Pay-to-Win Uncles
"To think I'd live to see the day I'm held back by Kim Tae-hyun's father's guild!" Do Dong-su lamented.
No, wait!
Thinking about it, Kim Tae-hyun wasn't even here. He had been momentarily paralyzed with fear just because the guild was associated with Tae-hyun, but there was absolutely no reason to be afraid. In fact, this was an opportunity!
If he crushed Tae-hyun's obnoxious father and his entire guild, it would be the ultimate form of revenge against Tae-hyun himself.
Perfect!
Do Dong-su's fingers twitched as he gripped his weapon once more. Since it had come to this, he wouldn't run. He would crush every last one of them!
Though he was often underestimated due to his poor tournament performances, Do Dong-su was still a high-ranking player. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been selected for the prestigious Korean national team in the first place.
"Oh, look at that guy. His eyes are fierce."
"Looks like he wants to murder someone. Why is he looking at us like that? What did we even do?"
"Maybe he's trying to take out his grudge against Tae-hyun on us? You know the old saying—get slapped in Jongno, vent your anger at the Han River."
"Haha. Even so, trying to make himself look even more pathetic? He's already pathetic enough."
The Orc Uncles weren't talking loud just for him to hear; they were genuinely gossiping among themselves. Of course, that didn't mean it didn't reach Do Dong-su's ears.
"I'll kill you!"
"Ah, looks like he's mad."
"That's because of what you said."
Do Dong-su bypassed Roy and charged forward. He wasn't an idiot. He wouldn't fight such a large group without a plan.
His Heroic-tier Thief class was perfect for hit-and-run tactics in a forest with plenty of cover. Hide in stealth, attack when the enemy's back is turned, then slip back into stealth. Repeating this cycle would leave the enemy completely helpless.
I don't need to kill them all. If just five or six of them get logged out, the rest will run anyway!
Do Dong-su had no intention of wiping them out. If they scattered and ran, he couldn't catch them all anyway. He just wanted to teach them a harsh lesson!
Shadow's Lesson: Wicked Stealth
Do Dong-su's body was shrouded in shadows as he vanished into thin air.
Seeing this, the Orc Uncles grumbled.
"Ugh, this is why I hate Thief bastards. Always stealthing, always stealthing."
"Doesn't it feel like all the players who choose Thieves are Korean?"
"Just your imagination. More importantly, did Roy lose him? I knew his energy was weak..."
"I'll find him right away!" Roy yelled.
Though he spoke confidently, Roy was panicking. How was he supposed to find him?
Should I throw another bomb? I barely have any left, and unlike before, he seems to be further away...
"Can't see me, can you?!"
Do Dong-su charged triumphantly at Roy's exposed back. In an instant, Do Dong-su materialized from the air amidst a puff of black smoke.
"Ugh!"
The opponent's blade is coated in poison. You have been poisoned.
Bleeding status applied.
Roy tried to counterattack immediately, but Do Dong-su had already anticipated it and backed away, activating another skill. It was a highly practiced, veteran movement.
"Since you can't see me, let me teach you something. The passive that increases stealth duration, and the broken stealth skill itself. Combining these two means I can toy with anyone who hasn't prepared countermeasures against stealth, just like you. I normally wouldn't waste such a valuable skill on someone like you, but I'll make an exception!"
The cooldown was incredibly long, so he had been saving it, but he never expected to use it here. Do Dong-su intended to make them pay dearly.
"Kuh!"
Of course, Roy didn't just stand there. He threw bombs toward where he thought Do Dong-su might be, just like before.
However, unlike when he was trapped earlier, Do Dong-su was free to move and easily dodged the bombs the moment they were thrown.
Thud, thud!
Every time, Do Dong-su would reappear and land a precise strike. Roy was chugging potions, but it was like pouring water into a broken pot. He couldn't hold out like this forever.
Damn it...!
Are those guys not going to help?
