The Emperor's Needle

"No! There's definitely... definitely something in there!" Cain shrieked, but Tae-hyun and Choi Sang-yun ignored his desperate cries, grabbing him by the arms and dragging him inside.

Click—

The Goblin Elders seated inside the spacious chamber raised their hands in unison to welcome Tae-hyun. In fact, they welcomed the entire party with open arms.

"The hero of the Goblins!"

"The great warrior who shattered the tyranny of the Empire!"

"Ah! Is this the esteemed Cain? Looking at his massive frame, I have just the right mechanical armor for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him..."

"Please, take a seat!"

"Huh? Wait, what?" Cain was utterly bewildered. In all his time playing Pan-On, he had rarely, if ever, received such a warm welcome.

Thud. Cain slumped into a seat, and Tae-hyun began his discussion with the Goblin Elders.

"Well, before we craft the Emperor Slayer, there's another favor I'd like to ask... Is there a skilled tailor here who can craft equipment using this cloth?"

"I shall craft it for you!"

"My word, to think Elder Zarkeme would step up!"

"When he refused to do mechanical engineering and just clutched his needles, I thought he'd gone senile..."

The other Goblin Elders whispered among themselves, casting glances at Elder Zarkeme. They had constantly nagged him for ignoring mechanical engineering to focus on a strange skill like tailoring, but now, his moment to shine had finally arrived!

"Hmm. What do you require from me in exchange for crafting the equipment?"

"What are you saying? You are the hero of the Goblins! The honor is entirely mine!"

"!" Tae-hyun was struck with absolute shock. Free?

No way. Does such a thing as a free lunch actually exist in this world?

The two of them were completely flabbergasted by the word "free." However, the Goblins of the Underground Alliance looked at Tae-hyun with even greater confusion. He was the hero who had assassinated the Emperor; surely they could do this much for him without charging a single coin?

"I am telling you, I will do it for free!"

"No, but surely there's a catch? Some hidden agenda..."

"There isn't one! I am truly just going to make it for you! Argh, just hand it over!"

"No! There is definitely, absolutely something going on here!"

Ah...

Choi Sang-yun realized the truth as he watched the spectacle unfold. He had wondered where that idiot Cain had learned his behavior, and now he knew—he had learned it from Kim Tae-hyun! That utterly useless, pathological suspicion!

"Mmm. There is one problem, Your Majesty."

"Aha! I knew it! I knew you were going to dump some ridiculously difficult quest on me!" Tae-hyun slapped his knee in triumph, as if he had predicted this all along. Zarkeme waved his hands in a panic.

"No, no, it is nothing like that... I need to dismantle these damaged pieces of equipment, but the energy of death clinging to them is so potent that they refuse to come apart easily. I must obtain a suitable needle first, so you may have to wait a while."

"A needle... a needle, you say. Something like Orihalcon or Adamantium?"

"Haha. I would not dare hope for something so grand... Even something slightly inferior would suffice. If all else fails, I could rip them apart by brute force, but I fear that would only worsen the damage..."

Elder Zarkeme had not been entrusted with the Emperor's garments for nothing. Tae-hyun fell into thought. Zarkeme was barely respected within the Underground Alliance. On the other hand, Tae-hyun was practically worshipped by the Goblins here. In that case...

Can't I just take him with me?

These other Goblins didn't even use tailoring anyway. If he was going to use him, he might as well put him to good use!

Is that a compliment? It's a compliment, right?

In truth, Tae-hyun's territory was indeed... unique. It boasted insane facilities that couldn't be found in any other territory. And that was to say nothing of the Archisus-related facilities. If he added the Emperor's Tailor Shop to the mix, it would be truly spectacular.

"Huh?" Not a Goblin Tailor Shop, but the Emperor's Tailor Shop? Was it because Zarkeme used to work directly under the Emperor? And what do they mean by misunderstandings?

Ah. Because we're taking away one of their former subjects? Please. Let them think whatever they want.

Why on earth should he walk on eggshells around Lee Se-yeon! Tae-hyun made his decision immediately.

"Zarkeme!"

"Yes?"

"Once this is over, would you have any interest in coming to my territory?"

"Y-Your Majesty. I deeply appreciate the offer, but I have spent nearly my entire life here, constantly nagged and looked down upon by the other Goblins... Come to think of it, nothing good has ever really happened to me here. I will follow you!"

"..."

As Zarkeme spoke, the sheer unfairness of his past life washed over him, prompting him to accept on the spot. Now that he thought about it, his time here had been utterly miserable!

"Farewell, Zarkeme!"

"Take care of yourself over there!"

"And make sure to study mechanical engineering instead of wasting your time on weird things like tailoring!"

The other Elders congratulated him and celebrated his departure with genuine joy. Of course, this only made Zarkeme feel even more miserable!

"Hmph. Fools who know nothing but mechanical engineering! Your Majesty, surely your territory is different from a place like this?"

"Of course it is... Wait." Tae-hyun faltered mid-sentence. Now that he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought about it, the Mechanical Engineering Blacksmiths in the Valley were far worse than these Goblins, not better...!

I'll have to keep that area hidden from him.

If Zarkeme saw them, the shock might actually kill him.

"By the way, Zarkeme. I was thinking... would this bone work?"

