An Impregnable Fortress

Burford, however, was completely oblivious to the fact that something was amiss. His suspicions had vanished entirely, replaced by sheer joy at welcoming the new players!

"Important buildings? There are too many to count. Over there is the Great Temple. You're only allowed inside if you clear a high-difficulty quest. Once you're in, you get powerful buffs or rewards. Connected to the back is the temple's treasure vault. And over that way is the training ground for the high paladins. The Grand Paladin's quarters are right next to it. And then..."

Burford was explaining everything from A to Z!

Tae-hyun nodded along, diligently taking notes.

Tae-hyun’s reaction only made Burford more enthusiastic. Look at him! He's so much more dedicated than those other players. Of course, those other players were actually a bunch of scheming raiders, but Burford had no idea.

Though this player was low-level, his sincerity toward the Sadique Order was undeniable.

Could this guy be planning to change his class to one from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Sadique Order?

Not just joining the order, but actually transitioning to a class like Paladin or Priest! If he did, Burford could ask for nothing more. Those other players had shown interest, but when asked about changing to a Sadique class, they had flatly refused, saying, "Uh, no, that's a bit..."

"Do you have any other questions? Ask away!"

"Why did you get your ring taken— I mean..."

His true intentions slipped out for a split second. Tae-hyun quickly cut himself off.

"Who is the NPC we need to get on the good side of here?"

"Ah, that's a bit of a difficult question."

"?"

Tae-hyun was puzzled. He had asked the question to find out the locations of the Grand Paladin and the Archbishops so he could plant bombs there. Why was it a difficult question?

"Well, the Sadique Order is currently split into factions..."

"Factions?!"

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. Factions within the order? That was utterly unimaginable in his own Archisus Church!

Sensing Tae-hyun’s disbelief, Burford hurriedly began to make excuses in a flustered voice. I can't let our precious new recruit leave!

"N-no, it's not usually this bad in the Sadique Order. But you know, after we got subjected to that subjugation quest in the Central Continent and suffered all those failures, some infighting broke out. Pan-On is a realistic game, after all. It's not my fault... but it's not really a big deal! We still get our skills and rewards on time."

Here was Burford, desperately making excuses to the very person responsible for splitting them into factions in the first place. If he ever learned the truth, he would be kicking his blankets in sheer embarrassment!

Tae-hyun put on a look of deep pity.

"Oh dear... that is truly tragic. How did it come to this?"

"Right?!"

Burford was visibly delighted to finally meet someone who ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sympathized with him.

Seeing this, the newly arrived raider party furrowed their brows.

—What are those guys doing?

—Leave them be. It's just a lowbie and an idiot.

—No, this is getting a bit weird.

Burford had been extremely kind to them at first. Thanks to that, they had planned to use him to plunder as much as they could before leaving. But if this new player got too close to Burford, Burford might only listen to him.

—Come on, there's no way. That guy looks like a total beginner who knows nothing. He won't get in our way.

—Because he's a beginner, he might spout some nonsense. Like, we're trying to find where the good items are, but he might ask to see the scenic spots first.

Beginners who didn't know Pan-On well often played like that, completely ignoring efficiency.

—Go over there and act friendlier.

—Me? Ugh, how much of that sucker's stories do I have to listen to? Did you see him babble about getting robbed for over an hour earlier?

Burford, who usually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had no other players to talk to, had shown his true colors the moment he got an audience. He had been droning on with a never-ending tale that always started with, "Back when I was in the Valley of Despair and Sorrow in the Central Continent..."

Even the raider players, who were seasoned scammers themselves, were utterly sick of it! Burford was dreadfully talkative.

—Ah, damn it... fine. I'll do it.

—You can do it!

However, they still had no idea who they were dealing with!

If Tae-hyun wanted something from someone, he didn't care how long or boring their stories were!

Tae-hyun’s eyes gleamed as he patted Burford on the shoulder, determined to squeeze out every single piece of information.

"So, there are two factions?"

"Exactly!"

Tae-hyun had patiently listened to Burford’s long-winded story. There was a lot of useless chatter, but he had extracted all the necessary information.

Currently, the Sadique Order was split into two factions.

First was the Temple Faction, the original core of the order, comprised of the Grand Paladin and the Archbishops.

Second was the Antonio Faction, centered around Antonio—the uncle of the King of Atali—and the knights he led.

When the Sadique Order was thriving, they had been on great terms. Back when they declared, "We will take over the Atali Kingdom!" they were all smiles.

The order supported Antonio, and Antonio promised to back the order once he ascended the throne!

But once their plans went awry, their forces dwindled, and they were forced to flee, animosity began to fester. Now, they were essentially two hostile forces living under the same roof!

"I follow Antonio."

"Is Antonio better?"

"Antonio himself is a high-level knight, and the knights under him are incredibly strong. Of course, the holy paladins and priests are powerful too, but I bet on Antonio. He seemed to have more of a future. Besides, the Dark Elf tribes around here seem to like Antonio more."

Despite his grand explanation, the reason Burford joined the Antonio faction was simple: the daily quest rewards were better! He had just packaged it nicely because he was too embarrassed to admit the truth to Tae-hyun.

"I see. Then I should follow Antonio as well!"

"Y-yes, that would be wise. Trust my judgment."