Do Dong-su toyed with Roy while keeping a wary eye on the others. He was fully focused on dodging and hiding if the Orc Uncles decided to jump in, but they were just standing there, watching. Like they were on a picnic!
"That fellow really does have weak energy. We should help him. I told him he should take some herbal medicine."
"Indeed, indeed."
With those words, the Orc Uncles began rummaging through their coats and pulling things out. They held potion bottles lavishly decorated with gold and jewels—items that looked incredibly expensive and high-grade at a glance.
Danger!
Do Dong-su rushed in to disrupt them, but there were simply too many uncles. He only managed to interrupt two of them.
"This bastard!"
"This was really expensive! Are you going to pay for this?!"
"Shit!"
Do Dong-su cursed and tried to slip back into stealth.
But a heavy, Orc-style hammer swung down. It shook his entire body, a shock so powerful it made him see stars!
"Cough!"
"Where do you think you're hiding, you punk? Hey, if you like stealing so much, you're going to grow up to be a thief!"
Struck by Stun Hammer. You are immobilized.
Danger!
"Dancer's Es—"
"Hunter's Sight, Anti-Stealth Curse, Hunter's Sight, Anti-Stealth Curse, Hunter's Sight, Anti-Stealth Curse..."
"?!?!?"
Do Dong-su was horrified by the chorus of skill activations around him.
The Orc Uncles were pulling out magic scrolls one by one and tearing them open. They were ripping through those incredibly expensive items as if they were opening bags of chips!
Stealth success rate has been drastically reduced.
Target detection and vision range have been greatly enhanced.
They weren't just tearing one scroll each; they were pulling out stacks of them and ripping them continuously. The overlapping effects were devastating.
Do Dong-su tried to think of a way out, but his mind went completely blank. Even with all his experience, he had never faced such an absurd situation! How was he supposed to fight this many people when they were spamming cash items like this?
Roy snickered from behind.
"You bastard... see how you like it..."
"......!"
Meanwhile, the Orc Uncles, fully prepared, brandished their weapons and swarmed him.
"Hey! Corner him and beat him!"
"Get the nets! Don't let him escape!"
The fight was over. It was a completely ordinary, unglamorous beatdown.
No flashy controls, no high-level tactics—just surrounding him and pummeling him to a pulp!
And Do Dong-su had lost. Utterly and humiliatingly.
Being trapped in a net and beaten to death... it was a humiliation he hadn't even experienced back when he was a novice.
Even with his stealth and movements sealed, Do Dong-su resisted until the very end.
"Shadow Venom's Sword Dance!"
The opponent is under the effects of Elixir of Invulnerability. Most of your attacks are absorbed.
"You cheap, cowardly bastards!"
Even Do Dong-su, who usually wouldn't complain about such things, was driven to scream by their sheer, shameless pay-to-win tactics! Just how many cash items were they burning for a single skirmish?!
"You use them too, then, you punk!"
"Put some effort into buying and using them yourself!"
"Kids these days, I swear. No work ethic!"
His final struggle thwarted, Do Dong-su's HP finally hit 0 under the relentless barrage of blows, and he died.
"To lose to people who aren't even Kim Tae-hyun...! Argh!"
"What a weird final words."
"We wasted too much time because of him. Let's hurry. Tae-hyun might not let us see Stau."
The Orc Uncles started moving again as if nothing had happened.
Roy watched them, filled with a fresh sense of awe. Their controls were mediocre and their appearances were bizarre, but it was hard to find a party more terrifying than these middle-aged men.
"Kim Tae-hyun is coming out!"
The Kim Tae-hyun Slaying Unit watched Tae-hyun with tense, wary eyes. What kind of trick would he pull this time? If it was bombs, they could endure it!
Grrr...
"Huh?"
Death to the living... Death to the living!
"W-what?"
Something incredibly massive and ghostly white was surging out from behind Tae-hyun. At first, they thought it was some kind of magic, but it wasn't.
Death to the living!!
Flash!
An immense horde of undead wraiths!
This battle, which players would later refer to as the Undead Calamity, began with the charge of the spectral legion.
