Battle Royale (3)
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo 4 kills!]
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo 5 kills!]
Baek Jinwoo, who had risen into the air, was literally flying around.
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo 6 kills!]
If he spotted a player while passing by?
He simply dropped down and took them out.
As long as they were not from an allied nation, their nationality did not matter.
Whether they were a world ranker or not made no difference at all to Baek Jinwoo.
'At the current level, unless they're one of the Five Emperors, there's no way anyone could stand against HunGyo.'
And this was not just ordinary HunGyo, either.
This was HunGyo, who had obtained a great opportunity and been reborn anew.
"Sir Jinwoo! Over there!"
Hwang Jiwoo, who was leading the way atop Ice Bird, pointed below the hill.
'Oh.'
That was it.
A supply item scattered somewhere in this vast forest!
A chest that looked like the kind pirates might have left behind on some treasure island was radiating golden light.
Swoooosh!
The moment he spotted it, Baek Jinwoo descended.
Thud.
The moment he placed his hand directly on the glowing chest,
[You have discovered a treasure chest.]
[You have obtained the item, 'Ambush' (B-grade).]
'Ambush?'
[Item]
[Grade: B-grade]
[Type: Bracelet]
Battle Royale limited item. It disappears automatically when Battle Royale ends.
[Effect 1: Once every 30 minutes, you can move to the player farthest away in the forest. Your summons move with you.]
[Effect 2: After killing a player, you return to your original location.]
'Ah.'
Baek Jinwoo understood.
'So this is how it works.'
If you used the items well, you could raise your kill count even more.
"Let's look for more first."
He flew all over the place, but there were fewer items than he expected.
He did not know whether there were only a small number of items or whether this place was absurdly vast, but... for now, finding items came first.
* * *
"Hup!"
The smile never left Baek Ajin's lips.
"Dad."
"Huh?"
"I told you. You don't need to worry about Oppa."
Since she worked at Yoobaek, she had already known Baek Jinwoo was amazing, but she had never imagined he was this amazing.
Goodness.
He was just here one moment and there the next, like Hong Gildong himself!
- Ahhhh, Baek Jinwoo! He's already at 12 kills!
- Even while we're saying that, he's at 13! His item usage is incredible!
- He's found five Ambush items already, right?
- That's right! It looks like he's changed tactics! Hwang Jiwoo has laid down a wide-area Frozen Field at the base, and Baek Jinwoo is guerrilla-killing the opposing players one after another!
"Wow!"
"How is he that good?"
"HunGyo really is incredible. I see him often, so I took it for granted... but to think he was that strong."
Even in Yoobaek City, exclamations of admiration burst out.
Baek Ajin felt like she could soar into the sky.
Her father Baek Jincheol and mother Hwang Myeonghui did not show it openly in front of everyone, but it was obvious they were pleased.
How proud they must have been.
They were only pretending to stay calm to preserve their dignity as the parents of a guild master son.
"Kkohahahat! Everyone! Look at our daughter's Ice Bird! Can wings really be allowed to look that pretty? Uahahahat!"
"Honeyyyyy!"
If they acted like Hwang Jiwoo's parents over there...
It might end up embarrassing their son.
Of course, the mood was good.
Everyone burst into laughter and enjoyed themselves at the sight of Hwang Jiwoo's over-the-top father.
Everyone was relaxed.
That was because, on the main screen that appeared from time to time, Hong Ari, Gi Jaehyuk, and others were also being shown in action.
- Let's look at the scoreboard! Baek Jinwoo 13 kills, Hong Ari 4 kills, Gi Jaehyuk 3 kills, Kang Geonho 1 kill, Oh Sunyoung 1 kill! With 21 kills already, South Korea is 7th among all nations! Unfortunately, Hwang Juwon and Song Yeonhee have died!
- That's okay! An hour has already passed, and the fact that 8 people are still alive is already nothing short of a miracle for us!
- That's right! This really is an incredible moment! South Korea is in 7th place! At this rate, won't Baek Jinwoo really do as he said and lead them into the top four?
- I hope so!
Top four!
It was a phrase that shook the hearts of the entire nation.
