A Flash of a Grim Future

A grim future flashed through his mind in an instant.

And the media headlines that would inevitably follow!

No!

President Yu would definitely storm in, grab him by the collar, and scream, "You bastard! What the hell are we paying you for?! If my father is acting like this, you should have stopped him!"

"Chairman! Noise marketing is absolutely out of the question!"

"Hmm? What are you talking about?"

"No matter how well clickbait works, sharing family history, leaking internal company matters, or giving away ridiculously expensive prizes is...!"

Hearing this, Chairman Yu's face contorted. What does this punk take me for?

"...What I meant was that I would appear and share life lessons with the youth. You see people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett giving lectures and offering various pieces of wisdom, don't you?"

"Ah..."

"...What did you just say?"

"It's nothing, Chairman."

Secretary Jeong desperately tried to avoid Chairman Yu's gaze. If our eyes meet, I'm dead!

Chairman Yu clicked his tongue and let it slide.

"Forget it. Anyway, if you understand what I'm saying, just get it ready."

"Yes, sir!"

Secretary Jeong replied instantly. But then, he began to worry.

But... I don't think it'll be very popular...

Because of his slip of the tongue, the atmosphere hadn't been right to refuse, so he had agreed. But thinking about it now, it didn't seem like it would gain much traction.

With so many people putting out all kinds of sensational broadcasts, who would watch an elderly gentleman like Chairman Yu drone on with boring lectures like, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"Now, what is life, you ask? That is why fishing is so wonderful..."

I'll have to use an extraordinary measure.

The next day, a message was sent out to all employees.

"?"

"There are way too many people here."

"They're all trying to find a ship to go to the Asbian Empire, right?"

The port of the Atali Kingdom was overflowing with players. Seeing this, Tae-hyun's companions glanced at him warily as they spoke.

"Th-this is just a temporary fad. It'll die down soon."

"Exactly. The Central Continent is still the best. What's so great about the Asbian Empire anyway? It's just hot, dry, and full of sand."

"Even though the number of dungeons is astronomical, there are tons of buried items, and the resources are massive..."

"...I think it would be better if you two just stayed quiet."

Lee Da-bi stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. How can anyone be so terrible at comforting someone?

"Tae-hyun, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Of course, I'll probably want to attack Lee Se-yeon the moment I see her, but I'm fine. Hmm. By the way, Da-bi. What's the best way to bring down an empire? Should I release a plague? Wait, they're skeletons, so would that even work?"

"..."

"..."

No matter how she looked at it, he was completely intent on raining on Lee Se-yeon's parade! Flustered, Lee Da-bi tried to stop him.

"Tae-hyun, we already have our hands full dealing with the Guild Alliance. We agreed to avoid making any more enemies if possible."

Indeed, just a few days ago, Tae-hyun and Lee Da-bi had been planning their future in a highly rational manner.

—Da-bi, let's start seriously discussing our plans for the future.

—Pardon? Yes??? Yes?????? Wh-what did you just say...

—Huh? We need to devise a strategy to deal with the Guild Alliance. Cain and Su-hyeok are too dense to be of any help.

—Ah... Yes...

The conclusion they had reached was to focus on the Guild Alliance and surround them by expanding their coalition as much as possible. This included guilds from the Erangs Kingdom, the Dungland Kingdom, and the Salz Kingdom, players from the Uruk Region, and even those currently active on the Prica Continent. Since the Guild Alliance was so powerful and massive, they naturally had many enemies. The plan was to exploit that weakness.

—Just like you did in Pan-On 1, Tae-hyun.

—There's no need to use me as the standard...

—Just like you did in Pan-On 1!

—Are you angry by any chance?

—I'm not angry.

In any case, Lee Se-yeon was a top-tier ranker who hadn't aligned with the Guild Alliance, making her the number one candidate for an alliance. Besides, her class was a Necromancer! A class perfectly optimized for large-scale warfare!

Of course, logic was one thing, and personal feelings were another. Tae-hyun's emotions flatly rejected his own logic.

"Whew... Right. I must endure."

"That's not a bomb in your hand, is it?"

"I should put this away for now. More importantly, let's find a ship."

"We'll have to line up. There are so many ships... It might be difficult to secure one right now."

Jeong Su-hyeok spoke with concern. The port was currently packed to the brim with players trying to get a ship. The destination was so popular that some people were even trying to follow along in rowboats.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Pardon?"

Tae-hyun immediately bypassed the crowd and headed toward the military port. Royal privilege! He was heading to the harbor where the kingdom's navy was stationed.

"Ah...!"

"Your Majesty!"

"?"

As soon as Tae-hyun entered the military port, an NPC suddenly rushed out. It was Admiral Brangsong of the Atali Kingdom's 3rd Fleet! Even now, while the frontier nobles looked at Tae-hyun like a cow staring at a chicken, Brangsong, who revered Tae-hyun as a hero and offered him absolute loyalty, was truly a wonderful man.

"Upon hearing the news of Your Majesty's arrival, I, Brangsong, have rushed here with all my might! I shall personally escort Your Majesty!"

"Uh... what?"

Tae-hyun was flustered. Because...

I was planning to take the pirates' ships...

The faction that had integrated into Tae-hyun's territory! Since they were former pirates, they sailed fast, agile ships and were absolute masters of navigating the open seas. Furthermore, their greatest advantage was that they could simply lower the kingdom's flag, hoist the Jolly Roger, and cause absolute chaos without any political repercussions.

But if he did that with the Royal Navy?

...It was bound to end up like this!

"Brangsong. How could I burden you with such trivial matters when you are so busy guarding the kingdom's seas? I shall take another vessel."

"Absolutely not, Your Majesty! Who else but us could possibly escort Your Majesty?! Please, tell me. Who is it?!"

