The Path of the Poison Eater

"Ugh. You have a point there." Tae-hyun immediately understood what Lee Da-bi meant. Giving daggers to the Power Warrior guild members would likely just result in them dying before they could even get close enough to strike!

"Still, as long as we have the numbers, we can make it work somehow." From Archisus's Blessing onward, there were plenty of ways to help players with daggers close the distance. There was no need to give up just because they lacked gear and had low stats. In Pandemonium Online, there was always a way if you looked hard enough.

"Then I'll put out a call for volunteers among the guild members who want to try using daggers."

"Will they actually show up if you recruit them?"

"If you're the one asking, Tae-hyun, the line will stretch from here to the horizon..." Lee Da-bi muttered. Tae-hyun still didn't seem ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to realize just how popular he was within Power Warrior. To the guild members, he was treated like a winning lottery ticket!

"Alright. I'll leave it to you then." Once Tae-hyun turned away, Yu Ji-soo stared at Lee Da-bi with eyes full of deep admiration. She looks so amazing! Seeing Lee Da-bi working alongside Tae-hyun as an equal partner left a powerful impression on Yu Ji-soo.

"Um, how can I become like you?"

"Pardon?" Lee Da-bi tilted her head. Yu Ji-soo was gazing at her with sparkling, adoring eyes. What was this about? Ah. Is it because I'm the guild master of Power Warrior? Lee Da-bi reasoned. Otherwise, there was no reason for a high-tier player like Yu Ji-soo to look at her with such reverence.

"It's all thanks to meticulous gold management!"

"?!"

"It's the same in real life as it is in Pan-On—gold is everything. If you can manage your gold well, you can manage a guild well."

"Oh... I see..." Yu Ji-soo nodded, taking it in. She didn't quite understand, but seeing how serious Lee Da-bi was, there had to be some profound meaning behind it, right? Encouraged by Yu Ji-soo's earnest attention, Lee Da-bi grew excited.

"The reason I chose the merchant class in the first place..."

"...?" Yu Ji-soo began to feel a slight sense of unease. How far back is this story going to go? But Lee Da-bi didn't stop. About thirty minutes passed.

"...And that is why gold is the absolute best."

"I-I see."

"Gold is power! With gold, you can do anything you want!"

"B-but... I was always taught not to spend money recklessly." Having been raised in a wealthy household, Yu Ji-soo had heard lectures about not wasting money since she was a child.

"They mean don't waste it! Spending it wisely within your means is perfectly fine!"

"Ah, of course...!"

Meanwhile, Cain approached Tae-hyun and asked, "By the way, why is that guy glaring at me? Did I do something wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh. Maybe he dislikes you because of the havoc you wreaked back when you were the guild master of Red Zone?"

"T-that was ages ago! And I've repented!" Cain cried out, deeply aggrieved. How long ago was that! Besides, considering all the suffering he had endured while following Tae-hyun around since then...

"The victim never forgets, you know. Tsk, tsk. You should have lived a better life."

"You are the last person who should be saying that...!" Cain sputtered. When it came to making enemies, Tae-hyun was the undisputed number one in all of Pan-On. Hearing such words from him was beyond absurd.

"Anyway, those two seem to have gotten really close."

"Well, Lee Da-bi is nice, so it makes sense she'd get along with the newcomer, Yu Ji-soo."

"I honestly thought they wouldn't get along."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"N-nothing. Just a feeling..."

"Stop talking nonsense, go over there, and swing your sword a few more times. By the way, what did you get as your quest reward?"

Cain had been the first to receive the Archisus quest this time. Since he had successfully taken the head of the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander, he must have received a reward worthy of the feat!

"Ah, that!" Cain's face lit up instantly. It was obvious he had received an exceptionally good reward. "Hehe... Want to see it? Huh? Want me to show you?"

"..."

"D-don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠glare at me like that. I was just excited and wanted to brag a little..." Cain grumbled as he pulled up his skill window.

It was a secondary skill that could be used on top of the transformation skill he had previously acquired, Archisus's Slave's Struggle. To think he had gained yet another skill that allowed him to recover even after taking a beating. It was a reward that added sheer tenacity onto already absurd persistence!

