Chapter 7

* * *

[You have chosen the Support class.]

[*Caution* This class is not compatible with the user. Are you sure you want to choose the support class?]

A system message appears, and the option to choose Warrior shines.

"Why make such a reckless choice?"

The system personally advises against it.

However, Seong Jihan was confident.

"Now is not the right time to choose the Warrior class."

Choosing Warrior right away might make him slightly stronger through the class bonus, but he didn't need that extra strength to get through the Bronze League.

His current power was more than sufficient.

"Instead, I need to acquire the stats unique to the Support class."

Becoming a Supporter grants players a new power: Divine Power.

"Divine Power grows the slowest," he recalled.

On the Battle Net, raising stats could be achieved by spending remaining points or training according to the stat. There were two methods.

"Strength and Agility increase easily with physical training. Even Mana goes up with practicing magic..."

However, Divine Power was nearly impossible to increase through training.

"To acquire Unique Stats, Divine Power needs to reach a certain threshold..."

Spending precious remaining points to increase Divine Power might backfire.

However, Seong Jihan had a way to increase Divine Power without spending points.

"Until I heard from the Priestess, I believed Divine Power could only be increased using remaining points."

Ranked 3rd in the American First Guild, 'Priestess'.

After the destruction of Korea, he joined the guild as an exile and She had paid a lot of attention to him since then.

"Annoyingly so."

Didn't someone ranked third have plenty to do?

She would often chat while Seong Jihan trained in the guild's training room.

"Jihan~ There's a new steakhouse in front of the guild building. Guild members went and said it's really good. Ah, I want to try it too."

"Jihan~ Does training alone really raise your abilities? People need to rest when they can."

"Jihan~ Can you stop breaking the poor iron doll and play with me now?"

She was quite noisy.

However, amidst their chattering during breaks, there were many pieces of valuable information.

Trends of rankers around the world, their estimated abilities, skills, and more...

And among these, there were stories of the rankers' pasts.

Of course, the Priestess herself was included.

"Jihan~ Do you want to know how I became a Priestess?"

"Tell me."

"Because my Divine Power was high!"

"Isn't the cap 10 regardless of your natural value?"

"Hehe... back during the Earth tutorial period. There was an amazing method to increase Divine Power."

The method Priestess shared was valid only until before the year 2020.

Considering it was late July now, he needed to utilize this method as soon as possible.

[You have transitioned to the Support class.]

[A new stat exclusive to the Support class, 'Divine Power,' has been added.]

[Rank F skill 'Heal' has been added.]

[Rank F skill 'Strengths' has been added.]

[Rank F skill 'Barrier' has been added.]

Despite the system's objections, Seong Jihan successfully transitioned to Support class.

He checked the new skills he acquired.

[Heal]

[Skill Rank: F]

[Required Divine Power: 8]

[Heals wounds.]

Requires Divine Power 8.

This meant that the skill could only be used if the Divine Power stat was at least 8. However, Seong Jihan's Divine Power was dismal.

Divine Power: -5

A bitter laugh escaped him. It seemed he was not good at anything. Even 'Strengths' and 'Barrier,' the buff skills, required a minimum of 8 Divine Power.

Seong Jihan smirked and closed the skill window.

"Not using it."

He couldn't spare any points for Divine Power, especially when he was fully invested in his Power. Instead, he could increase Divine Power using the method the Priestess had mentioned.

But to utilize that method, he needed something. The in-game currency, GP (Game Points).

And as for him...

GP: 0

He, who had just finished the tutorial, had no GP.

"I need to earn GP. Now that GP is being tallied, I should do some exploration until the next game."

GP could also be acquired through in-app purchases or the Battle Net market.

Seong Jihan looked around Yun Sejin's place. While Yun Sejin had disposed of most valuable items and left for Japan, there might still be things he could sell on the market.

"Let's go treasure hunting."

Seong Jihan began exploring the penthouse in earnest.

* * *

"Welcome to the Bronze League - Gangnam Area."

"This mission is Defense."

A chorus of screams echoed as soon as they were summoned into the game.

Lim Gayeong's brow furrowed involuntarily.

"So, this is the infamous zombie map..."

A Bronze-exclusive Defense map with 10 towers. The mission was simple: four players summoned on the towers had to defend against the climbing zombies.

"Protect the crystal and survive against the zombies."

"The battle continues until 5 towers remain."

Lim Gayeong surveyed her surroundings as she arrived at her summoning point. A narrow rooftop space, about 10 meters in radius. Long walls extended on the left and right sides. The back was the inner part of the castle, leaving no gap for zombies to enter.

"I only need to focus on the front."

Step by step.

Lim Gayeong walked towards the front of the tower and looked below.

Countless zombies were packed, gazing up at the tower and drooling.

"...Disgusting."

This was why she disliked this map. Even though it was a game, the idea of fighting with those dirty zombies made her sigh.

"Phew."

The party had to work well together.

She sighed and waited for the others to be summoned.

Flash-!

"...Ah, this map."

As an archer was soon summoned, he muttered with a disappointed tone.

"Oh, Defense?"

Snicker.

A magician who appeared holding a sparkling, expensive-looking staff spoke up, casting a significant smile at the two.

Warrior, Archer, Mage.

With three classes already summoned, the only one left was the Supporter.

"The summoned people so far seem to have decent levels."

