Chapter 25

* * *

The building next to Sword Palace, the Korean branch office of a Japanese trading company.

This office, usually tightly closed with iron doors, was actually used as the Korean branch of the Neo Self-Defence Force.

The reason the Neo Self-Defence' branch was established next to Sword Palace was simple: to recruit Sword King Yoon Sejin.

Thus, the office that had become useless by now was transformed into the personal space of the head recruiter, Takeda Kazuo.

A large desk with eight neatly arranged monitors. Takeda swiftly devoured the stack of hamburgers on it, watching Seong Jihan's achievements with an annoyed expression.

"Seong Sang. If you're already showing such prowess... you might receive offers from other countries, not just Korea."

The sight of Seong Jihan single-handedly sweeping away zombies. Even though he was just a Bronze player, the scene showcased that his future value was different from that of ordinary players.

Although he hadn't been active in the league for long and hadn't gained much attention, if such absurd scenes continued to be staged, it was clear that the surroundings would become noisy before he even got to Silver.

"Before that happens, I need to secure Seong Sang somehow..."

Takeda furrowed his brow.

If it was just about money, Neo Self-Defence' side wouldn't have been left behind. However, Seong Jihan wasn't the type that could be recruited with just money.

To transfer him to Japan, "special" means were necessary.

And for that to happen...

"The approval of the upper echelons is required."

However, even with Takeda's appeal, the conservative upper echelons of the Neo Self-Defence Force hadn't granted their approval.

There needed to be solid grounds to convince them.

"That would be the Status Window."

If the data from the Status Window, which undoubtedly had remarkable information due to Seong Jihan's displayed martial arts, was added, it might be possible to persuade the upper echelons of the Neo Self-Defence Force.

Gulp! Gulp!...

Takeda drank cola through a straw and calmly began to formulate a plan.

"Yes... Surely, Bronze's Defense Map was about protecting the Crystal."

* * *

In the center of the tower floats a crystal.

Protecting it was the top priority of the defense map.

And this also meant that it was possible for team members to destroy it.

Tap-tap-tap!

Takeda let go of the food in his hand and quickly began typing on the keyboard.

One of the eight monitors focused on someone other than Seong Jihan.

['Sword King Fc 898' entered the channel of the magician Kim Gyuhyuk]

Takeda's alternate account.

- Kim Gyuhyuk! I can't stand seeing that Seong Jihan guy outshine you like this!

Takeda started his maneuvering.

* * *

"Ha. This guy's insane... So damn strong."

Kim Gyuhyuk watched Seong Jihan, who was annihilating enemies alone, and his mouth twitched. They were clearly in the same Bronze League, but what on earth is this difference?

"Stupid game, the balance is crap..."

Kim Gyuhyuk muttered while shifting his gaze. He didn't want to see the despicable human's impressive performance any longer.

"Kyuuhhh~ It's beautiful... so beautiful!"

He glanced at Streamer Golden light, who had both hands clasped together as if in prayer, with an expression of disgust. Then, Kim Gyuhyuk turned his back to the front of the tower and walked slowly towards the crystal.

"Ugh... when will this end?"

Not too long ago, he merely disliked looking at Seong Jihan. He had no other thoughts.

[Sword King Fc 898 has donated 100GP.]

[Kim Gyuhyuk! Please accept our Sword King's Fc Quest!]

Suddenly, messages of donations started appearing on his channel, which only had about 10 viewers and had been left open just as a formality.

[Sword King 898 Fc has sent you a viewer Quest.]

[Break the crystal and prevent Seong Jihan from being in 1st place.]

Reward: GP 50,000

A quest with 50K GP as a reward appeared, and Kim Gyuhyuk stopped moving.

"...50,000?"

'50,000 GP is equivalent to 50 million Korean won. He will get that much money just to break a single crystal?'

That wasn't all.

- Is this where you marked the coordinates, 898?

- Wow~ As expected of 898. Your dedication is amazing.

- We can't just let that Seong Jihan guy rampage like that.

- I'll also donate to this Quest!

On his channel, which was almost in complete darkness and had hardly any activity, Sword King's Fc messages started flooding in.

The GP for completing the quest began increasing little by little.

52,000, 53,000...

