A Pity, Really.

"Aw, what a shame." Tae-hyun hovered around the front of the dungeon, but lingering there wouldn't make the tightly shut doors swing open.

"Ah! Count! You've returned! We were so worried about you!" A priest of the Demer Order ran over to Tae-hyun upon seeing his return.

"Did you find the Exile?"

"No. It seems we've come to the wrong place. Summon Priest Hugo."

"How could someone who calls himself a High Priest of the Phytos Church get the location so completely wrong?!"

"..." Priest Hugo couldn't even lift his head. Tae-hyun shouted, making sure the priests from the other orders heard every word.

"I asked the dragon inside, and he told me the Exile ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠isn't here. It's a good thing that dragon had a decent temperament, otherwise, this entire expedition could have been wiped out."

"It's not certain yet! We need to investigate the surrounding area further..." Priest Hugo protested, but the other priests were already stepping back. They, too, had realized something was off.

"We had nothing to do with this."

"We will follow the Count's command."

"?!?!"

Talk about a swift retreat! Priest Hugo glared at them, but they quickly averted their eyes.

He's the one who made the mistake, he shouldn't be acting like that.

Even if we wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strip Count Kim Tae-hyun of his command, we can't do it under these circumstances.

To be frank, bringing them to the wrong place because of a misread map was an indefensible blunder. They fully expected Tae-hyun to tear into Priest Hugo. He would tear him apart without a shred of mercy! But he didn't.

"Well... if that's the case, it can't be helped."

"???"

"Since Priest Hugo insists, let's verify a bit more. Each order, spare some paladins. We'll enter and check every single accessible spot in this area."

"N-no, there's no need to go that far..." Flustered, Priest Hugo tried to stop him. If they searched further and still found nothing, his position would only become more precarious.

"Why? Do you lack confidence?"

"Argh! This is never going to end! Let's roll dice to decide. Everyone, roll!"

"Party leader, we believe in you!"

"Don't worry! My Luck stat is over 50."

"Whoa. Did you hear that? His Luck is over 50."

"Don't fall for it. Fifty or ten, it's basically the same. Roll with sheer willpower!"

The party led by Neure was still making a racket in front of the royal palace. Normally, they should have hit and run before the warriors scattered across the kingdom could gather, but they had completely forgotten about that. If Chairman Yoo had made up his mind and issued a strict order, they would have been surrounded and put in grave danger!

"What on earth are those guys doing?"

Tae-hyun, who had brought a massive crowd of paladins with him, looked at Neure's group in utter disbelief. He had expected to see players launching a fierce siege on the palace... but instead, he was looking at a bunch of fools holding a dice match in front of the gates!

"Well, business is business. Attack!"

A warning not to use the expedition for irrelevant matters! Of course, to Tae-hyun, it was a completely meaningless warning.

"Looking at those wicked scoundrels, they clearly know something about the cursed Exile. Attack them all!"

As soon as Tae-hyun spoke, the paladins thought, Ah, that must be it, and drew their weapons!

"What?!"

"It's an attack!"

Only then did the players realize a holy order of paladins had appeared behind them!

"Don't be scared! Paladins appearing in a place like this are bound to have a level of..."

"A level of?"

"Uh..."

One of the players used an appraisal skill on the charging paladins. He was instantly struck speechless.

Level 250... They are definitely not low-grade paladins!

These were high-ranking NPCs rarely seen even within the orders!

"What lev—cough!"

Crash!

In the meantime, the paladins successfully executed a shield charge. The heavy impact sent every player in their path flying.

"Argh!"

"W-wait! I'm a follower of the Phytos Church too!"

Some of the players indeed worshipped the same deity. However, Tae-hyun was ruthless.

"Don't be fooled! That guy belongs to the Sadiq Church!"

"???"

"I'm from the Yata Church!"

"That guy... Right. Let's say he's from the Archisus Church. He's a traitor who abandoned the Archisus Church!"

Slash! Slash!

There was no mercy just because they shared a religion. In an instant, the paladins began tearing through the players like a parting wave.

"Whoaaaa! We've been waiting for you!"

"Long live Tae-hyun! *Sniffle!*"

The members of the Power Warrior Guild cheered wildly from inside the palace! Neure gritted his teeth and roared.

"You dirty old man! Was this your plan all along?!"

Chairman Yoo was dumbfounded as he watched Neure point a finger and curse at him. What is this fool talking about? He's the one who acted like an idiot and blew his chance when I told him to just take it.

"Hey, you punk! I told you to just come and take it!"

"You... You... You're still mocking me?! I will never forget this grudge!"

With those words, Neure attempted to flee. He figured he could easily escape while the other players were getting beaten to a pulp...

"Huh?"

"Hello."

"Uh... who are you?"

"Who do you think?"

Tae-hyun raised his Roughly Made Unstable Steel Sword and pointed it at Neure. Neure spoke in a trembling voice.

"Kim... Kim Tae-hyun?"

"Correct."

Neure's face turned pale. His younger brother, Neupe, who was standing beside him, whispered.

"Brother, what do we do? If it's Kim Tae-hyun..."

"Shut up. Just watch what your big brother does."

Neure thumped his chest confidently.

"Fine, Kim Tae-hyun! I've been wanting to fight you! Everyone talks about you, but let's see if you actually have the skills to back it up!"

With that, Neure drew a massive, broad blade. Staring at his grand posture, Tae-hyun tilted his head and asked.

"Are you streaming right now?"

