Like Father, Like Son
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
Only then did Tae-hyun fully grasp the situation and look around. The sounds of explosions, shouting, and clashing weapons echoed through the air. A PVP battle was definitely taking place nearby.
"Could it be a fight between players?"
Just because a dungeon was managed by a guild didn't mean fights didn't break out. In fact, minor squabbles happened more frequently inside than outside. The prime hunting spots and optimal farming zones in any dungeon were limited, and the competition among players to claim them was fierce. A fight could easily start over something as simple as someone accidentally hitting another player's monster.
However, Tae-hyun shook his head.
"No. I don't think that's it."
Tae-hyun was analyzing the situation solely by the sounds. The noise was erupting simultaneously from multiple directions. This wasn't a simple squabble over a hunting spot. This familiar sound... was the sound of a raid.
"Someone is raiding the Woodstock Guild's dungeon," Tae-hyun summarized simply.
It was a sight he had seen to the point of exhaustion in Pan-On 1, and something he had occasionally done himself: raiding a guild-owned dungeon!
The reasons were always diverse. To keep a rival guild in check, because of an ongoing feud, because they wanted the exclusive item drops from that specific dungeon... or simply because they bumped shoulders with a guild member, got annoyed by their attitude, and decided to wreck the place!
Of course, that last reason was usually reserved for crazy people like Tae-hyun. Anyone else who tried to pull that would be treated as an absolute lunatic.
"Charge! Crush those Woodstock bastards!"
"Take it section by section! Push in!"
"Keep your eyes down! I said, look down!"
"We have no interest in you bystanders! Our only target is the Woodstock Guild! Stay quiet and we won't touch you! Scram to the corner!"
Right on cue, loud voices echoed from a distance. Hearing them, Tae-hyun couldn't help but admire their coordination.
"Wow, they're good. This isn't their first rodeo."
"Y-you can tell just by that?"
"Of course. There are low, mid, and high tiers when it comes to raiding another guild's territory..."
Tae-hyun got excited as the nostalgia washed over him, but he stopped mid-sentence. He noticed the entire party staring blankly at him.
Their eyes practically screamed: Just what kind of life did you lead to know so much about this?
"...Let's talk about that later!"
Cain asked suspiciously, "Where on earth did you learn how to do that?"
"That's not what's important right now. What matters is that they're highly skilled. Thanks to them, our path just got a lot easier."
"What makes them so skilled?" one of the guild members asked out of curiosity.
"Normally in large-scale PVP, people lose their minds and attack anything that moves. But these guys aren't doing that. They came in, showed off their overwhelming force, told the other players 'stay quiet and we won't touch you,' and are systematically securing each zone. They're incredibly calm and organized."
"I-I see..."
As Tae-hyun spoke, he exuded the quiet dignity of a veteran who had personally ransacked dozens of guild dungeons. Regardless, it was a stroke of luck for Tae-hyun's party. The raiders were drawing all the attention!
I wonder who they are?
"But we won't run into them, right?"
"If they run into us, it's their loss," Tae-hyun said nonchalantly. Whoever got in his way would just be swept aside.
Monster Control
Tae-hyun cast the skill on a rat monster scurrying in the corner. It was a skill that only worked on incredibly weak monsters, but Tae-hyun wasn't using it for combat anyway.
"Go take a look!"
He was simply curious to see who was currently raiding the dungeon.
Scurry, scurry—
A few rats quickly scampered across the floor. A brief moment passed.
"..."
"What's wrong?" Lee Da-bi tilted her head, noticing the bewildered expression on Tae-hyun's face. It was rare to see him look so flustered.
"...It's my dad."
"?!?!"
"Bwahahaha! Give 'em hell!" Kim Tae-san roars with laughter.
You have successfully defeated the enemy completely.
The morale of the Orc warriors rises.
"Chwiik! Chwiik! Chwiik!"
It wasn't the guild members, but the Orc warrior NPCs who let out a massive battle cry. The ones currently raiding Callepo Fortress were Kim Tae-san and his guild members. Armed with their classes and supported by Orc mercenaries hired with gold, they were a force capable of delivering a decisive, crushing blow.
"Sung-gyu, this brings back memories, doesn't it?"
"It sure does."
The two middle-aged men looked around Callepo Fortress with deep satisfaction. Guild conflicts weren't anything new. They had been happening since the moment guilds began establishing territories in the Auston Kingdom.
The guilds that settled in the Auston Kingdom generally hated each other's guts.
— "This is our hunting ground! We got here first! Beat it!"
— "What absolute nonsense! Just because you arrived a day earlier doesn't make it yours!"
Fights broke out at every opportunity. There was no way these middle-aged guild members would sit still. They were like fish in water! The skills they had honed back in their Li*age days hadn't gone anywhere.
— "I mean, I was just trying to quietly tend to my territory~ but those insolent punks kept picking fights~"
Kim Tae-san's words carried absolutely zero conviction! The Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild actively attacked any guild they clashed with. They were easily one of the most aggressive guilds in the entire Auston Kingdom.
If someone dislikes you, make sure they have a damn good reason to hate you!
The Woodstock Guild never expected anyone to raid their stronghold, Callepo Fortress, over a minor dispute in the hunting grounds. They were caught completely off guard.
"W-who the hell are these guys?!"
The guild members inside the fortress rushed out, but it was impossible to stop the middle-aged men who already had momentum on their side.
