The Rankers Fall Silent

An embarrassing silence fell over the rankers.

Tae-hyun let out a deep sigh. He could practically feel the desperation in the rankers' voices.

They're completely screwed...

How was it possible that not a single one of these supposedly elite players had actually succeeded?

Most of the rankers had at least succeeded in finding their targets. Honestly, if they couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even manage that, they might as well delete their characters.

Bingo!

Tae-hyun was appalled. Are these guys really rankers?!

The rankers asked, swallowing their pride. How on earth did Kim Tae-hyun break through this?

He must have some kind of cheat gear!

No matter how skilled he is, easily breaking through a curse we couldn't even scratch... It has to be a quest item he got from somewhere!

Say it, Kim Tae-hyun! Tell us you cleared it with some quest item you luckily stumbled upon!

All the rankers eagerly awaited Tae-hyun's answer, desperately hoping for a way to cope.

But the answer that came back was the exact opposite of what they wanted to hear.

What kind of absolute nonsense was that?! If it were a matter of just making the fire "hotter," did they think the rankers would be struggling like this?

Though spoken quietly, the word "useless" pierced their ears with crystal clarity!

Even if the rankers had ten mouths each, they would have nothing to say in their defense.

Meanwhile, Yong-yong spoke up.

Heuk-heuk stared at Yong-yong in sheer horror. He didn't mind Tae-hyun, but he had absolutely no desire to tag along with these pathetic-looking rankers. He thought they had been getting along better lately, but to get backstabbed like this! As expected of Archisus's divine beast!

Heuk-heuk realized his mistake. He had spoken far too honestly right in front of the Avatar of Archisus and his divine beast.

"O Demonic Beast of Sadiq."

Heuk-heuk had no choice but to fly off, crying.

Tae-hyun looked at Yong-yong in admiration.

"My, my. What a flawless revenge."

"What? You didn't say that just to get back at Heuk-heuk?!"

Yong-yong fell silent.

He really missed the Gold Dragons. Compared to the Avatar of Archisus and the Black Dragon, Yong-yong possessed an incredibly pure and innocent heart.

It wasn't just the rankers who were suffering.

The players who had followed Tae-hyun into the Demon Realm on pure faith were having an equally miserable time.

"Where... where did that guild leader go? The one who said we just needed to ride Kim Tae-hyun's coattails..."

"He died a bit ago and got logged out."

"..."

The atmosphere in most guilds resembled a funeral home.

The unlucky guilds had spawned right in the middle of high-level demon territory and were wiped out instantly upon arrival!

The luckier ones spawned in areas without high-level demons nearby, but...

That didn't make things easy. They had to survive while constantly fending off waves of monsters and demons rushing them from all sides.

No matter how hard they fought and endured, players were getting logged out one by one, so the mood was bound to be terrible.

"Damn it... even the teleportation scrolls aren't working!"

"Are... are we really all going to die here?"

"I've accumulated too many death penalties! I can't afford to die right now!"

"Where on earth is Kim Tae-hyun's party?!"

The large guilds wandered around frantically, searching for Kim Tae-hyun's party. It wasn't like finding them guaranteed survival, but in their current state, it was the only hope they had left!

If Tae-hyun had seen this, he would have been baffled: When did I ever guarantee your survival?

They were getting their hopes up and digging their own graves all on their own.

"Ah, that guild over there... what should we do? Should we attack?"

"Are you insane? In this situation? They look completely battered too. Let's ask them to team up."

Even guilds that usually bickered as rivals put aside their differences and joined hands. They knew that fighting here would only lead to mutual destruction.

Of course, cooperating didn't mean they suddenly became friends. The players from the two guilds growled at each other from the very start.

"Our guild has a highly accurate map of the Demon Realm."

"Hmph. Our guild has a ranker explorer."

"Then tell that explorer of yours to find Kim Tae-hyun's party."

"...Why don't you guys look up the terrain around Kim Tae-hyun's party? It was all shown on the broadcast, so try to find that location."

Both guilds knew they were asking for the impossible. If such a thing were possible, they would have left already!

