An Unexpected Compromise

A proposal where they join hands and both get what they want? Since when was Kim Tae-hyun the type of person to make such a proposal? He was a guy who only ever offered choices like, "Die, or do what I say!" If he had made this kind of offer from the very beginning of Pandemonium Online 2, Su Ning would have been happy, Tae-hyun would have been happy, and Su Ning wouldn't have ended up in this miserable state! Tremble, tremble!

Seeing Su Ning shaking like a leaf as old memories flooded back, Tae-hyun looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Did you catch a cold?"

"I did not!" Su Ning ground his teeth. Grind!

"Hmm. Looking at your face, it seems you really hate the idea of negotiating. Well, if you want to fight that badly..."

"No, he doesn't!"

"Our guild leader just loses his mind sometimes!"

"Calm down, Kim Tae-hyun!"

The rankers hurriedly scrambled to stop Tae-hyun. If a fight broke out here, they were the only ones who stood to lose. Most of their remaining guild members had already been wiped out, meaning they would be the ones forced to clash with Tae-hyun directly.

Shouldn't they avenge their fallen guildmates? If they cared about things like that, they wouldn't be rankers! Rankers loved peace—especially in situations like this.

"Isn't he your guild leader?" Tae-hyun asked.

"Even a guild leader can lose his mind sometimes!"

"...Shut up, you idiots," Su Ning muttered.

"Guild Leader! You've come to your senses!"

"We always believed in you!"

"You guys sure know how to have fun," Tae-hyun remarked.

Tae-hyun made sure to record everything that had just transpired. If he compiled this footage, starting from the internal bickering earlier to this pathetic display, and uploaded it, his stream ratings would skyrocket! Of course, since they were negotiating right now, he couldn't release it immediately. He would have to leak it later...

Completely unaware of the insidious scheme brewing in Tae-hyun's mind, Su Ning spoke up again.

"Joining hands and getting what we both want... What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You need an achievement—like securing gold and proving you accomplished something—to keep the Guild Alliance together. And as the King, I need the achievement of driving foreign invaders out of my territory. We can help each other out."

Wow. Hearing it come out of his mouth makes it sound incredibly unconvincing.

It's a perfectly reasonable proposal, so why is it so hard to believe?

If we read between the lines of that proposal, does it secretly spell out 'I will kill you all'?

The rankers of the Guild Alliance were inwardly horrified. It was clearly a normal, decent proposal, but because it came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from Kim Tae-hyun, why did it sound so sinister and suspicious?

Tae-hyun continued speaking.

"I won't attack you, so head further south and raid Marchetti County and Ernesto County. We'll make a mutual compromise."

Marchetti County was the territory located directly south of the northwestern border region of Atali Kingdom, which was currently being raided. It was close to the Capital.

Ernesto County was the territory directly south of the northeastern border region of Atali Kingdom, an area even the Guild Alliance had been too afraid to touch. Because these counties were close to either the Capital or the Valley, the Guild Alliance had never ventured that far south!

Consequently, the counts of those territories had previously sent envoys to Tae-hyun, thinking, 'Just in case, we should ask for help.' However, after receiving a cold shoulder and poor treatment, they had returned home, grumbling, 'This is disgusting, we won't ask for his help ever again!'

Since they weren't under immediate attack, they felt no need to beg Tae-hyun for assistance.

Therefore, Tae-hyun planned to put them in a position where they would desperately crave his help. Let's see if they could still hold out while being thoroughly plundered!

"I-Is there a trap in Marchetti County and Ernesto County? Like, if we go there, will the Count's knights be waiting for us with bombs strapped to their bodies...?"

"There's nothing like that. Go check for yourselves if you don't believe me."

"Or maybe if we head down there, a massive horde of players led by you will ambush us..."

"...If I wanted to do that, wouldn't it be easier to just do it right now?"

True. The rankers of the Guild Alliance couldn't refute his logic. Their location had already been exposed (come to think of it, they wondered how he had found them in the first place), so if he wanted to wipe them out, he could just do it now. There was no reason to negotiate.

"It's too suspicious! Then what do you stand to gain from this negotiation?!"

Man, these guys are incredibly paranoid. Have they lived their whole lives being scammed?

Ignoring Carbanog, who was pointing out the sharp truth, Tae-hyun spoke again.

"That's because..."

"?"

"Because I fear you guys."

