Changed South Korea (1)
Pabababat!
His vision flipped this way and that, and an alien sensation rose through his body. In front of Baek Jinwoo, who had returned to the arena, were...
"Guild masterrr!"
"Sir Jinwoo!"
"Waaaaaaaah! Big brother!"
"U-hahahahat! You did it!"
There were guild members, utterly worked up.
As if they could no longer contain the emotions boiling up inside their chests, they charged at Baek Jinwoo and immediately started throwing him into the air.
'Battle Royale, 1st place!'
That absurd achievement had been accomplished for the very first time in the name of South Korea.
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"Long live Baek Jinwoo!"
"Long live Guild Master!"
This carried enormous meaning.
It would be written into the history books and spoken of forever, an achievement that would leave him as South Korea's living legend.
"Ah...."
Hong Ari unconsciously clasped both her hands tightly together.
Even though she had clearly seen it and experienced it herself, she still could not believe it.
Really.
'Our master...'
Had he not only reached Rachel's level, but actually surpassed and defeated her?
She could see Baek Jinwoo flustered, floating up in the air.
After being tossed two or three times.
Whirl!
He flipped through the air and landed outside the group.
"Hey, hey, calm down for a second. Everyone, calm down!"
Baek Jinwoo said, stopping them.
"Anyone watching would think the league already ended. Stop making such a fuss."
Then he rebuked the guild members.
The Battle Royale was only a team allocation event match. It did not even count toward league standings.
"How many kills did everyone get?"
Swoosh.
As Baek Jinwoo swept his sharp gaze across the guild members, the atmosphere instantly turned solemn.
'Come on, damn it.'
'Can't we at least enjoy it while we're happy?'
'Do we really have to go over kill counts right now?'
Just then, a scoreboard was visible on one side of the arena.
"Hong Ari, 5 kills. Gi Jaehyuk, 5 kills. Mr. Kang Geonho, 2 kills. Ms. Oh Sunyoung, 2 kills. Jihoe, 1 kill...?"
"..."
"..."
Everyone became as silent as mutes.
Compared to Baek Jinwoo's 50 kills, their records were just too shabby.
"Song Yeonhee is one thing, but the Ilwol big brothers got 0 kills altogether? Haven't you been learning from me for at least half a year now?"
"Haha, well, that is..."
"We ran into some major players right at the beginning... We died before we could do anything."
Hwang Juwon said, scratching his head.
"....Major players?"
What major players?
The real major players, the five great powers, had not even targeted South Korea, so what major players was he talking about?
In the end, Baek Jinwoo spoke sternly.
"Don't get too comfortable just because you've become my disciples."
They had managed to gain a disciple's place, one even the Five Emperors would not hand out no matter how much people begged, purely by luck and because they were members of the South Korean national team.
And it was not as though Baek Jinwoo had taught them halfheartedly. Together with HunGyo, he had given them in-depth consulting, and he was confident it was advice from the very best in the world.
"If you get weeded out, you might not even have a spot on next year's national team. Don't think being SKY members is the end of it."
"W-we'll keep that in mind."
He understood their feelings. Their joy and fulfillment must have been erupting inside their hearts like a volcano.
'But.'
Not yet.
The real joy could come later, after finishing this league and seizing the title of 'champion'.
Right now, they needed to review what had gone wrong and strengthen their forces even a little more.
That was what was best for them.
Just as everyone was settling down at Baek Jinwoo's words.
"Huh?"
"H-Big brother, over there."
Gi Jaehyuk pointed behind him.
A blonde woman was walking over from that direction.
"...Rachel?"
Baek Jinwoo immediately sent up an Interpreter Bird.
As Rachel approached with a stiff expression, murmurs spread through the surrounding crowd.
'It's Rachel.'
'Why is Rachel in front of the South Korean players?'
'... Is she furious about how it turned out?'
'Well, she has every reason to be mad. From what I heard, that summon called HunGyo seriously got in her way...'