"But isn't it dangerous to be split in two? What if someone attacks this place?"

Tae-hyun asked in an innocent, naive voice. Tell me it's dangerous! Tell me the weakness!

But completely oblivious to Tae-hyun’s dark intentions, Burford burst into laughter.

"Don't worry. This place is absolutely impregnable. No one can conquer it."

"Is that so?"

Hearing that, Tae-hyun’s competitive spirit flared. Oho, is that so? Let's see if it can be conquered or not!

"These surrounding fortresses were originally built by ancient Dark Elves, you see. The walls are far sturdier and harder than normal ones. On top of that, the only way to charge in here is through the front. But the fortress guarding the front is the strongest one of all. Did you see the gate there? Do you know what it is?"

"I have no idea."

"Heh. Go use an appraisal skill on it yourself later. It'll blow your mind. It's absolutely indestructible. Wait, can you even see its details at your low level?"

Man, this guy talks way too much.

Except for Burford, everyone present shared the exact same thought.

Regardless, Burford enthusiastically babbled on.

"And most importantly, there's no one around here to attack us. It's different from the Central Continent. There are no royal knights or holy paladins here, so who would raid us? The Dark Elves are our allies, and we've joined hands with the neighboring tribes. So we can safely level up here, expand our forces, and then head back to the Central Continent..."

"Raid! It's a raid!"

"..."

"..."

"Is it here?"

A massive, bustling crowd—the phrase "a literal sea of humanity" fit the scene perfectly.

The area in front of the Karp Mountains was packed to the brim with players!

Even though Pan-On was a globally played game, it was rare to see so many players gathered in one spot like this. The continent of Pan-On was just that vast.

Without a compelling reason, they would never gather in such numbers.

Burford’s claim that "no enemies will come" wasn't technically wrong. Under normal circumstances, how could anyone have predicted this?

How could he have known that players who came to watch the Prika Arena League would spot Lee Se-yeon and swarm after her in a massive horde?

"Unni! Unni, you're being tricked!"

"Sure, sure."

"I'm telling you, you're being tricked! By that guy!"

"Sure, sure."

"Unni!!"

Lee Se-yeon placated her younger sister, Kim Hyeon-ah, who was screaming beside her. Hyeon-ah was a highly skilled and good-natured player, but the problem was that she became incredibly sharp whenever it came to Tae-hyun.

It is my fault, though. I didn't explain it to her properly.

Lee Se-yeon admitted it. To outsiders, it probably looked like Tae-hyun was constantly taking advantage of her.

But that wasn't the case. The two of them were simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠facing each other head-on, just as they always had since Pan-On 1!

Other people just wouldn't understand.

"That jerk Kim Tae-hyun is definitely using you, Unni! Please, listen to me!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to use him too, so don't shout so loudly."

"Don't use a guy like that! Use me instead!"

"How could I use you... Whoa, Hyeon-ah. Look at that fortress."

Murmuring—

The players also seemed to realize the gravity of the situation and began to whisper among themselves. Even to an untrained eye, the fortress looked absurdly difficult to conquer!

"W-what is that?"

"They're inside there?"

Not many of the players who had followed her were actually serious about raiding. Many had tagged along with thoughts like, 'Since Lee Se-yeon is going,' or 'If Lee Se-yeon and the other top rankers sweep the front, I'll just pick up the scraps from behind.'

To those players, the sheer exterior of the fortress was terrifying.

"B-but..."

"Since Lee Se-yeon is here, it'll be fine."

"Yeah. We have Lee Se-yeon."

Though the crowd murmured, no one left. It was all because of a single name: Lee Se-yeon!

No matter how formidable the fortress looked, surely they could breach it since Lee Se-yeon herself had come? That was the hope keeping them there.

However, the legendary Lee Se-yeon herself was currently...

—Hey. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding?

—You have dialed the wrong number?

—This is no time for jokes! I'm standing right in front of the gate!

—I know. I can hear you from inside.

She was busy interrogating Tae-hyun.

—Do I seriously have to clear a Legendary-grade quest just to get some arena practice? Do I really have to go that far? Huh?

—Come on, surely it's not a Legendary-grade quest. It shouldn't be that high.

—It is Legendary-grade. The quest window just popped up for all the players here.

—...

Lee Se-yeon was telling the truth.

A quest window had indeed appeared before everyone gathered at the scene!

A maximum-difficulty quest!

The grade alone made it clear just how absurdly difficult conquering this fortress would be.

Normally, it wouldn't have been surprising if players had immediately fled upon seeing a Legendary-grade quest. The only reason no one ran and instead looked on with anticipation was entirely thanks to Lee Se-yeon!

—Don't worry. I'll help you from the inside.

—How many of you are in there?

—Four... no, three.

—...

—There are only three of us, but that's more than enough!

—Fine. I'll trust you this once.

While she was whispering with Tae-hyun, Burford suddenly let out a loud shriek.

"A horde of players swarming in front of the mountains?! What on earth does that mean?!"

"...?"

Tae-hyun realized something was off. Just a moment ago, when mentioning the Legendary-grade quest, Lee Se-yeon had said "the players here."

—Wait, you didn't come alone? There are other players around you?

—You have dialed the wrong number?

—Hey! Hey!