The Art of the Backstab

While Tae-hyun was silently cheering for the Sadiq Church, the conversation between Burford and the raider players was growing increasingly tense. Of course, from Tae-hyun's perspective, there was absolutely nothing tense about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it. It was just a conversation between those about to die and the one who would die right after them! No matter what they said, he could listen with a generous heart, thinking, Sure, you're entitled to your opinion—at least until you get beaten to a pulp by me.

"Where does this bastard get off bluffing? We let him off easy out of pity, and now he's crawling all over us."

"Trap, my foot. Just open the warehouse door quietly if you don't want to die alongside your new friend."

The raider players sneered and threatened Burford. Dragging Tae-hyun into the threats was merely a tactic to pressure Burford a bit more. Of course, regardless of their reasons, doing this in front of Tae-hyun was akin to digging their own graves. He had already planned to attack them, but their kindness in giving him even more reasons to do so was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠truly touching! Tae-hyun nodded.

What incredibly kind fellas.

He would feel absolutely zero guilt no matter how hard he thrashed these raiders. They were practically model players, so deeply considerate of his peace of mind.

"Look at that guy, he's terrified."

"Hey, Burford. Even the guy next to you is nodding along. Stop bluffing and open the warehouse door."

"You think I'm bluffing?" Burford asked back, his voice resolute. His dead-serious demeanor made the raider players flinch slightly.

The raiders' skepticism was natural. At this moment, it was hard to find a single Sadiq Church NPC in the vicinity. Thanks to the chaos unfolding at the main gate fortress, most of the NPCs had rushed over there! Aside from a few critical locations, you couldn't even spot an NPC's shadow. The place they were currently in was a fairly remote corner of the Sadiq Church headquarters. If they just looted a few of the church's low-grade or intermediate warehouses and slipped away, they wouldn't have to deal with any NPCs at all.

"You lot have severely underestimated the Sadiq Church," Burford declared.

"...?"

"The Sadiq Church is an order that never lowers its warehouse security, even in a crisis like this!"

"I don't think that's something to brag about..." Tae-hyun muttered under his breath, but Burford ignored him and roared, "Paladins! Show yourselves! We have traitors of the order here!"

"...!"

At his shout, a hidden door behind the warehouse swung open, and Sadiq High Paladins poured out. To think they would station paladins at low-grade or intermediate warehouses even in this state. And not just ordinary paladins, but High Paladins, who were far stronger!

Aren't these guys a bit too obsessive?

Tae-hyun silently criticized the Sadiq Church, completely oblivious to the sheer absurdity of how he ran his own Archisus Church.

"What is wrong with these crazy bastards?!"

"Do they not see the subjugation force breaching the front gate? Are they insane?!"

Even the raider players pointed and cursed, utterly dumbfounded. To station NPCs like that at a warehouse of this tier in a situation like this!

"To betray Lord Sadiq! We shall purify you with fire!"

A Sadiq High Paladin charged forward, eyes blazing with fury. Seeing this, the raider players readied their weapons.

"There are only two of them! We can take them if we gang up!"

Wooooong—

"...!"

Before they could even finish their sentence, the Sadiq High Paladin pulled out a small horn and blew it. The raider players' faces turned pale. That was definitely...

"He called for reinforcements! Haha! Let's see you talk big now!" Burford shouted gleefully. Seeing the raider players, who had been acting so insufferably arrogant just moments ago, fall into such a panic was incredibly satisfying.

"Who do you think you're calling a pushover?! Hey, you bastards! Did you think I was easy prey just because I've been pushed around my whole life?! Huh?!"

Burford's words carried a deep, long-standing sorrow! He turned his head to look for Tae-hyun, eager to show off and perhaps salvage his reputation a bit.

"Did you see that? Me, and the Sadiq Church, we're at least this—huh?"

But Tae-hyun was already gone.

"???"

While Burford stood there in shock, the raider players steeled their resolve.

"Fine, let's do this!"

"You bastard, Burford! Pulling a stunt like this. You're dead meat today!"

The raider players didn't back down either. In Pandemonium Online, raiders were the ones who invested the most in PvP. Even in this situation, they had no intention of retreating!

"Get them!"

"Kill them!"

"Aren't you going to kill them?"

"I'll kill them later," Tae-hyun replied nonchalantly, as if the players' lives were already tucked safely inside his pocket.

While Tae-hyun slipped away, a chaotic brawl broke out below. Sadiq High Paladins and Burford versus the raider players! Judging by their equipped gear and the skills they were using, they were all high-level players. They had clearly surpassed level 100! Seeing that practically any random player could easily surpass level 100 these days, Tae-hyun suddenly felt depressed.

And here I was, so thrilled about gaining a measly two levels... while every Tom, Dick, and Harry is over level 100...

The crushing weight of taking a completely different character growth path than everyone else hit him hard!

"Come to think of it, Cain, what level are you?"

"Me? I just passed 140."

"...!!!"

Having cleared several major quests while tagging along with Tae-hyun, Cain had reached a level that undisputedly qualified him as a ranker. He was doing far better now than back when he was the guild leader of Red Zone! Cain was well aware of this. However, he had no intention of thanking Tae-hyun for it. The sheer amount of abuse and suffering he had endured under him was simply too great for that.

"What about you, Lee Da-bi?"

"I'm in the 130s."

Currently, rankers were typically over level 140, and rumors were circulating that top rankers were eyeing level 200. In that regard, Lee Da-bi was practically a ranker herself. In Pandemonium Online, a mere ten-level gap could easily be overcome through stats, equipment, class, and skill differences.

