If You Leave Us Like This, What Are We Supposed to Do?!

"We're screwed!"

"Hey, what the hell are we supposed to do now?!"

It wasn't just a matter of whether they had cleared the uncompleted dungeons in the border mountain range. Of course, the rankers had been drooling over the massive rewards they would get from clearing them. For Tae-hyun, it might barely give him a single level up, but for the rankers, it was a golden opportunity to reclaim everything they had lost and leap back into the top tiers. Clearing not just one, but multiple uncompleted dungeons carried that kind of weight!

Yet Tae-hyun had swallowed up all those uncompleted dungeons by himself using his Speech skill. Even that wasn't the absolute worst part. The absolute worst part was that Tae-hyun was about to leave for the Arena League! Already, whispers were flooding in from the Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild.

The sheer glee in their voices was palpable! The Guild Alliance and the Midas Guild were already popping champagne.

"..."

"..."

The World Tree rankers stared at each other, falling into a heavy silence. The atmosphere was practically funeral-esque!

"Alright. Launch the Sky Castle! Once we send it to the Atali Kingdom, I'm heading to the arena."

"W-Wait! Kim Tae-hyun! Wait a second!"

"?"

"You can't leave us like this!"

"Are we dating or something?"

Tae-hyun was taken aback. He never expected these rankers to cling to him so desperately! Weren't they just a temporary group gathered to clear a dungeon together?

"If you leave now, we're dead!"

"Well, everyone dies eventually if they live long enough."

"That's—no, that's not what we mean! We're going to get slaughtered by the Guild Alliance and those Midas bastards!"

"What do you mean? I already told you guys what to do."

"..."

Is 'kill them all' supposed to be advice?! The rankers felt their blood pressure spiking. However, Tae-hyun was surprisingly a man of common sense.

"If you don't have the confidence to do that, just don't log in, or stay hidden."

"...!"

To think Tae-hyun would actually offer such practical advice! But the rankers couldn't possibly accept it.

"Ugh..."

"Argh..."

For a ranker, not logging into Pan-On was as good as death! Staying hidden after logging in was no different either. How were they supposed to level up?

"We're good then, right? Alright! Let's go!"

"N-No!"

But Tae-hyun didn't even pretend to listen as he launched the Sky Castle. Wasting time like this was a luxury he couldn't afford!

"S-Should we get on?!"

"If we board now, won't we have to stay hidden inside the Sky Castle forever? We won't even be able to come down!"

"It's better than dying!"

"No way! If we're going to do that, we might as well hide our identities and run somewhere far away! We don't even have crafting classes, so what would we even do in the Sky Castle?!"

While they bickered, the Sky Castle rose into the air. The ranker Green quickly swapped his gear. Then, he hastily summoned his mount and dashed away.

I am not staying with these guys!

He would put as much distance between himself and them as possible, then join up with the Power Warrior Guild members!

"H-Hey! That guy is running away!"

"Catch him! Catch him!"

"Green! We won't kill you, so come back! Let's survive together!"

Once the repairs and reinforcements on the Sky Castle were complete and it was successfully launched, Tae-hyun finally found some breathing room. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠players participating in the Arena League were granted a special skill: Arena Teleportation. It was a skill that allowed them to travel to the official arena from absolutely anywhere!

Other teams utilized this skill with great flexibility. They would gather periodically for practice matches or play friendly matches before the season officially kicked off...

While Tae-hyun's team had been happily grinding away at Demon Realm quests and mining ores, the other professional gaming organizations had been busy with these schedules.

And both the practice and friendly matches garnered an immense amount of attention. The hype was so intense that the investors in the Pan-On Arena League were practically cheering! The prediction that this would become the most popular gaming league in history had hit the bullseye.

Even so, the spotlight remained firmly on Tae-hyun. Even though he hadn't played a single arena match and was only doing quests! It was only natural that the other teams were green with envy.

"Everyone's here."

"...But are we really okay not practicing like this?"

Cain, currently transformed into a Shadow Elf, asked in a dubious voice. Not that the question mattered much now, considering their first match was literally the next day...

He had simply grown anxious seeing other gaming organizations divide themselves into first-string, second-string, and trainees to run scrims, not to mention playing friendlies with rival teams.

"It's not like this is our first or second time fighting as a five-man team. It's no different just because they're enemies. Don't worry. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'll analyze the opposing team's strategy."

"Oh. I wasn't planning on analyzing anything in the first place."

"..."

"..."

Everyone fell silent at Cain's blunt admission. You're not supposed to say that out loud, you idiot...! Tae-hyun shot Cain a deeply pathetic look before continuing.

"As you've all seen from the schedule, we'll be playing three times a week. We don't have the ability to change our strategy every single time, nor do we need to. We're going with a straightforward approach. We'll just keep their strategy in mind and overwhelm them with raw mechanics."

Gulp. Everyone swallowed hard at Tae-hyun's words, tension filling the air. Could they really pull this off?

"We'll spend the day before the match analyzing and preparing, and then play on the match day. We'll just repeat this cycle. We don't necessarily have to finish the league in first place. Of course, first place would be an immense honor and glory, but our real target is the championship."

Once the league concluded, the top teams would advance to the playoffs to determine the true champion. Tae-hyun was aiming for this system.

In the first place, giant gaming organizations have long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠histories, massive capital, and state-of-the-art facilities, giving them a huge advantage in these league matches. We're bound to be at a disadvantage.

Those teams ran their league campaigns backed by directors, coaches, and analysis teams. On top of that, their players were high-tier rankers prepared to make sacrifices for the league! They were willing to take a slight hit in Pan-On if it meant reaping rewards through their league performance.

