Turning Barbarians Against Barbarians
Normally, quests on this scale weren’t handed to a single player.
Kingdom soldiers would usually go along, and the players would tag along with them and fight together. If that wasn’t the case, then it meant the quest difficulty was truly absurd, and a fortress like this wouldn’t be tossing it out so casually.
But because of Tae-hyun’s absurdly high Luck, a Rare quest had popped out just like that.
A quest that originally only appeared when several low-probability conditions lined up.
Because of that, Tae-hyun and Ji-su couldn’t receive any help from the soldiers. Even when they asked them to come along, the only response they got back was, “We trust you!” and “We trust you!”
“So we can’t call in the soldiers?” Ji-su asked, tilting her head.
“Not for dealing with the Orc tribe. But what if it’s for some other reason?”
“??”
“One thing I realized while playing around in the Salz Kingdom is that the people here are all... incredibly narrow-minded.”
Our kingdom is the best! Every other kingdom is full of weaklings!
To be fair, every kingdom on the continent had that vibe to some degree. Every one of them thought theirs was the greatest.
But the Salz Kingdom was especially bad.
In Tyrum, for example, if beginners left the city early on and then came back later, their affinity with the Tyrum Hunters dropped like a rock.
There was a reason Gu Sung-wook had practically begged Tae-hyun for help raising his affinity.
It was almost at the level of the devs designing weaponized isolationism on purpose.
This fortress was the same way.
The ones guarding it weren’t Tyrum Hunters but soldiers and commanders, yet from the way they’d spoken to Choi Ha-yeong and Choi Ha-jun earlier, they definitely weren’t the friendly sort.
“I’m not going to ask them to help us deal with the Orc tribe. I’m just going to tell them that some bastards from another kingdom tried to interfere while we were going to subjugate the Orc tribe.”
“!!”
Using barbarians to defeat barbarians.
A method of attacking one faction by using another.
Choi Sang-yun immediately caught on to what Tae-hyun meant and let out a disbelieving laugh.
“You mean... no way...”
“Yeah. Exactly that way.”
Wait until the Red Zone Guild attacked the Orc tribe and looted the place clean.
Then report them to the soldiers, and let the soldiers attack the Red Zone Guild.
The Orc tribe would already be wrecked by then, so the three of them should be able to clear it themselves.
And the Red Zone Guild would be kept busy by the soldiers.
That was Tae-hyun’s plan.
“You think the Red Zone Guild can handle an Orc tribe that big?”
“They can handle that much. They’re still a guild.”
It wasn’t as if some massive Orc invasion had broken out. It was just an Orc tribe gathering near the fortress.
Something like that was well within the Red Zone Guild’s ability to clear.
Originally, Tae-hyun had planned to have Choi Sang-yun assassinate the chief, but...
“Good. Good. Then let’s just wait a bit. Those idiots will loot the Orc tribe for us.”
“Hey. But what if we bring the soldiers and the Red Zone idiots attack us?”
“Are they insane? This is still a Salz Kingdom fortress, you know? You think the Red Zone Guild is that brainless?”
It was incredibly rare for players to attack kingdom soldiers.
The soldiers’ levels weren’t exactly low, but more importantly, the moment you attacked them, you became hostile to the entire kingdom they belonged to.
Even the lord of a single castle held a rank far above any player, so if you became enemies with an entire kingdom...
Even for a guild, playing the game would become a nightmare.
You couldn’t enter that kingdom anymore, the kingdom would send trackers after you, and they’d even lodge complaints with neighboring kingdoms they had good relations with...
In other words, they would make your life miserable in every possible way.
“That’s true, but... idiots always show up, don’t they? And these guys are already out of control. If people like that are told by soldiers to stop what they’re doing and get lost, do you really think they’ll listen?”
Choi Sang-yun had a point.
Tae-hyun nodded.
“Yeah, fair enough. They are already going wild.”
“Right? So what’s the plan?”
“What plan? If they pick a fight with the soldiers, then they pick a fight. We just take the Orc chief’s head and bail.”
