Chapter 258
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The Dragon Race.
Humanity had encountered this race once before.
-Remember when the Dragon Race showed up in the rehearsal game?
-Yeah, they were spewing breath attacks as soon as we entered the map. They were certainly strong.
-But they still got cut down by Seong Jihan.
-Well, that was just a hatchling then...
In the rehearsal map of the Chaos Battlefield, the "Blue-Scaled Dragon Race" demonstrated a significant presence.
Though eventually suppressed by Seong Jihan, they left an indelible impression on the viewers who watched the games.
The thought of facing such monsters in the Space League unnerved many.
In astonishingly short order, the third match found humans facing the dragons.
='The 'Red-Maned Dragons.' They're currently ranked second.
=If they're second, it means they've not only won both matches but have also been earning a lot of points.
=We must defeat them this time and change our ranking position.
As the opponents for the third match were determined, one of the ranked races, previously displayed as "??," was now revealed.
The "Red-Maned Dragons" stood at the top tier among the ranked races, holding the second position. Seong Jihan pondered the rankings of the Dragons.
'It seems the dragons have yet to encounter the elves.'
By racial specs, Dragons surpass the Elves. Nevertheless, they consistently fell short against the World Tree Elves.
Once all races in the league were active, and as their match results rolled in, the Dragons never triumphed over the World Tree Elves—not even once.
'Well, to be fair, no race has defeated the World Tree Elves...'
In the Space League Bronze League, the World Tree Elves dominated spots one through five.
Except for matches against each other, they remained undefeated.
Even so, the powerful Elves should have managed a few wins against the Dragons, yet the Elves firmly held the top five spots until humanity was relegated.
'This time, let's shake up the stagnating top ranks.'
Unlike his previous life,
Seong Jihan resolved to personally disrupt the rankings, watching the two races' coaches make their appearances.
And then, on the screen...
=Huh...
=The table isn't showing up this time?
=Are we... above the clouds?
The coaches' room, offering a scene vastly different from usual, opened up.
"Hmm..."
Stepping into the cloud-covered coach's room, Davis tentatively moved forward.
Tap! Tap!
One more step, and he worried he'd plunge through, but fortunately,
'These clouds can bear my weight...'
The clouds supported Davis rather than evaporating like smoke beneath his steps.
Relieved, Davis walked slowly until suddenly...
Swoooosh!
Noticing a shadow closing in from his direction, he looked up.
And there,
[.......]
A colossal red dragon unexpectedly appeared before him, with no prior sign.
=Is that a dragon from the Dragon Race...?
=It's huge... much bigger than the dragons seen during the rehearsal!
Bigger than the hatchlings from the rehearsal, the massive dragon made Davis realize why the room had transformed into clouds—The previous coaches' room couldn't possibly accommodate such a tremendous creature.
And then,
Swooosh.......
Confronted with the dragon's golden gaze, Davis involuntarily dropped to his knees on the clouds.
The dragon's look bore no special power, and even if it did, the default mental protection from BattleNet awarded to coaches would have blocked it.
'It's just the presence of the dragon itself that's terrifying...'
Merely being sized up by the enormous beast instilled an instinctual threat in Davis.
-Davis, why are you chickening out? 😂 You'll lose momentum in the psychological battle!"
-Well, if I were there, I might've wet myself...
-Oh, but he's back on his feet now. Legs trembling, though.
-Yeah, we need to use select and ban cards carefully.
Davis, who crumbled momentarily, managed to stand again as cards for selecting and banning floated before him.
'First, a preliminary bout is necessary.'
With no information on the Dragon Race, Davis selected the most versatile option from the ban card choices, exiling three random individuals from the top ten ranks.
'Let's pick Valhalla for the select card.'
Among humanity's players, Seong Jihan stood out as exceptional. To solidify his position, Davis chose the Valhalla map, a warrior map.
And then, a flash!
As light burst forth before him, Davis startled and recoiled.
"Oh... It was just a card."
As the light faded, two cards chosen by the opponent were revealed. Among them, the ban card was flipped first.
=The Dragon Race has made the same ban selection as Coach Davis. They ban 3 individuals within the top 10 ranks!
['The Red-Maned Dragons' players ranked 1, 3, and 5 have been banned from the first match. They cannot participate in the first game.]
[Humanity players from ranks 3, 4, and 7 have been banned. They cannot participate in the first game.]
-Oh, Seong Jihan's safe!
-Plus, the Dragon Race's top rankers has been eliminated, LOL
-Davis seems spot-on with bans. Lucky draws, LOL
Despite choosing the same option, the ban option favored humanity.
Davis, seeing that Seong Jihan, ranked second, survived, breathed a sigh of relief.
'Now, it's all about the selection card...!'
If only the Valhalla map was selected, it would yield the best outcome.
Whoosh!
Davis watched as the opponent's selection card was revealed.
=The opponent's selection card is... Oh, the Chaos Battlefield! Wasn't that the map we played during rehearsals?
