A Curse You Can't Refuse

Only then did the players realize what Tae-hyun had been doing to drag things out. He had been creating quests under the name of the Archisus Church! As the Pope of the denomination, it was entirely within his rights to issue quests in its name.

It was a forced quest sale, something completely unheard of!

The party chat was moving at a frantic pace.

Tae-hyun watched the players, who were quietly rolling their eyes, and spoke again.

"Hey, guys."

"..."

"I think you're talking in party chat right now. Great. First one to give me some useful information gets exempted from this quest."

"That guy over there was swearing at you, Tae-hyun!"

"Hey!!!!"

"Excellent. You don't have to take the quest."

"Th-thank you...!"

Their initial hostility had vanished long ago. The players had already become Tae-hyun's obedient slaves.

"My friend. You were badmouthing me?"

"N-no, it wasn't badmouthing... just a light curse word..."

"That's badmouthing. Isn't it? Hmm?"

"I-it just slipped out..."

The player caught swearing in party chat broke into a cold sweat. Tae-hyun stepped closer.

I-I'm going to die...!

Pat.

"...?"

"It happens. People say things easily when they think no one's watching, right?"

"Y-yeah, exactly!"

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely understand."

"Kim Tae-hyun...!"

Tears welled in the player's eyes as he looked at Tae-hyun. The hatred for the Kim Tae-hyun of Pan-On 1 vanished, replaced entirely by gratitude!

Who the hell said Kim Tae-hyun was the blacksmith of Pan-On 1! He's so nice!

Carrot and stick! Pushing and pulling, tightening and releasing—Tae-hyun was masterfully playing with the players' hearts.

"So, I made another one just for you."

"???"

The atmosphere grew colder than sub-zero. Even a massive barrage of ice magic wouldn't have created such a chilling vibe.

"C-can I leave now...?"

The player who had quickly snitched first raised his hand and asked hesitantly.

"You can go."

"Th-thank you!"

"Once you accept this quest."

"B-but you said I didn't have to accept the quest earlier!"

"I said you didn't have to accept the quest to subjugate Jekas. The quest to subjugate the Sadiq Church is a new one, not 'that' quest. You have to take this one."

"!!!"

What kind of wordplay was this? The player stared at Tae-hyun with his mouth agape.

"That makes no sense...!"

"Shall we ask the others if it makes sense or not?"

Tae-hyun turned to the other players, who were still dazed.

"Should he take the Sadiq Church subjugation quest, or not?"

"...He should take it!"

"Of course he should!"

"He absolutely has to!"

A tearful drag-down-to-hell strategy! The remaining players were in perfect unison. Seeing this, the snitched player burst in anger.

"You bastards, seriously!"

No matter how much he fumed, the players' stance didn't waver.

The warm voices of his comrades echoed through the party chat.

"Now, accept the quest quickly and leave this territory. I need to repair the estate once you guys leave. I have no idea what wicked bastards trashed it like this. Don't you agree?"

"Indeed!"

A warm and friendly conversation between Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi!

"But will this popcorn really sell? There are so many chefs, won't other dishes come out too?"

"It's fine. People naturally love things with 'Original' or 'Authentic' attached to them! If you keep holding this whenever you have free time, Tae-hyun, people will definitely be intrigued!"

"Really? Truly?"

"And when interest starts to die down, we can change the flavor and release it again! That's how business works!"

"..."

The players glared at the obnoxious duo. They were currently agonizing over whether to accept this wicked quest or not. Meanwhile, those two were standing right next to them, debating whether this popcorn would sell!

I want to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kill them!

I really want to kill them!

That guy is definitely the Kim Tae-hyun from Pan-On 1! There's no way two such bastards could exist!

As their thoughts swirled, one brave player stepped forward to rebel.

"What if we don't accept the quest?"

"Hmm?"

"What if we refuse the quest, band together, and fight our way out?"

"Well, go ahead."

Tae-hyun gestured as he spoke. Immediately, Cain activated his skill.

In an instant, the player was dragged forward!

"Attack!"

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

And immediately, a concentrated barrage of attacks from the knights followed!

The player panicked, casting defensive and healing skills simultaneously, but his HP plummeted by over 80% in an instant, leaving him in tatters.

An overwhelming difference in power that made winning alone absolutely impossible!

Tae-hyun stepped forward and raised his sword.

"?!"

"Goodbye. Don't even think about crossing paths with me again. Whoever you are, if I see your face, it'll remind me of my ruined arena, and I'll kill you, kill you, and kill you again."

"W-wait!"

"It was about time I leveled up."

It was just sad that despite clearing such massive quests, his level was still only 72!

...Will I ever hit 100?

