The Art of Reassembly
Reassembling a broken mechanical golem when they should be rushing to catch up? If it were anyone else, people would have shouted, "What on earth do you think you're doing?" But the man standing before them was Kim Tae-hyun. No one dared to utter a single word of complaint. They could only wait in silence!
• You are attempting to repair a broken mechanical golem.
• You do not possess the Advanced Engineering skill. A penalty will be applied.
• You do not possess the Advanced Blacksmithing skill. A penalty will be applied.
• You do not possess the blueprint. A penalty will be applied.
• Assembling the mechanical golem incorrectly may cause an explosion.
"..."
Ominous message windows popped up the moment he began! Tae-hyun flinched.
"Is he really rebuilding that right now?"
The party members who had followed Tae-hyun whispered to Lee Da-bi and Cain, unable to contain their curiosity. They had only ever seen it on streams; they had never witnessed Tae-hyun using his skills in person.
"Yeah. Say what you want about that bastard, but his engineering skills are the real deal. You can trust him on this. Out of all the players currently active, no one utilizes engineering quite like—"
*Boom! Bang! Crash!*
"?!"
Startled by the sudden blast behind him, Cain whipped his head around mid-sentence. One of the mechanical golems Tae-hyun had been repairing had just exploded!
"...well, there might actually be quite a few, but either way, he's the only one we've got right now!"
"..."
For some reason, the atmosphere grew noticeably colder.
You have successfully repaired the mechanical golem.
Your Blacksmithing skill has increased significantly.
Your Engineering skill has increased significantly.
Confirm.
Tae-hyun checked his skill window. Although his skill tree was a chaotic mess of a jack-of-all-trades build, his primary focuses were Swordsmanship, Magic, Stealth, Speech, Blacksmithing, and Engineering. Among them, he was the first on the server to reach the Advanced rank in Speech, but several other players had already achieved Advanced rank in the other skills. Even if he couldn't claim the first-of-its-kind bonuses, he needed to reach the Advanced tier as quickly as possible. Rapid growth was his only option!
By the way, Swordsmanship really rises at a snail's pace.
Even though Tae-hyun didn't have a swordsman-type class, considering the number of times he had swung a blade and the monsters he had slain, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was his most frequently used skill. Yet, it was still stuck at Intermediate Level 8!
It's caught up quite a bit...
With his Engineering skill already at Intermediate Level 7, it was painfully obvious just how many places he had blown to smithereens with his bombs.
Screeech— Claaang—
"...?"
Tae-hyun looked up from his skill window at the grating noise. The mechanical golem was creaking to life!
The damaged mechanical golem has not been fully repaired.
It may malfunction at any moment.
"Sys...tem... active. Please... issue... command."
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over him, but Tae-hyun issued his order anyway.
"Guide me to the absolute center of the dungeon!"
"Under... stood."
Emitting a series of loud creaks and groans, the mechanical golem began to move forward.
"Hey, are you sure we can trust that thing? Something feels off."
"What's off about it? It's moving just fine."
"Its voice is cutting out!"
"It was designed that way."
"It literally exploded while you were repairing it earlier! Is that thing really safe?!"
Afflicted by a curse that reduced his HP to a precarious 1, Cain had every right to be on edge. If that thing exploded, everyone in the party except Tae-hyun would suffer an instant, forced logout!
"Jekas, over here! We did it!"
"It's not over yet, so don't let your guard down."
Jekas and his companions chatted amiably as they traversed the ancient dwarven corridor. Their lighthearted mood was the polar opposite of the tense atmosphere surrounding Tae-hyun's party, who had only just entered the dungeon.
"Oh, come on, don't be such a killjoy."
Jekas's party members were long-time friends who had played alongside him since the days of Pan-On 1. Their synergy was incomparable to any other explorer group—and that was Jekas's ultimate secret. Whenever an unresolved quest popped up in Pan-On 2, Jekas was always the first to step up, and there were virtually no quests he had failed to complete.
"Wait, did you forget about the Sadiq's Flame quest we failed last time?"
"Well, that... that was..."
"That couldn't be helped!"
Jekas nodded at his friends' defense. The Sadiq's Flame quest was still utterly baffling to think about. They had painstakingly combed through every piece of literature mentioning the ring, only to find that some random guy already had the sacred ring in his possession. To make matters worse, that guy was a Korean.
"Koreans are so annoying. Do they do nothing but eat and play games all day?"
As Jekas grumbled bitterly, his friends whispered among themselves.
"There goes Jekas again."
"I told you not to bring it up in front of him."
"How was I supposed to know he'd react like this?"
Jekas had a very specific reason for his deep-seated hatred of Koreans. Back when he was a top ranker in Pan-On 1, the opponent who had handed him a humiliating 1v1 defeat was none other than... a Korean player!
"And he has the exact same name! Kim Tae-hyun!"
"I looked into it, and apparently 'Kim Tae-hyun' is a super common name in Korea. The guy in Pan-On 2 just happens to share the same name as the one from Pan-On 1."
"I don't care, it's bad luck! It's incredibly annoying!"
Jekas shouted irritably.
"Hey, you're starting the stream soon. Calm down."
"Yeah, seriously."
Inhale, exhale...
Jekas took a deep breath to compose himself. He couldn't afford to show his temper with the stream about to start. On his personal channel, he was always the polite, friendly explorer!
"Alright, starting the stream now. Three, two, one..."
"?!"
The sudden flood of comments left Jekas's party completely bewildered. But their jaws quickly dropped!
"Who the hell is it?!"
"Wait, Kim Tae-hyun again? Does that bastard have a personal vendetta against us?"
