Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Warren
Tae-hyun blocked Zhang Xian's path.
He seems to be trying to create chaos by bringing monsters...
Tae-hyun had already read Zhang Xian's intentions. It was a method Tae-hyun himself had used dozens of times! Herding monsters and dragging them to the opponent's party was a simple but effective tactic. Naturally, he also knew exactly how to counter it.
You ignore the monsters and block the one who brought them! Once you did that, they would fall apart on their own. After all, monsters were programmed to attack the target that drew their aggro first. Most players would panic and try to kill the monsters first when hit with this kind of stunt, but not Tae-hyun.
Clang!
"Ugh!"
Zhang Xian groaned as he blocked Tae-hyun's attack with a skill. To think his shield skill would shatter from a single strike. Tae-hyun's damage output was truly terrifying. If Zhang Xian tried to advance any further, he would be left wide open to another attack. He was completely pinned down.
Yet, Zhang Xian smirked.
Foolish bastard. I anticipated this exact situation!
"?"
Seeing the sudden gleam in Zhang Xian's eyes, Tae-hyun sensed danger. But Zhang Xian was one step faster.
"Liberation from Enmity! Mortal Target!"
⚡⚡⚡
Before Tae-hyun's group had even arrived, Zhang Xian had been deep in thought. Unlike Su Ning, Zhang Xian did not underestimate Tae-hyun's abilities.
If he blocks me, the monsters will catch up from behind, putting me in danger. With his skills, he might actually be able to pin me down. Besides, his evasion is absurdly high...
He had to solve these two problems. Fortunately, Zhang Xian had a plan.
He possessed a skill that instantly erased the hostility of monsters: Liberation from Enmity. He also had a targeting skill that drastically lowered an opponent's evasion and forced most attacks directed at them to land: Mortal Target. With these two skills combined, he could easily corner his opponent.
Believing in Zhang Xian's confidence, his guild members had moved quickly. They had spent a fortune on Short-range Teleport Scrolls and Teleport Gate Scrolls to set up a trap. The moment anyone approached, they would herd the rabbit monsters and drop them directly on top of them via teleportation!
Furthermore, Zhang Xian had enjoyed another stroke of luck. While exploring the dungeon, he had discovered an even stronger and more ferocious species of rabbit monster.
You have been pierced by the horn of a Wild Black Horned Rabbit of Hell.
They were monsters so powerful that even Zhang Xian had briefly been put in a critical situation.
This dungeon is no joke.
The monsters' levels were high, but their combat style was what made them truly dangerous. They seemed to have gone all-in on raw attack power! No matter how high a ranker you were, if you took a few wrong hits, status ailments would stack up and send you straight to the graveyard.
Where on earth did a dungeon like this pop up from? What's hidden inside?
Zhang Xian decided to solve that mystery later. What mattered now was dealing with their pursuers. If the trap worked as intended, it might be Tae-hyun who would be unable to attend the tournament.
Mwahaha. Come on! I can't wait to see the look on your face when you see this.
⚡⚡⚡
"Oh no!"
Seeing the status ailment messages popping up, Tae-hyun instantly realized what had happened. Zhang Xian had wiped the rabbits' aggro and redirected it entirely to him. On top of that, notifications warning of his decreased evasion were filling his vision. If he wasn't careful, he would take consecutive hits from the stampeding monsters behind him.
[Mortal Target] has been applied. Evasion is drastically reduced!
[Liberation from Enmity] has been activated. Monster aggro has been redirected to you!
This is dangerous!
Tae-hyun's primary weakness was his relatively low HP, a consequence of his low level. If he didn't manage his health carefully with skills and precise control, he could be taken down in a single blow.
Tae-hyun gritted his teeth and prepared to execute the Circle of Counterattack.
If I redirect the foremost attack to the side and let the next one slide past...
But the attack never came.
"?"
"???"
"?????"
