Chapter 104

Chapter 104

[The Top 100 Silver Promotion Match begins.]

[You are assigned to a special balanced map, 'Tomb of the Raided Conqueror'.]

[The Undead Alliance pursuing equality for all, 'Kill the King', targets the soul of the conqueror. Defend against the onslaught of 'Kill the King' until the Conqueror awakens!]

The otherworldly Undead Legion, Kill the King.

They held more than half the responsibility for Earth's doom.

'If the World Tree Alliance was responsible for Earth's continuous losses in the Space League... Kill the King was in charge of the clean-up.'

On planets that rank low in the Space League, more dungeons appear.

The World Tree Alliance had decisively crushed Earth in the league matches.

And from the dungeons that subsequently opened, Undead Legions with banners bearing a golden crown pierced by three spears poured out.

'It started off easy.'

The initial wave of undead consisted of just zombies and skeletons.

With modern firepower, this was a manageable force.

But, after a few repulsions, the Undead Legion that appeared were entirely different.

'The intangible enemy, ghosts, couldn't be combated with just an army.'

North Korea's fall was mainly due to these intangible monsters.

Of course, North Korea's downfall was partly because they nationally suppressed the growth of players and were caught off guard.

Other countries tried to counter the intangible monsters by boosting the power of Mage and Support players.

In the beginning, this approach had some success, but

'They were outnumbered.'

Once a dungeon portal opened, undead poured out without pause.

Initially, the dungeon portals released not just undead but various monsters of different types.

But at some point, only ghost legions holding the flag of 'Kill the King' aggressively emerged.

'Eventually, every region had the flag of 'Kill the King' planted...'

Once dungeons began to emerge, it was the end for that country.

Such a perception existed even during this tutorial phase, and it was solidified mainly due to the ghost legions of Kill the King.

'Facing 'Kill the King' won't make this game easy.'

Seong Jihan looked around after being summoned.

The direction he had to defend was the northern area.

"Not inside the tomb, but outside."

Sturdy walls encircled the tomb in all four cardinal directions.

Seong Jihan stood on the northern wall, where guards made of clay, like those he had seen in old dungeon maps, were positioned at various points.

[Player 'Seong Jihan' and 9 lower-ranked players will defend the north, while the remaining 90 players will defend the south.]

[The side whose gate breaks first will be defeated and ranked at the very bottom.]

One by one, party members were summoned to the northern gate.

Just like the system message indicated, only nine more were summoned, and no additional personnel were placed.

The intention to suppress the game-breaker Seong Jihan was evident.

[You have completed the achievement 'Becoming a Balance Adjuster(1)'.]

[You have earned 30,000 achievement points.]

"There was an achievement for this?"

After checking the achievement message, Seong Jihan looked at his teammates.

"Ah... To be on the same team as Seong Jihan..."

"Sigh... We've lost..."

Players from around the world who were summoned looked at Seong Jihan, clearly showing their disappointment.

Whether you win or lose in the Top 100 match, you still get promoted just by playing.

But everyone wanted to be on the winning side, not the losing one.

"Am I really ranked below 90? That's impossible...!"

Being summoned here was essentially a system confirmation that they were below the top 90 of the Top 100.

No one was in high spirits.

However, the last person to be summoned exclaimed,

"Oh! Jihan! Hey! We're on the same side!"

Supporter Sophia, seeing Seong Jihan, jumped around with excitement.

"Sophia? How come you're here...?"

Seong Jihan blinked in surprise.

She shouldn't be ranked here, should she?

To his question, Sophia smiled brightly.

"Oh, I didn't use my stat points."

'Is it because of the Otherworldly Relic?'

An Otherworldly Relic raises divine power if you hold onto it and pray.

The one who told him about this was none other than the future Sophia.

Seong Jihan roughly guessed why she didn't allocate her stats.

"Don't you wonder why?"

As she approached with sparkling eyes, she prompted him to ask the question he wanted.

"I am curious."

"Heh. Right? You're curious, aren't you? Then treat me to a meal, and I'll tell you!"

"I don't have time to go to America."

"I'll go to Korea! It's perfect timing since there's a break after the promotion match!"

...She's coming to Korea just for a meal?

Seong Jihan was flabbergasted.

'When did she start having a thing for me?'

In his previous life, when he was part of America First, Sophia had shown interest in Seong Jihan.

Back then, Seong Jihan, preoccupied with other matters, had ignored her.

But Sophia at that time was quite serious.

'I had a rough idea why back then...'

In the game, and even in reality, he had rescued her multiple times, shielding her from enemies and becoming a reliable protector.

Even if it wasn't intentional, Seong Jihan had collaborated with Sophia in key moments as teammates.

Perhaps that's why, aside from Sophia, many Supporter and Mages from America First had a favorable impression of him.

If it wasn't for Seong Jihan, dozens would have died in real battles.

'But why is she behaving this way now?'

Looking at Sophia waiting for his response, Seong Jihan frowned, unable to understand.

The mystery remained unsolved until he found out that she had a severe warrior mania.

And all these scenes of Sophia approaching Seong Jihan were being broadcasted live worldwide.

* * * * *

- ...What... the... hell...

When Sophia, being part of Seong Jihan's team, had their conversation aired, commentator Christopher was at a loss for words.

