A Despicable Human

Executive Director Kim panicked and scrambled to make an excuse. He had sat in the Pan-On capsule to show off his good side and get closer to Chairman Yoo, but it was only having the opposite effect. If Chairman Yoo ended up thinking of him as a coward, it would be a disaster.

"I just felt like such a chaotic and dangerous place doesn't suit you, Chairman...!"

It was a fair point. Half of the fortress was in ruins, a rain of fire was still pouring from the sky, and several players had been blasted right out of the fortress by the previous attack. The remaining players were running hither and thither, busy attacking Galgral or dealing with other demons! In a word, it was utter pandemonium.

Under normal circumstances, Chairman Yoo—who always pursued quiet, strict, solemn, and serious dignity—would have shuddered in disgust at such a scene!

Yet, Chairman Yoo shook his head.

"No! The real fishing is right here! Can't you see I've hooked a massive one?!"

"Chairman! Ahead! You need to look ahead! That bastard is moving!"

"I told you not to worry! This is a fishing line made from Black Dragon whiskers! Do you have any idea how much I paid for this?"

Executive Director Kim grew momentarily curious and asked.

"How much did you buy it for?"

"Uh... I'm not really the type of person who looks at the price tag when buying things... I think it had nine or ten zeros... Is that what's important right now? What matters is that this luxury item is proving its worth! Look at this beautiful line! That bastard can't even budge!"

"A billion gold for a single game item?!"

"Could be ten billion... No, probably not ten billion. I don't know. But with how I feel right now, I wouldn't have minded even if it cost ten billion."

"Chairman! It's just a game!"

Snap! Another fishing line shot out from Chairman Yoo's rod and wrapped perfectly around Executive Director Kim's neck. A feature you'd never see on a real-world fishing rod!

"What did you just say, Executive Director Kim?"

"And... seeing you give your absolute best in such a game is truly inspiring, Chairman! I want to take a picture to capture this moment!"

"Haha, you actually get it."

The first warm words he had ever heard from Chairman Yoo! Executive Director Kim clenched his fists tightly. If he could hear words like this from Chairman Yoo, he would gladly play with children's toys, let alone Pan-On.

While the two of them babbled, Tae-hyun's voice echoed from above.

"Old man!"

"What!"

"Let go of the fishing line and back off!"

"Are you worried about me too? No need! This fishing line won't break! I've got this bastard completely locked down, so hurry up and deal some dam—"

Whoosh! Chairman Yoo's body flew into the air. Galgral, gathering his strength while bound, grabbed the fishing line and flung the Chairman in the opposite direction.

Crash! Chairman Yoo flew straight into a shattered fortress wall and crashed into it.

…… ……

"Old man, are you alive?"

"Yeah. And the fishing line didn't break."

"Well, if that makes you feel any better..."

Executive Director Kim rushed over in a panic and helped Chairman Yoo up.

"Chairman! Are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, so don't worry."

"How can I not worry! When you've been subjected to such a state!"

"I've been through much worse than this before."

"Pardon?"

"It's nothing. You should have experienced that lava mine at least once..."

Chairman Yoo trailed off. Being tricked by Tae-hyun into forced lava mine fishing was not a particularly pleasant memory.

"Chairman, let me help you!"

"Uh... right. See that debris over there?" Chairman Yoo pointed to the collapsed wall of the fortress.

"I see it!"

"Good. Go behind it."

"What should I do after that?"

"Keep hiding."

"..."

Executive Director Kim was not foolish enough to miss the hint.

"Chairman! I can do this!"

"Is your level over 100?"

"W-well, no, but..."

"Then what can you do? You'll just die."

"But, but..."

"No buts! A player who hasn't even passed level 100 can't do anything in Pan-On!"

Flinch! Chairman Yoo's voice carried exceptionally far, causing Tae-hyun's shoulders to flinch.

"Look. I'm not ignoring you, but Pan-On has its own rules. Do you want to be good at Pan-On? Raise your level. And do some pay-to-win. Actually, pay-to-win seems more important, but you have plenty of money anyway."

"..."

"So stop bothering me, take this scroll, and go hide over there."

"What is this scroll?"

"If you use it, offensive magic comes out. It's very expensive. How many zeros did it have again..."

"I-I'll hear about that later. Anyway, do I just hold onto this and use it if that bastard comes near?"

"No. Actually, I gave it to you so that if a demon attacks you, you can attack yourself and log out. If you get taken out by a demon and log out, knowing your personality, it would be too humiliating."

"..."

In short, a suicide scroll!

"So, I'll expect you to shed your newbie skin in the future and actually help me."

"Newbie? What's a newbie?"

"There is such a thing. For people like you... Ah, seriously. I have to go! Hide there! If you don't want to hide, just die or whatever!"

Before he even finished speaking, Chairman Yoo dashed back toward Galgral.

"I thought you were trying to save your skills?!"

"Better than everyone dying because I didn't use it."

He had resolved to avoid using Archisus-related skills as much as possible to prevent detection, but... things in the world didn't go so easily.

