A Freak's Mechanics

Cain's shoulders slumped. Choi Sang-yun hurriedly tried to comfort him.

"Hey, come on. I'm sure something good will happen as we clear more quests."

"You think so?"

As the two of them chatted, city NPCs passing by glanced at Cain's face.

"Eek! A monster! Run away!"

"..."

Cain's shoulders slumped even further.

I really need to do something about this Curse of the Demon's Blood...

Temple Street. It was one of the proudest landmarks of Mora City. The famous religious orders of the Central Continent had built grand, glittering temples here.

Players could simply visit the temple of their choice, join the order, and clear quests. Tae-hyun smacked his lips as he scanned the temple buildings.

They look even better than the main Archisus Church temple back in my territory...

The prominent continental orders certainly hadn't cut corners when building their temples. They had commissioned famous Dwarven architect NPCs to handle the construction. These architectural marvels were far beyond anything players could currently build!

Seeing his rival churches doing so well naturally made him green with envy.

Because those orders had previously tried to place Carbanog's sacred relic in their own temples, Carbanog's message window popped up.

"Are you checking out the temples?"

"Yeah," Tae-hyun replied to Cain's question as he scanned the surroundings.

Behind the massive temple buildings lay training grounds for the paladins. Though called training grounds, they were vast structures, almost like stadiums.

Buzz, buzz. The area near the temples was bustling with a wide variety of players, from novices to high-level rankers. Order quests were beloved by everyone, regardless of level, because they offered rewards tailored to each individual's tier.

"Ah, seriously. I still haven't cleared Stage 2 of the training ground. The Phytos Church's difficulty is way too high."

"Are you still trying to clear that? I told you, you don't have to. Just do other quests. Anyone who actually clears that is a freak."

"But they're offering it, so I should get it."

"Dude, even if you get it, they say the skill isn't even that useful. There are plenty of other places that give combat skills, so let's just get those instead. I honestly think the developers messed up the balance on this one."

"...?" Tae-hyun tilted his head as he overheard the passing players' conversation. "What are they talking about?"

"They're probably talking about the Phytos Church's paladin training ground," Cain explained. "You get skill rewards every time you clear a stage there."

This was a foreign concept to Tae-hyun, who had started his journey in a place populated by nothing but rabbits and hunters! In areas that were highly accommodating to beginners, training grounds and tutorial quests were set up for newly advanced paladins and priests.

By entering the training ground and passing various obstacles, players would receive various skills as rewards. The problem, however, was the difficulty! It was supposed to be a "clear this and take your reward" feature designed for newly advanced players, but the absurd difficulty made it nearly impossible to clear—a complete putting of the cart before the horse. That was why the players were grumbling.

They managed to scrape through Stage 1, but the difficulty spiked drastically in Stage 2. And from what others said, Stage 3 was even more atrocious... Since these training grounds had been open for a long time, there was an abundance of guides and strategies available. Yet, the difficulty remained this brutal! It was the kind of difficulty where simply knowing the strategy didn't make a difference.

Besides, the skills rewarded for all that effort were just a few ordinary church skills. There was a good reason why most players gave up and moved straight to regular quests.

"...!" Tae-hyun's eyes sparkled as he listened to the explanation. "So, you get skill rewards just by clearing the training ground?"

"Yes, that's right."

"It shouldn't take long then. I'll be right back."

"...???" As Tae-hyun prepared to dash off, the others froze in shock before snapping out of it and grabbing him.

"Why are you holding me back?"

"I-I mean, you're the Pope of the Archisus Church! How can you just walk into another order's temple?!"

"Why not?"

"Uh..."

"Well..."

"Because of the faction penalty?"

If a player who had already joined one order tried to switch to another, their original order would despise them. Not only would their contribution points vanish, but their affinity would also plummet.

"I don't get penalties."

"..."

But such rules belonged to a different world as far as Tae-hyun was concerned! He had already embraced the Sadiq Church; what difference would it make to sneak into another order's training ground and snatch a few skills?

"Won't the Phytos Church hate you, though?"

"It's fine."

"Do you have a plan?"

"No. They already hate me even if I don't do this, so it doesn't matter."

"..."

If someone hates you for no reason, give them a reason! Tae-hyun spoke with absolute confidence.

"But how are you even going to get past the entrance?!"

"Hmph. Just watch from behind."

Is this really going to work?

No, even if it's Kim Tae-hyun, this is a bit much...

The party watched Tae-hyun's retreating figure with anxious eyes. No matter how they looked at it, he seemed bound to get kicked out at the entrance.

"..."

"..."

Tae-hyun met with the paladin instructor at the entrance and began chatting. Cain watched the scene nervously.

Please tell me we don't have to run away because he caused a scene. We just got here... If we have to flee, which route should we take?

"You may enter!"

