A Spiteful Curse and a Swift Escape

Flash!

As the scroll was torn, a brilliant light burst forth and shot straight toward Galgral.

Crackle!

"?!"

"?!?!"

Everyone present gasped in shock. What on earth had just happened?

"Sir, what did you give him?" Tae-hyun asked, turning to Chairman Yoo.

"I just gave him a scroll, like a protective amulet or something..."

Galgral could no longer run. He stood frozen in place, tottering precariously.

Crack! Cra-crack!

Fissures began to spiderweb across Galgral's body from the inside out! Executive Director Kim, who had landed the final blow, lay collapsed on the ground with an utterly dazed expression, completely clueless as to what he had just accomplished.

"Galgral... will not fall... To my master... today's events... must..."

"Do you really have to die with such ominous last words?" Tae-hyun muttered.

Tae-hyun had finally reached level 80. Even though other rankers were already eyeing level 180! Still, Tae-hyun was thrilled. This was a massive win! At this rate, he might actually hit level 100 right around the time the game servers shut down forever!

...Why does that thought make me feel so sad?

While Tae-hyun stared at his system window, Chairman Yoo walked over to Executive Director Kim and clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"Splendid job, Executive Director Kim! To think you of all people would pull off such a feat!"

"Th-thank you?"

Executive Director Kim nodded, still looking completely dazed. He didn't understand the details, but he could at least tell he had just defeated an incredibly powerful enemy. After all, every single player in the vicinity was staring at him! The thrilling sensation of tearing the scroll still lingered at his fingertips.

"That was truly the finest piece of work I've ever seen from you."

"...Th-thank you."

Executive Director Kim felt a swell of pride at first, but then a strange, unsettling feeling crept in.

The finest piece of work he's ever seen?

Surely the Chairman didn't mean that all the work he had done for the company over the years was worth less than slaying a single monster?

No, surely he meant within the game.

As Executive Director Kim stood there in a state of confusion, Chairman Yoo continued.

"Of course, you did spend the entire time hiding in the back before just landing the final blow."

"...Pardon?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Still, if not for you, that bastard would have escaped. A job well done is a job well done. Good work."

"..."

"Though, naturally, I was the one who did all the heavy lifting. I've always wanted to take down a boss monster like that myself. In the end, you walked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away with all the glory. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ah, I'm not criticizing you. If you hadn't stepped up, it would have run away. But still, I can't help but wonder how things would have turned out if I hadn't given you that scroll in the first place. Of course, this is just a joke."

"...I am deeply sorry, sir!"

"No, no. You did wonderfully!"

Just kill me already! Executive Director Kim screamed internally. He hadn't realized it at first, but now the reality of the situation had fully dawned on him. He had snatched away the very prize the Chairman had been looking forward to so eagerly!

"Come to think of it, I believe you did something similar when we played golf."

"W-was that not a genuine compliment when you praised me last time, sir?"

"Of course it was a compliment! A compliment, indeed!"

Executive Director Kim had another sudden realization. When Chairman Yoo had said, "My, you're quite good. So very good!" during their last golf outing, it hadn't been a compliment at all!

While Chairman Yoo and Executive Director Kim bickered, the surrounding players were busy checking their own system windows. Every player here had participated in the Galgral raid, so naturally, they had all received rewards.

"I can't believe we actually pulled it off!"

"Well, we had Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon with us. Of course we succeeded!"

"Whoa. I just leveled up twelve times in one go!"

"..."

Tae-hyun covered his ears to block out the noise and checked his newly acquired item.

Aside from the ominous description, Galgral's gauntlets were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an incredibly superb item. While Edaor's Hotly Boiling Crimson Greatsword was a masterpiece of raw, outstanding performance, Galgral's gauntlets were valuable because of the rare skills attached to them. Considering the skills Galgral had used, gauntlets containing those abilities were of immense worth. Unlike other gauntlets that provided defensive or healing buffs, these were purely focused on offense!

He had successfully achieved two-thirds of the quest to unseal Esla. When he first received it, the quest had seemed virtually impossible, but now the finish line was in sight. Just one more gullible demon to slay and strip of their token, and the quest would be complete!

"Aaaaargh!"

"?!"

A sudden scream jolted Tae-hyun out of his thoughts.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm cursed!"

"M-me too!"

"What?! What's happening to everyone?"

Galgral hadn't died quietly. He had left them with a massive parting gift of pure spite! To be precise, he had only screwed over the players who had undergone demonification. And those players were none other than the members of the Woodstock Guild.

"Wh-what do we do? Kim Tae-hyun! How do we fix this?!"

The Woodstock Guild Leader called out to Tae-hyun with a panicked face. All of his initial prickliness from their first meeting had vanished; now, he was practically clinging to Tae-hyun.

"Didn't I tell you not to just blindly swallow whatever other people feed you?"

"How was I supposed to know this would happen?! What do we do?! Do you know any way to fix this?"

