Kneel Before the Holy Knight!

"I am a holy knight who serves Lord Sadiq! Kneel, you fools!"

"Ohhh!"

"Forgive us for doubting you!"

The villagers fell to their knees instantly! Now that he had shown them Sadik's Flame in action, they had no choice but to believe Tae-hyun.

"Hey, get out here."

"..."

The three behind him walked out with deeply reluctant expressions.

"Are they holy knights as well?!"

"They are my subordinates. Of course, they are all faithful believers in Lord Sadiq."

Tae-hyun signaled them with his eyes.

The three of them shouted in turn.

"H-Hail Sadiq..."

"Lord Sadiq is the best! Long live Lord Sadiq!"

"For Sadiq!"

"Why only me?!"

Cain fumed at the message window popping up in front of his eyes. That bastard Tae-hyun was literally running a scam claiming to be a Holy Knight of Sadiq!

"Lead us to the village!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Tae-hyun gave the command with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sheer delight. Now that things had turned out like this, the village was as good as his!

Although they had taken over the village, it was a small settlement, so there was surprisingly little worth taking.

Even though they wanted to sweep everything from the warehouse, there simply weren't any items worth looting! Lee Da-bi made a crying face at the sight.

"We finally... got our hands on a decent village for the first time, and yet..."

"...Are you implying the Valley of Despair and Sorrow isn't decent?"

"Ah!"

Having accidentally blurted out her true thoughts, Lee Da-bi quickly avoided Tae-hyun's gaze.

To be fair, when they first acquired the Valley of Despair and Sorrow, there had been absolutely nothing to salvage. It had been completely ruined from the battle with the Sadiq Church!

Demonic beasts roamed the surrounding valleys, and the few remaining buildings were nothing but rubble. It had been even more barren than this tiny village.

"He-hehe. I didn't mean it like that..."

"Whatever, let's just grab what we can quickly. Let me know if you find anything good."

Watching Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi rummage through the village warehouse, Chairman Yoo asked in sheer disbelief, "Is it really okay to just steal like this?"

"Tsk, Elder. Words have power, and 'stealing' is such an ugly term. As a holy knight of the Sadiq Church, I am merely receiving some logistical support."

"You aren't even part of the Sadiq Church!"

"My, what a preposterous thing to say."

Tae-hyun gestured as he spoke. Instantly, Cain and Lee Da-bi stepped up and covered Chairman Yoo's mouth.

"Mmph! Mmmph!"

"Elder, please stay quiet and don't interfere with someone else's scam. Or would you like to be tossed into those flames over there?"

Cain, who was holding Chairman Yoo's mouth shut, paused and asked, "Wait, did you just call it a scam?"

"Shut up. Just check the items."

Divine Foresight.

He didn't expect much, but Tae-hyun moved to find the best item here. If Lee Da-bi had her Golden Merchant skills, Tae-hyun had the skills of Archisus!

"...?"

Following the path indicated by Divine Foresight, a dusty bookshelf appeared in the corner of the warehouse.

"Books?"

For anything good to come out of a bookshelf, it had to be a book or a scroll. Tae-hyun's heart suddenly began to flutter. This was a situation ripe for a jackpot. What could be there?

The Great Sadiq's Teachings, The Path of the Fanatic, How to Burn Down Heretical Temples...

"..."

Tae-hyun's expression soured. What kind of garbage books were these!

Still, Tae-hyun stealthily slipped the books into his coat. Even if it was the Sadiq Church, if there was something to learn, he had to learn it!

"Hmm..."

Use.

Tae-hyun immediately used it. Basic Fire Magic for Novice Fanatics was a decent spellbook. It wasn't incredibly rare or unique, but for Tae-hyun, whose class was far from a mage, every single spell was precious.

Moreover, the fact that it was influenced by both his Holy and Infamy stats was a massive advantage.

If he were to compete with orthodox mage players in pure magic, Tae-hyun would naturally be at a disadvantage. It was much better to learn unorthodox magic like this.

But is this the only thing?

Tae-hyun felt a bit deflated. Of course, expecting a massive haul from a small village warehouse was a thief's mindset, but still...

Click—

"Huh?"

With a heavy thud, the bookshelf slid open! Behind it lay a hidden secret space.

"What's this? What is it?"

"It looks like a secret room... Why is something like this here?"

Tae-hyun tilted his head. Just moments ago, the villagers had been cheering, "Long live the Holy Knight of Sadiq! Fight on until the day we take Count Kim Tae-hyun's head!" It was highly unlikely that people like them would have hidden such a space.

Did they not know about it either?

Stepping inside, he saw stacked crates. Dust flew everywhere, as if no one had entered in a very long time.

Cough, cough—

Brushing away the dust, the distinct emblem of Sadiq carved onto the crates came into view.

