"There. All Done."

Tae-hyun cleanly crafted the Cold Cry's Sword. He could have extorted him further using his Forgery or Equipment Disguise skills, but he refrained. Even Tae-hyun had a conscience! Honestly, if he tried to squeeze any more out of him, it wouldn't be surprising if Gu Sung-wook quit the game entirely.

"Huh?" A message window popped up for everyone present. They all tilted their heads in confusion. A blessing? What kind of blessing?

"???" Gu Sung-wook blinked repeatedly. Then, he let out a desperate shriek. "Noooooooo!"

"Hey, don't be like that. It's not like I did it on purpose."

"Ugh, sob, sob..."

Tae-hyun was trying to comfort Gu Sung-wook, who was currently face-down on the ground as if his entire world had collapsed.

"I'm quitting this stupid game... I'm really quitting...!"

"Look on the bright side! The Blessing of Archisus might actually be better than other divine blessings!"

"That's not the problem..."

"Then why are you acting like this?"

"I just didn't want to get entangled with you anymore... *sob*..."

"..."

At this point, even Tae-hyun felt a rare pang of self-reflection. "Hey, I won't mess with you anymore. Do you really think I'd use this blessing as an excuse to extort you?"

"Sob... Really?"

"Really. Here, take the sword. It's yours."

"..."

Gu Sung-wook silently accepted the Cold Cry's Sword. As he did, his sanity slowly returned. Behind him, his guildmates whispered among themselves.

"Sung-wook must have had a really hard time."

"Let's be extra nice to him from now on."

They whispered, but their voices carried perfectly!

"N-No, that's not it...!" Gu Sung-wook waved his hands frantically, his face flushing red with embarrassment. The shock of seeing Archisus's name pop up in the system message had made him completely lose his mind.

"I... I'm sorry about that," Phil said.

"Why are you acting like this too, Phil?!"

"Well, if I had crafted it, it would have just received a normal blessing from the god I worship."

"It's fine. Archisus is actually a pretty decent god..." Gu Sung-wook pulled himself together and checked the item's details. He had been distracted by Tae-hyun and Archisus, but this was a monumental moment. He finally held the Cold Cry's Sword in his hands! Finally...!

The system messages kept popping up. Gu Sung-wook let out a long, deep breath. He felt as though all his past hardships were finally being rewarded. The Cold Cry's Sword was the core of his entire class. While every class had its unique traits, his was designed to grow alongside a specific piece of equipment. His combat power before and after acquiring this weapon would be like night and day!

The Blessing of Archisus bestowed upon the Cold Cry's Sword granted a bonus to Critical Hit Rate based on the user's stats. "..." An unbelievable effect had been added to an already incredible weapon! A boost to Critical Hit Rate was an effect that could never be ignored. For a class like Gu Sung-wook's, which relied on unleashing rapid, consecutive attacks, any source of burst damage like critical hits was absolutely vital.

But why of all things! Why does it have to be related to Archisus! Of course, since the critical rate buff was specifically the Blessing of Archisus, he wouldn't have gotten it if the sword had been blessed by any other deity. "Krrrgh...!" As Gu Sung-wook's expression rapidly fluctuated between laughing and crying, Tae-hyun turned to the members of the Black Rock Sect. "Was he always this weird?"

It's because of you! they screamed internally.

Once he finally calmed down, Gu Sung-wook asked Phil in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a much quieter voice, "So, Phil, did you find out what skills Kim Tae-hyun uses?"

"No..."

"?!" Phil wore an apologetic expression. He had put Gu Sung-wook through all that trouble, yet he hadn't managed to find out a single thing.

"But I actually discovered something else instead."

"What... is it?"

"Kim Tae-hyun probably thinks he hid it well. But he overlooked one thing. The fact that absolutely nothing showed up is a clue in itself!"

Come to think of it, didn't Phil say he was a mystery novel fanatic? Is he getting too carried away? Gu Sung-wook thought, but since Phil seemed so excited, he decided not to rain on his parade.

"I think Kim Tae-hyun has some kind of passive skill that conceals his active skills."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. I was watching him directly, yet not a single skill popped up. Why do you think that is?"

"Well, that is true..."

"No one knows what Kim Tae-hyun's actual class is. It's obviously because he has a skill like that." Phil confidently laid out his deduction.

"Everyone thinks he has a holy-type class just because he revived the Archisus Cult, but I don't think so. He probably has a blacksmith-related class, and while completing quests, he happened to cross paths with the Archisus Cult and revived it!"

What a sharp deduction! Of course, it was in completely the wrong direction...

"Why do you think no one has been able to guess Kim Tae-hyun's class until now? It's because he got involved with a religious order that has absolutely nothing to do with his actual class, throwing everyone off the scent."

"Couldn't he just be a jack-of-all-trades?"

"Hey, how could a jack-of-all-trades achieve all this? Besides, Kim Tae-hyun even has the Engineering skill."

"That's true."

"See? I'm telling you, I'm right. Everyone else is too narrow-minded to see it. You have to think creatively like me. And one more thing! This is something only I know. It started as a theory, but now I'm absolutely certain. About ninety-nine percent sure."