The players in the arena had all checked the broadcast updates on their phones during the break. Otherwise, there would have been no way for them to know what had happened during the Battle Royale.
"Baek Jinwoo."
Step!
Rachel stopped, the corners of her lips curling upward slightly, then held out her right hand.
A gesture asking for a handshake.
"Your summon, HunGyo... He really is good. I couldn't handle him."
"Really?"
Baek Jinwoo tilted his head.
He still had no idea what kind of trouble HunGyo had caused.
'So HunGyo met Rachel.'
Judging by the mood, that seemed to be the case.
"Our HunGyo is a bit much sometimes."
Swoosh!
Baek Jinwoo stretched out his arm and clasped her hand.
Rachel smiled.
"In the finals, I won't go down so easily."
The finals!
Rachel had mentioned the finals.
The impact of that remark was enormous.
'My god!'
'Does she think South Korea will make it to the finals after surpassing all five great powers?'
'Well, if you've seen that God Ji-nu footage, it's not that strange.'
'Still, they did take 1st in the Battle Royale.'
Murmur, murmur.
The players whispered among themselves. That remark would probably spread across the world through player communities in no time.
* * *
After exchanging a brief greeting with Rachel, Baek Jinwoo sat down in a corner again.
The flashing message at the top of his vision had been bothering him for a while now.
[Your hidden reward has arrived.]
[Would you like to check it?]
[Y/N]
A hidden reward.
That thing only Rachel had received three times up to now!
What could it possibly be?
Baek Jinwoo fixed his gaze on Y.
Then.
Flash!
[Player 'Baek Jinwoo' has obtained 5 Ultimate Summoning Scrolls!]
W-what...
They were giving him five Ultimate Summoning Scrolls just for winning this?
The ultimate king of summoning scrolls had appeared, the one that gave a 1% chance of obtaining an S-rank summon.
And not just one, but five of them.
'Wow, if that's the case.'
Did that mean Rachel had obtained 15 Ultimate Summoning Scrolls by now?
Of course, that was only a guess. The Battle Royale reward might change every year.
'I'll have to ask Rachel about that later. Anyway, I'll keep these.'
He already had seven Ultimate Summoning Scrolls.
Once he gathered enough, he was willing to open them all at once.
'Still, I'd need at least 100... to have a decent shot at pulling even one solid S-rank. If I'm lucky, maybe I could even get two.'
Though the very idea of collecting 100 was absurd in itself...
"Hoo."
If the Battle Royale reward was this good, then what would the reward for winning the league be? He was looking forward to it immensely.
'At this point, I can't be satisfied with just reaching the semifinals.'
As Baek Jinwoo smiled, the corners of his lips curling upward, a cold gleam briefly flashed in his eyes.
He still could not tell exactly what Rachel's level was, but...
'I'm going to beat her no matter what.'
Rachel had only been riding easy up until last year.
'Now that I'm here...'
That was over now.
Rachel suited the position of second best perfectly.
[Group assignments will now begin!]
Now the league matches to advance into the Round of 16 were finally beginning in earnest.
There were nine groups.
Over roughly one week, the two teams with the highest scores from each group league would advance to the Round of 16...and among the 18 countries that advanced, the two countries with the lowest scores would be automatically eliminated.
[Fwoooosh!]
The countries and numbers appeared one after another on the giant screen.
South Korea was placed in Group 2, having ranked 2nd in total Battle Royale kills.
* * *
[Group 2 Roster]
[South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Tanzania, Spain, Canada, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Malawi, Belgium]
A total of ten countries had been assigned to Group 2.
Judging by the Battle Royale rankings, South Korea was the strongest nation there, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines.
"This really looks doable, doesn't it?"
Hong Ari said, her face brightening.
The league format was the same as always.
A tournament system.
The ten national representatives would fight in order, and the order of the players was random.
