A Billion-Gold Rescue

Gardu had once declared, "I will collapse this Skull Island into the depths of the sea!" Of course, he hadn't meant it literally. Such a feat was only possible for boss monsters like archmages or dragons. Gardu was a powerful warrior, a legendary pirate, and possessed all kinds of artifacts, but he was no mage. Naturally, he lacked the ability to actually sink Skull Island. Yet, at this very moment, the island was on the verge of collapsing halfway into the ocean.

"..."

"..."

Fortunately, they had succeeded in escaping aboard the remaining pirate ship, but the atmosphere desperately needed a change. Tae-hyun cleared his throat a few times and stood up.

"Though Skull Island has been shattered by the wicked Gardu's assault, we pirates do not die so easily!"

"...?"

"...???"

The players tilted their heads in sheer bewilderment at Tae-hyun's shout. Wait, didn't you summon the storm currently tearing Skull Island apart?

"Outlaws of the Red Sea! Hear me! We possess burning hearts and hot blood!"

The pirates, who had been staring blankly at the destruction of Skull Island, suddenly bolted upright and raised their heads.

"We will not be defeated! We will hunt down Gardu and make him pay for this in blood!"

"Ohhh...!"

"Ohhh! Pirate Leader! Ohhh!"

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

From Advanced Rhetoric to Supreme Eloquence! Tae-hyun felt a surge of confidence. Now, I feel like I can scam absolutely anyone I run into!

"My fellow pirates! What is the cause of this disaster?!"

"Gardu!"

"Who collapsed our island?!"

"Gardu!"

"Who must we slay?!"

"Gardu! Gardu!"

"Follow me! I shall protect your honor!"

"Waaaaah!"

Watching Tae-hyun's speech from the back of the deck, the players' jaws dropped.

"Wow, what a complete lunatic..."

"Does Kim Tae-hyun clear every quest like this?" Crawford asked, his voice laced with utter disbelief. To him, this method of clearing a quest was completely unimaginable.

Normally, a quest involved gathering information beforehand, forming a party with players of appropriate levels, and taking things step-by-step... That was how it was supposed to be. But Tae-hyun... I can't even find the words to describe this! It was a method so bizarre it defied description.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Oh. Uh... I just have some things to think about."

"Did this guy get brainwashed too? Hey! Wake up!"

Alcott had been standing there with a dazed expression, looking no different from the brainwashed pirate NPCs. When Crawford shook him back and forth, Alcott annoyedly pushed him away.

"Ah, I'm perfectly fine!"

"Does a fine person look like that?"

"I told you, I just have things to think about!"

Indeed, the reason Alcott was acting this way was entirely because of Tae-hyun. To be precise, it was the spear Tae-hyun had used to rescue him from Gardu. He had been too frantic to notice at the time, but no matter how much he thought about it... Wasn't that the Spear of Karbanog?!

At first, he wondered if his eyes had played tricks on him. But Alcott nodded grimly. It was definitely the Spear of Karbanog. How many books inside Pan-On had he dug through and read just to find it? There was no way he could mistake its appearance. On top of that, its sheer power to suppress Gardu in a single strike! It wasn't a Legendary-tier weapon for nothing. No matter how much I think about it... that's definitely it.

Honestly, he wished he had been mistaken. If that truly was the Spear of Karbanog, it was a despairing situation for Alcott. How on earth was he supposed to wrest it from Kim Tae-hyun's grasp? N-No. Still... maybe there's another way... If I talk to him nicely... Talk to him nicely? He would probably end up having his soul stripped bare and worked to the bone again. ...Hmm... What if I trick him and steal it quietly...? Trick and steal it? He was terrified of the consequences. Alcott still vividly remembered just how incredibly vindictive Tae-hyun had been back in Pan-On 1. And to begin with, he didn't have the confidence to pull off a scam against a guy like Tae-hyun. ...Then there's only one option left. Alcott opened his quest window. Then, he tapped 'Abandon'.