"Why... are you guys... leveling up... so fast...?" Tae-hyun asked, trying his absolute best to suppress his emotions. But try as he might, his bitter jealousy bled through!

"Huh? We just followed you around, Tae-hyun, and our levels shot right up," Lee Da-bi replied casually. Unlike Cain, she didn't care much about her level. Her merchant class wasn't a combat-oriented one, after all. To her, buying and selling items and securing gold were far more important than levels... Her words only stabbed Tae-hyun deeper in the chest. To level up so effortlessly without even trying! Just how easy was leveling up for normal people?!

"By the way, Tae-hyun, what level are you?"

"Around 170? 180? Surely not 190, right?"

"Shut up."

"Why are you only snapping at me?!" Cain cried out, feeling utterly wronged after asking a simple question only to get yelled at.

Tae-hyun moved forward with a stiff expression, his eyes burning with determination. He was absolutely, positively going to gain a few more levels before leaving this Sadiq Church headquarters!

Meanwhile, a fierce battle was raging at the gate fortress. When that massive fortress had been blown to smithereens in a single explosion, the players had assumed the rest of the raid would be a walk in the park. However, the Sadiq Church's resilience was nothing to scoff at. During the previous subjugation, the Holy Knight Commander and the Archbishop had retreated once their giant beast was slain, but they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weren't backing down this time.

"It's the Sadiq Archbishop!"

Clad in majestic robes and wielding a staff tipped with a blazing red gemstone, the Sadiq Archbishop made his grand entrance! Watching from afar, Lee Se-yeon sensed immediate danger.

"Fall back for now! It looks like he's about to cast a massive skill!"

However, the players fighting fiercely near the gate fortress paid her no heed.

"What? Why should we fall back now?"

"We're doing great! Even if he casts a big spell, we have plenty of people here to absorb the hit! We can block it!"

Since the rewards from fighting the Sadiq Church were far better than expected, the players' greed had been ignited. Ignoring Lee Se-yeon's warnings to retreat, they charged forward even harder!

"There's a dark elf over there! Get him!"

"No! The Sadiq priests yield better loot!"

Lee Se-yeon shook her head at the sight.

"Fools."

She was cold and pragmatic. If they refused to listen to warnings, that was their own funeral. She had absolutely no intention of going out of her way to save people like that.

"Unni, is it really okay to just leave them be?"

"They'll manage. If they survive, good for them. If they die, I'll just use them as undead."

The more corpses there were, the easier it was for a Necromancer to shine. Besides, the players over there were all high-level, which meant they would make highly effective undead minions once raised.

"Let's pull back for now."

"Right."

Not everyone was foolish enough to ignore her. The perceptive and skilled players quickly distanced themselves the moment they saw the Sadiq Archbishop step forward. Only an idiot would willingly tank a boss monster's ultimate skill! Letting greed blind you was a one-way ticket to the graveyard.

While the Sadiq Archbishop prepared his powerful magic, Lee Se-yeon sent out small undead bats to scout the map.

"Wait, someone is missing."

"Who?"

"The Sadiq Holy Knight Commander and the Archbishop are over there, but where is... who was it again? The one from the Atali Kingdom subjugation quest... the uncle of the current Atali King."

"Ah, that would be Antonio. But Unni, you didn't participate in that subjugation quest, did you?"

"No, I looked it up afterward."

"Don't tell me it was because of that Kim Tae-hyun guy!"

"No, I was just curious."

"You never look up things like that normally!"

Soothing her nagging younger sister, Lee Se-yeon fell into deep thought.

There were only a handful of Sadiq Church NPCs who could be classified as boss monsters. One of them was Antonio! She had heard that Antonio and the order of knights he led were incredibly powerful. After all, they were NPCs who had originally split off from the elite Atali Kingdom's knighthood...

Why isn't he showing himself? Could it be a counterattack? Is he trying to bypass my scouts and flank us from behind?

Lee Se-yeon tensed up. The players positioned around her were mostly ranged classes like mages, priests, and archers. Because they were providing backline support, the vanguard players could attack without worry. But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if a powerful order of knights launched a sudden charge here, it would result in an absolute massacre.

It's a waste, but I should use some scrolls to set up rear defenses.

She still had too much to do to waste her own skills. Lee Se-yeon decided to use a few scrolls to prepare for any contingencies. It felt like a waste, but being a cheapskate and suffering massive casualties as a result would be far worse!

Little did Lee Se-yeon know, the Sadiq Church was far more dysfunctional than she could ever imagine!

"Ugh, seriously. Isn't there anyone isolated who's easy to beat up?"

"With all that chaos at the gate fortress, isn't that asking for too much? Let's just head to the gate."

"It's impossible to plant bombs there. They fell for it once; do you think they'll fall for it twice?"

Tae-hyun wanted to loot an empty house. Because the gate fortress had been destroyed, the main headquarters was relatively quiet.

That was Tae-hyun's ultimate goal. However, Cain and Lee Da-bi were skeptical. With the gate fortress in absolute chaos, what high-ranking NPC would just sit quietly back at headquarters? Even if it was dangerous, heading toward the gate fortress made more sense.

Yet, Tae-hyun couldn't let go of his lingering hope and kept scanning the area with his skills.

Going to the gate fortress is too risky. The main force of the Sadiq Church is gathered there, and the Archbishop is bound to be present.

He had to find another way! Tae-hyun stubbornly pressed on, scanning his surroundings.

"Hey, you over there! What are you doing?! Hurry up and help us!"

"...?"

At the call of the unfamiliar NPCs, the trio tilted their heads in confusion. Those weren't Sadiq Church paladins—they were ordinary knight NPCs.