“...You absolute piece of trash.”
Even though they were friends, Choi Sang-yun was genuinely impressed by how quickly that answer came out without even a second’s hesitation.
In other words, if things went sideways, Tae-hyun planned to use the fortress soldiers as shields and slip away.
“Hey, the fortress soldiers aren’t suckers. They’ll handle themselves just fine. They can deal with one Red Zone Guild, can’t they?”
After saying that, Tae-hyun started walking toward the commander.
Choi Sang-yun looked at Ji-su and asked,
“You do realize he’s kind of evil, right?”
“Huh? No he isn’t. Isn’t he cool?”
“......”
If she was wearing rose-colored glasses, she was wearing the industrial-strength kind.
Choi Sang-yun shook his head.
“Charge! Charge!”
“Break down the palisade!”
While Tae-hyun was cooking up his wicked little scheme, a fierce battle was unfolding elsewhere.
It was the fight between the Orc tribe near the fortress and the Red Zone Guild.
“Arrows incoming! Raise your shields!”
“We’ve got no warriors over here! Put up a barrier! Barrier!”
Blue Mana Shield
Mana Barrier
Clang! Clang-clang!
As a blue curtain of mana spread out in front of them, the fast-flying arrows smashed against it and fell away.
“Chwik! Chwiik! The humans have mages! Call the shamans!”
“Chwiik! Kill the mages first!”
Though they hadn’t been here long, the Orc tribe had still managed to build a decent little stronghold.
A wooden palisade circled the area, and inside it they’d even erected several small watchtowers.
Those were packed with Orc archers and Orc warriors.
And farther inside, the Orc chief and his direct subordinates could be seen.
Their sheer size, the gear they wore—everything about them stood out.
Just looking at them, you could feel how strong they were.
But the Red Zone Guild didn’t care.
They had come here fully prepared.
“Send all the hired mercenaries to the right! We’re hitting the left side! Keep pounding them!”
Kane, the guild master of the Red Zone Guild, stared ahead with complete confidence.
The Orc tribe was fairly strong, but he was certain they could win.
And...
I’m moving up.
In Fantasy Online, strength wasn’t determined purely by an individual player’s power.
The influence a player commanded also counted as strength.
Kane thought back to Kim Tae-hyun from Fantasy Online 1.
Kim Tae-hyun had been absurdly strong, but in the end, because he always played alone, he hadn’t really built anything.
As far as Kane was concerned, that had been Kim Tae-hyun’s fatal flaw.
If he’d founded a guild and built up a faction, he would’ve become something truly incredible.
He would’ve crushed Lee Se-yeon without breaking a sweat.
Kane shook his head.
Now wasn’t the time to think about some retired player.
Right now, the other rankers were cautiously clearing quests inside kingdoms, hoping to receive lordships from kings by legitimate means.
After all, the moment you got appointed as the lord of a castle or city, you were handed enormous authority.
Taxes, soldiers, facilities, special quests...
You could get several times farther ahead than the other rankers.
But Kane had no intention of doing it that way.
Unlike the Erangs Kingdom or the Salz Kingdom, the Auston Kingdom had practically collapsed because of civil war.
Even if someone marched up to a fortress and seized it by force, no soldiers would come running.
Kane had focused on that point.
Start with this fortress, then begin seizing others.
If he built up enough power, he would effectively become the successor to the Auston Kingdom.
Of course, it would be a very long road to get there, but...
Kane was brimming with confidence.
He had always liked bold plays.
So he imposed taxes on the players around the area and gathered money.
With that money, he hired mercenaries and bought weapons to conquer more fortresses.
Then he’d gather more money there, and conquer more fortresses, and then more after that...
Attacking the Orc tribe was just one part of the plan.
The Orc tribe could attack them at any time.
If he wanted to expand his territory, he needed to wipe them out first.
And raiding a tribe like this usually yielded some very nice profits.
Starting with equipment, there would be plenty of valuables worth selling.
