The Art of the Knockoff

Crunch!

In that instant, Tae-hyun came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurtling down from the sky. Yong-yong, who had grown to medium size, had grabbed Tae-hyun in his talons and soared into the air. A plunging combo attack from above!

The attack power, buffed by Lucky ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Strike, made even the massive demon hound stagger. In that brief window, Cain managed to scramble to his feet and escape.

"Whew, pant, pant..."

"Everyone, move in!"

At Tae-hyun's command, the members of the Black Rock Sect, along with the priests and paladins of the Demer Church, rushed forward in unison. Since Tae-hyun possessed the intermediate Tactics skill, commanding a group of this size was child's play.

Boom! Crash!

"—Yata's Plunging Sword!"

"—Tyran's Wrathful Cry!"

As flashing holy magic detonated from all directions, even the colossal demon hound couldn't hold out. After all, holy-attribute attacks were always the ultimate counter against demons and undead!

"Why should we take orders from you—"

"Do you want to die?"

"—Harsh Whipping!"

"—Cold-headed Command!"

Tae-hyun's skills were more than enough to shut up the disgruntled members of the other churches! "If you refuse to listen to me in a situation like this and act on your own, and something goes wrong, is your church going to take full responsibility? Huh?"

"N-no, it's not that. We're just saying there's no absolute reason we have to follow Count Kim Tae-hyun's orders..."

"Is your reputation higher than mine? Is your noble title higher? Is your rank within the church higher?"

Tae-hyun was a man who would leverage absolutely anything to win an argument. Faced with his reputation, noble title, and high ecclesiastical standing, the NPCs had no rebuttal.

A temporary fortress had been established in the wilderness of the Demon Realm. It was constructed using the airships of the various churches that had been dragged along with them! Since the vessels were incredibly sturdy, simply boarding them provided a decent level of defense.

Once they repelled the first wave of monsters, the various churches immediately retreated to their respective ships, dividing themselves so completely that their brief cooperation felt like a lie. Though their vessels were anchored close together, their mutual reluctance to mingle was painfully obvious.

"Good grief. For people who believe in gods, they sure are narrow-minded," Tae-hyun muttered.

That's because of you!

The sole reason the church NPCs were at each other's throats was Tae-hyun. It was a mystery how he was better at sowing discord than the actual demons of the Demon Realm.

Tae-hyun, his companions, and the guild members were gathered on the deck of the Demer Church's ship.

"So, Priest Haron. Is there a way out of here?"

At Tae-hyun's question, the guild members perked up their ears. They, too, were incredibly curious about this place—the Demon Realm. It was one of the few completely uncharted territories in the game, a place where no one even knew how to access.

When Tae-hyun had first dragged them down with him like a drowning man pulling others under, they had thought, What kind of crazy bastard is this? But by now, their curiosity had completely overtaken their annoyance. What lay hidden in the Demon Realm? What kind of monsters, quests, and items existed here? In Fantasy Online, players could trade with and even befriend demons. Contribution points and affinity could be built with any entity, regardless of their faction. As highly skilled players in their own right, the guild members wanted to make the most of this unexpected opportunity.

"Well..." Priest Haron began. "To escape the Demon Realm, we must find a dimensional gate hidden somewhere within it. Through that gate, we should be able to return to the continent."

"And do you know where this dimensional gate is?"

"..."

Haron fell dead silent, like a mute who had eaten honey.

"You don't know?"

"I-I am terribly sorry. Even within our church, there are very few texts that document the Demon Realm..."

"Well, it's fine not to know. We can just search for the gate... Is there anything else you do know?"

"Um... Ah! In the Demon Realm, 'floors' are of utmost importance."

"Floors? Like the first floor, second floor?"

"Yes. However, they are not arranged in chronological order; the numbers are completely arbitrary. You could go from the 10th floor of the Demon Realm straight to the 78th floor, or from the 34th floor to the 666th floor..."

"I get the picture."

"You should think of each floor as its own distinct world. I have heard that each floor has a ruling demon, and the attributes of that floor vary depending on who that demon is."

"A ruling demon..."

In short, the Demon Realm was structured like the kingdoms of the continent, with powerful demons ruling over their own respective floors.

Wait. Come to think of it...

A sudden thought struck Tae-hyun, prompting him to check his inventory.

Uh, well...

When he had first acquired it, he had banished Edaor from the continent, so he had been using it without a care in the world. He had scoffed, How is a banished guy supposed to come back?

But now, Tae-hyun was the one who had ended up in the Demon Realm!

A sudden wave of anxiety washed over him. Surely, no matter how bad his luck was, he couldn't have landed on the exact floor ruled by Edaor out of all the countless floors in the Demon Realm, right?

