The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend?

"Um, Guild Leader..."

Roy offered a sheepish grin as he spoke to Kim Tae-san. Ever since he had been captured by Tae-san, Roy hadn't been allowed to participate in any decent quests. The only tasks he was given were minor, tedious chores like repairing the castle walls—the kind of trash quests meant for absolute beginners!

He had briefly considered taking the penalty and just logging out to escape, but after being held captive for so long, a sense of deep grievance and spite had taken root in his heart.

I will definitely get my revenge!

"What is it?" Tae-san grunted.

"A close associate of mine... sent a message for you, Guild Leader..."

"What kind of message?"

"It's a proposal that would suit you perfectly, Guild Leader. Hehe."

"Seeing you smile like that makes me think it's not a good proposal at all. Did you set a trap for me?"

"Ah, no! How could I possibly..."

"Hmm..."

Tae-san glared at Roy with deeply suspicious eyes. Roy felt a sudden wave of cold sweat break out. His plan was actually quite simple: if Tae-san joined the Guild Alliance, Roy would be freed as a reward for introducing him. Once Tae-san was part of the alliance, there was no way he could ignore the words of the other guild leaders!

"Anyway, why don't you at least hear him out?" Roy coaxed.

"Tell him to come here."

"Huh?"

"Tell him to come find me. Right here."

"No, but... couldn't you just whisper him?"

"I have no desire to add some guy you know to my friends list."

"..."

Faced with Tae-san's stubbornness, Roy cursed the old man internally. Of all the things to be stubborn about, why this? They could easily whisper, or even communicate anonymously on the forums. There were countless ways to talk, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so why did this old man insist on meeting face-to-face in Pandemonium Online?

"Yes... I understand. I'll tell him that."

But Roy knew Tae-san's personality all too well. Once this man made up his mind, he would never bend.

"Wow, the ocean is beautiful. Seeing it like this is truly spectacular."

"It really is."

Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi were standing at the bow of the ship, watching the waves split rapidly before them. Beneath the sparkling water, all kinds of fish swam, and deeper down, sea monsters could be seen gliding by one by one. It was a truly magnificent spectacle of a fantasy world.

Cain, listening to their conversation from behind, thought to himself, 'Even those two seem to have a shred of romantic sensibility left.'

These two usually seemed completely divorced from such emotions. One was the type to look at the sea and say, "Hmm, dropping a corpse down there would be a great way to destroy evidence," while the other would say, "If we claim this spot first, wouldn't we make some serious gold?" Yet, seeing them quietly enjoying the view, Cain thought he might have misjudged them.

"Do you think there's a way to make gold off this?" Da-bi asked.

"I don't know. If we have stolen items or things that are hard to dispose of, maybe we could dump them here and retrieve them later?" Tae-hyun replied.

"...Not that kind of method! Something pure and clean, like a tour..."

"Would anyone pay gold for a tour?"

"A ship this big and fast is hard for players to get right now."

"Hmm. Is there a way to steal this ship..."

"We could cause an accident in secret and steal another order's ship. If all the witnesses die, it's ours!"

"I don't know. Won't their comrades from the order come looking for them?"

"..."

Cain shut his mouth and stopped listening. He quietly walked away to another part of the deck.

I want to pretend I don't know them...

The distant horizon was exceptionally bright and blue. Cain stared into the distance with hollow, unfocused eyes.

"Did that bastard notice us?!"

"N-no, I don't think so. He's just standing there."

"Why is he staring over here then? It's ominous. Who is that guy?"

"That's Cain."

"Cain, Cain... Where have I heard that name?"

"He's famous. He used to be a raider, but at some point, he started hanging around Kim Tae-hyun."

"What a nuisance."

"All the raider players hate Cain. He used to play dirty just like us, but then he suddenly backstabbed everyone, washed his image, and now acts all clean."

If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cain had heard this, he would have wailed in sheer injustice.

Do you think I wanted to end up like this?! You bastards have to experience it to understand!!!

Regardless of Cain's feelings, his image was firmly established among players.

— Kim Tae-hyun's right hand!

— The reformed villain!

Thanks to his appearances on broadcasts, quite a few people liked Cain, but there were just as many who hated him. Some hated him for what he did as the Red Zone guild leader, but they were a minority. Cain's image rehabilitation had been that perfect.

Most of those who hated him were raider players.

— Acting all nice when he's just a raider!

— He's a disgrace to all raiders!

— If I see him, I'm sending a PK request. Let's see if he can fight without Kim Tae-hyun!

Jack and his subordinates were among them.

"Let's put the telescope away for now. I don't think he saw us, but..."

"Should we widen the distance?"

"Yeah, let's do that. Better safe than sorry."

Jack was a cautious man. Cain was just staring blankly at the horizon, wishing he could pretend he didn't know his companions, but to Jack, it looked like he was scanning the surroundings with sharp, vigilant eyes.

He knows Kim Tae-hyun has a lot of enemies, doesn't he? Arrogant bastard. He's just a raider like us...

