Chilling Words and Endless Traps
An awkward silence hung in the air. This was a gathering of rankers who had all returned after losing one or two of their party members!
"Ahem."
"Hmph!"
No one could bring themselves to speak first, resulting in a chorus of dry coughs.
"It's... McPhil's fault."
"...?"
"It's because McPhil didn't tell us. He was jealous of us."
"...That actually makes sense."
The embarrassed rankers brightened up. As expected, shifting the blame to someone who wasn't present was always the best option!
"Exactly. McPhil is a real piece of work."
"He has absolutely no manners."
"There's a reason I've disliked McPhil for a long time."
In an instant, the atmosphere became warm and friendly as they bonded over badmouthing him! At the same time, they secretly worried. I hope today's pathetic display doesn't leak out... If it did, it would be the ultimate humiliation! Fortunately, because they had been wiped out so quickly, very few people had witnessed it. As long as they kept their party members quiet, no footage of this area would spread.
"Lee Da-bi. What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm editing a video to submit to the forums. What kind of sound effect would be best for these people running away in the background?"
"Wouldn't this one be better?"
"No, I think this one is..."
They were fully focused on how to make it as hilarious as possible!
Completely unaware that the guild leader of Power Warrior was stationed on the defensive watchtower, the rankers pondered their next move.
"What do we do?"
"Looking at Bektel City right now, it seems like everyone from the Duke to the knights is outside. If we want to attack, we have to do it quickly."
"Are you blind? We tried to rush, and look what happened."
"Can't we just deal with those siege weapons? Let's sneak in and destroy them."
One of the rankers blurted it out without much thought, but it actually sounded surprisingly plausible.
"That makes sense."
"How many players could possibly be in there anyway? And there's no way they'll detect us sneaking in."
"Besides, all the high-level NPCs are currently wandering around outside..."
The more they talked about it, the better the plan seemed!
The rankers began sizing each other up again.
"Ahem. As a Thief class, I should..."
"You? A Thief?!"
"I was a Thief in Pan-On 1!"
"Wait, are you that guy who got robbed first by Kim Tae-hyun in Pan-On 1...?"
"That was Do Dong-su, you crazy bastard!"
"Ah, sorry. All Asians look the same to me."
"What did you just say, you jerk? Do you want to die?"
The rankers growled at each other once more! The only difference this time was that there were no executives around to mediate. In the end, they reached a single conclusion:
Let's all go our separate ways!
These people had learned absolutely nothing from the afternoon's disaster!
Even though it was night, the fortress walls and watchtowers surrounding Bektel City were as bright as day. They had illuminated the area with obsessive intensity.
"Uh, I don't think this is ordinary fire."
"That is Sadik's Flame."
"!?"
Cain gasped in horror as he looked at the blazing fire in the center of the fortress. What on earth had this guy turned on?!
"Why would you use that?!"
"Because if we coat our arrows in it, the damage will multiply. Besides, high-level guys usually look down on flaming arrows because they have high fire resistance."
"But are they really coming?"
"I told you, the afternoon attack was definitely a trap."
"But so far..."
"Intruder! Intruder!"
"!"
A Tyrum Ranger spotted an intruder and began firing arrows.
"They actually came?!"
"What did I tell you?"
"I can't believe it really was a trap... These guys are starting to resemble you—no, I mean, they're getting really good."
"Didn't you just say something weird?"
While Tae-hyun and Cain bickered and ran, the rankers and their party members lurking near the fortress turned pale.
Who got caught?
The security around the fortress was tighter than expected, but they hadn't earned their ranker titles for nothing. They had been stealthily approaching through the shadows, so how...?!
The culprits were the swordsman Hashida and the mage Jeinen.
Hey, you're a mage. Why are you sneaking in?
Mages have stealth skills too. Why are you sneaking in as a swordsman? You must have fewer stealth-type skills than me.
I... I have a lot of Thief-related skills...
Liar. I'm going first.
Jeinen snorted and scaled the fortress wall first. Layered in various invisibility, presence-concealment, and detection-disruption spells, Jeinen displayed stealth capabilities that truly rivaled a Thief's. Growing anxious, Hashida hurried to overtake her...
Stealth has been broken!
Tyrum Ranger Jacob has detected you!
"!!!"
"Intruder! Intruder!"
...And that was how it happened.
"You bastards! So the afternoon attack really was a decoy! How underhanded!"
Cain covered his face and lunged forward. Hashida nimbly rolled backward to dodge the attack, then prepared to counter. Hashida, who possessed the Epic class Flash Swordsman, was a speed-oriented swordsman. For a relatively slow tank like Cain to face him...
"Slave's Iron..."
"!?"
Hashida flinched in terror just hearing "Slave's Iron." He aborted his charge and quickly threw himself backward.
Wait, I'm supposed to hide my identity, aren't I?
"...?"
When no skill flew his way, Hashida was bewildered. Come to think of it, isn't that a unique skill only used by that Chimera guy, Cain? There's no way this guy here can use it.
"Did this bastard trick me?"
"...That's right! I tricked you!"
No sooner had those words left his mouth than the surrounding Elves and Tyrum Rangers unleashed a barrage of arrows. Hashida panicked and began to sprint. With his low defense and low HP, getting hit by such an onslaught would be incredibly dangerous.
"Ah, that guy is seriously fast!"
"I'll hit him."
Yu Ji-soo raised her bow and aimed at the target. She was determined to hit him and earn Tae-hyun's praise!
Whoosh!
"!"
Sensing something was off, Hashida immediately activated a skill.