Even if the ranker explorer was the grandfather of all explorers, finding a path in completely uncharted territory with zero information was impossible.

If this were the continent, they could have at least found a town and cleared some quests. But in the Demon Realm, entering a town meant getting attacked by demons first.

The same went for the map. Even if the margin of error was small, how were they supposed to find anything with just that?

Just as everyone was falling into despair...

An unbelievable piece of news struck the community boards.

One of the guilds participating in the expedition had surprisingly announced a method to locate Kim Tae-hyun's party.

The Holy Knight Size King Guild.

It was one of those average guilds commonly seen in Pan-On. Not a massive, renowned guild, but one with a solid roster and a decent number of members.

The only peculiar thing about it was its name.

Many guild members had begged, "Guild Master, please change the name!" but the Guild Master stubbornly refused, saying, "If we change it now, we're admitting we have something to be ashamed of!"

True to its name, the guild was primarily composed of Holy Knights, which naturally made the Phytos Church highly popular among them.

Phytos, the God of Holy Knights! If you're a Holy Knight, you worship Phytos! That was the standard formula.

There were a few Holy Knights of the Demer or Tyran Churches, but they were in the minority.

However, at some point, Holy Knights of the Archisus Church began to quietly grow in number.

The reason was simple. The church that ruled the Atali Kingdom was none other than the Archisus Church! Furthermore, its rapid growth of late played a huge role.

Since the Holy Knight Size King Guild primarily operated within the Atali Kingdom, they couldn't help but be influenced.

Thinking about it rationally, the Phytos Church was far superior, but humans were not purely rational creatures.

Humans are easily swept up by trends!

And that very trend saved the Holy Knight Size King Guild.

"Aren't we completely screwed?"

"Shh. Not yet. Keep it down, the Guild Master might cry."

"We want to cry too... L-look, demons!"

"More demons?!"

"And there are more than five of them...! We're in deep trouble."

"Prepare for battle first! Cast your buffs!"

Being Holy Knights, their combat capabilities were excellent, but the Demon Realm was on a whole different level. Even fighting ordinary demons on the field required them to go all out, or they would be in grave danger.

The Holy Knights began casting their respective skills.

The Archisus Holy Knights did the same.

It was a standard Holy Knight prayer skill, a mediocre buff that slightly boosted overall stats. While it occasionally triggered a random additional effect, few people actually relied on it.

"????"

In an instant, the entire party was cloaked in stealth. It was a perfect stealth that even the demons passing by on the field couldn't detect!

And before the Archisus Holy Knights, a path made of light began to appear.

"Guild Master! I see a path! We just need to follow this path!"

"I... I..."

"??"

"Didn't I tell you?! I told you riding Kim Tae-hyun's coattails was the way to go!!"

"...Saying that in this situation is a bit..."

The forums were in an uproar. Since the large guilds had sent all their elites, they had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to find a way to survive at all costs.

The executives of each guild were desperately searching for information. They had to bring their members back alive!

As a result, a bizarre sight was unfolding in the Demon Realm.

A sight that would have made Tae-hyun gasp, Is this a sign of the end of the world?

A crazy phenomenon where everyone on the forums was desperately hunting for Archisus classes!

Parties lucky enough to have an Archisus Church class kept spamming their prayers to find the way.

Parties without any Archisus classes desperately tried to cling to those who did, or at least follow closely behind them.

"H-how did this...?"

Tae-hyun and his companions, who were still at the fortress, stared at the forums with their jaws dropped. What on earth was happening?

"The Power Warrior guild members are about to die of jealousy."

Quite a few of the Power Warrior guild members had actually changed their classes to Archisus Priests or Holy Knights. If they had come to the Demon Realm, they could have made an absolute fortune doing business! To miss out on such an opportunity... they surely wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be able to sleep tonight out of sheer frustration.

"They're all heading this way, right?"

"Looks like it??"

Looking at the livestreams, the parties that had luckily found the path were definitely heading toward this abandoned land.

Cain spoke up, looking puzzled.

"But it's not like coming here makes them safe, does it?"

"...Right?"

Where on earth did the rumor start that this place was safe?