Chapter 41
National Representative Selection Match (3)
“Hey.”
Ranked 9th, Oh Ji-myeong, spoke as he kicked a pebble on the ground.
“What are you doing right now? You think you’re on a camping trip or something?”
He didn’t like Baek Jin-woo’s attitude. Was the National Representative Selection Match some kind of joke? It would be eyesore enough if a High Ranker ranked above him acted that way, but this guy wasn’t even a Ranker. He was just a player who had recently gained some fame, and his behavior was grating on Oh Ji-myeong’s nerves.
‘Ho-oh, “Hey”?’
Baek Jin-woo smiled deeply. Look at these cheeky brats. Coming on quite strong, aren’t they?
Well, first off, they were both older than him, so he could let the informal speech slide for a moment.
“Yeah, is there a problem?”
Baek Jin-woo laughed and stood up abruptly.
‘Should I play along for a bit?’
After months of intense training through Hun-gyo, Baek Jin-woo’s physique was already beyond that of an ordinary person. Compared to him, the bodies of these Rankers were so pathetic it made him want to sigh. Well, he understood. As long as a player’s summons were strong, there was no law saying they had to maintain their own bodies. However, the pressure radiating from a well-managed body is naturally stronger than one that isn’t.
“…This brat.”
Slightly pushed back by the pressure, Oh Ji-myeong bit his lip.
“You seem to be acting tough because the media’s been pushing you lately, but if you keep your neck that stiff, you might find yourself never getting selected.”
“…Eh? Really?”
Baek Jin-woo tilted his head.
“Hmm, that’s strange. Isn’t the National Selection Match about skill? Oh, is it not? Seeing how you two were selected last year… I guess it is possible to make it without any skill.”
“You crazy son of a bitch.”
Finally, Oh Ji-myeong lost his temper, and a curse flew out of his mouth.
“No need for long words, Senior. Let’s just slice up his summon first and then give him his lecture.”
Ranked 10th, Park Ho-seop, lined up his summons. Baek Jin-woo watched the scene as if it were a comedy.
“Man, this isn’t even funny.”
“….”
“You guys call yourselves Rankers, yet you’re flapping your gums while preparing a shameful pincer attack? We should just see this through and go our separate ways. Right, Hun-gyo?”
— ….
Hun-gyo nodded silently. His eyes were cold and sharp. It seemed he wanted to cut down those two players immediately for daring to discomfort his lord.
“You’re done for.”
Whoosh!
As Oh Ji-myeong swung his arm, his summons charged all at once. True to his rank, he possessed a variety of B-Rank summons.
“Let’s talk separately after the melee. I need to educate you.”
“Oh, those words.”
Baek Jin-woo nodded, looking rather pleased.
“Please make sure you keep that promise.”
At that moment.
Flash!
Hun-gyo moved, striking the chin of one of Oh Ji-myeong’s humanoid summons with the back of his blade.
Kwaaaaang!
With a roar, the summon was sent soaring into the air, its consciousness snuffed out. It wasn’t just speed; it was incredible power. A B-Rank summon taken out in one hit.
“Okay, one down.”
Hun-gyo lunged forward, maintaining the momentum of his strike.
Slash! Slas-slash!
His movement speed was on a different level. While the opponent’s summons were still in the middle of their attack animations, Hun-gyo had already swung his sword, retracted it, and dashed forward.
Swish!
With three precise strikes, Hun-gyo cut through the vitals of the summons! Actually, this kind of multi-player melee was incredibly advantageous for the current Baek Jin-woo. As long as he could buy time for Lamba to stack up, he was practically invincible.
“Two, three… uh, is it four? Wow, it’s so fast I can’t even see it.”
Baek Jin-woo was enjoying it, but Oh Ji-myeong was utterly bewildered. Five seconds? No, it happened in less than four. A thud, a few slashes, and four of his summons had their HP reduced to zero.
And the last one.
— Grwaaaaaaaar!
A Berserk Stone Golem (B-Rank) jumped into the air, preparing to swing its spinning fists downward.
Slice-slice-slice!
Hun-gyo was already on top of it, performing a “golem dismantling show” with his sword. He was precisely cutting through the joints of the golem, which were coated in mana.
‘C-Crazy!’
Oh Ji-myeong was horrified.
Crumble!
Even though its core—the heart—hadn’t been struck, the Stone Golem fell apart into arms, legs, and a torso.
Spin!
Performing a mid-air somersault, Hun-gyo lunged his sword straight into the heart located in the golem’s torso.
Pshhh!
The golem was instantly unsummoned.
“…!”
Silence fell. Park Ho-seop, in particular, had his eyes bulging out. Was there any player in the country who could play with Senior Oh Ji-myeong like that?
[All summons of player ‘Oh Ji-myeong’ have been unsummoned.] [Eliminated from the melee.]
Wooooom!
Light rising from the floor began to envelop Oh Ji-myeong’s body. At this moment, the protective shield that had been guarding Oh Ji-myeong vanished. Baek Jin-woo, with his sharp eyesight, caught it immediately and kicked off the ground.
‘This guy deserves a beating.’
He could have told Hun-gyo to hit him, but that might actually kill him. Humans should be beaten by humans.
“Make sure you come find me after the melee. I’ll pay for your medical bills.”
Baek Jin-woo dashed forward, twisted his waist, and buried his fist into Oh Ji-myeong’s left abdomen—the liver.
“Keok, hu-gh?!”
The air was knocked out of Oh Ji-myeong instantly.
‘That… that son of a bitch… no manners!’
Hitting a person in a player match? He was indignant, but he couldn’t scream. He was warped out of the melee immediately.
“Are you next?”
