This Is Really... Completely Unexpected...?

While not as massive as the Erangs Kingdom or the Auston Kingdom, the Atali Kingdom was still a decent country in its own right. Of course, with nobles ruling their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠respective territories, Kim Tae-hyun wouldn't be able to do whatever he pleased, but this was still a far better situation than his current one!

No, wait. I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch.

Though momentarily tempted, Tae-hyun quickly snapped back to reality. From the looks of it, the other nobles were also ambitiously plotting to eliminate Dominic and seize the throne for themselves. If it came down to that, the nobles—who commanded actual armies and knight orders—held a massive advantage over Tae-hyun, who had virtually no troops to speak of.

Let's think. What forces do I actually have at my disposal...?

The only forces currently stationed in his fief were the mercenaries from the McCraney Merchant Group, the paladins of the Archisus Church, and the paladins of the Sadiq Church. That was it. It was barely enough to guard the territory and maintain public order!

In truth, as a lord, Tae-hyun could expand his military force if he truly set his mind to it. He could conscript a militia, train them... The greatest difference between a lord and a regular player was precisely this ability!

However, the reason Tae-hyun hadn't done so was simple: it wasn't necessary. Conscripting, training, and maintaining an army cost an astronomical amount of money! Other lords gathered troops and hired mercenaries while shedding tears of blood because, without a military, public order would collapse, public sentiment would plummet, and they would be left defenseless against monster raids or foreign invasions.

But Tae-hyun had no such worries. Public sentiment? The public sentiment in Tae-hyun's territory was so high it was easily among the top in all of Pan-On. External threats? Tae-hyun had a habit of borrowing outside forces and parking them in his fief. It started with Count Anong's knight order, and this time, he even had the King's royal guard!

Because of this, Tae-hyun had focused his efforts on expanding the Archisus Church NPCs rather than building a formal army. Besides, he had never expected a situation like this to arise in the first place.

Sigh. I got excited for nothing. I shouldn't throw away what little forces I have in a reckless charge. I'll just hold out here. I'll have to pray that the other noble NPCs deal with Dominic for me.

Having made his decision, Tae-hyun turned to the Royal Guard Captain.

"Captain!"

"Yes, Count!"

"I'm quite busy right now, so I think you'll have to wait a bit!"

"...C-Couuuuunt! *Sob*!"

Tae-hyun was a man perfectly capable of ignoring anyone's tears if he set his mind to it. Completely tuning out the wailing Royal Guard Captain beside him, Tae-hyun focused entirely on extracting the Orichalcum. If he could just craft a single arrow, it would be a massive jackpot!

While Tae-hyun was busy ignoring the Royal Guard Captain, a quest popped up for everyone else. Specifically, for every player who had set Tae-hyun's territory as their return point!

"!!!"

The players waiting in the long line in front of the Arena gasped in shock as they read the quest description. This was... a premonition of a massive jackpot!

"Hey, did you see that?! Did you see it?!"

"Of course I did! Let's start gathering people!"

"I heard something crazy was going down at the Atali Royal Palace, but I had no idea ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was this!"

An opportunity to participate in a quest directly led by Kim Tae-hyun (though he actually wasn't)! The news spread like wildfire. Players who had been waiting for their turn at the Arena immediately accepted the quest. Compared to the Arena, where they had no idea when their turn would come, this quest was infinitely more attractive.

Not only did they get to participate in one of Tae-hyun's legendary quests, but the rewards were also on a completely different level compared to standard quests. It was an opportunity regular players could normally never dream of obtaining!

Thanks to this, players who had never even visited Tae-hyun's territory before came rushing in to bind their spawn points. No one wanted to miss out on this quest!

"It's done...! Finally!"

*Pant, pant*... Master... I can't... do this anymore...

Huh?

Tae-hyun felt like he saw some incredibly bizarre system messages, but he decided to ignore them. That wasn't what was important right now!

He had successfully gathered the microscopic amounts of Orichalcum extracted from the statue and finally managed to craft a single arrow.

My Advanced Blacksmithing skill has reached level 7.

Rumor had it that the absolute top-tier blacksmith rankers had already surpassed the Advanced level and unlocked the Master Blacksmithing skill. Their guilds treasured them so much that they kept all information regarding them strictly classified.

It made sense. If Tae-hyun were in their shoes, he would have targeted and assassinated those blacksmiths first to keep rival guilds in check. They were incredibly easy targets to assassinate or disrupt!

I'd love to reach Master level in Blacksmithing, but I just don't have the time. I wonder if I can find more of these rocks somewhere?

"Tae-hyun, you rascal!"

"?"

"How sly of you! Your father was practically dying of jealousy!"

The Orc Ahjussi gave Tae-hyun a hearty slap on the back and walked away.

"???"

"Tae-hyun, a quest just popped up. Should we accept it?"

It was only after listening to Lee Da-bi's explanation that Tae-hyun finally understood what was happening. Without his knowledge, a subjugation force was being organized!

"No, wait! What do you mean, a subjugation force?!"

"What?! You mean you weren't the one who started this?!"

"We are in absolutely no position to pull off something like this right now..."

Tae-hyun stared at Lee Da-bi as if she had lost her mind. He could understand other idiots—like Cain—acting this way, but for Lee Da-bi, who was usually so objective, to react like this was baffling!

"But Tae-hyun, you've always pulled off quests that seemed completely impossible. Actually, now that I think about it, you've only ever done quests that seemed impossible..."

