A Golden Opportunity
"Thank goodness...!"
"...?"
"I can't believe you're alive!"
"..."
Even Cain and Lee Da-bi stared at Tae-hyun with utterly dumbfounded expressions. Despite the two of them standing right there, Burford had reacted like that. He hadn't realized they were players at all.
Occasionally, there were players who confused other players with NPCs. If their equipped gear or overall appearance resembled an NPC, it was an easy mistake to make! However, unless someone was an absolute fool, they would usually realize the truth after talking for a bit.
Swoosh—
Cain and Lee Da-bi quickly backed away, mimicking Sadique Paladins.
"The weather is quite nice today, isn't it? Surely it is thanks to Lord Sadique."
"Haha! Indeed! Long live Lord Sadique!"
It was awkward, terrible acting.
"..."
Tae-hyun stared at them as if they were crazy, but Burford didn't notice a thing. This only happened because he didn't doubt Tae-hyun in the slightest.
"Chaos has broken out! The gate fortress was completely obliterated!"
"What?! No, how!? Who would do such a thing?!"
At this point, it wouldn't be surprising if the iron plate on Tae-hyun's face had turned into a diamond plate. He was the one who had caused the destruction, yet he shamelessly pretended to know nothing! Unaware of this, Burford spoke urgently.
"It must have been Lee Se-yeon. She definitely used some hidden magic!"
From Lee Se-yeon's perspective, this was incredibly unfair. Thanks to Tae-hyun launching his attack without a word, she had lost her precious Death Knights for nothing. However, Tae-hyun didn't feel a shred of guilt and eagerly joined in on badmouthing her.
"Oh dear! Lee Se-yeon! Honestly, every bad deed in this world is committed by her!"
"Exactly! I have no idea why she even came here to cause trouble. What kind of grudge does she have against the Sadique Order?!"
"Right! Lee Se-yeon might be popular, but if you look closely, she's narrow-minded, short-tempered, obsessive, and basically possesses every single flaw in the world..."
"Ah, well... I wouldn't go quite that far..."
Burford was taken aback by Tae-hyun, who was badmouthing Lee Se-yeon far more intensely than he was. He was angry that Lee Se-yeon had invaded and wondered, Of all the places, why did she have to come here? But Burford had also been a fan of hers. She was someone whom any player of Pandemonium Online couldn't help but admire and look up to!
But Tae-hyun wasn't swayed by such things. Even if everyone in Pandemonium Online liked Lee Se-yeon, he would still criticize her! After all, wasn't Lee Se-yeon the only one who had been the perpetrator to Tae-hyun rather than his victim since Pandemonium Online 1?
"No, I'm telling you! She is incredibly evil..."
Tae-hyun was momentarily touched. It was a simple phrase, but it was surprisingly rare to hear. In Pandemonium Online, players who preferred Tae-hyun over Lee Se-yeon were always a minority! Even back in Pandemonium Online 1, Tae-hyun's fans had been treated like weirdos. Tae-hyun had forgotten all about his past clashes with Lee Se-yeon, but the public's reaction still lingered slightly in his mind. Considering the players he used to beat up, it was only natural, but Tae-hyun had erased those parts from his memory.
Just as Tae-hyun was about to bask in the warmth of her words, Lee Da-bi continued.
Tae-hyun was clearly holding a grudge over their previous conversation! Normally, he was broad-minded, but whenever it came to Lee Se-yeon, he became strangely childish. However, Lee Da-bi didn't lose her composure and replied.
He had completely forgotten. It was standard practice for quests like this to be revealed on personal streams! Right now, Burford wasn't broadcasting because he didn't want the location of the Sadique Order to be leaked, but once the subjugation battle ended, the story would change. Thanks to the massive number of players participating, the location was already as good as public. Burford would definitely broadcast the events that transpired...
"The world is what's bad! Lee Se-yeon did nothing wrong!"
"?!?!?!"
Burford was left utterly bewildered by Tae-hyun's sudden, drastic flip-flopping.
Once the badmouthing and praising of Lee Se-yeon was over, Burford got straight to the point.
"From now on, we must stick together!"
"...?"
At first, Tae-hyun didn't understand what he meant. Stick together? Instead of running away?
But Burford had his own plausible reasoning.
"The gate fortress was destroyed, but this place hasn't fallen yet. It means we can still fight."
"I see!"
"If we head toward the gate fortress now, we can join the battle! Then we can defeat the players gathered in the subjugation force. Defeating just a few of them will make our contribution points skyrocket. We can get items as a bonus, too!"
Burford tried his best to motivate Tae-hyun. The current situation did look very grim, after all. Their opponent was a subjugation force led by Lee Se-yeon, a ranker among rankers. On top of that, the gate fortress, the pride of the Sadique Order, had been destroyed.
