A Golden Opportunity and a Golden Dragon
Unlike Tae-hyun, who was left utterly bewildered, Yu Ji-soo pumped her fist in silent triumph. She had spent so much time agonizing over having his number but never finding the courage to call him. The longer she hesitated, the more awkward it had felt to make that first move. But now, a golden opportunity had practically fallen into her lap!
Thank you so much, Grandfather!
"My ears are itching for some reason..." Chairman Yoo grimaced. He had a nagging feeling that something terrible was brewing somewhere out of his sight.
"By the way, sir, seeing how you spoke with Tae-hyun earlier, have you made up your mind to play Pan-On?"
"Mmm... Yes. I might as well give it a try. You'll help me out, won't you?"
"Of course! Just say the word. I'll get you right into our guild! Haha!"
Chairman Yoo nodded. Of course, he had absolutely no idea that Kim Tae-san's guild was named the Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild. Had he known, he would have gladly played solo before ever setting foot in a guild with a name like that!
"I don't particularly want any help from your son, though."
"Haha, I completely understand. The boy does have a knack for getting under people's skin."
"Exactly!"
Chairman Yoo and Kim Tae-san found themselves in perfect agreement on the subject of Tae-hyun. If it was trash-talking Tae-hyun, the two of them could easily go on for hours.
"Still, he turned out to be a better fellow than I expected."
"Is that so?"
"Well... he has a grand vision, he's generous with his money, has a keen eye... and he's deep, almost to a devious extent."
Hearing Chairman Yoo's praise, Kim Tae-san scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.
"Oh, he's not all that."
"Come now, don't play coy when you're clearly pleased."
His true feelings laid bare, Kim Tae-san chuckled embarrassedly. As a father, there was no way he could be unhappy hearing his son praised.
"Above all, the young man has an excellent eye for judging people and things."
"Tae-hyun does have a bit of a talent for that."
If Yu Ji-soo had been there to hear this, she would have screamed, "If he has such a great eye, how can he not even tell what gender I am?!"
"What a bizarre day..." Tae-hyun muttered to himself. It had been a day filled with utterly unexpected events.
Overhearing him, Cain asked, "Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing. For now, let's head to the Erangs Kingdom as fast as possible."
"Should we take a carriage or a ship?"
"A ship would be faster, but wait... Actually, a carriage might be better."
Tae-hyun's mind raced. It was his survival instinct kicking in! Last time, he had felt safe taking a ship because the Church's fleet was escorting them, but now he would be boarding a vessel alone. He had a terrible premonition that traveling by sea would invite a swarm of enemies.
-Master.
"Huh...?"
-Can I not simply carry you and fly?
"Ah..."
Tae-hyun wore a look of genuine, dumbfounded realization. Seeing this, Yong-yong reacted with wounded pride.
-I am disappointed, Master.
"Hey, it hasn't been that long since you got strong! Of course it didn't cross my mind!"
-You are ignoring me because I stole your experience points, sob sob.
"No, I'm not!"
Tae-hyun desperately tried to placate Yong-yong. Lee Da-bi watched the two of them with fascinated amusement. She looked exactly like someone who would be munching on popcorn while watching a show. In fact, she actually was eating popcorn!
"...What are you eating over there?"
"Pardon? Oh, I'm eating popcorn to boost my stats before we travel."
"Mmm..."
Lee Da-bi didn't seem to have any ill intent, but her choice of snack felt strangely insulting!
"Anyway, let's climb onto Yong-yong! We need to fly to the Erangs Kingdom quickly. Nothing good will come of us lingering here."
Thanks to Yong-yong's level-up in the Demon Realm, it was a massive relief that he could carry all three of them and fly straight to the Erangs Kingdom. Suddenly struck by curiosity, Tae-hyun asked the dragon, "By the way, what level are you now?"
-...It is not that high.
Yong-yong eyed Tae-hyun warily. But Tae-hyun, completely oblivious, pressed further. "So, what is it? Don't tell me you're already level 200?"
-...
