The Murderer Count

"Wh-what? No... isn't calling me 'The Murderer Count' a bit too much...?"

"To think I'd meet the Murderer Count! *Sob!* I'm going to die today!"

A state where simply introducing himself sent his opponent into a spiral of absolute terror! Tae-hyun let out a deep sigh. He felt like things were going off the rails right from the start, but what could he do? He had to clean up the mess!

"I'm not going to kill you."

"You're not going to kill me?! That means I'll suffer a pain far worse than death!"

"I'm not going to hurt you either."

"*Sob!* No pain?! What are you going to do to my soul then?! Like those wicked dark mages do!"

Getting thoroughly annoyed, Tae-hyun decided to switch his approach. From persuasion to extortion!

"...You caught me! I guess I have no choice then!"

"Aaaah! Spare me! I still have so much left to do in life!"

"Now, now. Listen to me carefully. Otherwise, I'll have my Black Dragon burn you to ashes with its breath."

"*Sob, hic...*"

Baron Terand nodded, tears streaming down his face.

Wait, I'm literally the Pope of the Archisus Church. Does it make sense that this kind of extortion works so well?

Back in the Atali Kingdom, he was a Count beloved by the King, yet here he was subjected to such terrible prejudice. He felt it was a bit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too much just because they were in a different country. But that was just how powerful his Infamy stat was!

"S-sob... I, *hic*, can't die yet, *sob*. I have to attend His Majesty the King's birthday festival, *sob*..."

"You won't have to die if you just listen to me... Oh. You're attending the King's birthday festival?"

Tae-hyun skillfully filtered out the useful information from Baron Terand's blubbering.

"Y-yes..."

"Perfect. I actually had something to return to you."

Tae-hyun pulled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out the royal token.

Baron Terand's eyes widened as he recognized it. It was the honorable item that he was originally supposed to receive from the King for his achievements—before some crazy bastard ambushed him, disguised himself as the Baron, and snatched it instead!

"Th-that is...!"

"I caught the culprit and recovered it for you."

"!"

Tae-hyun lied shamelessly, without even batting an eye.

"He was an incredibly strong and dangerous opponent. On top of that, he was a fanatic of Sadiq... See this scar here?"

"I don't see anything..."

"Oh dear. You don't see it? I'm sure you will after I hit you once."

"Ah! Now that I look closer, I think I see it!"

"Right? It's a scar I got from fighting that bastard. I hope you appreciate how much blood, sweat, and tears went into recovering this for you."

"Th-thank you...?"

"Yes, yes. You should be grateful. Gratitude is a virtue, after all. Anyway, I'm trying to get an invitation to the Magic Tower, but it has to be written by a noble of the Erangs Kingdom. You can write one for me, right?"

"?"

"?"

When Baron Terand tilted his head in confusion, Tae-hyun tilted his head as well.

"What is it?"

"Uh... aren't you acquainted with Count Anong? I heard Count Anong praising Count Kim Tae-hyun highly."

Count Anong. He was a count who looked like a burly mercenary. Tae-hyun had met him during the subjugation of Marquis Marden, and the Count held an incredibly high opinion of him!

"Couldn't you just ask Count Anong for one?"

Ah. Right. Now that I think about it, I could have just done that.

Tae-hyun had been so focused on borrowing the noble knights that he had completely forgotten about Count Anong.

Well... it would waste contribution points anyway...

Asking Count Anong would cost contribution points, but coming here and extorting this guy cost exactly zero!

Tae-hyun decided to be frugal.

"It's a bit awkward to ask Count Anong. Besides, that man looks like he has absolutely nothing to do with mages."

"Actually, that's not true. Count Anong made a massive donation to the Magic Tower..."

"Ah, shut up. Are you going to write the recommendation letter or not?"

"I'll write it right away!"

"Good, good."

As Tae-hyun tapped his scabbard, Baron Terand hurriedly began to scribble down a letter.

