Do I Even Need to Practice?
"How are you going to practice?"
"What? It's a charity tournament. Do I even need to practice?" Tae-hyun asked, looking genuinely baffled.
If it had been a Pandemonium Online tournament, Tae-hyun would have given his absolute all to win. But this was a charity event. The game was entirely different, and there was no need to take it seriously.
...Of course, that was only true for Tae-hyun!
Lee Dong-pal looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Are you not even a little tempted by the championship?"
"What's the point of winning a charity tournament? Honor?"
"The prize money, you idiot! The prize pool is massive. Have you not checked the social media of the other invited players?"
"...?"
"They're already practicing Fantasy Craft. Why do you think that is?"
"Why are they playing that instead of Pan-On like they're supposed to?"
"I literally just said it's the prize money. Practicing an old game for a bit could net them hundreds of millions of won. Of course they're drooling over it."
Prize money! While honor and public attention were nice, the astronomical prize pool Chairman Yu had generously put up was enough to make any player's eyes spin.
It was so massive that old-school Fantasy Craft fans were lamenting, Man, if only I could participate, I'd crush them!
Tae-hyun clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk. This is why those guys have never won a real tournament. Their priorities are all wrong."
"..."
It was technically true, but Tae-hyun's delivery was incredibly obnoxious.
"They should be spending that time playing Pan-On. If they slack off and lose in Pan-On later, then—huh?" Tae-hyun cut himself off. His phone was ringing. It was Cain.
"Excuse me, I need to take this. Yeah, what's up?"
-Yo! Hey! Did you hear the news?!
Cain's voice was practically squealing with excitement.
"What news? Did something good happen?"
-Something good? Of course it's good! Did you see the prize money for the Yuseong Group charity tournament?! Let's practice Fantasy Craft together!
"..."
That absolute idiot... Tae-hyun shook his head and climbed into his capsule.
-I told you to go do your own thing, and you're already getting distracted by side gigs? You should be leveling up your skills and grinding experience! This is why you're always getting beaten up wherever you go!
-No, that's not it...
-What do you mean, "that's not it"?! Lee Da-bi is out there right now leading the guild members to grind gold!
Cain had called in a flurry of excitement after the tournament details were released, only to get thoroughly scolded for his troubles.
Flash!
As Tae-hyun logged in, he was greeted by the sight of black mages scurrying around in a frantic rush.
"...?"
"Ah, you've arrived, Count Kim Tae-hyun. Are your preparations going well?"
"I'm working hard on them, yes."
Preparations to run away, that is!
The black mages smiled warmly. "Archmage Chesia is calling upon all the other reclusive archmages. It's going to get quite noisy around here."
"Uh... wouldn't it be fine to just keep it small? Just the archmages currently active in the Magic Tower?"
"Nonsense! A once-in-a-millennium prodigy of the Black Magic School has emerged—how could we possibly keep it small? In fact, we plan to invite all the adventurers currently registered in the Magic Tower as well."
"..."
Tae-hyun was starting to get genuinely worried. If things went south, would Chesia lead an army of the undead to invade his fief?
Unlike mages of other schools, a black mage could raise an entire army if given enough time.
And for a black mage of Chesia's caliber, the scale of the undead horde he could summon would undoubtedly be catastrophic.
This is bad. Whether it works or not, I have to give it a shot before I do anything else. Tae-hyun abandoned his plans of fleeing and began to rack his brain. How could he overcome this crisis?
The only thing I can rely on right now is my skills... What if Fortune Conversion swapped his Luck into Wisdom? He might actually be able to show off something impressive to the gathered mages.
The problem was that if he messed up Fortune Conversion, his Luck stat would drop to 0 for a while.
If he used Fortune Conversion and it swapped to Strength instead of Wisdom, fleeing would become incredibly difficult.
Tae-hyun's HP was already on the lower side. If his Luck dropped to 0 on top of that...
And since they're black mages, they'll be throwing curses left and right. He could already picture himself getting blasted by unavoidable curses.
After agonizing over it, Tae-hyun came to a decision. He didn't know how it would turn out, but he had to try!
Honestly, running away right now was not only difficult but also far too risky. He would turn the entire Magic Tower into his enemy, and his fief would be put in jeopardy as well.
If Fortune Conversion fails, I'll figure something out then.
Quests and classes with seemingly impossible requirements. Yet, in Pandemonium Online, players who cleared those quests or obtained those classes constantly emerged.
No matter how difficult or complex the conditions were, as long as it was theoretically clearable, players would eventually find a way.
The news that Archmage Chesia of the Black Magic School in the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower was hosting an event, shouting "I have found my successor!" instantly drew the attention of all mage players.
Unlike others, high-level mage players who had cleared numerous quests in the Magic Tower immediately realized what kind of event quest was currently underway.
If you enter the Magic Tower and demonstrate an incredible achievement within a short period, you can win the favor of that school's archmage. If you then pass the test given by the archmage, you can obtain the 'School Successor' title.
The 'School Successor' title is an incredibly powerful title that grants massive support from the Magic Tower... but realistically, everyone thought clearing that event quest was impossible.