"Jekas! They say his party is afflicted with the plague curse anyway! Let's split up. We'll hold them off, so you go ahead and complete the quest!"
Years of seamless teamwork paid off. Despite the sudden turn of events, they moved with practiced efficiency. Jekas's brow furrowed. Part of him wanted to hunt down that Korean player with the infuriating name himself, but... completing the quest was the priority!
"Alright. Let's do it!"
"Wow, look at all these mechanical golems. Don't they look reassuring?"
"Reassuring... I guess..."
"Why do I feel so incredibly anxious?"
The army of mechanical golems had grown significantly. Every time Tae-hyun came across a golem that Jekas's party had destroyed, he sat down and began repairing it. Though his companions wondered what on earth he was doing wasting precious time, Tae-hyun pressed on stubbornly. Thanks to his efforts, the vanguard of golems continued to swell. Even if every single one of them was creaking ominously...
"Master! Someone is approaching from behind!"
"?!"
Divine Foresight! Monster's Clairvoyance!
At Yong-yong's urgent warning, Tae-hyun immediately activated his skills. The corridor behind them, where the rest of the party was stationed, was in extreme danger!
*Crash!*
A section of the wall flipped open, and three players burst out. It was a hidden passage in the dungeon that Tae-hyun's skills had missed.
Furious Beast's Onslaught!
Seething Flame Whip!
Before anyone could react, the ambushers unleashed a barrage of high-damage attacks.
They know we're under the plague curse! Tae-hyun realized.
Otherwise, there was no reason for them to dump all their high-cooldown, burst skills right from the start. They wanted to thin the herd before the party could heal. And their strategy worked perfectly.
"N-No!"
"This is insane..."
"Why are they attacking us out of nowhere?!"
The unsuspecting party members were wiped out instantly, unable to put up any resistance. Only Tae-hyun, Cain, and Lee Da-bi managed to dodge the initial onslaught. Flames and skills raged through the narrow, angular corridor.
"Hahaha! How do you like that?!"
"That's what you get for trying to steal someone else's quest!"
The ambushers laughed triumphantly as they glared at Tae-hyun. Normally, to protect the surviving party members, the strongest players would have rushed forward to block the incoming skills. And based on what they knew, Tae-hyun and Cain were the most powerful players in this group.
"...?"
Yet, Tae-hyun's expression didn't change in the slightest. Neither did Cain's or Lee Da-bi's!
"...What's wrong with you guys? Why aren't you moving?"
"Did you freeze out of fear?"
They were sorely mistaken. These three were the type of people whose expressions wouldn't waver even if their entire party was slaughtered right before their eyes! If there was a competition for being thick-skinned and shameless, they would easily rank among the top.
"Hey! Say something!"
Growing anxious at the silence, one of the ambushers raised his flame whip and lashed out at Tae-hyun. The blazing whip crackled as it lunged toward him.
Circle of Counterattack!
*Crackle!*
"?!"
Tae-hyun, who had been standing perfectly still, executed a lightning-fast counter before sprinting forward.
"Block him!"
Shadow Clone! Shadow Dive! Shadow Leap!
The distance between them closed in the blink of an eye. The Circle of Counterattack was a skill that redirected an opponent's attack back at them. Forced to dodge his own flame whip, the ambusher couldn't keep Tae-hyun at bay. Getting so close that their noses almost touched, Tae-hyun whispered softly.
"Usually, people who try to pick a fight with me come fully prepared. What gave you guys the confidence to show up empty-handed?"
"Wai—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, a devastating burst of damage rained down! Critical hits popped up in rapid succession, and Archisus's Invisible Hand manifested simultaneously to deal additional damage.
"That's one down."
While Tae-hyun led the charge, Cain quickly restored his HP with potions and skills before leaping into the fray.
Slave's Chain!
A staple combo that felt wrong not to use! A rogue player attempting to retreat was dragged directly in front of Cain.
"Y-You monsters... Do you not care at all that your party members are dying?!"
Desperate, the rogue threw a dagger at a fallen party member. If Cain didn't block it, the player would be forced to log out immediately! Yet, Cain didn't even blink as he continued his relentless assault on the rogue.
*Boom! Crash!*
"I can tolerate you attacking my teammates! But I absolutely will not tolerate you attacking me!"
"What the hell are you even saying?!"
To a player who had always operated on the principles of teamwork, Cain's sheer, unadulterated shamelessness was completely incomprehensible.
"Ugh, that cheap bastard Kim Tae-hyun!"
"I can't believe he extorted us even after we gave him that information. Just you wait!"
"Hey, but you don't think he'll find out we were the ones who leaked it, right?"
"How would anyone know? Don't worry about it."
The only reason the world knew Tae-hyun's party had entered the dungeon was because Kim Byeong-guk and Choi Eun-cheol had leaked the information to get revenge. Grumbling, the two tried to flee as far away as possible. They doubted they would get caught, but if they did... the mere thought of it made them shudder!
"I'm seriously going to leave this region..."
"Did you just say 'Kim Tae-hyun'?"
"...?"
A passing player stopped and addressed them.
"I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'Kim Tae-hyun.'"
"So what if we did?"
"Are we not allowed to say his name? Huh? Is it a crime?! Did you pay for our accounts or something?!"
Having been thoroughly slapped around by Tae-hyun, the two were taking out their frustration on a random passerby! Unfortunately for them, this passerby was not someone they should have messed with.
Rumble—
"?!?!?!?"
Suddenly, Death Knights began to rise from the ground all around them. In less than a second, the two were completely surrounded!
"What did you just say?"
"..."