Baron Terand glanced nervously at Tae-hyun and asked, "Uh, what should I write in the recommendation letter?"

"Just write whatever. Make it sound good. Can't you even do that much on your own?"

"No, of course I can! I will write the best recommendation possible!"

Normally, he would have double-checked the contents, but Tae-hyun was too busy plotting how to exploit the King's birthday festival to care. Since his extortion had succeeded so flawlessly, there was no way the Baron would dare write anything strange.

Hmm, how can I easily coast through the King's birthday festival... Should I go and dump bizarre food ingredients into everyone else's dishes again?

At this point, Tae-hyun was far more accustomed to ruining other people's cooking than actually cooking himself! However, there was one problem.

Unless my opponents are complete idiots, they won't fall for the same trick twice.

They might have let it slide back then, but now that time had passed, the chefs must have realized that someone had tampered with their dishes.

If he wanted to sabotage his rivals this time, he needed a brand-new method. When it came to tormenting others, Tae-hyun was always exceptionally creative.

"I-I'm finished."

"Thanks. I'll put this to good use."

As Tae-hyun tucked the letter away, Baron Terand asked hesitantly, "Is that all?"

"Yes, yes, Baron Terand. But there is one more thing. Just like last time, a servant of Sadiq is planning to ruin His Majesty's birthday festival."

"What?! Is that true?!"

"Of course it is. What other order has fought as fiercely against the Sadiq Order as the Archisus Church?"

Baron Terand nodded. Although Tae-hyun's Infamy had skyrocketed from grinding players into dust, it didn't change the fact that he had crushed the Sadiq Order in the name of Archisus.

"I've chased that bastard all the way here. I'd appreciate it if you could help me, Baron Terand. If we resolve this successfully, His Majesty will surely be pleased and bestow a grand reward upon you."

"O-oh...!"

To Tae-hyun, who possessed the Advanced Rhetoric skill, the terrified Baron Terand was incredibly easy to manipulate.

"Now, now. You'll help me, right?"

"Yes, I understand!"

Waiting outside, Lee Da-bi and Cain were worried sick.

Did this crazy bastard get caught?

If things went south here, forget the quest—they would have to face the knights of the Erangs Kingdom. Currently, no player was strong enough to go head-to-head with a noble's knight order. Even Tae-hyun would have to run if trouble arose. In the end, level was king in Pan-On!

However, Tae-hyun walked out with his arm slung warmly over Baron Terand's shoulder.

"Kept you waiting, huh?"

"?!?!"

The two had expected him to come running out in a panic, but they never imagined he would stroll out so confidently!

What on earth did he do?

Tae-hyun turned to Lee Da-bi.

"By the way, is the old man still hoarding ingredients using the Power Warrior guild members? He hasn't sold them yet, right?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. I'm going to borrow some ingredients."

"Huh? Is that okay?"

"Well, the old man owes me plenty anyway... And besides, where are those ingredients being stored? In my territory."

Tae-hyun didn't care in the slightest.

"Actually, shouldn't he start selling the hoarded goods soon? I heard farming succeeded in my territory and they harvested all kinds of crops."

"The final decision lies with the old man, but it seems he wants to hold out a bit longer. He hasn't contacted me about it."

"Holding out will drive the prices up, but isn't that a bit too bold? It feels risky. Seeing how my territory succeeded, it's not like other territories can't farm. Well, I suppose it's pocket change to the old man anyway..."

"Pocket change?!"

Lee Da-bi gasped in shock. What kind of pocket change was worth that much?

"To the old man, it is."

In truth, it was pocket change to Tae-hyun as well.

"By the way, what does the old man actually do in real life?"

"Uh... well... he's just someone with too much free time."

"He definitely stays logged in for a long time. Though we haven't seen him much lately."

Chatting about Chairman Yoo, the two located the hoarded ingredients. True to Chairman Yoo's style, only the most expensive and premium ingredients had been selected.

