Rankers Recruited One by One!
The rankers gathered in one place were shocked to see faces they never expected to see there.
"You too?"
"No, you too?!"
"Ahem. I was a bit short on cash..."
"I thought you were doing great as a streamer lately."
"I set my stream to private for a bit to focus on a quest."
"More importantly, I can't believe Smith is here. I heard you've been incredibly busy since joining the New York Lions. Do you really have the time to spare for something like this?"
Smith. A top-tier ranker famous for holding the legendary class, White Knight of the Ancient Empire!
Tae-hyun had clashed with him once in a ruin dungeon. He still vividly remembered shaking his head in sheer exhaustion, thinking, Ugh, those holy knight bastards. Their HP is disgustingly high!
Smith smiled politely and spoke.
"I have that much leeway. Besides, this isn't a PVP mission, so I figured it was worth taking on."
"Yeah, yeah. Aren't you special? Seriously, handsome guys are always..."
"He's so annoying."
"Ah, wait, what did I even do...?"
"Shut up! That 'I'm a good guy' face of yours is what's irritating! It pisses me off that you're popular just by standing there!"
"Cut it out, Alcott. You're being pathetic."
"What? Pathetic? Who's pathetic! You wanna die?"
"Try me if you want. Do you think this is the Auston Kingdom? You seem to think you have Guild Alliance members here to back you up, but you're the only one from the Alliance here."
The fire mage, Crawford, spoke coldly.
The rankers gathered here were all big shots in their own right. They weren't about to be shaken by Alcott's empty threats.
The fire mage, Crawford.
The White Knight of the Ancient Empire, Smith.
The assassin, Alcott.
The descendant of the ancient vampire, Evangeline.
And Roy, the least famous ranker among them.
Wait, why is this place packed with only super-famous players?
Roy was a ranker who had joined Kim Tae-san's guild after challenging him and losing miserably. He had accepted the offer without thinking much: Oh? There's such a good offer? I was getting sick of hanging around those Orc uncles anyway, so I might as well do this for a bit. With my rank, will I be the leader of the rescue party? Hehe.
But the other rankers were on a completely different level.
Crawford was a high-ranking mage who led an elite mage guild.
Smith, the White Knight of the Ancient Empire, was a powerhouse whose name always came up whenever people talked about top-tier rankers.
Alcott of the Guild Alliance was a notorious, violent PVP specialist whose name alone made people tremble.
Evangeline, the descendant of the ancient vampire, was a terrifying tank ranker who had made a massive name for herself in the recent Pan-On tournament.
Roy couldn't even bring himself to introduce himself.
I'm not exactly a nobody either, but...
For some reason, Roy felt incredibly intimidated. He felt like his life had been on a downward spiral ever since he met Kim Tae-san.
"Why are you so quiet?"
"Huh? Me? I, uh... I usually prefer listening."
"You said your name was Roy, right? I feel like I've heard that somewhere. Did you do some PVP too?"
When Alcott asked sharply, Roy frantically waved his hands in denial. Roy had indeed gained quite a bit of infamy through PVP, but compared to Alcott, he was severely lacking.
Hearing their conversation, Crawford sneered.
"Seeing how well you two get along, I can already tell what kind of guy you are. Get lost."
"Ah, seriously, why does this bastard keep picking fights with me?"
"If it sounds like I'm picking a fight, maybe it's because of how you've lived your life?"
Crawford and Alcott bickered back and forth.
Not many people dared to pick a fight with Alcott, who had the backing of the Guild Alliance and was an outstanding PVP ranker himself. But Crawford was one of those few people.
"I heard a rumor that you were so terrified of Kim Tae-hyun that you didn't even show up during the siege."
"Wh-what? What idiot spread such nonsense? That's a complete lie!"
"Not only that, but when you met Kim Tae-hyun in Uruk, you got scared out of your wits and groveled like a dog..."
"I told you, that's a groundless rumor! Where do you keep getting these lies from?! It's because of people like you that Pan-On's community gets so toxic!"
