The Successor's Summon

It wasn't that Tae-hyun lacked money. He just hated spending it in the game!

Wait, why does it feel like I'm making excuses?

It pained his heart to see Yu Ji-soo looking at him with eyes that said, I had no idea you were struggling so much, senior.

"...I'll think about it once we get back to Korea."

Ever since he signed with his agent, Vincent, all matters regarding advertisements and broadcasts had been entirely outsourced to him. If he told Vincent he wanted to start personal streaming, the agent would undoubtedly prepare everything meticulously, but...

It'll probably get in the way of my quests.

The only reason Tae-hyun hadn't streamed until now was to clear quests as quickly as possible. Among high-ranking players, those actively competing for ranks rarely did live broadcasts. The moment their location was revealed, rivals would immediately move to sabotage them! And even without active sabotage, things just got tedious when crowds of players gathered to watch. Case in point: the recent King of Erance quest, where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sheer volume of players had caused massive headaches for the rankers.

Because of this, rankers only streamed live when they were doing unimportant quests, or when they didn't care about being interrupted. On top of that, if there was a ranking for having the most enemies, Tae-hyun would easily claim the undisputed first place! While he often topped the official popularity polls on the Pan-On forums, he also swept first place in the unofficial "Most Hated" polls that popped up from time to time.

Consequently, he had avoided live streaming as much as possible, opting instead to upload recorded videos to the Power Warrior Guild's channel after his quests were fully completed. Even that alone generated astronomical view counts!

But if I don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stream my quests, what else can I do to make a broadcast entertaining? That's putting the cart before the horse.

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. If he didn't do live quest broadcasts like other rankers, who would find his streams interesting? Of course, millions of players worldwide would probably line up just to watch a live feed of him sleeping, but there was no way for Tae-hyun to know that. He had always been blissfully ignorant of his own popularity.

"Hmm... An entertaining stream... Can I really make a fun broadcast without showing quests...?"

"Oh! I have an idea!"

Cain raised his hand enthusiastically upon hearing Tae-hyun's muttering. Once upon a time, Cain's dream had been to make a living as a gaming streamer—a dream from his days as the guild leader of Red Zone. Granted, his chat had been ninety percent insults, but still...

"You?" Tae-hyun stared at Cain with a look of profound skepticism.

"Why?! Why that look?!"

"Didn't you say your stream flopped back when you were in Red Zone?"

That was because of you! How could his stream not flop when Tae-hyun had literally pulverized his entire guild!

"T-that's in the past. I'm different now. I've come up with tons of ideas."

So that's what he was whispering about with the Power Warrior Guild members...

Choi Sang-yun watched him from the side, looking thoroughly unimpressed. During their breaks, Cain had been huddled with the Power Warrior Guild members, shouting things like, "Hey! If it were me, I'd do this!" and "No, no! This special episode would be way better!" Choi Sang-yun had wondered what that was about, and it turned out to be this. Shouldn't he be spending that time training instead?

Although he rarely uploaded anything after Team KL was formed, Cain did have his own personal streaming channel. It wasn't particularly entertaining, but thanks to his name value and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the high-level quests he undertook, he still pulled in a decent number of viewers. If you have such great ideas, use them on your own channel!

"First up is the Ranker Power Scaler!"

"...?"

"??"

Tae-hyun and Choi Sang-yun tilted their heads in unison. What kind of show was this? Just hearing the title made it sound like a fast track to earning everyone's eternal enmity.

"What is that supposed to be?"

"You list out all the top rankers and rank them by who's stronger."

"Whoa..."

Choi Sang-yun gasped in admiration. That would easily pull in an insane number of viewers!

Even I would watch that.

Rankers were surprisingly cautious about their public image, making ranker-versus-ranker matchups incredibly rare. Whenever two of them actually clashed, the forums would talk about nothing else for days.

And Tae-hyun was the man who had fought the most rankers in all of Pan-On! If nothing else, that was an indisputable fact. Countless players debated who the strongest rankers were, but if Tae-hyun was the one doing the ranking, his words would carry a completely different level of authority.

Wow, Cain. Not bad! Choi Sang-yun had honestly looked down on him, but it seemed Cain was growing too.

But Tae-hyun remained cold. "Sounds boring."

"Why?!"

"No, it's going to be hilarious!"

"It's not like I'm actually beating them up. Just talking about whether this guy or that guy is stronger is fun?"

"Yes! Just trust me and try it once!"

"...Setting aside whether I'll actually do it, what's next? What else do you have?"

"Heheh. That's not all. I've got a whole variety of content lined up. Cooking, gacha box openings, item enhancement, the Archisus Arena..."

Hearing Cain's list, Tae-hyun gave him a look of pure pity.

"The players in the Valley are already doing all of those."

Plagiarism! There were already countless players trying to do exactly those things in the Valley of Despair and Sorrow. There was a reason the Valley was hailed as the holy land of streaming!

"N-no! It's different if you do it! The original is always—"

"Yeah, right."

"Urgh... Then how about this? I kept this as an absolute last resort, but..."

"?"

"A joint stream with Lee Se-yeon."

Name value plus name value! Even if the two of them did absolutely nothing and just breathed, they would easily hit number one! Cain was absolutely certain of it. However, great ideas didn't always receive great reviews.

"...Do you want to die?"

"N-no! If you threaten me like that...! It stifles my creative freedom!"

"Creative freedom, my foot. I actually expected something decent for a second."

"Sob..."

Cain wore a deeply aggrieved expression. It would definitely blow up! I'm serious!

"Halt!"

"?"

