What's His Problem?

What's his problem? Tae-hyun thought.

The gatekeeper, who had been boasting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just moments ago about how grand the Magic Tower was and how they didn't care about a visitor's background, was now utterly flabbergasted. In Tae-hyun's experience, reactions like this rarely led to anything good.

Did Baron Terand betray me...? No, that doesn't make sense. My Speech skill was a guaranteed success.

While Tae-hyun was lost in thought, the gatekeeper asked in a trembling, shocked voice, "Is this recommendation letter actually real?!"

"...Y-yes, it is."

Since he had already committed to the lie, he had no choice but to bluff his way through. Despite his growing anxiety, Tae-hyun put on his best shameless, confident face.

"Unbelievable...! I must summon the Archmage immediately!"

"A-ah, no... is that really necessary?" Tae-hyun stammered, trying to stop the gatekeeper. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he had an incredibly bad feeling about this!

"Nonsense! We cannot simply ignore someone with such peerless talent! I will bring the Archmage at once!"

"..."

Tae-hyun closed his eyes as the realization dawned on him. Baron Terand... that bastard!

The baron ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had clearly gone completely overboard with the recommendation letter. In his eagerness to please, he must have ridiculously exaggerated Tae-hyun's "talents."

Should I just knock him out and run?

While Tae-hyun was contemplating this, the gatekeeper had already bolted inside. Befitting a guard of the Magic Tower, his Agility stat was no joke.

"Archmage! Archmage!"

- Master. What are you going to do? When the Archmages of the Magic Tower arrive, they will undoubtedly want to test your skills.

"Just get back inside, you useless lizard," Tae-hyun grumbled, taking out his frustration on the innocent Heuk-heuk.

Clang!

The prison door slammed shut, and the iron bars slid into place.

Chao's mouth hung open, opening and closing like a fish out of water. Seeing their guild leader in such utter shock, the chefs of the Restaurant Guild began to whisper among themselves.

- Can we really trust this guy?

Unless one played a combat class, getting thrown into prison in Pan-On was a rare occurrence. This turn of events was a massive shock to the chefs. And yet, their guild leader was just sitting there, looking completely out of his mind...

"...It's Kim Tae-hyun."

"Huh?"

"That bastard... He was definitely sent by Kim Tae-hyun!" Chao blurted out.

"Come on, Guildmaster. That's a stretch."

"Why would Kim Tae-hyun suddenly be involved in this?"

"Get a grip, Guildmaster!"

The chefs grabbed Chao and shook him.

Has this guy completely lost his marbles?

This is bad...

But Chao remained adamant. "Kim Tae-hyun is the only bastard capable of doing something this vile!"

"But Guildmaster, there's Paz, and plenty of other chefs. It could easily be one of our rivals trying to sabotage us."

"What were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we arrested for?"

"They said we were Sadiq worshippers trying to assassinate the King..."

"Exactly. And who is the person most closely associated with Sadiq?"

"Uh, Burford? Isn't Burford the most famous one?"

A few other players had joined the Sadiq Church afterward, but after the church was completely annihilated in the last subjugation raid, most of them had fled.

"Not Burford! Kim Tae-hyun is heavily tied to Sadiq too!"

"Ah. Well, they did fight a lot."

"But isn't Kim Tae-hyun Sadiq's enemy?"

"You absolute morons! If you fight someone that much, you're bound to loot their items! Kim Tae-hyun even cleared the quest to extinguish Sadiq's Flame! It wouldn't be strange at all if he obtained a few items that let him manipulate Sadiq's Flame!" Chao pounded his chest in sheer frustration. It was maddening how useless his guild members were.

But the guild members only found his outburst ridiculous.

If you know him so well, why do you keep getting scammed like a sucker?

Weren't you the one who brought that fire mage in the first place?

Seriously, his nickname was [ ], shouldn't we have suspected him from the start?

I thought he was suspicious from the very beginning.

Oblivious to his guild members' thoughts, Chao vented his burning rage. "That wicked, despicable bastard...! How dare he pull a stunt like this. I will never forgive him!"

Chao had high hopes for this Erance King's birthday festival quest. Due to the sudden winter that had gripped the continent and the rampage of the rabbits, solo chef players were struggling to even gather ingredients. Though it was an unexpected disaster, it had actually been highly advantageous for Chao and the Restaurant Guild.

And yet, they had lost everything in an instant!

- Su Ning! Help me!

Chao immediately sent a distress call to Su Ning. Su Ning was the only person he could turn to right now.

- What's going on?

- Well, you see...

Chao began to pour his heart out, explaining everything that had happened. After listening to the whole story, Su Ning asked back in utter disbelief.

- So let me get this straight. Right before a major quest, a high-ranking fire mage you've never seen before suddenly appeared. He was incredibly good at controlling fire, so you intercepted him before other chefs could hire him. But as soon as you brought him in, he suddenly shouted "Glory to Sadiq!" and ran away, and then a bunch of guards raided the place and threw you in prison?

- Yeah. And his nickname was [ ].

Su Ning was absolutely flabbergasted.

Is this guy... brainless?

After getting scammed so many times, any normal person would have suspected something the moment a situation like that arose. That was just basic human instinct!

Of course, Su Ning had conveniently erased the fact that he had been scammed by Tae-hyun far more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠times than Chao ever had. Humans naturally only saw what they wanted to see. And Tae-hyun was a master at exploiting that exact trait.

He had brilliantly manipulated Chao's competitiveness and anxiety!

