Into the Belly of the Beast
"Alright!"
He was going to walk right into the dragon's belly.
Anyone else would have called it madness, but Tae-hyun had made his calculations. With the divine authorities he had yet to use and those whose cooldowns were rapidly resetting, he was confident he could survive whatever happened inside the beast's stomach.
Carbanog is trying to stop you. It suggests trying to pierce the weakness it pointed out instead.
'No. The enemy isn't an idiot, so that won't work. He's been defending that spot perfectly since the beginning.'
An ordinary player would have fixated on the most vulnerable weakness once they found it. But Tae-hyun gave up on it without a second thought. A weakness was only a weakness if you could actually deal damage to it!
- Yong-yong!
- Master!
Yong-yong, who had been flying above and attacking, shot down like an arrow at Tae-hyun's call. Tae-hyun quickly mounted the dragon and shouted.
- Forward!
- Huh? Master, Hakkaras might bite us. Why of all places are we going near his head?
- Trust me!
- Understood!
Yong-yong trusted Tae-hyun. He wasn't a Gold Dragon for nothing. Whoosh!
- ...!
Hakkaras immediately cast a wary gaze. For any monster, the head was a critical weakness. Naturally, he had to be on guard.
- Curse of Vulnerability, Curse of Time Dilation, Curse of Irremovability...
In an instant, dozens of spells began to wrap around his neck. A powerful magical barrier was already protecting it, but with this thick layering of magic, approaching it became utterly impossible.
- Master! It's impossible!
- It's not the neck! Go higher!
- ?!
Tae-hyun stood eye-to-eye with Hakkaras. Seeing Tae-hyun arrive right in front of his mouth instead of his neck, Hakkaras was slightly taken aback.
- I'll feed you my Breath—
- Master?!
Leap!
Tae-hyun kicked off Yong-yong and leaped into the air. Hakkaras, who had been focusing all his defense on his neck, was horrified by Tae-hyun's movement. Where is this bastard landing?
- Black Dragon Breath! Fwoooooosh!
• You have taken a direct hit from Black Dragon Breath!
• Evasion successful!
• Evasion successful!
• Evasion...
• The toxicity of the Breath causes your equipment's durability to drop rapidly!
• Due to your Luck stat, your equipment's durability will not drop below a certain threshold!
• ...
The moment Tae-hyun landed on Hakkaras's tongue, the Breath surged from deep within the dragon's throat. Tae-hyun gritted his teeth and drove his Dae-man-bul-gang-geom deep into the roof of Hakkaras's mouth. Thud!
• Critical Hit!
• Hakkaras thrashes in agony!!
• Spell casting has been canceled!
• Spell casting has been canc...
He activated his magic. The moment he entered the mouth, the magic adjusted to the situation, revealing a new path. 'There!'
Tae-hyun activated the Blade Detonation of his Dae-man-bul-gang-geom. Once again, Hakkaras thrashed wildly, and Tae-hyun seized the opportunity to dive through the fading Breath and leap straight down the dragon's throat.
'I knew the throat was the way!'
He hadn't even defeated the beast yet—he was merely in the middle of a fierce struggle—and yet he had already leveled up. This gave him a clear estimate of just how monstrous a dragon truly was.
- Archisus! Archisusssss!
Hakkaras shrieked. He was experiencing firsthand why dragons warned each other never to associate with Archisus! Who would have thought a human would dive straight into his mouth and enter his body! Now, the battle had entered its next phase.
Although the dragon raid was so spectacular that it drew everyone's attention, an equally fierce battle was unfolding on the plains behind them.
The Guild Alliance versus the Orc Great Offensive!
Under normal circumstances, this was a massive event that would dominate the community's video feeds for weeks.
"I'm stepping up! Out of the way!"
"Waaaaah!"
Thanks to Tae-hyun casting Archisus's Blessing before leaving, the Orcs had closed the distance to the defensive lines in an instant, initiating a chaotic melee. No matter how low their levels were, constant attacks would eventually accumulate damage. As players began to fall and log out one by one, the rankers finally stepped forward.
- Ancient Martial Arts Fist!
- Raging Wave of Ice!
- Chain of Flashing Light!
...!
The rankers were indeed formidable. The moment they stepped up and unleashed their skills, dozens of Orcs were blown away, clearing out the space. At this rate, all their efforts to close in and block the ranged attacks would go to waste!
"Let's go! We have to stop those bastards!"
The ahjussis charged forward with brave shouts. They might be outmatched in mechanical control, but they certainly weren't outmatched in gear!
"What the hell are these... Die!"
The ranker, Lin Yao, saw the three ahjussis rushing toward him and immediately unleashed his martial arts skill. A flurry of brilliant fist shadows swept in from all directions! Yet, the Orc ahjussis endured. Such was the power of gear heavily laden with all kinds of premium options!
"Just buy time! Don't overdo it!"
"I know! Whoa! Look at how vicious this kid is! Hey, you punk! Do you even have parents?!"
"I have a kid your age at home, you little brat!"
"..."
Lin Yao felt his mind go blank. What is wrong with these people?
"It worked!!"
- Chweeeek!
"!!!"
While the rankers were tied down by the ahjussis, one of the foremost defensive formations collapsed. Thanks to the concentrated assault of the giants and Sadiq's demonic beasts, the fortification was completely obliterated, and Orcs poured through the breach like a broken dam. The guild members and NPCs inside were instantly surrounded. Despite putting up a decent fight, most of them failed to escape and were forced to log out!
