The Human Projectile

"Cain! Set up the launcher the moment we get out!"

"On it!" Cain shouted, practically vibrating with excitement.

With Chang here, someone else gets to be the human bomb!

Feeling Cain's affectionate gaze, Chang felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Where have I seen that look before? Ah, right. Back when I was a kid at the ranch, the owner used to look at the cows he was about to slaughter just like that...

"He's out!!"

"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!"

"Chug your potions! Use all your scrolls!"

Hearing the distant shouts, Kim Tae-hyun was taken aback. He knew they had tailored gear specifically to counter him, but potions and scrolls too? They had truly dedicated their bodies and souls to taking him down!

Not many bastards would go this far. Wait. Could that be the Guild Alliance?

He had heard that Su Ning and the Guild Alliance were doing well lately, with their member count growing by the day. If it was the Guild Alliance, mobilizing a force of this scale was well within their capabilities.

"Should we attack?"

"No. Kim Tae-hyun is the one in a hurry. He'll try to break through our ranks to disrupt our formation and escape, so prepare to hold the line!"

Blast-resistant gear, potions that granted explosion resistance, and scrolls that cast explosion-resistance magic! No matter how high the damage of Tae-hyun's bombs, they should be able to withstand at least one hit with this setup. That was more than enough. The priests and potions could top their health right back up immediately after.

"The dangerous part about fighting Kim Tae-hyun is his explosive burst damage. If we cling to him and drag him down, his breakthrough speed will inevitably slow, and he'll get bogged down! Hold! Hold the line and chip away at him, even if it's just one hit at a time!"

Meanwhile, Lee Da-bi and Cain finished setting up the spear launcher and asked,

"What are they babbling about?"

"Who knows. Probably cursing me out. Is it set up? Okay. Load the spear!"

Lee Da-bi pulled out a massive steel spear and prepared to load it. However, Tae-hyun shook his head.

"Not that spear."

"...?"

"Mmph! Mmmph!!!"

Thump!

Swoooooosh—

The "spear" soared through the air. The players standing in formation tensed up as they saw Tae-hyun launch something.

"He fired!"

"Is it a bomb? If it's a bomb, shoot it down!"

"No... that's..."

"Is it a bird?"

"A plane?"

"No, it's a spear?"

At that moment, a memory flashed through Su Ning's mind as he watched from afar. He frantically barked out an order.

"Fire! Shoot him down!!"

"What?? But Chang is a pro player! If we shoot him, the other pros..."

"You idiot! Kim Tae-hyun is the kind of bastard who straps bombs to players and launches them!"

"!!"

"Fire! Shoot it down!"

As the squad leader commanded, the players quickly raised their bows and began firing wildly.

Thud, thud-thud-thud!

"Mmph! Mmmph!"

Since he was completely stripped of his gear, the arrow damage stung incredibly hard. The pro players watching from behind panicked and protested.

"Wait, what are you doing!"

"No matter the circumstances, this is too much!"

"Shut up if you don't know anything! That thing is about to explode!"

"?!"

Swoosh—

Because they had reacted too late, Chang landed right in the middle of the players with his HP barely clinging to 5%. And then, he exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

"It's starting!!"

"Get the popcorn! Popcorn!"

As the explosion erupted in the distance, the spectators cheered. We're getting a front-row seat to a show you couldn't buy with money!

Ssssshh—

As the smoke cleared, Tae-hyun and Su Ning were shocked at the exact same time.

"They didn't die?"

"Their HP is at 1...?"

Tae-hyun was surprised because not a single person had died. No matter how he looked, Chang was a high-level ranker capable of playing professionally. When converted into a bomb, his damage should have been enough to instantly vaporize any players standing nearby. Even if the enemy had used specialized gear, potions, and scrolls, failing to secure a single kill meant...

I see. One of their scrolls or potions had a death-prevention effect.

A death-prevention effect that kept a player alive with exactly 1 HP instead of dying to a single massive blow. In PvP, it was usually impractical since a single follow-up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hit would kill them anyway, so it was mostly used to survive devastating ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boss monster attacks. Yet, they had deployed it specifically to counter Tae-hyun's bomb attacks.

Tae-hyun was genuinely impressed.

Yes. It's only fun when they go this far!

The more his opponents researched and prepared, the more thrilling it became for Tae-hyun to counter them. Su Ning still didn't understand why Tae-hyun had been called the "Mad Blacksmith" in Pan-On 1. The stronger and more worthy of study an opponent was, the brighter Tae-hyun's competitive fire burned!

Meanwhile, Su Ning assessed the situation. The players caught in the blast radius were frantically healing themselves from 1 HP. They had multiplied their explosion resistance several times over with gear, potions, and scrolls. The blast damage must have been reduced to about a tenth of its original power. And yet, it still would have been an instant kill without the buff.

Just how powerful are that bastard's bombs...? Did his damage go up again in the meantime?!

