A Far More Manageable Opponent!

Of course, the World Tree rankers were rankers in their own right, but compared to Tae-hyun, the difference was like a firefly before a full moon.

"Are these bastards out of their minds?!"

Upon hearing the news, Su Ning roared in fury. He had just arrived in the Erance Kingdom and had barely finished speaking with the King of Erance. He was already vexed to death because of those Erance Kingdom bastards...

"I am Su Ning, King of Auston."

When Su Ning first arrived in the kingdom, he made a rather grand entrance. A fellow king! Of course, the difference in national power was astronomical... but their status was technically on the same level, wasn't it? Naturally, he expected treatment befitting his rank.

However, the nobles of the Erance Kingdom were cold.

"But I heard the Auston Kingdom has split. Can we really recognize that man as king?"

"Hmm... I heard the throne he sits on now is also a usurped one..."

"Well, isn't that just how those of lowly blood operate? He wore the crown by sheer luck, but it won't last long."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Just looking at him, he smells foul... unlike the young hero of the Atali Kingdom, whose very presence radiates divinity."

"Right? I was thinking of the King of Atali as well."

"Still, since he came to help, shouldn't we at least acknowledge him? It is what it is."

The nobles of the Erance Kingdom gossiped loudly enough for him to hear!

Low Reputation + Auston Kingdom's disastrous state + No favorable titles with nobles = Complete contempt!

It was infuriating from the get-go, but Su Ning endured. He had to participate in the Erance Kingdom's quest first. Considering the massive rewards, he could swallow this level of humiliation.

Damn it. I haven't felt this humiliated since I took over the Auston Kingdom...

Everything was for the guild and the quest! There were already parties that had gone ahead to the Demon Realm. He had to move with the Erance Kingdom somehow, accumulate contribution points, and claim the rewards.

"Welcome, Su Ning. The Holy Knights and various knight orders will arrive shortly, so we will depart for the Demon Realm as soon as preparations are complete."

"Thank you."

Still, he had successfully achieved everything he aimed for! He was recognized as the King of Auston, gained an additional position because of it, and secured contribution points... Now, all he had to do was safely clear the Demon Realm quest alongside the Erance Kingdom Expedition.

Since Kim Tae-hyun had stepped forward, there was bound to be something to gain.

...Surely!

Just as Su Ning was breathing a sigh of relief, a bolt from the blue struck his ears.

Countless players flocked to the vicinity of the Salz Kingdom, taking photos of the castle from afar, and over hundreds of videos were uploaded. No matter how absurd it sounded, with this much evidence, they had no choice but to believe it.

This unbelievable news caused a massive uproar even within the Guild Alliance.

From the perspective of the guild officers, the rankers' behavior was baffling. Even when told not to do something, those selfish bastards always did as they pleased. Why were they being so cooperative now?

"If it's Kim Tae-hyun, controlling those rankers would be child's play."

"True, if it's Kim Tae-hyun..."

"Then how can we find out? We need to figure out how he stole the Demon Duke's castle..."

The officers chattered, momentarily returning to the mindset of pure players. Once you took on an executive position in a giant guild, it was hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to enjoy the game purely, but this incident was different! It was just that absurd and shocking.

Of course, the Demon Realm raid party, who was listening to this conversation via the guild-wide channel, couldn't help but lose their tempers.

Indeed. While Tae-hyun's theft of the Duke's castle was astonishing, that wasn't what mattered to the players currently in the Demon Realm. Kim Tae-hyun had left the Demon Realm! Then what about this quest...?

It was only natural for the rankers to feel anxious. Fortunately, that concern was soon resolved. A certain player had shown his face at the fortress.

"Don't worry. They say Cain is still at the fortress."

"Cain...!"

"Yes. It means that bastard Kim Tae-hyun hasn't given up on the quest yet. There's no way Kim Tae-hyun would just leave Cain behind."

"That makes sense."

"Besides, a greedy bastard like Kim Tae-hyun would never give up on a quest!"

"Haha! Exactly!"

"This time, that bastard Kim Tae-hyun will be dancing in the palm of our hands. The more he is active in the Demon Realm, the easier it will be for the main force arriving later! It'll be much easier to scoop up contribution points!"

"G-Guild Leader!"

"What is it?"

"The rankers who followed Kim Tae-hyun have started broadcasting again!"

"Ohh... Finally, we can find out what they've been up to! Yes, they must be revealing what they've done so far on stream, right?"

"It's... it's not that. They are currently broadcasting live."

"Without telling us how they stole the castle?"

"No, they're not mentioning it at all?"

"Man, these guys really don't know how to run a stream."

"No wonder they lost their popularity and faded into obscurity."

At the officers' idle chatter, the raid party felt a surge of murderous intent. These bastards were talking so comfortably just because they weren't the ones stuck in the Demon Realm...!

"Ahem. So, what are they doing right now?"

"...They are attacking the mines on our border."

"...What???"

Su Ning was dumbfounded.

"We signed a truce with Kim Tae-hyun! There's no reason for us to fight until we crush the Midas Guild and reunify... Has that bastard declared war again?"

"They are claiming that they are returning the mines they took from the Salz Kingdom..."

"Why the hell is he taking the Salz Kingdom's side?!"