"...?"

"Kim Tae-hyun's class is definitely a Lazedan Blacksmith."

"A Lazedan... Blacksmith?"

Since Gu Sung-wook wasn't a blacksmith himself, it was a class he had never heard of. However, Phil knew quite a lot about Lazedan Blacksmiths. Phil hadn't just focused on leveling his own class; he had studied various blacksmithing texts to broaden his knowledge of other blacksmithing subclasses.

"Lazedan Blacksmith is a very unique subclass among blacksmiths. They have skills like Forgery and Equipment Disguise."

"...Are you sure that's actually a blacksmith?"

"It's a slightly underhanded and highly unorthodox blacksmith class. It also heavily incorporates Engineering skills. Well? Doesn't that remind you of someone?"

"...Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Exactly! On top of that, Lazedan Blacksmiths have skills that block item appraisal."

No matter how one looked at it, those skills sounded far more like a scammer than a blacksmith! Yet, it was undeniably a perfect description of Kim Tae-hyun. Furthermore, Phil had one more piece of evidence to back up his conviction. "Look at this. Here's a post uploaded on the forums."

During the auction ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠held in his territory, Tae-hyun had ruthlessly targeted only a few large guilds to sell his disguised equipment. He had set it up so that even when they eventually realized they had been tricked, no one would believe them! And indeed, the community's reaction was exactly as Tae-hyun had anticipated.

Absolutely no one believed the victim! However, Phil had picked up on the clue regarding the skill. That was undoubtedly a Lazedan Blacksmith skill! Hearing Phil's explanation, Gu Sung-wook grew incredibly excited. Phil had single-handedly deduced Tae-hyun's class, which had remained a mystery to everyone else. It was truly a brilliant piece of detective work! "Phil, you're amazing!"

"Haha, I just got lucky."

"Luck? No way! This is pure skill!"

"In the future, if Kim Tae-hyun tries to boss you around too much, you can bring this up to negotiate. If he doesn't want his secret leaked, he'll have no choice but to back down!"

"Phil...!" Gu Sung-wook's eyes welled with tears of gratitude at how much Phil cared for him. The two embraced warmly. Watching them, Tae-hyun thought, Great. Now there are two weirdos.

"Lee Da-bi, there's something you need to do while I'm away from the territory."

"If it's managing the gold, leave it to me!"

"..."

"...Did I get a bit too ahead of myself?"

"Yes." Lee Da-bi meekly pulled back her outstretched hand.

"First, make sure that guy doesn't run wild..." Tae-hyun said, pointing at Pelmas. There was no telling what kind of devious schemes Pelmas might cook up while Tae-hyun was away. Wait, isn't this like leaving a wolf to guard the sheep? When it came to a love for gold, Lee Da-bi was easily on par with Pelmas!

"I'll do my absolute best!"

"Mmh... Right..." The decision had already been made. Tae-hyun suppressed his anxiety and nodded.

"But are you sure you don't need us to come along for the church quest? The difficulty level seems insane..."

"It is indeed insane," Tae-hyun agreed. "But your guild members wouldn't be of much help anyway."

"...I'm sorry..." Lee Da-bi averted her eyes. Despite its massive size, the Power Warrior guild was severely lacking in high-level, powerful players.

"It doesn't matter. I never expected that from you guys anyway. Just keep an eye on the territory, watch the buildings go up, manage the players in the surrounding area, and keep Pelmas in check."

"Uh, didn't the list of tasks just get longer?"

"What do you want?"

"If you could just appear on our guild's stream a few more times later... hehe..." Lee Da-bi grinned brightly as she looked at Tae-hyun. To her, he was basically a walking pile of gold. The subscriber count of the guild's channel had skyrocketed after just a single appearance by Tae-hyun!

"Sure, whatever. I can do that much. Use the rest of your free time to level up... Oh, and there's one more thing."

"What is it?"

"From what I've heard, it seems some guilds are forming a coalition because they hate me."

"..." Lee Da-bi stared at Tae-hyun with eyes that clearly said, Well, maybe you should have known when to stop. However, Tae-hyun remained completely shameless.

If the members of the large guilds cried out, "You're going too far!" Tae-hyun would simply reply, "Then why were you standing right next to the reward I was trying to get?" Still, this wasn't something to be taken lightly. A guild coalition was indeed forming, spearheaded by the large guilds that had suffered at Tae-hyun's hands. He had heard a rumor about it from Lee Se-yeon, and he believed it was highly likely.

Lee Se-yeon isn't the type to lie about something like that. And it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not like this is the first time. It had been the same back in Fantasy Online 1. When people got pushed around enough, the victims would eventually join forces and hunt Tae-hyun down. The Losers' Alliance was surprisingly persistent! Naturally, the best course of action was to shake them up before they could properly unite. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-hyun intended to prepare in advance.

"I'm planning to use your guild members to infiltrate their coalition."

"Uh, the large guilds hate us because of our bad reputation, so they probably won't let us join..."

"..."

Power Warrior truly possessed not an ounce of the prestige typically associated with large guilds.