The Beauty of an Explosion
Tae-hyun was impressed. This rabbit god wasn't a deity for nothing.
Carbanog preens proudly.
‘What a guy.’
Carbanog's plan was indeed brilliant. Build temples for the other orders and take all the credit! What made it even more magnificent was that the other orders wouldn't suspect a thing and would be deeply grateful.
Tae-hyun possessed a scoundrel-like ability to steal the authorities of other orders and assimilate them into his own. If he built their temples first, let them settle in, and then kicked their priests out later to sneakily convert the temples to the Archisus Church...
‘Perfect!’
Having made his decision, Tae-hyun immediately summoned the other orders.
The Phytos Church is highly...
...
...
Everyone was happy!
"Haha. We had utmost faith in you, Your Holiness."
"Indeed, we..."
The high priests beamed as they greeted Tae-hyun. They had assumed he would keep everything for himself, but to think he would establish temples for their orders right here in the fortress! He wasn't completely shameless after all!
Each order provides additional gold support!
With the wealthy orders loosening their purse strings, the players' construction speed accelerated even further.
The ones truly showing off their prestige were the mad blacksmiths Tae-hyun had brought along.
"If we make holes in the wall like this, we can shoot downward while staying completely behind cover."
"Ooh...!"
"We can also install traps above the castle gates. We can pour boiling oil or molten silver down on anyone trying to breach them."
"Amazing! To think you possess such mechanical engineering skills...!"
"It's rare to find a blacksmith so adept at mechanical engineering!"
"...Wait, really?"
The admiring blacksmiths suddenly flinched. No, surely not?
"And we'll be planting bombs in this moat..."
"Aaaaargh!"
They had spoken so normally that the others thought they were just regular blacksmiths, but they were actually the mechanical engineering blacksmiths!
"..."
The regular blacksmiths scrambled away. Watching them flee, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths clicked their tongues.
"This is why newbies are..."
"They just don't understand the beauty of an explosion."
Even if the whole world cursed them, they would walk their own path! The mechanical engineering blacksmiths patrolled the perimeter of the fortress, planting bombs in the moat one by one. Their expressions were as solemn as priests performing a sacred ritual.
"Grow up big and strong, little ones."
"I believe in you. One day, you will burn this place down in a spectacular blaze."
They looked like absolute madmen, but the mechanical engineering blacksmiths were actually utilizing a skill.
Bomb Gardening
A rare skill that even Tae-hyun hadn't acquired! By crafting a bomb, continuously feeding it materials, and whispering sweet words of affection to it, they could raise the bomb's level. It was a bizarre skill.
- A bomb that hears kind words has a completely different explosive yield compared to one that hears harsh words.
- Bombs know the answer!
While the average players were utterly terrified, the mechanical engineering blacksmiths were indispensable talents in large-scale warfare. Despite their fear, the players watched them with expectant eyes.
They're definitely going to show us something spectacular!
Just please, don't show it to us by blowing us up!
However, not everyone there was insane.
Daniel, who had studied as Gabriel's top apprentice before declaring, "I don't want to just make bombs!" and striking out on his own, was also there. Daniel walked around, teaching various siege weapon blueprints to the player blacksmiths.
"This is what we call a 'Heavy Catapult'."
"T-to think such a method existed...!"
"Oh...! Incredible!"
As long as no bombs were brought out, the other blacksmiths didn't run away. They were human, after all, and naturally wanted to learn.
"Mechanical engineering is far more useful than I thought!"
"I was worried because of all the sinister rumors..."
The blacksmiths were highly impressed by their first encounter with mechanical engineering skills. Judging by the rumors, they had expected it to be some sort of demonic art that "once you fall in, you can never escape until you blow up," or "a cursed craft that drives blacksmiths mad." But actually trying it, they found it fun and highly educational.
It was a skill that wouldn't hurt to learn alongside standard blacksmithing!
Daniel nodded and said, "There's no need to make bombs if you're scared. Bombs are powerful, but they're far too dangerous. The mechanical engineering skill tree has plenty of other fascinating blueprints."
"Ooh...!"
"Though most of them are pretty useless until you reach the Advanced rank."
"Oh..."
The blacksmiths' enthusiasm instantly withered.
Flustered, Daniel quickly added, "No, I mean, you just have to craft a ton of things to reach Advanced!"
"That sounds highly inefficient..."
"We'll just stick to raising our other skills."
As blacksmiths, they had plenty of other viable options. Why tread the thorny path of mechanical engineering? Just crafting magic armor or swords would net them a fortune on the Auction House!
"No! Come back!" Daniel cried out in desperation. Just like the blacksmiths of the Valley, he desperately wanted colleagues and disciples of his own.
"Master Daniel. We're staying."
"We want to learn more about mechanical engineering."
"You guys...!"
A few blacksmiths had actually remained behind! Daniel's eyes welled with tears of gratitude.
"By the way, what kind of place is this dungeon that you're planning to summon Nevuchadnezzar inside it?"
Lee Se-yeon asked the obvious question. After all, they were about to step inside!
Since they couldn't let others see, only Tae-hyun, Lee Se-yeon, and Chesia were planning to sneak in.
If they broadcasted Nevuchadnezzar's resurrection show and lost control of the situation, Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon might have to hold hands and make a public apology together. Even back in Pan-On 1, when the game was less popular than Pan-On 2, players who caused continent-scale disasters had to come forward and apologize. Otherwise, they had to prepare themselves for a lifetime of playing solo.
"Well... it's a decent dungeon."
"...Stop talking nonsense!"
Hearing Tae-hyun call it "decent" only made it sound infinitely more terrifying.
"No, really. It's a great place."
Tae-hyun stubbornly avoided giving a proper explanation. If Lee Se-yeon heard the truth, she might refuse to step foot inside.
