The Trial of Lava

'Was obtaining Akiersus's Cauldron all for a moment like this?'

There was a saying that when God closes a door, He opens a window. In this case, Akisus gives you lava, and then He gives you a cauldron to multiply that lava!

Thud!

Regardless of what the rabbit thought, Tae-hyun installed Akiersus's Cauldron in front of the plaza.

All that suffering to obtain it had truly paid off! The effects of Akiersus's Cauldron were absolutely spectacular. He had already seen massive benefits after restoring the Archysis Temple in the Valley, but Akiersus's Cauldron was on a whole different level!

'Haha. My thoughts exactly.'

Tae-hyun and Carbanog shared a rare moment of warm, harmonious agreement!

Of course, Pelmas was the only one who couldn't bring himself to smile. Because Tae-hyun was currently pouring something highly questionable into the cauldron!

"Y-Your Majesty... What on earth is that?"

That looks exactly like lava... But surely my eyes are playing tricks on me, right?

"It's lava."

"???"

"Hmm. Looks like it's ready."

"?????"

Usually, one would expect at least some other ingredients to be added to the pot, but Tae-hyun simply poured the lava in, gave it a cool, casual stir with a ladle, and called it a day.

"Sniff, sniff. I smell something delicious."

"I'm so jealous of the humans."

Standing outside the castle walls, the giant tribes sniffed the air, catching the scent of the lava. To think the humans were keeping such a rare delicacy all to themselves! How envious!

"If we perform well in battle, surely we will be allowed to eat it too."

"Exactly! Exactly! The Apostle will surely give us a chance to prove ourselves soon."

"...?"

Tae-hyun, who was busy preparing, tilted his head in confusion at the system message. Did something good happen outside the castle gates?

'Well, rising morale is always a good thing.'

"Alright! Step right up! The Ritual of Lava begins now!"

At Tae-hyun's declaration, the players at the front of the line began pushing and shoving to rush forward... Or rather, they didn't. Instead, a wave of anxious murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"What is that?"

"It's literally just... lava in a cauldron..."

"Is he going to pour that over us?"

"Heavens. I should have equipped my fire-resistance gear before coming."

Everyone silently wished for one or two brave souls to go first! Fortunately, with such a massive crowd gathered, there were bound to be a few reckless, courageous individuals.

"I'll go first!"

It's not like it'll actually kill me! The player who stepped forward quickly cast various fire-protection spells on himself and equipped his best fire-resistance gear. With this setup, he felt confident he could survive even if lava was poured directly onto his head!

"Are you ready?"

"Yes!"

"Drink up!"

"Pardon?"

That second "yes" sounded entirely different!

"We don't have all day. Drink!"

"W-Wait, hold on... I think there's been some kind of misunderst—!"

Tae-hyun grabbed the player and shoved the bowl right up to his mouth. With so many people waiting, his only goal was to get through them as quickly as possible.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

The player, who happened to be a huge fan of Tae-hyun, couldn't bring himself to slap his idol's hand away and was forced to chug the lava in one shot. It was hot! It was burning!

"Gwaaaah! Gwaaaaah!"

"????"

"Did my eyes just deceive me?"

"No, I'm pretty sure he just drank actual lava..."

"There's no way..."

The people standing near the front of the line still couldn't accept the reality of what they were witnessing. But reality was cold and unyielding.

"Next person!"

"W-Wait! Hold on! Let me think about this for a second—!"

Even if they wanted to back out, the plaza was packed to the brim. Just standing still meant being pushed forward by the sheer pressure of the crowd!

"Hurry up!"

"Yeah!"

"There are so many people waiting, let's keep things moving!"

Shouts echoed from the back of the crowd, where people still had absolutely no idea what was happening at the front!

"Ah, finally, we're picking up the pace. Here!"

"Urgh!"

"Next!"

"Arghhhhh!"

One shot, one kill. Tae-hyun ruthlessly brought down player after player.

'Oh. I even get bonuses like this.'

'Whew. I've gone and done something completely out of character.'

Doing such a good deed felt so unlike him! Tae-hyun rubbed the bottom of his nose, feeling a bit sheepish.

