Chapter 42

Inside the Arena’s holding area.

“Urgh, BLECH!”

Oh Jimyeong, who had been launched straight out of the combat zone, held his stomach as he began to vomit violently.

The agony was unbearable.

It was excruciating.

It hurt so incredibly bad.

He knew for a fact that he had been struck by a human being, so why did it feel exactly like getting rammed by a massive semi-truck?

“A-are you okay?”

“Ranker-nim!”

The event coordinators rushed to his side, but Oh Jimyeong, his features contorted in sheer agony, lifted a hand to wave them off.

Damn it, this was humiliating.

If a summoned creature had done this to him, he would have instantly filed an official grievance.

He would have labeled it unsportsmanlike behavior.

However, because an actual player had physically delivered the blow, there was no ground for a complaint.

His usual massive ego only made the humiliation sting that much worse.

“Ugh… I’m alright. Just leave me be.”

Using the edge of his shirt to wipe his mouth, Oh Jimyeong replayed the encounter with Baek Jinwoo in his head.

A freak of nature.

He had to concede.

Baek Jinwoo was an absolute monster.

The man’s summons were terrifying, and Baek Jinwoo’s personal combat capability was just as horrifying.

That relaxed demeanor of his hadn’t been an act.

The defeat had been so total and absolute that instead of trying to dissect how it happened, he simply had to accept reality.

Right after that.

“BLEEECH!”

Hardly any time had passed since his own elimination before Park Hoseop came flying out in identical fashion, folding over to throw up.

So you took a hit from him too.

This was completely absurd.

It was mind-blowing enough that he had been knocked out in mere moments, but Park Hoseop had been utterly dismantled in less than ten seconds?

The pair of high-ranking players locked eyes.

Senior, that guy isn’t human. Ugh… I can’t even catch my breath.

Tell me about it. We clearly picked a fight with the wrong person.

Suddenly, a previous conversation flashed through Oh Jimyeong’s mind.

— Just because the press has been talking you up lately, you think you’re untouchable? Keep acting that arrogant and you might find yourself banned from selection. Permanently.

Those were the exact words he had hurled at that powerhouse, talking trash as if he ruled the world.

In that exact instant, reality set in.

They were completely ruined.

The ones who would be blacklisted from selection for the rest of their days wouldn’t be Baek Jinwoo. It would be them.

The reasoning was simple.

The upcoming year’s qualifiers would feature group matches once more, and every single time, Baek Jinwoo’s weapon would come crashing down on their prospects.

They had only two paths left.

Walk away from the professional scene entirely, or drop all their pride and beg on their knees for mercy.

Oh Jimyeong had no desire to destroy his entire career over one stupid mistake.

Just then.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOTS!”

Councilman Im Huisu slammed open the door from the back waiting room, his furious shout reverberating across the area.

His complexion was shifting between a fiery red and an angry purple, clearly consumed by rage.

“Do you have any concept of how much backing I’ve provided for you two?! To not only drop the group match, but to go and lose against HIM of all people?!”

“To lose against him,” my foot.

Grind.

Oh Jimyeong gnashed his teeth together.

What kind of ridiculous statement was that?

The councilman was the very person who ordered them to target Baek Jinwoo right out of the gate, which was the exact reason they got wiped out.

“I knew this would happen the moment you two started relying solely on your ranks and drifting through life without putting in real effort. Disgraceful!”

Im Huisu was absolutely livid.

Losing the backing of the high-ranking players he relied on was bad enough.

But losing the wager he made with Park Changseok damaged his pride beyond recognition.

“Hey. Watch how you speak to us.”

“What?”

“If you look at the facts, isn’t this mess entirely your fault, Councilman?”

“What did you just utter, you arrogant little—?”

“Little?”

Oh Jimyeong cleansed the remaining spit from his lips and fixed a deadly stare on Im Huisu.

“We showed you a bit of deference because of your political title, and now you think you can treat us like dirt?”

“Wh-what did you say…?!”

Im Huisu clutched the nape of his neck, his blood pressure clearly skyrocketing.

Regardless of whether the politician collapsed right there, Oh Jimyeong was going to speak his mind.

“If we had any inkling that Baek Jinwoo possessed that kind of terrifying strength from the start, we would have never agreed to your plan. Isn’t that right, Hoseop?”

“You’re completely right, Senior. Because of his scheme, our professional lives are utterly ruined. What are we supposed to do in the upcoming qualifiers? We’ll just have to keep running into that monster.”

When things go south, average people prefer to place the blame on anyone else rather than looking in the mirror.

Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop shifted the entire catastrophe onto Im Huisu.

While it wasn’t an entirely false accusation, it still served as a shield.

It’s not my failure. It’s yours.