"...Well, that's true, but..."

Lee Da-bi was hitting him with facts that were hard to refute! Still, Tae-hyun had a defense.

"The quests I did back then might have looked reckless, but they were all meticulously calculated. Doing something without any calculation is the kind of thing Cain does."

"Huh? Did someone call my name?"

Cain, who happened to be passing by, rushed over the moment he heard his name.

"Whoa! A quest to seize the throne! I'm so excited! I accepted it the second it popped up... Ack! Why did you hit me?!"

"See? Just like this. And this time, I can't calculate a way to win. We need resources to even attempt a quest... By the way, how many players have gathered?"

Curiosity getting the better of him, Tae-hyun asked. Instead of answering, Lee Da-bi pulled up a video feed of the territory.

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Free passes! Free passes! Free passes!"

"Arena! Arena! Arena!"

The chants made it painfully obvious what each group was actually after!

"This seems a bit too small. I don't think we can pull anything off with just this."

"Ah. This is just the crowd inside because the city is too cramped. The rest of them are standing outside the city walls."

"...?!?!"

The sheer volume of players gathered outside the city was staggering—dozens of times larger than the crowd inside. The moment Tae-hyun saw the massive army, a sudden realization struck him.

This... might actually work!

"Alright. We're heading back to the territory right now!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeahhhhh!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"...Wait. There are some incredibly strange voices in there."

The first "Yeah!" came from Tae-hyun's immediate party. The roaring "Yeahhhhh!" came from the Tyrum Hunters accompanying Yu Ji-soo. That much was fine. Tyrum was a warm, family-like city, but the skills of the Tyrum Hunters were undeniable.

But who on earth was responsible for the deep, booming "Yeah, yeah!"?

The answer was the Giants. While most of the Giant tribes that had followed Kim Tae-san had settled down in the territory, several warriors had stepped forward, insisting on following Tae-hyun.

"You defeated our Great Warrior. We respect the strong. We follow you."

"......."

The Orc Ahjussis shed tears of frustration as they walked past.

"*Sob*, that rascal Tae-hyun. To think he won the respect of the Giants. I'm so jealous."

"They still haven't acknowledged us!"

I don't need that kind of acknowledgment...

Tae-hyun stared at the Giants with a deeply skeptical ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression. Would they be of any help? Well, if utilized correctly, they would undoubtedly be a massive asset. After weighing his options, Tae-hyun ultimately decided to accept them. In a massive quest like this, every extra hand counted.

Thud, thud, thud—

Just as the group was about to set off, a party appeared in the distance.

"Master! It's a vampire!"

"Master, a vampire approaches!"

Heuk-heuk and Yong-yong reacted instantly. To divine beasts and demonic entities who served actual gods, an impure creature like a vampire was instantly recognizable.

"!"

Since the Salavian Church was backing Dominic, and they were known to employ vampires...

"Prepare to attack! It's an assassin!"

At Tae-hyun's command, the party quickly readied their weapons. The Tyrum Hunters, in particular, gleefully began letting loose their arrows.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Hehe! Fire the arrows!"

Those guys have gotten even weirder since the last time I saw them.

Tae-hyun decided to pretend he hadn't seen anything. Yu Ji-soo was also looking away, her expression suggesting she had suffered immense mental exhaustion. Tae-hyun felt a deep sense of sympathy. As the leader of the Archisus Church, he could fully relate.

"Ouch! Ow! Stop shooting! I said stop! It's me!"

"?"

Deflecting the incoming barrage of arrows, the vampire screamed in agony.

"What is this?"

"It's a trick. A trick. We Giants are smart. We won't fall for such deception."

The Giants boasted proudly. Normally, Tae-hyun wouldn't have paid them any mind, but their words sounded surprisingly persuasive right now.

"Indeed, it must be a trick. Vampires are inherently wicked. Attack again!"

"Hey!! Kim Tae-hyun, you absolute jerk!"

"Look at that wicked vampire. She's even calling me by name to try and deceive us. Keep attacking! Don't let her get close!"

"Um... Tae-hyun? Isn't that Evangeline?"

Lee Da-bi spoke up, having finally recognized the vampire's face in the distance. Hearing her words, Cain slapped his knee.

"Ah! I knew she looked familiar!"

Despite having competed in the same tournament, neither of them had managed to remember her face!

"Hold! Wait. But it could still be a vampire disguised as Evangeline."

"Who would even use such a convoluted scheme... Actually, never mind. There is someone. You, Tae-hyun."

Meanwhile, Evangeline slowly trudged over. Her eyes were a complex cocktail of anger, sorrow, resentment, and various other emotions.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you...!"

"I told you, I thought you were an assassin. What brings you all the way out here anyway?"

"I came because of the Salavian Church quest. Ugh, why do those arrows hurt so much? My HP took a massive hit."

"My bad. Here, take a potion."

"I have my own pot—ow! Hey! This is holy water!!"

"Ah. I must have mixed it up with the ones from the Archisus Church. My mistake."

"......."

At this point, her gaze was sharp enough to impale him. Evangeline grumbled under her breath.

"And here I am, coming to help you because of the Salavian Church..."

"Wait. You're a vampire, and you came to help? Seriously?"

"......."

Has this guy spent his entire life being scammed? Evangeline wondered, before immediately finding the answer. Of course he has. He's spent his entire life scamming others, so he can't trust a single soul!