Alcott reflected on his life choices. He had abandoned a perfectly fine class quest, blinded by the allure of some strange church skill, only to end up in this miserable state. From now on, he swore he would never get involved in anything related to the church again!

"Hey, Kim Tae-hyun. Where are we heading this time?"

"Don't worry. We're going to the Atali Kingdom. You guys can get off there."

"Phew. Thank goodness." Crawford let out a sigh of relief. Then, a sudden realization hit him, and he shot Tae-hyun a suspicious look. "Wait, you're not going to take us to some other weird place after saying that, are you?!"

"What are you talking about? I never lie. When we went to Skull Island, did I ever say we were heading to the Atali Kingdom?"

"..."

Behind them, Evangeline and Cain grinned from ear to ear. There was nothing more delightful than watching other people get scammed by Tae-hyun. Yeah, suffer like we did!

"R-Right. Well, at least I didn't have to use my scroll."

"Since you didn't use it, do you have any intention of paying for the—"

Whoosh! Crawford quickly spun around, pretended he hadn't heard a thing, and bolted.

Although Crawford hadn't spoken with Tae-hyun much, he had already realized a few things. If he catches even a single weakness, he will suck you dry to the bone! He finally understood why Evangeline was so sick of him and why Smith spoke of him with such high regard. He still didn't quite understand why Alcott was so terrified, though. In fact, he was a bit skeptical about whether Alcott was actually scared. In Crawford's mind, Alcott wasn't the type of person to be intimidated by anyone.

"It's fine. I made the right choice. You shouldn't cry over spilt milk... Sunk cost fallacy is a trap..."

"...??"

Alcott was muttering to himself nearby. I swear, that guy gets weirder and weirder every time I look at him...

"By the way, Tae-hyun."

"...?"

"Where is the elder?"

"Ah. He's coming on another ship."

"I see. That is a relief."

The rankers of the rescue team had completely forgotten about Chairman Yoo. It was understandable, considering they had almost died after running into a boss monster like Gardu. Still, true to his calculating nature, Smith was the first to remember and ask.

Upon receiving the news, Executive Director Kim logged in and rushed to the shore. It wasn't the well-constructed harbor of the Atali Kingdom, but a beach close to Tae-hyun's personal estate.

"Eek!" Executive Director Kim gasped in shock at the sight of the pirate ship appearing in the distance. Although it wasn't flying a pirate flag, weren't those actual pirates on board?

"They aren't enemies, so you can relax."

"I-I see... My apologies. I have some bad memories associated with pirates."

"...?"

"Our real-world cargo was once hijacked by pirates, you see."

"..."

It was such a realistic, real-world complaint that Tae-hyun found it hard to respond. He simply nodded with a strained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression.

Spotting the rankers he had hired, Executive Director Kim asked, "Where is the Chairman?"

"They said he's on that ship over there."

"What are you talking about?! You should have escorted him personally!"

"Ah, my apologies."

Executive Director Kim scurried off. Watching his retreating figure, Tae-hyun thought, He really lives an exhausting life. Just how far would a person go for power? Besides, it didn't seem like Chairman Yoo particularly liked Executive Director Kim any better for doing all this. In fact, Tae-hyun had overheard Chairman Yoo grumbling on the ship: "That fellow, Executive Director Kim, is capable enough, but he wastes far too much energy on useless things..."

Meanwhile, members of the Power Warrior Guild escorted Chairman Yoo off the ship.

"Chairman! Chairman! Oh, Chairman! How much you must have suffered! When I heard you were kidnapped, my heart shattered into pieces..."

"Executive Director Kim. You do realize this is a game, right?"

"Even so, do you have any idea how torn my heart was?!"

Listening to their conversation, the Power Warrior Guild members tilted their heads.

"Huh? Chairman?"

"Well, at his age, he's bound to be the chairman of something. My grandfather is the chairman of the senior center's early-morning soccer club."

