I Underestimated Him!
"I took him too lightly!"
Tae-hyun had no choice but to acknowledge Chesia. Unlike the innocent NPCs he had scammed so far, Chesia was a twisted black mage. He was not an opponent who could be easily fooled!
Just like Lee Se-yeon.
Tae-hyun chewed out Lee Se-yeon in his mind, even though she wasn't there, and fell into deep thought about what to do.
"Tae-hyun! Tae-hyun!"
"?"
From far away, Baha's desperate voice echoed once again.
"What are you going to do with those dice?!"
Baha was calling out to Tae-hyun from outside the black magic area, his voice filled with desperation. He had completely thrown away his dignity!
Seeing this, Tae-hyun turned to the black mage NPCs.
"I need to concentrate. Let's get these outsiders out of here."
"Yes, sir!"
The black mage NPCs swarmed over and grabbed Baha by both arms.
"You cannot do this here."
"Wait, I'm a Magic Tower mage too...!"
"A pyromancer dares to trespass into the black magic section?!"
"Aren't we all mages of the Magic Tower?!"
"No, we aren't. So go away quietly, will you?"
True to their twisted and ill-tempered nature, the black mages were utterly ruthless.
"I know Tae-hyun over there!"
"What a blatant lie! Begone!"
Meanwhile, Tae-hyun sat on a chair in the dimly lit black magic section, lost in thought.
To kill Chesia, or not to kill Chesia, to kill, not to kill...
It was a chilling train of thought that would have shocked anyone who heard it.
"The Guild Alliance caught Tae-hyun?!"
"Yes, Hyung-nim! The forums are already flooded with rumors!"
"That makes no sense. And please, call me Guild Master! People will misunderstand if they hear you!"
Kim Tae-san grumbled in annoyance.
Despite having numerous advantages, his guild had barely any new members due to the middle-aged uncles' bizarre sense of style. However, new recruits were finally starting to pour in.
In fact, if one thought about it, it would have been stranger if they didn't get any new members.
They were one of the few guilds with a solid territory firmly established in the Auston Kingdom!
On top of that, every single guild member was passionately investing massive amounts of money and time into the game. It would be weirder if they weren't strong.
Of course, it wasn't all perfect.
- "Hyung-nim, Hyung-nim. Why did the younger brother stare at the orange juice carton?"
- "I don't know."
- "Because it said concentrate!"
- "Bwahahaha!"
- "Pfft, haha!"
- "He's got a real knack for humor! He could be a comedian!"
- "..."
This was the raw reality of the guild chat welcoming new members!
For a moment, the new recruits thought the older players were playing a prank on them as an initiation ritual. Otherwise, there was no way anyone would laugh at such jokes!
But because these jokes popped up at regular intervals, the new members were suffering.
Oh, no...! Stop...! Please stop!
- "Bwahahaha! That's so funny!"
The most painful part was when they realized they had grown accustomed to the jokes and were laughing along!
The public's perception of the guild could be seen in the forum posts.
[I want to join the Ultimate Supreme Matchless Guild, how is it? Please be honest!]
"Ah, sorry, Guild Master."
"Right. But they caught Tae-hyun?"
"Yes."
"...?"
Kim Tae-san tilted his head.
"Are they really that strong? I don't get it."
"They didn't just form an alliance; they practically merged. In terms of sheer numbers, the Guild Alliance is the largest force in Pan-On."
"Just because you mash guilds together doesn't mean they'll coordinate well. I'll have to check on it later."
Roy, who was standing next to him, asked in confusion, "The Guild Alliance went out of their way to send people and even posted a confirmation thread. Why don't you believe it?"
"Just because they posted a thread means I have to believe it? Kid, back in my Lineage days, I used to disguise myself as an enemy guild member and post fake threads to sow discord. You can't trust everything you see."
"What???"
"A-Ah, no. I'm not saying I did it, just that things like that happened. Back in Lineage."
Roy stared at Kim Tae-san with a highly suspicious gaze.
Kim Tae-san realized he had slipped up. Unlike his old "Blood Pledge! Lord!" days, he was trying to maintain a respectable image in Pan-On.
"Ahem. Anyway, you shouldn't believe everything floating around on the internet. That's what I mean."
"Still, for the Guild Alliance to make an official announcement like that... if it's fake, it would be the ultimate embarrassment."
"Quiet. Did you finish what I ordered you to do?"
"Yes."
Roy. He was a ranker who had previously clashed with Kim Tae-san, only to be utterly crushed by Tae-san's superior gear and pay-to-win items.
Since then, Roy had been thoroughly blackmailed and dragged around by Kim Tae-san. Yet, at some point, Roy had officially joined the guild and was actively participating.
There was only one reason.
- "You know, you're pretty useful. Why don't you just join our guild and play with us?"
- "Sigh, I'd rather die..."
- "Fine. Then die."
- "Wait, that was just a figure of speech! I didn't mean I actually want to die! And after how hard I worked to help you with your quest, killing me is just too cruel!"
Roy's desperate plea had moved the hearts of the other guild members.
- "He has a point."
- "We did work him pretty hard, didn't we?"