Jack assumed that the reason Tae-hyun had survived so many ambushes was because of Cain. Cain was a former raider, so he would know exactly how such players attacked and set traps.

He must be the one feeding him information!

No matter how skilled a player was, they often fell prey to raiders who specialized in PVP. Players who fought monsters were completely different from players who fought other players.

But Jack had no idea. Cain had never told Tae-hyun anything of the sort.

"Why are we stopping here?"

"We have arrived, Count."

"...?"

Tae-hyun looked around. No matter how much he looked, there was nothing but the vast, empty ocean. Since it was a dungeon, he had assumed it would be on some island. But on second thought, he realized that might not be the case.

"Ah. So the entrance to the dungeon is around here?"

"Yes, indeed. As expected of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Count."

Haron nodded in admiration, but Tae-hyun didn't pay it any mind.

"So how do we get in?"

"It will open shortly. Everyone, gather round!"

Even though Haron didn't speak loudly, his voice echoed clearly in everyone's ears. Holy magic!

Priests from each order began to step forward from their respective ships. They looked at each other with awkward, avoiding glances. The emotional rift created by Tae-hyun had still not healed.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Tae-hyun had managed to divide the continent's strongest holy figures, gathered to resolve a continental crisis, with nothing but his tongue! Nevertheless, the priests began to cast their magic. It was the spell to open the dungeon entrance.

"...!"

With a massive, roaring sound, the sea began to split apart. And there, visible far below, was the entrance!

"...An undersea dungeon?"

"Precisely! As expected of the Count..."

"You're not teasing me on purpose, are you?"

As Tae-hyun dragged out the conversation with Haron, a holy knight of the Tyran Church lost his temper and stepped forward.

"To waste time on such an important matter! I shall enter first!"

"Sure, go ahead."

"...Are you truly willing to yield such honor?"

"Is being the first to enter a dungeon an honor? You're the type of guy who'd call being the first to use a newly built building's toilet an honor."

"..."

The Tyran holy knight choked up and tried to argue, but the priests behind him held him back. They already knew. Trying to match Tae-hyun in a battle of words was a losing battle!

Huffing, the holy knight snorted, turned his head, and jumped straight off the ship.

Splash!

"We have to go in like that?"

"Yes!"

"No matter how I look at it, that seems like suicide..."

The holy knight who had vanished into the deep sea was nowhere to be seen. Tae-hyun smacked his lips and prepared to jump. There was a reason he wasn't rushing. Even if NPCs entered first, they wouldn't get any dungeon first-clear benefits anyway! He only needed to be the first among the players present.

"Dive!"

Splash!

"...Huh?"

Tae-hyun, who had fallen through the water and landed at the entrance of the dungeon, stared in horror at the message window.

What did it just say?

Holy-related skills were completely sealed. No questions asked, just sealed! It wasn't called a "Sealed Undersea Dungeon" for nothing.

What kind of crazy...

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. In fact, he might actually be in a better position than others. Tae-hyun's core combat power came from his absurd Luck stat. Extreme evasion, insane critical hit rate, and the powerful burst skills and utility skills connected to it. The source of all of this was his Luck stat, and that remained completely untouched.

Furthermore, Tae-hyun was a jack-of-all-trades who had learned all kinds of skills just in case. He was in a much better position compared to the holy knights and priests who had spent their entire lives focusing solely on holy skills.

"What is this?!"

Cain, who had just fallen beside him, shrieked. If he had his original class, it wouldn't have mattered, but his current class, Avatar of Archisus's Slave, was essentially a holy knight-type class! All related skills were sealed!

This is going to be a real headache...

Tae-hyun opened his skill window to check everything.

— Lucky Strike!

"What?! Why is Lucky Strike sealed?!"

Lucky Strike was a burst skill he had been using since before he advanced to the Avatar of Archisus. For this to be blocked meant...

I guess this was an Archisus-related skill all along.

The Avatar of Archisus was a class he was forced to advance to when he first reached a certain Luck threshold. If so, it wasn't strange to assume that the skills he received simply for raising his Luck stat were actually related to Archisus.

"Exactly, Kim Tae-hyun. You've finally realized. Did you really think such a good skill was just a normal skill?"

Team Leader Choi Myung-sung muttered as he watched Tae-hyun's situation.

Although he had obtained the burst skill Lucky Strike and other probability-adjusting skills before his class advancement... they were indeed Archisus-related skills. They were rewards for being the first on the server to raise his Luck stat to such an extreme level! Fantasy Online was not that simple.

"Oh, Team Leader. Did Kim Tae-hyun go in?"

"Yeah. He's in. It's going to get tough for him now. The holy NPCs he brought along have had their power cut in half."

"Won't it be hard to clear the quest while taking care of the NPCs?"

"I doubt Kim Tae-hyun would do that."

Choi Myung-sung thought as he watched the panicked holy NPCs. Normal players would have been flustered, but...