"Uh... well, um..."

Tae-hyun was left speechless and hesitated. Admiral Brangsong's eyes blazed with an intense fire of responsibility and duty! If Tae-hyun said he was going to board a pirate ship, the admiral looked ready to commit suicide on the spot.

"..."

"W-well, at least the Royal Navy has great combat power!"

"That's true..."

Tae-hyun smacked his lips. Now that they were already on board, what could he do? Besides, it was almost ridiculous to complain, considering how incredible the Royal Navy's warships actually were. It was virtually impossible for ordinary players to obtain a vessel like this.

"Whoa... is that a kingdom warship?"

"Look at the size of it. That's insane."

"Ah! Tae-hyun! Please let us on board too!"

Players who spotted Tae-hyun began to gather like clouds. Their eyes sparkled with anticipation! Not only was the ship amazing, but they were also filled with the hope of doing a quest alongside Tae-hyun.

"If it's Kim Tae-hyun, he'll definitely pick only the massive quests in the Asbian Empire, right?"

"What do you think he'll do? Reclaiming imperial territory? Suppressing a rebellion? Recovering the Emperor's relics?"

"Hey, would Kim Tae-hyun really do something so obvious? He always defies expectations! He probably knows way more than we do."

"True. Lee Se-yeon was the one who resurrected the empire, and since Kim Tae-hyun is dating her, there's no way he doesn't know."

The player was saying things that would get him grabbed by the collar if Tae-hyun heard, and buried alive upside down if Lee Se-yeon heard! Fortunately, neither of them was listening.

"Huh? Wasn't the rumor about them dating debunked?"

"Come on, celebrities always deny it when they get caught. Looking at the articles, they definitely seem to be dating."

"Yeah. I saw them too, and they looked incredibly close. I heard that the reason Tae-hyun rejected Lee Se-yeon's offer to recruit him back in Pan-On 1 was actually because of a lovers' quarrel."

"What?! Really?!"

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun was scanning the players gathered below from the deck.

"The way they're looking at me is kind of creeping me out."

"Hey, even so, you shouldn't say that about fans who gathered just because they like you!"

Cain scolded Tae-hyun sharply. No matter what, this was crossing the line!

"No... it's a genuinely unpleasant look. It's like they're cursing me out based on some completely false information."

"You're probably just in a bad mood because of Lee Se-yeon."

"Are you saying I'm getting shaken up over Lee Se-yeon?"

"Ah, no. That's not what I meant... Ahem. Anyway, there's plenty of room on the ship, so you're going to let the players on, right?"

"Absolutely not, Your Majesty! For your safety, only Your Majesty should board this vessel. Who knows if there are disloyal elements among them?"

Brangsong spoke resolutely. Tae-hyun covered his face with a sorrowful expression and spoke.

"But Brangsong. If I, their king, do not look after my people, who will?"

"Y-Your Majesty. Even so..."

"Seeing them trying to cross the sea in those tiny rowboats breaks my heart. *Sob!*"

"Your Majesty! I fear that wicked people will take advantage of your kind and generous heart! A hero must sometimes be cold and calculating...!"

"..."

"..."

The rest of the party stared at Brangsong with dead eyes. When on earth is this guy going to wake up from his delusion?

"I believe in you! If anything happens, I know you will protect me."

"I, Brangsong, shall follow Your Majesty to the very end!"

Persuasion complete. Tae-hyun immediately walked to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠railing and spoke.

"Are there any players here affiliated with the Atali Kingdom?"

About half of them raised their hands. Seeing that the other half belonged to other kingdoms yet had still come here, the Asbian Empire was indeed incredibly popular.

"Great. Out of those, who here belongs to the Archisus Church?"

About half of the players who had raised their hands lowered them. Tae-hyun nodded in satisfaction.

"All of you, get on board!"

"W-we'll change our kingdom affiliation too!"

"We'll join the Archisus Church as well!"

"You should have done that beforehand."

"There's plenty of space left anyway, isn't there?"

Jeong Su-hyeok was puzzled. The Royal Navy possessed several massive warships. Even if they took on more of the players crowded at the port, it wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Those guys have to pay."

"..."

"Ah, right. Deploy the Power Warrior guild members. Tell them to charge the Guild Alliance and Auston Kingdom players a premium."

The defining characteristic of the Guild Alliance members was that they loved to brag about their affiliation! From their guild crests onward, they made themselves incredibly easy to spot.

"Won't they protest?"

"What are they going to do if they protest? Tell them to go back to the Auston Kingdom."

Tae-hyun coolly dismissed the concern. They were going to hate him no matter what he did anyway! If someone was going to hate him for no reason, Tae-hyun was the type of person who would gladly give them a reason.

"Tell the Power Warrior kids that if they sniff out a Guild Alliance member and charge them an exorbitant boarding fee, they get to keep half of it as a commission."

"They're going to be absolutely thrilled."

Lee Da-bi said with a smile. Tae-hyun's prediction hit the bullseye. The moment the order was issued, the Power Warrior guild members loitering around the port instantly perked up.

"There's a Guild Alliance bastard over there!"

"Shh. Don't make it obvious. We have to find them quietly."

Starting with the easiest targets—the ones openly wearing their guild crests...

"Don't they look Chinese?"

"They look Japanese to me."

"...They're literally Korean. Are you even Korean? How can you not tell?"

"Ugh!"

"Alright, watch and learn. You have to strike up a conversation naturally. Oh, are you perhaps a Chinese player? We're Chinese players too!"

They were even using leading questions! The veteran Power Warrior guild members led the rookies. The rookies looked at the veterans in awe. For some reason, their seniors' backs looked exceptionally reliable today.