The Simplest Method

"You bastard!" Sparks practically flew from Mike's eyes. He was a man of immense pride. He could tolerate anyone else, but being mocked by Cain of all people was absolutely unacceptable!

With a sharp pivot, Mike forced his body to move.

"?!" Cain was slightly taken aback. Even though he had landed a preemptive strike from behind and stunned his opponent, Mike was already moving.

Seeing his reaction, Mike sneered and shouted, "Did you think you'd won just because you got the first hit, you bastard?!"

"Chains of Binding!"

"...!" Mike gritted his teeth. It was coming! That skill was practically Cain's trademark. The chain skill! It was infamous for its sheer malice, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragging any caught target directly to the caster.

I was already prepared for this! He had watched countless tournament videos and devised a counter-strategy.

Mike's body blurred, rapidly shifting in the opposite direction of his original position. It was a crucial escape skill for Gladiators, allowing them to move short distances instantly.

"Huh?" A dumbfounded sound escaped Mike's lips. He thought he had dodged the chains and successfully taken Cain's back. But no chains had emerged from Cain's hands. "What the..."

Clink! Clang! Cain's skill struck Mike dead-on.

"N-No way..."

"Do you have any idea how much crap I've had to take from Kim Tae-hyun just to survive?! I'm on a completely different level than a punk like you, bastard!!" Cain unleashed a furious roar as he lunged at Mike.

The first skill he had yelled, Chains of Binding, was a complete bluff. No such skill existed. Mike had dodged instinctively upon hearing the name alone! The second skill was the real deal.

Wow, you actually landed that? I thought you were going to lose. Tae-hyun remarked casually as he retreated toward the castle. Cain decided to pretend he hadn't heard.

Thud! Whack! Crack! Cain swung his greatsword, landing a flurry of consecutive strikes. Mike stumbled backward, panic rising.

This is bad...! A scream echoed in Mike's mind. In PVP, a single mistake was fatal. In a fight between players of similar levels, one slip-up meant death before you could even recover. Mike bit his lip and opened his guild chat.

Mike had naturally prepared a backup plan in case he fought Tae-hyun (though he hadn't actually fought him yet). He had instructed several guild members beforehand: It's a 1v1, but just in case I'm about to die... come out and help me the moment I give the signal.

Are you kidding me?! Why does the system only penalize me when Kim Tae-hyun does this crap all the time?! Mike felt incredibly wronged, but arguing with the Pandemonium Online system was pointless.

Whoosh! "?!" Cain gasped as he saw the guild members suddenly rushing toward him. "What the hell?! I thought this was a 1v1?!"

"Shut up! As if a lackey of Kim Tae-hyun has any right to talk!" Cornered, Mike cast aside all shame and turned his anger back on Cain.

"Are we really doing this? Seriously?"

"What are you going to do about it?"

Clang! Clang! Cain stopped his assault and took a step back. The guild members who had just appeared surrounded Mike protectively.

"If you guys are going to play dirty, then I've got a plan of my own."

"Hmph. As if you could—"

"Hey! Kim Tae-hyun!! Help! These cowards are trying to gang up on me!"

"!?!!?" The guild members looked up in sheer terror. Tae-hyun, who had run back to the castle earlier, was already leaping down from the ramparts.

"Right now! Everyone, advance! Capture Kim Tae-hyun!"

Since the 1v1 was already broken, the Guild Alliance reacted swiftly. Although they had been busy dealing with the exploding rabbits, the waiting rankers mobilized immediately. Every single ranker on standby charged forward, targeting Tae-hyun.

But Tae-hyun was a step faster.

Lucky Strike, Lucky Strike, Lucky Strike, Lucky Strike...

"I'll finish this before the rankers get here."

Flash! With the very first strike, the guild member at the front was instantly logged out. The next guild member quickly activated a skill to strike Tae-hyun, but Tae-hyun countered it perfectly with Near-Perfect Consecutive Strikes.

Only one second had passed.

"Cain, grab ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one!"

"On it!"

By now, they could read each other's intentions with a single glance. Cain quickly threw his chains. With the enemies clustered together like that, he was bound to catch someone!

Clack! Unfortunately, Mike managed to dodge, but another guild member was caught.

"No...!"

Slash! Stab! Two seconds. Three guild members had been logged out.

Tae-hyun glanced over his shoulder. The rankers were closing in fast.

"All undead, summon and attack! Block them!"

"Yes, Master!"

Without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even being called, Heuk-heuk emerged from the castle walls, carrying the Death Knights.

Fwoosh! A torrent of dark fire erupted. The rankers panicked at the sight of a Black Dragon unleashing an unexpected divine-aligned fire attack.

"Why the hell is that thing using Sadiq's skill?!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Taking advantage of the rankers' brief hesitation, the undead surged forward and formed a defensive line.