"Well, you could delete your characters and log back in a few years later."

"Are you out of your mind?!" the Woodstock Guild Leader shrieked, hopping mad.

Their stats had dropped slightly with the race change. That part was still bearable. The Demonification skill had provided so many benefits that they could tolerate a minor deduction. However, the penalties of being a Cursed Wandering Demon were far too severe. They were even weaker to holy attacks, and the other penalties were dizzying just to look at. Frankly speaking, it was practically a permanent curse! Just as one would desperately search for a cure upon being cursed, they needed to find a way out of this demonic state as quickly as possible.

Vroom, vroom—

"??"

The Woodstock Guild Leader turned his head at the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine. Tae-hyun, Lee Da-bi, and Cain were pulling out their mounts. Tae-hyun and Cain each had Chairman Yoo and Executive Director Kim riding on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the back of their bikes.

"...What are you guys doing?"

"Ah, we're heading out now."

"What?"

The Woodstock Guild Leader couldn't process Tae-hyun's words for a moment. Heading out?

"I'll let you have all the territory around here. Feel free to develop it yourself."

"Hey, hey! Wait!!"

"No need to thank me. What are friends for? Keep the gratitude."

Outside the fortress, a party of high-level rankers was waiting with fire in their eyes. And he was giving them this territory? Keeping it would only guarantee they'd get utterly plundered! Tae-hyun was talking absolute nonsense!

The Woodstock Guild Leader lunged forward to grab him, but Tae-hyun was a step faster.

"Let's go!"

"W-wait! At least take us with you! Hey! I know you can hear me, you bastard!"

The Woodstock Guild Leader whipped his head around. Lee Se-yeon and Kim Chul-soo hadn't left yet.

"U-um, we fought together, didn't we? Surely that counts for something..."

"It was fun fighting alongside you. See you later!"

Whoosh!

Lee Se-yeon swiftly summoned her wyvern and soared into the sky. Kim Chul-soo also hastily summoned his mount and sped away.

Only then did the Woodstock Guild fully grasp the situation. They were being abandoned!

"Hey! Hey!!! Kim Tae-hyun!!!! Come back!!"

Outside, the ranker party was gnashing their teeth. If everyone fled, the ones left at the very back would inevitably become the sacrificial lambs.

"Mounts! Get your mounts out! We need to run too!"

The Woodstock Guild scrambled frantically to summon their mounts, but deep down, they already knew. Even if they left now, it was far too late to catch up to Tae-hyun's group.

"How long do you think it'll take them to clear Galgral?"

"Based on what the players who went in earlier said, probably about an hour... Wait, what?! He's already dead?!"

"?!?!"

The players waiting outside gasped in astonishment. They had expected it to take at least another hour, but the boss had fallen in the blink of an eye!

"How did they clear it so... No, that's not what's important right now! Move in! Don't give them time to recover!"

"We've blocked all teleportation magic in this area, so as long as we force a fight, they're finished!"

The rankers scrambled to prepare their assault. But at that exact moment, players riding various mounts burst out of the ruined fortress. It was Tae-hyun's group, Lee Se-yeon, and Kim Chul-soo.

"Huh?"

"Wait, what???"

Zoom—

They sped away at full throttle without so much as a backward glance!

The rankers froze, staring at one another in utter bewilderment. While waiting, they had been meticulously planning how the battle would unfold in their heads. Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon were both top-tier rankers. On top of that, they had other high-level players like Cain and Kim Chul-soo with them. Knowing it would be a tough fight, the rankers had braced themselves, tense and ready... only for their opponents to simply tuck tail and run!

"I-I mean..."

"They're Kim Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon! How can they just run away without even fighting?!"

Someone muttered from the back, voicing the unspoken thoughts of the entire crowd. They had never imagined that such legendary rankers would flee without even trading a single blow! They had assumed that, if only to save face, the top rankers would at least clash with them for a few rounds.

If they did, Tae-hyun's side—exhausted and unrecovered from their battle with Galgral—would be at an overwhelming disadvantage. Since they had also cast interference magic to block any teleportation spells, escaping midway would have been impossible.

But to just run away like that from the very start... Their entire plan had been utterly derailed. To slay Galgral instantly and bolt before anyone could even get close!

"Chase them! Don't let them get away!"

"Isn't it dangerous to split up and pursue them?"

"Is this really the time to worry about that? If you took the money, earn your keep! Go! After them!"

Naturally, all the rankers possessed high-speed mounts. They summoned them one by one and began the pursuit, though their expressions remained uneasy. Instead of fighting with a clear advantage in a coordinated ambush, they were now forced into a scattered chase. There was no telling how this would turn out.

Sensing their hesitation, Su Ning spoke up.

"There's no need to split our forces! Just chase Kim Tae-hyun!"

"If we do that..."

"It's actually better. Lee Se-yeon has split off from him."

Lee Se-yeon's prediction had been spot-on. If they separated, the enemy would inevitably chase the one they hated more!