Battle Royale (1)
[The first match is Battle Royale!]
As the first league match, each player had to play a game called Battle Royale.
Battle Royale felt like an appetizer before the main event, but in reality, it was nothing of the sort.
The system used the kills and deaths earned here to organize the league groups.
"Alright, everyone, gather up."
Guild advisor Hwang Juwon gathered the guild members together.
"Some of you may have experienced this before, and of course some of you are doing it for the first time... But first of all, if you see an opponent, deal with them boldly no matter what."
There were 9 groups.
They lined them up in order and assigned countries one by one according to performance, starting from the highest-ranking nations.
Which meant what?
As long as you placed within the top 9, you would at least avoid being put in the same group as the top-tier countries.
South Korea, which had always been the weakest team in the league, had made every possible effort to avoid facing the major powers that belonged to the Five Emperors.
Since those countries were ranked 1st through 5th, they were placed in Groups 1 through 5.
So being placed in Groups 6 through 9 was a definite stroke of luck!
That was the strategy of this national team as well.
This time they had Baek Jinwoo, and through the friendly match with Japan, they had also confirmed their strength well enough, so the strategy was to secure a place within the top 9 no matter what!
"Once you take someone out, leave that spot immediately. If you don't, they'll start misunderstanding each other, getting emotional, and picking fights among themselves anyway. It has to be guerrilla warfare, no matter what."
Recalling his own memories, Hwang Juwon encouraged the guild members.
"If we run into each other, avoid each other for the time being. Ah, right. You remember the alliance agreement, right? Don't forget that we're not supposed to attack the kids from the five great powers."
[Battle Royale is a survival game that unfolds in a vast forest!]
[All 920 participating players will be scattered randomly throughout the forest!]
[The time limit lasts until only 100 survivors remain!]
[Search your surroundings! Items useful for dealing with powerful players are hidden all over the place!]
'Oh.'
Baek Jinwoo also listened to Hwang Juwon's explanation while looking at the system window that appeared before him.
'He said to run for the high ground as soon as it starts, right?'
There were supposed to be a lot of items on the high ground.
He had roughly learned the rules too.
'This sounds fun.'
He had heard that items played a pretty important role.
Of course, since every country kept league information under strict security, what Baek Jinwoo had organized in his head was only the information South Korea possessed.
'Well, I can figure it out little by little.'
[Now then, please register your summons!]
[You may register five summons! If the registered summons are unsummoned, you will be eliminated immediately!]
At that moment, his vision twisted.
At the same time, a team creation window appeared!
As if he had been waiting for this, Baek Jinwoo put in his strongest summons.
"Lamba, HunGyo, Explosive Dragon, Gale Slayer, Celestial Wyvern."
The reason he included the Wyvern was that mobility mattered, but more importantly, it was because of Explosive Dragon.
"Hwang Jiwoo."
"Yes."
"You know the drill, right? The moment it starts, get on the ice bird and fly as high as you can."
It was the same in a game like this.
If he stayed more than an hour away from Hwang Jiwoo, Explosive Dragon's quest would reset.
To be honest, Explosive Dragon's quest mattered more to Baek Jinwoo than winning the league.
"Yes, understood."
The moment the game started, Baek Jinwoo planned to fly straight to Hwang Jiwoo.
"Hoo."
"Haa."
Everyone looked visibly tense.
And naturally so.
The team they had fought alongside until now was about to be scattered apart, each of them dropped separately into that terrifying forest.
'But still.'
Even if they all got eliminated here, it wouldn't mean they'd be dropped from the World League.
This was just an appetizer game for group placement!
But then—
[Ah, right! You didn't forget, did you? The player who records the most kills will receive a hidden reward!]
[The number one player of the previous league was Britain's Rachel!]
What?
A hidden reward?
"There was something like that?"
When Baek Jinwoo asked, the guild members nodded.
"That's right."
