Two Levels in One Go

Gaining two levels at once. He couldn't even remember the last time he had experienced such a thing. Of course, if you hunted a powerful boss monster or cleared a continental or legendary quest, gaining multiple levels at once was a walk in the park. Other players routinely gained five, six, or even more than ten levels at a time. If they didn't, no one would bother clearing high-difficulty quests. High risk, high reward!

The problem ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was that this logic didn't apply to Tae-hyun. For him, it was high risk, low reward! His class was the type where he had to bust his tail just to scrape by with a single level-up. Yet here he was, gaining two levels in one go.

Just what level was this bastard?! Tae-hyun stared at the Slime Castle Gate with wide, startled eyes.

Now that I think about it, I was right on the verge of leveling up anyway... He had been just a hair away from his next level, and when a massive chunk of experience flooded in, it pushed him over the edge for one level-up, with enough left over to trigger a second. Considering the experience he had accumulated before arriving here, the math checked out.

"Argh! Long live Sadiq! Long live Sadiq! Hey! What are you doing?! What the hell are you doing?!" Cain's screams echoed from a distance. Only then did Tae-hyun snap out of it. Gaining two levels at once was a massive shock, but that wasn't the most important thing right now.

[Shake them off and run!] Along with his whispered message, Tae-hyun bolted. What was the priority right now? Getting as far away from the castle gate as humanly possible.

[Detonate!]

Squirm, squirm— The surface of the castle gate began to warp and writhe.

The players waiting outside yawned with bored expressions.

"Why did the attacks stop?"

"Looks like the undead got blocked."

"If it's Lee Se-yeon, shouldn't she be able to break through? Why is she just standing there?"

"Who knows? She probably has a plan. It's Lee Se-yeon, after all."

Se-yeon will handle everything! An unwavering, rock-solid faith! The players didn't take the initiative to step forward, but they didn't run away either. That alone was enough.

Creeeeak, crack—

"Hey, didn't that castle gate just move?"

"What do you mean, move? Is a castle gate alive or something?"

One of the archer players with high perception spoke up, but the other players scoffed at him.

"No, seriously, I really think it moved..."

Completely unaware that Tae-hyun was about to blow the gate to smithereens, Lee Se-yeon continued her hit-and-run tactics with her Death Wyvern Knights. It was a skirmishing style highly reminiscent of Mutalisks from StarCraft! At that exact moment...

KABOOOOOOOM!

With a deafening roar that threatened to tear their eardrums apart, the gate fortress was engulfed in a colossal explosion. And along with it, Lee Se-yeon's Death Knights flying nearby!

"My Death Knights!!!"

[You should have told me before detonating it! You should have told me!!]

[I said I'm sorry. I was too busy dealing with these Sadiq Paladins to think straight!]

To be precise, he had completely forgotten to mention it because he was too distracted by leveling up and allocating his points into the Advanced Engineering skill. Of course, if he admitted that, Lee Se-yeon would probably try to skin him alive, so Tae-hyun quickly changed the subject.

[Got it. We should attack now, right?]

[So, what changed with the Advanced Engineering skill is...]

[...Hey. The whisper channel is still open, you know?]

[Ah. Sorry.]

[More importantly, Advanced Engineering? When did you get that? Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tell me you were so distracted by that skill that you forgot to tell me—]

Click. Tae-hyun cut off the whisper and moved. Beside him, Cain was running, panting heavily.

"Huff, puff... I thought I was a goner."

"Good job, Cain. But why the long face?"

There was a reason for Cain's expression. It was because of the skill he had acquired as a reward for this chaotic stunt!

Cain stared at the message window with a deeply conflicted expression. For a tank-class player like Cain, a skill that drew aggro in this manner was always highly welcome. However, however...

I just can't accept that I got it from doing something like this...!

Normally, to obtain such a skill as a tank, one had to fight countless monsters, drawing their aggro and blocking their attacks.

The acquisition method is completely wrong!

"Don't ask...!"

"Then I won't. I wasn't particularly curious anyway."

"..."

Tae-hyun replied without a single second of hesitation. Cain thought to himself: He really is a master at speaking in the most irritating way possible!

"What's the plan now?"

"While they're shaking things up outside, let's look around. We'll grab what we can grab and take down whoever we need to take down."

Cain nodded at Tae-hyun's words. There was nothing easier or more comfortable than looting a burning house. Though in Tae-hyun's case, it was more accurate to say he had set the house on fire himself before looting it...

[Waaaaaaah!]

[Stop them!]

"They're fighting. They're fighting."

"Leave them be. They'll do just fine on their own anyway."

[Evangeline! Evangeline!]

"?"

"That name sounds familiar..."

Although she had lost her precious Death Knights for nothing, Lee Se-yeon remained unfazed. Once the explosion cleared, half of the gate fortress had been completely obliterated. A golden opportunity!

[Aura of Wrath and Negation!]

[Undead Frenzy!]

With a roaring battle cry, her undead army began to charge forward.

...!

Having issued the command, Lee Se-yeon found herself marveling once again. Is that truly the power of a skill?

Did any current player possess a skill with that level of destructive force? No matter how much she thought about it, the answer was a resounding 'no'. It was a level of power that surpassed even a ranker Mage specializing in destruction magic! Of course, this explosion was actually due to the power of the magic beast slime that had been serving as the castle gate, but there was no way for Lee Se-yeon to know that.