When it reached 55,000, Kim Gyuhyuk's eyes shook uncontrollably.

'These Sword King guys were crazy to begin with, but... this is something else...'

[Sword King Fc 898 has donated 300GP.]

[Kim Gyuhyuk! Please act quickly! If another tower falls, Seong Jihan will automatically achieve 1st place!]

Encouraged by Sword King Fc 898, Kim Gyuhyuk grinned maliciously.

It seems like he really hates JiHan.'

'Even if I end up in last place, I won't lose any skills...'

'Of course, I have to accept it! When I remember how I lost a skill because of him...'

'That's right. I'll make up for the loss with this GP!'

55,000 GP was a sufficient amount to distort past memories. Kim Gyuhyuk's mind had gone wild, and he immediately took action.

[Sword King luv124 has donated 100GP.]

[Before breaking the crystal, please curse Seong Jihan thoroughly. I can't stand that arrogant bastard anymore.]

Kim Gyuhyuk looked at Seong Jihan, who was far away, and nodded his head.

What can he do to me from over there?

"Kukukukuk."

When he was first summoned, Kim Gyuhyuk felt anxious when he saw Seong Jihan. That feeling was nowhere to be found now.

With excitement, Kim Gyuhyuk approached the crystal. And when the crystal came within the range of his magic.

He turned on the voice chat.

"Seong Jihan, you son of a bitch."

* * *

"What's this?"

Hearing sudden curses, Seong Jihan was more bewildered than angry.

Troller Kim Gyuhyuk.

Just a while ago, he was behaving properly, and now he's doing this?

'He is creating trouble just when I'm about to achieve 1,000 kills.'

Seong Jihan has achieved 920 kills so far. He was about to see the next quest, an important moment. Why act like this now?

As the game was nearing its end, was he trying to take revenge for the last time?

"For now, let's ignore him."

He could easily achieve 80 kills, so there was no need to pay attention to such insults.

As Seong Jihan was about to turn off the voice chat to focus on killing zombies, Kim Gyuhyuk's curses rained down like a barrage.

[You think it's okay to scam your high school niece? Her father probably abandoned her because she was fooling around with you.]

* * *

Starting from this, Kim Gyuhyuk began intertwining Yoon Seah and Seong Jihan while showering them with curses.

Whether he had already predicted that Seong Jihan was about to mute the chat or not.

[He went to Japan because of the shock of you two fooling around, right? You dirty bastards~ Haha.]

Kim Gyuhyuk poured out curses almost as if he was rapping.

As Seong Jihan turned off the voice chat, no more curses came out. But he suddenly found himself standing still.

"...."

It was fine for others to curse him. After all, he was used to it, having heard countless insults even in his past life. He had long learned how to ignore criticism.

However...

Bothering his niece was an entirely different story, especially the way Gyuhyuk was saying such dirty things about her and him.

"...."

Memories of Yoon Seah's last moments, which he wanted to forget, resurfaced.

The day when the Sword King slaughtered Korea's top players and reduced Korea to the lowest rank in the league.

Yoon Seah fell victim to the Sword King's treason.

Her face was brutally torn apart by the Sword King Fc, and her body was covered in wounds.

Despite being one of the biggest victims of the Sword King's devastation of Korea, she was entirely blameless in the rational and logical sense.

If a fanatic could think rationally, they wouldn't be a fanatic.

'...She barely held on to her life.'

Her torn face couldn't be reversed even by modern medicine.

To return to her original state, she needed care from high-level supporters. However, none of the supporters were willing to help the daughter of the Sword King.

Even so, after a month of hospitalization and treatment, Yoon Seah regained some mobility. She could stand and walk slowly.

And... her first action with her newly recovered body was...

'It was suicide.'

With her still-recovering body, Yoon Seah jumped out of the window.

There were many factors that contributed to her extreme choice...

Seong Jihan recalled the messages that Yoon Seah had left on her smartphone after her suicide.

They were insults left by the Sword King's Fc.

"We tore your face apart, so Seong Jihan will abandon you too. Hehe. Hehehe."

"What will you do now that you can't roll around with that filthy body anymore?"

After Sword King's Fc had terrorized Yoon Seah, a barrage of text messages rained down on her while she was hospitalized.