"There is, but... It had nothing to do with us."
"Rachel took it in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd leagues... all of them. So honestly, we don't even know what the hidden reward is. Even in Britain, it's probably top-secret information."
A hidden reward, huh.
Baek Jinwoo smacked his lips.
If there was something like that, then the story changed.
Crack, crack!
He rolled his neck and bent his wrists.
Actually, he had been planning to take it easy before the real matches started.
But if that was the case, then he'd have to work hard after all.
[All players have finished registering their summons!]
[Then in 10 seconds, the game will begin!]
[We wish all players the best of luck!]
"Okay."
Baek Jinwoo muttered one last time.
"Everyone, let's stay alive until the end and meet again."
"Yes!"
Everyone answered loudly and gathered their strength with all they had during the remaining 10 seconds.
"Let's do this!"
"Come on, come on, come oooon!"
"South Korea! Let's win this!"
And then—
Pabababat!
With a burst of sounds going off all at once, everyone's figures disappeared.
* * *
The filming rights of the arena belonged to the nation that owned that 「Player Zone」.
Since this league was being held in London, Britain handled all the filming.
How could they possibly film that vast forest?
In truth, no cameras were needed.
There was a filming center on the outskirts of the arena, and from there, the system showed every single player's actions in perfect detail.
With picture quality so vivid it felt as if you were seeing it with your own eyes.
You could zoom in to see things up close, or view the whole scene at once.
They filmed the screens in the filming center with cutting-edge giant cameras, then sold those broadcasts to other countries as broadcast rights!
Because of that, the nation that won the league also earned an enormous amount of additional income.
South Korea had also bought broadcast rights.
They bought two.
One was the main screen, and the other was Baek Jinwoo's screen.
— And now, the Battle Royale has finally begun!
— We can see Baek Jinwoo right now!
Ssssh!
Baek Jinwoo appeared in the middle of a forest at an unknown location.
The game created in the arena was just like any other dungeon.
Appearing about two meters above the ground, Baek Jinwoo landed smoothly as if used to it, then stretched out his hand.
Wooooong!
Light wrapped around his shoulder and arm!
Baek Jinwoo skillfully summoned his summons.
In Gale Slayer's case, it turned invisible the instant it appeared.
— The problem is right beside him! There's someone right next to him!
— Who is it?
— Congo, it's Congo!
Each player wore their national uniform and the flag of their country on their chest.
The flag split into yellow and red over a sea-blue field belonged to the Democratic Republic of the Congo!
"HunGyo."
Baek Jinwoo did not hesitate.
"Finish it immediately and catch up."
HunGyo nodded and drew his sword.
If they weren't an allied nation, they were to be dealt with without mercy.
That was the policy of South Korea's national team!
And after 3 seconds—
Slash, slash, slash!
Even if he was a national-ranked player representing his country, five summons collapsed in sprays of blood in just 3 seconds.
The Congo ranker, who had barely arrived and was already about to be eliminated, could only gape in bewilderment.
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo, 1 kill!!]
— Th-this is insane!
— As expected of Baek Jinwoo! This is God Ji-nu's performance!
— That's HunGyo, right?
— That's right! The same broken summon that made our rankers cry tears of blood during the qualifiers!
Baek Jinwoo did not even watch HunGyo's slaughter.
Grip.
Holding onto the Wyvern's feathers just like that, he began soaring into the air.
'Ice bird.'
He absolutely had to find the Ice Bird.
And if Hwang Jiwoo got eliminated?
Well, then…
Before an hour passed, he would either slaughter as many as possible and end the match quickly, or eliminate himself and go meet her.
"Hoo."
Even while flying upward, his heart was pounding.
Someone might say that Baek Jinwoo, who leisurely climbed all kinds of top-grade dungeons and the Tower of Trials, was making too much fuss over a mere Battle Royale....
'But it's fun, isn't it?'
This was his first match as a national representative, one that would be shown to the entire country!