"Mycol! You coward! You suggest a 1v1 and then pull a cheap trick like this!"

"Shut up! You're the last person I want to hear that from!!" Mike fumed, staring at Tae-hyun, who was shamelessly wearing an expression of deep disappointment.

"Eek!" Terrified by the incoming Dark Arrow, Mike threw himself to the ground and rolled away.

"...?"

"??"

Tae-hyun and Cain tilted their heads in confusion. At Mike's level, he could have easily deflected or blocked a basic Dark Arrow with minimal damage. It was a skill Tae-hyun had cast merely to keep him at bay.

Ah, he must have watched my video. Tae-hyun smirked. Mike had watched the video of Tae-hyun's magic demonstration during the Magic Tower quest and was utterly terrified. The temporary amplification effects from that quest had long since expired!

"Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow! Dark Arrow!"

"Huff! Gasp! Aaah!" Mike didn't even dare to block or deflect them; he scrambled, jumped, and did somersaults to dodge.

"Oops. This isn't the time for this." Tae-hyun snapped out of it. Seeing Mike get completely toyed with by a basic spell was so entertaining that he had lost track of time. "Cain! Let's get out of here!"

"R-Right!"

They had killed enough enemies and destroyed the siege weapons, so their objective was fully accomplished. All that was left was to retreat!

Whoosh!

"Fire! Keep firing! Bring death to the living!"

The undead, heavily buffed and reinforced with multiple layers of skills, unleashed a barrage of attacks, preventing the rankers from pursuing. Breaking through such a dense defense with only a small force was too risky, even for rankers.

Ultimately, Tae-hyun and Cain secured everything they wanted and safely retreated inside the castle. The remaining Guild Alliance members could only gnash their teeth as they watched them go.

In truth, the Guild Alliance had suffered almost no actual damage in the first clash. Although the siege weapons were destroyed by the exploding rabbits, the rabbits were quickly neutralized afterward. The only real loss was the few guild members Tae-hyun had eliminated.

However, to any outside observer, it was an overwhelming victory for Tae-hyun's side. A victory where they had completely humiliated their opponents!

Furious shouts erupted from the Guild Alliance ranks.

"Holding back our forces like this was a stupid move from the start! Let's launch an all-out assault! We have to go all-in!"

"We didn't even do that when we had the siege weapons... Just wait a bit! We can just rebuild them."

"And how long will that take?! In the meantime, Kim Tae-hyun will reinforce the walls and lay down even more traps. We have the numbers, we need to strike now!"

"Agreed. I support an all-out attack."

"Honestly, with our numbers, we don't even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠need siege weapons. We need to overwhelm them with brute force so they can't pull any more tricks. We keep falling for their schemes because we're trying to play nice with 1v1s and siege weapons. We need a pure battle of attrition."

Most of the rankers clamored for an all-out assault. They needed a massive offensive to quickly wash away the embarrassment they had just suffered. Otherwise, videos like [Guild Alliance vs. Rabbits] would dominate the top of the community forums for weeks!

"Fine. Issue the order! Prepare to attack!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Uh, looks like they're coming in?"

"Let them try."

With the siege weapons destroyed, Tae-hyun wasn't particularly worried. Although the enemy's numbers were staggering, his undead forces were elite.

"Are the magic circles fully prepared?"

"Yes, sir!"

A dark, gloomy aura began to spread across the courtyard of Odan Castle. Multiple layers of area-of-effect buffs were being cast to empower the undead.

With buffs like Unholy Aura, Death's Embrace, and Plague Wind stacking, the undead could easily withstand the holy attacks of priests and paladins.

"Which one should we beat up first... hm?"

Tae-hyun blinked.

"What's wrong?"

"No, down there just now... I must have seen things."

Tae-hyun doubted his own eyes. Among the players gathering in the distance, he had spotted some very familiar faces.

They were Orcs he recognized all too well! It was Kim Tae-san and his middle-aged guildmates.

They had been chatting casually among the other players before quickly pulling their masks back up. It happened so fast that no one else seemed to notice, but Tae-hyun's sharp eyes caught it instantly.

Wait... what? No way...

Tae-hyun was utterly bewildered. Had his father betrayed him? In this situation? While Kim Tae-san was certainly capable of chaotic antics, this made no sense. If the Guild Alliance grew stronger, Tae-san's guild would be the first to suffer, as they shared a border and competed for territory.

But if he hadn't betrayed him, why on earth was he standing over there?

Even if the Guild Alliance is a bunch of idiots, there's no way my dad and his middle-aged buddies could just slip into their ranks, right?

Even for a master of deception, some things should have been impossible. Tae-hyun couldn't begin to comprehend how Kim Tae-san had pulled this off.

Just then, a whisper from Kim Tae-san arrived.

Tae-hyun stared blankly at Kim Tae-san in the distance, his eyes filled with pure, unadulterated pity.