Die, Guild Alliance!

Cain had grown leaps and bounds while traveling with Tae-hyun. One major area of growth was his decisiveness! In Cain's eyes, Tae-hyun never hesitated. Even in situations where Cain would worry, "Ah, is this okay? Can I handle the aftermath?", Tae-hyun would just throw the first punch. The aftermath could be dealt with later! What mattered was striking first! Watching Tae-hyun's playstyle, Cain had a sudden epiphany.

Ah. Striking first is the absolute best!

With this realization, Cain lost all hesitation.

"Argh! Why?!"

Usually, attacking players who engage in a lot of PvP doesn't increase Infamy or carry penalties. Cain assumed anyone from the Guild Alliance would naturally be one of those notorious PKers! Seeing the system message, Cain was flustered... not.

"A meticulous Guild Alliance bastard who carefully managed his Infamy!"

"..."

Tae-hyun stared at Cain as if he were a madman. Has he been under a lot of stress lately?

Thud! Bam! Crack!

Hab and his friends were annoying and liked to mock others, but they weren't professional PvP players. Professional PvP required its own level of skill. There was no way they could defeat a practical, battle-hardened PvP player like Cain, who had been forged in the fires of Tae-hyun's training.

"Where does this bastard think he is!"

"Stomp him! Stomp him!"

Hab and his friends charged in anger, but Cain handled them all with his shield. Unshakable strength, even in a one-versus-four!

"Argh! That shield is too hard!"

"Flank him and strike... cough!"

They thought it was just a shield, but it hurt like hell!

Plus, continuous fire damage!

"Neherek Swordsmanship! Rapid Strike!"

"Shadow Stab!"

Hab and his friends tried to use skills to break Cain down. But Cain didn't budge. Solid as a rock!

Heh!

Cain was showing the textbook definition of an offensive tank. He blocked half-hearted attacks and skills with his shield or shrugged them off with his heavy armor, enduring it all. Meanwhile, he chipped away at their HP and inflicted status ailments with skills like Sadiq's Flame. When the anxious attackers left an opening, he counterattacked with his weapon! His skills weren't as flashy or diverse as a dedicated damage dealer's, but his damage output wasn't far behind.

"Slave's Chain!"

Clink-clank!

"Argh?!"

A spearman player who was catching his breath after a thrust was dragged straight forward.

"Die, Guild Alliance scum!"

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Cain joyfully beat the living daylights out of the dragged spearman. The rest of Tae-hyun's party watched the fight while eating popcorn.

"Wow, he's gotten a lot better."

"Well, traveling with you will do that..."

"But are they really from the Guild Alliance?"

"I don't know. But the fight's already started, so what can we do? They picked a fight first anyway. Might as well kill them."

Tae-hyun shrugged it off coolly. He didn't know if they were actually Guild Alliance members, but people who picked fights just because someone was hunting in a public zone were never up to any good. Since a fight was inevitable, there was nothing wrong with striking first.

"H-Hey... you guys. Aren't you going to help?"

"Why? He's doing perfectly fine on his own."

The middle-aged men who suddenly saw Cain beating up Hab and his friends were flustered and tried to stop them... not.

This is so exciting!

Watching a fight was always fun, but watching people you disliked get beaten up was the absolute best!

"Go for it! Go!"

"Young man! Watch your left, an attack is coming!"

Cain was a man who always starved for the cheers of fans. Suddenly receiving cheers from fans he met on a mountain warmed his heart.

"Graaaaooooh!"

"I-Is this guy insane?!"

Hab struggled under the sheer momentum of Cain, who charged like a wild beast while letting out a bizarre roar.

"This is so cheap...! Old men, what are you even doing...!"

"What? I can't hear you!"

One by one, Hab's friends collapsed. Hab grit his teeth. To lose so absurdly! He had walked around with his shoulders held high in Pan-On, but the world was wide, and there were many hidden masters. Still, to think one would pop out so suddenly here.