A win earned 3 points, a loss deducted 1 point. If the battle lasted more than 30 minutes, it was a draw worth 0 points.
"The best-case scenario is obviously for big bro to be placed at the front and just wipe them all out."
Gi Jaehyuk said, and Baek Jinwoo let out a small laugh.
"That'd be nice, but the order is random."
"True."
"But still."
Baek Jinwoo continued.
"As you all know, making the Round of 16 is basically guaranteed. There's no way I'm losing."
It might have sounded arrogant, but it was true.
No matter when he was placed, the moment Baek Jinwoo entered, it was an immediate all-kill.
From the national team's perspective, there was no way they would not feel at ease.
"First."
Baek Jinwoo gathered the guild members in one place.
"Advancing to the Round of 16 is a given, so don't even think about it. Just show me what you learned during training."
Not show the people, but show him.
The guild members listened to those words tensely.
He had said it before, and he was saying it again.
'Guild Master isn't a charity worker.'
'If we're not good enough, he's the kind of person who can cut us off at any time.'
'There are ten SKY members now, but if the number increases later, we could really get kicked off the national team.'
'Just look at Song Yeonhee and Hwang Jiwoo. If you prove your ability, Guild Master is the kind of person who can put even a non-ranker on the national team at any time.'
There was only one reason Baek Jinwoo could do that. His individual strength was simply too overwhelming.
Given the nature of a tournament, if even one person was overpowered enough, they could force results one way or another.
Baek Jinwoo thought to himself,
'The reason I'm raising them.'
The league was absolutely not his final goal.
It was because he wanted to protect the people he loved from every potential danger ahead. Chaos Demon Dragon, the future updates, and geopolitical problems that might shift unpredictably.
'To do that.'
A powerful group of players had to be completed, one strong enough to casually win championships even without Baek Jinwoo.
In the end, they would need to master a level of control that could even defeat the Five Emperors with ease.
Otherwise, there was no reason for him to bother teaching them.
"I am someone who values my time."
"..."
Gulp.
"So prove it in this league... that you're people worth me spending my precious time teaching."
Those words might have sounded cold, and all the national team members swallowed nervously.
* * *
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"U-hahahahat!"
South Korea was in a full-blown festival mood.
Everyone wore red clothes, came out into the streets, danced, and drank,
while on giant outdoor screens, edited highlight reels of Baek Jinwoo and the league were being broadcast live nonstop.
ㄴHong Ari! Hong Ari, who was selected as the very first player, has just taken down Venezuela's 8th player and is continuing her unstoppable momentum!
ㄴIncredible! Isn't she the best user of an A-rank Phoenix in the world? Isn't that exactly what Hong Ari is?
ㄴHer control is completely different from last year. Is this the Baek Jinwoo effect?
Their first league opponent was Venezuela.
A country once considered a weak summoner nation on par with South Korea.
South Korea's starting player was Hong Ari. Of course, that too had been randomly assigned.
The Hong Ari who came out first displayed control on a completely different level from before.
Perhaps Baek Jinwoo's words about proving herself had scratched at her heart.
She thoroughly crushed the Venezuelan player, showing a clear difference in class.
ㄴAaaah! The opponent's attacks aren't landing at all. The Phoenix burns yet another summon to ashes!
ㄴThanks to its Immortality skill, the Phoenix revives after some time even if it dies, right?
ㄴBut Venezuela hasn't managed to force out that Immortality skill even once! They have no answer for it!
If the highlight of the Battle Royale had been Baek Jinwoo, then the highlight of this first league match was Hong Ari.
People passing by were all talking about Hong Ari, praising the transformed strength of the national team.
And then.
ㄴAll-kill!
ㄴAll-killllllll!
ㄴHong Ari with the all-kill!
Even if it was only Venezuela, South Korea has achieved an all-kill, something only countries like England, Japan, and the United States used to show!
South Korea's first all-kill!
And the one who claimed that glory was SKY's vice guild master, Hong Ari.