“Councilman. I believe we’re going to require financial restitution for the damage to our careers.”

“You ungrateful pieces of—!”

“Whether we are being ungrateful or just practical… you’ll find out very shortly. A clever politician like you, holding such a high office, surely understands exactly what we mean by that. We’ll be interacting again very soon. Let’s move, Hoseop.”

“Understood, Senior.”

Thud. Thud.

Oh Jimyeong and Park Hoseop exited the Arena grounds.

“W-wait a minute!”

Im Huisu remained rooted to the spot, completely bewildered.

What was the meaning behind those words?

Restitution for damages, and “interacting again very soon”?

Are these thugs actually making threats against me?

Without a doubt.

“We’ll be seeing you” was a blatant warning to watch his back in isolated places.

The reality was that if high-ranking players decided to use force maliciously, ordinary citizens had no defense.

Even if they had been completely battered by Baek Jinwoo, they still ranked among the elite combatants in South Korea.

If they began operating like an organized criminal element, there would be no way to stop them.

Damn it.

Im Huisu could feel his entire world collapsing around him, a deep sense of terror chilling him to the bone.

Baek Jinwoo, having effortlessly neutralised the two top players, saw no reason to change his position.

Honestly, if I actively hunt people down, it’ll just ruin the balance.

He had zero desire to roam around the map knocking out blameless participants without cause.

His sole focus was to continuously build up Ramba’s passive enhancements.

Though there wasn’t much left to maximize anyway.

Given Drill Sarge’s current power level?

Even if every single surviving player formed an alliance and rushed them simultaneously, it wouldn’t change a thing.

A solitary stomp from Drill Sarge would wipe them all out instantly.

[Active Contestants: 22/40]

Baek Jinwoo checked the player tally displayed in the upper-left corner of his field of vision.

Just two left.

Only two more individuals needed to be knocked out for the group phase to conclude.

After that, the competition would transition into the solo tournament brackets.

I wonder who managed to stay in?

He whistled a light melody, resting comfortably in place.

Rustle.

A player parted the dense foliage and stepped into the clearing.

It was a sharp-featured female competitor.

He didn’t recognize her face, indicating she likely placed outside the top ten of the national standings.

Her gaze burned with intense aggression, a sign that she had personally eliminated a fair number of players already.

“……”

The two stared at each other silently, neither uttering a word.

What now?

Baek Jinwoo simply remained seated.

He harbored no intentions of striking first.

The next move belonged to her.

With only two eliminations remaining for the round to end, would she choose a truce or a confrontation?

If she suggested working together, he would agree. But if she chose to strike…

That would simply be her misfortune.

— Grrrr……

— Growl!

Pack animals materialized at her back, taking up aggressive stances… it was clear she had issued the command to strike.

Apparently, she wasn’t as clever as she appeared.

She likely took one look at him and assumed he was an easy target.

It made sense.

He had recalled all his other combat units, leaving only Drill Sarge and Ramba visible.

Be that as it may.

That was her miscalculation, not his.

Baek Jinwoo was far from the type of person to sit back quietly when someone launched an offensive against him.

Just as Drill Sarge, picking up on his master’s intent, placed a hand on his weapon’s hilt—

“I offer my regrets.”

The woman spoke up first.

Well, how polite.

At least she possessed some basic courtesy?

“The structure of the game dictates this. I will be taking you out now. Please try your luck in next year’s tournament. Don’t take it personally. Managing your luck is a component of ability as well.”

Dash!

Her pack of wolves—indisputably her summoned entities—rushed forward.

However.

“No need to apologize at all.”

Baek Jinwoo offered a smirk.

Simultaneously.

SWISH!

The heads of all five beasts were severed at the exact same moment.

It would be quite some time before Baek Jinwoo learned the truth.

That this particular woman held the number five spot in the rankings.

“If anything, I should be the one apologizing. If you had simply passed by and taken an alternate route, you would have made the cut. Of all the contestants to stumble upon, you had to find me.”

“W-what in the world…?!”

The female competitor gaped at Baek Jinwoo, absolute terror painting her expressions.

“But really, what was that phrase you used? Luck is an ability?”

That held true.

Battle of Summoners was fundamentally a brutal, luck-dependent RNG experience.

“Th-that’s impossible—”

“Great attempt.”

The competitor faded into light.

[Active Contestants: 20/40]

[Concluding the group phase.]

An elimination must have occurred elsewhere on the map at that exact moment, lowering the tally to twenty.

The initial stage had reached its end.

The broadcast booth and the spectators in the stands were plunged into absolute silence.

The broadcast feed happened to be locked onto the fifth-ranked player in the country, Oh Seonyeong.

— W-what exactly just occurred?

— I couldn’t even track the movement. A brilliant flash of light and… it appears to be completely finished?