Kane glanced at the guild member beside him and asked,
“The stream’s coming through properly, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s advertise this properly. Can’t you hear the ratings climbing already?”
Kane cracked his knuckles.
This raid on the Orc tribe was being broadcast live.
The Red Zone Guild was getting plenty of hate for taxing nearby players, but the stream was a separate matter.
People didn’t care whether you were a decent human being or not. If something was fun and had buzz, they would flock to it.
Even the people cursing the Red Zone Guild still wanted to see them raid the Orc tribe.
Kane had quickly lined up a few ads too.
This Orc raid would be a hot topic for a while.
Fast-paced combat.
Flashy magic.
High-level player skills.
And finally, taking down the tribal chief.
They’d rip items off the Orc tribe and make money from the stream.
It was killing two birds with one stone.
KWA-BOOM!
The palisade broke, opening a path.
Shield-bearing warrior players charged through the gap.
Shield Bash
Earth Strike
Crunch! Crack!
The Orc warriors standing in the way were sent flying.
The heavily armored warriors laughed.
“Hahaha! Move!”
The thrill of bulldozing straight through like a tank.
Moments like this were what heavy-armor warriors, loaded down with massive equipment, loved most.
“Chwiik, stop them! Stop them!”
The Orcs stabbed with their spears, but they bounced uselessly off shields and armor.
As Red Zone Guild members rushed in, the Orcs counterattacked, but they were still being pushed back helplessly.
The instant the players passed through the broken palisade and stepped into the village—
Fwoosh! Fwaaaash!
You have been afflicted with Blindness Curse!
You have been afflicted with Movement Speed Reduction Curse!
Curses rained down on the guild members from above.
The Orc shamans who had been waiting nearby had launched an ambush.
The charging warriors couldn’t avoid them and took the curses head-on.
The Orc shamans were apparently a higher level than expected, because the curses couldn’t be shrugged off.
“Th-this...!”
“I can’t see!”
“Chwiik, kill them!”
“Chwiik! Don’t let the humans leave alive!”
Elite Orc warriors, clearly bigger and better equipped than the ones who’d been getting knocked around earlier, came charging in with red auras surging around them.
It was a trap.
They had pretended to be weak, lured the players in, and then struck.
The players had underestimated the Orc tribe—and now they were about to pay for it.
The warriors panicked and ducked behind their shields.
Clang! Ka-clang!
“Th-this is bad...!”
With their bodies slowed and their vision obscured, blocking the attacks of Orcs wreathed in crimson aura wasn’t easy.
In an instant they took several hits and their HP started dropping.
Seeing that, Kane clicked his tongue and barked an order.
“Mages! Attack! Open a path! Priests, put blessings on them!”
If he left it alone, the guild members who had rushed in would definitely start dying.
The mercenaries he’d hired with money could die all they wanted, but not his guild members.
The death penalty in Fantasy Online was pretty severe, after all.
They’re better than I expected. They’ve got some brains too.
Thinking that, Kane surveyed the Orc village from atop the slope.
The fact that they had hidden behind the palisade and then rushed out was one thing, but the elite Orc warriors also looked pretty high-level.
Orcs with traps and levels.
They were stronger than he’d anticipated.
“Good. Looks like I’ll have to step in myself.”
With a greatsword in hand, Kane grinned.
The stream had gotten enough attention by now.
It was time to leave a real impression.
He was a ranker-tier player in his own right.
No matter how strong these Orcs were, they couldn’t stop him.
And behind him were his guild’s priests, mages, and warriors.
The table was practically set.
“Kraaaaaah!”
Lion’s Shout
At the sound of it, the Orcs clutched their ears and hunched over.
Lion’s Shout.
It was one of Kane’s area-of-effect skills.
The moment you heard it, it inflicted temporary paralysis.
It was a great skill against mages and archers.
“Now then! Follow me!”
Striking a dramatic pose, Kane charged forward.
As their guild master joined the fight, the guild members cheered and rushed to his side.
Woooong—
With a heavy sound, the half-destroyed palisade was carved apart by his greatsword.