As the argument grew heated, Evangeline pulled out a bag of popcorn with a logo on it.
Ah, this is fun.
Thanks to Tae-hyun's artifact, her misfortune penalty had disappeared, but that didn't mean Evangeline had suddenly gained social skills. Once an outcast, always an outcast!
She occasionally kept in touch with her tournament teammates, but it didn't take long for her to end up alone again. To someone like her, watching these guys tear into each other was pure entertainment.
"Now, now. Everyone, calm down."
As the fight escalated, Smith stepped in to mediate. Usually, the role of the peacemaker was taken by a good-natured person who ended up losing out.
"Since Tae-hyun is such an incredible player, it's only natural that such rumors would spread."
"Hey! Watch your mouth! I'm telling you, it's just a malicious, baseless rumor!"
When Smith, trying to play peacemaker, said something along the lines of "Well, Kim Tae-hyun is amazing, so what can you do~", Alcott panicked.
If he was going to help, he should have done it properly. Why say it like that?
The misunderstanding isn't getting cleared up at all!
"Uh... but isn't it true that Tae-hyun is amazing?"
"What's so great about that bastard Kim Tae-hyun! If I ever run into him again, I'll completely crush him!"
"..."
"...!"
"...!!"
Oops.
Alcott instantly realized he had made a mistake. In his attempt to bluff, he had said something he absolutely shouldn't have.
The other rankers stared at Alcott with wide eyes, their faces practically saying, Oh? Really?
This was not a situation that could be easily brushed aside!
Crawford seized the opportunity. He asked with a wicked grin, "Really? Are you serious? I definitely heard that, you know?"
"...Of course I'm serious! Just let him try and show his face!"
Alcott desperately tried to remain calm. Pan-On was vast, and he wouldn't be running into Kim Tae-hyun anytime soon anyway. As long as he didn't meet him in front of these guys, it would be fine...
It's fine. It's fine! ...Probably!
"Alcott, even so, saying you'll fight Tae-hyun if you meet him is..."
As Smith tried to hold him back, Alcott's face lit up. This good guy! You're the only one I can count on! I take back what I said about you being an annoying handsome bastard!
However, Alcott's hopes were instantly shattered. Evangeline cut in.
"Smith, please don't."
"...?!"
"Alcott has his pride as a ranker, which is why he wants to fight. It's not right for others to interfere. I think you're overstepping your bounds."
"Is that so?"
"Indeed it is."
"..."
Alcott screamed internally.
No! Interfere! I'm telling you, it's perfectly fine to interfere!
In the end, the atmosphere shifted to: Let's respect Alcott's pride. If he meets Kim Tae-hyun, let's just let them fight!
Alcott swallowed his tears of blood, comforting himself with the thought, Well, there's no way I'll run into Kim Tae-hyun anyway...
I heard Kim Tae-hyun went to his territory, so it should be fine...
"Great. Shall we plan our departure then?"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Tae-hyun swung his sword vigorously on the deck. He was trying to raise his swordsmanship skill.
Among the countless basic skills in Pan-On, swordsmanship was notoriously difficult to level up. Unlike other classes that had bonuses for swordsmanship, Tae-hyun had no such thing, so he had to swing his sword whenever he had a spare moment.
"Does doing that actually help it level up much?" Cain asked, looking puzzled.
As far as he knew, swinging a sword in empty air barely gave any skill experience. You had to use it against strong enemies to see rapid progress.
"It's better than doing nothing. And didn't I tell you to raise your skill levels, Cain? I heard the other rankers have already reached the master tier in swordsmanship."
"Ah, no... why are you nagging me..."
Cain, who had casually struck up a conversation only to get scolded, slowly backed away. He had absolutely no desire to spend his break time doing grueling skill training like Tae-hyun.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"...?!"
Cain turned around and saw Choi Sang-yun also practicing his swordsmanship.
Kahladan's Lightning
Jeong Su-hyeok was doing the same!
"Why... why is everyone practicing?"
"What do you mean, 'why'? Aren't you preparing for the tournament?"