"Tae-hyun, let's move out together. We need to find the dimensional gate, and we'd also like to explore the Demon Realm a bit," the Black Rock Sect members said, completely oblivious to his internal panic.

Tae-hyun nodded. He couldn't just sit still out of fear of Edaor. In fact, the more anxious he felt, the faster he needed to find that dimensional gate and get the hell out of here.

"Alright. Let's move as soon as we finish maintenance. You guys need to prep too, right?"

"Yes," Gu Sung-wook nodded.

It was a stroke of luck that the blacksmith Phil was part of their group. Thanks to him, they had no trouble repairing their gear even after clashing with the monsters of the Demon Realm. Of course, Tae-hyun's own party had absolutely no need for an external blacksmith. They had Tae-hyun, after all.

And that reality was about to extend to the Demer Church as well.

"Blacksmith, we place ourselves in your hands."

The Demer Church had brought along their own church blacksmith NPC. The paladins politely bowed and were about to hand over their equipment when...

Grab!

"?"

"Can't you see how exhausted this blacksmith is? How can you people be so heartless? Do you enjoy tormenting someone who's clearly struggling?"

"...Excuse me?"

The paladins blinked in utter confusion as Tae-hyun suddenly intervened.

"B-but we must polish and repair our armaments before we fight..."

"I'll do it."

Indeed, Tae-hyun's motive was simple. I'll repair my gear, and I'll repair yours too!

His scheme was to get his hands on the paladins' high-grade equipment—which he normally would never have the chance to touch—and use them to level up his blacksmithing skills!

Phil, the Black Rock Sect's blacksmith, watched Tae-hyun's antics in sheer disbelief. While it was true that blacksmiths were greedy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for gear to level up their skills, very few were as shamelessly aggressive as Tae-hyun. Frankly speaking, that wasn't a request; it was extortion!

Well, the Demer Church folks aren't idiots, so they'll refuse. Their own church blacksmith is top-tier...

There was a reason religious orders were so powerful. They possessed their own internal infrastructure, ranging from military might to various professional NPCs like blacksmiths and chefs. A blacksmith handpicked and sent by the Demer Church was bound to be exceptionally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skilled, specialized specifically in the church's unique equipment.

"H-here... you go."

"?!?!?!"

Phil's head whipped around so fast his neck nearly snapped. The outcome was utterly unbelievable!

Are they insane?! No matter how high Kim Tae-hyun's reputation is, his reputation as a blacksmith shouldn't be that high!

But Phil had overlooked one crucial detail: Tae-hyun's Advanced Rhetoric skill and his noble title! Combined, they allowed him to shake down almost any NPC he encountered.

"..."

The system was beating around the bush, but in short...

It's a knockoff!

In other words, the Imitation Demer Church Paladin Armor was a blatant plagiarism of the Demer Church's sacred gear! It was a move completely devoid of any shame or respect for the church's dignity—truly a product worthy of Pelmas's own church.

However, Tae-hyun was unaware that this kind of armor had resulted from his own unique characteristics. Had he been a proper, orthodox blacksmith, the outcome would have been slightly different. Ignorant of this, Tae-hyun simply cursed the Archisus Church. What a classless, unprincipled cult!

Hmm. I was planning to craft armor for my paladins once I trained them, but maybe I should just buy it instead?

Shaking off his lingering unease, Tae-hyun proceeded to check his items. Now that gear repairs and buffing were complete, it was time to inspect his loot! After all, a boss with a name as grandiose as the God-Devouring Monster couldn't possibly drop useless items, right?

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly grew ice-cold. Tae-hyun desperately tried to maintain his composure. Surely, this couldn't be everything.

Another ingredient.

And another ingredient.

And yet another...

What did this bastard do with all the NPCs it devoured? Why is it only dropping these bizarre ingredients?!

If the legends were true and it had slaughtered the subjugation force indiscriminately, it should at least have dropped some of their high-end gear! Instead, all he got were cooking ingredients of highly questionable utility. To make matters worse, the quantities were absurdly massive.

Whoa, this is actually pretty good.

A skill that could only be acquired by enduring a massive penalty like a 20% stat reduction. Of course, Tae-hyun was not the type of person to hesitate over such things. Besides, he was a character who was largely unaffected by stat penalties anyway.

As long as my Luck stat is intact, I can dodge most attacks anyway...

He consumed it.

If an archer had obtained this, they would have wept tears of joy.

The effect was simple, but the "immunity to disruptive magic" was incredibly potent. When dealing with high-level archers, the very first thing opponents did was try to obstruct their vision. It was a skill well worth enduring the penalty for.

And the final item is...

Huh?

Tae-hyun blinked. Had he misread that?