— Let’s request a slow-motion breakdown of that moment.

The event was so startling that even veteran broadcasters began stammering over their analysis.

The slow-motion highlight mirrored the previous encounter.

Actually—it occurred even quicker than before.

It happened at such a high velocity that even when decelerated, the blade’s trajectory was practically imperceptible.

— That particular summon known as Drill Instructor… annihilated Orang’s beasts with a solitary strike!

Orang—the Five Wolves.

The moniker belonging to Oh Seonyeong, who sat at fifth in the national rankings and served as the second-in-command for Arirang, one of the top three major guilds.

She earned the title due to the five canine entities she consistently utilized in battle.

— S-so following the dismissals of ninth and tenth place, fifth place has been knocked out as well?

— According to the tournament guidelines, that is correct.

— Baek Jinwoo. Totally dominant. Truly frightening. Operating at this tier… even the top-ranked player in the nation wouldn’t stand a chance, would they? Where has a talent of this magnitude been keeping out of sight until now?!

— This is an incredible development for South Korea! This ensures the country will actually be a threat in the upcoming World League!

The broadcast team showered him in compliments.

Yet they weren’t isolated in their reaction.

The entire country was in a frenzy.

[BULLETIN: High-tier rankers disqualified in rapid succession!]

[Contestant Baek Jinwoo verified as the breakout ranker for the coming year! An unprecedented rookie!]

Media pieces were being published continuously, and every digital forum was overwhelmed with conversations regarding Baek Jinwoo.

Footage of Drill Sarge’s combat display was already going viral.

└ What the hell am I even watching……

└ No matter how many times I replay this, it defies logic. At this tier, couldn’t he dismantle Kang Geonho in a matter of seconds too?

└ Most likely. The top national rankers all occupy a similar power band. He could easily hold his own on the global stage right now.

└ Reflecting on it, it makes total sense. He shattered every single domestic milestone in the Day Dungeons. It’s blindingly obvious he’s the top player domestically. It means his clear times are vastly superior to the current rankers!

└ Oh my god. Are we legitimately allowed to have high expectations for the World League this season?

└ GOD Jinwoo! GOAT Jinwoo!

└ Jinwoo Oppa, I’m a huge fan!

└ Honestly, that summon labeled Drill Instructor is incredibly striking too, isn’t he? They claim he’s an E-rank unit, so why has nobody else ever acquired one?

In short order.

Speculation regarding the Drill Instructor began gaining traction across the boards.

└ Is that particular summon tradeable on the marketplace?

└ Never spotted one. Even if it popped up, it would be purchased instantaneously.

└ International boards are beginning to analyze it as well. They claim there is zero record of this unit existing on any server marketplace.

└ What? Then how did he get it?

└ Now that I look closer, isn’t that sprite hovering behind him also an unrecorded summon?

└ Whoa? You’re totally right!

Speculation concerning the Wind Fairy began to trend as well.

└ The hardcore players are identifying that as a Wind Fairy.

└ Supposedly, that’s another entity that was purged from the database during a balance adjustments patch immediately following the official game release?

└ Then how on earth does Baek Jinwoo possess all of these legacy units?

└ ……Well, he obviously discovered an exploit or hidden mechanic?

└ What kind of mechanic?!

└ If I had that information, I’d be exploiting it myself right now. Do you honestly think I’d share it with you?!

The public’s curiosity was completely understandable, but in reality, none of those details truly changed the big picture.

The primary takeaway for the general populace was that South Korea had finally birthed a competitor capable of disrupting the international competitive scene.

Baek Jinwoo’s family was similarly rooted in shock.

“Daughter.”

“Y-yeah……”

Baek Ajin had paused with a piece of fried chicken halfway to her mouth, staring wide-eyed at the television broadcast.

“So… right now, our Jinwoo… just took down all of those elite professionals in South Korea?”

“Yeah, Mom…… That’s what it looks like. Our brother is an absolute beast.”

“Watch how you talk about your sibling.”

“Mom, I’m using it as a compliment……”

Baek Ajin and Hwang Myeonghui processed the spectacle in sheer awe.

Jinwoo, that boy……

Baek Jincheol leaped to his feet.

He is genuinely on the verge of becoming a globally recognized competitor.

With hands balled into tight fists and his face flushed with deep pride, he spoke softly to himself.

“Dad, what are you planning?”

Baek Ajin inquired.

“I’m heading to the kitchen to fry up a massive batch of chicken.”

“Huh? Why chicken all of a sudden?”

“This calls for a massive party. I’m going to distribute food to the entire neighborhood. It’s a grand celebration moment! Hahahahaha!”

In that specific moment.

The residence of Baek Jinwoo was filled with more joy than any other household across the globe.