Zhang Xian, Tae-hyun, Zhang Xian's guild members, and even Kane, who was currently screaming as he got battered by the horned rabbits, all turned their heads in unison.
The horned rabbits had looked at Tae-hyun, slowly avoided his gaze, and stopped dead in their tracks.
It was such a sudden, complete turnaround that it was hard to believe these were the same beasts that had been rampaging to gore people to death just moments ago! An awkward silence fell over the cavern.
"...What? Why aren't they attacking?"
Even the experienced Zhang Xian froze in sheer confusion. In the meantime, the duration of his skills expired.
Chitter!
"?!?!"
The horned rabbits' eyes filled with murderous intent once again. And their target, of course, was Zhang Xian.
"Aaargh! You damn pests!"
"Ah. That was it!"
Only then did Tae-hyun realize what was happening. Because of his title, the rabbit monsters refused to initiate attacks on him. It was an effect he had completely forgotten about because he rarely had any reason to hunt rabbits!
"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!!! Did you predict all of this too?! Have I just been dancing in the palm of your hand?!"
As he was ruthlessly battered by the horned rabbits, Zhang Xian screamed in disbelief. He could already feel that the ambush had utterly failed. There was no way out. But even so, he wanted to know the truth before he died. Had Kim Tae-hyun really foreseen even this?
It was slightly absurd, but Tae-hyun simply nodded. If the opponent wanted to misunderstand, it was only polite to play along!
"Of course. You were merely dancing in the palm of my hand."
"That makes no sense... Argh!"
Having no intention of wasting any more time, Tae-hyun quickly stepped forward and swung his sword. Zhang Xian, whose HP was already shredded from the rabbit beatdown, was logged out on the spot.
With this, due to the death penalty, he wouldn't be able to log in until the day of the tournament! One of their five members had been eliminated. The victory of Tae-hyun's team was now practically guaranteed.
"Guild Master!"
"No!"
The guild members gasped in horror as they watched Zhang Xian fall. To think they would PK Zhang Xian right before the tournament!
"You crazy bastards! The tournament is about to start!"
"Are you out of your minds?! How can you do this?!"
It was a scene they couldn't believe even as they witnessed it. The guild members pointed their fingers at Tae-hyun, spitting as they yelled. But Tae-hyun remained completely unbothered.
"This is skill too, isn't it?"
"..."
"...Is what Kane said."
"?!"
Kane, who was busy fighting off a horned rabbit, whipped his head around in shock. Why is my name coming up here?!
But the guild members were already glaring at Kane with burning hatred.
"You bloodless, tearless monster!"
"Do you have no sportsmanship?!"
"And Kane is telling me right now to kill you guys too. Come on, go join your Guild Master."
"W-Wait, hold on... Urgh!"
Squulch!
Reeling from the shock of their Guild Master's demise, the guild members couldn't even put up a proper resistance. After taking them all down, Tae-hyun whistled cheerfully.
"I hope they dropped something good."
In the meantime, Lee Se-yeon helped Kane clean up the remaining horned rabbits. The horned rabbits on Tae-hyun's side didn't attack; instead, they slowly backed away whenever Tae-hyun approached, so there was no need to fight them.
"Well... we succeeded somehow."
"..."
Tae-hyun's group looked at each other. They had gone through with it because it was the only way to win they could think of, but now that it was done, they felt a bit of dread about the aftermath.
Except for Tae-hyun, of course!
"Won't people curse at us? Saying it wasn't fair play."
"Ah, why worry about that? You almost got poisoned too. Let's call it even."
"The poison I almost ate wasn't sent by these guys, was it?"
"Then from now on, let's say they sent it. Say that on stream later. We're close anyway, so we can just lump them together."
"..."
Kane was left speechless by Tae-hyun's shamelessness, which seemed to have several layers of iron plating. But Lee Se-yeon agreed.
"I think we should do that."
"?!?!"