The difficulty lay in the strict time limit. After joining the Magic Tower, one had to achieve a monumental feat worthy of an archmage's recognition within a set timeframe!
Considering that most players joined the Magic Tower when they were still novices, it was practically impossible.
Mage players who discovered the existence of this quest only after becoming high-level players ground their teeth in frustration.
How is anyone supposed to clear this?
You'd have to avoid joining the Magic Tower entirely, level up on the outside, join only after becoming a high-level player, show off an achievement, and then pass the test...
Who in their right mind would do that?!
In the end, everyone had no choice but to give up on the title quest. It was highly coveted, but by the time they found out about it, it was already too late.
Yet, out of nowhere, someone had triggered it. Naturally, curiosity flared.
"Ugh..."
"...?"
The black mage NPCs looked at Tae-hyun, who had his head bowed low, with confusion.
"Bwahahaha!"
"?!"
"I knew it! Good things happen to good people. Justice still exists in this world!"
-...
Heuk-heuk opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. The other black dragons and Sadiq were far away, but Tae-hyun's fists were very close.
There was only one reason for Tae-hyun's sudden burst of joy: Fortune Conversion had successfully swapped his Luck into Wisdom!
Over 5,000 Wisdom. It was an astronomical stat that no other mage player in the game could ever hope to possess.
And thanks to that, I've temporarily gained several magic skills...
Death Wave, Abyssal Grasp, Soul Harvest, Summon Greater Demon...
A flood of high-level magic skills he had always wanted to learn! Of course, they would all vanish once Fortune Conversion wore off.
But what should I show them? Now that Fortune Conversion had succeeded, a new dilemma arose. What kind of magic should he perform in front of the archmages?
Sadik's Flame... is out of the question. And trying to scam them by planting bombs... is a bit too much.
His scamming instincts were tingling! But Tae-hyun held back. If it were just Chesia, it might work, but with other archmages and players watching, pulling off a cheap trick would be incredibly difficult.
Hmm, there's still some time left. Should I try to find and learn more black magic skills? But using low-level skills would look pathetic... Wait a minute...
As Tae-hyun scrolled through his skill list, something caught his eye. It was a skill he had acquired a long time ago but hadn't used in ages.
He hadn't dared to use it because he had made far too many demonic enemies!
If he used it and summoned a subordinate of Adad or Edaor, there was no telling what chaos would unfold.
Adad, discovering Tae-hyun's location, might even manifest in person!
Furthermore, summoning skills were inherently random, which made him even more anxious. It operated on probabilities—a certain percentage chance for Demon A, another for Demon B, and so on.
The more powerful the summon, the lower the probability of it appearing.
Surely, a high demon like Adad wouldn't actually appear from a simple summon, but one could never be too careful.
And Tae-hyun knew one universal truth better than anyone else.
When you think, "There's no way something with such a low probability will happen," it absolutely will!
Wasn't that exactly how he had lost to Lee Se-yeon back in Fantasy Online 1?
But...
Right now, his Wisdom was over 5,000. If he used a summoning skill with that stat, it would undoubtedly receive a massive bonus.
In that case, wouldn't he be able to summon an incredibly high-ranking demon?
And all the archmages of the Magic Tower are gathered here, right?
A crowd of ultra-high-level archmages that normal players couldn't even dream of touching.
What if I use the archmages' power to take down the demon...?
If Cain had been here, he would have shrieked in terror, Look at this crazy bastard doing crazy things again!
But Tae-hyun was already drawing up a serious plan. The pieces of the puzzle were rapidly falling into place!
"When is it starting?"
"Probably soon. But seriously, who could it be? I heard the requirement for this quest is that you have to be a newcomer to the Magic Tower. Doesn't that mean they're under level 50?"
"They could have joined after passing level 50."
"Does that make any sense to you?"
"There's a rumor going around that the mage is Jeong Su-hyeok..."
"Ah, that Jeong Su-hyeok?"
"Yeah. That Jeong Su-hyeok."
"If it's him, I guess it's possible."
"Wow. I'm so jealous..."
Among certain mages, Jeong Su-hyeok had become famous for his god-like control!
"They're coming!"
A vast clearing inside the Magic Tower. Mage players were gathered in a massive circle around the open space, waiting in anticipation.
Shuck, shuck, shuck!
True to their titles, the archmages of each school teleported into the center of the clearing.
"Whoa... Whoaaa!"
"It's my first time seeing them! No matter how many quests I cleared, they never showed their faces! Those bas—!"
"Hey, shh! They might hear you."
The crowd buzzed. The low-level mage players stared in awe at the archmages they usually never had a chance to see.
Each archmage was dressed in their own unique, eccentric attire.
To low-level players, even rankers felt like distant gods, so these NPCs were practically beyond comprehension.
"Now, come forward, Count Kim Tae-hyun."
"Huh?"
"Who?"
"Kim Tae-hyun?"
The players instantly doubted their own ears. What did he just say?
"Kim Tae-hyun...? Wait, didn't the Guild Alliance say they captured him?"
"He looks perfectly fine!"
"There's no way they captured someone else and mistook him... Did those bastards scam us?!"