The Art of the Eat-and-Run
"Tae-hyun, sir! Just three days! No, just give me one day of exclusive access to pray at the World Tree, and I'll advertise you..."
"Ugh. Kick that guy out. Should I just put up a 'No Solicitors' sign?" Tae-hyun grumbled.
Pashang was just the beginning. All sorts of people were flocking to him, pushing their way forward while begging, "Please, let me use the World Tree first! Let me have it exclusively!" It was incredibly annoying. Their baseless confidence was just a bonus.
Besides, what would Tae-hyun gain from them promoting him? He was already too famous as it was. Assassins and all kinds of weirdos were already flocking to him...
However, it wasn't just players with baseless confidence who came. Some actually used their brains and brought reasonable proposals.
"I'll wait in line, but if you block others from broadcasting, I'll compensate you handsomely!"
"I have a mercenary group under my guild. If you let me go first, I'll give you this mercenary group!"
As more and more gathered, the players started to catch on. These bastards are trying to broadcast this!
With competitors gathering, the negotiations grew even more fierce.
"I'll give you this Golden Chest!"
"Pfft! I've filled this sack to the brim with rubies!"
"Tae-hyun, sir! I've been a fan since Pan-On 1!"
"You bastard! Get out of the way!"
Eventually, players started grabbing each other by the collar and fighting. It was the epitome of an ugly brawl.
"Idiots. You have to use your brain."
One player thought of a clever trick. To a rigid and upright player like Tae-hyun, asking for a favor that ignored the others in line would only backfire! He had to win him over with a subtle approach.
Swoosh.
"Lord Incarnation. Someone left this behind."
"??"
The Akisus Tribe warriors brought a bundle that someone had left near the temple. Inside, it was stuffed with gold.
"Did someone lose this?"
"What kind of idiot would lose something like this...?" Tae-hyun said to Cain, looking pathetic.
"Maybe it's a bribe?"
"Perfect. Here, Lee Da-bi." Tae-hyun immediately handed it over to Lee Da-bi.
Whoosh!
The curse surrounding Lee Da-bi visibly weakened.
Seeing this, Cain asked, "What? Why only her? What about me?" He had been cleaned out of his entire fortune too!
"You really have a talent for bringing criticism upon yourself. Lee Da-bi spent her entire fortune to raid Hakkaras. She even went into a negative balance."
Lee Da-bi blushed in embarrassment.
Jeong Su-hyeok and Yu Ji-soo looked at Lee Da-bi with admiration and emotion.
"That's amazing, Ms. Da-bi."
"So amazing...!"
"Compared to her, Cain is..." Jeong Su-hyeok stared blankly at Cain. Didn't Cain leave during the Hakkaras raid to fight the Guild Alliance because he had nothing to do?
"I... I had permission to go!"
"Sure. Let's go with that."
"Right, whatever you say."
The aura of contempt in Jeong Su-hyeok and Yu Ji-soo's voices was palpable!
"But senior, is it okay to just use a bribe like this?"
"The guy who left it is the idiot."
"Lord Incarnation. There's a letter here too."
"Throw it away." Tae-hyun coolly ignored it.
"Why is that guy smiling so unpleasantly?"
"Is he up to something? Wait, did he get permission from Kim Tae-hyun?"
"No way. Who is Kim Tae-hyun to give permission so easily..."
The streamers gathered near the temple eyed each other warily. Since some of them were quite famous, they recognized each other's faces.
I don't care about anything else, but I absolutely cannot forgive you getting ahead of me!
It was an egoism that would have made the Power Warrior Guild marvel!
Anyway, with everyone gathered like this, rumors spread fast.
"Hey, my friend saw that guy sneak up to the temple last night and leave a bribe."
"What...?!"
The players were shocked. How dare he do something so wicked!
I can't lose!
Me too...!
From then on, the number of people sneaking in and out of the temple at night began to increase.
"Lord Incarnation. They keep leaving things like this."
"What on earth are they thinking?" Even Tae-hyun was starting to get flustered!
Just in case, he read the letters, but they only contained vague messages like, "I am so-and-so. I love you, Tae-hyun. Please remember me."
It was impossible to tell what they actually wanted!
In any case, the one who benefited the most from this bribery war was Lee Da-bi.
Tae-hyun, who felt very guilty about Lee Da-bi getting hit with the negative balance curse, handed every single coin of the accumulating gold over to her.
"Um... Tae-hyun, really, it's fine. The curse is already lifted!"
"No. You'll need a lot more gold to use your skills in the future. Take more."
• You have acquired a large amount of gold in a short period!
• You receive the Blessing of Gold.
• The cooldown of related skills is reduced.
Due to her class characteristics where she became stronger with more gold and weaker with less, Lee Da-bi did need to secure a lot of gold. It was just that she tried her best not to spend it!
From Lee Da-bi's perspective, consuming gold just to use a skill once was an absolute waste.
She repeatedly refused, but Tae-hyun kept pouring gold on her until the very end.
As a result...
"A-A halo?!"
"......"
A brilliant light began to shine from behind Lee Da-bi.
"I'm fine, so please give some to Cain too..." Lee Da-bi spoke up. She was bothered by Cain staring at her with the most envious eyes in the world.
It was a desperate look that would haunt someone's dreams!
"Nah, Cain's class doesn't really care about gold. Right?"
"No! I need gold too!"
"I make all your gear and give you all your consumables, so what do you need gold for...?"
"......"
He had no words!
Even though he said that, Tae-hyun decided to take care of him anyway.
"Tell me your initial investment."
"Huh?"
"I'll cover you exactly up to your initial investment."
"......"