"I am always training."
"..."
Feeling the pressure, Cain eventually drew his weapon and began swinging it. Tae-hyun watched him with a pathetic look.
If only he worked this hard normally!
"Hey, hey."
"...?"
The goblin, Stau, scurried over and spoke.
"You need to learn Abnormal Cooking too!"
"You want to learn it here? How?"
"We can just borrow a pot and some ingredients from the pirates!"
"Borrow a pot and ingredients from the pirates to make Abnormal Cooking?"
That was a dangerous move that would likely blow all the trust they had painstakingly built with the pirates! Tae-hyun stared at Stau with a look that said, Do we really have to go that far?
"Stau. Think about it. To level up Abnormal Cooking, you ultimately have to cook and feed it to someone. If we feed it to the pirates, they'll be furious."
"That is a necessary sacrifice!"
"Do you want to get kicked off this ship?"
"Ah, no. If I get kicked off this ship, where am I supposed to go...?"
When Tae-hyun turned dead serious, Stau panicked. If he got kicked off the ship now, the only place he could go was the bottom of the ocean.
"If you get it, then don't get in my way. I've finally managed to get on their good side, and you want me to feed them Abnormal Cooking?"
"Abnormal Cooking... isn't even that bad..."
Stau slumped his shoulders, looking utterly dejected. Why couldn't people appreciate the virtues of Abnormal Cooking!
"Ah! I just had a great idea! We don't have to feed it to the pirates, we can feed it to someone else!"
"What? Cain? That's a pretty good idea, but he's working hard practicing right now. Should we really feed it to him? What if he gets a debuff... Ah, but come to think of it, Cain is sturdy, so he should be fine."
"...Huh?"
Cain, who was listening from a distance, doubted his own ears. I must have misheard, right?
Stau frantically waved his hands in panic.
"Ah, no, not him. I was talking about those merchants down below who were captured to row the oars..."
"Ah. Those guys? That's actually a great idea."
"You must have had a hard time working."
"..."
The merchant NPCs glared back with resentful eyes, refusing to answer!
Of course, Tae-hyun was not the kind of person to feel guilty about that.
"What's wrong? Is it too hot? Do you want to dive into the cool sea? You might get lost, so make sure to keep those iron chains on your ankles when you jump in."
"...No, sir!"
"We love it right here!"
The merchants instantly changed their attitude!
At that, Tae-hyun smiled warmly and said, "I'm glad you like it here. It puts my mind at ease. I don't have to feel any unnecessary guilt."
"..."
"Still, since you've been working so hard down there, I called you up to give you something."
"...?"
"You've been rowing without eating anything, so you must be starving. I wanted to prepare something for you."
Tae-hyun pointed ahead. A massive pot was bubbling away, releasing the delicious aroma of soup.
The merchant NPCs' mouths watered automatically. Grudges aside, they needed to eat first!
"Would you like some?"
"Yes! We'll eat!"
"Great. Excellent."
Tae-hyun sliced a loaf of white bread and tossed it into the pot. The merchants looked overjoyed.
Next, Tae-hyun added a chunk of high-quality ham, well-seasoned chicken, and various seasonings like salt and pepper.
The merchants were ecstatic. They could already taste the delicious soup in their minds.
"Stau."
"Alright! My turn!"
"??"
The merchants panicked as the goblin suddenly appeared. *Why is he coming out from there?*
"Be grateful, merchants. I am about to show you a legendary dish that you would normally never get to taste in your entire lives."
"Ah... wait, aren't you an herbalist?"
"My main profession is a chef! Behold! First, I shall add this...!"
"Isn't that poisonous?!"
"That doesn't matter. A little bit of poison only enhances the flavor of the dish!"
"..."
Only then did the merchants realize what was happening, their faces turning pale.
"I-I suddenly lost my appetite..."
Thud.
"...?"
Cain was already blocking the way down to the lower deck.
His eyes were clearly saying:
If you guys go back down, I'm the one who has to eat that. You're not going anywhere!