looked at it, the Arena was supposed to be a place of honorable combat where players fought fairly to determine a victor!

"We noticed that a lot of famous players seem to emerge from the Arena."

"Really?"

The Arena, where players clashed and the entire process was broadcast live, was always prime content. Naturally, famous players were bound to emerge from it. And that was exactly what his friends were aiming for!

"So we thought: let's focus entirely on the Arena and become Arena celebrities!"

"Hmm..."

"You might be hearing our name very soon!"

"Uh... yeah..."

"Next time you meet your senior, let us know! We want to meet him too!"

"Whoa, can we really meet Kim Tae-hyun?"

"I have so many things to ask him if we meet. What should I ask first?"

Before Jeong Su-hyeok could even try to stop them, his friends were already excitedly dreaming of a rosy future.

'Ah, why do I feel so incredibly anxious?'

"Mmm..."

"...?"

"Mmm-hmm..."

"??"

As Tae-hyun sat on the ground giggling to himself, Cain stared at him with a deeply bizarre look.

'Well, it's not like it's the first time he's acted like this.'

Tae-hyun was currently reviewing the spoils of war he had brought back from the Auston Kingdom. The loot from raiding the princes, raiding the princes' subordinates, and whatever Ed-an had managed to plunder from the royal treasury right before they fled!

'That bastard Ed-an...! He stole way too well!'

He barely gave him any time, yet the thief had not only stolen all sorts of treasures but had even pried the gem right out of the Auston royal crown. No matter how skilled he was, wasn't this a bit too audacious?!

Suddenly curious, Tae-hyun logged onto the community forums. He searched for videos!

Since so many players had participated, there were naturally plenty of recorded videos.

'...'

Tae-hyun confirmed it with his own eyes. One ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the gems on the crown worn by the Third Prince was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠indeed missing!

Other players had simply assumed, 'I guess it was always like that,' but to Tae-hyun, it was glaringly obvious.

'First, I should install the other things in my territory.'

It seemed Ed-an had specifically targeted items that could be utilized for the territory. In reality, things like flags, statues, and decorations were incredibly expensive...

'But wait, do I even have resident NPCs in my territory?'

Currently, the only inhabitants were players blinded by the allure of Luck, the soon-to-be-recruited Archisus priests and paladins, and the handful of Archisus-related NPCs who had followed Tae-hyun since before the order's revival.

'Ah, so that's how it works.'

By upgrading the quality of the territory itself, residents from the surrounding areas began to migrate over on their own. Of course, a warning about neighboring nobles harboring dissatisfaction popped up as well, but to Tae-hyun, this level of resentment was something he could easily laugh off and ignore!

After all, he was a certified specialist in building resentment! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If he were to broadcast a show titled How to Build Grudges, he could easily film a three-part special.

'Let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them invade if they want.'

With his current network, contribution points, and items, he was fully confident in handling a territory war or two.

'I've checked Ed-an's haul... now, what did the princes and their royal guard captains drop?'

The moment of checking loot was always heart-pounding.

'It's getting harder and harder for me to ever set foot in the Auston Kingdom again...'

Tae-hyun smacked his lips as he thought. The Iron Wall breastplate Tae-hyun had crafted was an incredibly excellent piece of armor, but the Auston Royal Armor completely surpassed it. It wasn't just the raw stats; the skills it possessed were absolutely monstrous.

Royal Family's Protection was a broken skill that instantly multiplied defense and HP several times over, while Royal Blessing cleansed almost all active debuffs. The moment he equipped it, he would boast the survivability of a literal cockroach!

If the First or Second Prince had met the level requirement and equipped this, they wouldn't have met such a pathetic end.

'At this rate, am I going to end up wearing a full set of Auston Royal gear?'

Anyone looking at him would think he had class-changed into an Auston Royal Guard Knight!

'I'll equip this too.'

Tae-hyun had grown to the point where he could easily ignore the ominous warnings attached to the items. Curse Reflection was an incredibly attractive skill for a player like Tae-hyun, whose primary weakness was curses. Repeat was an even more absurd skill. It granted a chance to immediately recast the skill that was just used! Combined with Tae-hyun's absurd Luck stat, it was practically a guaranteed double-cast.

"???"

Tae-hyun tilted his head. What kind of bullshit item was this?

'Does it mean I should melt it down to extract the Orichalcum?'

Did the Auston royalty waste their gold like this back when they were prosperous? Tae-hyun tilted his head as he examined the item. How was he even supposed to use this? Furthermore, he couldn't understand why the attack power was listed as "?".

"......!!!!!!!!"

Tae-hyun hurriedly closed his eyes and opened them again. What did it just say?

It was finally here. An offensive item that scaled with the Luck stat!!!

In Pan-On, skills or items capable of delivering massive burst damage in a single hit were nicknamed "bamboo spears". They were risky and unstable, but possessed the sheer power to end anything in a single blow! And this wasn't just any ordinary bamboo spear. It was a mighty Orichalcum bamboo spear!

Tae-hyun, who was cheering while holding the crossbow, suddenly froze. Wait, come to think of it...

- Only usable with Royal Orichalcum Arrows.

'How many arrows do I have?!'

But no matter how much he searched, there were no Royal Orichalcum Arrows among his looted items. The only one in his possession was the single arrow already loaded into the crossbow! Just one!

'The... the recipe... I need the crafting recipe...'

As he pondered, frustration washed over him. To find the recipe? He had to go to the Auston Kingdom. And if he went to the Auston Kingdom?

'Right now, that's suicide!'

Even if he were to go, it would have to be much later. Only when the Church's influence had completely spread, to the point where he had nothing to lose even if he got caught!

Tae-hyun smacked his lips. Of course, having even one was better than nothing, but human greed wasn't that simple.

'I didn't know I'd miss a recipe this much. Come to think of it, there was a guy who suffered immensely because of a recipe... what was his name again?'

"Excuse me..."

"Yeah, I'm Kim Tae-hyun, but I don't give out Luck buffs, so beat it."

When someone spoke to him, Tae-hyun waved his hand dismissively without even looking up. This was the most annoying part of staying in his territory. People would seek him out at all hours of the day.

- Please open my box for me!

- Please enhance my gear! I beg of you!

The rumor that Tae-hyun had opened a beginner's box on someone's behalf and pulled a massive jackpot had already spread far and wide.