Baek Jinwoo did not want to ruin it in some limp, disappointing way.
— Kiiirurururururu!
As it soared upward, the Wyvern let out a powerful roar.
— Ahhh! It's roaring! What is he thinking? Normally, people try to hide themselves!
— He's basically saying, "Come at me if you're confident"!
— That spirit is truly incredible.... At this rate, I'm afraid even Rachel might come flying over!
For reference, ordinary citizens did not know the contents of the agreement among the great powers.
That was because it was top-secret information held by each government.
It would not really matter even if it got exposed....
Still, wasn't it better for things to pass quietly rather than noisily?
Of course, many people suspected that some kind of agreement existed, but nothing had ever been officially announced.
Having risen into the sky, Baek Jinwoo was soon able to find Hwang Jiwoo.
She was so far away that she looked like nothing more than a tiny blue dot....
'That's definitely the Ice Bird.'
Baek Jinwoo's gaze sharpened.
'She's farther than I thought.'
If that was the case, he had to move even faster.
"Let's go, Wyvern!"
— Kiiirururururu!
The Wyvern stopped climbing and immediately began diving forward in a rapid charge.
HunGyo was already hanging from the Wyvern's talons.
After disposing of a player in just three seconds, it had immediately kicked off the ground and boarded the ascending Wyvern!
That too was one of the highlight scenes.
Whooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh!
Lamba kept building stacks on HunGyo all the while.
'Maybe not now.'
But after an hour had passed, who would be able to stop HunGyo?
He was certain there would be no one.
Lamba was placing stacks evenly, once each, on Gale Slayer and HunGyo.
Fwoooosh!
Explosive Dragon, too, was continuously building up Explosive Dragon Wave.
* * *
As promised, Hwang Jiwoo rode the Ice Bird and flew up into the sky.
"Hnghh."
She had practiced a lot, but she still was not used to floating high up in the sky.
The dizzying height of the open air.
She placed Frost Cat on top of the Ice Bird's head and made Lich float in midair.
The two Ice Ghosts (B-rank) were ground summons, so if she summoned them now, they would simply fall to their deaths.
'Where is Mr. Jinwoo?'
Whip! Whip!
She kept turning her head and searching, but he was nowhere in sight.
'Oh no.'
What should she do?
They had made a promise.
If a situation arose where the two of them could not find each other, they would voluntarily eliminate themselves exactly after 50 minutes.
If all five summons were unsummoned, that counted as voluntary elimination.
'For now, would it be better to just stay in the air....'
She was just about to climb a little higher.
Ssswiiiish!
She saw two players rising up from below.
'What country are they from?'
When she narrowed her eyes and looked, they were wearing uniforms in yellow clothing with green bands.
Brazil, no matter how you looked at it!
Both of them were even dressed exactly the same.
'Of all times!'
If the five great powers led by the Five Emperors stood at the very top, then beneath them were countries just as formidable.
China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, and so on.
Among them, Brazil had not one but two world-ranker-level heavyweights.
World Rank 40, Gabshiva.
World Rank 100, Piris.
And with truly terrible luck....
The two men rising now were Brazil's number 1 and number 2 ranked players.
'What do I do?'
Hwang Jiwoo was not even on the domestic rankings yet, let alone a world ranker.
She did not know if she could last even a minute against such monsters.
'But.'
Hwang Jiwoo wanted to hold out.
Getting a good result here?
That was not very important.
There was only one thing.
She did not want to burden Baek Jinwoo.
'If I get eliminated..... Mr. Jinwoo will only be able to stay for 50 minutes.'
Judging by the impressions and aura of the players coming up, they did not seem like men who would leave room for negotiation.
They would probably deal with her quickly and then fly elsewhere.
In that case, it could not be helped.
"Ice Bird!"
Hwang Jiwoo shouted.
She was determined to somehow hold them off with the control she had learned so far.