"..."

"Heol. How did you kno—"

"Why are you answering him, you idiot?!"

Neure smacked the back of Neupe's head. Just when he was trying to look cool, Tae-hyun had to ruin the mood, and his dumb brother had to play along... Neure glanced at his stream's chat window. Sure enough, the moment Tae-hyun appeared on screen, the chat exploded.

If he could just show off some cool moves here and escape, he would be the talk of the PanOn forums for at least a month...

"Tae-hyun! Don't let yourself get caught on that jerk's stream!"

"Please don't show your face on his screen!"

Behind him, the members of the Power Warrior Guild shouted in voices thick with jealousy. There was a rumor that simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠having Tae-hyun appear on screen would double a stream's viewership. While it might have been slightly exaggerated, the Power Warrior Guild members knew it wasn't entirely baseless.

"How am I supposed to fight him without being on screen?"

"Oh, right. Good point."

"Hey! Neure! Don't stream live, you coward! We all wait to upload our videos later! Do you have no business ethics, you thief?!"

"His class is literally a bandit. Calling him a thief is kind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of..."

"..."

Neure wanted to wash his ears. Even though his class was a bandit, he was still a proud ranker who liked to keep up appearances. He didn't want to hear that kind of nonsense from weirdos like the Power Warrior Guild!

"Kim Tae-hyun, let's fight fair and squ—urgh!"

Thrust!

Neure stared down in utter disbelief. The moment he had turned his head back for a split second, Tae-hyun had closed the distance like lightning and driven his sword home. But it didn't end there. Another skill name slipped from Tae-hyun's lips.

"Blade Detonation!"

"Wa—"

Screeech!

The Roughly Made Unstable Steel Sword embedded in his torso shattered, exploding in a blinding flash of light.

"Aaaaargh!"

Each and every fragment of the blade tore into him, dealing catastrophic damage! On Neure's personal stream, the chat was filled with groans.

But Neure didn't even have the luxury to check the chat. He was currently being beaten to a pulp.

Thud, thud, thwack—

"Wa— Kim— Wa— Kim—"

"What is he even saying?"

"Wait, is he trying to say 'Wait, Kim Tae-hyun'?"

The members of the Power Warrior Guild watched the spectacle with immense fascination. Watching rankers get absolutely demolished by Tae-hyun was always a satisfying sight!

"N-no...!"

Neure had never imagined he would actually die here! For PvP-oriented classes like bandits, the death penalty was exceptionally harsh.

"Whew. He was surprisingly tough."

Tae-hyun cleanly looted Neure's corpse and gathered the items.

"Wow, why did this guy drop so much stuff?"

Tae-hyun stared at the spot where Neure had been in surprise. Just how much PvP had this guy been doing? Of course, there was the penalty for attacking other players, but Tae-hyun's absurdly high Luck stat also played a massive role. He had practically stripped Neure clean!

Scurry, scurry—

"Hm?"

He spotted a few players fleeing in the distance. Neure's younger brother, Neupe, was among them, running for his life. Tae-hyun chuckled softly.

"Looks like the younger brother is the smart one."

"Chairman! I've come to rescue you!"

"There was absolutely no need for you to come rescue me."

"Haha. You're just being shy, aren't you?"

"Go away, you rascal."

Chairman Yoo pushed Tae-hyun away. The members of the Power Warrior Guild watched them with warm, pleased smiles. Ah, he's just being shy! Hahaha!

"While I'm trapped here... I'm sure you guys will be out there having all the fun..."

"Chairman, let's look on the bright side. You spend most of your time fishing anyway, so what does it matter if you're stuck in the ocean?"

"No matter how much I love fishing, how does it make sense that I can't go up to the mainland?! There are things you can only do on land!"

"Like what?"

"There are shops, NPCs... and other players are up there too..."

"Well, you have your own kingdom now, Chairman. You can just build those things here and summon them."

"Uh..."

Chairman Yoo was struck speechless. Tae-hyun whispered in an enticing tone.

"Since you've already acquired a kingdom, wouldn't it be a waste to let an opportunity like this slip away? You should make the most of it."

"Mmm..."

Chairman Yoo fell into deep thought. If he were to design a kingdom, how should he go about it? The size of the Arantis Kingdom wasn't particularly massive. Compared to the other kingdoms on the continent, it was merely the size of a somewhat large territory. However, it possessed an overwhelming advantage over any place on land.

It was underwater!

An anglers' kingdom would be perfect.

A paradise for fishermen, where anyone with even a slight interest in angling would have no choice but to visit!

Once I build nothing but fishing-related structures...

Without the slightest clue that Chairman Yoo was harboring such terrifyingly ambitious plans, Tae-hyun continued to coax him.

"Exactly, Chairman. With your immense wealth, you can build a truly powerful kingdom here."

"Hmm... It certainly doesn't sound bad... But I've already set the tax rate to 100%."

"...Y-you did what?"

Even Tae-hyun was slightly taken aback. He practically ran his own territory tax-free, so what kind of crazy boldness was this?

"You can just lower it."

"Well, it hasn't been that long since I set it. Lowering it so soon would be a bit embarrassing."

"...Then you can lower it in a little while. You can attract players through other means in the meantime."

"For example?"

"It's easy if you look at the guild territories in the Auston Kingdom. You can support new players with gold, provide them with items, construct great buildings, and recruit high-level NPCs..."

"So, something like full financial support if they change their class to an angler."

"...I didn't go quite that far, but sure."