A clear indicator that they could proudly be named among the great summoning powers!
- And of course, the current first place is the United Kingdom!
- Yes, that's only natural. Aren't all 10 of Britain's members world rankers?
-Rachel currently has 14 kills! She's keeping pace with Baek Jinwoo!
- Just being shoulder to shoulder with Rachel is already something amazing and worthy of pride!
"Oppa, please!"
Baek Ajin shot to her feet and shouted.
If the gap had been wide, that would be one thing, but with only a one-kill difference, it made everyone's palms sweat.
And Baek Ajin was not the only one feeling that way.
The entire nation felt the same.
"Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo!"
"Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo!"
That name, shouted by everyone as one.
Carrying all of those hopes, Baek Jinwoo kept charging forward.
* * *
Shrrk!
HunGyo's sword split apart another five summons at once.
He did not even know who the opponent was.
They had simply appeared before his eyes, so he split them apart without so much as a greeting.
"How many are left?"
Baek Jinwoo looked into the air.
[Remaining number of players: 443]
Already, about half of them were gone.
'My kill count?'
Eighteen now.
One inconvenient thing was that, inside the game, there was no way for him to know who was currently in first place or how he himself ranked.
But that did not mean there was no way at all.
Rip!
Baek Jinwoo used one of the items he had obtained earlier.
[You use the item 'Scoreboard' (E-grade).]
[It shows the kill counts of the top 5.]
There was even an item like this. And quite a lot of them had appeared too.
Ordinary players got annoyed and called them duds, but not Baek Jinwoo.
'If I want to aim securely for first place, I need to keep using these.'
A scoreboard appeared in Baek Jinwoo's field of vision.
[1st - United Kingdom, Rose Rachel (20 kills)]
[2nd - South Korea, Baek Jinwoo (18 kills)]
[3rd - Japan, Yoshida Hikaru (15 kills)]
[4th - United States, William Xenos (14 kills)]
[5th - Russia, Alexander Veskov (14 kills)]
"Hah."
A laugh escaped him.
'20 kills?'
As expected, it was Rachel.
She really was no joke.
From the moment he entered, Baek Jinwoo had gone all out.
Other than the time he first met up with Hwang Jiwoo, he had focused only on farming items and getting kills.
He had been moving nonstop without a single moment's rest, yet there was still a gap of two kills.
Most likely, it was that exact period when he had flown to meet up with Hwang Jiwoo.
That was probably the difference.
'This is fun.'
It was a feeling he had not experienced in a long time.
The moment his dead competitive spirit came back to life!
'Let's do this.'
If there were 443 people left, then there were still 343 remaining.
No, considering allied countries, probably even fewer than that.
"HunGyo."
Clack!
HunGyo shook his scabbard.
"From now on, we split up and fight. You go with Lamba and keep running east."
—…?
HunGyo looked at him with a worried expression, but Baek Jinwoo smiled.
"I'll be fine."
After all, Rachel and the Five Emperors could not touch him because of the alliance.
In that case?
As for the rest of the players, even simple control would be enough to take them down.
And besides, there was the absurdly broken nature of 'Ambush' (B-grade)!
If he activated Ambush at a truly dangerous moment, he could even use it to evade.
"Go!"
HunGyo nodded and ran eastward.
* * *
Riiip!
Rachel, with her golden hair, tore apart the item, 'Scoreboard' (E-grade).
Then she smiled brightly.
'As expected of Baek Jinwoo.'
He truly was God Ji-nu.
Otherwise, how could he possibly be matching the Five Emperors in performance?
'And God Ji-nu hasn't even been properly growing for a full year yet.'
Should she really fight him?
Or should she let him win?
Honestly, as for the 'Hidden Reward', she had already claimed it three times over the past three years, so it would not be a problem to concede it once.
If doing so could earn God Ji-nu's goodwill.
'But.'
Rachel's smile deepened.
She had been watching Baek Jinwoo for over five years.
Intentionally losing to him?
That would never earn his goodwill.
Rather, the real way to earn his goodwill was to defeat him with everything she had and be acknowledged by him.
'If we're going to need each other, then I need to show that I'm on that level too.'