"Uuugh... Argh..."

"Aaaaargh..."

The collapsed players writhed on the ground, desperately pulling out potions and chugging them down their burning throats.

"How the hell are we supposed to clear this?!"

"I've been playing games my whole life, and I've never seen a ritual like this!"

Even the most veteran players were utterly baffled by this quest! Yet, there was always an outlier. A player with absurdly high fire resistance and HP managed to barely survive the ordeal.

"I did it! I did it...! I actually survived!"

"Gasp! Someone passed!"

"Is it that guy?"

"But why is he drenched in sweat like that?"

The players further back still hadn't fully grasped the situation. They knew a ritual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was taking place, but they had no idea what kind of ritual it actually was!

Flash!

"I...! I finally changed my class to a Heroic Fighter!"

"!!!!!"

"Look at these stats! It's absolutely insane! The skills too!"

"Heavens. Seriously?"

Hearing this, Cain's ears perked up with interest. Meanwhile, Choi Sang-yun and Jeong Su-hyeok looked at him in utter disbelief.

"Hey, with a class like yours, how can you possibly be jealous of that one?"

"Exactly, senior. Your class is incredibly powerful."

"...But the name is so lame..."

Slave versus Heroic Fighter. No matter how one looked at it, the latter sounded infinitely superior!

"I am! A Heroic Fighter!!"

"Waaaaah!"

"Me too...! I'm going to drink it too!"

It felt as if one could hear the collective snap of everyone's sanity. It didn't matter that dozens of charred bodies were writhing on the ground behind them. The players charged forward without hesitation.

Three hours later.

The number of players who successfully survived the ritual and transitioned to a Heroic Fighter was a grand total of six. Six out of thousands!

"Is that everyone? Looks like we're done. What a relief. I was worried we'd run out of lava."

"......"

Tae-hyun was thoroughly satisfied. He had raked in a massive amount of experience points and various skill bonuses!

"I'll host this again when the opportunity arises, so I hope many of you will visit again!"

"......"

"Y-Yes..." the collapsed players groaned, twitching on the ground. If the ritual were to open again, would they even dare to participate?

"Kim Tae-hyun has returned to the Capital!!!"

"N-No! There's no way! It's a false rumor! It must be a clone!"

"It could be a disguise!"

Collective panic ensued! The executives and rankers desperately tried to deny reality. However, their denial was short-lived. Tae-hyun, standing in the plaza and handing out lava! His presence was far too natural to be dismissed as a fake or a clone.

"W-What do we do?"

"Let's retreat right now! We've already gathered so much!"

The members of the Guild Alliance pointed to the carts they were dragging behind them. They were piled high with statues ripped from the town squares and bulky treasures.

Initially, they had tried to stuff everything into their inventories. However, they quickly hit their limits. Between the weight capacity and the movement speed reduction penalties, the Guild Alliance ultimately gave up on using their bags. Instead, they mobilized every single mount they could find to transport the looted goods back to their own territories. Even so, the sheer volume of loot was so immense that they had barely made a dent in moving it all.

In any raid, the hardest part was always transporting the plundered goods back safely! In the end, the Guild Alliance's looting parties were reduced to manually pulling carriages and carts like this. After all, it was easier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to take it all back in one trip.

"Everyone, stay calm!"

'He's the one panicking the most...'

'Seriously. Aren't his hands shaking right now?'

"Kim Tae-hyun is only one man! No matter how monstrously strong he is, he can't stop all of us!"

"Well... that's true..."

"And even if Kim Tae-hyun's subordinates are strong, they aren't that terrifying!"

"Cain is a bit scary, though."

"True. He's been on fire lately."

"He'll literally self-destruct at the drop of a hat."

Thanks to the dungeon raid competition, Cain had acquired a rather bizarre reputation! At Su Ning's words, the guild members regained their composure. Indeed, aside from Kim Tae-hyun, the rest of his crew weren't all that terrifying. Especially since they had so many rankers on their side!

One of the guild members raised his hand.

"Um... Guild Master."

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is it?"

"But if Kim Tae-hyun is alone, doesn't that mean at least one of our groups is going to get absolutely obliterated...?"

