A Welcome Piece of News in Hard Times

In the middle of all that hardship, it was welcome news.

Swordsmanship was the foundation of everything. Sure, if he wanted to specialize in hammers, it would be better to learn something like hammer techniques, but in the end...

'I can't even use this hammer normally anyway.'

An item with a fatal flaw: it couldn't deal damage to living creatures.

In truth, the Ancient Hammer was an incredible item. Tae-hyun could feel that much himself. Even with Lucky Strike backing him up, it had landed critical hits powerful enough to one-shot Specter Warriors that even Rufo had struggled against.

Which meant it had to be a truly legendary item with absurd attack power.

Except for the part where it couldn't damage living things.

'Damn it. Then again, I guess it needs a penalty like that to justify this kind of attack power.'

Anyway, since he'd have to use a sword most of the time, it was good news that his swordsmanship skill had gone up.

Tae-hyun opened his status window.

The sheer amount of stats was so massive, it was hard to believe he was a player who hadn't even reached level 30. Even a quasi-ranker could've passed for having stats like that.

'And my skills...'

If he posted that on the forums right now, people would be talking about it for a month.

That was the true form of a total jack-of-all-trades build.

'What's this newly unlocked Gataqua Swordsmanship skill?'

Once his swordsmanship reached Intermediate, one of the skills from Gataqua Swordsmanship had unlocked as well.

He hadn't been able to check it earlier because he'd been in the middle of a fight, but now...

"...!"

Tae-hyun's eyes widened.

Just from the description alone, it sounded almost broken.

But Tae-hyun was someone who had cut his teeth in Fantasy Online 1. He immediately understood what kind of skill this was.

'The activation conditions have to be insanely strict.'

Skills that sounded this ridiculous always had absurdly difficult conditions attached. That was the only way to keep the balance intact.

And in fact, Tae-hyun was right.

Even Rufo, who had nearly mastered Gataqua Swordsmanship, rarely used Circle of Counterattack. The timing window was that hard to catch.

Even Rufo's master had said as much.

'Maybe I'll get a feel for it if I try it once...'

"Grrr... intruder..."

"Quit stalling and come at me already!"

Tae-hyun said it because he'd gotten tired of waiting.

Getting one Specter Warrior at a time was actually good. If several came at once, he wouldn't be able to practice the skill properly.

But the Specter Warrior that had appeared this time was posturing dramatically while advancing at a crawl.

To Tae-hyun, who wanted to try Circle of Counterattack as soon as possible, it was maddening.

"Hiding your fear behind bluster... heh..."

"..."

Instead of answering, Tae-hyun rushed in and smashed the Specter Warrior across the head with his hammer.

"Kraaaagh! You coward!"

"Didn't I tell you to come at me? Huh?"

Only then did the Specter Warrior snap out of it and begin counterattacking in earnest.

Tae-hyun focused.

At a glance, Circle of Counterattack was far from an easy skill to use. He had to read the opponent's attack perfectly and use it at that exact moment if he wanted to reflect it back.

If he mistimed it, all he'd do was stand there and get hit.

Tae-hyun had natural combat sense, but this was still a game world. Enemies here were far stronger and faster than real people.

And yet...

"Circle of Counterattack!"

"?!"

Even Tae-hyun was startled.

Normally, a skill like this was the kind you failed dozens of times with before your body started to grasp the timing. And that was for someone with Tae-hyun's level of natural sense. For a clumsy person, they could throw themselves at it hundreds of times and still never get it.

For someone like Ji-su, it would be a skill she could never learn.

But he'd succeeded on the very first try.

'What the hell? Was it just an overpowered skill after all?'

Tae-hyun felt stupid for having worried.

And then he cursed Rufo.

'If he had a skill like this, he should've used it earlier instead of standing there like an idiot getting hit.'

If Rufo had heard that, he'd have beaten his chest in frustration.

Circle of Counterattack was exactly the kind of skill Tae-hyun had thought it was. The effect was absurdly overpowered, but it was nearly impossible to trigger.

You had to activate it during the tiny instant visible when the enemy attacked. Timing that properly was, in practice, no different from luck.

No matter how skilled a swordsman was, using it frequently was impossible.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

But Tae-hyun had overwhelming luck.

For others, that timing window was as narrow as the eye of a needle. For him, it might as well have been a wide-open gate.

"Kraaaagh!"

The sword the Specter Warrior swung spun in midair—then came crashing right back into the Specter Warrior itself.

From the side, it would've looked ridiculous.

But the two actually fighting couldn't relax for even a second. It was an intense battle.

Fantasy Online 2 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was the number one virtual reality game in the world.

Several games had tried to challenge Fantasy Online, but all of them had collapsed without ever breaking through.

Since people all over the world played it, the player base was enormous, and the staff managing it were just as busy.

Even Team Leader Choi Myung-sung, Tae-hyun's rabid fan, hadn't been able to keep close tabs on him lately because of how much there was to do.

"Team Leader, Team Leader."

"What?"

"Come take a look at this."

"Didn't I tell you not to call me over for useless things? Huh? What you brought me last time was something you could've handled yourself. If this time it's another nothing issue—"

"It's Kim Tae-hyun..."

"Good call. Hahaha. Looks like you're finally learning how to work."