- "Yeah. Let's let him go at this point."
- "A shame. I was going to give him a bunch of stuff if he joined."
- "...What kind of stuff?"
- "Why do you care? You're leaving anyway. Shoo, shoo."
- "Can't I at least know what it was?"
- "Ah, why are you being so annoying? Just go. Do you want to get PK'ed? Huh? Are you asking to be PK'ed?"
It is human nature to become even more curious when kept in the dark. In the end, Roy begged and pleaded until he found out.
- "Please! Please tell me!"
- "Sigh, how annoying. Fine. What I was going to give you was..."
Kim Tae-san began to list the perks with an annoyed expression.
From various high-tier items provided to guild members, to Tae-san directly buying gear from the auction house with his own cash if needed!
Hearing all this, Roy's jaw dropped.
- "Please let me join!"
- "Huh? Why the sudden change of heart? What's wrong with him?"
- "Now that I think about it, the time I spent with you all was full of joy and happiness! I used to be a PK troll who picked fights with anyone, but meeting you all made me repent and reflect on my actions! I want to be with you!"
- "Oh, really?"
- "The kid's got potential."
And that was how Roy had ended up joining.
Right now, Roy had just returned from scouting one of the Guild Alliance's fortresses.
Even though the Guild Coalition had rebranded as an Alliance and merged, Kim Tae-san's stance remained unchanged.
- "Crush and smash the enemy!"
"Great. Shall we move to the next one? Bwahahaha!"
"Guild Master, you really seem to love attacking others."
"What? N-No. It's just that if I don't laugh while doing it, everyone's morale drops."
It was a highly unconvincing excuse.
- "The chef who will claim the glory this time is... Ju Hyeon-yeong! Let's give her a round of applause!"
Clap, clap, clap, clap—
In the end, the winner of the King's Birthday Festival was Ju Hyeon-yeong.
At every critical moment, Baron Terand had made his presence known.
- "This dish is magnificent! Anyone who doesn't rate this highly clearly has no tongue or no brain!"
He was desperately struggling to survive, but in the eyes of the other players, it looked completely different.
Wow. It must be incredibly delicious!
"Didn't that chef, Ju Hyeon-yeong, win last time too?"
"Yeah. She beat Paz. And she won again this time!"
"She doesn't even have a guild, but she's amazing on her own."
"I heard she's actually an incredibly talented chef."
"Well, with that kind of skill, it makes sense she can win like this."
The crowd gathered in the square whispered as they looked at Ju Hyeon-yeong. While most were filled with admiration, a few players took their thoughts a step further.
- "A chef of that caliber is still solo? Look into her and invite her to the guild."
- "If she's a useful chef, it's an automatic yes. Tell her we'll provide maximum support if she joins!"
A talented, guildless solo player was always a prime target for recruitment. Even more so if they were a crafter!
"Sigh. It was my defeat. To think I couldn't even satisfy a single NPC...!"
Paz fell to his knees and lamented.
Seeing this, Ju Hyeon-yeong waved her hands in panic.
"No, you don't have to go as far as kneeling..."
"No! This is my resolve! If I don't do this, I won't be able to overcome this defeat and move forward!"
Watching this, the players whispered among themselves.
"Paz knelt!"
"Just who on earth is this chef Ju Hyeon-yeong?!"
While the crowd was buzzing, a group of people appeared from a corner of the square.
They looked haggard and depressed.
It was Chao and his guild members.
They had been locked up in prison and only managed to get out by paying a hefty sum of gold and spending their contribution points. Naturally, they had been completely unable to participate in the event.
"Kim Tae-hyun... Kim Tae-hyun...!"
What made Chao even more furious was not just the difference in combat power, but the fact that he had been completely outplayed in terms of scheming.
Chao took great pride in his ability to plot using his culinary skills.
Yet, in front of Tae-hyun, he was nothing more than a firefly before a full moon. He couldn't win no matter what he did.
"Guild Master. But at least the Guild Alliance went and caught him, right?"
"Yeah... thank goodness for that. Sigh. Because we couldn't participate in this event, our losses are astronomical. We couldn't even use the expensive ingredients we bought..."
"And Kim Tae-hyun ate some of them, and took some with him..."
"..."
"...I'm sorry."
The tactless guild member quickly bowed his head.
"More importantly, Ju Hyeon-yeong has completely blown up."
"Winning an event like this twice makes it impossible not to stand out. Outstanding chef players are hard to come by..."
This was precisely why guilds consisting solely of chefs, like the Restaurant Guild, were highly valued.
If you became close with them, you could secure a massive supply of buff foods that boosted stats.
"I heard some people are already trying to recruit her."
"Really? Hmm. Why don't we try inviting her instead?"
"What? Us?"
"Why? You think we can't?"
"But she's completely incompatible with us. We've clashed so many times..."
Aside from Chao's personal rivalry with Ju Hyeon-yeong, ordinary chef players generally looked down on the Restaurant Guild.
Poisoning food, monopolizing ingredients, sabotaging others' cooking...
They did far too many dirty deeds behind the scenes.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is the offer."