"W-what is that?!"
"W-what should we do?"
"Everyone, calm down! No matter how skilled Kim Tae-hyun is, he can't control that many undead. Most of them must be weak summons. Don't panic, maintain formation! And fire!"
Clack, clack, clack!
At Su Ning's command, the Slaying Unit quickly raised their bows and aimed at the massive spectral army.
And fired.
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
Their specialized training to counter Tae-hyun paid off. The unit's archery skills were highly impressive.
Wraith falls to the arrow.
"Whoaaa!"
"They can't even get close!"
Tae-hyun's army was massive, but the Slaying Unit had numbers on their side as well. With everyone firing arrows relentlessly, the low-tier wraiths melted away before they could even reach the front lines.
"Keep firing! Keep firing!"
"Wait, pace yourselves! Save your skills!"
The Slaying Unit fired arrows with reckless abandon, to the point where even the squad leaders were taken aback.
Meanwhile, terrifying undead forces were emerging from the dungeon entrance.
Grrr, grrr...
My blade thirsts for blood!
Death Knights, Flesh Golems, and fully upgraded Ghoul Warriors...
This was the formidable force that Tae-hyun, transformed into an undead monster himself, had personally led out. Against a Slaying Unit composed mostly of archers, it would be a complete massacre once they closed the distance!
He had successfully distracted them and absorbed their ranged attacks using the low-tier undead wave he sent first.
Perfect.
Tae-hyun smiled inwardly. This battle was won! There was no way the enemy could turn this around.
"Rankers! Get in there! If we don't stop them, we're finished!" Su Ning shouted urgently.
The rankers nodded. They understood the gravity of the situation. Besides, this was a chance to show off in front of the watching fans, so there was no reason to refuse.
"Let's go!"
"Go—ugh!"
"Huh?"
Waaaaahhhhh!
An ear-splitting Orc battle cry echoed from behind them!
All stats are slightly reduced.
"What crazy bastards are attacking us... Why the hell are those guys here?!"
Su Ning stared in horror at the horde of Orcs charging from behind. There was no way Su Ning wouldn't recognize the Ultimate Matchless Guild. For a long time, they had been a constant thorn in the side of the Guild Alliance in the Auston Kingdom!
I thought they slunk off to the Uruk Region? No, wait, did these bastards figure out my identity?
From Su Ning's perspective, it looked like they had come solely for revenge.
Of course, the Orc Uncles had absolutely no idea who was in front of them.
"Charge! Charge!"
"Once we take their heads, Stau is ours!"
The Orc Uncles roared wildly as they crashed into the Slaying Unit!
Under their ferocious momentum, the rankers' vanguard was instantly shattered.
The spectators, who had been waiting in boredom, went absolutely wild.
"Finally, a fight!"
"Yes! This is the Kim Tae-hyun we know! This is what I've been waiting for!"
"Way to go, Kim Tae-hyun! Destroy the Slaying Unit with your own hands!"
However, the fans of the Slaying Unit could only watch in sheer anxiety.
"No! Get up! You can't lose!"
"But what is Stau?"
"Is it a prize?"
Furious Charge | Wolf's Rage | Steel Claw Slash
Riding atop their wolves, the Orc Uncles charged while unleashing their mounts' skills.
Caught completely off guard, the rankers were utterly decimated.
"Damn it!"
A single ranker was more than capable of defeating an Orc Uncle in a one-on-one fight, but...
"Help me out here!"
"On my way!"
Whenever an Orc Uncle felt pushed back, he would immediately use a cash item and call his friends.
When four or five uncles ganged up to trample a single target, even a top-tier ranker would find themselves completely overwhelmed.
"Damn it, run!"
"Fall back for now!"
One by one, the rankers turned and fled. Su Ning was swept up in the retreat.
Just you wait!
The squad leader's whisper was cut short.
Tae-hyun, in his terrifying undead form, had materialized right before them.
"Hello."
"H-hello there..."