Yoon Ju-hwan pouted, but what could he do? The man was his boss.

"Kim Tae-hyun's clearing a Legendary Class quest right now. I figured you'd be interested..."

"He's already doing a Legendary Class quest? I thought it'd be rough because his level's still low. He got there fast. How'd he even make it that far?"

The underground dungeon held one of the skills of the Avatar of Archisus.

But just reaching that place was no simple matter. More than anything, the biggest obstacle was the Caterand Pirates. Usually, players died to the pirates long before they ever made it to the underground dungeon.

"Looks like he tricked the pirates by bringing in a merchant group?"

"What? Seriously? That's so Kim Tae-hyun."

Choi Myung-sung clapped in admiration.

That was exactly where Kim Tae-hyun's true value lay—his brain.

"Wait. But how do you know that?"

"Well, from the stream— mmph."

"You little— I told you not to watch streams while you're working!"

Yoon Ju-hwan lowered his head.

"Pull it up."

"Sir?"

"I said pull up the stream."

"You just said not to watch streams while working..."

"What was that?"

His team leader's voice dropped an octave.

"I said I'll pull it up right now, haha."

Among the players dragged to Caterand Island, there were a few who did personal streams. They'd been tricked into coming, sure, but it still made for entertaining broadcast material.

The streamer was a fisherman-type player. Maybe because he'd gone to an island occupied by the Caterand Pirates, it had drawn quite a bit of attention.

"The guy doing this quest right now is someone named Kim Tae-san, and he's a total bastard!"

At some point, the alias Tae-hyun had used had spread among the players dragged to Caterand Island.

Phrases like 'Screw Kim Tae-san' and 'Kim Tae-san, just die' were popular enough to become catchphrases.

But Tae-hyun didn't care in the slightest.

He was the kind of person who didn't care if people cursed him behind his back.

Besides, they weren't cursing him—they were cursing Kim Tae-san.

"Wait, why Kim Tae-san?"

"Looks like Kim Tae-hyun's using an alias."

"Ah. Makes sense."

Choi Myung-sung understood immediately.

Kim Tae-hyun had a lot of enemies. Even if you excluded his clash with the Red Zone Guild in Fantasy Online 2, there were still plenty of people from Fantasy Online 1 who ground their teeth whenever his name came up.

There were so many grudges against him that even lining them up and handing out number tags wouldn't have been enough.

Using an alias was a smart move. There were just too many players in the game—most people wouldn't catch on from just that.

"He tricked players and dragged them to the island? That's impressive."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous if he gets found out?"

"He's got his face covered and his name hidden... more importantly, getting the skill here comes first."

The skills tied to the Avatar of Archisus class were all difficult. And Tae-hyun had class-changed at a low level to begin with. The difficulty was bound to be even higher for him.

Those Specter Warriors alone weren't easy opponents. And on top of that, he'd have to face the Rusted Specter Golem waiting farther in.

"No matter how good he is at evasion, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠golem's going to be rough. Coming here alone was too reckless."

Given the circumstances—he'd tricked the pirates and slipped down here in secret—it couldn't be helped, but still, he should've at least brought a priest or a mage and rounded out a full party.

Rufo was a strong NPC, but he had his limits alone. And the monsters in this place were a bad matchup for a swordsman to begin with.

'And now they're even split up...'

"Do you think he'll fail?"

"No. It's too early to judge that. Kim Tae-hyun is still Kim Tae-hyun."

The team leader's infinite faith in Tae-hyun.

Yoon Ju-hwan had to work hard not to let the disbelief show on his face.

"You literally just said it would be hard."

"I said it'd be hard, not impossible. This dungeon has a solution."

The Cursed Flesh Golem was a monster that absorbed most physical damage. On top of that, it used a tricky skill that locked onto enemies and drained their life force. That part couldn't be dodged.

To fight it properly, you had to find the Specter Warrior's Sword hidden somewhere in the dungeon and pull it free. If you wielded that sword, you could deal proper damage to the Flesh Golem.

'But with how pressed for time he is, would he even think to search the dungeon?'

From Tae-hyun's perspective, he needed to clear the dungeon and get out as fast as possible. There was no room for leisurely exploration. That was something you did in dungeons with no time pressure.

"Oh— is that the Specter Warrior's Sword?"

"What are you talking about? How could the Specter Warrior's Sword already be there— huh?!"

"What the hell? It even drops useful stuff?"

Tae-hyun looked delighted as he stared at the Specter Warrior he'd just defeated.

He'd wanted equipment or a weapon, and sure enough, a weapon had dropped.

But to Choi Myung-sung, who was watching, the scene was so absurd it made no sense.

"????"

"Team Leader?"

"No, why is that there? It was supposed to be hidden in a secret stone chamber ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the dungeon..."

"The Specter Warrior dropped it."

"It dropped it?"

Choi Myung-sung's eyes went wide.

Yoon Ju-hwan was right. Tae-hyun was picking the sword up off the Specter Warrior's corpse.

And Choi Myung-sung realized what had happened.

It was the luck possessed by the Avatar of Archisus.

Even in a near-impossible situation, it had forcibly driven the item's drop chance up high enough to make it appear.

'What kind of bullshit is that?!'

Choi Myung-sung was so dumbfounded he could only stare in silence, mouth hanging open.