But Smith Didn't Give Up

But Smith didn't give up. Hadn't every difficult quest so far been exactly like this? NPCs who doubted and mistrusted you at every turn. Persuading them bit by bit, taking on their dirty work, earning better quests, and building rapport... Wasn't that the true essence of tackling quests in a new region!

"That human bastard is bad luck."

"True."

The Goblins badmouthed Smith, seemingly having already forgotten the gold they had just received.

"But he does seem to have a lot of gold..."

"I have plenty of gold, everyone!" Smith shouted, thinking this was his golden opportunity.

If Tae-hyun had been standing next to him, he would have clicked his tongue and scolded, "Tsk, tsk! You don't do it like that!"

Revealing your hand in a negotiation was a dangerous move—especially when dealing with greedy creatures like Goblins.

"We have no interest in the affairs of the outside world."

"But if gold is involved, we might sing a different tune."

"...?"

Smith didn't understand right away. What are they talking about?

Frustrated by his denseness, the Goblins spelled it out for him.

"It means we'll act as mercenaries if you pay us gold."

"Ah...! How much do you want?"

"How much were you looking to spend?"

"..."

"Archisus! Archisus!"

"In this land of boiling lava~ Archisus has established His domain~"

"Avatar, would you like to try some of this? It's hot and good for you."

The name of the beverage was enough to make anyone ask, "Isn't that just Abnormal Cooking?" But Tae-hyun accepted it anyway. Hey, free stuff is free stuff!

"Yep, definitely Abnormal Cooking!"

Watching from the side, Lee Se-yeon spoke with a look of utter disbelief.

"I feel this every time I see you, but you really get close to NPCs incredibly fast, don't you?"

"What? What are you talking about? We're not even that close."

"Archisus! Archisus!"

"Fellow slave! Your voice is too quiet!"

"Ar... Archisus! Archisus!"

Cain had been forced to strip off his armor and was now chanting Archisus's name with his arms slung over the shoulders of the tribe members. To anyone watching, they looked like the best of friends.

"It's not like you have the kind of personality that naturally attracts people..."

"Are you picking a fight with me? I have plenty of friends, you know."

"Name six of them. Within one second. Go."

"Choi Sang-yun, Cain, Jeong Su-hyeok, Lee Da-bi, Yu Ji-soo... Pel, Pelmas."

"That last one sounds like an NPC's name."

Lee Se-yeon shot him a suspicious look.

"It's a foreign player's name."

"I highly doubt it... Besides, friends you've only met in-game don't count. You have to have met them in real life too."

"What? Are you looking down on online friends? I should tell the public. 'Lee Se-yeon disregards relationships made through gaming.'"

"That won't work on me. Six people. Within one second."

"Choi Sang-yun, Cain, Jeong Su-hyeok, Lee Da-bi, Yu Ji-soo, and... uh, Lee Se-yeon."

He had no choice if he wanted to say it within a second. Tae-hyun threw Lee Se-yeon's name into the mix. They had met in real life, after all!

"...Do you have no conscience?"

Lee Se-yeon was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dumbfounded, but she didn't press the matter further.

"Unni, your face is turning red right n—"

"Hyeon-ah, be quiet. We're in the middle of a conversation."

Squeeze! A hand dug into her shoulder.

"U-Unni. That hurts."

"Oh!"

"...Why do you look so happy?"

Seeing Tae-hyun's delight, Lee Se-yeon felt a sudden wave of unease. He's not going to use whatever recipe he gets here on me, is he?

Regardless of her worries, Tae-hyun stared ahead with a face full of anticipation. The Red Scorpion Tribe had yielded some pretty decent rewards, so what would this demon-worshiping Dwarf tribe have to offer?

"Maybe a demon-controlling dog collar... No, there might be something even better."

To ordinary players, demons were boss monsters to be avoided at all costs. But to Tae-hyun, demons were a reliable and precious source of income. A kind-hearted race that practically handed over their entire life savings every time they met!

