The Perfect Decoys

'Well, whatever... Their levels should be high, so they'll make great human bombs...' Tae-hyun thought.

Rankers, as a breed, might lack actual skill, but their high levels made them useful one way or another. Thinking of them that way made their noisy bickering much more tolerable. Tae-hyun flashed a bright smile at the two rankers.

"See that? Even Kim Tae-hyun believes in me," Johansson said.

"Are you... seriously getting that from that smile?" Suana asked, utterly dumbfounded. If only Johansson had spent half a year getting dragged through the mud in the Guild Alliance, he wouldn't be spouting such nonsense!

"By the way, why are you talking like that?" Johansson asked.

"W-what about it?"

"I'm pretty sure you sounded different on your stream..." Johansson scratched his head. He had definitely seen her during a brief interview segment in a Guild Alliance advertisement. Back then, hadn't she projected a much more refreshing, pure, and innocent image?

"That was for an advertisement, obviously," Suana snapped.

"What? So it was a scam?"

"It's not a scam. That level ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of packaging is just basic marketing. Did you honestly believe their claim that everyone gets treated equally once they join the Guild Alliance?"

"What?! I thought that was just because it was a Chinese guild?!"

"..."

'They are bombs. They are bombs...' Tae-hyun repeated the mantra in his head. As long as he viewed them as disposable explosives, he didn't feel particularly annoyed.

"There are the ruins, Master," Yong-yong rumbled.

"Yeah, I see them." Tae-hyun examined the ruins. The Demon Realm was a place where people—well, demons—lived, so it wasn't strange for buildings to exist. There were cities and palaces built to the tastes of the Demon Dukes... But this was the Neutral Zone, claimed by no master. There was no way a building here would be intact.

'It doesn't look like there's much to salvage from the ruins... and I doubt there's an underground dungeon. If it's decent enough, I'll just build another fortress on top of it.' Depending on the state of the ruins, constructing a new fortress over them was a viable option. He wondered what kind of ruins they were.

"By the way, you two can still fight, right?" Tae-hyun asked.

"My gear is perfectly fine, so I'm good," Suana replied.

"Bwahaha! I might not have any gear, but I can still fight!" Johansson boasted.

"That doesn't count as being able to fight... but whatever, I get it." Tae-hyun shook his head and took a step forward.

Ominous! Tae-hyun smacked his lips, but he couldn't stop just because of a bad feeling. He couldn't halt his exploration every time a notification like this popped up.

"Oh... it looks like a temple building," Johansson noted.

"Hey. If you don't even have gear, fall back a bit," Suana warned.

"Hmph! Even without gear, I, Johansson, can easily snap a demon's neck!"

"Kim Tae-hyun. Do we really have to move with a guy like this?" Suana sighed.

"Well, I can't exactly move around alone without any party members (bombs)," Tae-hyun replied.

"Then shouldn't we have brought more people?"

"Two party members (bombs) are more than enough."

"?" Suana tilted her head in confusion. 'Is this just how Kim Tae-hyun operates?' The dignity of a true master! While others felt anxious even with a party of six or seven, he was perfectly cool with just one or two companions!

'Ah, right! I should turn on my stream!' She had forgotten about it due to the shock of the Guild Alliance collapsing and losing her items, but she couldn't pass up an opportunity like this.

"Ahem. Hello, everyone. It's been a while. This is Suana."

'She's a tier below Lee Se-yeon.' Tae-hyun snorted inwardly. Suana seemed to manage her image meticulously, but compared to Lee Se-yeon, she was amateur hour!

"I'm sure you're all wondering where I am right now, and why I've been out of touch for a while."

"I am currently in the Demon Realm! And I'm here with the top ranker Kim Tae-hyun and ranker Johansson!"

"..." Suana patiently endured the chat. Since she hadn't streamed in a long time, she could understand this kind of chaotic reaction.

Suana was about to confidently explain their progress... but then she froze. '...We've literally just been doing manual labor.'

"...We are currently searching for the hidden secrets of the Demon Realm!" she declared smoothly.

The viewers went wild! Hearing that Kim Tae-hyun was there alongside other prominent rankers, everyone's imaginations began to run wild. Just how massive was this quest that it had gathered all these rankers who had been completely off the grid lately?!

"That... that traitorous wench!"

"G-Guild Master!"

The Guild Alliance was currently marching proudly toward the Erangs Kingdom, hoisting the banner of the Auston Royal Family. Su Ning clutched the back of his neck in fury as he watched Suana's stream. He had wondered what she was up to after leaving the guild and cutting off all contact, but to think she had crawled over to Kim Tae-hyun?!

"I will never forgive—"

"Guild Master, now is not the time to curse Suana! Look at this! Word is that several other rankers have also followed Kim Tae-hyun!"

"!"

"If Kim Tae-hyun is secretly gathering rankers like this, then surely...!" The guild members' faces paled. If that was the case...

"...It must be because there's a quest worth doing!"

"Exactly!"

Kim Tae-hyun was a player who notoriously preferred to monopolize everything for himself. For someone like him to gather NPCs and recruit other players, it had to be for a massive, server-wide quest. The memory of the Nevuchadnezzar quest flashed through the guild members' minds—the desert packed to the brim with players, Nevuchadnezzar's legions, and Uipoatl's sudden raid.

'And the viewer ratings were insane!'

'That goddamn quest completely buried our territory war!'