Yong-yong suddenly shut his mouth.
"...You're past that, aren't you?"
-...
"Way past that...?"
-Master! It is not my fault!
"Right... It's not your fault... Even though that experience should have been mine..."
Monopolizing all the experience points from the Demon Realm, plus receiving an extra bonus for slaying demons as a divine beast! Yong-yong had restored his power to a terrifying degree. His current level was somewhere in the 250s!
Level 250? Are you kidding me...?
Thinking about where all that experience had come from made Tae-hyun's stomach churn with bitter regret.
"Ah, whatever. Let's go."
Yong-yong's combat power was essentially Tae-hyun's own power. It was just like a Hunter traveling with a combat pet! Though, in this case, the pet was absurdly strong and devoured a ridiculous amount of experience...
"Flying like this is so convenient," Cain remarked. "Can't we rent mounts like wyverns?"
"Not around here. You probably could in the Atali Kingdom, though."
While any random player could rent a standard horse-drawn carriage, hitching a ride on the back of a kingdom's wyvern required completing specific kingdom quests or having a high contribution score. In exchange, they offered guaranteed speed and safety! There was a reason players went absolutely crazy for flying mounts.
"We'd be lucky if we didn't get arrested trying to rent a wyvern anyway," Tae-hyun added.
"..."
Cain nodded. Come to think of it, given what they had pulled in the Espa Kingdom, trying to rent one of the kingdom's official wyverns would be incredibly shameless.
"Well, now that Yong-yong can fly like this, I guess I don't need to make one separately."
"Huh? Make what?"
"I was planning to craft an Engineering mount later when I had some free time."
"There's such a thing?"
"??"
Tae-hyun stared at Cain as if he were looking at an alien.
"Did you never play Pan-On 1? There were mechanical mounts in Pan-On 1. Like those flying steam-powered sailboats."
"That was an Engineering skill?!" Cain gasped in shock. He had always assumed they were just made through some regular skill, but it turned out to be Engineering!
"You really don't know anything, do you?"
"Hey, only blacksmiths would know stuff like that! I was a combat class in Pan-On 1 too! Hardly anyone knew about those things! How on earth do you know so much about it?"
Tae-hyun flinched slightly at Cain's casual remark. However, Cain paid no attention to his reaction. He had just heard something far more important.
"Can you actually make a mechanical mount?! Make one for me! No, please make one for me, Master! I'll pay you in gold!"
"Why would I make one when we have Yong-yong? Besides, I don't even have materials for bombs right now. I need to make more bombs."
"Hey! You're plenty strong even without bombs! Forget that, let's make a mount! A mount!"
Cain's eyes sparkled as he clung to Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun shoved him away, but he could understand Cain's excitement. Mounts had always been every player's ultimate dream! Countless players struggled just to get their hands on a common horse, the easiest mount to obtain. In that regard, a heavy, clanking, steam-hissing mechanical mount was the absolute pinnacle of luxury. It was an incredibly rare item that required a blacksmith with a high Engineering skill to spend ages gathering all sorts of materials. If one ever happened to appear on the auction house, it would practically break the server!
"No way, man. I have too much on my plate. And the materials are too hard to find."
"Come to think of it," Lee Da-bi chimed in, "didn't someone ride a steam-engine rocket and self-destruct with it in Pan-On 1?"
"...!"
"!!!"
Both Tae-hyun and Cain flinched. Of course, their reasons were entirely different.
Cain flinched in utter disbelief, thinking, Who on earth is crazy enough to self-destruct with such a precious mount? What an absolute lunatic!
But Tae-hyun flinched for a very different reason. Because that lunatic was him!
Lee Da-bi stared intently at Tae-hyun. While Cain didn't seem to suspect a thing, she couldn't shake the feeling that this Tae-hyun shared far too many similarities with the legendary Kim Tae-hyun of Pan-On 1.
"What an absolute waste!" Cain grumbled. "Why would anyone self-destruct with that? They should've just given it to me! That guy must have been seriously brain-dead—ow! Why did you hit me?!"