"Ah. Is this tribe loyal to the Emperor?"

"No. They're neutral."

"Tsk. Not very helpful then."

"I can hear you, you know."

"I said it so you could hear me. In that case, let's send a warning and fight. The Adamantium Golem will take the vanguard."

"Kuo?"

This was news to him! The Adamantium Golem stared at Tae-hyun as if asking why he was making such decisions on his own.

"You're the sturdiest one here. You have to protect everyone."

"And if you go in and get beaten up, some more adamantium might chip off."

"Kuooo..."

The Adamantium Golem nodded reluctantly, as if he had no choice.

Tae-hyun shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Listen up, Dwarves! The Avatar of Archisus has arrived!"

"The Avatar of Archisus, who is more terrible and wicked than any demon, has arrived!"

The Akisus Tribe chimed in from the side!

"...I don't think you guys really need to help me with this."

"Nonsense! We will assist you!"

It was a rather questionable form of assistance, but Tae-hyun pressed on.

"I don't care whether you worship demons or not!"

"Because if you keep worshiping them, we'll shove you all into the lava!"

"No, I didn't say that... Ah, whatever. Fighting is fine too. Anyway, believe in Archisus! Or it's war!"

Originally, it was supposed to be a generous offer along the lines of "Keep worshiping whatever you want, just add Archisus to the list," but somehow it had morphed into a harsh ultimatum.

"Well, if we fight and win, I can squeeze more out of them anyway."

Whoosh—

"?"

Boom!

A blazing sphere of demonic magic flew through the air and slammed directly into the Adamantium Golem's chest.

"Kuooo!"

"That's Demonic Magic!"

Lee Se-yeon immediately recognized the nature of the magic skill.

"It's an incredibly powerful spell cast by borrowing demonic mana. Usually, only high-ranking demons can cast it, but to think we'd see it here."

"Oh. So those Dwarves know how to wield it, huh?"

Lee Se-yeon and Tae-hyun casually observed the situation in a friendly manner. Meanwhile, the golem shrieked in pain.

"Kuo! Kuoo!!"

Bang! Bang, bang!

From a distance so far they couldn't even see them, the Dwarves fired demonic magic shells indiscriminately.

The party remained completely unharmed. The golem standing in front of them was so massive that it blocked every single attack.

"Hang in there, Golem!"

"See? If you had believed in Archisus sooner, all those shells would have missed you!"

The Akisus Tribe Warriors offered back-seat commentary from behind the golem.

"Kuooooo!"

Unable to bear it any longer, the golem wrapped its arms around its head and began to retreat.

Tae-hyun shouted, "Wait, already? Why don't you hold out just a little longer?"

"Kuo!"

"Let's stop playing around and move in."

Lee Se-yeon didn't charge straight ahead. Instead, she summoned elite assassin undead and sent them to infiltrate from the flanks.

That wasn't all. To draw attention in the front, she summoned undead mages and shamans to cast various magic barriers and smoke screens.

The incoming demonic magic shells were deflected or veered off course.

It was a tactic only possible for Lee Se-yeon, who could command an countless variety of undead summons!

"Unni, you're amazing!"

"I am pretty amazing, aren't I?"

Lee Se-yeon nodded at Kim Hyeon-ah's admiration.

Disrupting the enemy from the flanks, rear, and above with various specialized undead summons, while slowly pressing forward from the front.

It was the textbook method for sieging the Dwarves' fortress built on the high ground ahead!

"Kim Tae-hyun. What do you think? Even you can't find any flaws in this strategy, right?"

"Huh?"

Tae-hyun was busy picking up pieces of adamantium that had fallen to the ground.

"Hey!"

"Ah. Sorry. Amazing, truly amazing."

"Unni! That guy wasn't even looking properly!"

"No, I saw it. You... summoned undead, right?"