Cain, who had been hoping for a bonus, slumped his shoulders.
The temple construction was completed rapidly.
"Whoaaa!"
"World Tree! World Tree! World Tree!"
An odd phenomenon where people chanted the name of the World Tree even though they had just finished building a temple!
The people who participated in the construction had all heard the rumors.
That the World Tree was a new slot mach... no, a new place of prayer!
"Alright! Alright! Line up!"
"Those who participated in the construction get to pray first!"
The church NPCs from the territory controlled the players.
At this, the people who had offered bribes looked around in confusion for Tae-hyun.
"Uh... huh? Why isn't he saying anything?"
"Where is Kim Tae-hyun?"
"Tae-hyun left here a while ago...?"
"......"
"......"
In an instant, a single word flashed through their minds.
Eat-and-run!
"N-No way. Surely Kim Tae-hyun didn't just eat and run..."
"Right. Kim Tae-hyun isn't that kind of person... Wait, now that I think about it, didn't he do exactly that in Pan-On 1...?"
"Who was the idiot who suggested giving bribes?! If you're going to give them, you should have gotten a promise first!"
"Yeah! Exactly!"
Crash! Clang!
An ugly second round of brawling began.
"...What are those people doing?"
"It looks like they're fighting over the order to pray at the World Tree."
"Geez. As if that matters..."
The high-level parties who arrived late at the temple looked at the brawling players with pathetic expressions.
If the people here heard them, they would have exploded in rage, but the most important thing about the World Tree wasn't some petty prayer.
That was only important to greedy, jackpot-obsessed opportunists!
The truly important thing was the ability to travel to the Demon Realm or the Heavenly Realm.
"So that World Tree can really take us to the Demon Realm?"
"Yes. It's clear if you watch the videos. But..."
"...?"
"They say you have to believe in Akisus..."
"......"
"......"
The players' faces instantly crumpled.
Do you know how many contribution points we've accumulated for other religions up until now?!
"We will enter Hakkaras's Lair and plunder it as quickly as possible."
— Just hearing that makes me so excited!
— ......
— ......
Heuk-heuk was the most delighted of the group!
— Can I take the lead and ransack it?
"As expected of Heuk-heuk. So passionate. I like it!"
— That's just who I am!
Heuk-heuk fluttered his wings in excitement.
"Why don't you just declare the lair yours after we clear it?"
— C-Can I really do that?!
"Why not? Hakkaras is dead anyway."
Heuk-heuk was so deeply moved by Tae-hyun's words that he couldn't even speak.
His own lair!
For a dragon, owning a lair carried immense significance.
After all, buying one's own home is everyone's dream.
Furthermore, securing a home for a dragon was exceptionally difficult.
First, the environment had to suit that specific dragon, and the surrounding terrain had to be just right.
It couldn't be small, either. For a dragon, dignity was everything.
If a dragon crawled into a tiny cave and called it a lair, they wouldn't even be able to show their face in dragon society.
And it had to be easy to defend. Dragons had many enemies.
There were plenty of fearless fools who would try to hunt a dragon just to see if they could.
Consequently, there were very few places on the Central Continent suitable for a dragon's lair.
And such places were usually already occupied by old dragons!
The older a dragon got, the stronger they became, and a young dragon like Heuk-heuk had almost zero chance of winning a fight against such an ancient dragon.
It was the difference between heaven and earth!
There was a reason why Hakkaras had acted so arrogant when he met Heuk-heuk last time.
— I will dedicate my absolute loyalty to you!
"Sure, sure."
Since it wasn't his land anyway, Tae-hyun generously bestowed his kindness upon Heuk-heuk. Do whatever you want!
• Carbanog is worried.
• The Black Dragon's lair is surrounded by a swamp filled with poison and traps. No matter how strong you are, it is not an easy place to breach.
'It's fine. We won't die.'
Even as Tae-hyun said it, he felt a slight chill. Usually, the guys who said things like that were the first to go, right?
While waiting for the construction of the Archisus Temple, Tae-hyun figured that not many people would head to the lair.
Common sense dictated that!
It hadn't been long since Hakkaras died, and there was almost no information about the lair.
Even Tae-hyun, who was a top-tier ranker, was heading there with caution. There shouldn't be many parties reckless enough to throw themselves into a place they knew nothing about.
Pan-On was by no means an easy game.
If you didn't know your place and barged in recklessly, you would be wiped out without mercy.
People can't possibly be that fearless and stupid, right?
But Tae-hyun was overlooking one thing.
Because Tae-hyun had successfully raided Hakkaras, the players' fear had drastically decreased!
It had shifted from "Dragons are monsters that can never be killed" to "Wait, we can actually kill dragons?"
Thanks to that, people who wouldn't normally have even dared to utter the word "lair" began to use their heads.
— Huh? Right now, everyone else probably isn't even thinking about the lair. If we go now, won't we hit the jackpot?
People all thought alike!
As a result, dozens of parties ended up crossing paths in the Black Gravestone Mountain Range in the northeastern part of the Auston Kingdom.
"Y-You bastard! I thought I was the only one who came here!"
"Y-You came too?!"
From parties they had seen around to parties they were seeing for the first time.
Encountering each other on the narrow mountain paths, the players wore expressions that were half-embarrassed and half-wary.
I thought I was the first one here...
Damn it. Everyone thinks the same.
How do I shake these bastards off?
A thought that completely failed to grasp the reality of the situation!
They should have been worrying about the lair itself, but they seemed to think the lair was already conquered and were only focused on how to shake off their competitors.
Fortunately, however, not everyone was like that.
"For now, how about we cooperate?"