He felt like a turtle chasing a rabbit.

Due to the nature of the Avatar of Archisus class, his stats increased incomparably faster than other classes with each level up.

But among those, the increased Luck stat raised the amount of experience required for the next level...

An infinite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠loop!

Because the players had entered his territory and attacked first, killing them carried absolutely no penalty. Tae-hyun meticulously gathered the dropped items and spoke again.

"If you wanted to fight, you should've fought when the Sadiq Church was here. Well, this isn't bad either. Everyone said they didn't want to accept the quest, right? Then let's fight. I'll count to three and we start. Three, two, one..."

"W-w-wait a minute!"

"...?"

"I'll accept it! I'll accept it, okay!"

In the end, they began to yield one by one. No matter how they calculated it, accepting the quest was better than dying right here and now.

Right. Let's just accept the quest for now.

It's not like we absolutely have to clear it... we can just pretend to.

We can cure Archisus's Curse later. We're not low-level players; we can handle carrying a single curse. It's not like another Boiling Ultimate Plague is going to drop.

If the time limit is generous, we can take our sweet time. A quest like this should have a decent time limit.

Everyone had similar thoughts. They planned to accept the quest first, assess the situation, and drag things out. They could stall until the quest deadline, and even if the time ran out and they received the penalty, they figured a single curse wouldn't be that big of a deal.

Attacking Jekas or subjugating the Sadiq Church—both were quests of formidable difficulty.

One by one, the players accepted the quest and walked out of the territory. Tae-hyun waved at them with a warm smile.

"Yes, yes. Let's break the cycle of hatred. Isn't this wonderful?"

"..."

No one replied. Everyone had realized it by now.

They must never be fooled by Tae-hyun's kindness!

When they thought about it, it was bizarre. Unless he was a massive pushover, there was no way he would let off people who had invaded his territory and caused ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a ruckus.

Damn it. Just you wait.

We're backing down today, but...

However, they still didn't know.

Why Jekas hated Tae-hyun so much!

Why there were players from Pan-On 1 who would literally convulse at the mere mention of Tae-hyun's name!

It was because of his sheer, relentless tenacity—once he caught a sucker, he would bleed them dry to the very end!

"......????"

"Hey, if you don't like the curse, you'd better run and complete the quest quickly."

Now that they had all accepted the quest, Tae-hyun revealed his true colors!

"What the f*ck?!"

"No, how can you give us such a short time limit?!"

When people encountered something completely absurd, they couldn't even get angry. That was exactly how they felt right now.

To think he would scam them even with the quest duration!

"Time is gold. Run. Time waits for no one."

"Y-you... I won't clear it! I won't clear it! I'm so pissed off I'd rather not clear it!"

"Don't clear it then. Live your life enduring the curse."

"Did you think a measly curse would shake me? You have nothing left to threaten us with anyway!"

One of the players shrieked at the top of his lungs. Now that they were outside the territory, even if Tae-hyun chased them, they could easily escape.

"You'll end up clearing it."

"??"

"From what I've felt while raising this character, Archisus is a god... specifically specialized in annoying the hell out of people."

"...!!"

"Ah, seriously... I let them off with a generous heart, and they dare to cause such a ruckus?"

"I wouldn't exactly say you let them off generously..."

"Shut up, Pelmas. How is the search for the remaining Authorities of Archisus going?"

"Ahem, cough... Everyone has scattered and is searching diligently, but..."

Pelmas trailed off.

"So you haven't found anything."

"No, it's just that we aren't certain yet, but everyone is working hard! Ah! I just had a great idea. If you were to go and help them, Tae-hyun, we might find them much more easily!"

A list of quest windows popped up in rapid succession!

All the NPCs gathered to resurrect Archisus were working hard.

Except for Pelmas.

Come to think of it, didn't this bastard hide behind the knights when we were fighting in the territory earlier?

Tae-hyun's gaze grew sharp. Noticing this, Pelmas quickly lowered his head.

"No, we'll leave the search for the Authority of Archisus to the others for now. What we need to do first is strike the Sadiq Church."

"...!"

"We strike the Sadiq Church and take this opportunity to steal his authority!"

Among the other churches, the Sadiq Church was currently the easiest target for Tae-hyun to steal skills from. Thanks to their long-standing ill fate, they had been dealing with each other for quite some time!

"Tae-hyun! Even so, for the Avatar of Archisus to use the authority of another god..."

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"...Is a truly magnificent idea! It is a stroke of genius that I could never have even dared to conceive!"

Sensing danger, Pelmas immediately bowed his head.

While it would have been impossible for any other church, it was a perfectly viable method within the Archisus Church!