A Slave's Privilege

The remaining team members looked as if they still couldn't accept the situation. "Th-this makes no sense..."

Cain spoke in a pitying tone. "I know you can't believe what that bastard Do Dong-su just did, but you'll realize later. That was actually the smartest thing he could've done."

"What kind of nonsense are you—urk!"

"Commence the attack!"

At Tae-hyun's command, the party launched their assault. The remaining team members scrambled to counterattack, but it was already too late. Moreover, their opponents were Tae-hyun, Cain, and Choi Sang-yun—players who were veterans among rankers, especially when it came to PvP!

In less than five minutes, the battle was decided. Normally, it should have been a much fiercer struggle, but the demoralized players couldn't fight properly, bringing the clash to a swift end.

"Should we take this one out too?" Choi Sang-yun asked, pointing his sword at Chang, who was cornered and glaring at them.

Tae-hyun scratched his chin and replied, "No. Let's find a use for him."

"Let me go!"

"Should we just kill you instead?"

"..."

"Wow, he's surprisingly honest." Tae-hyun marveled as he shoved Chang forward. Usually, people in this situation would shout, "Just kill me!" but...

Whispers flooded in from his teammates, but Do Dong-su ignored them. They were professionals. They weren't bound by sticky emotions like friendship. If you died, you were the only one who lost out! With that mindset, Do Dong-su ran with all his might toward the entrance of the first floor. He had absolutely no intention of fighting a fully prepared Kim Tae-hyun.

Wait. Hold on. I'm way more familiar with this place. Maybe I should hide and harass them a bit before I leave... As a Thief-class player, hiding and executing hit-and-run tactics in a dungeon like this was child's play. On top of that, he knew this dungeon inside out! Of course, he didn't plan on a full-blown fight with Tae-hyun. He just wanted to land a few hits on Tae-hyun's party, retreat, and then claim they had a 'fierce, neck-and-neck battle!' That alone would be a massive win for his reputation, wouldn't it?

Click.

"Huh?"

"???!" Do Dong-su was startled. For a Thief-class player like him to fail to notice a trap... how on earth?!

KABOOM!

"Argh!"

...I need to run! The bomb trap snapped him back to reality. Do Dong-su quickly regained his composure and resumed his escape. If he was a Thief, Kim Tae-hyun was a guy who had been famous as a blacksmith since Pandemonium 1. Moreover, Tae-hyun was even more notorious for effortlessly pulling off trap plays that others couldn't even dream of using in PvP. It was something that required brains, guts, and luck—and missing even one of those would make it impossible!

"You dirty, cowardly bastards! Give me back my gear and fight me fair and square!"

"Even Jang Ssu-an wouldn't say something that pathetic. Where did you come from to be this naive?" Cain asked, sounding genuinely curious. Was this guy actually serious?

Regardless of their bickering, Tae-hyun, having finished the battle on the second floor, had moved up to the first floor and was busy planting bombs all over the place. "Hmm. This looks like a good spot."

"This spot looks nice too."

"Should I put one here as well? Well, I have plenty of bombs, and there's no harm in using one more."

"Huh? I left one here earlier. When did it go off?"

At the same time, he inspected the gear he had confiscated from Chang.

"This is pretty garbage, isn't it?"

Hearing his prized gear dismissed like that, Chang yelled in outrage, "What did you just say?!"

"I should just melt it down and extract the materials. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The gems look decent, at least."

"Kim Tae-hyun! It's not too late! Stop this instant! If you have any sense of honor!"

"Cain, can you shut him up?"

"Cain! Deep down, you want to fight honorably too, don't you?! I know you don't want to follow that bastard Kim Tae-hyun's orders!"

Whoa. This guy is sharp, Cain thought in admiration. How did he read his inner thoughts so perfectly? Of course, Cain had absolutely no desire to fight honorably; he just occasionally didn't want to listen to Tae-hyun's orders!

"Shut up, dude."

"Mmph, mmph!"

Ignoring the now-silenced Chang, Tae-hyun checked the rest of the gear. However, most of it was inferior to his own equipment. It hit him once again that his gear set was not lacking in the slightest compared to top-tier rankers. His previous weapons were already incredible, but the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom that surpassed them was on another level... Furthermore, under normal circumstances, current players wouldn't even have the chance to wear gear like this.

I should melt them down and dismantle them. I'll get some great materials out of this. From the gems to gold, silver, high-grade steel, sterling silver, and even a bit of Adamantium! It was a perfect lineup of materials.

Ah. Come to think of it, I can wear Gardu's gear now. Since the curse had been lifted, he had been so busy with various things that he had forgotten to inspect the equipment.

Whoa, what kind of absurd gear is this? It was a rare piece of equipment that overwhelmed purely with raw stats! An accessory having the defense of a ranker's armor was insane. It was unusual for an accessory to provide physical defense instead of magic defense, but... No wonder that bastard wouldn't die. Gardu's persistent vitality had been an absolute nightmare. He took barely any damage, and whatever he did take just kept regenerating...

