The Art of the Fake Report

Zhang Shan made up his mind and began drafting a fake report. Who cared! It wasn't like they could actually verify Kim Tae-hyun's weaknesses anyway! What if they found out later that the weaknesses were wrong?

'I'll just play dumb when the time comes!'

How could they take back the gold they'd already given him? Zhang Shan happily wrote down the report. At first, he was a bit cautious, but as he wrote, his confidence grew.

"Hmm... what should I say Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-hyun is vulnerable to? Right! Let's say he's weak against fire magic. But then I need a reason... Ah. Let's say he was cursed after fighting Sadiq. That sounds plausible, right?"

An incredible talent for storytelling that surprised even himself!

"The reason Kim Tae-hyun uses fire-related skills is to hide the fact that he received this curse, and he and those around him are extremely careful to keep it a secret... I worked incredibly hard to uncover this secret... Good, good."

Zhang Shan filled out the sections of the report one by one.

"I'll stop here for weaknesses. I can't think of any more, and I might need to use some later. What's the next section? Relationships? Ah, why are these guys asking about this? Are they stalkers?"

Zhang Shan racked his brain. Kim Tae-hyun's relationships...

"Ah, how am I supposed to write this if I don't know anything? I'll just make this up too. Was it the leader of the Power Warrior Guild? He seemed close to that girl, so I'll write that the two of them are dating."

The report was growing more and more detailed!

"Is it a bit boring? True. It's too simple. A player of Kim Tae-hyun's caliber must be incredibly popular, so he's probably extremely promiscuous, right?"

Zhang Shan's warped delusions!

"Yeah, I'll just say he's dating pretty much everyone."

Zhang Shan fearlessly wrote a report that, if discovered by either the Guild Alliance or Tae-hyun, would get him choked by both sides.

"Are those new NPCs in the capital?"

"Looks like it?"

The players flocking to Mora City tilted their heads in confusion. Unfamiliar NPCs, unfamiliar quests.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?"

"True."

There were times when the NPCs felt a bit sinister, almost non-human, but that didn't matter to the players. What mattered was how good the quests they gave were, and what rewards they offered!

In that regard, the newly appeared NPCs were excellent.

"Hehe, passing adventurers. Why don't you try this potion..."

"Khehehe... adventurers... give this equipment a try as well..."

Despite their bizarre way of speaking, the equipment and items they offered were undeniably top-tier!

With so many players flocking to the capital for Tae-hyun's coronation, this kind of support was incredibly helpful. After all, the player base didn't just consist of high-level players; there were far more mid-to-low level players below them.

"Oh, right, did you hear about the Archisus Church?"

"Ah, that. I'm actually thinking about joining..."

"It is wonderful to see the capital so lively, Your Majesty. Fufu."

"Indeed. Dervene, did you bring back a satisfactory proposal?"

Tae-hyun looked at the returned Dervene with an expectant face.

"Well... it is a proposal that I fear Your Majesty might not find to your liking..."

"?"

Tae-hyun was puzzled to see Dervene hesitating. What kind of proposal did he bring?

"My master says ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that while Your Majesty cannot personally enter the Demon Realm, if you complete the preparations, he will take pity on your devotion and manifest himself upon the continent."

"...!"

Dervene tensed as he spoke. Tae-hyun was, in his own way, the king of a nation. Though he wasn't a perfect king, such a proposal was highly insulting.

But Mosrak had been stubborn.

- How dare that Avatar of Archisus set foot in my kingdom?!

- But master, this Avatar of Archisus has accepted your proposal. This is practically the same as him falling to corruption. You already hold his heart in your grasp.

- Still, no. I will absolutely not permit it!

- Master...! He will never be able to defy you. Just the fact that he accepted your proposal leaking out would cause his reputation to plummet!

Dervene had kept trying to persuade Mosrak. Despite this, Mosrak refused to allow Tae-hyun to set foot in the Demon Realm until the very end. A fear engraved deep into his bones!

- Then tell him this.

- Yes?

- Tell him to prepare a large-scale ritual to summon me in the capital. If he does so, I may personally grace him with my presence and look after him.

- A-Ah, no. Master...

Dervene had been horrified. Unless Tae-hyun was insane, there was no way he would accept such a proposal. He had barely just become king, and now he was supposed to perform a massive demon-summoning ritual right in the middle of the capital?

If he got caught, the local nobles would scream, "The king has gone mad!" and rebel, while the other churches on the continent would cry, "That mad king is worshiping demons!" and send a subjugation force.

In short, it was a death sentence!

And Dervene was the one who had to deliver this proposal. Dervene was terrified of being attacked on the spot.

Summoning a powerful entity of the Demon Realm—a demon—was a secret art possible only for highly powerful black mages. However, summoning a Demon Duke who ruled an entire layer of the Demon Realm could not be done by any black mage without a massive price.