"Otherwise, our image will be ruined. It's true we were ambushed, and it's also true that the suspect we suspect is close to this Guild Master."
"And it's also true that Kane told us to kill them."
"When did I?!"
"If you agreed, you agreed. It's fine. It'll look cool. We'll just go with a complete villain concept."
Tae-hyun patted Kane's shoulder to comfort him. Kane looked like he wanted to cry. Contrary to his wishes, he was steadily becoming a certified villain. Granted, he had played as a villain player when Pan-On 2 first started, and Kane himself liked that kind of character, but...
This isn't it!
Being a villain who took the fall for all of Tae-hyun's evil deeds was definitely not what he wanted.
"More importantly, what kind of dungeon is this?"
"Yeah. The monsters and everything else make it a very unusual dungeon."
Because they were busy chasing Zhang Xian, they hadn't paid attention to the newly discovered dungeon.
"Lee Da-bi, did you know about this dungeon?"
"No. We haven't even properly explored the dungeons outside..."
"True. Hmm... should we try clearing it now?"
"No."
"No, you idiot!"
"That's... probably not a good idea..."
The teammates took turns expressing their opposition.
"Why not?"
"Do you really have to ask?! We have to prepare for the tournament soon! We should be careful of even a falling leaf right now! Besides, those guys might have called their friends. We need to get out of here fast."
"Hmm..."
Tae-hyun fell into thought. Kane's point was valid. There was a high probability that Zhang Xian had called for backup while running away. Now that Zhang Xian was logged out, it was unclear if the opponents would still want to fight, but it didn't hurt to be careful.
"Then let's do this. Give me just thirty minutes."
"Thirty minutes??"
Everyone was surprised. Thirty minutes was barely enough time to clear a single section of a dungeon.
"The Power Warrior Guild members are stationed outside anyway. No matter who comes, we'll see them first. We can afford thirty minutes, right?"
"I suppose so... but what are you going to do with that time?"
"I'm going to go see the end of the dungeon."
Normally, this would be impossible alone. Even if he avoided fighting the monsters, it was a dangerous task! If one kept moving deeper into a dungeon without defeating the monsters, the dungeon itself would often react. The bypassed monsters might give chase, or more monsters might suddenly drop...
The standard method was to clear the monsters as you went.
But Tae-hyun didn't do that.
You have bypassed the dungeon monsters without fighting. Luck has increased.
"...I didn't expect this to increase too."
Tae-hyun quickened his pace with a wry expression.
Horned rabbits appeared every time he passed through a dungeon corridor. Whenever they saw Tae-hyun, they avoided him as if they had seen the Grim Reaper. Passing through so easily made it feel like he was just out for a stroll!
When the path split, Tae-hyun used his Divine Foresight skill. It was an essential skill for quickly navigating complex dungeon terrain. The reason Tae-hyun confidently said he would return in thirty minutes was because he trusted this skill.
But...
Go back?
The best path indicated by Divine Foresight was the path leading backward.
Hmm...
With the skill showing this, Tae-hyun genuinely hesitated. Half curiosity, half worry. If he ignored it and went in, would he get seriously hurt?
My resurrection skill is off cooldown, so I should be able to escape somehow... but will it work? Ah, am I just doing something pointless?
What kind of dungeon was this that made Divine Foresight, which had worked perfectly until now, point in the opposite direction?
In short, it means 'don't go any further and get out'... Oh, whatever. Let's at least check it out.
He couldn't help but be curious. He would just check what kind of dungeon it was and leave!
Tae-hyun used Divine Foresight in reverse.
Let's take the most dangerous path!
Tae-hyun advanced rapidly. The rabbits along that path continued to make way for him.
"!"
Tae-hyun stopped.
A massive stone gate stood before him.
Gulp.
Tae-hyun swallowed hard and slowly pushed the stone gate.
With the sound of grinding stone, the door opened.
What on earth lay inside?