Su Ning flared up.

Of course, those border mines were indeed snatched up while the Salz Kingdom wasn't paying attention. But that was a perfectly normal thing to do in this game! Why was he sticking his nose into this?

At the new report, the guild officers began to whisper among themselves.

"Did he receive a quest from the Salz Kingdom?"

"I heard Kim Tae-hyun started in the Salz Kingdom. He might be close with the King of Salz."

"But even if you get close to the Salz Kingdom, there's no real benefit, is there? It's a complete backwater."

"Right?"

"Well, it's still a kingdom... there must be some reward for helping them. Something... though I'm not sure what..."

"Guild Leader, what should we do? If we strongly protest to Kim Tae-hyun and mobilize the guild's full power through a declaration of war, we can strike at his weak points. Right now, Kim Tae-hyun's vulnerabilities are exposed because he's preparing for both the Demon Realm quest and the Salz Kingdom quest. On top of that, he has to run the Arena League soon, so he won't be able to focus on territory wars. Plus, with several large-scale construction quests underway in his territory, his territory players will struggle to defend. Now is our chance!"

The new guild officer, Wang Min!

His real-world profession was a consultant, and he was a talented individual who had entered the guild on the recommendation of investors who had put money into Pan-On. His role was to monitor the internal situation of the Guild Alliance and report to the investors in exchange for their funding!

The giant guilds of Pan-On had already moved beyond simple gaming guilds and were operating like real-world corporations.

Wang Min's analysis was precise and accurate. He had no doubt that his advice would be accepted. However, organizational life rarely worked that way.

"What... what is this guy saying? Are you trying to ruin the guild?!"

"As expected of a newly joined newbie, your nonsense is off the charts!"

"This is why guys who lived abroad are..."

A barrage of attacks poured in from the other officers! Wang Min was flustered.

"Why... what is wrong with what I said..."

"Everything is wrong, you punk!"

"How do you know if Kim Tae-hyun's apparent weaknesses are actually weaknesses? We've ruined ourselves dozens of times trying to exploit those!"

"Do you know why the guild is in this pathetic state right now? It's because we got into a mudfight with Kim Tae-hyun! If we hadn't fought him, we would have conquered half of Pan-On by now!"

Hearing the officers' words, Wang Min's mind went blank.

These people... they've been completely broken by defeat!

To think they wouldn't even target Kim Tae-hyun when he was vulnerable out of sheer fear. It was an absurd mindset.

"Kim Tae-hyun is also human. Think of the reputation we would gain just by defeating him. Countless additional investors would flock to us."

Wang Min appealed to the officers' greed. As long as they were human, they had to be swayed by greed!

However, the officers of the Guild Alliance were already individuals who had transcended greed. They had suffered far too much to harbor such desires.

"No! Kim Tae-hyun is not human!"

"Think of the reputation we'd gain? This guy is a total gambler! Just go to The Valley already!"

"You're from The Valley, aren't you? Did you set your return point there?"

"You want us to risk our lives on a gamble just to take that? If we fail, are you going to take responsibility?"

"And our main enemy is the Midas Guild! Fighting Kim Tae-hyun in the south while leaving the Midas Guild in the west, does that make any sense?"

"O-Of course, fighting on two fronts is madness, but we can quickly gather our forces and attack while Kim Tae-hyun is distracted, then replenish our resources by plundering his territory. The Midas Guild is currently busy sorting out their internal affairs, so they won't be able to move quickly."

"Guild Leader, did you hear that? He says we can just win and pay it back! This guy has the face of a traitor! He's going to ruin our guild!"

"Hmm... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wang Min. I'm sorry, but that method is too much of a gamble."

Su Ning couldn't agree either. With Midas still standing, if they fought Kim Tae-hyun and the war dragged on... just imagining it made his head spin.

"Then are you just going to let him be, even after suffering such humiliation?"

"Ahem. The mines exposed on the border aren't even that valuable, so it doesn't matter. Let's just leave it alone and not cause unnecessary trouble. It seems Kim Tae-hyun has no intention of pushing further down anyway..."

Just then, a new report came in.

"Guild Leader! Kim Tae-hyun is attacking the guild's private mine dungeon!"

"Bullshit!! How does that bastard Kim Tae-hyun even know about that?!"

"A-Among the rankers following Kim Tae-hyun, there are those who used to be in the Guild Alliance and others who are close to us... Perhaps the information leaked..."

"Are these bastards out of their minds?!"

Sparks flew from Su Ning's eyes. Just because Kim Tae-hyun was running wild, they thought they could run wild too? Did they think they were Kim Tae-hyun?

Thinking this was his chance, Wang Min quickly advised from the side.

"You must firmly show the guild's power!"

"I intend to! Put all their names on the list and place bounties on them! Issue a guild kill-on-sight order!"

"They are rankers, will it be alright?"

"None of them are top-tier anyway! They're washed-up has-beens. And Kim Tae-hyun has never played in a party with those kinds of guys for long. The moment the quest ends, I'll show them hell!"

Su Ning gnashed his teeth and roared. No matter how strong a ranker was, they couldn't defeat a guild alone. They seemed to have underestimated the Guild Alliance, but he would make sure they paid the price!

And a very similar conversation was taking place within the Midas Guild as well.