"!!"

"Think about it, Su Ning. A lion doesn't like fighting another lion. Not only is the victor uncertain, but even the winner would suffer severe injuries. I'm proposing a negotiation because your forces are just that threatening."

Kim Tae-hyun... is acknowledging us!

The rankers felt a sudden surge of emotion welling up inside them. Within the Guild Alliance, the ungrateful ordinary guild members always talked behind their backs, calling them "useless rankers who do nothing but eat and poop" or "punks who only know how to run away."

But for Tae-hyun to say this! They wanted to record this exact moment and show it to everyone! To prove that they were indeed beings of this caliber!

"C-cough! Well, we rankers are indeed quite terrifying," Su Ning said, his face flushing red with emotion. Even though he tried to act nonchalant, his voice was visibly choked with tears.

Are you guys even human?! A rabbit would be smarter than this!

"Those two counts aren't very close to me anyway, so do whatever you want with them," Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said.

"I see... So in exchange, you want us to hand over everything we've plundered so far..." Su Ning said, looking deeply conflicted.

"Huh?"

Tae-hyun was taken aback. He hadn't even mentioned anything like that. Of course, he had made a bold demand earlier before the negotiations to set a strong starting position, but even as he said it, he never actually expected them to agree. Who in their right mind would return loot they had already pocketed? Especially a greedy bunch like the Guild Alliance.

"No, I didn't really..."

"Ugh, that bastard Kim Tae-hyun. To make such a demand..."

"But Guild Leader, if we don't do at least that much, Kim Tae-hyun won't accept the proposal. He's the greediest bastard in all of Pandemonium Online, after all."

"That's right. Just making Kim Tae-hyun back down is a highly profitable deal for us."

The rankers eagerly persuaded Su Ning. Getting Tae-hyun to back down without a fight was the best possible outcome for them. They wouldn't have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to fight, and they could boast to everyone that Kim Tae-hyun had retreated because of them. They could easily bear the loss of some gold!

"Besides, we still have Marchetti County and Ernesto County!"

"Exactly!"

"Argh... Ugh... Damn it...!"

Su Ning clutched his head in agony, agonizing over whether to accept the deal.

Tae-hyun watched the spectacle, slowly shaking his head. To think they would offer to hand it over on their own when he hadn't even asked.

Crazy bastards...

No wonder their guild was such a complete mess!

"Fine! I accept, Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Sure..."

"Why is your face like that?"

"It's nothing."

"Hey, isn't it a bit unfair that you guys get to bring guards inside while Kim Tae-hyun has to go in alone?" Cain argued, finding the situation absurd.

A Guild Alliance executive standing near the tent snapped back firmly, "You are absolutely not allowed in!"

"Why?!"

"You're planning to go in there and self-destruct, aren't you?! To take out all the rankers at once!"

"...What kind of crazy...!" Cain was utterly dumbfounded. Why on earth would he do something like that?

"Stay back!"

"D-don't come near me!"

"..."

Cain realized that his public image had become incredibly warped. The rankers and executives were genuinely terrified of him!

Meanwhile, inside the tent, the negotiations concluded.

"The negotiations are over! Our Guild Leader has made Kim Tae-hyun back down!"

"Long live the Guild Leader! Long live the Guild Alliance!"

As the executives shouted, the guild members jumped for joy... Not.

"What? Seriously?"

"Really? Are you sure we didn't get scammed? Even if it doesn't look like a scam, tell them to double-check!"

The guild members were filled with deep distrust! No matter how they thought about it, they simply couldn't believe that Su Ning had forced Tae-hyun to back down.

Holding back his rising blood pressure, Su Ning stepped forward.

"Listen up! Kim Tae-hyun judged that clashing with our rankers would result in mutual losses."

"?"

"???"

Mutual losses, not just a one-sided slaughter of the rankers?

And who was the one who charged like a madman at the Guild Alliance side where all those rankers were gathered just a moment ago?

"Therefore, we have agreed to cease hostilities and compromise. Kim Tae-hyun gets the achievement of making us retreat, and we obtain new territories to plunder!"

"Oh..."

"That actually sounds pretty good? How did he pull that off?"

"Did he bribe Kim Tae-hyun?"

"No way Kim Tae-hyun would just accept a bribe... Unless he took the bribe, and then threatened him for more..."

As the guild members' whispering grew louder, the executives quickly stepped in.

