The Art of Handling Fire Hounds

Handling a Fire Hound required a certain knack. When riding or touching them, you had to make sure to only touch the parts where there were no flames!

"Let's go. We don't have time."

"Huh? Isn't the Atali Kingdom to the south?"

"We can't head straight to the Atali Kingdom. We'll get caught."

"Come to think of it, didn't you call me by my real name earlier?"

"I was flustered because you were suddenly commanding demonic beasts. Don't worry. No one heard us."

With demonic beasts lunging from all directions and one guy actively commanding them, nobody had ears sharp enough to overhear what Tae-hyun had said.

"Then where are we going?"

"We... are heading to Uruk first."

South of Auston was Atali, and east was Uruk. Go to Uruk first, then take a ship to the Atali Kingdom! It was a simple, clean plan.

"Uruk has the ahjussis on our side, so there's less risk of raising suspicion when we undo our disguises. Plus, it'll be easier to release the demonic beasts there."

"Uuuugh. You get to walk around with a dragon, but I...!"

"I already explained that to you!"

"What? You did what?"

Kim Tae-san, who had run over to an empty cave after hearing Tae-hyun's call while building an Orc hut, gasped in shock at the explanation.

"How much did you make? You really raked in that much?!"

"Ah, yes. This is what we call banditry."

"To think...!"

Kim Tae-san clenched his fists. The Choigang Jizon Mussang Guild had never run low on gold thanks to their heavy pay-to-win spending. Because of that, they had never even conceived of Tae-hyun's mindset: 'If you don't have it, just plunder it!'

I am ashamed! To think I've been wasting my time just managing territory! Kim Tae-san beat his chest. Seeing this, Tae-hyun spoke gently.

"It's alright, Father."

"?"

"You can just start being bandits from now on!"

"...! Of course!"

"I'm sure you've been under a lot of stress lately managing Uruk. If you take the ahjussis with you, they'll absolutely love it."

Kim Tae-san nodded. He could already picture how thrilled everyone would be.

"Let me share a few tips on banditry. First, you need to craft masks... then prepare warehouses in advance... and you'll also need escape routes..."

Before they knew it, the other Orc Ahjussis had gathered around to listen. It was a crash course in practical banditry!

"Instructor Kim Tae-hyun! How do we identify high-value targets?!"

"Instructor Kim Tae-hyun! How many people should be in a single squad?!"

The lecture hall was burning with passion!

Listening from the side, Kim Tae-san suddenly asked out of curiosity, "By the way, Tae-hyun. What are those things?"

Sadiq's demonic beasts were waiting, radiating intense heat! Their presence was so overwhelming that they illuminated the dark cave like bright lanterns.

"Ah, if I travel with them right now, they'll stand out too much and we'll get caught. I wanted to leave them here for a bit. Is that okay? Uruk is vast, and there are plenty of places to let demonic beasts roam."

"True, it wouldn't be strange for a few more demonic beasts to pop up around here."

Uruk, the wildest natural territory on the Central Continent! The players living here had to be prepared to face the harsh wilderness. It was a place where dozens of defense quests would trigger just by standing in a village. That was how vast and unexplored it was.

"Leave them. We'll take good care of them."

"But if people find out these beasts are here, won't we be misunderstood?"

"Who cares? We're already on bad terms with them anyway. Let's just consider it giving them one more reason to hate us."

The Orc Ahjussis still harbored a deep grudge against the Guild Alliance for pushing them out of the Auston Kingdom! They tried to look nonchalant, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠humiliation still stung.

"But..."

"Tae-hyun."

"?"

"We're not allowed to eat them, right? They look incredibly plump and juicy..."

"Screeech!"

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

Cain and the Fire Hounds snarled in unison.

"Hey, we were just asking. It's not like we're definitely going to eat them~"

The ahjussis quickly made excuses, but Cain's gaze had already turned deeply suspicious.

"Hey. Can we really trust these people? What if they're gone when we come back..."

"They aren't so shameless as to do that, so it'll be fine. More importantly, ahjussis. Do you want demonic beasts like these?"

"!"

"Of course we do!"

The ahjussis' eyes lit up.

Last time, they had been so envious of Tae-hyun commanding undead that they had each brought along an undead of their own. Of course, they still hadn't gotten close to them at all! In truth, they could have easily bought all kinds of rare pets from the auction house if they just spent the money, but they refused to do so.

We want them big, rare, and cool! The ones sold on the market have no soul!

"Perfect. Here's what you do..."

Find a demonic beast spawning ground and feed them plenty of Weird Food! Hearing the secret, the Orc Ahjussis' eyes sparkled like young boys.

"Me too... I'm going to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raise one too!"

"Everyone, get your bandit outfits out! Let's go!"

"And for all of you, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happen to have gear sets here that can disguise you as members of the Guild Alliance, which I'm willing to sell at a very reasonable price..."

"......."

"There's even a family discount."

"Really?!"

"We have returned, Lord Tae-hyun. The ingredients are over there!"

Ed-an pointed toward the warehouse with a smug, satisfied face. Devuel, on the other hand, looked utterly bewildered.

No matter how he looked at it... wasn't this just robbery?

"Um, Lord Ed-an."

"What is it, Devuel?"

