Escalating Troubles
Should I just find the Authority within a week and make a run for it? Surely he wouldn't chase me down just because I dragged his honor through the mud, right?
Whatever the case, he had to avoid performing a magic demonstration in front of a crowd of actual mages. That would result in a 100% chance of getting caught! Running away was definitely the better option.
"Well then, I shall take my leave. I look forward to your performance."
"Thank you. I will not disappoint you."
"Of course you won't. Because if you do, you'll die."
"..."
As expected, a black mage was a black mage for a reason. Tae-hyun thought to himself:
People who wield black magic, whether they're NPCs or players, all have rotten personalities.
"Why do my ears itch?" Lee Se-yeon tilted her head in confusion.
"Maybe someone is talking about you, unni?"
"Well, there are... plenty of people who would talk about me."
"So, unni, where are you going to go?"
"I'm not sure. It's not like I have to make a decision right this second, so I'm just weighing my options."
Ha-yeon stared at Lee Se-yeon, her eyes sparkling with admiration. Lee Se-yeon was Ha-yeon's idol. She was incredible at gaming, great at streaming, had a wonderful personality... she was practically perfect in every way!
After winning the recent tournament, Lee Se-yeon had received offers from several professional gaming teams. It was impossible not to be thrilled.
"If foreign teams are trying to scout you, that's amazing!"
"Yeah. But since I also have to focus on my streams... I'm actually wondering if I even need to join a pro team. I'm doing perfectly fine as I am."
Unlike other players who desperately needed to get their names out there, Lee Se-yeon was already one of the most famous players in Pandemonium Online. There was no need for her to force herself to compete in tournaments.
"But it's still good to compete, right? They say tournaments are the highlight of Pan-On."
"Ah. I suffered so much this time. Seriously, I..." Lee Se-yeon grimaced and shook her head.
"When I gave my post-tournament interview, everyone thought I was joking, but I was dead serious. Ugh, seriously. What a bunch of exhausting people."
It was awful working with you, and let's never meet again! Everyone had laughed it off, saying, "Haha, oh my, Se-yeon's sense of humor is so witty!" But Lee Se-yeon had meant every single word.
"Do Dong-su was openly trolling, and Kim Tae-hyun kept setting off bombs... Ugh..."
"What about the others?"
"Kim Chul-soo did a solid job. He couldn't keep Do Dong-su or Kim Tae-hyun in check, but honestly, no one else could have either. Especially not Kim Tae-hyun."
"And the other person?"
"Who?"
"...There's one more person left."
"Ah, Cain. Cain... well... he just looked pitiful."
"What?! Why?!"
"It made me wonder if Kim Tae-hyun was holding some kind of blackmail over him."
"Didn't they say they were close?"
"Well, they can't exactly announce publicly that they hate each other. Even our team had articles written about how close we were before the tournament ended."
Indeed, the media had beautifully packaged the Korean national team with headlines like "The Harmonious Korean Representative Team," "Unchanging Strategy Built on Mutual Trust," and "A Silent, Perfect Chemistry." Of course, those headlines vanished the moment Tae-hyun and Do Dong-su started tearing into each other!
"Oh, dear... to think that Kim Tae-hyun, that wicked, nasty-tempered guy, would..."
"Well, he's not quite that bad." Lee Se-yeon found herself defending him without realizing it. Of course, Tae-hyun was indeed a wicked, nasty-tempered jerk, but hearing someone else say it made her feel strangely compelled to object.
"What kind of blackmail does he have on him?!"
"The blackmail thing was just a joke. I doubt he's actually being blackmailed. They're probably just close friends. He only looked pitiful because the person standing next to him was Kim Tae-hyun."
Lee Se-yeon tried to smooth things over, but Ha-yeon was already tuned out, lost in her own thoughts.
"Ha-yeon, are you listening?"
"Huh? Yes! Of course. So, unni, if going abroad feels too burdensome, how about a domestic team?"
"A domestic team... wouldn't be bad."
"Right? Right?"
