The Unpredictable Mount

Tae-hyun looked around. But Cain and the motorcycle he was riding were long gone. Executive Director Kim, who had been riding behind Cain, had vanished along with him!

"Those bastards...!"

Tae-hyun glared at the rankers. They must have used a skill to knock Cain off while I wasn't looking! That was the only logical explanation.

Boom, boom, boom!

His focus reached its peak, fueled by sheer rage! Tae-hyun was landing basic attacks at a distance where even ranker archers would have to use specialized skills to hit.

From the rankers' perspective, this was utterly absurd!

"Did that guy seriously max out his basic shooting skill to Advanced too?!"

"That makes no sense! There was absolutely no info about that!"

But Tae-hyun, alongside Yong-yong, continued to rain down ranged attacks.

Thwack!

A message window popped up, indicating a critical hit on one of the rankers. Along with it came the bonus effect from Luck Bestowal.

"What? Strong Warrior's Soul!"

"!"

To think a skill capable of dispelling almost any curse would fail.

The ranker realized it instantly. This is an irremovable curse!

How on earth did Kim Tae-hyun cast a curse like this? I've never even seen a curse skill like this before!

The answer was simply a random effect triggered by his luck. But there was no way the ranker could know that.

Since it only blocks my vision, if I just buy some time... Oh, son of a bitch!

The ranker cursed as the reality of the situation set in.

Normally, a curse like this would eventually wear off if he just held out. But they were currently high up in the air! On the ground, a vision-blocking curse was merely an annoyance. But while flying at high speeds, losing your sight completely was fatal.

He could easily endure the damage from the critical hit, but losing his vision was an entirely different story!

Whoosh—

One of the rankers broke away from the party and began descending rapidly toward the ground.

"Hey! Where are you going?!"

"Keep fighting for a bit! I'll be right back!"

"Are you out of your mind?!"

No matter how much they protested, the ranker didn't stop. He plunged toward the ground in an instant!

The remaining rankers cursed, preparing to attack Tae-hyun again. They could deal with the runaway coward later.

But at that moment, they noticed something strange.

"Wait, Cain vanished from over there."

"What? No way. When?"

"If he used teleportation magic, there's no way we wouldn't have noticed."

"He's gone! Completely vanished!"

The rankers fell into a panic. They had taken thorough countermeasures against teleportation to prevent Tae-hyun's party from escaping using mages or scrolls. They had set up teleportation interference fields around the fortress, and even now, if anyone tried to cast a teleportation spell while being pursued, they would have detected it immediately and interrupted the skill.

As the rankers clamored in confusion, Su Ning spoke up to calm them down.

"You must have misseen. Search the area! He has to be nearby!"

"No... this is a trap."

"A trap?!"

"Look at the direction Kim Tae-hyun is fleeing. He's heading straight toward the Atali Kingdom. That's his home turf. He definitely prepared a trap while running away. Just like when he mobilized that noble knight order last time."

"That actually makes sense."

"What do you mean it makes sense, you lunatics?! With your skills, you can easily break through a trap like that!"

But the rankers were far more selfish than Su Ning anticipated.

The moment things started looking slightly off, they immediately began looking out for their own safety. These rankers possessed a sensitivity to danger—even if it didn't actually exist—that was several times higher than average players.

"There's no need to take such a risk..."

"Exactly. Our agreement was to capture him at the fortress, not chase him all the way out here. Besides, Cain has vanished too."

"I'm telling you, he's definitely hiding nearby!"

"Are you insulting my skills? There is no one nearby. I'd bet my name on it. If Cain managed to trick my detection skills and hide around here, then he's the greatest rogue in the world."

Luring them toward the Atali Kingdom had indeed been Tae-hyun's plan, but Cain's sudden disappearance was definitely not.

However, from the rankers' perspective, Cain's sudden disappearance was deeply unsettling. To vanish so suddenly! Knowing Kim Tae-hyun, he definitely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had some hidden scheme up his sleeve!

"I'm out."

"Me too!"