What did they put in here to warrant this...?

Grin—

The corners of his mouth curled up naturally, completely beyond his control!

And the Sadic's Blessed Fire-Blood Herb wasn't the only thing in this secret space.

In Pangaea Online, powerful and massive magic required various preparations: time, space, and materials. This secret space was undoubtedly a storage room for materials prepared for the Sadiq Church's powerful grand magic—though how it had been forgotten was anyone's guess!

The real kicker was that these materials were a perfect match for his Engineering skill and bomb-making.

Sadiq's symbol was fire! And fire and explosions were an inseparable, match made in heaven!

"Cain, I think the Sadiq Church and I are a match made in heaven."

"I don't think they would agree with that..."

The Sadiq Church wasn't the only place on the Prika Continent cursing and swearing at Tae-hyun.

"Kim Tae-hyun, you son of a bitch!"

"Die, Kim Tae-hyun!"

It was a level of hatred so intense that if the Sadiq Church NPCs had heard it, they would have offered them membership on the spot: 'Excuse me, would you happen to be interested in joining the Sadiq Church? We hate Kim Tae-hyun too.'

However, they couldn't join the Sadiq Church. They had to attack the Sadiq Church to complete their quests!

Every player shared the exact same thought.

How on earth did I get caught in a curse like this!

They prided themselves on being long-time players of Pangaea Online, but they had never experienced such a pathetic, miserable curse. It was a powerful curse, entirely different in nature from the Ultimate Plague Curse!

Every time they tried to do anything, a message popped up:

It was enough to make anyone lose their mind.

"Ah. Wouldn't it have been better to just go after Jekas? Finding traces of the Sadiq Church is ridiculously hard."

"I heard the guys who went after Jekas are wandering aimlessly right now too."

The players who had foolishly invaded Tae-hyun's territory had split into two factions.

Let's hunt down Jekas, since he's just one guy and his location is somewhat known! VS No, Jekas is a high ranker with plenty of friends. Let's target the Sadiq Church instead, where it's easier to stack contribution points!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

In the end, they couldn't reach a consensus and split up, but their relationship was still surprisingly decent.

Despite having betrayed and backstabbed each other so ruthlessly back in the territory, there was a reason they were moving together now.

It was all thanks to Tae-hyun.

People always bond fastest when they share a common enemy!

Solely because they had all been victimized by Tae-hyun, they had forgotten their past bickering and were working hand-in-hand.

"Didn't that bastard Jekas just use us? He could have slandered him out of pure pettiness."

"Jekas doesn't seem like the type to do that."

"Hey, how can you ever really know what's in someone's heart? Those polite, quiet bastards are always the most insidious behind your back."

"More importantly, don't you think Kim Tae-hyun is actually the Kim Tae-hyun from Pan-On 1? I saw the Pan-On 1 Kim Tae-hyun once or twice, and their rotten personalities are identical."

"There are plenty of people with rotten personalities."

"No, Kim Tae-hyun was on a whole different level."

Surprisingly, not many of the players gathered here had actually spoken to the Tae-hyun of Pan-On 1.

Usually, their only experience was charging at him in Pan-On 1, only to be utterly crushed without even getting a word in!

To even exchange words with Tae-hyun back then, one had to be a top-tier ranker in Pan-On 1.

"Where on earth is the Sadiq Church hiding... Are they cockroaches? Why do they keep hiding and multiplying?"

"Well, those holy knight bastards are notoriously persistent."

"How are we supposed to find them in a place like this...?"

"Still, we're probably the fastest right now. Except maybe on the Central Continent, there are barely any players on the Prika Continent who have progressed as fast as us. Let's quickly find the Sadiq Church, rack up some contribution points, grab the rewards, and part ways."

The player acting as their de facto leader persuaded the others.

It was true. Although they had been forced into this because of Tae-hyun, subjugating the Sadiq Church yielded plenty of other rewards.

Furthermore, if they returned to the Central Continent and reported it to a kingdom or another church, they would receive additional rewards.

It was a reward on a completely different scale compared to the measly 1 gold Tae-hyun had promised!

"Yeah. We're definitely the fastest right now."

"Exactly. Let's think positively!"

There were no kingdoms in the northwestern region of the Prika Continent, which could be reached by boat from the Espa Kingdom.

Instead, various tribes each controlled a single city or village!

Because of this, the difficulty of progressing through quests was multiplied several times over.

Normally, if you raised your reputation or affinity within a kingdom, the NPCs throughout that kingdom would generally become friendly.

But here, they had to clear quests and raise affinity from scratch for every single city and village!

It naturally took several times longer.

Still, they had no choice but to swallow their tears and clear them one by one to find the Sadiq Church.

The only comfort they had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the belief that they were currently the furthest ahead in the Sadiq Church questline!