"Ugh!"
"Kh!"
"Are we... really getting old?!"
However, the price of breaking that single formation was high. The ahjussis who had been buying time against the rankers began to fall one by one. No matter how good their gear was, they couldn't overcome the gap in level and skill! Honestly, just holding them off for this long was an incredible feat.
"Just die, you old men!"
Lin Yao shouted as he charged. At that exact moment, Cain yelled.
- Slave's Chain!
"Ugh?!"
Lin Yao was dragged straight toward him. He stared at Cain in utter shock.
"You... you bastard!"
"Cain!"
"Cain! Cain! Cain! Cain!"
The members of the Choigang Jizon Mussang Guild erupted into cheers at the sight of Cain. We have a ranker on our side too! Hearing their shouts, Cain felt a surge of emotion. 'Sniff...!'
This was a world apart from when he was guarding the Archisus Artillery earlier.
- Is there even any point in guarding this? Hakkaras's summons are slicing everything up before the demons can even get close...
- But if we go out there, we'll die.
- Exactly. Let's just grab some popcorn... I mean, let's just keep watch.
- ...I'm going to help them!
Cain shouted, feeling a sudden surge of passion. He felt it would be much better to join the battle raging behind them.
- But Senior ordered us to guard this spot, didn't he?
- Do you think I'm the kind of guy who just does whatever Kim Tae-hyun tells him to do?!
- Yes.
- Obviously.
- Is that even a question?
- ...Well, of course I do whatever Kim Tae-hyun tells me to do, but I still have free will!
Cain spoke with absolute resolve.
- Which is why I whispered to Kim Tae-hyun and got his permission.
- ...
- ...
- ...
- Alright, I'm off!
- Is that guy actually useful?
Yu Ji-soo asked, sounding doubtful. Lee Da-bi and Jeong Su-hyeok quickly defended him.
- Well, when he actually does his job...
- That's true.
"Cain! Cain! Cain! Cain!"
Cain arrogantly raised his hand, basking in the cheers. So this is why people want to be famous! He felt a deep sense of pride with every cheer. But that feeling didn't last long. Vicious shouts began to erupt from all directions.
"Whoever brings me that bastard's head gets a territory!"
"There's a territory on Cain's head! Kill him!"
"?!?!"
Cain was horrified. I mean, I get why they'd put a bounty on Kim Tae-hyun, but why me too?!
Cain didn't fully realize how he was perceived by the public. Kim Tae-hyun's right-hand man! That symbolic title alone was more than enough to make the Guild Alliance grind their teeth. If taking down Kim Tae-hyun was impossible, they would at least kill Cain to save face!
"Get him! It's a free territory!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Are you insane?!"
Cain shrieked as he scrambled backward. Completely ignoring the Orcs swarming around them, a dedicated Cain-hunting party was instantly organized and charged at him. Cain wasn't like Tae-hyun; he couldn't just sweep away everyone who approached him, nor could he effortlessly shrug off their attacks!
"Protect Cain!"
"Chweek! Protect the warrior Cain!"
"Cain! Brilliant! They've broken their own formation!"
The ahjussis marveled. Look at that! Cain, who seemed relatively easy to handle compared to Tae-hyun, had lured countless guild members out of their defensive lines just to chase him down.
"You idiots! Why are so many of you rushing out?!"
"Get back here!"
But their warnings fell on deaf ears. The guild members, blinded by greed, couldn't hear a thing. We can definitely take down Cain!
"Incredible. To break their formation by offering himself as bait!"
"Ugh... that bastard Cain! To use such a cunning tactic!"
Both sides looked at Cain with awe. It was the same on the live streams. The players broadcasting the battle shouted in excitement.
Seizing the opening, the Orcs began charging toward the second and third defensive lines.
- Flare Shot! Descent of the Sun! Boom! Crash! Ba-ba-boom!
Driven into a corner, the guild members unleashed wide-area skills, prepared to accept friendly fire. The memory of the first defensive line falling after they let the Orcs run wild was still vivid in their minds!
"Are you crazy?! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Stop using wide-area skills! You idiots!"
The rankers shouted in panic. Even if the Orcs closed in, they could have cleared them out themselves. Blasting wide-area skills like this was nothing short of self-destruction!
- Chweeeek!
- Chwek! Chwek!
The Orcs charged with even greater frenzy. They filled the trenches with their own bodies and unleashed a relentless barrage of arrows. Though they were crude, stray arrows, a volley of hundreds of them at once posed a terrifying threat.
Thud! "We're breached!!"
"Hold them! I'm on my way!"
With things escalating to this point, even the selfish rankers began to move in earnest. They realized that if they let this slide, disaster would strike. The rankers rushed in, putting out the immediate fires by sweeping away the Orcs left and right! As the Orcs who had climbed the hill and pushed relentlessly were cut down, breathing room was established once more. Consequently, spells and arrows rained down again, ruthlessly wiping out the Orcs.
Kim Tae-san and the ahjussis ground their teeth at the rankers who were ruining their almost-perfect victory, but they had no way to counter them. 'Just a little more... just a little more...!'
Skreeeech!
...!
At that moment, a massive commotion erupted from the rear of the Guild Alliance.
"Chese-do!"
Kim Tae-san slapped his knee. The Lich Chese-do, who had joined forces with Kim Tae-san! Having bided his time in hiding, Chese-do was finally making his move.