"Yeah. The offers from overseas would definitely be more lucrative, but it's not like I'm hurting for money right now."
"How about playing for a domestic team together with the people you competed with this time?"
"No. Absolutely not." Lee Se-yeon shook her head with a deadpan expression.
"Ah, okay..."
"Once was more than enough. You wouldn't want to see me teamkilling Kim Tae-hyun in the middle of a tournament, would you?"
"S-Surely that wouldn't happen."
"No, it is highly likely." Seeing how dead serious Lee Se-yeon looked, Ha-yeon decided it was best to change the subject.
"But unni, there isn't just one domestic gaming team. Couldn't you just join a different team from Kim Tae-hyun?"
"I suppose so. But I have no idea where Kim Tae-hyun will end up. He must be getting plenty of offers from overseas as well."
"Don't you think it's a bit much to call us all the way to the Magic Tower when we have our own quests to do?"
"Huh? Ah. I see. I'll let senior know."
"Hey, hey!!" Kim Se-hyeong gasped in horror and stopped Jeong Su-hyeok. He had only been grumbling!
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!"
"Pardon?" Jeong Su-hyeok blinked with pure, innocent eyes. Kim Se-hyeong let out a deep sigh.
"Never mind. I was just complaining. I mean... we were making great progress on our own quests."
Kim Se-hyeong and Jeong Su-hyeok had been having a relatively fun and peaceful time on the Prica Continent. While Kim Se-hyeong still doubted whether Jeong Su-hyeok actually possessed top-tier control, there was no denying the guy was strong. His random magic, which he just poured out indiscriminately, boasted incredible firepower!
Traveling from village to village to clear quests, gathering people to clear dungeons whenever they stumbled upon one, and raising the reputation of the Archisus Church along the way... This was, in fact, the standard way to play the game. What Tae-hyun did was the ultimate off-meta playstyle!
"Those quests?"
"Yeah! The ones we were working on. Which chain was it again... the fourth quest? The rewards were amazing..." Kim Se-hyeong grew excited again just thinking about the quests they had been clearing.
It was a chain quest that had started from a single village. Thanks to it, they had discovered a new dungeon and received all kinds of generous rewards. However, Jeong Su-hyeok tilted his head in confusion.
"Weren't the rewards for those pretty mediocre?"
"What?" For a moment, Kim Se-hyeong thought Jeong Su-hyeok was just bluffing. But he wasn't. Jeong Su-hyeok wasn't the type to brag about things like this.
"Y-Yeah, of course. The rewards were pretty mediocre." The one bluffing was actually Kim Se-hyeong! This guy thinks those rewards are mediocre? Then what on earth counts as a good reward to him?
"Yes. That's why I just abandoned them and came to the Magic Tower. It's far more beneficial to help senior with his quest than to waste time on useless ones."
Kim Se-hyeong, who had actually quite enjoyed those quests, felt a sharp sting at the words "useless quests." Is this jerk doing this on purpose...? No, that's not what's important right now.
Jeong Su-hyeok had confidently stated that joining Tae-hyun's quest was far more beneficial than clearing normal ones. Just how incredible was this quest?
Murmur, murmur—
"...?" The surrounding area was noisy. Jeong Su-hyeok and Kim Se-hyeong tilted their heads. What was going on?
"Find him! If anyone looks even slightly suspicious, make them take off their cloak!"
"Excuse me, we need to verify your identity for a second!"
The alliance guild members were searching with fire in their eyes. There was no sign of a motorcycle in the sky nearby. That meant he hadn't escaped yet!
Kim Tae-hyun must be hiding somewhere, letting his guard down because of his disguise. We will find him!
Of course, not everyone was willing to cooperate. Not many people would stay calm when strangers pulled at their cloaks and reached out to poke their faces as they walked by. One player lost his temper and slapped a hand away.
"Hey, what's your problem? Who do you think you are?"
"This bastard is Kim Tae-hyun! Attack!"
Thud! Bam! Thwack!