"Let's go too!"

"This is our chance! Our chance!"

The players who had been waiting in the rear until now began to step forward. Even to their eyes, this was an obvious opportunity. Half of that seemingly impregnable fortress had been blown away, leaving the interior completely exposed. It felt like they could just walk in and claim an easy victory!

Rumble—

Grouping up by parties, the players began to charge, following closely behind the undead army.

"Alright, let's go slice up some Sadiq cultists!"

Evangeline, who was now thoroughly sick and tired of dealing with Sadiq Church NPCs, took the lead. Since both Evangeline and her party members were rankers, their charge was on an entirely different level.

Bam! Crash!

They lightly deflected incoming arrows and Sadiq holy magic from above as they charged forward! It was a stark contrast to the other players who would get hit, scream, "Heal! Give me a heal!" and run away in a panic.

Swoosh—

[Block them! You must block them!]

With the gate fortress shattered, it seemed every Sadiq Paladin in the vicinity had swarmed out. They gathered in the passage exposed by the explosion, preparing to hold the line.

[Release the beasts!]

[Dark Elves! Cast your magic!]

Sadiq's massive beasts lunged out of the gate, and stone walls summoned by Dark Elves began to rise around the breach. It was a highly commendable response to such a massive explosion, but unfortunately for them, their opponents were simply too formidable.

Whoosh— Bam!

Evangeline's heavy strike sent a Sadiq Paladin flying into the distance.

[T-That Vampire! She is the enemy of Sadiq!]

[It's that butcher!]

"..."

Because she had relentlessly hunted down the Sadiq Church in her quest to get cursed, quite a few Sadiq NPCs recognized Evangeline. Several Sadiq Paladins rushed her at once, but Evangeline, bolstered by buffs and support, easily pushed them back instead.

Similar scenes were unfolding all over the battlefield. Parties with rankers skillfully hunted down Sadiq's giant beasts without breaking a sweat.

"Draw its aggro! I'll strike from behind!"

"Bind it! Burst it down all at once!"

"Keep it from flying away!"

While there were plenty of clumsy players who fled after getting hit during the charge, there were just as many highly skilled players. Now that those who had been biding their time were stepping up in earnest, the battle grew increasingly fierce.

"I should help with my magic..."

"N-No, Su-hyeok! We'll get PK'ed if we do that!"

"Yeah, exactly!"

When Jeong Su-hyeok tried to cast a spell, his friends immediately held him back. It would be one thing if they were alone, but with players swarming everywhere, accidentally team-killing someone with a stray spell... Just thinking about it gave them goosebumps! They might end up branded as public enemies and forced to log out before they could even meet up with their senior, Tae-hyun.

The community boards were burning hot. For the players eagerly awaiting the Prika Arena League, this event was like an unexpected gift. People cheered at the sight of a massive battle, the likes of which hadn't been seen in a long time. Even though anything was possible in Pan-On, it was rare for so many players to gather and clash so fiercely.

Meanwhile, in a place completely detached from all that excitement, a group of players was on the move.

"We finally cleared the quest! Once we go back to the village chief, he'll tell us where the Sadiq Church's traces are."

"We really went through hell! Let's head back right now!"

These were the players who had been forced to buy quests from Tae-hyun! In that short span of time, their friendship had grown incredibly tight. A bond forged under the shadow of a common enemy named Tae-hyun!

One of the players idly opened the Pan-On ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠community site. Then, his eyes widened in sheer shock.

"Uh, hey, guys..."

"Let's hurry back! Let's put an end to this dreadful quest!"

"Uh, well..."

"What's wrong? Let's get moving."

Looking at his completely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠oblivious companions, he found it hard to speak. But he had to tell them.

"Apparently... the Sadiq Church... is currently under siege..."

"..."

The atmosphere instantly turned ice-cold.

"Where should we plant the bombs?"

"Shouldn't we decide who to target first?"

"More importantly, let's decide where to go and what to loot!"

Time was ticking, but there were too many things they wanted to do. Everyone had a different opinion. In the end, the final decision rested on Tae-hyun!

"We need to take down Antonio, the Knight Commander, or the Archbishop to get the Authority, but..."

The problem was that every single one of them was a powerful boss monster. They certainly wouldn't stand still and take hits like that slime gate did earlier. On top of that, this was the Sadiq Church's stronghold. If he tried to hunt them carelessly, he might end up being the one hunted instead.

Should I use Cain?

Cain, the man born to use Self-Destruct! Sensing the look in Tae-hyun's eyes, a cold shiver ran down Cain's spine.

No, Cain can't afford to die right now. I need to take down at least one of the three to get even a single Authority. Hmm...

Tae-hyun racked his brain. If the stronghold fell, those three would most likely flee again. If that happened, it would be another tedious game of hide-and-seek. He wanted to catch at least one, preferably two, right here.

I'll have to use the bombs I crafted to take them out in one fell swoop. Alright, how do I set up the situation...

"There you are!"

"?!"

Burford's voice rang out from behind. Tae-hyun panicked for a split second. Did he blow my cover?! He was currently with Cain and Lee Da-bi. If Burford saw them together and put two and two together, things would get incredibly annoying.