The one he recalled now was the mildest among them. Most of the contents had been so vile that he had erased them from his memory.

'That was what drove Seah to the edge and triggered her to make such a decision.'

And if Yoon Seah is watching this broadcast right now...

She would have heard those words too.

'The Linked Quest isn't important right now.'

Seong Jihan turned his back and looked at the Tower.

Even though the distance was quite far, Seong Jihan's vision could capture every detail up there.

And he witnessed a sight he hadn't anticipated.

Kim Gyuhyuk, who had approached the Crystal, had created a Fireball.

'Why did he suddenly start cursing?'

He was throwing a tantrum before shattering the crystal.

'Whether it's simply due to past resentment or someone has spurred him on, I'm not sure...'

Whatever the reason might be, the conclusion was simple.

'I'll kill that guy.'

The distance was great, and the mage would easily be able to destroy the Crystal. But just rushing forward wouldn't get him to the top.

A simple charge wouldn't be enough given the limited time.

To narrow this distance, what he needed was...

'The Nameless Divine Art'

It was an SSS-rank skill that he was unable to learn because his Martial Power hadn't reached 30 yet, but even if the skill weren't there, he'd used it for half of his life.

If he used all of his strength, he could imitate it.

Nameless Divine Arts Footwork Technique: Lightning Thunder Step.

Zi-zi-zi-

A brilliant white lightning surged from Seong Jihan's feet.

All of the zombies approaching him from behind were burned and disappeared.

Lightning Thunder Step was a footwork technique that pierced the sky, However Jihan's foot felt heavy.

Was it because the Nameless Divine Art wasn't in his skill list? He could raise the lightning but perhaps couldn't turn himself into lightning.

'No.'

Seong Jihan suppressed the surging anger.

If the Nameless Divine Art hadn't been in his skill list to begin with, the lightning wouldn't have appeared at all.

The skill was undoubtedly there.

Zi-zi-zi-!

And when he tried with all his might to lift the seemingly unmovable foot...With the lower dantian's energy. Both the middle and upper dantian reacted together.

Due to his heightened nerves, the subtle movements were barely caught.

Seong Jihan found a clue there.

"The Nameless Divine Art... Wasn't it a martial art that only used the lower Dantian?"

Whether he had used it through skills until now or whether the lower dantian had been sufficient.

Seong Jihan summoned all his strength to embody his speculation physically.

He gathered Force within himself.

Upper dantian, middle dantian, lower dantian.

The power of the three dantian converged in an instant.

And in a fleeting moment, he felt his body become lighter.

This sensation was similar to using the skill before regression.

At this moment, Seong Jihan became convinced.

'It's possible.'

Kurrur!!

Seong Jihan's body turned into light.

From the ground where he stood, white currents of electricity surged high.

And soon...

Flash!

A bolt of lightning struck the Tower.

[Sword King FC 898 has donated 100 GP.]

[Kim Gyuhyuk, Hurry! Break it quickly! Seong Jihan is coming!]

Kim Gyuhyuk, who had been cursing in voice chat, began to think that he should finish the mission as the donations from viewers increased.

'It doesn't matter if he approaches. What can he do from this distance?'

Honestly, Seong Jihan beneath the Tower wasn't a consideration, but...

"What are you doing!"

Streamer Golden Light, who had been focusing on Seong Jihan for a while, approached with a threatening aura. He had made up his mind to clear the most important viewer mission.

"Hehe... Explode!"

As Kim Gyuhyuk's pre-summoned Fireball was about to launch, suddenly...

Boom!

His Fireball exploded in mid-air.

"Wh-what's going on!"

Thud! Thud!

A soccer ball had exploded the fireballs, and the culprit was clear.

"Masid! This damn idiot!"

When Kim Gyuhyuk saw Masid, he shouted at him, raising his middle finger.

"You. Cursed. A Child."

Pretending not to know Korean well, yet he understood perfectly.

'This guy, he knew Korean all along, didn't he?'

Although Kim Gyuhyuk had the urge to show this foreign guy a thing or two...

"Damn... Fireball!"

To clear the mission that was now at stake for 55 million won, he memorized the Fireball spell again.

However...

"Kim Gyuhyuk."

A voice that shouldn't be heard here.

It chilled his ear.