"Gah!" The relatively low-level player turned into a gray light and was forced to log out.
"...He wasn't Kim Tae-hyun."
"...I thought he was Kim Tae-hyun... Don't worry about it! It was a necessary sacrifice!"
The alliance guild members shrugged it off and kept moving. The other players watching them had looks on their faces that clearly said, What is wrong with these crazy bastards?
There was a reason the alliance guild members were acting so extreme. Tae-hyun was so incredibly skilled at disguises and so utterly shameless that even if someone tried to verify his identity, he could easily talk his way out of it. Furthermore, Tae-hyun's specialty was dealing explosive burst damage in an instant. If they didn't strike first, they would be the ones in danger.
Of course, that was merely the alliance guild members' justification. To any other player, they were just crazy lunatics launching unprovoked attacks.
In an instant, the community boards caught fire. Unlike in older games, famous players in Pandemonium Online tended to be highly conscious of public opinion. This was because top rankers and famous players often competed in tournaments or ran their own personal streams!
While there were exceptions like Tae-hyun, who ran wild with a "I don't take orders from those weaker than me!" attitude, or players who fully committed to a villainous or raider concept, very few of them managed to gain widespread popularity.
The only reason Tae-hyun was so popular despite his chaotic behavior was because the targets of his rampages were always villainous entities like giant guilds or corrupt rankers! At the end of the day, people naturally preferred to root for the side of justice.
[Ranker_A]: Hey, hey. Tone it down. We're getting flooded with complaints right now!
[Streamer_B]: How could you let this affect my stream too?! My viewers are tearing me apart in chat right now!
In response to the public backlash, other members of the alliance began protesting in the guild chat. This was the downside of being in the same guild alliance. If one member caused trouble, everyone else got dragged down with them.
[Search_Team_C]: Ah, we have no choice if we want to catch Kim Tae-hyun!
The guild members deployed on the field tried to excuse themselves, but no one was buying it.
[Ranker_A]: You idiot! The guild is going to disband before we even catch Kim Tae-hyun!
[Officer_D]: What does catching Kim Tae-hyun have to do with PK'ing random passersby?! Just search properly! Are you just using Kim Tae-hyun as an excuse because you want to PK people?
[Ranker_E]: Do we look like jokes to you? Do your job right.
If you're so smart, why don't you come down here and do it yourselves!
They were on edge, desperately searching for a Kim Tae-hyun who could be anywhere, so having people who weren't even on the field boss them around in the guild chat only infuriated them.
"...Let's not make eye contact!"
"Yes, sir!"
Kim Se-hyeong and Jeong Su-hyeok immediately lowered their heads. They had wondered what all the fuss was about, but the moment they heard shouts of "Where is Kim Tae-hyun?!" they understood completely. These were people you definitely didn't want to lock eyes with!
Seriously, what on earth did he do to have them chasing him like this?
By Kim Se-hyeong's standards, this was utterly incomprehensible!
Fortunately, the two managed to pass through the capital's gates and enter without being noticed. No guild members were foolish enough to cause a scene inside the city.
📢 [Merchant_A]: Selling food ingredients in preparation for the King of Erance's birthday! Slightly spoiled low-grade wheat! This is hard to come by!
📢 [Player_B]: Looking for people to party up with for the birthday event! You get more rewards if we play in a party!
"Looks like it's the King's birthday. There are chefs running around everywhere. More importantly, where did he say we should meet?"
"He told us to come inside the Magic Tower, but since senior isn't a registered mage of the tower, he's probably waiting outside."
"But there's no one here."
"...?"
In the open plaza in front of the Magic Tower entrance, a few players were idling. Most of them were beginners. Unless you were a novice, there was absolutely no reason to hang around here.
"?!"
Inside? The only people permitted to enter the Magic Tower were mages who had received official permission. Both Jeong Su-hyeok and Kim Se-hyeong had to clear all kinds of tedious, menial quests back when they were beginners just to gain entry!
"He says he's inside."
"What? I thought only Magic Tower mages were allowed in there?"