Gazen Thought So
Gazen thought so. Of course, if the other people who had been victimized by Tae-hyun up to this point knew what he was thinking, they would have screamed, "Get a grip, you crazy bastard!" Unfortunately, there was no such person here right now.
"Now. Stand in front."
"Huh?"
"Go forward."
"Uh, can't we all just go together?"
"Ahem. How can I trust you guys? You're the ones who snuck up on us using stealth. What if you suddenly backstab me?"
Tae-hyun drove the father-son duo, Gadel and Gazen, forward, pointing his staff at them.
"Father. Say something..."
At Gazen's words, Gadel stepped forward. Having recovered his HP and cured the status ailments from being beaten by the wraith, Gadel spoke cautiously.
"Look, young friend, we really didn't mean to pick a fight..."
"Forward."
"No, seriously..."
"Forward."
"Hey! When a person is talking to you—!"
"Want to get PK'd?"
"No, sir."
Gadel spun around and marched forward. Gazen stared at him, dumbfounded. For some reason, Gadel's back looked incredibly pathetic.
"..."
"..."
Baha's party was slightly taken aback by Tae-hyun's cold demeanor, but no one dared to speak up. Tae-hyun's reputation was simply too massive for anyone to object!
"I-I'm a... a big fan."
"Ah. Yes."
"Me too!"
"Ah. Sure."
Baher and his friends spoke up shyly. With their eyes sparkling as they spoke, they were the very definition of devoted fans.
In contrast, Tae-hyun was indifferently thinking about something else entirely.
Tsk, I was hoping to strip those two of their gear... Can't they cause some kind of accident?
Meanwhile, the party members struck up a conversation with Jeong Su-hyeok. They actually felt much closer to Su-hyeok than to Tae-hyun.
Tae-hyun played a completely different class and felt like a distant, unreachable player, but Su-hyeok was a fellow mage. Furthermore, Su-hyeok's control in the tournament had deeply impressed them.
"I loved watching your tournament qualifiers!"
"I had no idea a shield could be used like that!"
"..."
Meanwhile, Kim Se-hyeong stood off to the side, lonely and isolated.
The moment he denied being Cain, all interest vanished instantly!
P-Pay some attention to me too...!
"Anyway, breaking a wall that other mages couldn't even dream of scratching... I thought he was amazing, but as expected, he's a famous ranker."
"What's truly incredible is that he broke it with magic. I didn't know he could cast spells too."
"He barely used magic in the tournament, right?"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't he use it?"
"Could it be on purpose? Like, 'I'm confident I can win even if I seal my magic skills'!"
"That's insane...!"
Baher and his friends whispered among themselves. Of course, Tae-hyun heard every single word.
If they had thought about it rationally, they might have doubted him: Wait, Kim Tae-hyun is great at close combat, has high blacksmithing, can cook, and now his magic is high too? That's realistically impossible. There must be some secret.
However, the teenage boys, having just met the player they idolized, were incapable of such logical skepticism.
"Geez, that's too much. Seriously."
Baha grumbled to Gadel. Gadel immediately reacted.
"Right? No matter how you look at it, putting a mage in the tank position is..."
"Huh? No, that part is obvious. Who told you to stalk us from behind?"
"Hey!"
"I wanted to show off a bit to my son's friends..."
"Is that what's important right now? With Kim Tae-hyun here, we can clear the dungeon we couldn't clear before. Focus on that."
"Well, that's true. Thanks, Gadel."
"If you're thankful, talk to that young guy and get me to the back..."
"Ah. Sorry. I'm scared of him too. He's glaring so fiercely."
"Hey!!"
Baha immediately turned his head away.
"Ahead! It's a monster!"
Rumble...
"Aaaaah!"
Gadel and Gazen screamed and immediately prepared for battle.