Kwaaaaaadududuk!
The unknown golden dragon rising around Rachel burst apart the bodies of the summons.
Puhwak!
Blood spurted, and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.
[United Kingdom, Rose Rachel 21 kills!]
[United Kingdom, Rose Rachel 22 kills!]
Having taken out two players in a single move, she kicked off the ground and dashed forward!
Under normal circumstances?
She would have walked leisurely, but as long as she was up against Baek Jinwoo, she had no intention of letting her guard down.
* * *
One hour, two hours.
Time kept passing.
As time passed and the number of remaining players decreased, the battles also became fewer.
It could not be helped.
The region was simply too vast compared to the number of players.
Because of that, even moments like this were shown on the main screen.
—D-did you just see that? Hong Ari just ran into Olivia of the United Kingdom!
—Olivia is world rank 6 and the number two of the United Kingdom! She's known as the woman right below the Five Emperors!
—But what is this? They're just passing each other by!
The South Korean commentators were fired up.
—What is going on here?! We've often seen powerful nations avoid fighting each other when they run into each other so they won't waste strength, but... does that apply to our country too?
—And Olivia, of all people... No matter how skilled Hong Ari is, she probably wouldn't last 30 seconds against her!
To repeat, the entire world, including the commentators, did not know the contents of the alliance agreement between the great powers.
That only made it more exciting!
—It seems we've been acknowledged after all!
—It couldn't be otherwise! The gap between Rachel and Baek Jinwoo's kills is just one! Only one!
Rachel, 35 kills!
Baek Jinwoo, 34 kills!
And in Baek Jinwoo's case, even though he had sent HunGyo elsewhere, he still struggled to catch up to Rachel's pace.
That was how overwhelmingly Rachel's speed and strength surpassed Baek Jinwoo's.
—The number of remaining players is now only 153! Once 53 more are eliminated, Battle Royale will end!
—South Korea's ranking has already climbed all the way to 2nd place!
—Incredible! Baek Jinwoo! This is an achievement brought about by God Ji-nu Baek Jinwoo!
—What are the other players doing?
—In Hikaru and Veskov's case, they're resting! They've gathered with their teammates and are enjoying a campfire!
—That means they've withdrawn from the ranking fight!
—Ahh, this is getting interesting!
The national teams of the United States, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan had all gathered in one place and were resting.
They had firmly secured spots within the top nine, and it seemed they would not be able to take first place anyway...
So they were just sitting back and watching the fight between the two.
Only the United Kingdom national team and the South Korean national team were flying through the air, searching for players.
'Damn it.'
Baek Jinwoo was also running around so much that there was a metallic taste in his mouth.
If he followed his heart, he wanted to smash the alliance agreement and everything else to pieces, but he did not.
'An alliance is an alliance, and I signed the contract.'
Let's do our best.
And then.
'Trust.'
Trust in Lamba, and in HunGyo.
Because among all the summons Baek Jinwoo had known over the past ten years, they had proven to be the most broken EX-grade summons.
* *
—Hah... hah...
Whiwhiwhiwhiwhiwhiwhi!
Lamba had already been swinging the staff for four hours straight.
At this point, HunGyo's power was no different from a bug.
The increase in attack speed alone was probably astronomical.
—...
Feeling Lamba's energy wrapping around his whole body, HunGyo thought,
'At this rate, even if the legendary Ruination Dragon appeared, I would win.'
With a full Trinity endgame setup, plus the stacks of Light-Speed Lamba!
The current HunGyo was strong enough to precisely slash the same spot tens of thousands of times in just 0.1 seconds.
'The problem is...'
How to find the enemies he needed to deal with.
—Whew.
Even for him, finding and eliminating players in this vast area was nearly impossible.
Still, he could not just stand around doing nothing!
Tap tap tap!
HunGyo was dashing through the forest in every direction when—
Rustle!
—Hm?
He stopped his footwork at the sign of someone's presence and turned around.
Someone emerged from the thicket.
A woman with golden hair, wearing a crop top.
"...You are."
Rachel muttered with a baffled expression.
"God Ji-nu's Training Instructor?"
She had found HunGyo first.