- Sigh... Fine. I'll come help you.

Su Ning agreed. After all, they were friends and allies. Besides, he needed all the help he could get to take down Tae-hyun. Although a guild made of chefs lacked combat power, their buffing capabilities were top-tier.

- You're not just coming with your guild, right? Bring some other rankers too.

- ...

Chao's tactless remark made a thick vein pop on Su Ning's forehead.

Of course, Chao hadn't meant it maliciously. Su Ning had been utterly destroyed by Tae-hyun countless times. It was impossible for Su Ning to win alone, a fact that Su Ning himself knew all too well.

But hearing it directly from someone else's mouth was a completely different story—especially when that someone was currently locked in a cell because of their own stupid mistake!

This son of a...

Hearing a guy locked up in a Pan-On prison say, "I don't trust you, so bring plenty of other rankers," made his blood boil. But Su Ning decided to swallow his pride just this once.

Unlike before, the response was explosive. Now that it was common knowledge that he was the legendary Kim Tae-hyun from Pan-On 1, and with his fame skyrocketing after winning the Arena Grand Prix and pulling off a 1-vs-100 victory, more and more players felt he needed to be taken down a peg.

Furthermore, even among rankers who had no personal grudge against him, some wanted to join in simply because they found his success annoying or wanted the glory of dragging him down.

The Guild Alliance... no, the Guild Coalition! Even Kim Tae-hyun won't be able to survive this!

As players eagerly volunteered, Su Ning began drawing up plans to head straight for the Erangs Kingdom with his new army.

- By the way, how did you find out it was Kim Tae-hyun? Wasn't he walking around in disguise?

- ...

He couldn't exactly say, "One of my idiot friends got scammed by a guy with the nickname [ ] using Sadiq's Flame and got thrown in prison..." Even Su Ning knew how pathetic that sounded.

- ...I have my ways of finding out. Trust me. I guarantee it!

- Well, if Su Ning guarantees it, it must be true.

- Yeah. He's the biggest suck—er, I mean, the leading expert on Kim Tae-hyun here. Haha.

- Exactly, exactly! The Kim Tae-hyun specialist! Hahaha!

- Hahaha! Lmao!

- ...

Now that their guilds had merged, he couldn't even discipline these cheeky bastards on the spot. Su Ning ground his teeth in silent fury.

"Chao got thrown in prison?"

"Apparently, he used Sadiq's Flame."

"That guy... it's not like he lacks skill. This is what happens when a capable chef constantly tries to rely on cheap tricks." Paz shook his head.

The other chefs gathered near the Erance Royal Palace didn't fully grasp the situation. To them, it was just: Did you hear the Restaurant Guild got arrested for trying to boost their cooking fire with dark magic? or They always play dirty, so they had it coming.

No one suspected that Tae-hyun had set the fire and bolted.

"A chef's true skill lies in their own hands! These two honest hands! Look at Ju Hyeon-yeong. See how honorably she competes?"

"Ah, yes."

"Still, it's a bit of a shame. With Chao out of the picture, this competition is going to be far too easy."

"...?"

The other chefs tilted their heads at Paz's words. Paz was notoriously full of himself, arrogant, and sometimes downright annoying, but he was absolutely meticulous when it came to cooking. Why was he suddenly acting so overconfident?

"Because aside from Chao, barely anyone else will be able to prepare proper ingredients. No matter how many dirty tricks that guy pulled, he at least had the ability to source top-tier ingredients. It's a real pity, especially with the continent in this state..." Paz clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Uh, if you want a fair fight, couldn't you just use the same ingredients as everyone else?"

"Foolish child! Sourcing ingredients is also part of a chef's ability! If you can't even manage that, you have no right to call yourself a chef!"

But Paz had no idea. This cooking quest was about to become the most honorable, skill-based competition in history!

Of course, this was entirely because Tae-hyun had swept Chao and the entire Restaurant Guild straight into prison, but absolutely no one was aware of that fact.

While Jeong Su-hyeok and Kim Se-hyeong were rushing toward the Erangs Kingdom, and Su Ning and his guild allies were scouring the area around the Erance Royal Palace, Tae-hyun was inside the Magic Tower, letting out a deep sigh.

The scenery inside the Magic Tower was breathtaking. The interior was vastly larger than the building's external dimensions—a classic application of space-expansion magic.

In the Magic Tower of the Erangs Kingdom, every floor and sector boasted a completely different landscape!

While the first floor was a peaceful, open meadow, ascending to the higher levels would reveal all sorts of fantastical environments.

There were even rumors that the sector of the Archmage leading the Dark Magic faction was practically a replica of hell itself.

No wonder everyone wants to start in the Erangs Kingdom... Whew, but now is not the time to be admiring the scenery. Tae-hyun racked his brain.

Since the gatekeeper had run off like that, at least one Archmage would likely arrive soon to test his abilities. If he couldn't pass, his quest would end right here!

What do I do?

Tae-hyun's magic skills were only at the Intermediate rank. While achieving this level of proficiency as a non-mage class was impressive in its own right, it was laughably inadequate by the Magic Tower's standards.

Furthermore, the magic skills he possessed were highly awkward to show off. Skills like [ ], [ ], [ ], [ ], and so on...

And he couldn't just cast them willy-nilly here.

If I mess up summoning a demon, the demon might try to kill me. And if I use Sadiq's Flame Arrow, I'll be instantly linked to Sadiq...

To make matters worse, he couldn't even use his most frequently practiced fire-attribute skills from Sadiq's branch!