Ranked 10th, Park Ho-seop, could only stare blankly at the grinning Baek Jin-woo.
The broadcast screens for the melee switched rapidly. Due to the nature of the event, so many battle scenarios were happening at once. The 1st ranked player dominating, other players teaming up to raid the 2nd ranked player like a boss monster, and so on.
— Yes, the 3rd ranker is currently moving to the outskirts to wait it out! — It’s a strategy to avoid unnecessary fighting! What is the 4th ranker doing? Shall we switch over?
Zip!
As the perspective shifted, Baek A-jin shouted.
“Oh? It’s Oppa!”
She had spotted a familiar face on the screen.
— Yes, the 9th and 10th rankers are allied, right? They announced at the press conference they’d team up again this year. — Correct. Wait, what happened? One of them is missing? — Ah! News just came in that one was eliminated. What on earth happened? — Shall we check the recording?
Because of the chaos, relatively “less important” scenes like this were often missed live. But it didn’t matter; they could just play it back.
“Ah, geez!”
Baek A-jin grumbled as she listened to the commentators.
“What is it, daughter?” Hwang Myeong-hee asked, puzzled.
“Our Oppa. He has the worst luck. He had to run into the 9th and 10th rankers.”
“Oh dear, what now?”
“Exactly. Sigh, those two are from the Headquarters; they’re famous for sticking together like cowards. The golden rule of the melee is to hide quietly and pass through luck… why did he run into Rankers right from the start! Argh!”
“Then is our Jin-woo going to be eliminated?”
“Wait. It says one Ranker is already gone… huh?”
At that moment, a highlight clip appeared on the screen. It was the scene where Hun-gyo sliced through Oh Ji-myeong’s five summons in just 10 seconds. The three players had exchanged some words, Oh Ji-myeong’s side attacked first, and then—Hun-gyo moved in an instant, cutting down the enemies. It was so fast and flashy that even in slow motion, it looked like regular speed.
— W-What was that just now! — Incredible! What am I looking at? One summon of player Baek Jin-woo! A single summon is slaughtering the summons of a top 10 domestic ranker! Is this even possible? — We’ve replayed it twice and I still can’t believe it!
Whooa! Ohhhhhh!
The roars of the crowd could be heard from outside. They were clearly watching the same scene.
“Wow, look at that!”
Baek A-jin also jumped up and pointed at the screen. Hun-gyo! How could she not recognize that broken summon? The ridiculous summon that had suppressed her cherished Shadow Elf in an instant and then grabbed her by the ankle!
“Wow! Was he really that strong? To a Ranker…?”
“Did your brother win?”
“Mom, this isn’t just ‘winning’! This is insane! He completely crushed him… and a top 9 ranker at that! Wow, damn! Goosebumps.”
As Baek A-jin rubbed her arms and looked toward her father.
“A-Appa?”
“…!”
Baek Jin-cheol was frozen, his mouth hanging wide open. It made sense.
‘Appa often watches the World Leagues and player matches.’
He likely understood how impossible this situation was even better than their mother.
— Just what kind of summon is that? Has the caster ever seen it before? — No. There is an E-Rank ‘Training Director’ that looks similar, but it’s completely different. The Director carries a camera, not a sword. — Then what is it? — Perhaps it’s one of the unrevealed B-Ranks, or maybe even an A-Rank summon. — Ooh, player Baek Jin-woo was hiding a secret weapon! — Oh? Wait, that’s not it! — Yes? — According to information just received, it’s an E-Rank summon called ‘Training Instructor’. — A Training Instructor? — Yes, veteran gamers might know it… but the strange thing is, it’s not supposed to be this strong! They say it was just a mediocre E-Rank! And it was even removed in a patch about three years ago!
There were quite a few players who knew of the Training Instructor’s existence. However, there were zero players who knew that Jinu-God had used it. Even the Five Emperors (五帝) didn’t know. The Training Instructor was a summon Jinu-God had used and then isolated before he began communicating seriously with the Five Emperors. The same went for Lamba and Pok-ryong. The summons of the “One Heaven” (一天) Jinu-God that the Five Emperors knew were the Rune Dwarf, Aso, Ma-myo, and the Dragon of Destruction… and that was about it.
— Is there any info from Baek Jin-woo’s side? — No, nothing! In fact, he’s placed a privacy request on that summon! — I guess that’s for the best? — It could be!
Actually, the Headquarters preferred not to reveal the detailed abilities of Rankers’ summons to the public. They encouraged privacy because of the competitive system. If it became known domestically, foreign analysts would start studying it, and their power would be exposed. Thus, the commentators avoided digging too deep and refrained from detailed explanations.
— Regardless, this is a staggering result! And right now! Player Baek Jin-woo and player Park Ho-seop have clashed! — Ah, ahhhh! The result isn’t much different! — Was Park Ho-seop always this helpless? He’s being sliced apart by Baek Jin-woo! — Waaaaaaaaah! Baek Jin-woooooo! Just what is your identity! — No one expected this! Player Baek Jin-woo has slaughtered two Rankers!
There was no player who could stop a stacked Hun-gyo.
Slash!
It didn’t matter what summons Park Ho-seop had. Lamba, equipped with graduation runes, was simply a cheat code. Park Ho-seop’s summons were unsummoned after just a few of Hun-gyo’s sword strokes.
“W-Wait a minute.”
Before he disappeared, Park Ho-seop reached out both arms with a terrified expression, but Baek Jin-woo was a more persistent and petty man than one might think.
“That lecture we were supposed to have later. Make sure you keep your promise.”
Thwack!
Baek Jin-woo grinned and drove his fist into the man’s abdomen.