In the Hunger Dungeon installed in the Capital, Zakraltak of the Asbian Empire has collapsed from starvation! You have successfully captured Zakraltak.
Your Reputation increases significantly!
...
‘...’
Tae-hyun was utterly bewildered by the notification that the goons sent by Uipoatl had marched straight into the Capital and gotten trapped in the dungeon en masse.
When the hell did they even get here and get trapped?!
Tae-hyun quickly changed his tune.
"Actually, it might be a little less than decent."
"?!"
"Ha! Do they think they can hide in a place like this!"
Zakraltak had approached the Hunger Dungeon with supreme confidence, leading his subordinates. The dungeon looked utterly ordinary. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem grand enough to stop him and his men.
"Behold! I shall slay the bastard with a single stroke of my blade and make him pay for mocking His Majesty!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
One hour later.
"Waaaaaaah..."
"Water... water..."
"Bread... bread..."
Mass starvation!
Though Tae-hyun didn't know it, Zakraltak was one of the highest-level NPCs in the Asbian Empire. Uipoatl was a monster who used to hunt dragons in his prime—a level currently impossible for players to defeat. The subordinates serving under such an emperor couldn't possibly be low-level. Zakraltak himself was a beast exceeding Level 600.
However, the Hunger Dungeon cared nothing for levels; it was all about skills. Without a highly specific method to escape this dungeon, even the highest-level entities would find themselves hopelessly trapped.
"Sir Zakraltak! Do something!"
"Hey! We only came here because we trusted you!"
"What is this!"
The players from the Asbian Empire who had followed Zakraltak, rather than his NPC subordinates, protested in unison.
It was obvious to anyone that Kim Tae-hyun was elsewhere, but Zakraltak had insisted, 'Foolish, insignificant pests! I can sense it. The real bastard is hiding inside this dungeon!' and dragged them all in.
Of course, now everyone knew. They had been baited!
‘I wondered why he was building a dungeon like this in his territory, but it was for this!’
‘Kim Tae-hyun, you absolute...!’
The players were experiencing firsthand why everyone who fell victim to Tae-hyun cursed his name. They had hoped to ride Zakraltak's coattails for some easy rewards, but now their entire game progression was about to go down the drain.
"Let's call for help from the outside!"
"Yeah! If we prepare properly, this dungeon might actually be surprisingly easy to breach!"
"Kim Tae-hyun, you bastard... we'll make sure to pay you back for this grudge! Just let us get Zakraltak out of here!"
Unlike NPCs, players could call on other players for help.
Three hours later.
"I knew it, bro! You came to save us!"
"No. I got caught too."
"..."
Thud!
What they didn't know was that the Hunger Dungeon Tae-hyun had personally constructed in his territory had grown even more malicious, constantly shifting its paths as they walked. Naturally, simply packing some food and trying to search for the exit wouldn't work. They would consume all their food and starve to death before they could find anything!
In the end, the players gave up and surrendered.
"Mr. Kim Tae-hyun! Please let us out! If you want gold, we'll pay...! We'll do whatever you want!"
The players sent messages to the Power Warrior Guild and did everything they possibly could. However, they couldn't be released immediately. Tae-hyun was currently far away in the Asbian Empire.
"Die, Kim Tae-hyun. Just die."
"Haha. I must have misheard you."
"Die twice."
Lee Se-yeon muttered murderously as she walked.
They were currently trudging through the dungeon, eating dirt. It was a humiliation she had never experienced in her entire life!
‘Thank goodness I didn't turn on the stream...!’
If her rivals saw this, they would tease her for the rest of her life.
"Lee Se-yeon, this isn't dirt. It's a rice cake made of dirt..."
"Just shut up."
"Chesia, don't you think it's decent?"
"Your Majesty. I apologize, but even I find this a bit..."
"..."
Rejected by both black mages, Tae-hyun slumped his shoulders.
Carbanog consoles you, saying it's only because they are black mages.
‘Right? They're the weird ones.’
Since neither of them could escape the hunger debuff, they had no choice but to eat the food Tae-hyun crafted by grabbing handfuls of sand. Of course, their expressions looked as if they were literally chewing on glass!
"Chesia. So, what do we need to resurrect Nevuchadnezzar? You said the method wasn't very difficult."
Chesia had claimed with his own mouth that resurrecting Nevuchadnezzar was surprisingly easy. He told them to just trust him and leave it to him!
"It is simple. We just need to cast the Incarnation Descent magic."
"Oh...?"
He wasn't referring to Tae-hyun's class, Apostle. He meant literal Incarnation Descent—a skill that summoned the remaining power of a god who had vanished from the continent.
It was a skill every religious order dreamed of, but there was not a single order left on the continent capable of casting it. All of their lineages had been severed.
If the orders were already this powerful using only the residual fragments of their gods' power, how unstoppable would they be if they could actually summon the gods themselves? Who would dare oppose them?
Carbanog boasts that he is the greatest.
‘You don't even have a church.’
In the past, the Sadiq Church had managed to summon an incomplete incarnation. They had forcibly extracted and summoned the power of the forgotten god of the Giants! Even then, an incomplete incarnation was their absolute limit.
Tae-hyun had learned the skill back then, but because of the warning label—Casting this forcibly will bring about a massive catastrophe!—he had simply forgotten about it.
Yet Chesia spoke of casting Incarnation Descent as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"Don't tell me you don't actually know the spell?"
"Your Majesty. Who do you take me for? Of course I know it."
Huh? Tae-hyun was taken aback. Was it really going to be this easy?
Lee Se-yeon nudged Tae-hyun in the ribs.
"Wake up. There's no way a high-tier spell like Incarnation Descent comes without a catch."
"Ah."