- Christopher! It seems Sophia is quite interested in Seong Jihan! Is she like this at home too?

That's right.

Sophia was the younger sister of commentator Christopher.

- Ah... I knew Sophia admired warriors but...

- Hahaha. This is the first time I've seen you so flustered, Christopher!

- Imagine your pious sister who prays every day suddenly meeting a guy and announcing she's going to a foreign country! How should I react?!

- Just support your sister's youth!

- Oh, shi... You should have whispered that! Why in the middle of a live broadcast...

- She must be really into him!

- You're lucky not to have a sister like that!

- If I had a sister like Sophia, it would be an honor!

Christopher glared at the unyielding caster and took a deep breath.

Yeah, it's her choice if she likes Seong Jihan.

But blowing it up on the Top 100 broadcast?

The viewer count is already over a billion!

- Haha. I'd love to see more of Christopher being flustered, but we have to move the camera to the southern side now. Oh, the atmosphere seems more tense than I thought?

Fortunately for Christopher, the broadcast's focus shifted from the northern side, where Seong Jihan was, to the southern side.

There were 90 players over there after all...

- Yes... There's a tense atmosphere between Barren and China's Wang Lin!

- Ooh. Yes, they're shouting!

The two representative players of the US and China drew attention with their confrontation.

"Barren."

The one who initiated the conflict was China's Wang Lin.

"How do you feel?"

"...What are you talking about?"

"I'm curious how it feels to have the highest odds stolen from you by me."

The bearded oriental man in his early 40s approached Barren and taunted him.

China's Wang Lin, known as the 'Heavenly Demon'.

Aside from Seong Jihan, he was unmatched in skill among the Silver Rank warriors.

"Did you come here to pick a fight?"

"No. Just wanted to show the difference between us."

Payout Ratio Lowest at 1st place.

This was a measure that ultimately showed whom the masses believed would be the winner of this Top 100 match.

And in the end, the one assigned the lowest payout ratio was not Barren of the U.S., but Wang Lin of China.

He stroked his beard, laughing at Barren.

"I shouldn't have given in then. If I knew you, with the absurd gift of 'having 2 status windows,' would be this pathetic, I would've said something."

"Get lost, you bastard."

"Thanks to your refusal to take All-Stat 1 and choosing to end yourself, Mikhail and I had our regrets lessened. Although Master Seong Jihan did party with us for a few days, an opportunity like that never came again."

"Are you making a fuss because you missed out on All-Stat 1?"

"Well, that too. But you see."

Wang Lin pointed to his mouth from which English was naturally coming out.

"I don't like the fact that, from my mouth, instead of Chinese, English is coming out."

"Why are you arguing with me about it? It's your league that's falling behind, isn't it?"

Broadcasts that are sent out worldwide, like the Top 100 promotion match, are broadcasted from the country that achieved the No.1 spot in the World League Power Rankings.

And this broadcast right also included language domain, which means at international tournaments, English, the language of the U.S., was automatically used.

This was an absolute rule that applied to everyone, whether Korean like Seong Jihan or Chinese like Wang Lin.

"Hehe. That's why I'm saying this. The New York League will soon give the No.1 spot to the Beijing League."

"Hah. Show your performance first. Aren't you speaking English from your mouth right now?"

"Humph! It won't be long. Soon from your mouth... right, Cantonese will come out."

"Cantonese? Where is that? Could you please explain it so I can understand?"

USA and China.

The players from the two superpowers were fiercely competing, and it was being broadcasted live without any cuts.

- Christopher! Are we getting fired?

- Hahaha. While the Beijing League is the 2nd top league in the world, it's still far behind the New York League in power ranking. We won't face layoffs!

- Still, I wish Barren would put in more effort! Heavenly Demon Wang Lin is indeed a powerful player among Silvers... But Barren isn't someone to be underestimated like this!

Heavenly Demon Wang Lin.

He was undeniably a strong player.

With an SSS-grade Gift, the Heavenly Demon Body, he was a Chinese silver Warrior who single-handedly dominated the Bronze Top 100 promotion match two months ago.

However.

The American commentators were all convinced that 'having 2 status windows' was stronger than 'Heavenly Demon Body.'

- Exactly! Having 2 status windows! It's a gift of a generation! Barren has the potential to become a superstar. He just got lost for a while, that's all! He'll come back and surprise us!

- I hope that's in this match.

- With the most powerful competitor, Seong Jihan, getting a balance patch to the north, now it's Barren's turn!

With the North in despair due to a lack of players,

From the perspective of the South, where the U.S. and China are competing,

Boom! Boom! Boom-!

The battlefield echoed with the sound of drums.

[Take down the king.]

A voice could be heard.

Adjusted for channel 0's broadcast, the sinister voice had switched to English.

[Break the ranks!]

[All are equal!]

Kill the King.

As the otherworldly Undead Legion advanced,

Skeletons, zombies, and all alike,

All opened their mouths and chanted in that eerie voice.

[Bring down the conqueror!]

[Give a fair death to all!]

[Kill the King!]

That chilling voice didn't sound like the undead, but more like revolutionaries.

[Notes:

TL/N: Undead Alliance and Undead Legion are both different things; Alliance refers to one of the Space League Alliances such as World Tree Alliance, while Legion is a small force which invades Earth, such as 'Kill the King'.]