The Dragon's Hidden Treasure

It wasn't just a chestplate. It was a full set complete with a helmet, greaves, a belt, gauntlets, and more! What was even more astonishing was that despite its incredible stats, it had no level requirement. In Pan-On, level requirements were notoriously strict, meaning any item without one could easily fetch several times its normal market value.

But since this requires a dragon's permission... it might actually be harder to use. It didn't matter to Tae-hyun, who dragged a black dragon around like a pet, but it was a different story for everyone else. It was a restriction far more brutal than a simple level cap!

"I can wear this, right?!"

"Sure. Just give me back the armor I made for you last time."

In truth, the gear Cain was currently wearing was already top-tier. It even contained a tiny trace of Adamantium!

"Uh... wait. You're not mad, are you?"

"What are you talking about? I need you to give it back so I can melt it down, extract the metal, and reuse it."

Tae-hyun stared at Cain as if he were speaking gibberish. Any other metal would be one thing, but Adamantium was a precious resource that had to be conserved, shared, and recycled. Looking utterly devastated, Cain reluctantly stripped off his armor and handed it over.

"I'll stick with my current armor," Lee Da-bi said.

"Alright."

There was no need for Lee Da-bi to change her gear. Not only was there nothing in the pile that suited her, but her current equipment—crafted by Tae-hyun using Akisus's Artifact Crafting—boasted incredibly powerful effects.

"I... I'd like to keep wearing the one you made for me too," Yu Ji-soo offered timidly.

"No. You're changing."

Tae-hyun looked at Yu Ji-soo as if she were talking nonsense. There was clearly much better gear sitting right here!

"But I'm really fine with this...!"

"What are you talking about? Swap it out."

"You went through so much trouble to make it for me, I can't just..."

"..."

Hearing Yu Ji-soo's words, Cain froze. He had already eagerly swapped out all his gear! Dressed head-to-toe in the dragon armor set, he had just been admiring himself, thinking, Damn, I look pretty cool.

"Ahem. Cough. Right, now that I think about it, my old gear was actually more..."

"Hey. Stop being annoying and just quietly enjoy your new stuff."

"Okay..."

"You don't have to be like that idiot and swap instantly with a grin on your face, but there's no reason to reject gear with better stats. Besides, how many times do you think I'm going to craft gear while playing Pan-On? Just change already."

The more Tae-hyun spoke to Yu Ji-soo, the more Cain shrank into himself. Should I have politely declined first before putting it on?!

While the party equipped their new gear from the dragon's lair, Tae-hyun wandered around to see if there was anything else worth taking. As expected, the most convenient tool for times like this was Divine Foresight! It was an incredibly useful skill, whether conquering a dungeon or looting someone else's home.

Why act so surprised now? It was a fair point, but Tae-hyun ignored the rabbit and thoroughly searched the surroundings using Divine Foresight.

Thump, thump.

"...?"

He discovered a hollow section of the floor!

What did they hide down there?

With that thought, Tae-hyun smashed the floor. A chest emerged from beneath the rubble.

"...??"

This felt incredibly suspicious! A dragon of Hakkaras's caliber had actually gone out of his way to write a warning label? What on earth could it be? Was it the world's most lethal poison?

A dragon as petty as Hakkaras was certainly capable of such a cheap trick. Lying about something being dangerous just to protect his treasure was well within his character!

No. If it were a truly important treasure, he would have carried it with him. I bet it really is dangerous...

But what kind of item would be too dangerous to carry around, yet too unsettling to just leave lying out in the open treasure vault?

Is it a bomb?

Hey, I literally can't think of anything else besides a bomb.

With that thought, Tae-hyun opened the chest. Carbanog recoiled in horror, but Tae-hyun paid the rabbit no mind. If it were truly dangerous, Divine Foresight would have flashed red. Since it hadn't, opening the chest was highly likely to be safe.

Click.

"..."

Tae-hyun ignored the warning and pulled the lid wide open.

"???????"

This Authority had appeared completely out of nowhere!

What is this?

Both Tae-hyun and Carbanog were utterly flabbergasted.

"What's going on?" the party asked, startled by the sudden burst of light.

"It's nothing. My class quest just suddenly completed itself."

"??"

"????"

He had no idea why Hakkaras had been holding onto an Authority of Archisus, but...

Wait. Did that lizard really treat an Authority of Archisus like garbage?

No matter how terrible Archisus's reputation was, burying a divine Authority skill deep underground inside a locked chest was just disrespectful.

"..."

Archisus wasn't even trying to hide his true colors anymore! He had harbored suspicions, but now a skill whose damage was determined by the Infamy stat had actually appeared. This was the kind of skill you'd only find in an evil god's cult! Still, the skill itself was excellent. A mobility skill that rapidly closed the distance. Since Tae-hyun wasn't a Rogue or an Assassin, he sorely lacked mobility options, making this skill absolutely essential. Up until now, he had been relying on mobility skills attached to his equipment.

If only it didn't scale with Infamy... Everything about it was great, but it left a bitter aftertaste. He had joked in the past about Archisus being an evil god, but now he was seriously starting to wonder, Is this guy actually an evil god? Honestly, looking back at everything he had done so far...

It's a shame I can't apply the Lucky Strike buff to it, but my Infamy stat alone should make it strong enough. Tae-hyun's burst damage always relied on Lucky Strike as its foundation. However, his Infamy stat was currently astronomically high. Even without any buffs, the skill would deal devastating damage. On top of that, the cooldown reset upon defeating a target was an incredibly powerful option—especially for a player like Tae-hyun, who frequently fought against overwhelming numbers!