Soldiers blocked their path! Currently, Tae-hyun and his party were heading toward the royal palace in the capital after touring Erangs Kingdom to collect their rewards. Their target was once again the King of Erance! Having already received a knighthood order and a royal treasure collection, Tae-hyun didn't expect a massive windfall, but he was still harboring a tiny sliver of hope.

He's such a generous man, surely he'll give me more?

If the King was still in a dazed, semi-conscious state, Tae-hyun could squeeze even more out of him! But on their way, the palace guards blocked their path.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"You may not enter!"

"!"

Tae-hyun was taken aback. Ever since he had ascended to his own throne, no soldiers had ever dared to block him. Why the sudden change? Wait. Did they find out?

Tae-hyun had a terribly guilty conscience! From slapping the King of Erance to extorting rewards from him while he was delirious—if even one of those deeds came to light, it wouldn't be surprising to see a system message declaring, The King of Erance now despises you.Wait, but no notification has popped up yet. What's going on?

"What is the matter? I have come out of deep concern for His Majesty, the King of Erance!"

"His Majesty is currently recuperating and cannot receive any visitors."

"Ah. Is that so?"

Tae-hyun breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't found out! But I need to see him now... Tae-hyun smacked his lips in disappointment. If the King hadn't fully recovered yet, that meant it was the prime time to squeeze out more rewards.

But the guards were unyielding. No amount of persuasion would work on them! From beside him, a member of his noble warrior band whispered,

"Your Majesty. Shall we wipe them out with the cannons and charge in...?"

"Shut up, you idiots."

They were going to get him misunderstood! This was the capital city, where the royal knights were stationed just five minutes away. Starting a fight here was sheer madness. This place was on a completely different level from the city where they had fought Lalgrgal. No matter how strong Tae-hyun was, causing trouble here would get him obliterated in an instant.

"Whew. Very well, then I shall pray for His Majesty's swift recovery."

Tae-hyun retreated, his heart heavy with regret. The very second I hear he's recovered, I'm running straight back here!

"Your Majesty!"

"?"

Tae-hyun paused at the shout from behind. Had the King awakened and sent someone to give him more rewards?

Ugh.

But... the rewards were just too magnificent! The memory of receiving an entire knighthood order and a royal treasure collection just by exchanging a few rushed words was not easily forgotten. Calling them a "knighthood order" was an understatement; they were an astronomical military force. Currently, not a single player in Pan-On commanded a knighthood order as subordinates.

These noble knights, easily exceeding levels 400 and 500, possessed unimaginable power when charging on horseback across open plains. They were living weapons, capable of deflecting most magic with their enchanted armor and buffs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while utterly crushing their foes. There was a reason players bowed their heads in front of noble NPCs. No player was yet capable of handling a noble knighthood order.

"Your Majesty?"

"Ah. My apologies. I was lost in thought. Who are you?"

"I have come from the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower."

The mage NPC clad in a black robe seemed to have come from the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower. In the past, Tae-hyun had scammed—no, worked hard to pass the trials of the Black Magic School and obtain the title of Successor.

No matter how much he thought about it, it really was a scam! No, it was a fair and square victory. But what was this about? Tae-hyun looked at the dark mage with curiosity. If the Erangs Kingdom Magic Tower was calling for him, it wouldn't be for some run-of-the-mill quest.

"What is the matter?"

"I do not know the details either. The Archmage will explain everything to you."

The dark mage NPC replied politely, clearly lacking any further information. As he guided Tae-hyun, his eyes sparkled with admiration. "I heard that Your Majesty turned Lord Chese-do into a Lich!"

Chese-do, the right-hand man of Chesia, the Archmage of the Black Magic School! He was a dark mage who had set out to assist Tae-hyun, only to awaken as a Lich. Currently, he was living a comfortable life leading the undead in Kim Tae-san's territory! Tae-hyun instinctively tried to deny it first.

"Huh? Ah, no. That wasn't my fault..."

"I am so envious!"

"?!"

Ah. Right. To dark mages, becoming a Lich was not a bad thing. While mages of other schools would react with disgust—Ugh, a Lich? Undead are repulsive!—to the Black Magic School, it was the ultimate reward! There was no reason to refuse becoming a highly evolved being.

"I, too, wish to serve Your Majesty and become a Lich!"

"Look at that poor NPC..."

"Why is he practically begging to suffer?"

Tae-hyun's companions whispered among themselves. They couldn't fathom the dark mage NPC's mindset at all. Why would anyone want to ruin their life like that?

Tae-hyun silenced his party, then patted the dark mage's shoulder with a warm, pleased expression. How could he not be pleased when someone was volunteering to suffer for him?

"Haha. I can't guarantee I can turn you into a Lich, but I highly commend your attitude. Yes, a person must always strive to become a greater being. Just like Cain over there."

Why me...?! Why did he have to drag him into this and compare him to a Lich of all things!

Arriving at the Magic Tower after a long absence, they found it swarming with mage players. The queues were so long that entering normally would require a massive wait. Well, I probably don't need to wait. Since he had been summoned by the Archmage, surely there was a separate entrance. Tae-hyun waited with that expectation.

"Right this way."

"...Huh? Why is there no line?"

Tae-hyun was bewildered. While the areas for the other elemental schools were packed with players standing in long, winding queues, the Black Magic School's area was completely deserted.

"It is simply because those other mages know nothing of true power," the dark mage NPC declared proudly.

At his words, the surrounding mage players glared at him. Of course, the dark mage NPC paid them absolutely no mind.

...This guy...

The dark mage NPC's behavior instantly reminded Tae-hyun of someone else. Galakpad!