Lim Gayeong quietly observed the archer and magician.

Everyone's equipment was impressive. The archer was wearing at least a B-rank item stamped with the emblem of the major corporation LK. The magician, while lacking a guild emblem, had even more splendid equipment than what the top 10 guilds provided.

With equipment of this caliber, they should be able to handle the basics.

However, Lim Gayeong was most concerned about the one person who hadn't been summoned yet.

"In this map, the Supporter is the most important."

Zombie Defense tended to become a prolonged battle, inevitably leading to resource exhaustion. Hence, the role of the Supporter was crucial. If only a competent Supporter arrived, they should be able to manage with the five remaining towers.

As Lim Gayeong thought this while waiting for the missing member, a flash illuminated the tower. The Supporter she had been waiting for was finally summoned. And what she saw left her astounded.

"What...?!"

A man appeared, wearing a black tracksuit set, holding a long iron bar. He pushed past her and was none other than Seong Jihan, who had placed first in the tutorial.

* * *

"...."

The archer from LK was dumbfounded. Even if it was the Bronze League, this was the Gangnam Area. And the Supporter came with that kind of equipment?

"What the hell?"

This round didn't look good. Just looking at the Supporter's equipment made him feel as if he had stepped into something nasty.

"Are you the Supporter?"

And then, as soon as he saw Seong Jihan, the magician's face contorted in displeasure, and he started speaking informally.

"Ha... Look at how you're dressed. Are you a beggar?"

"..."

"That's why people like you shouldn't play during the tutorial season. What's this idiot doing here?"

The magician twirled his finger toward his temple, indicating 'Are you crazy?' Seong Jihan's eyes turned cold at this.

"What's with that look?"

The magician's anger seemed to intensify upon seeing that gaze.

"Ha, someone who hasn't even mastered the basics is showing that attitude? Unbelievable. I'm not playing today."

With that, the magician declared his intention to quit the game. Hearing this, the archer hurriedly approached the magician.

"Mr.Mage! Please don't say that~ Even if the Supporter's equipment is like that, based on the fact that he has come this far, he should have some ability."

The magician cast a probing gaze at the archer, or more accurately, at the LK mark engraved on his armor.

"Ah, forget it. I can't play a game with that kind of jerk. Do you know how much money I spent on expensive equipment just to raise those bus-chung idiots?"

A magician who was very selective about people.

The archer kept trying to convince the magician.

"Don't be like that... Mr. Support, You should apologize too."

"Why should I?"

"Well, still..."

Your equipment is just so mediocre!

... It was pointless to say something so straightforward, so the conversation stalled.

The magician raised his voice again.

"Look at this bastard! I was trying to endure after listening to what the archer said... I won't play the game until this brat kneels down and apologizes!"

"Kn-Kneel down? That's a bit too much..."

Why should someone kneel down for this?

Although the archer looked bewilderedly at the magician, the magician suddenly plopped down on the ground and went into protest mode.

"Hey, this bus-chung bastard. You won't get anything if you don't stick your head to the ground."

Lim Gayeong observed the magician, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground like that. He had started quarreling as soon as he was summoned and now even ordered someone to kneel down.

The guy seemed to be making a fuss despite his words, but there was a strange smile on his face.

Finally, she could figure out the magician's identity.

"The troll mage of the Bronze League, Kim Gyuhyuk...!"

Kim Gyuhyuk, He was once a promising magician belonging to the top 10 guilds. However, after four consecutive failed promotions in the Silver Promotion Battle, he had become rather peculiar.

If he was pushed into a team battle like this, he'd unleash complaints against newbies or those who seemed easy targets. If things didn't go his way, he'd throw tantrums like this.

Even though losing would result in level-down and other losses, he continued to cause trouble without any concern for it. Kim Gyuhyuk was famous as one of the three biggest troublemakers in the Bronze League's Gangnam area.

"Trash."

A person who judged others and caused trouble only for easy targets.

Disgust deepened in Lim Gayeong's eyes as she looked at him. Still, in a Zombie Defense game, the magician, alongside the Supporter, was the most critical class. So, she tried to somehow placate Kim Gyuhyuk.

However...

Step by step.

Seong Jihan approached Kim Gyuhyuk and casually uttered a few words.

"Yeah, we don't need you."

"What...?"

With a swift movement, Seong Jihan grabbed the magician's collar and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.

"Don't play the game."

Whoosh!

Kim Gyuhyuk's body was sent flying. His bewildered expression and his body stumbling through the air seemed to be in slow motion for a moment.

"W-what! What the fuck!"

Kim Gyuhyuk's scream was soon overshadowed by the cries of zombies below the tower.

Screech! Screech!

Sounds of being torn apart were heard a few times.

Flare.

Kim Gyuhyuk reappeared on top of the tower, back to his original position.

He had used one of the three revival chances in the defense game.

"You, you crazy bastard...!"

In the moment Kim Gyuhyuk spewed out curses,

Seong Jihan, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, said a word.

"You're still alive?"

"What?"

Several seconds might have passed in silence due to an unexpected reaction.

Seong Jihan, who suddenly clapped his hands, then immediately grabbed Kim Gyuhyuk's collar.

"Oh! You can resurrect in the Bronze League, right?"

"...?"

"In that case, Die again."

Kim Gyuhyuk's body was sent flying into the sky once more.

"Uh... Uwaah!"