But Tae-hyun's team was the epitome of greed, wanting to sweep everything for themselves without any of that support. As the league progressed, losses would inevitably pile up.

A total of 20 teams, 38 matches. Two matches against each team... Honestly, it's a bit worrying.

Tae-hyun glanced around at his companions. He didn't say it out loud because he didn't want to make them anxious, but their roster was actually far from optimal. While Tae-hyun, Cain, and Choi Sang-yun were flawless rankers, Jeong Su-hyeok and Lee Da-bi were wild cards.

Furthermore, Cain lacked the brainpower that any proper ranker should possess, meaning there was no telling when he might pull some incredibly foolish stunt...

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

In the end, there was only one way to win.

I'll just have to carry.

Tae-hyun steeled his resolve. He would play well enough to make up for three people by himself. He would kill, kill, kill, kill, and kill again!

Clench!

"Hey. He's looking kind of scary."

"Huh? He looks the same as always to me."

"No... That's the exact same look he had in Pan-On 1 when he massacred entire guilds..."

Choi Sang-yun shuddered in disgust.

"Come on, he's probably just steeling his resolve."

"Exactly. As expected of you, Senior!"

"Am I seriously the only one worried here?"

"Oh! It's starting!"

Choi Myung-sung stared at the screen, his heart pounding with excitement. Twenty of the most elite gaming organizations from all over the world! How many teams had lobbied and negotiated just to secure one of these twenty spots?

But the slots were limited, and the remaining teams who had protested, shouting, "We're in the Second Division?! Are you insane?!" had eventually resigned themselves to their fate, muttering, "Kuh, then it can't be helped!" as they prepared for the lower league.

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Team Leader, I'm literally sitting right next to you."

"Oh. You haven't gone home yet?"

"You're the one who told me to pull overtime so we could watch it together!!"

"Ah. Did I?"

Yoon Ju-hwan resisted the urge to hurl his beer can. Calm down, he's still your boss!

"...By the way, Team Leader. About the format for this league. No matter how I look at it, doesn't it seem heavily skewed in Kim Tae-hyun's favor?"

"It does."

"...Wait, didn't the higher-ups talk about needing to balance things? To keep the matches tight and competitive..."

"They did."

"...Don't tell me you kept Kim Tae-hyun's stats a secret?!"

Even as developers, their authority was limited. They couldn't just freely open and inspect every player's stats or skills. However, there was a loophole. If you continuously observed a single player, you could calculate their accumulated stats and skills!

With that sheer obsession, Choi Myung-sung had mapped out Tae-hyun's class, skills, and stats. It was a level of fanboyism that would make anyone else shudder and think, Ugh, what a crazy stalker.

"Why should I have told them?"

"Wait, what?!"

Choi Myung-sung completely rejected the core premise! Yoon Ju-hwan was too flabbergasted to speak.

"I mean... because that's your job?"

"If there was a better ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way, I would've suggested it. But Kim Tae-hyun already won even when everyone was scaled to Level 100."

"...True."

"If Kim Tae-hyun won even when you stripped away all items, levels, and stats, then that's the other guys' fault, isn't it? Besides, who was it that strongly insisted we should play with all items, levels, and stats intact this time? Wasn't it the big gaming organizations?"

The ones who had desperately lobbied to "balance" the playing field were indeed the giant gaming organizations. They had realized that if they stripped away stats, levels, and gear to rely purely on control, Tae-hyun would have an overwhelming advantage.

"What more was I supposed to do? Suggest we nerf only Kim Tae-hyun's level and stats?"

"...Fair point."

"They lobbied like crazy to make the rules advantageous for themselves, so why should I stop them? They reaped what they sowed. And honestly... I think this rule set is better than the last one. At least there's a chance. If it was pure mechanical control, there would be zero variables, but this way, all sorts of different strategies can emerge. I gave a perfectly fair opinion, even if those lobbying bastards were annoying."

It was no exaggeration to say that Tae-hyun was currently the most famous player in Pan-On. And being the most famous meant that the most information about him had been leaked, and the most analysis had been conducted on him.

It wouldn't be surprising at all if skills or strategies specifically targeting Tae-hyun's weaknesses popped up in this tournament. The giant gaming organizations weren't complete idiots, after all.

"Besides, the weakness of Kim Tae-hyun's team is glaringly obvious."

"?"

"His teammates."

"Ah... true, other than Kim Tae-hyun and Cain..."

"..."

I was talking about Cain, though.

Choi Myung-sung thought to himself. No matter how he looked at it, Cain seemed like the type of player who would become a gaping hole in their defense in a major tournament. He didn't possess a single shred of the dignity expected of a high-tier ranker!

"The first match is being revealed!"

Along with a dramatic sound effect, the name of the opposing team flashed onto the screen.

The moment the announcement was made, groans erupted from the Shanghai Pandas fans in the crowd. Of all the teams, why did their first opponent have to be Team KL!

"...Oh dear. What is Team Leader Wang going to do?"

"But Team Leader, you're smiling right now."

"Haha, what about me? Besides, is there any guarantee that the Shanghai Pandas will lose? They could win. Team KL hasn't played any practice or friendly matches, so they'll be rusty. Hahaha."

You don't believe that for a second...

Most analysts and viewers predicted Team KL's odds of winning to be around 70-30 or 60-40. It was a polite, conservative estimate, given that it was only the opening match.

However, those predictions were completely shattered.

The final score was 10-0.