"Haha. Your Majesty, you must not be very familiar with tailoring. Needles made of bone are naturally weaker than metal ones. Of course, the bone of an incredibly powerful monster might surpass ordinary metal, but to be stronger than Orihalcon or Adamantium, just imagine how powerful that creature would have to be—gasp!"

Zarkeme gasped in sheer horror the moment he laid eyes on Uipoatl's bone.

"W-What kind of monster did this bone come from?"

"Well... it's, uh, the Emperor's bone."

"!!!!!"

Uipoatl really was the Emperor who kept on giving. Tae-hyun felt a sudden wave of gratitude. Unlike Nevuchadnezzar, who had left behind nothing but toxic spite, Uipoatl had generously provided equipment, experience points, raid assistance, reputation, connections—essentially everything he could possibly offer. Tae-hyun felt tempted to build a memorial statue for him in his territory!

An imperial Goblin tailor stitching cloth with the bone of an Emperor! Now that I think about it, this is a bit bizarre.

It was a highly surreal sight indeed.

"Your Majesty, what kind of garments do you desire?"

"Hmm. Ideally, I'd prefer stats other than physical defense. Something like magic defense or speed..."

"The magic defense will be more than sufficient given the exceptional quality of the cloth itself. Speed, you say... Understood! I shall do my absolute best to maximize your speed!"

"Thank you."

Tae-hyun spoke, but a sudden chill ran down his spine. Why did he feel so uneasy all of a sudden? Ah... right!

That phrase: "I shall do my absolute best!"

Whenever an NPC from the Archisus Church said they would "do their absolute best," it invariably meant they were about to cause a massive disaster. Doing their best = doing their best to cause a catastrophe!

"Z-Zarkeme."

"Yes?"

"...No, never mind. Please, do your best." Tae-hyun ultimately swallowed his words. How could he tell a Goblin looking up at him with such pure, innocent eyes to "just do a decent job and don't make anything too weird"?

"Oh...!" Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. To his surprise, the item was incredibly useful! Though its physical defense was on the lower ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠side, Tae-hyun actually needed to prioritize magic defense over physical defense at this stage anyway. The most threatening attacks were magic spells that completely bypassed traditional defense and evasion. Yet, here was an item perfectly tailored to magic defense. On top of that, all of its skills were passive magic protection abilities—excellent skills that boosted various resistances!

In fact, the sheer perfection of it made Tae-hyun suspicious. Wait, there's no way there isn't a catch. Tae-hyun quickly checked the rest of the set—the cloak, the shoes, and the gloves. But they were all completely normal. This makes no sense! There was nothing wrong with them. They were just exceptionally good, solid items!

Tae-hyun checked the skill with a relieved heart. Surely this skill would be perfectly fine too!

"...?" Tae-hyun snapped back to reality. I almost let my guard down! There was no way things would just end on a good note! The distinct scent of the Archisus Church he had picked up from Zarkeme was definitely not his imagination. Should I test it now?Emperor Slayer's Wrath was a skill he had to experience firsthand to truly understand. To know what the penalty was, he needed to test it beforehand.

"Emperor Slayer's Wrath!"

In an instant, the world slowed to a crawl. The movements and voices of the surrounding Goblins stretched out into a sluggish, agonizingly slow tempo.

Ah. So this is how it works. Tae-hyun immediately grasped the concept. If one had to name the most crucial stats for a damage dealer, accuracy or raw damage were usually the first to come to mind... but speed was easily just as vital. Attack speed, skill casting speed, and so on. If you were fast, you could strike twice in the time it took to strike once, and you could react instantly to an opponent's attack.

However, the reason many players prioritized other stats over speed was simple: as speed increased, control ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠became exponentially harder! Since players had to physically move their own bodies, a sudden spike in speed caused the difficulty of control to skyrocket. It was a double-edged sword. But if one had absolute confidence in their control, the faster, the better. And Tae-hyun had nothing but confidence when it came to control.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! His sword sliced through the air with blinding speed. It felt as though he could unleash several times more attacks than usual. What? This actually just seems like a great skill. Tae-hyun was bewildered. If this wasn't a trap, then where on earth was the catch...?

"Ugh!" In an instant, his vision spun violently, pitching and rolling. It was so severe that even Tae-hyun, with his incredible reflexes and perfect sense of balance, couldn't take a single step. Dammit. It's motion sickness!

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?!" Cain rushed over, startled. Those Goblin bastards, I knew they had some evil scheme up their sleeves...!

"Cain. Hit me."

"What?"

"I said, hit me." Tae-hyun forced the words out even as his vision swam. Even if he couldn't move, he had to test the limits of what he could do in this state.

"...No complaining afterward, okay?!" Cain was absolutely thrilled. To think such an opportunity would present itself in his lifetime!

"You're not enjoying this, are you?"

"O-Of course not. What are you talking about?" Cain quickly denied it, raising his weapon. He couldn't afford to let this golden opportunity slip away! Whoosh!

Don't rely on sight. Read Cain's rhythm. Trying to watch and parry with this level of motion sickness was impossible. Tae-hyun held his breath and read the timing.

"Circle of Counterattack!"

"Aaargh!" Cain was sent flying backward.

"Whew." Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he could still pull off a counterattack, one way or another.