Changed South Korea (4)
[The first match target is player 'Baek Jinwoo'!]
The moment that message appeared.
"Hoooooooh!"
"Aaaahhh!"
People's groans rang out all across France.
It was the kind of sound you would hear when, in a one-on-one soccer match, someone failed to shake the goal by the slimmest of margins.
Wow, does this even make sense?
Out of all the countless possible opponents, Baek Jinwoo had to be picked first?
Of course, he was an opponent they would have had to face eventually anyway.
But if it happened like this, France might end up suffering the humiliation of becoming the first nation to get all-killed by the opposing country.
[The called players are being summoned to the arena!]
Sssst, ssssss!
Even Amadou Jean Lyon, who appeared in the prepared arena, did not look well.
Of all people, his first opponent had to be Baek Jinwoo!
'How am I supposed to beat that monster who competes with Rachel for first and second place?'
Now the whole world knew.
That the being the Five Emperors representative had mentioned in the beginning, that One Heaven God Ji-nu, was none other than Baek Jinwoo.
That it was not some mystical beast existing only in fantasy.
The moment he was selected, his teammates had told him: Please, somehow deal with even just one summon.
They were not even asking him to take one down, just shave off some HP at least.
If that happened, maybe there would be even a 1% hope of overtaking him.
'No.'
You crazy bastards.
Absolutely not.
Shrring!
Seeing that Training Instructor summoned before his very eyes, drawing his sword already, Lyon felt like forget HP, he would not even last ten seconds.
That was how overwhelming his presence was.
It felt like looking at one of Rachel's S-rank summons.
'So damn jealous.'
Heaven really was unfair.
'Why was it that I never got a cool summon like that!'
"HunGyo."
When Baek Jinwoo spoke with a nod,
Swoosh.
HunGyo lowered his stance and prepared to leap into the air. He did not look as fast as he had during the battle royale.
That was because after returning here again, his stack had reset to 0.
Baek Jinwoo pursed his lips.
'This is why Lamba is not all that useful in PVP.'
In a large-scale battle like battle royale, she became more useful as time passed, but in a one-on-one match that would end in about one minute at most, its efficiency definitely dropped.
Still.
Right now, the level gap between him and his opponent was so large that it did not matter.
"Um..."
Looking up at HunGyo floating in the air, Lyon spoke in English.
"It's an honor."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to lose 100% no matter what, but even so, it's an honor to be able to face the famous God Ji-nu."
"Ah, yes."
Baek Jinwoo, having roughly understood him, nodded.
These days, after going around overseas here and there, he could at least understand basic listening.
'I thought he was saying something else.'
He had no ill will toward his opponent either.
But.
'I should end this quickly.'
The British players, Rachel included, would definitely be watching, so it was best not to expose his battle style any more than necessary.
And the best way to do that?
To finish things with overwhelming force!
"Do not blame yourself too much. It is just that I am strong. Then, here I go."
Swoosh.
As Baek Jinwoo signaled to HunGyo,
"Huaaah!"
Lyon also controlled his five summons with a shout.
A situation where he had no choice but to do his best even knowing he would lose!
But.
Taat!
HunGyo shot high into the sky and swung his sword down.
The energies splitting off from the tip of the blade spread out like a spiderweb and fell toward the ground.
Kwa-gagagagagaga!
The white sword strike pierced neatly between Lyon's summons, and in an instant their HP bars pointed to 0.
"....."
Even knowing what that result meant, Lyon could not help but gape speechlessly...
Taat!
HunGyo landed on the ground and stylishly slid his sword back into its sheath with a shring!
Puhwak!
Blood burst out from the cleaved gaps between the summons.
At the same time.
Thudududuk!
The butchered chunks of flesh from the summons fell to the floor a beat later.
And that was the end of it.
'Somehow.'
It was the kind of scene that looked like it should be followed by an explosive roar of cheers.
Baek Jinwoo gave Lyon a small bow.
"Do not feel too wronged. Every other player is going to suffer the same thing."
* * *
"Waaaaaaah!"
"The best! HunGyo!"
"Seriously. Seriously, he is insanely cool..... I felt like I was watching a comic or something. How can the speed of putting the sword into the sheath be faster than the speed of the flesh falling?"
"At this rate, I am seriously going to fall for a summon!"
Just as Baek Jinwoo had expected.
When HunGyo's clean attack scene was broadcast live, the entire nation erupted in cheers.
"What kind of broken summon even is that?"
"That player named Lyon must be pretty famous in his own country too....."
"Not just pretty famous! He is practically the representative of a nation that made it into the round of 16!"
"Who is next? Who is next now?"
"Bow your heads before HunGyo!"
[France's die is being rolled!]