"A sack of top-grade wheat, and did he collect spices too? Let's take the spices as well... Ah, whatever. If we just pack everything up, she'll figure it out."

"Who will figure it out?"

"There's a chef named Ju Hyeon-yeong. Her culinary skills are the real deal, so if we just bundle all of this up and give it to her, she'll make good use of it."

"Ah... never mind."

Lee Da-bi wore a complicated expression but eventually nodded.

Then Cain asked, "But why are you helping her?"

"If she succeeds in the cooking contest, I get a cooking skill bonus too."

"Whoa, that's awesome."

Cain was impressed. Lee Da-bi's face brightened up again as well.

"Alright. Now that we've got the plan down, we'll send this over, find the other chefs, frame them as Sadiq cultists, and we're golden."

"Yeah, that sounds like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a plan... Wait, what?"

Cain, who was about to nod along, suddenly doubted his own ears. What did he say at the end?

"Let's move!"

"Hey, hey! Hold on a second!"

"Thank you...?"

Ju Hyeon-yeong tilted her head in confusion but expressed her gratitude anyway.

"But how did you get all of this? I heard these ingredients are incredibly hard to find right now."

"The guy hoarding them happens to be an acquaintance of mine."

"..."

"Anyway, use this to win! The other chefs don't have any ingredients, right?"

"Yes, everyone is struggling because of the severe shortage. Some chefs are even planning to go out and hunt for ingredients themselves."

"Isn't it only natural for a chef to do their own hunting?"

No one does that...

Tae-hyun's common sense was vastly different from that of ordinary chef players.

As he spoke, Tae-hyun glanced around and lowered his voice.

"By the way, do you happen to know which other chef players are participating in the King's birthday festival quest?"

Ju Hyeon-yeong's gaze instantly turned suspicious, as if she were looking at a criminal.

"W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"Can't a guy just be curious?"

"Don't tell me you're going to PK them..."

Ju Hyeon-yeong had watched his tournament matches. Naturally, she had seen Tae-hyun attempting to PK his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opponents before the match even started. If it was Tae-hyun, he was more than capable of doing it again!

"Of course not! What do you take me for?"

"I'm sorry."

When Tae-hyun vehemently denied it, Ju Hyeon-yeong apologized. After all, Tae-hyun had come to help her and had brought a mountain of rare ingredients that were nearly impossible to obtain. Under normal circumstances, she should have been incredibly grateful!

As Ju Hyeon-yeong bowed her head in apology, Tae-hyun let out a silent sigh of relief.

She's surprisingly sharp in the weirdest ways.

But Ju Hyeon-yeong was no match for Tae-hyun. Why?

Because she was simply too nice!

Listening to their conversation from the side, Cain shook his head. He felt pity for Ju Hyeon-yeong, who remained completely oblivious to Tae-hyun's dark, wicked intentions.

In the end, Tae-hyun successfully extracted the names of the other chefs competing with Ju Hyeon-yeong.

"Chao, Paz, and some other ranker chefs... This might be a bit annoying."

"Who are they?"

"Oh my! Both of them are here?"

Cain hadn't realized, but Lee Da-bi recognized the names immediately.

"Chao is the guild leader of the Restaurant Guild."

"Ah, that guy who got scammed by Tae-hyun..."

"Paz is also a famous ranker chef. He's a professional chef in real life, so he's highly popular and incredibly skilled."

"I don't really know Paz, but did he get scammed by Tae-hyun too?"

Cain took a wild guess. He didn't know who the guy was, but he had a strong feeling that anyone in this game had probably fallen victim to Kim Tae-hyun at least once!

"Not everyone in this world has been victimized by me, Cain."

"Really? So Paz hasn't...?"

"Of course, Paz has been victimized by me before."

"..."

The two stared blankly at Tae-hyun, but his expression remained completely unbothered.