"Hmm..."

Looking at the quest window, Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. In short, it was a garbage quest. The reward was barely getting to see Mosrak's face, and to clear it, he had to pull off a crazy stunt in the capital. Even if Mosrak promised a blessing, how could anyone trust the word of a Demon Duke? It was as vague and untrustworthy as saying, "Let's grab lunch sometime."

However, there was only one reason Tae-hyun didn't reject it outright. If he didn't catch Mosrak this time, he didn't know when another opportunity would arise.

'Mosrak will keep ordering me to do this and that, and I can't just keep skating by like I did with Freid...'

As the saying goes, a long tail eventually gets stepped on. He couldn't keep deceiving him forever like he did with Freid. If he got caught, it would backfire spectacularly. Since he had already pocketed the rewards, the best course of action was to defeat Mosrak as well and bury this entire affair in the dark.

'But how do I summon him?'

Even for Tae-hyun, a solution didn't immediately spring to mind. Seeing Tae-hyun in deep thought, Dervene trembled in fear. His opponent was the Avatar of Archisus. There was no telling what he would do if he got angry. Furthermore, the incident where Tae-hyun set fire to the forest under the pretext of hunting Freid had absolutely terrified Dervene. When he checked, the forest really had been burned to ashes!

"Y-Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"I... have brought a gift for Your Majesty."

"?"

"??"

Tae-hyun didn't quite understand, but since he was being offered a gift, he nodded. There was no harm in accepting it.

"Here it is. Please do not take my master's proposal too harshly..."

'Lee Se-yeon would love this.'

Not just Lee Se-yeon, but any player who dabbled in black magic would go absolutely crazy for this item! He knew that outstanding artistic items could grant permanent bonuses and stat buffs just by looking at them, but he hadn't expected it to be this potent. A quest to find the demon worshippers popped up as well, but Tae-hyun ignored it for now. He didn't have the time to deal with that right now.

"How is it? Is it not beautiful?"

"Beautiful indeed! As expected of the great Lord Mosrak!"

Tae-hyun replied half-heartedly while thinking to himself: 'I can melt this down, right?'

Regardless of its value as a majestic work of art, the important thing was that it was made of Orichalcum. Looking at its size, if he cut it up well, he could easily get at least one arrow out of it!

"Dervene. Since I've received such a wonderful gift, how could I possibly refuse?"

"?"

"I shall prepare the ritual."

"?!?!?!?"

"R-Really?"

"Of course!"

"Hmm... if I cut here, and cut there... will it work? Or not?"

Tae-hyun was currently sizing up the statue. Since it was such an expensive and masterpiece item, it felt like a waste to just melt it all down, so he was scheming to somehow cut it up piece by piece to craft an arrow!

Pelmas and Ed-an, who had been summoned, shook their heads in disbelief. To think he was trying to destroy such a masterpiece.

"I'm not trying to destroy it, I'm just saying I'll cut off a little bit to use."

"No, Your Majesty, do you not understand the value of art...!"

"Are you two really members of the Archisus Church? Why are you treasuring a piece of demon-worshiping art so much?"

At Tae-hyun's words, Pelmas and Ed-an immediately shut their mouths. 'You're the one who accepted support from a demon, you hypocrite...!'

"Good. Let's cut from here to here."

Tae-hyun drew a line from the shoulder to the flank of the proudly standing Mosrak statue. If he cut this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part off, it seemed like it would yield a decent amount.

"It's a bit lacking. I should cut off this horn too."

"Hmm. Your Majesty, then how about cutting off this wing as well?"

"Still seems a bit short."

"Let's cut off the ankles too."

Before they knew it, the two of them had joined in on Tae-hyun's estimation, excitedly adding their own suggestions!

"All done."

The statue was now vastly different from its original purpose!

Of course, Tae-hyun didn't care about that and began cutting. Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom! Tae-hyun swung the Ancient Hammer without hesitation!

"Fortune Conversion!"

Killing two birds with one stone! Tae-hyun swung his hammer in high spirits. He got to make his arrow and raise his Blacksmithing skill. What a wonderful outcome.

Creak—

"Your Majesty. No matter how much I think about it, I have done nothing, so to continue resting like this is..."

The door opened, and Yohas walked in. Upon seeing him, the eyes of the other three widened in shock.

"?!!"

"!!!"

'Pelmas, you bastard...! I told you to make sure he rests! What are you doing!'

'N-No, I definitely told him to rest...! Aren't all angels just crazy? Why do they want to work even when you let them rest??'

The absolute worst-case scenario: the three of them surrounding a demon statue right in front of an angel! It was obvious what Yohas would think upon seeing this.

"Y-Your Majesty...!"

"Yohas! This is not what you th—"

"I am deeply moved...! To think you would personally destroy a demon's statue...!"

"...Y-Yes, indeed."