"......"

"Oh, wait, that's true."

"It's not like he's just going to sit still..."

The guild members began to whisper among themselves.

"So what? If Kim Tae-hyun shows up, we can either launch a coordinated attack or just avoid him. We're the ones screwing him over! He'll have to just stand by and watch as we strip this place bare!"

"No, that's not what I mean. No matter how things play out... at least one team is bound to be attacked."

Whichever team ended up acting as the decoy was guaranteed to be utterly pulverized by an enraged Tae-hyun. And they would be broken far more brutally than usual!

"But... if Kim Tae-hyun is going to target someone, isn't he guaranteed to target our group since the Guild Master is here?"

"......"

"......"

A sudden silence fell over the area. Everyone had just realized the truth. *Wait, really??* They had blindly assumed that being in the Guild Master's group with the most rankers made them the safest looting team... But when Kim Tae-hyun was factored into the equation, they were actually in the absolute most dangerous spot. If Kim Tae-hyun were to strike, this would be his very first target!

"N-No. We have plenty of rankers here, so..."

Su Ning stammered slightly. When organizing the looting parties, he had placed the highest concentration of rankers in his own group. He had thought that alone would guarantee their safety, but upon second thought, Kim Tae-hyun was not the type of guy to care about such things. Tae-hyun wouldn't target the weakest opponent; he would target the one carrying the most loot!

"G-Guild Master. My stomach is acting up... Would it be alright if I transferred to the team over at the Bologne Territory?"

"Guild Master. I heard the Assef team is short on tanks. I'd like to go and dedicate myself to helping them!"

"Shut up! No one is leaving this party! Anyone who tries to leave will be hunted down and executed by guild order!"

Su Ning roared in anger. If he let his guard down, everyone except him and a few core rankers would probably vanish in the blink of an eye.

"Um... Su Ning."

"?"

In the midst of the chaos, one of the rankers tapped Su Ning on the shoulder and whispered.

"What? Did something happen?"

"I just got word that my grandfather is in critical condition..."

"......"

Su Ning realized his assumption had been entirely wrong. If he let them go, literally everyone except himself would disappear under some ridiculous pretext!

"We fight Kim Tae-hyun! Don't worry. The moment Kim Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shows up, I'll summon every single one of our rankers to attack him! Let's see if he can survive against dozens of rankers at once!!"

Originally, his plan had been to throw a decoy at Kim Tae-hyun and make a swift retreat, but the plan had completely changed. He couldn't do that if he was the decoy! If Tae-hyun so much as showed his face, Su Ning intended to call in all their rankers and crush him.

"Have your Count come here to swear his oath of fealty, pay all his back taxes, and double his tax rate for the next three years. Also, if anything happens, he is to mobilize his order of knights and rush to our aid... What else was there?"

"Let's have them construct an Archysis Temple with their own funds and then force them to pay regular donations."

"That is an excellent idea, Pelmas."

Tae-hyun and Pelmas were currently putting on a passionate performance as a corrupt king and his treacherous minister.

"......"

"......"

Having waited endlessly, the noble envoys—who had only been granted an audience after the Ritual of Lava finally concluded—looked as if they were chewing on rotting garbage.

'That treacherous bastard...!'

As the saying went, the sister-in-law who pretends to mediate is always more detestable than the mother-in-law who actually does the beating. The envoys glared at Pelmas with eyes burning with pure hatred. At least Kim Tae-hyun was a hero; Pelmas was just some nobody who had lucked his way into a high position and was now whispering poison into the ruler's ear.

'I'm going to assassinate that bastard!'

'We must send an assassin...!'

'Ah. Their gazes of deep respect are truly burning with passion.'

Pelmas was completely drunk on his own self-importance. Look at me, a loyal minister offering righteous counsel to his King! This kingdom might not even function without me!

'Has Pelmas completely lost his sense of fear?'

Tae-hyun watched him with genuine curiosity. In the past, the priest would tremble at the slightest breeze, but now he didn't even flinch under the murderous glares of the noble envoys.

'Maybe he really has grown...'

As they say, the position makes the man. Perhaps Pelmas had truly matured.