"Ah. Wait. Hold on. Don't kill him yet."

"Huh? Why?"

Cain paused, his sword raised to strike Hab.

Hab let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, at least one of them is sane!

"What do you mean why?! You're asking the obvious! Attacking people out of nowhere..."

"Now that I think about it, we might need some bait."

"..."

That guy is even worse!

However, the old men were impressed.

"Indeed, having someone act as bait makes things much easier."

"That young man knows his stuff. A very clever lad."

"..."

Chairman Yoo blinked. Their faces were different, but that characteristic Gold Dragon and that gear...?

Why are you guys here?!

Ah, Elder. How did you climb up this mountain?

...It's a long story. More importantly, don't act like you know me.

Chairman Yoo was worried he would lose his newly made friends. The moment they realized he was the Chairman of the Yuseong Group, they might alienate him!

I had no intention of acting like I knew you. Actually, I saw you when we landed, but I was just pretending not to notice.

...

Chairman Yoo felt his blood pressure rising for the first time in a while. Whenever he met Tae-hyun, his youthful blood boiled with rage. But Tae-hyun had been pretending not to know him out of consideration.

I pretended not to know because I thought you'd feel awkward about Yuseong Gaming coming in second place...

...W-What's wrong with second place? I am perfectly satisfied with runner-up.

Well, if you say so.

...

Grit!

Chairman Yoo ground his teeth inwardly. I will invest several times more into Yuseong Gaming! I'll recruit players, coaches, analysts, whatever it takes, and I will defeat you!

Even though the tournament was over, the public's reaction was far from dying down. Replays, analysis broadcasts, articles—countless responses flooded the internet! However, not all articles were positive.

One sharp article pointed out that while Korean teams taking first and second place was a commendable achievement, a closer look at the results revealed a shocking truth. Excluding the top two, the performance of other Korean teams was abysmal. It argued that Team KL was an exceptionally unconventional and unprecedented team that maintained its independence all the way to the championship, which was an anomaly.

The article also noted that Yuseong Gaming's performance made sense due to the overwhelming support and top-tier facilities provided by the Yuseong Group. Many reporters wondered why the conglomerate was investing so heavily in a gaming team, with some even spreading wild rumors that a high-ranking director was hopelessly addicted to Pan-On.

Finally, the article criticized traditional powerhouses like ST Five and KG Wizard for performing embarrassingly poorly, and LK Lions for bringing shame with their cheating scandal. It warned that if domestic teams remained idle, foreign teams backed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠massive capital would soon strip Korea of its title as the birthplace of Esports. This sharp critique sparked a massive debate in the comment section.

Dennis and Walker were quite famous rankers. If they went to mid-sized teams, they'd be starting players instantly! To bring players like that in as subs... what kind of terms did they offer them?!

In the Arena League, being able to flexibly swap out various players was a massive strategic advantage. Against Team A, you play players who counter Team A. Against Team B, you play players who counter Team B. Of course, that was only in theory; very few teams actually had enough top-tier players to pull that off. How could anyone afford that?

But right now, Yuseong Gaming was steadily walking down that very path.

"Let me go! How can you do this?!"

Hab struggled and screamed, but Tae-hyun's group skillfully forced him to lead the way. Hab had only ever picked fights in the safe zones of the Erangs Kingdom. That was why he didn't know. He simply hadn't met his match yet! In Pan-On, there were players who, if you picked a fight verbally, would ignore any penalties and smash your head in with a weapon.

Splat, slather—

"Argh! What is this sticky stuff?!"

"What are you putting on him?"

"Ah. Bait that Wyverns will love."

Tae-hyun slathered the Abnormal Cooking he had made onto Hab. Flying around on Yong-yong and pulling them in one by one wasn't a bad method, but it was bound to take some time. If they were confident in their skills, wouldn't it be better to lure as many Wyverns as possible in this area and hunt them all at once?