The golems' human-wave tactics were relentless! For the first time, the joint alliance party realized just how terrifying golems could be. Golems were normally slow and clumsy monsters. Although they boasted high HP and defense, they weren't particularly difficult to deal with once you knew their patterns. But what if they kept pouring in from the front, back, above, below, and both sides?

The golems flooded in without any regard for game balance or difficulty scaling! Consequently, the joint alliance party barely managed to escape, reduced to a mere handful of survivors.

"Pant, pant..."

Alcott looked half-dead. How on earth could there be so many golems! Looking around, the battle had been so brutal that only one or two players from each party had survived.

"Oh. Kim Tae-san isn't here. Did he die?"

Normally, one shouldn't feel relieved by the death of another party, but Alcott felt an odd sense of peace. Ah. Why am I acting like this?

"Mr. Alcott," a voice called out.

"...?"

Toba, who had barely survived, approached Alcott and spoke. "I think that Kim Tae-san guy is a spy."

"What? A spy? Sent by whom?!"

"Could he have been sent by the Guild Alliance?"

"??"

Alcott stared at Toba as if he were a lunatic. Did this guy not know which guild Alcott belonged to?

"W-why are you looking at me like that?"

"Hey. He's literally part of the Guild Alliance. Why would the Guild Alliance send a spy to spy on him?"

"Ah..."

When Crawford pointed it out, Toba looked incredibly embarrassed.

Yet, Alcott fell into deep thought. Knowing the Guild Alliance, it actually seemed entirely plausible! They've been fighting amongst themselves and suffering from internal power struggles lately... It wouldn't be strange if they suspected me and sent a spy to keep me in check!

Plenty of guild members disliked Alcott. However, Alcott was currently on a meteoric rise. Had he not received a territory after landing the final blow on Sadiq's incarnation? If Alcott successfully looted a dragon's lair on top of that, his position would rise to untouchable heights. Considering that, it was highly possible they were trying to sabotage him.

Those despicable bastards! Alcott's suspicion snowballed. If he really was a spy, it was a truly insidious scheme. And of all things, they named him Kim Tae-san? Was that meant to intimidate Alcott?

"I will never forgive them!"

"Hey. You actually believe that nonsense?"

"Those Guild Alliance bastards are more than capable of it!"

Whisper, whisper.

The remaining members of the joint alliance party began whispering among themselves upon hearing Alcott's outburst. Is the Guild Alliance really that kind of place? Crawford nudged Alcott in the ribs, but Alcott didn't even notice and kept ranting.

"After everything I've done for those bastards..."

"Hey. Forget about that. Think about what we're going to do next."

The group had barely broken through the golem army and taken refuge in a corner of the passage. Should they move forward, or turn back?

"Ugh... I'm pulling out."

Alcott had no choice but to admit defeat. He had underestimated Hakkaras! Even with Hakkaras dead, players simply weren't at a level where they could raid a dragon's lair yet.

How on earth did that bastard Kim Tae-hyun manage to kill Hakkaras? The question only grew more baffling by the second. If the lair was this brutal even without the dragon, how did Kim Tae-hyun do it?

"Alcott! Are you seriously pulling out?"

"We've made it all the way here!"

"Then let's just do whatever we want individually. At this point, the joint alliance party is meaningless anyway."

With fewer than ten people left, the joint alliance party existed in name only.

"Mmm..."

"Ugh..."

The players wore conflicted expressions. While it felt like a waste and a shame to turn back after coming so far, they knew they would surely die if they pushed any deeper. It was a classic dilemma! Crawford drove the final nail in the coffin.

"Look, that's all well and good, but think about the return trip. It's already dangerous enough to get out right now. Imagine how much harder it'll be if we go deeper."

"...!!"

He was right. Now that they thought about it, escaping would be a nightmare! With most of their healers dead, they couldn't even leave safely just because they wanted to.

Alcott cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'll be taking my leave then."

"Alcott. You aren't planning to use Stealth and slip away by yourself, are you?"

Crawford grabbed Alcott's arm. Hearing those words, the other players cast suspicious glances at him.

"No, of course not! I only said that because I thought you guys wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go deeper!"

"I'm heading back, so let's go together."

"We'll go with you too!"

"Yeah, let's stick together."

The remaining players stared at him with intense, burning eyes. We aren't letting you leave alone! At this point, sticking together as a group was their best shot at survival.

Damn it, they're dragging me down with them like water ghosts, Alcott grumbled internally.

Then again, among the survivors, he was the only Rogue or Assassin class. In other words, he was the only one who could slip away undetected using Stealth! No one was going to let him do that. Normally, he might have tried to force his way through, but since these people had survived that golem onslaught, most of them were Rankers or high-tier players.

Thump, thump, thump.

"Heavens, another golem is coming!"

"Are you crazy... they're coming here ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too?"

"It looks like they're calling their allies. We have to attack the moment it appears."

"I'll strike first. Everyone jump in the moment I attack."

Alcott prepared his Stealth skill. Seeing this, the other players called out to him.

"Alcott...!"

"Don't worry. This is something I must do."

Alcott looked remarkably solemn. But the other players weren't moved at all.

"No, that's not it. You're not going to use Stealth to run away, right?"

"..."

"Hey. How can you say that so bluntly?"

"I'm just worried he'll actually ditch us."

"You sons of a..."

While they bickered, the sound of the approaching golem grew even louder. They had missed their chance for a preemptive strike! At this rate, they would have to fight...

"What are you guys doing? You haven't left yet?"

"???"

Sitting atop the approaching golem were Kim Tae-san and his party. And right beside them was a dragon that looked incredibly familiar...

Alcott blinked. Where on earth had he seen that dragon before?