The Stolen Key

Tae-hyun didn’t panic. He’d already read what Denelson was thinking from the look on his face.

“Then get out.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Tae-hyun slowly walked out together with Rufo.

The moment Denelson was out of sight, Rufo asked again, flustered.

“Are you really saying we don’t need to worry?”

“Hey. Use your head a little.”

“...?”

“What kind of pirate doesn’t have greed?”

Greed for money, greed for treasure, greed for power—whatever shape it took.

If he was a pirate, he was bound to be greedy. No matter how much Denelson tried to act cool, that part wouldn’t change.

“W-Well...”

“Why do you think he told us to leave? Because he’d be embarrassed to eat it in front of us.”

“...!”

“Let’s wait here. Hold on. Hear that?”

Instead of going all the way outside, Tae-hyun stopped in the corridor and gestured.

Rufo listened carefully.

“I hear clattering.”

“Sounds like he’s wolfing down the soup. That bastard. He could’ve just eaten it openly. Puts on such a damn act.”

“...”

Rufo shook his head.

Denelson was supposed to be a notorious pirate captain, yet he turned out to be that kind of man. It felt like watching an illusion shatter.

They kept waiting. Eventually the noise stopped, and all went quiet.

Swallowing hard, Rufo asked, “Do you think he’s asleep?”

“Who knows. Want to go check?”

“Y-Yes?!”

“I’m kidding. If you were a thief, maybe. But you don’t have a stealth skill, do you? I’ll go look. Stay here, and if anything happens, come running.”

“A-Alright.”

Rufo put a hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

Denelson might be strong, but Rufo wasn’t weak either. In fact, Rufo was an incredibly powerful NPC by any normal standard.

Even the highest-ranked player rankers were still only in the low one hundreds. Compared to that, there were countless NPCs well above that level.

Rufo was one of them, of course.

He got pushed around by Tae-hyun all the time, but still...

Fwoosh!

Tae-hyun slowly made his way back down the corridor.

If Denelson was awake, it could get dangerous.

Tae-hyun’s stealth was backed by his absurdly high Luck and the passive skill of his Legendary class, Avatar of Archisus.

A stealth skill far superior to what most thieves could manage.

Still, Denelson was no pushover either.

Wasn’t he the king of the pirates who ruled these waters?

Well, I’ll deal with that if it happens.

Tae-hyun walked on calmly.

There wasn’t even a trace of fear in him. Bold to the point of absurdity.

“Grrrrnngh...”

“...!”

It was Denelson snoring.

Tae-hyun cursed him inwardly.

Even his snoring sounds weird.

When he checked the pot the soup had been made in, it was completely empty.

Denelson had clearly eaten all of it.

Tae-hyun had expected that and made a huge batch, but to think the man had finished the entire thing...

He shook his head.

Alright, then...

Where would the key be?

This was Denelson’s private quarters. There had to be all kinds of important things here.

No other pirates around, either.

Villains never trusted other villains.

Denelson was no different.

The fact that there were no subordinates anywhere nearby said a lot about how important the things inside this room were.

Of course, that was also exactly why Tae-hyun was able to rob him like this.

Whoa. What kind of sword is this?

Tae-hyun stared at the sword hanging on the wall and admired it.

It looked expensive at a glance.

This thing’s insane. And it’s a quest item too?

Tae-hyun smacked his lips in regret.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t take anything in this room.

If he did, Denelson would notice the instant he woke up.

Besides, just from looking at it, that item was clearly tied to a quest that couldn’t be cleared at his current level.

If he accepted it now, he’d just die for no reason.

In Fantasy Online 2, what mattered was having the brains to judge what kind of quest you were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dealing with.

Most players heard the words rare quest and instantly lost their minds.

-If I take it, I’ll figure out a way to clear it somehow!

-When am I ever going to get another chance like this?

-I have to accept it first!

But that was a mistake.

If it was a quest you couldn’t clear in your current situation, then you shouldn’t accept it.

All you’d get from it was penalties.

Thinking that, Tae-hyun looked away.

The important thing right now was the key.

Something that looks like a key... Ah. This is a map.

A secret pirate map.

Given how many factions held grudges against the pirates, just taking this map out of here would surely fetch an absurd amount of money.

And since Tae-hyun himself was highly likely to end up on bad terms with the pirates, there was a good chance he’d need it too.

Notes. I need to copy this down!

Tae-hyun immediately started copying the map.

He regretted not leveling his Copying skill in advance, but there was no time for that now.

Tae-hyun frantically copied as fast as he could.

The important places first!

It didn’t have to be perfect!

Scratch, scratch—

Tae-hyun swiftly tucked the copied map into his coat and started searching again.

“Grrrrnngh...”

“...!”

Denelson shifted in his sleep and rolled over.

Something slipped out of his coat pocket.

Flash!

It was the key.

Tae-hyun walked over very, very slowly.

It had to be the key.

There probably weren’t many keys in this room important enough to be tucked into his coat like that.

But of all things, it hadn’t fallen all the way out. It was half-caught in the pocket.

What if I touch it and wake him up?