"But he called him 'Executive Director'?"

"Must be a pretty large-scale soccer club."

"...??"

The Power Warrior Guild member felt like his friend's logic was a bit off, but he couldn't dwell on it. There was something far more important at hand!

Slap! The Power Warrior Guild members extended their hands with blissful smiles.

"...?"

"Give us our reward!"

"Ah... Huh? Did you guys bring him back?"

"Of course we did! Who else?"

Executive Director Kim was flustered by the sheer confidence of the Power Warrior Guild members.

"Was it not those people over there who did it?"

"Nope. Go ahead and ask them!"

"What's going on? What's the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠commotion?"

The rankers approached, hearing the noise, and their expressions turned to utter disbelief. Were these guys joking?

"Are you kidding me right now? Just because you rode the same ship back at the very end, you're claiming you rescued him?"

"But we did bring him back! While all that chaos was happening on the island, we were the ones looking after the elder!"

"Who rescued him in the first place?!"

"Kim Tae-hyun did!"

"...Ugh!"

Only then did the rankers realize why the Power Warrior Guild members were acting so bold. Come to think of it, the rankers themselves weren't exactly in a position to claim they had rescued Chairman Yoo either.

"If that's how you're going to play it... Kim Tae-hyun!"

"...?"

When Alcott called out to him, Tae-hyun tilted his head. He was currently busy planning the defense of his territory, so why was this guy calling him?

"What is it?"

"Listen to this!"

Alcott explained the situation. The more Tae-hyun listened, the more ferocious his expression became.

"So, if you could just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say a word... Uh, why are you glaring at me like that? It's scary."

"Can't you see I'm busy? Huh?"

"I-I didn't know."

"Sigh... I'm busy as hell, and you guys are doing this... Fine, let's settle this simply. Did you guys rescue the elder from captivity with your own strength and bring him out?"

"We did...! No, we didn't." Alcott tried to bluff, but quickly changed his tune. He felt like Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was about to punch him.

"Did you escort him the entire time after that?"

"Well, no... but Gardu was there, so how could we escort..."

"Did you ride the same ship back with him?"

"No, not that either, but Gardu..."

"Ah, stop making excuses!"

"Eek!"

"..."

Crawford stared at Alcott with a deadpan expression. Now he was absolutely certain. This guy is definitely terrified of Kim Tae-hyun!

"Then these guys did more work than you did."

"...!!"

"I'm leaving. Don't call me over for useless things. Seriously, just because this isn't your territory..."

"Wait a moment."

"...?"

"If we're looking at it that way, wasn't the one who actually rescued the elder you, Tae-hyun?"

"Guild Master?!"

At Lee Da-bi's words, the Power Warrior Guild members turned pale. Why was she ruining this when they were so close to the prize?! But their bloodless, tearless Guild Master paid them no mind. The guild members wept in their hearts.

Isn't this too much just because we hid a little detail?!

If you just let it slide, the prize money would have been all ours!

Smith nodded in agreement with Lee Da-bi.

"Now that you mention it, that seems correct. Tae-hyun, you should be the one to receive the reward."

Tae-hyun suddenly grew curious and asked, "Just how much was the reward?"

"One billion gold upon success."

"..."

"..."

Tae-hyun and Chairman Yoo stared at Executive Director Kim with looks of utter pity. In that brief moment, they could feel that they were both thinking the exact same thing.

Only after weathering the tears of the Power Warrior Guild members, Evangeline's grumbling, and Crawford's suspicious glares directed at Alcott did the matter finally settle.

"M-Mr. Kim Tae-hyun. Since you're a wealthy man who doesn't care about pocket change, surely you wouldn't care about something like this..."

"Actually, I do. It's free money, so of course I'll take it. I'll put it to good use. Haha."

The rescue quest reward was practically equivalent to the prize money of a major tournament! Of course, the rankers were supposed to split it, but Tae-hyun had managed to monopolize the entire sum for himself.