Gulp. Su Ning swallowed hard without realizing it. Surely we won't lose without achieving anything, right?

"Swap your gear!"

"Prepare for the next attack!"

The players swept up in the explosion had survived, but gear destruction messages popped up.

If Tae-hyun charged in right now, they would be sitting ducks! But Tae-hyun didn't come. He simply dragged the launcher back and retreated into the dungeon.

"?"

"...?"

"If we had charged in just now, wouldn't we have gotten a few of them?"

"Their numbers are in the triple digits. What's the point of picking off a few like that? I just wanted to see what we were dealing with, so that's enough."

Sacrificing Chang's life had yielded plenty of valuable information about the enemy. The enemy was extremely well-prepared against Tae-hyun's bomb attacks. If his bombs failed to work and Tae-hyun charged in, they would drag him into a messy, protracted brawl.

Jeong Su-hyeok raised his hand and offered his input.

"What about magic attacks? There's a limit to how many buffs one can receive. Since they went all-in on explosion resistance, they might not have any magic resistance, or it might even be weaker."

It was a plausible theory. There was a hard cap on the number of active buffs, and if they had layered on so many explosion-resistance buffs, they were highly likely to be vulnerable to magic.

"You're not wrong, but they aren't stupid either. They must have prepared a countermeasure. Their mages will probably counter us."

Unlike bombs, magic was easy to counter. They just needed to bring along high-level mages to disrupt spells or cast magic shields...

"What about slipping away quietly?"

"That's also an option. But I have no intention of running away right now. If we flee, those bastards will get way too cocky."

Tae-hyun stood up.

"There's no need to show them that kind of kindness."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to teach them a lesson. That they can't catch me with a half-baked strategy like that."

As he cast Word of Power magic, the corpse of a nearby Dwarven warrior began to rise.

"!"

"Undead Rise, Undead Rise, Undead Rise!"

"Ugh. *Word of Power* skills have terrible mana efficiency. Can someone pass me an MP potion?"

"Here!"

Lee Da-bi handed over a potion bottle with a distinct mark on it, but Choi Sang-yun pretended not to notice. Nothing surprised him anymore!

"Undead Rise, Undead Rise..."

"!"

He had successfully raised all the Dwarven warrior NPCs as Ghoul Warriors, leaving only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the player corpses. However, the player corpses refused to rise so easily.

Did I underestimate this?

It seemed his current *Word of Power* skill level wasn't high enough to command the corpses of ranker-level players as undead.

Hmm. Should I use it now...?

An item he had acquired long ago but kept tucked away! Using it in a situation like this might be perfect. Once he used it, the enemy would be utterly shocked by his new abilities, which would give them plenty of headaches the next time they tried to plan against him.

"Use!"

Tae-hyun's body turned translucent, shifting into a ghostly form.

Swoosh!

"Aaaah! Why did you pass right through me?!"

Cain shrieked in terror as a freezing sensation pierced straight through his body.

My movement speed is up, and most physical attacks pass right through me... This is actually pretty good.

Being unable to use his gear was a heavy penalty, but if it allowed him to become a necromancer of this caliber, it was a trade-off he was more than willing to accept. A completely different type of necromancer compared to a Lich! Although wraith-type undead were his specialty, the Legendary-grade Dark Magic skills were the real deal, allowing him to easily command other types of undead monsters as well.

"Undead Rise, Undead Rise, Undead Evolve, Undead Evolve..."

Tae-hyun strengthened all the Ghoul Warriors he had raised, evolving them into elite undead, and began turning the remaining player corpses into Death Knights one by one.

Hmm. I should still be fine, right?

He was slightly worried that his Infamy might eclipse his Reputation once again.

!!

An unexpected bonus! Seeing the notification that he could craft such an overpowered item again, Tae-hyun felt his heart swell with anticipation.

"......"

You had to hunt wraith-type monsters just to get a Low-grade Wraith Soul, then combine and refine those to get an Intermediate-grade, and then... If he had to gather a whopping 9,999 Supreme Wraith Souls crafted that way...

Yeah, giving up is definitely better for my mental health.

Deciding that forgetting about it was the best path to peace of mind, Tae-hyun quickly turned around.

"I'm going down to the third floor to bring back some more undead! Wait here!"

Everyone looked at him in disbelief as he spoke about gathering undead as if he were just going to round up some friends.

Cain muttered under his breath,

"Well, at least we can take a break until he gets back."

"Keep practicing launching spears. Level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up your skills. I'll inspect your progress when I get back."

"How on earth is your hearing that sharp?!"

Cain shrieked in horror. He heard that from all the way over there?

"I didn't hear you. I just figured you'd try to slack off. But thanks for confirming exactly what you said."

"......"

Leaving a thoroughly dejected Cain behind, Tae-hyun moved out. His wraith form wouldn't last forever. He had to gather the undead as quickly as possible and make his move!