=Correct. Last time they alternated matches between 10 races, but this map can also be used 1vs1, apparently.
=A map quite advantageous for flying races. It appears the Dragon Race has chosen a map that showcases their strengths!
The Dragon Race chose their preferred battlefield.
However, Coach Davis smirked to himself upon seeing this.
'Seong Jihan exhibited a sure-win strategy on this map.'
The Chaos Battlefield, where the number of participating players dropped below 10% resulted in defeat. Seong Jihan had overcome this penalty by confining humanity's players within the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
'Valhalla would have been best, but being placed in the Chaos Battlefield isn't the worst outcome.'
Watching the opponent's card being revealed positively, Davis hoped for the best.
[The map for the first match has been decided.]
[The first match will take place on the Survival Map, the 'Chaos Battlefield.']
Seeing the map decided in the waiting room, Seong Jihan calmly predicted the game's outcome.
'The first match is going to be tough.'
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Chaos Battlefield.
The first game commenced seemingly in favor.
[Race adjustment in progress.]
[For each Dragon, 50 human players are summoned equivalently.]
Just like in rehearsals, where 50 humans were summoned for each Dragon, the Chaos Battlefield was filled with humanity's representatives.
"Am... I'm participating too?"
"I thought I was stuck on the bench forever..."
The battlefield revealed the presence of all 2,000 members of the representative team.
[All players selected as species representatives have been summoned.]
[3,000 more players are needed.]
[The remaining players will be summoned based on rankings.]
To fill the numbers, even those not selected as representatives were summoned from Earth.
"Oh. I was just watching TV and... now it's game time!"
"This happened during the last match against Orcs too... Seems like chances to play come more often than I thought!"
"Great!"
Although the top-tier players who hadn't made it into the representative team of 2,000 members were thrilled to get a chance to play...
=Wow... They summoned 5,000 human players... Does that mean there are 100 dragons?
=That's right! And unlike the rehearsal map, human players are scattered across various regions! They're divided into groups of 500, placed in 10 different locations!
=Oh. And the defeat condition now is different from the rehearsal. If the survivors fall below 20%, they lose...!
The commentators' voices, which had been lively, turned serious as they observed the game situation.
The start of the game seemed disadvantageous for humanity compared to the rehearsal.
-If the number of survivors falls below 1,000, is it game over?
-Yeah, with them scattered everywhere, Seong Jihan won't be able to confine the players like he did last time 😒
-Yeah, he trapped them all last time and carried the game alone...
-Hey, the players then and now are different. Back then, they were losers, but now, they're representatives of humanity. You think they'll hinder Seong Jihan?
During the rehearsal, the skill level of the fellow players was low. However, the players representing humanity in the Space League matches comprised the strongest individuals.
Viewers felt an uneasy sense about the player distribution, but they didn't think humanity would easily fall behind.
And it wasn't just the viewers who thought this way.
"Inventory."
Assigned to Chaos Battlefield, Seong Jihan intended to use Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods., but Barren, watching closely beside him,
"Jihan... You aren't planning to trap us in that formation's depth as you did in rehearsal, are you?"
"That was the plan."
"No! Don't do it!"
Barren pleaded, raising objections.
"No! Don't do it! We're representatives of humanity! We're not losers like last time! We can compete against the dragons!"
"We need to save 1,000 lives. Haven't you seen the defeat condition?"
"Before we lose 1,000, we can reduce their numbers to below 20%! Why do you think we'll lose without even trying? We are the strongest of humanity!"
Phew!
Seong Jihan exhaled quietly.
Barren was finally playing the troll, it seemed.
He looked around.
"Right... Who says we can't fight dragons?"
"Let the dragon slayers do their job. When else if not now?"
"During the rehearsal game, the players participating were platinum-ranked, so that's why we fell behind!"
Hearing Seong Jihan and Barren's exchange, several players whispered amongst themselves, seemingly agreeing with Barren.
Perhaps due to their status as the selected human representatives, they all were reluctant to be confined in the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods without a battle.
"Inventory."
Seeing their reaction, Seong Jihan put the sword back into the inventory.
Despite their resistance, he could still use the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods like a dictator.
'But even if we do that, as soon as a few escape, we'll lose anyway. It's better to let them experience it.'
The Chaos Battlefield map, where victory seemed unlikely anyway.
Seong Jihan decided to awaken the reality for the players representing humanity.
"All right. Let's give it a try."
"Wow. Okay! I'll just use my big magic...! Where are those dragon jerks?!"
Barren was eager to use magic as soon as Seong Jihan put the sword away.
"No. Whether it's big magic or small, try blocking that."
"What...?"
As he pointed his finger towards the sky, his eyes quickly filled with shock.
And understandably so.
"The breath is coming this way."
A massive flame engulfed the entire sky.
It was rapidly descending towards them.
"Ahhhh! Absolute Shield...!"
Flustered, Barren and the others hastily deployed protective spells,
But...
Swoosh!
The Fire Breath swept through the players.
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