Robbing an Empty House

After that, the introductions of those present continued. Calling them "introductions" was a massive understatement—it was practically a Pandemonium Online meetup! Even Professor Kim looked utterly dumbfounded.

"This isn't a Pan-On fan club gathering, you know?"

"Senior! I wanted to ask about the Gardu quest you cleared recently! What happened to the people who charged at the very end?"

"They converted to the Archisus Church and are living happily ever after."

"Senior! Is it okay if I call you Oppa? I live in the Archisus territory too, and it's so much fun!"

"Hmm. I highly recommend you leave as soon as possible."

"?!"

Yu Ji-soo also blushed deeply and raised her hand.

"Op... Se-Senior..."

"You could have just asked me privately. Why are you joining in?"

"!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes locked onto Yu Ji-soo. Their gazes practically screamed, How on earth do you know Kim Tae-hyun?

"Ah. I should get going."

"Why?!"

"Stay a bit longer!"

"I have to go play the game."

It was usually impossible to look cool while announcing you were leaving a social gathering early just to go home and play video games. Yet, Tae-hyun was pulling off that near-impossible feat with effortless grace.

"Ah, he's so cool."

"I should go play too. I need to get at least one more level today."

"Guys? Guys?!" Professor Kim called out in vain.

"For the honor of the Atali Kingdom! Knights, charge!"

On the plains before the capital of the Atali Kingdom, a noble lord leading his territory was charging forward at the head of his personal order of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knights.

Their opponents, of course, were Dominic and the Salavian Church!

"Look! Those bastards barely have any soldiers! No one supports them, which is why they are forced to stand alone!"

Normally, Dominic and the Salavian Church should have relied on the capital's sturdy walls to hold out. Instead, they had marched out into the open. They hadn't even brought a proper army with them. It was only natural for the attacking noble's confidence to soar.

"Those knights look pretty strong, don't they?"

"Surely the quest doesn't end here? I was waiting to join Kim Tae-hyun's quest..."

The players currently inside the capital had climbed up the walls to watch the confrontation. Naturally, the vast majority of them wanted Dominic to lose.

Ever since Dominic had seized control, the players had experienced nothing but disadvantages. However, even if Dominic was destined to lose, he couldn't lose right now. He had to lose to Tae-hyun when the Pope arrived!

Only then would the players participating in the quest receive their rightful share of the rewards.

Thud-thud-thud-thud—

The knights thundered across the plains. Few classes were as devastating as a mounted knight charging across flat, unobstructed terrain. A direct hit from a full-speed charge could easily obliterate an opponent in a single strike.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a blood-red mist swirled around the members of the Salavian Church, and they began to transform. Their bones cracked and shifted as they grew into monstrous, towering shapes.

"!"

Crash!

The transformed cultists lunged forward, swatting the charging knights away like flies. A few skilled knights managed to land counterattacks, but they only succeeded in taking down one or two of the beasts.

"Give us your blood!"

Crunch!

The cultists pinned the knights down and immediately began draining their blood. It was a far more ravenous and violent form of blood-drinking than that of ordinary vampires.

"U-Uwahhh!"

As his entire order of knights was annihilated in an instant, the noble lord shrieked in terror and turned to flee. Watching this, Dominic issued an arrogant command.

"I have no need for rebels who dare defy me in this kingdom! Bring me his head!"

"Yes, Master!"

"I was prepared to wait longer, but to think they would send such pathetic fools. Enough! From this moment on, I shall take action personally. I will strike down the rebels myself and seize their territories!"

"Where shall we head first?"

"There is obviously only one target we must strike first!"

Oh?

Tae-hyun's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the kingdom's civil war to have such a beneficial side effect! If the neighboring lords kept throwing themselves at Dominic and dying like this...

"It is finished!"

"This is truly a miracle...!"

Several of the player architects wiped away tears, whispering that it was nothing short of a miracle. It had been an incredibly massive undertaking.

They had successfully transformed the Valley of Despair and Sorrow—which had been a relatively ordinary territory—into an impregnable, iron-clad fortress nestled deep within the mountain ranges!

"We couldn't have done it without all of you!"

"Sniff! I can't believe I built that wall with my own two hands!"

"That fortress is basically my child!"

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

"?"

The architects, who had been hugging and crying together, startled as a stranger suddenly approached and spoke to them.

"Who are you?"

"Ah. It's nothing major. I just want to install this on the outer fortress walls. Can you fit it inside?"

"What is that?"

"It's a magical item that makes the walls much better once inserted."

"??"

"Anyway, I'll just put it in."

Gabriel smiled brightly and moved along with his mechanical engineering blacksmiths. Gabriel's plan was delightfully simple: bury tons of bombs in the outer fortresses! Not just inside the walls, but deep underground as well!

Hearing of this, Tae-hyun couldn't help but marvel.

Where on earth did these crazy bastards come from?

While they couldn't detonate explosives inside the main territory, the outer fortresses were fair game. If the enemies managed to capture them? Boom!

Of course, the architects who had built the fortresses like their own children had absolutely no idea. If they found out, they would surely lose their minds.

"Dominic is on the move!"

The news that Dominic had left the capital to attack Tae-hyun directly spread instantly. Upon hearing the news, the players in the territory felt a surge of adrenaline. The moment had finally come.

"Just as Lord Tae-hyun predicted!"

"To foresee this and order such a massive construction project in advance...!"

Tae-hyun himself was quite impressed by the news.