"Of course a Necromancer would summon undead! Stop half-assing your answers!"

Just then, a roar erupted from the side.

"Archisus!!"

"Charge!"

"..."

The Akisus Tribe Warriors suddenly leaped out of cover and began charging straight ahead.

"Are they insane?"

Tae-hyun was dumbfounded. The enemy tribe had built a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fortress on high ground and was raining down magic shells from above...

Even Cain was caught in the middle of the charge. Of course, Cain wasn't running forward because he wanted to. It was because they were holding onto him from the front, back, and both sides so he couldn't escape!

"Lord Archisus protects us!"

"Sigh. Right. There's no way anyone who believes in Archisus is sane."

No matter how high their levels were, charging head-on into that barrage with their bare bodies was a one-way ticket to the graveyard.

Tae-hyun sighed and followed them in.

"Archisus's Blessing!"

Whoosh—

A powerful buff skill that temporarily shared Tae-hyun's absurdly high Luck stat!

"See! Lord Archisus protects us!"

"No, He doesn't."

"Shoot all you want! Haha! No matter how many times you shoot, you'll keep missing!"

"I said, He doesn't."

Tae-hyun muttered unenthusiastically from behind.

Regardless, thanks to the buff, they managed to reach the Dwarf tribe's doorstep.

"Ah! Avatar! You were protecting us!"

"Sure."

"From now on, we shall charge even more boldly..."

"...More importantly, how do you plan to get up there? Are you going to crawl up?"

"Throw him!"

"...?"

Two tribal warriors grabbed another warrior and hurled him upward.

Once the thrown warrior landed, he used Slave's Chain to pull the rest of the warriors up.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

"To think such a method existed!"

Tae-hyun watched in admiration as the tribal warriors scaled the height in the blink of an eye.

Indeed, there was a reason they had managed to survive in this harsh place for so long!

"Wait, now is not the time to be admiring them."

Tae-hyun realized this was his chance. Since Lee Se-yeon was still far behind, this was the perfect opportunity to grab as many items as possible before she arrived!

"We're moving in right now! I'll take the lead, so trust me and follow!"

"Waaaaah!"

"We have to loot as much as we can before Lee Se-yeon gets here!"

"I can hear everything!"

A whisper from Lee Se-yeon arrived.

Bolstered by various buffs and led directly by Tae-hyun, the Akisus Tribe was unstoppable.

The Dwarves fled in a panic before promptly surrendering.

"Will you believe in Archisus or not?!"

"We... we will believe."

"While you're at it, swear loyalty to the Emperor too."

"We... we will."

The Dwarves muttered among themselves, casting wary glances before asking,

"But we worship demons... Believing in Archisus is a bit..."

"Just worship both. What's the big deal?" Tae-hyun replied coolly.

A dual-faith status officially approved by the Avatar of Archisus himself!

"More importantly, how do you guys manage your demons? Teach me your ways."

"...?!"

The Dwarves were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠horrified. This guy claims to be the Avatar of Archisus, so why is he looking for demons?!

Looking at Tae-hyun as if he were a complete madman, the Dwarves guided him.

"H-Here... We imprison the demon here and extract its power."

"...!"

It looked like an ordinary prison, but inside, a massive demon was locked up, growling fiercely.

"Come to think of it, I think the Archdemon Esla was trapped in a similar device before."

Of course, the device that had imprisoned Esla was far larger and much more complex than this one.

"Grrr. Human. Free me. If you release me, I shall grant power to a lowly creature like you."

"Oh...!"

Tae-hyun nodded in admiration.

Normally, it would have been impossible, but thanks to possessing the Crafting skill, he was able to acquire the recipe just by looking at it.

"Grrr. Human. Can you not hear me?"

"Dwarves. Can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I take this with me? Can I carry it around and use it just like this? Are there any precautions, like not using it for more than a certain number of hours a day?"

Complete and utter disregard!