What appeared before them was a massive monster known as a Tower Chameleon. It was a monster that crawled along the walls while cloaked in stealth, only to suddenly appear and ambush its prey! Because of its excellent stealth capabilities, it was an incredibly tricky opponent for mages with low defense and low HP.
"Detection magic! Cast detection magic!"
"No! That doesn't work on a Chameleon! It keeps moving along the walls!"
"Set up shields first! We'll get wiped out in one hit!"
The mages all panicked and scrambled to prepare, but Tae-hyun remained perfectly calm.
- Over there, Master.
- Yeah. Thanks.
Heuk-heuk was constantly pinpointing its location. The Chameleon monster was crawling along the tower walls and ceiling, biding its time.
To catch that thing, I need to lure it down... Hmm...
Curious, Tae-hyun asked.
"How do you guys usually catch that when it's just mages?"
"Usually, we huddle under our shields and keep moving. Sometimes the Chameleon retreats, and sometimes it attacks... if it attacks, we burst it down all at once. If we fail, it runs away."
"I see. Makes sense."
Tae-hyun nodded and shouted.
"Everyone, huddle up and get back!"
"...?"
The others scrambled backward at his command. Someone could have questioned, "Why do we have to do that?" but no one was that brave. Tae-hyun's name alone was enough to command absolute trust!
"Ah, not you two. You two stay right there. And cancel your shields. It looks uncomfortable."
"..."
"Alright. The rest of us, let's set up shields and wait."
"Wait, don't tell me..."
It was a blatant setup! Tae-hyun had left the two in front without even letting them use their shields. This was completely...
Bait?!
Realizing the situation, the two looked like they were about to cry.
"N-No, this is a bit..."
"Well, someone has to take the hit. Should I do it? Keep your mouths shut."
He was vastly different from the image of Tae-hyun they had seen on broadcasts. He wasn't a righteous and brave player; he was... well, quite evil.
Screeeech!
Deciding that two shieldless targets standing still was the perfect opportunity, the Chameleon deactivated its stealth and pounced from the ceiling.
"Aaaaah!"
The mages tried to counter, but the Chameleon's speed was no joke. If it were slow enough to be easily countered by mages, it wouldn't have earned such a notorious reputation!
Flash!
But Tae-hyun's reaction was faster. He already knew the Chameleon's exact location thanks to Heuk-heuk.
"Now!"
With a shout, Tae-hyun leaped forward using Shadow Leap. Startled by Tae-hyun's sudden appearance, the Chameleon whipped its long tongue.
Whack!
Weapon durability has decreased!
Oops.
Tae-hyun had reflexively whacked it with his staff! However, perhaps due to his attack-boosting skills, the effect was devastating. The Chameleon staggered backward.
- Master! I'm coming!
Flutter!
Chomp!
Heuk-heuk lunged forward and bit down hard on the Chameleon.
Heuk-heuk's Strength has increased.
Oh, not bad...
Then again, he was a Black Dragon. No matter how weakened he was, he wouldn't lose to a monster like this...
Screeeech!
Having its energy drained, the irritated Chameleon violently flung Heuk-heuk away.
Thud!
Heuk-heuk flew through the air, bounced off the wall once, and tumbled onto the ground.
"..."
With a sour expression, Tae-hyun rushed in and unleashed a flurry of concentrated blows directly onto the Chameleon's face.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack!
- Squeal! Squeal! Squeeeal!
Once caught in Tae-hyun's burst damage, almost any monster would melt instantly. The Chameleon was no exception.
"He took it down all by himself!"
"See, Gazen? I told you Tae-hyun had a plan."
"Then do you want to be the bait next time?"
"No thanks."
"You jerk..."
Tae-hyun had completely toyed with a monster that usually gave entire parties of mages a hard time. Since he had predicted its location from the moment of the ambush and immediately unleashed burst damage, it was only natural that the fight ended so easily.
However, to the mages, it didn't look like that at all. It appeared as though he had reacted with superhuman reflexes.