"He's really coming. How much does he hate me?"

"We can worry about that later. Right now, let's figure out how to stop them. I hear they're no joke."

Videos of Dominic's battle in front of the capital were already circulating rapidly on the forums. It was a stark demonstration of the terrifying power of the newly emerged Salavian Church.

"First, they have vampire-type skills... along with transformation, Vampiric Drain, and various debuffs..." Tae-hyun began to list their abilities, organizing the information. They were essentially incredibly high-tier vampires, with a barrage of annoying active skills to boot.

"Well, what can we do? We'll have to go with the basic method. With this many people, we can't do anything too fancy anyway."

"The basic method?" Choi Sang-yun tilted his head in confusion.

High-level players were notoriously risk-averse; they hated losing things because they had so much to lose. No matter how much they idolized Tae-hyun, would they really volunteer to charge at the very front?

"If they don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charge, you and Cain can run out there to set the mood."

"...Hey..."

"Ah. And we should hand out some gear. Tell them the people fighting at the very front will get these items."

"?!"

Choe Sang-yun gasped as he looked at the warehouse Tae-hyun was pointing to. Those were...

That's the gear he extorted from the Guild Alliance and the Beijing Fighters...

It was the leftover loot from PKing other players that they hadn't sold yet! Lee Da-bi spoke with a hint of regret in her voice.

"It's a shame, but we have no choice."

Normally, they would have slowly trickled the gear into the auction house to avoid crashing the market, using the Power Warrior guild members to artificially inflate the prices. The players who saw their own stolen gear on the auction house had been furious, but they had no choice but to swallow their pride and buy it back.

"Wait. What are you going to do?"

"Ah. I'm going to rob his house while he's out."

"?!"

"Sniff. Lord Tae-hyun. To think you would trust me like this... I, Ed-an, will repay you with all my might! I will show you a new side of me, completely different from the man I was in the past! What should I do?"

"Steal."

"...Excuse me?"

"Of course I called you to steal. Did you think I called you for anything else?"

"......"

Tae-hyun, accompanied by Heuk-heuk, Yong-yong, Golgol-i, and Ed-an, was currently heading toward the capital of the Atali Kingdom. It was a complete shift in perspective!

Fighting Dominic and the Salavian Church was fine, but that could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easily be done later. The most important fact right now was that the capital was completely empty!

Of course, some members of the Salavian Church would have been left behind to guard it, but they could easily break through that level of defense.

If Dominic and the Salavian Church lose later, they might empty the royal treasury and run, so I should secure it in advance.

In this world, those who prepared in advance always held the advantage. Tae-hyun knew all too well how a tiny bit of preparation in these quests could yield massive results later. If they went through all that trouble to clear the quest, only to find an empty treasury...

There was nothing more hollow than that.

-Master, we must be careful. There are bats patrolling the capital's sky.

-My Lord, if we get any closer, they will notice us. Those are the demonic beasts of the Salavian ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Church.

Giant bats and translucent phantom wyverns were circling the skies above the capital, keeping a vigilant watch. They were the church's sentries, placed to prevent any airborne intrusions.

Hmm... what should we do?

Should they land now, use stealth, and scale the walls? If possible, Tae-hyun wanted to bypass the ground entirely. The gates and walls would undoubtedly be heavily guarded.

After a moment of thought, Tae-hyun came up with a brilliant idea.

Clank, clank—

Engineering items like parachutes or gliders were generally unpopular. If players wanted to fly, they could simply use flight spells or flying mounts; there was no reason to use a clunky item that only allowed them to fall. However, there were rare moments when such items became invaluable.

Moments exactly like this!

-Yong-yong, hide. Heuk-heuk and Golgol-i, you're up.

-Huh? Why does only he get to hide?

-If they see Archisus's divine beast, they'll suspect something. You're Sadiq's demonic beast, so it's fine.

At Tae-hyun's explanation, Heuk-heuk grumbled but complied. Yong-yong carried Tae-hyun and Ed-an high into the clouds. The plan was for Heuk-heuk and Golgol-i to draw the sentries' attention while the two of them quietly parachuted down!

-Do well, undead.

-You do well, Black Dragon.

"U-Um, Lord Tae-hyun. Are those two going to be okay?" Ed-an asked anxiously. No matter how he looked at them, Heuk-heuk and Golgol-i did not seem to get along. Sadiq's demonic beast and a Death Knight—they were like oil and water.

"Would they really fight when they're in danger?"

"I don't think demonic beasts and the undead care about things like that..."

"It's fine. They just need to draw attention. They'll figure out the rest."

Ed-an's worries, however, quickly became reality.

-Ah, fly properly, Black Dragon!

-Shut up, undead!

-I see a giant vampiric bat over there. Shoot your flames properly. Don't let them touch me.

-...Ah! My wing slipped!

-?!?!

Heuk-heuk pretended to tilt forward, deliberately throwing Golgol-i off his back.

-You... you black lizard bastard!

Suddenly plummeting from the high sky, a panicked Golgol-i quickly activated a skill.

-Rope of Black Aura! Noose Tightening!

Snagging one of the giant bats, Golgol-i pulled himself up and mounted its back!

Screeech! Screeech!

-Stay still! I am your master now!

Having narrowly escaped a fatal fall, Golgol-i had only one thought on his mind: revenge!

-I will give that black lizard a taste of his own medicine...! Charge!

The bat screeched in delight, diving straight toward Heuk-heuk.