"Thank you."

"?!?!"

To Tae-hyun, who possessed the Highest-grade Eloquence skill, an entrance like this was as easy to pass through as his own bedroom door.

Lightly brushing off the warning message, Tae-hyun stepped inside.

Ah. So that's how it is. Drawing from his vast experience, Tae-hyun immediately understood the system of this training ground. It was a place where stats, levels, and item bonuses meant absolutely nothing—a challenge that had to be cleared purely through raw control! Such places were surprisingly common in Pangaea Online.

This must be hell for players with poor mechanics. If a player like Jeong Su-hyeok came here, they would have no choice but to shed tears of blood and give up. No matter how much they memorized the guides, there was nothing they could do if their physical control couldn't keep up.

With skills, stats, and levels, one could easily sweep away dozens of charging enemies. But without any of those, even facing three opponents at once would throw an ordinary player into a panic.

Clank! A dummy rose from the training ground floor, wielding a sword and shield.

"...!" Tae-hyun was startled by the unexpected bonus. To think they would give him such a gift!

The Phytos Church is actually a pretty good order! If the members of the Phytos Church knew about this, they would have thrown a fit, screaming, "What kind of Pope is that?!" But currently, absolutely no one suspected that the Pope of the Archisus Church had disguised his face with a mask and infiltrated their training ground.

Bolstered by Carbanog's supportive message window, Tae-hyun began to analyze the dummies one by one. Good, good.

*Whoosh!* When Tae-hyun didn't approach, the dummies took the initiative and lunged at him. Armed with the default sword and shield, Tae-hyun hurled his shield forward. *Thud!* He then rushed in, targeting their vital points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with his sword!

*Whoosh, swish!* Fierce counterattacks flew at him, but Tae-hyun had already read the dummies' movements. He had discarded his shield for one simple reason: he was confident in his ability to dodge, so he chose to focus entirely on offense.

*Creak, creak!* While he was engaged with one dummy, the others began to swarm him. An ordinary player would have retreated in this situation. But Tae-hyun did not back down. Forward, forward, and further forward!

He tilted his head to dodge a strike aimed at his face, and with a swift step, evaded a slash directed at his flank. It was a masterclass of millimeter-precision dodging! The incredible mechanical control that Tae-hyun had frequently displayed in Pan-On 1—which had been largely overshadowed in Pan-On 2 by his overwhelming Luck stat—was now fully on display in this training ground. It was almost a shame that there was no audience to witness it!

*Tap.*

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Summons and throws a hammer imbued with the power of Phytos. It was a mediocre mid-range skill. He could see why other players didn't bother struggling to clear this. However, Tae-hyun was satisfied. The more skills he had, the better.

Great. To save time, I should head to the next stage quickly.

"Wow... This is definitely..." Tae-hyun marveled. He could finally understand why people were cursing so much.

Stage 2 of the training ground was similar to Stage 1. Dummies would appear, and he simply had to bypass them to reach the opposite side. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The only difference was the quantity and quality! Stronger dummies appeared in much larger numbers. It was a simple yet definitive spike in difficulty.

Quite a few players had managed to clear Stage 2. Naturally, there were guides posted by those who had succeeded. Their strategy revolved around using the shield and fighting in the narrowest spaces possible! However, Tae-hyun hadn't read any of those guides.

Five hits. It should take about five hits to bring one down. If I strike this one, one from behind and two from the upper right will approach... Judging by their speed, it'll take about five seconds. If I quickly beat them down within five seconds... Yes, this is doable. Alright, let's go!

His calculations were complete in a single second! Instead of heading for a narrow path, Tae-hyun advanced into the open area. And rather than wasting time using his shield, he squeezed in more attacks. In an open area, it takes more time for the dummies to gather. I just need to exploit that!

Oh? This was also an ordinary skill, but he liked that it was an area-of-effect (AoE) skill. One of the most annoying things about paladins was that they could deal damage simply by slamming their AoE skills onto the ground without even aiming. They already had massive HP pools, and their skills were equally obnoxious! Having acquired such a skill, Tae-hyun was thoroughly satisfied.

I should keep going until I fail.

"...Is this actually designed to be cleared?" Tae-hyun tilted his head. No matter how much he racked his brain, clearing Stage 3 of the training ground by defeating all the dummies seemed impossible. Not only were there warrior dummies, but there were also archer dummies firing arrows from high vantage points.

Although they could be counted on one hand, a few players had indeed cleared Stage 3. Their strategy was almost identical: Avoid combat as much as possible and just pass through!

However, the thought of avoiding combat and simply passing through never even crossed Tae-hyun's mind. Since he hadn't read the guides, he had no idea that simply passing through was an option!

If others cleared it, then I can clear it too. Armed with well-founded confidence, Tae-hyun began to brainstorm how to beat the stage.