I might be used to this, but a newcomer might see this and leave!
Fearing that the new recruit would be disappointed in the Sadique Order and quit, Burford desperately tried to persuade Tae-hyun.
"It might look bad right now, but this is actually a golden opportunity."
"Really?"
It was an opportunity Tae-hyun was hearing about for the first time. Strictly speaking, Tae-hyun had created several opportunities for Burford!
Completely oblivious to the whisper conversation between Tae-hyun and Da-bi, Burford continued passionately.
"Yes! An opportunity! An opportunity to grow your character! If we play our cards right here, raising your level by 10 is child's play!"
"Whoa—"
A soulless reaction slipped out. Level 10? To Tae-hyun, that was utterly ridiculous!
You idiot, I'd be thrilled if my level went up by even 2 at once.
Tae-hyun's heart was still pounding from his recent 2-level jump. Plus, he had acquired the Advanced Engineering skill. He wanted to check his changes in a quiet place, but because the situation was so chaotic, he hadn't been able to look yet!
"Let's go! To the gate fortress!"
But before Burford could finish his sentence, other people appeared. It was the Raider player party.
"You guys are alive too!"
"Of course we're alive, you idiot."
"Look at this guy, still acting like this."
"!?!?!"
They revealed their true colors, which was only natural. However, Burford looked utterly dismayed. He looked like a man who refused to believe reality!
"Y-You guys, what's wrong? All of a sudden?"
"What do you mean, 'all of a sudden'? Hey. You talked about the Sadique Order as if it were some kind of paradise, but we barely got in before a subjugation force showed up at the front door. Does that make sense? Huh? What kind of easy ride is this? Besides, our death penalty is huge right now if we die."
Raider players faced severe penalties upon death. The penalty grew larger every time they PK'ed other players.
"I-I didn't know this would happen either! And I didn't lie! Except for this subjugation, everything I wrote in my post is true..."
"Ah, shut up."
"You have to take responsibility for bringing us to a place like this."
"Yeah, exactly."
Ignoring Burford's words, the Raider players babbled among themselves. Burford fell into despair at the sight.
"I had no idea they were those kinds of guys...!"
"No, wouldn't it be weirder not to notice?" Tae-hyun muttered beside him.
The Sadique Order was an evil-aligned faction. Those who were lured into joining such a faction usually had high infamy rather than reputation.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"First, lead us to the warehouse. With your rank in the order, there must be a warehouse you can access."
The Raider players' logic was simple.
Looking at the situation outside, this order is already doomed. Instead of staying and dying with them, let's grab whatever we can and run!
They had planned to eat-and-run from the start. Their plan had just been moved up significantly!
"Do you think I'd guide you?!"
"Then do you want to die?"
"I will guide you!"
As soon as the Raider players drew their weapons, Burford immediately yielded. Seeing this, Tae-hyun whispered.
Even as he was being threatened and dragged away, Burford did not lose his dignity. He whispered to Tae-hyun beside him.
"Don't worry. I have a plan!"
"Judging by what you've done so far, it doesn't seem like you have much of one..."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing."
Tae-hyun could have easily stepped forward and wiped out the Raider players, but he didn't. Instead, he waited to see how things would unfold.
Unlike the newly established Archisus Church, which lacked tradition and history, established factions like the Sadique Order had multiple warehouses. Players with high contribution points received keys that allowed them to enter certain warehouses at any time. While incredibly powerful artifacts would obviously be kept in a different, secret warehouse, this was more than enough. What the Raider players wanted were items they could sell for cash! They were planning to loot the entire warehouse.
Clack—
Though the Raider players were following closely behind, Burford stopped in his tracks.
"...?"
"Hey. Keep moving. Can't you see we're busy?"
"You fools. Did you really think I would be fooled by guys like you?"
"??"
"I already knew what kind of bastards you were! You've fallen right into my trap!"
"...??"
The Raider players were dumbfounded by Burford's words. What nonsense was this guy spouting now?
"What is this guy talking about? You didn't suspect a thing. You were grinning ear to ear earlier."
"That was all an act!"
"What do you mean, 'an act'? Make some sense, will you?"
Burford was desperate. Desperate to show a good side of himself in front of Tae-hyun! He had suffered too much humiliation in front of Tae-hyun today. As soon as they arrived, a subjugation force attacked the order, and the players who had entered before them revealed their true colors and tried to betray them... Now, the only player left by his side was Tae-hyun!
I absolutely cannot let it end like this!
When is this going to end?
Tae-hyun yawned. He needed Burford to hurry up and open the door with the key so he could move on to his next task. Tae-hyun silently cheered for the Sadique Order.
Hang in there, Sadique Order! Don't fall so easily! At least hold out until I finish my business!