"Isn't this... robbery?"

"Uh-uh. You shouldn't put it like that. It's righteous robbery."

"...It still seems like robbery to me..."

"Shh. Sometimes, to defeat evil, one must not hesitate to use any means necessary. Look at me. If I hadn't stolen the crown, do you think we could have defeated the evil Salavian Order?"

"That's the hundredth time you've told that story."

"Only a hundred? I guess I need to tell it more."

"......."

Devuel slowly backed away and approached Tae-hyun.

"Count Kim Tae-hyun. When might I be able to meet that legendary chef you mentioned?"

"Ah. I brought him with me, so I'll introduce you right now."

Tae-hyun introduced Stau. Stau had been happily spreading the gospel of Weird Food in Uruk before being dragged back to the territory by Tae-hyun!

- I mean, there's this incredibly talented human chef who heard rumors about you and was dying to meet you.

- Really?!

"Uh... isn't he a... Goblin?"

"What about it? Gasp, don't tell me, Devuel. Are you a racist? I'm disappointed."

"N-no, that's not it... The greatest chef of the species... is a Goblin? I-I mean, it's not that I dislike Goblins..."

Seizing the opportunity, Tae-hyun quickly spoke up.

"Oh dear, you seem quite confused. In that case, there's no need to force a meeting. Go run along and rest."

"No! Now that we've met like this, I want to learn from him!"

"No, there's really no need to learn—"

"I want to learn!"

"......."

Hearing those words, Stau rubbed the bottom of his nose sheepishly and said, "Well, if you insist that much, I have no choice. I shall teach you a bit of my secret art, Weird Food."

"......."

Tae-hyun suddenly felt a dark premonition.

"We'll put this up on the auction house... and that should be about everything, right?"

"Yes. I think we can proceed with this."

Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi put their heads together, calculating the budget and estimates for the coronation event.

"Alright. I'm putting it on now."

...There are so many penalties, but they aren't even showing me the rewards.

These were the bonuses accumulated from all the quests and achievements Tae-hyun had cleared so far! Thanks to them, the news of his coronation would spread further and louder than ever before.

"There are too many demonic beasts!"

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on the way! I've summoned every available guild member right now!"

Meanwhile, the Guild Alliance was getting a taste of what it felt like to play StarCraft. Sadiq's monsters were swarming from all directions! As expected of a place called Sadiq's Sanctuary, the beasts poured out in an endless, maddening tide.

Having initially engaged them in simple parties, the Guild Alliance quickly realized, 'Yeah, this isn't going to work,' and brought in heavy-duty equipment. They constructed a fortress right inside the sanctuary, turning the battle into a war of attrition and sheer numbers! Carving a path through a sea of blood, the Guild Alliance was advancing one grueling step at a time.

"Alcott! Take down that beast over there! It keeps spitting fire!"

"Got it, on my—"

"...Cough, cough!"

"What's wrong?!"

"N-no, it's nothing..."

Alcott choked on his own spit the moment the message window suddenly popped up.

"By the way, has that Mao Zedong guy still not logged back in? He died because of us, so I wanted to apologize to him."

"Ah... no, it's fine. He said he felt this quest didn't suit him and decided to clear other quests first."

"Alcott, don't be like that. Try to persuade him. Recruit him into our guild. A player with that kind of spirit is more than qualified to be one of us."

The Guild Alliance executive was so taken with Cain—or rather, Mao Zedong—that he kept urging Alcott. For someone who was usually incredibly arrogant, showing such an attitude meant he was truly impressed by what he had heard about Cain.

"I... I get it. I'll try to persuade him."

"Good, good. Tell him I'll personally back him up... Wait, what?! That bastard Kim Tae-hyun is holding a coronation?!"

"*Cough, cough!*"

Alcott choked on his spit once again.

People gathered literally like swarms of clouds. Mora City was already packed to the brim, and the plains outside the city walls were overflowing with crowds. Even those who weren't necessarily fans of Tae-hyun had flocked to see the very first coronation event in Pangaea Online. Hearts were pounding with excitement!

"Hey, did you get that buff earlier? Do you think they'll give us another bonus once it actually starts?"

"I'm looking forward to the food. I haven't eaten a single thing since yesterday just to save room for this."

Zhang Shan, the 4th Guard Captain of Mora City—and a Guild Alliance spy who had climbed the ranks a bit too successfully—thought to himself: Are those Guild Alliance idiots completely incapable of basic math? They confidently boasted that Kim Tae-hyun wouldn't even be able to handle the single territory he already had...

The Guild Alliance had been loudly proclaiming that Tae-hyun wouldn't be able to hold a coronation anytime soon.

Despite the curses raining down from the Guild Alliance, the coronation preparations looked perfectly legitimate. It didn't look like a scam at all.

It doesn't look like a scam to me.

From the prepared decorations to the food, everything looked like it had cost a massive fortune in gold.

More importantly... have I really not been kicked out of the guild yet?

Despite hurling a torrent of abuse at his direct superior, he still hadn't been expelled!

Wait. Don't tell me that guy didn't report my insults to the higher-ups?!

Only then did Zhang Shan realize just how petty and small-minded his boss was! He had hidden his own failure just to avoid the embarrassment of being cursed out by an underling!