◈ Effect: Allows the user to blend in with their surroundings when held.
◈ Note: Edible.
While the players behind him marveled and chattered, Tae-hyun checked the item and called out to Heuk-heuk.
- Hey. Get up.
- ...
- I can see you're not dead. Get up.
- Sob... Master...
Heuk-heuk slowly stood up.
- That insolent bastard dared to...
- Yeah, yeah. I get it. Next time, I'll completely incapacitate them before letting you drain them.
Looking at Heuk-heuk, he possessed a talent for recovering his strength using an Energy Drain skill. Of course, the Energy Drain skill was not as simple as it seemed. Using it against weak opponents was pointless, and using it against strong ones could result in getting beaten up and flung away like this.
He's way weaker than I thought. No wonder he should have saved his Breath...
Tae-hyun harbored thoughts that would have deeply wounded Heuk-heuk's pride had the dragon known.
Anyway, what kind of item dropped?
"...?"
It was an item that seemed somewhat useful yet ambiguous. Of course, rolling dice for loot was the rule.
"Alright! Let's roll the di—"
"I'll take it."
"..."
"Kim Tae-hyun! Where the hell did that bastard go?!"
The members of the Guild Alliance who had chased after Tae-hyun wandered the streets, venting their frustration.
His Majesty the King's birthday celebration is about to begin! Adventurers, please gather at the Central Square!
"Whoa! Awesome!"
While everyone else was running around in excitement, they were the only ones chasing after a ghost.
"- Did that bastard run away already?"
"- Right, it's Kim Tae-hyun."
"- No, I used a tracking skill, and it says Kim Tae-hyun is still in the Capital!"
"- Can we even trust that skill?"
"- If we can't trust skills, what can we trust?!"
"- Hey. Did you see the bulletin board?"
"- ?"
"- Turn it on!"
"- ...?"
"- Kim Tae-hyun knows how to use magic?"
"- At this point, nothing he does would surprise me. So where is he?"
"- They say he's in the Magic Tower Dungeon."
"- The Magic Tower Dungeon? How did he even get in there? He's not even a mage!"
"- What do we do? Chase him?"
"- The Magic Tower Dungeon... isn't really a place we can just chase someone into..."
The mages among the guild members knew exactly what kind of place the Magic Tower Dungeon was. If they went in there to chase him, they might end up dying together! Furthermore, Tae-hyun was an absolute master at hit-and-run tactics in places like that.
"- How tough can the Magic Tower Dungeon be?"
"- Then why don't you go in?"
"- I don't have permission to enter the Magic Tower. I haven't cleared the quest. Why would I go to the Magic Tower anyway?"
"- Should we wait in front?"
"- If we fight in front of the Magic Tower, won't we get a bounty?"
"- Who cares? If we can just catch Kim Tae-hyun, that much is worth enduring."
Normally, players avoided PK'ing inside cities. Guards would rush in immediately, a bounty would be placed, and their infamy would multiply... But Tae-hyun was someone they wanted to catch even if they had to endure all of that!
"- Hey, think about it seriously. If we catch Kim Tae-hyun even once, those penalties are nothing compared to the reward."
"- What reward? Does catching Kim Tae-hyun drop a random box? It's just a kill."
"- No, you idiot. No one has ever killed Kim Tae-hyun before. Think about us being the first. We'll become incredibly famous. If we upload the video? Instant number one. You stream, right? If the guy who killed Kim Tae-hyun streams, would you watch it or not?"
"- ...I'd definitely watch it!"
"- Exactly. No matter how you look at it, it's a profitable venture. In fact, Kim Tae-hyun might be letting his guard down even more inside the city. He'll think, 'Surely they wouldn't go that far here?' Let's just stab him the moment he exits the dungeon! An ambush is always best!"
The guild members steeled their resolve. No matter what penalties they received, it was entirely worth enduring compared to the real-world fame they would gain by catching Tae-hyun.