The Angler's Path and Ominous Booms
Chairman Yoo grumbled as he wandered around, trying to find his way. "Excuse me, where can I find the fisherman named Hubon?"
"Why are you looking for a scrawny weakling like him? A real man should be out there running around and hunting with his own two feet!"
"..."
Chairman Yoo's face crumpled. No matter how much time he spent in Tyrum City, he just couldn't get used to it. For some reason, every single NPC here was incredibly obnoxious. Since the city was highly specialized for Tyrum Hunters, players who chose to be fishermen like Chairman Yoo received absolutely no respect.
Did that punk recommend this place knowing it would be like this?
His deep-seated distrust of Tae-hyun reared its head once more!
"Could you at least tell me the location..."
"If you want to know where he is, go out there and bring me ten rabbits!"
The Tyrum Hunters tested the skills of novice adventurers by having them hunt rabbits... Chairman Yoo closed the system message window before he even finished reading it. He muttered to himself:
"No, seriously, how am I supposed to catch ten of those monstrous things?"
Dumbfounded, Chairman Yoo retorted to the hunter. He had picked up a few tricks by now and no longer froze in terror at the sight of a rabbit, but they were still formidable opponents.
The sheer ferocity to charge and headbutt the moment they spotted you!
The incredible speed to catch up no matter how fast you ran!
The relentless persistence to pursue you to the ends of the earth!
A terrifying monster that seemed to possess every single overpowered trait imaginable—that was the rabbit of Tyrum City.
"Even other players have to form parties of several people just to catch one of those! You shouldn't be giving out quests like this!"
"What do you mean 'shouldn't'? Making the impossible possible is what being a Tyrum Hunter is all about! We have no use for someone who whines about catching a single rabbit!"
"I don't even want to be a Tyrum Hunter! I'm saying the difficulty of this quest is completely absurd!"
"In the past, there was an adventurer here who wiped out every single rabbit in the area all by himself. You'd be better off spending your time figuring out how to hunt them instead of complaining!"
The Tyrum Hunter turned and walked away. Chairman Yoo stared at his retreating back, utterly flabbergasted.
Unbelievable! An AI is trying to scam a human... How could anyone possibly hunt all those rabbits out there alone?
No matter how he looked at it, it sounded like a blatant lie. He was deeply offended, but there was nothing he could do. Chairman Yoo went around asking NPC after NPC. After enduring endless scolding and dirty looks, he finally managed to pry Hubon's location out of someone.
I really need to leave this city...
All he wanted was a fishing rod and a body of water to cast his line, but this place truly knew how to grind a man's gears. Grumbling to himself, Chairman Yoo pushed open the door to a small shack.
"Is Hubon here?"
"Who goes there?"
"I am a fellow fisherman. I've come to learn from you..."
"A fisherman? I didn't know there were any other fishermen around here. This place is filled with nothing but uncultured brutes..."
An elderly fisherman sat inside the cabin. Seeing Hubon immediately trash-talk the Tyrum Hunters brought a bright smile to Chairman Yoo's face. After all, nothing bonds people faster than having a common enemy!
"Exactly! They are incredibly uncultured brutes!"
"I see you are a fisherman as well... Let me give you a piece of advice. It is difficult to achieve greatness as a fisherman in this place. To become a true angler, you must travel the world. What do you think is the most important quality for a fisherman?"
"Hmm... A patient mind?"
"That is important, but there is something far more crucial."
"...?"
"The ability to stay alive and protect your own neck."
Chairman Yoo nodded in deep agreement. He had been relentlessly harassed by rabbits just trying to walk to the lake to fish. To fish anywhere in this world, self-defense was an absolute necessity!
"I see the qualities of an outstanding fisherman in you, so I shall teach you a few skills."
You have acquired a new skill.
You have acquired a new skill.
You have acquired a new skill.
...?
Chairman Yoo was taken aback by the bizarre skill names, but Hubon kept speaking without pause.
"If you master the skills I just gave you, you'll at least be able to keep yourself from dying out there."
"T-thank you."
"And take this as well."
"...!"
What Hubon handed him was a set of equipment belonging to a retired fisherman. Having worn nothing but shabby rags until now, Chairman Yoo equipped the gear with a sense of wonder.
"It suits you quite well."
Whoa, this actually looks really cool!
Unbefitting of his age, Chairman Yoo admired his own reflection. After running around looking like a beggar for so long, putting on professional gear finally made him look like a proper fisherman. On top of that, his character's race was an Elf...
"Are you listening to me?"
"Ah, yes? What did you say?"
"This is all I can do for you. Now, travel across this continent and gain experience as a fisherman."
"I see... Excellent. I shall do my best!"
Chairman Yoo nodded enthusiastically. While fishing in one spot was nice, he figured traveling around since the opportunity had presented itself wouldn't be a bad idea. What would other fishing spots look like?
"And what else... Ah. It would be wise for you to join a church."
"A church?"
"Yes. Having faith in a god will greatly aid your fishing."
"A god..."
Chairman Yoo, who didn't follow any religion in real life, muttered in a daze.
"What kind of gods are there?"
"Well... There are many gods, but the ones I would recommend to a fisherman would be... Podsena, the God of the Sea, and Archisus, the God of Luck."
"The God of Luck? There is such a god?"
"He was forgotten for a long time, but I hear his church was recently re-established."
Luck. It was an alluring word. How crucial was luck in fishing! Skill was important, of course, but if you had terrible luck, you wouldn't even catch a glimpse of a fish. After some thought, Chairman Yoo decided to put his faith in the Archisus Church.
"Where do I need to go to join?"
"You can head here."
A new location has been added to your map.