Galgral, after throwing Chairman Yoo, lunged toward Tae-hyun, igniting dark red demonic soul flames in both hands and swinging them wildly. The moment the giant demon's fingertips touched anything, even thick stone walls burned instantly.

Still, Tae-hyun tried his best not to use it. He was confident in evading, and confident in using Sadiq's Authority to turn it against him.

But others weren't.

"Aaargh! Kim Tae-hyun! Seriously! Didn't you see that guy in front get logged out?! Hurry! If I get hit by that, I might die instantly!"

"Are you sure you calculated that right? You might have calculated it wrong."

"Aaaaah! I'm dying! Kim Tae-hyun, you son of a b—"

And Galgral's attack on Cain popped up as an evasion.

Cain quickly corrected ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his words.

"...person with room for improvement!"

"That's too forced," Lee Da-bi said.

"Can't you help me out?!"

"My skills are on cooldown right now, so I can't bind Galgral's ankles."

"Not that! Take my side!"

While Cain and Lee Da-bi babbled, Tae-hyun was tense. He had used an Archisus skill. Galgral would surely explode in rage...

"Some bastard used Archisus's power! I'll tear you apart! I'll crush you! I'll grind you to dust!"

'Huh?'

Galgral was huffing and puffing, looking around. Seeing this, Tae-hyun realized.

He only felt the Archisus-related skill, but he doesn't know who used it!

At that moment, a whisper from Lee Se-yeon arrived.

Along with his words, Tae-hyun pointed at the west entrance and shouted.

"The true successor of Archisus is entering over there, Galgral! You'll never be able to overcome her!"

"Archisus! Tear! Crush!"

'Wow, since his brain is bad, there's a way like this.'

"Huff, huff... Didn't that guy just say Archisus?"

"You must have misheard."

The Woodstock Guild Leader, who had barely recovered and returned, tilted his head. He was sure he heard it?

"Why is this thing so energetic?!"

Lee Se-yeon's scream echoed from afar.

Lee Se-yeon was indeed a top ranker. Even while dealing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the lunging Galgral the moment she entered, she never stopped. First, she slowed Galgral down with various curses, then bound his feet with the undead and golems she brought. Meanwhile, she prepared high-destruction magic and poured it onto Galgral. Even though Galgral had high magic resistance, Lee Se-yeon was dealing more than enough damage despite that.

"Nice job, Lee Se-yeon! Fighting, Lee Se-yeon!"

"...Do you really want to die?! Come and help right now!"

"How did she know?"

Tae-hyun wondered. How on earth did she figure out that he sent Galgral to her?

Lee Da-bi, standing next to him, advised.

"It's easy to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠notice a lie when someone does something they don't normally do."

"Ah. I see. From now on, I should act more like a bastard. I tried to be nice for once and got caught by Lee Se-yeon."

"T-that's not what I meant..."

Lee Se-yeon gnashed her teeth and shouted.

"If you're not going to hand over the loot, come and catch him right now! Or I'll attack you first! And what on earth did you say to make this ignorant demon rush at me like this?!"

"Well, I might have said the person related to Archisus could be you, or maybe not..."

"...My class is a Necromancer?"

"He's not a smart enough demon to know that."

"Fine. I get it."

With those words, Lee Se-yeon pointed at Tae-hyun and shouted.

"He's the one using Archisus's power!"

"What? Don't be fooled! She's the true successor of Archisus!"

At their bickering, Galgral looked back and forth, completely confused.

"Hard! Don't know who is telling the truth!"

"I told you it's him!"

"Look at that wicked horde of undead! Wouldn't Archisus be the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one carrying around a wicked horde of undead like that?"

"Grrr..."

"An opening!"

As Galgral writhed in confusion, Tae-hyun immediately went on the attack.

The Death Knight, enveloped in a black aura, admired him.

"A human more despicable than us undead! Magnificent!"

Strong Strike, Multi-hit, Circle of Counterattack, Near-Perfect Consecutive Strike, Critical Explosion!

An explosive damage cycle poured out without letting him breathe. Galgral's muscular body began to swell like a balloon. And a system window popped up!

"Ah, seriously!"

Tae-hyun gnashed his teeth at the transformation window appearing again. But no matter how angry he was, nothing changed.

"He's going to go wild again once he transforms! We have to prepare!"

"Got it."

Lee Se-yeon nodded, then signaled to Kim Chul-soo next to her.

Deny Death!

Whoosh! As Lee Se-yeon used the skill, a black wave began to overflow with her at the center. The nearby players, the undead, and the summons she led were all covered in that blackness.

'So it's that kind of skill!'

As soon as Tae-hyun grasped what kind of skill it was, he immediately used his own.

Demer's Time Reversal!

Copy Authority!

- Yes! Use it!

"……Huh?"

Before Tae-hyun could even ask, Galgral, now transformed into Phase 3, began shooting shockwaves in all directions. An attack so dense it couldn't even be compared to the previous fire rain!

If it weren't for Tae-hyun's party, other players would have been wiped out, but thanks to Lee Se-yeon's magic, no players fell. And immediately following was Kim Chul-soo's recovery magic!