'People talked about nothing but that quest for an entire month!'

"Why else would Kim Tae-hyun rush to stand at the vanguard of the Demon Realm expedition? There must be a reason he had to get there as quickly as possible!"

"...You're right! Send word to all guild members! We must head to the Erangs Kingdom as fast as possible and set off for the Demon Realm!"

With the Guild Alliance making its move, other major guilds were also closely monitoring the situation and reaching similar conclusions.

Even before the Holy Knights and the Priesthood had fully assembled, the major guilds began setting off toward the World Tree first.

"Guild Master, aren't we underestimating the Demon Realm too much? The number of players who have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠successfully returned from there can be counted on one hand. Going in with so little preparation..."

"It's true, we are severely underprepared right now."

Even the most renowned explorer players made exhaustive preparations before entering the Demon Realm. They brought gear blessed with various holy enchantments, secured every map of the Demon Realm they could find, extracted information on the current state of the realm from summoned demons, and prepared bribes to offer them. Even with all that, the survival rate was less than ten percent! The Demon Realm was currently one of the most notoriously dangerous uncharted territories in Pan-On. To charge into such a place with dozens of players, even if they were rankers, seemed incredibly reckless.

"Haha. It certainly looks that way. But don't worry," the Guild Master chuckled.

"Why is that?"

"Because we can just join up with Kim Tae-hyun!"

"...?"

"Oh... what a brilliant idea...!"

"Surely Kim Tae-hyun won't just kick us out."

"If he does that, he's barely human, seriously."

"If he tries to kick us out, we'll just put on a shameless face and camp right next to him. It's not like he'd actually PK us, right?"

"Guild Master... Back in Pan-On 1, Kim Tae-hyun once PK'ed someone just because they took an ore vein he was about to mine..."

"Ah, that was back in Pan-On 1! How long ago was that? Kim Tae-hyun has an image to maintain now!"

"But I was the one he did it to..."

"Ugh, how long are you going to drag ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that old story up?!"

'If the Guild Master had been PK'ed eight times in a row like I was, he wouldn't be talking like that.' The guild member swallowed his words. The law was far away, but the fist was very close!

"Think about it logically. Sure, people might call us shameless or bad-mannered, but that's just a few loudmouths making noise before it blows over. What matters is the quest. We're piggybacking on whatever Kim Tae-hyun is doing. All we have to do is camp right next to him, and we get a free ride!"

The leader of a major guild didn't hold his position just for show. The Guild Master's judgment was actually quite accurate. Normally, players wouldn't attack you just for hanging around nearby. Unless it was a completely unhinged guild, most cared about their public image. Of course, Tae-hyun would absolutely just beat them up anyway... but regardless, the plan to join up with Kim Tae-hyun and compete for the quest seemed highly plausible.

'But what kind of quest is it anyway?'

'Is it really that big of a deal? We don't have a single piece of concrete information...'

'Come on, there's no way Kim Tae-hyun would act like this without a plan.'

...Assuming that legendary quest actually existed, of course.

"Johansson?" Tae-hyun called out.

"Ahem. Languages aren't really my strong suit," Johansson muttered.

"Suana?"

"I've spent so much time shooting arrows that I've developed a bit of farsightedness..." Suana excused herself.

"..."

—...

The gazes of Tae-hyun and Yong-yong toward the two rankers shifted. From Rankers (Bombs) to Garbage (Bombs)!

'As expected of Carbanog! What does it say?'

'...Carbanog. Did I do something wrong to you?'

'...Are you sure?'

'No, but still... I find it hard to believe that curses against Archisus are written on these ruins. What is this?'

There was a limit to coincidences. To find curses directed at Tae-hyun—or rather, Archisus—in a random ruin in the Neutral Zone of the Demon Realm? Did that make any sense? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Of course, older demons were known to use insults like "you bastard who'll get dragged away by Archisus" or "you sucker who'll get scammed by Archisus," but still...

"...?!" Listening to Carbanog's translation, a sudden realization struck Tae-hyun. Which meant this place was...

'An Archisus Temple?!'

The destination the World Tree sent players to was not fixed. It was the Demon Realm, but the exact coordinates were somewhat randomized. It wasn't entirely strange for Tae-hyun, the Avatar of Archisus, to land near one of his deity's temples.

'Though, of course, the fact that there's an Archisus Temple in the Demon Realm in the first place is extremely bizarre.'

It was completely understandable why the demons had been so disgusted that they smashed the place to pieces and left curses behind. Honestly, Tae-hyun would have done the exact same thing!

"First, we need to clear away this rubble," Tae-hyun said.

"Mm. I suppose we should," Johansson agreed.

"Yeah, looks like it," Suana chimed in.

"What are you two doing? Get moving."

"..." The two rankers, who had been nodding along, suddenly remembered. 'Ah...! We're currently his manual laborers...!'

Warriors possessed great strength, and archers were exceptionally swift. In other words, they made a highly compatible duo for this kind of manual labor.

"Don't you think so?" Tae-hyun asked.

"..."

"Die, Kim Tae-hyun. Die, Kim Tae-hyun," Suana muttered under her breath.

"I guess you don't think so." Johansson, seemingly sulking, refused to answer, while Suana continued to grumble. Neither of them had ever imagined they would travel all the way to the Demon Realm just to do chores!

'Of course it does.' Tae-hyun thought.