"There was a mosquito on the back of your head."
"A mosquito? Up here in the sky?!"
"Looks like there's another one."
Tae-hyun raised his hand again. Cain immediately read the room and shut his mouth.
"Haha, now that I think about it, there was! No wonder it felt itchy!"
Watching their exchange, Lee Da-bi grew even more certain.
There's no doubt about it. He really is the Kim Tae-hyun from Pan-On 1!
"I'm sure the guy who self-destructed in Pan-On 1 had his reasons," Tae-hyun said defensively. "The other guilds probably never expected anyone to ram a priceless mount into them and blow it up."
"Still, though..." Cain muttered.
Lee Da-bi looked at Tae-hyun and offered,
"If you ever need materials, just ask us. We might not be able to gather ultra-rare items, but we can amass common materials in the blink of an eye."
That was the power of the Power Warrior Guild—a guild that triumphed through sheer numbers and endless free time!
Hearing Da-bi's offer, Cain slapped his knee. "That's perfect! I guess even dog dung has its uses—"
"What?" Da-bi said.
"Excuse me?" Tae-hyun chimed in.
"...My apologies." Cain quietly shrank back.
Tae-hyun continued, "I've always gathered my own materials. It feels a bit weird to make other people do it for me."
"Every other high-level player operates with full guild backing," Da-bi pointed out. "Just look at the Suning Guild; their support system is incredible."
One of the core strengths of the Suning Guild was its alliance with several friendly Chinese guilds. They even had guilds dedicated solely to running gold farms and gathering crafting materials! The reason they could recover so quickly even after losing items or getting wiped out was entirely due to this massive support network. While other guilds might not be as massive as the Suning Guild, they all operated with highly organized structures.
"Honestly, among the current rankers, is there anyone besides you, Tae-hyun, who does absolutely everything on their own?"
"Mmm..." Tae-hyun trailed off.
Indeed, playing Pan-On 2 had made him realize how much he had changed since the days of Pan-On 1. Back then, he had played like a true lone wolf, but in Pan-On 2, he was constantly getting entangled with all sorts of people. Even his stubborn refusal to join or create a guild had already half-crumbled. Was there really any point in remaining so obstinate? Especially now, when he had far more enemies than he did in Pan-On 1?
"You have a point. Alright, I'll let you know if I need help later."
"Great!"
"Thanks, Da-bi. I'm actually a bit touched... Wait." Tae-hyun paused.
Lee Da-bi was fundamentally the same breed of human as him. She was not the type to offer favors without expecting something in return!
"What's your angle here?"
"Hehe... Well, the teaser for the Demon Realm broadcast is coming out soon. Once it airs, could you make a guest appearance on our guild's personal stream?"
"I appreciate the honesty. Sure, why not."
Considering everything Da-bi had done for him, that was a small price to pay. Of course, to the average viewer, it would probably look incredibly bizarre: Why on earth does a player of Kim Tae-hyun's caliber keep showing up on a low-budget stream like that?
*Whoosh!*
"You adventurers over there! Halt!"
"...!"
They had let their guard down just because they were in the sky, but suddenly, knights riding wyverns flanked them from above and below.
"Crap! Are we busted?" Cain hissed.
"Not yet. Keep quiet."
Tae-hyun silenced Cain and greeted the knights with a bright, friendly smile. He wanted to avoid a mid-air battle at all costs. Fighting up here would bring nothing but trouble!
"Is there a problem, officers?" Tae-hyun asked politely.
"We spotted an unfamiliar mount and came to investigate. Where are you headed?"
"We are on our way to the Erangs Kingdom."
"Hmm, none of you seem to match any wanted posters."
You have successfully deceived the Knights of the Espa Kingdom.
Your Speech skill has increased.
Your Disguise skill has increased.
Tae-hyun hadn't been nervous in the slightest. Compared to the high-profile figures he had swindled in the past, these knights were mere greenhorns! True to form, the knights waved them through without any real suspicion.