"Long live the Guild Leader!"

"Long live the Guild Leader! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap—

Mob mentality was a terrifying thing. Once one person started cheering, others naturally followed suit and began to applaud. Even if the result seemed unbelievable, bringing back such an outcome was still a massive achievement!

"Now, we will leave all our plundered goods here!"

"?"

"What?"

The guild members were thrown into confusion. Excuse me?

"Wait... we have to leave our loot behind? Why? For what reason?"

"I knew the terms sounded too good to be true..."

"What is this? After all the hard work we put in..."

"But hey, at least we saved our lives, right? Honestly, this is way better than fighting Kim Tae-hyun."

The guild members were split down the middle. One side argued, 'I'd rather leave the loot than fight Kim Tae-hyun,' while the other protested, 'We worked so hard to get this, how can we just leave it behind!'

However, the conclusion had already been decided. Su Ning and the rankers were united on one side.

"You bastards! Hurry up and put it down! This necklace looks suspicious, did you plunder it?!"

"N-no! This was originally my necklace...!"

"What if Kim Tae-hyun uses it as an excuse to cause trouble?! Hand it over, quickly!"

They were so aggressive that anyone watching would have mistaken them for debt collectors working for Tae-hyun's party! Su Ning and the rankers rapidly filled the wagons and pushed them toward Tae-hyun. The guild members surrendered their gold and treasures with deeply disgruntled expressions.

"Tae-hyun, how did you get them to hand all of that over?" Choi Sang-yun asked.

"...I have no idea either," Tae-hyun muttered.

An unexpected recovery!

Watching the scene unfold, the noble warrior squad of the Asbian Empire approached Tae-hyun.

"Your Majesty. We are deeply impressed by your skill in tricking them into safely surrendering the treasures."

"I am rather amazing, aren't I? I plan to retrieve the crown the same way."

"As expected...! By the way, do you plan to return those treasures to the nobles who originally owned them?"

"..."

Tae-hyun hesitated for a moment. Normally, to a question like that, he should have replied, 'Haha, of course I should.'

But the current situation was a bit different. Tae-hyun didn't particularly need to curry favor with the noble warrior squad, and he couldn't just hand over all these treasures.

"No. Since those nobles clearly lack the ability to keep them safe, I plan to manage them myself."

"As expected of Your Majesty!"

"Those without capability do not deserve to possess treasure!"

"...?"

Both Tae-hyun and Carbanog were utterly bewildered. These guys were acting completely contrary to common sense!

"Damn it... They barely did any of the hard work..."

"Hey, they can hear you. Be careful."

The guild members grumbled as they loaded the treasures onto the wagons. They were the ones who had suffered all the hardships, so it was incredibly annoying that the rankers were making a fuss and demanding ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they hand everything over.

Nudge—

"What are you doing?"

"Shh. Keep it down."

A few of the guild members were secretly pocketing some of the treasures instead of returning them.

"There's so much stuff anyway, they won't notice if we pocket a few pieces. How would they even know how much we're supposed to return? Su Ning is just a cowardly idiot, which is why he's nagging us to return everything."

"But still, it's Kim Tae-hyun..."

"Yeah, doing this against Kim Tae-hyun..."

"...Even if it were Kim Tae-hyun's grandfather, he wouldn't know! Just shut up and take it!"

"Alright, alright! Lower your voice. But what is this?"

"It's a Kim Tae-hyun statue. Since it's a statue of the King, it's really well-made. It'll sell for a high price. Look, it's silver."

To be precise, it was a silver statue, not a bronze one. Of course, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths had only silver-plated it to save on materials, but the guild members weren't knowledgeable enough to realize that. They simply thought that since it was a statue of the King and made of silver, it had to be expensive, so they pocketed it!

"There are plenty of Kim Tae-hyun statues that look expensive. Even if they're just bronze, considering the size and price, we won't lose out."

"True... They wouldn't have made a King's statue out of cheap materials. Nice, I'm taking one too!"

The guild members worked together to carefully hide the Kim Tae-hyun statues.

Noticing this, Choi Sang-yun spoke to Tae-hyun.

"Those guys are pocketing some of the loot."

"What? How dare they steal what?" Tae-hyun snapped, instantly irritated. How dare they break the agreement! He wouldn't overlook even a single penny!

"Your statues."

"...Tell them they can just take those."