Hubon kindly marked the location on his map. A new destination appeared on Chairman Yoo's map.
"It would be best to take a carriage. With your current skills, traveling on foot would be far too dangerous."
Chairman Yoo nodded at Hubon's advice. Hubon went on to offer a few more tips. They were basic pointers for a newly transitioned fisherman, but they were invaluable to Chairman Yoo.
Normally, when a player transitioned to a class, helpful NPCs like this would appear to guide them. Just as Yu Ji-soo had her Tyrum Hunter mentor, Chairman Yoo now had Hubon. The Avatar of Archisus, whom absolutely no one helped, was simply a bizarre anomaly!
With a heart full of anticipation, Chairman Yoo boarded the carriage. He had absolutely no idea that he was about to run into a very familiar face in that territory!
"Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Tae-hyun muttered.
Beside him, Cain and Lee Da-bi nodded in unison.
Tae-hyun had returned to the Valley of Despair and Sorrow to plan his next Authority quest. However, as they neared his territory, a group of players was standing by the roadside, waiting for him! It was Gabriel and his crew of engineering blacksmith players.
"Lord Tae-hyun!"
As Gabriel rushed forward with his arms wide open, Tae-hyun promptly shoved Cain in front of him. A human shield to guard against any potential surprise attacks!
"Mmph, mmph!"
Gabriel let out a muffled groan as he collided face-first with Cain. Cain irritatedly pushed Gabriel away.
"What the hell are you guys doing? Were you waiting here to ambush us?"
"An ambush?! How could you say something so preposterous!"
Gabriel jumped back in shock at Tae-hyun's accusation.
"We came here because we wanted to help you, Lord Tae-hyun!"
"No thanks, I don't need your help. Besides, didn't you spread that plague curse under the guise of 'helping' me when I never even asked you to? How on earth is that helpful?"
Standing beside him, Lee Da-bi chimed in quietly.
"But considering the rewards you got from that, didn't it technically turn out to be a help in the end?"
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
At Tae-hyun's sharp glare, Lee Da-bi offered an awkward smile and shut her mouth.
With a flustered expression, Gabriel stammered:
"T-that... The plague curse was only to carry out your will, Lord Tae-hyun. To eliminate those players who bully others just because they have high levels, good gear, and powerful classes..."
Listening to Gabriel, Cain cut in, completely dumbfounded.
"Hey, the absolute worst offender of all those things is Kim Tae-hyun. What are you even talking about?"
"H-how dare you speak so rudely! I heard rumors that you've been tagging along and deceiving Lord Tae-hyun, and it seems they were true!"
"W-what?! You little punk! Do you have any idea how much I suffered because of you? I got hit with that plague curse and spent every single day chained up..."
Cain glared at Gabriel, his blood boiling. Thinking back on his days as a literal human shield filled him with a fresh wave of resentment!
Shoving the fuming Cain aside, Tae-hyun spoke up again.
"I never told you to spread any plague curse. So stop talking about helping me and just stay quiet. I had absolutely nothing to do with that curse, yet wild rumors started spreading that I was behind it. Do you have any idea how much I care about my public image?"
"...?"
"...?"
Lee Da-bi and Cain stared at him with identical expressions of sheer disbelief, but Tae-hyun remained completely shameless.
"I-I see... I am so sorry, Lord Tae-hyun. I made a grave mistake without understanding your true intentions... I will surely make up for this blunder!"
"Right, make up... Wait, hold on. No. Don't make up for anything. Just leave it."
Tae-hyun sensed an ominous foreboding. Gabriel was definitely going to cause another massive disaster under the pretext of "making up" for his mistake!
"More importantly, how did you know I'd be here?"
Tae-hyun usually kept his movements strictly confidential. Even putting his notorious past in Pan-On 1 aside, he had made far too many enemies. To think they knew exactly where he would be and were waiting for him.
"Huh? Lord Saruon told us you'd be arriving soon, so we waited."
"..."
Tae-hyun immediately pieced together what had happened. There must have been a few engineering blacksmith players from Gabriel's faction residing in his territory. Naturally, those players would have been highly intrigued by the sudden appearance of the demon blacksmith NPC, Saruon... and Saruon, completely lacking any discretion, must have blabbed that Kim Tae-hyun would be arriving shortly!
"Have you guys been grinding your skills here?"
"Yes!"
The blacksmiths answered instantly. Unlike Gabriel, the other players weren't well-known, so no one had paid them any mind.
Tae-hyun felt a creeping dread wash over him. Why did his territory keep attracting nothing but weirdos? The phrase birds of a feather flock together suddenly popped into his mind, but Tae-hyun desperately shook his head to deny it.
"Guys."
"...?"
At Tae-hyun's single word, every player's gaze locked onto him with intense focus.
"To be honest, my territory isn't a very good place to learn engineering."
"..."
"So, why don't you go somewhere else? There's a castle occupied by players in the Auston Kingdom, and it's actually quite nice. Go there instead."
Tae-hyun's intentions were so transparently obvious that even Cain and Lee Da-bi, listening from the side, cringed. However, to the blacksmiths who were utterly blinded by their fanatical devotion, it sounded completely different.
"No way! We love it here!"
"We will do our absolute best here! We will make this territory a better place!"
"..."
Tae-hyun's face twisted into an expression of genuine disgust. Frankly speaking, these guys felt like they would bring nothing but disaster to his territory! But when they took such a humble stance and promised to work with all their hearts, it was incredibly hard to turn them away. Tae-hyun had always been weak against this type of earnestness!
BOOM!
"?!"
A massive explosion echoed from the distance. It came from the direction of his territory.
"Don't tell me..."
"I-it wasn't us!"
Tae-hyun immediately suspected the blacksmiths first!