"It's me!"
"It's us!"
"You little punks. Did you really think you'd walk away scot-free after trash-talking us at our hunting ground?!"
The bloodthirsty Orcs roared. The Woodstock Guild members who recognized them gasped in horror.
"Y-you people! Are you insane?!"
"We're perfectly sane, you little rascals!"
"You're raiding our fortress just because of a little friction at a hunting ground?! Do you think we, or the other guilds, will just let this slide?!"
Despite the terrified guild members' threats, the middle-aged men didn't budge.
"I think they'll let it slide."
"Yeah, they'll slide right under our boots."
"Haha, Hyung-nim, you're too much! Hahaha!"
"Bwahahaha!"
"...Aaaaargh!"
Unable to bear the dad jokes any longer, the Woodstock Guild members bravely charged forward.
Outside the dungeon, in the fortress, the Orc ahjussis systematically destroyed only the most valuable facilities. Though they looked wild and reckless, they had gathered intelligence and meticulously planned this in advance. The coordination of these middle-aged men, who had played together since their Li*age days, was beyond imagination. This was the skill of veterans who had crushed countless blood pledges and ruled servers.
"A few are fleeing through the north gate. Should we pursue?"
"A few are barricaded inside the warehouse in the inner fortress."
"Leave them. They can't do anything anyway."
Chasing down every single fleeing or hiding guild member would take forever. Instead, they destroyed the expensive facilities and occupied the key locations. That alone paralyzed the fortress's functions. Even if the Woodstock guild members who logged in late tried to band together and fight back, it wouldn't be easy since the Orc ahjussis had already taken the high ground.
"Good. Now, shall we go catch their guild leader?"
Kim Tae-san cracked his knuckles. The reason they raided this place in the first place was because they knew the Woodstock Guild Leader was currently raiding the underground dungeon of this fortress.
Strike when the enemy is weak! By now, the guild leader must have heard the news and be frantically trying to figure out what to do inside the dungeon.
"He must be agonizing over whether to come out or hold his ground. Let's go relieve him of that burden!"
Once they started, they finished it with a bang! Kim Tae-san led his core guild members into the dungeon.
Meanwhile, an awkward silence hung over Tae-hyun's party.
"...I think I have a general idea of what happened."
Their territories overlapped with the Woodstock Guild, which led to a dispute, which led to an attack!
This man hasn't changed a bit since his Li*age days!
Once a dispute started, he would try to completely crush them. Of course, Tae-hyun wasn't really one to talk. Like father, like son!
"Then isn't this a good thing? Your goals are the same, and you know them."
"That's because you don't know my dad."
Tae-hyun knew Kim Tae-san all too well. His father would never do something as lukewarm as joining forces just because they were family. He would definitely say: 'What? You came to recruit the blacksmith the Woodstock Guild is holding? Haha! I'll take him instead! You can just sit there and suck your thumb!'
"Let's move. An opportunity is an opportunity."
Tae-hyun decided to head deeper into the dungeon without getting caught by the middle-aged men. There was no good reason to meet them right now!
"Hey, wouldn't it be better to just tell them and fight together?"
"I told you, no."
Cain smacked his lips, disappointed to lose a rare chance to fight alongside allies. But Tae-hyun was certain. If he told his father, his father would definitely get in his way!
The other parties raiding the dungeon had also paused to watch the situation unfold. They looked anxious, hoping they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.
"Hurry! We have to get in before my dad!"
"...Aren't you guys family?"
"These crazy Orcs, I swear to god!!"
The Woodstock Guild Leader was throwing a temper tantrum. They were currently on the 6th floor of the underground dungeon—a floor that no party had cleared yet. Naturally, the difficulty was immense, and the Woodstock Guild had prepared meticulously for this raid. Investigating the dungeon, gathering consumables, swapping gear to match the dungeon... and today was the day they finally challenged it!
But the Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild had struck, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment. From the Woodstock Guild Leader's perspective, it was enough to make his blood boil.
"Did those bastards say anything else?"
"Well..."
"...?"
"They said if we leave the fortress and get lost, they'll spare our lives..."
Thud!
The Woodstock Guild Leader slammed his fist against the dungeon wall. That wasn't a negotiation. It was pure extortion!
"I'm going to kill those bastards!"
"Calm down!"
"You can't go out right now!"
The other guild members quickly held back the furious Woodstock Guild Leader. They had already assessed the situation through guild chat. The Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild had already completely taken over the outside! The scattered and broken Woodstock Guild members couldn't possibly turn the tide. If they went out of the dungeon now, there was a 100% chance they would be surrounded and slaughtered!
With his guild members holding him back, the guild leader finally regained his senses.
"What should we do?"
"...We wait here. It's better than going out. Contact our allied guilds! Tell them to get here immediately!"
A large guild alliance. The Woodstock Guild was allied with several other guilds. In a situation like this, they should naturally come to help.
"A-about that..."
"...?"
"They all... say they aren't in a position to help right now..."
"!!"
In the end, alliances were shallow relationships. No one in this region was unaware of how powerful the Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild was. Unbelievable pay-to-win spending whenever necessary, combined with spending hours upon hours sitting in their capsules day and night—the Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild was a gathering of middle-aged men who possessed both of those terrifying traits. Naturally, no guild was willing to go head-to-head with the Choigang Jizon Moossang Guild just for the sake of the Woodstock Guild.