Even Tae-hyun couldn’t help getting tense in a situation like this.

Still, he had no choice.

“Whew...”

Tae-hyun pulled a key from inside his clothes.

It wasn’t the real key, of course.

It was a fake he’d made earlier outside.

* * *

From the moment he realized down below that he needed a key, Tae-hyun had already made a plan.

He had to get the key.

That meant stealing it from whoever had it.

But he couldn’t get caught.

The moment he did, the pirates would come swarming in.

So what was the answer?

He had to steal it without the other person even realizing it had been stolen.

I’ll make a fake and switch it out.

His brain worked especially fast when he was about to do something shady.

In less than a second, Tae-hyun had the whole plan laid out.

The sheer audacity of making a fake inside a pirate den.

But even if the pirates saw him doing it, they wouldn’t have had the faintest clue what he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up to.

They’d just assume the guy who was good with gear was fiddling with something again and leave it at that.

* * *

Tae-hyun took out the fake key and compared it.

Since he’d matched the size using the keyhole, the dimensions were almost identical.

But the color was different.

The real key looked silver, probably made of actual silver, while Tae-hyun’s fake was copper-colored.

The color’s a little off...

He’d already anticipated that problem.

Tae-hyun pulled out some paint.

Paint he’d ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠acquired elsewhere.

* * *

After secretly making the fake key, but before returning to the blacksmiths’ area, Tae-hyun had gone to where the painters were being held.

Even if the size matched, the color would likely be different.

“Wow. You paint pretty well.”

“...!”

The painters, who had been working on a huge pirate flag, whipped their heads around the second Tae-hyun approached.

Their eyes were full of resentment.

The sun was blazing overhead, and they hadn’t been allowed a single break while they kept painting flag after flag for the pirates.

“Y-You don’t think this is too much?!”

“That’s right! We’re not slaves!”

“Let us rest! Let us rest!”

The corridor turned noisy in an instant.

But Tae-hyun only picked at his ear.

The mask really is useful at times like this.

No matter what nonsense he pulled, nobody would know his face.

When Tae-hyun showed no reaction at all, the painters got even louder.

“What’s going on here?”

In the end, even the nearby pirates came over.

Tae-hyun immediately pointed at the painters.

“They say they don’t want to work.”

“What?! Which bastards said that?!”

The pirate bared his teeth and snarled. The painters immediately lowered their gazes.

Dirty bastard, calling pirates over like that!

What kind of villain even does this?!

Shrugging, Tae-hyun said to the pirate, “I’m the one who brought them in, but they’ve got too many complaints. You should keep a tighter watch on them. If you just leave people alone, they slack off.”

“You’re right. I’ll make sure they’re watched from now on.”

“!!!”

The working conditions somehow became even worse.

Grumbling under their breath, the painters went back to work.

In the meantime, Tae-hyun and the others helped themselves to the painters’ paints.

The painters were too busy making pirate flags to even protest.

* * *

Done.

Tae-hyun carefully held the freshly finished fake key and approached Denelson.

One step. Two steps...

Tap.

“...!”

Denelson’s eyes opened.

Tae-hyun nearly jumped out of his skin.

Was this really how it was going to end, after he’d come all this way?

“Grrrrnngh...”

But Denelson hadn’t actually woken up.

It was just sleep talk.

What kind of guy opens his eyes in his sleep?

Grumbling to himself, Tae-hyun switched the keys.

Then he slipped out quietly.

After what had just happened, it felt like his lifespan had shortened.

Rufo had been waiting nervously.

The moment Tae-hyun dropped his stealth, Rufo cried out in a hurry.

“Lord Tae-hyun!”

“Keep it down. You’ll get us caught.”

“D-Did it work?”

Instead of answering, Tae-hyun held up the key and gave it a little shake.

“...!”

“Let’s get out of here quietly. Then even if they notice later, we can deny everything.”

“Will that really work?”

“It’ll buy us time. Not getting caught at all would be best, of course. Either way, let’s get out first and make a plan.”

When the two of them came outside, one of the pirates nodded at them.

He was the pirate who would later serve as their witness if anything happened.

The best-case scenario was never being found out at all, but even if they were, Tae-hyun had to prepare for that possibility too.

* * *

“W-What is this?”

“A secret map. What’s deployed in this fortress, what hidden passageways there are... it’s all on here.”

“!!”

Rufo was impressed.

Tae-hyun looked incredible to him.

He’d always known the man was fearless, but to go into the room where that pirate captain was sleeping and come back out with something like this...

“There is one problem, though.”

“...?”

“I copied it in a hurry, so some parts might be wrong.”

“...”

That cut his admiration in half, but only half.

It was still impressive.

“Still, a map’s a map, right?”

“T-That’s true.”

“Anyway, the plan splits into two big parts. First, you and I go down into that underground area.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The biggest reason they had come here in the first place was ultimately the Authority of Archisus.

Rufo needed to use that authority to confirm for certain whether Tae-hyun truly was the Avatar of Archisus.

And Tae-hyun needed to obtain that authority so he could continue clearing his Archisus class quest.