"I'll be taking my leave as well."

"Y-you bastards...!"

One by one, the rankers began to withdraw. It was Jekas who held back the furious, raging Su Ning.

"Let go of me! Those cowards...!"

"It's already too late. They won't listen to you anyway."

Jekas continued, "And it might actually be better to back off. Knowing Kim Tae-hyun, he very well could have laid a trap."

Even Jekas couldn't completely shake off his fear. The rankers were terrified of a non-existent trap, all because of Tae-hyun's notorious track record. Furthermore, since Jekas had been suffering at Tae-hyun's hands since Pan-On 1, his fear was several times greater than anyone else's.

"You expect me to just stand here and watch him escape after we caused this much of a scene?!"

"I'm just as frustrated and angry as you are, but Kim Tae-hyun is a master at exploiting situations like this. We must retreat for now."

"What about my losses?! Do you have any idea how much gold I blew just to hire those rankers?!"

"Actually, this works out in our favor."

"What?"

"We can use this as an excuse to delay the remaining payments we promised them."

"...Now that is a brilliant idea!"

Doing something like that was a surefire way to earn the deep resentment of other rankers. Earning enemies just to save a bit of cash right now! But Su Ning's brain wasn't functioning well enough to think that far ahead. And Jekas certainly wasn't kind enough to point out the consequences!

"They stopped chasing. Looks like they gave up."

"Um, Tae-hyun."

"?"

"You were fighting so well earlier that I didn't want to interrupt, but... Cain didn't get shot down by them."

"...What?"

"He just suddenly teleported away."

"...!!"

At Lee Da-bi's words, the realization hit Tae-hyun. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠N-no way...

An extremely low chance to cast random teleportation! He had never imagined that this "extremely low chance" would actually trigger right now.

Cain? Cain, do you copy?

Where on earth did he go?!

At this point, he was absolutely certain. Cain had definitely been teleported. And to a place where whispers couldn't reach!

Chairman Yoo asked, looking curious, "What happened? Where is Executive Director Kim?"

"Uh... well, about that..."

The gazes of Lee Da-bi and Chairman Yoo felt physically painful. Tae-hyun hesitantly explained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the situation.

"So that hidden option you mentioned last time was actually something like this?! Don't tell me mine has that too?!"

"No, yours has a perfectly normal option."

"Thank goodness... Wait, didn't you try to give me that blue motorcycle first?"

Da-bi recalled. Tae-hyun had definitely tried to give her that blue motorcycle initially!

"Your memory is unnecessarily sharp."

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing. I just felt bad for Cain, so I wanted to give him something nice."

"Well, that's true. I guess it couldn't be helped then."

Da-bi was instantly convinced! Chairman Yoo was a bit slower to catch on than Da-bi.

"So, you're saying Executive Director Kim vanished along with that Cain fellow?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Well, it's fine. People vanish all the time."

Chairman Yoo didn't seem particularly flustered that his employee had disappeared! In fact, he looked rather relieved.

"..."

"Sir, you aren't secretly happy that he's gone, are you?"

"O-Of course not! I wasn't thinking at all about how great it is that the newbie is gone. And I certainly wasn't hoping that whoever stole his last hit would have a miserable time dealing with him."

The two shook their heads. Where had the dignified Chairman Yoo, who claimed he only wanted to fish in peace, gone? How had he ended up like this?

...!!!

The end of the qualifiers meant...

The main tournament was about to begin!

Bae Jang-wook laughed lightheartedly, but cold sweat was pouring down Tae-hyun's back.

The whisper ended. Tae-hyun turned to look at Lee Da-bi, his face paler than it had been in a very long time.

Da-bi was taken aback by his expression, which she had never seen before.

"W-What's wrong?"

"...I think we are completely screwed."

Before he could even finish his sentence, another whisper arrived. Hoping it was Cain, he opened it... but it was Lee Se-yeon.

Click.

Tae-hyun immediately cut off Lee Se-yeon's whisper and closed his eyes. Just where on earth was Cain right now?!