Flash Consecutive Slash!
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
The incoming arrows were deflected by the skill. Seeing this, Yu Ji-soo shouted in frustration,
"Hey! Just get hit already!"
"?!"
Hashida had somehow ended up drawing all the attention to himself. Thanks to that, the other rankers were able to scale the fortress walls and enter relatively easily...
A trap has been activated.
Thud!
The moment they crossed the wall, the ground beneath them suddenly gave way! The player couldn't even react before plunging straight down into a pit.
"What the..."
The only saving grace was that the damage was negligible. At least it's just an empty pit. I'll climb right back out—
A trap has been activated.
"...W-Wait, wait, wa—!"
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
"Aaaargh!"
A trap has been—
"Hold on! This is seriously unfair! Aaaargh!"
Meanwhile, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths in the Valley of Despair and Sorrow were buzzing with excitement. A new building called the Demon Alchemy Lab had suddenly appeared.
The blacksmiths, who took great pride in their Mechanical Engineering and revered the demon Saruon as their master, were bewildered by the new building and asked:
"Master Saruon, what is that?"
"That building belongs to a pathetic, useless demon who barely managed to beg and plead with the Avatar of Archisus to get it. It's a worthless place, so pay it no mind."
Saruon, who served under Esla, had no reason to like Freid, who had served under Mosrak.
Why did that eyesore of a demon come here?
If it weren't for Tae-hyun, Saruon would have gone over to pick a fight immediately! Of course, Freid felt exactly the same way.
Do you think I'm here because I want to be?!
Despite Saruon's dismissive words, the progressive and ever-diligent mechanical engineering blacksmiths weren't about to sit idle.
"Alchemy is a decent skill. Though it's nothing compared to engineering."
"True. Alchemy is trivial compared to engineering, but it's still useful. It can produce poisons or special materials for our bombs."
"Should we go in and tell him to make some materials for us?"
"That's a brilliant idea!"
Excited, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths barged into Freid's Demon Alchemy Lab and shouted:
"Hey, demon alchemist! You don't have to be sad anymore. We will graciously put the materials from your skill to noble use. Make us some Corrosive Acid and Combustion Powder right now! When we build our next bomb, we'll give you the honor of detonating it with us!"
"...????"
Freid couldn't believe his ears. He had lived as a demon for a very long time, but this was the first time a mere human had dared to insult him to his face like this.
"I'll slaughter every single one of—?!"
Just then, a priest of the Archisus Church walked in!
"Is there a problem here?"
"We just came to pick up some materials."
"Ah, I see."
The priest, completely unfazed by the presence of a demon, was one thing, but Freid was utterly terrified. A priest of the Archisus Church!
The blacksmiths tilted their heads and asked, "What were you about to say just now?"
"N-nothing..."
"Hurry up and hand over the alchemy items."
"Yeah. Master Saruon said you find joy in serving under others like this."
"..."
Only now did Freid realize where these humans, whose audacity had clearly outgrown their bodies, had come from. They were the humans under Saruon! Saruon must have deceived them to screw with him.
I'll kill him!
That bastard had sneered at him when he first arrived, and now he dared to pick a fight so blatantly?!
Of course, Saruon hadn't sent them for that purpose. Saruon wasn't crazy enough to instigate a fight right under Tae-hyun's nose. He had simply gossiped a bit with the blacksmiths, and they had taken every word to heart!
Freid contemplated storming into Saruon's Demon Forge to pour all kinds of toxic alchemical solutions over everything, but he hesitated.
Priests and paladins of the Archisus Church were patrolling the area once again!
Why are there so many Archisus Church bastards in this territory?! Is that why...?!
He had wondered why the territory's name was so ominous, but now he finally understood!
Since The Valley was the headquarters of the Archisus Church, priests and paladins handled the public security. Of course, this was also a tear-inducing cost-cutting measure to hire fewer territory soldiers. A method of saving money that only Tae-hyun, who practically owned the church, could pull off!
Kill... No, that's out of the question.
Freid felt his anger suddenly under control. Looking at the symbols and buildings of the Archisus Church, his rage instantly subsided!
I'll get my revenge in a different way!
Freid closed and opened his eyes. He might be reduced to this state now, but he was still a demon. Toying with a few humans using his silver tongue was child's play.
"Are you lot... by any chance, interested in gourmet food?"
"What kind of nonsense is that? Just give us the alchemy items. We need to make bombs quickly."
"For food, hard black bread is enough. We should spend that time making another bomb."
"You can't even detonate food."
What a bunch of crazy savages!
Freid was horrified. Where on earth did all these lunatics gather?
Ah. This is Archisus's territory.
Thinking about it that way, it made sense why they were all out of their minds.
Freid spoke patiently, "Gourmet food is..."
"Ah! Forget it and just make the items! We're busy!"
"Wait, is he talking about Abnormal Cooking? Does he want to eat some because he's craving it?"
"Sigh, how greedy. Just wait here. I'll go grab some."
One of the blacksmiths went outside to fetch the food. Freid didn't know what the blacksmith was going to get, but he felt an inexplicable sense of dread. Abnormal Cooking? What kind of name is that?
"I understand perfectly well that you are savages who know nothing of fine dining. My mistake. Let me tell you something else. Do you know anything about alchemy?"
"Alchemy? It's a decent skill."
Freid brightened up. At least these savages had some basic grasp of concepts!
"Though it's trivial compared to engineering."
Clench!
Freid clenched his fists tightly. Would he really be able to hold back his anger against these savages?