But the effect won't do much for me. Physical defense was practically meaningless to Tae-hyun, and a boost to HP recovery speed didn't mean much to someone with a low maximum HP pool. Besides, Tae-hyun's combat style ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was built on the premise of not getting hit in the first place! This gear was much better suited for Cain. However...

"Cain, just in case, you don't have a way to equip gear with level requirements, do you?"

"Huh? I do."

"What? How do you wear them?"

Tae-hyun had the Force Equip skill he had built up through his blacksmithing techniques, but Cain didn't have anything like that. Tae-hyun was slightly surprised.

"...A-A slave does not pick and choose their gear..."

"What?"

"A slave... does not... pick and choose... their gear..."

It was one of the passive skills of Archisus's Slave that Cain had acquired as he leveled up. Despite the humiliating name, the effect was incredibly powerful. It allowed him to equip gear regardless of level, stat, or race restrictions, albeit with some penalties. That was why Cain was currently wearing massive armor meant for demons. It carried some penalties, but it made him incredibly sturdy.

"Pfft!"

"Why you..."

"I didn't laugh."

"Huh?"

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was Chang who had burst out laughing. Cain, eyes blazing with fury, grabbed Chang and shook him back and forth. "You bastard! How dare a punk like you laugh at me!"

"Hey, hey, stop it. Stop that and take this."

"!"

Cain instantly recognized the necklace. This was... the broken item Gardu had been wearing!

"Looking at the stats, it seems perfect for you. Put this on and become a tank who survives like a zombie."

"The phrasing is a bit weird... but I'll make great use of it!" Cain grinned from ear to ear as he put on the necklace.

I received armor, but Cain received a necklace... No, I shouldn't think too deeply about this. Lee Da-bi felt that something was slightly off as she watched them, but she decided not to dwell on it.

"Mmph, mmph! Mmmph mmph... (I see. I wondered how a wicked bastard like Kim Tae-hyun gained so much popularity, but he was just bribing people with items like this! How underhanded!)"

"That guy seriously talks too much."

Tae-hyun checked the rest of Gardu's equipment. The other armor pieces were mediocre...

It's worse than the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom. Most rankers would have used it happily, but to Tae-hyun, who was drunk on the extreme performance of the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom, it felt lacking. The skill set was also weaker compared to his own skills.

"What are you staring at it like that for? If you're not going to use it, can I have it?"

"You want to use this? It's pretty trash, though."

"...It's trash by your standards! By the world's standards, it's an exceptionally good weapon!" Choi Sang-yun asked, utterly dumbfounded. He knew Tae-hyun was an incredible blacksmith, but seeing things like this made him realize just how warped Tae-hyun's standards truly were. Fearing that Tae-hyun might actually melt the cutlass down, Choi Sang-yun quickly snatched it away. Checking its stats again, it was indeed an excellent weapon.

"Gardu didn't have much on him after all. The Kraken was actually better."

"What did the Kraken drop?"

"It gave a massive amount of crafting materials."

"...?"

Tae-hyun had already crafted Monster Essence using the Kraken's parts. He was looking forward to having Cain consume it later.

Shiver!

Why is that guy looking at me like that? Cain glanced at Tae-hyun with a growing sense of unease.

While they sorted through their spoils and prepared to defend the first floor, preparations outside were nearing completion.

"Kim Tae-hyun!! You have entered this dungeon without permission! If you do not come out this instant, we will show absolutely no mercy!"

"Mmph, mmph... (You'd better get on your knees and beg right now! The guilds our teammates belong to are all coming to help us!)"

"Ah, shut up." Tae-hyun tripped Chang, sending him face-planting onto the ground. Meanwhile, Choi Sang-yun and Cain were snickering.

"How are their lines exactly the same as in Pandemonium 1?"

"More than that, it's amazing they aren't swearing."

"Well, they're probably live streaming right now, so swearing would look bad."

Because practically everyone and their dog streamed Pandemonium Online, players with even a bit of fame had stopped swearing. They also tried to manage their public image to some extent. Tae-hyun, who didn't care about his image at all yet somehow maintained a heroic reputation, was a bizarre exception!

Annoyed by the players who kept shouting through amplification magic while barely stepping foot inside the entrance, Tae-hyun yelled back.

"Shut the hell up and get lost right now, or Chang dies!"

"Mmph?!"

"Chang says if he dies, it's all your fault!"

"Mmph!! Mmph!"

"Chang says he absolutely hates you guys! How could you run away and leave him behind? He says just wait until he gets his hands on Do Dong-su!"

"Mmph..."

The entrance fell silent for a moment. Tae-hyun listened closely. Surely, a threat like this wouldn't actually work, right? Of course it didn't.

"Attack!"

The players at the dungeon entrance launched their assault.

"Oh dear. It seems Chang isn't very popular after all."

At Tae-hyun's words, Chang's face contorted with rage. Whatever else happened, he couldn't let that comment slide!

"Mmph, mmph... (Of course they're attacking in this situation! It has nothing to do with my popularity!)"

"I brought you along hoping to use you like Cain, but I'm starting to regret it."

"Mmph?"