This guy is starting to look more and more like a paladin. In truth, Archisus's Slave's Struggle was a class highly similar to a paladin, albeit with a few more unorthodox skills...

"How is it? How is it? Looks great, right?"

"Yeah. Looks good." Since Cain was practically begging for validation, Tae-hyun gave him the answer he wanted.

"Whoa. That guy is glaring at me again!"

"Just live a good life from now on and stop making enemies."

"Ugh... This is so unfair...! And now that I think about it, wasn't I the one who got wrecked back then anyway?!"

Tae-hyun ignored him and looked away.

Hmm. Tae-hyun made a sour face. The items he had stripped from the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander were less impressive than he had hoped. He had managed to acquire the entire set, but the set effect was a transformation into the Holy Knight Commander. Granted, the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander was an incredibly powerful class. However, throwing away all the skills he had accumulated so far just to transform didn't make mathematical sense. Should I just dismantle them all and extract the materials? Tae-hyun decided to check the other items first.

"...!" It looked like a piece of trash item that would make anyone scream, Where the hell am I supposed to use this?! But for Tae-hyun, who possessed the Secret Monster Essence Creation skill, it was a completely different story. If handled correctly, it was entirely edible! Wait. What kind of demonic beast is this, anyway? He needed to know what kind of beast it was to decide when to use it. But there was no way to find out. Well... let's just make it first.

Tae-hyun had finally reached the Advanced rank in his cooking skill! Of course, professional chef rankers possessed the Master cooking skill, but for Tae-hyun, who wasn't even a dedicated chef, reaching Advanced was an incredible feat. Normally, players who reached even the Intermediate rank in a non-combat sub-class skill were treated as weirdos or eccentrics!

I'm starting to really hate the word 'random'... At this point, Tae-hyun felt a chill run down his spine whenever he heard words like random, arbitrary, or luck.

Are you kidding me... Tae-hyun was utterly speechless. What on earth was this? Well, it's not like I can't find a use for it... Being able to emit poison without any ingredients wasn't actually that big of an advantage. He could easily gather materials beforehand, craft poisons, and carry them around! It wasn't particularly difficult. Besides, Tae-hyun already possessed skills like Poison Mist that could spread toxic clouds. The real advantage of Poison Emission lay not in its convenience, but in the fact that the poison grew stronger the more damage he took from poison and the more poison he consumed. But still...

Just how much poison do I have to drink to make this useful? It was the kind of skill where a half-hearted attempt would yield absolutely zero results. Tae-hyun sighed, reached into his bag, and pulled out the poisons he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on hand. Gulp! True to its nature, a single sip of the toxic liquid sent a burning sensation racing down his throat.

- Master. You seem to be drinking something very strange up there. Are you alright?

Yong-yong, who was carrying Tae-hyun, asked in confusion. His master had been cooking and boiling bizarre things on his back, and now he was chugging something that practically radiated a toxic aura. Surely, Tae-hyun wasn't crazy enough to drink actual poison, right?

"I'm fine. I'm fine."

- Your voice sounds incredibly strange, Master.

Ugh... Now, let's check Sadiq's Authority...

! A Legendary-grade quest. Then again, looking at the reward, the difficulty rating made perfect sense. It was easily the most awe-inspiring skill among all the class skills of a Legendary class... So the system told me to hunt down the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander just so I could unlock this quest. Even the incomplete Avatar of Sadiq had possessed terrifying power; a properly controlled divine force would be absolutely devastating. But the real issue is the difficulty. It was glaringly obvious that this quest would consume an immense amount of time. Just then, another quest window popped up. The title alone was anything but ordinary!

Are there even any loyal and trustworthy bastards in my cult? No matter how he looked at it, his followers seemed like the exact type of people who would run a religion straight into the ground...

This meant the executive NPCs of the Archisus Church were holding out on him! He wasn't surprised at all. In fact, it felt so on-brand that he thought, Yep, that's the Archisus Church for you!