[The second match target is player 'Nordi Mope'!]
The second match was the same.
Shggrk!
This time, HunGyo did not even leap, he simply slashed several times with his sword and then clicked it back into the sheath.
And that was the end again!
Thudududuk!
Again, flesh fell away in the same way.
HunGyo's momentum showed no sign of stopping.
[The third match target is player 'Nampali de Preville'!]
[The fourth match target is player 'Raphael Diarra'!]
[The fifth match target is player 'Luca Tousart'!]
No matter which player came out, he dealt with them the same way, finishing them in a single blow.
And even.
[The sixth match target is player 'Evan Parker'!]
Evan Parker, the world rank 19 player called the captain of the French national team!
He was no different either.
Of course, unlike the players before him, it did not end in a single strike, but the process was similar.
Unable to properly block HunGyo's sword, he fled, only to eventually end up being reverse-summoned!
Kwadudeudeuk!
HunGyo's sword was both elegant and fierce.
The sight of him cleanly taking off the head of Parker's main summon blew open the hearts of the people of South Korea.
How long had they waited!
There were even citizens who had stayed up all night because they wanted to see this overwhelming performance.
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Wooooooaaahhhhhhh!"
The citizens shouted at the top of their lungs.
Honk, hoooonk!
Car horns blared, and champagne was sprayed into the air.
Evan Parker was finished too.
HunGyo's refreshing, exhilarating performance had the citizens in red T-shirts bouncing in excitement.
Was this a dream or reality?
Was that really France's rank 1, Evan Parker?
Baek Jinwoo had not even used any of his other summons yet.
With HunGyo alone, he looked ready to all-kill the entirety of France.
And France was just as shocked.
"Wow."
"This is insane....."
"Even so, Evan Parker is world rank 19.... Does this even make sense? It feels like he lost without being able to do anything."
Now, rather than despair and lamentation, what people felt was awe.
When had South Korea ever been that strong?
'So what the Five Emperors representative said was really true. It was not empty talk.'
'South Korea, having found God Ji-nu, has nowhere to go but up.'
'It is scary to think how much more he might grow. He really looks like he could even surpass Rachel.'
Of course, the French people had already felt Baek Jinwoo's might while watching the previous battle royale match.
They had a rough idea of how strong he was.
But.
Watching with your own eyes and facing it firsthand were worlds apart.
To be honest, no one had imagined it would be this overwhelming.
Now there was nothing the French people could do.
All they could do was stare blankly at the TV screen.
"Next."
With that short remark, Baek Jinwoo waited for the seventh player.
The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th players appeared with gloomy expressions, like cattle being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
Shggrgrgrgrk!
And as anyone could have expected, the result ended in an all-kill.
South Korea, to the quarterfinals!
And of course, that too was their first time ever advancing that far.
* * *
The British players' room.
"Kya."
"Wow."
Exclamations burst out there as well.
On the large broadcast screen was HunGyo, cutting down the final summon.
"...He is definitely good."
Rachel, sitting with her legs crossed, muttered as she nodded.
Training Instructor.
The summon that had given her such a headache in the battle royale.
That thing was not normal.
No, not just abnormal, but extraordinary.
'Something is strange, though.'
The E-rank Training Instructor she knew should not have been able to reach that level no matter how good the runes placed on it were.
Was it not balance-patched not because it was strong itself, but because it drew out the potential of other summons too easily?
'That level of performance is almost like something you would only see from an A-rank or higher martial artist.'
What was it?
Was its level high?
That did not seem likely either.
As far as she knew, it had not even been a full year since Baek Jinwoo had seriously started raising summons...
Even she, now entering her fourth year, still did not have a summon over level 60.
"It is strong, sure. But that is all, sis."
World rank 6, Olivia, was still negative about Baek Jinwoo.
"He has got nothing else besides that, does he? I admit he is strong for someone who is not even a ranked player, but..... At that level, Bale should be enough to cut him off. What are you so worried about?"
At Olivia's words, world rank 7 Gareth Bale, who had been listening quietly beside her, bristled.
"What do you mean, 'Bale is enough'.....? Hey, anyone hearing that would think there is a huge gap between us. There is only one rank between us."
"Only?"
Olivia let out a snort and flipped her hair back sharply.
"You have been unable to overcome that 'only' for three years, and you sure talk a lot."
"What did you say?"
"You got a problem with that? Then want to have a match? You have never beaten me even once in a duel."
They sounded like they were bickering, but the two were actually quite close.
The right and left hands of Rachel.
And Olivia's words were not completely wrong either.
It was only because the Five Emperors representatives standing before them were overwhelmingly strong, but Olivia, ranked 6th, was tremendously powerful.
In fact, the gap between her and Bale, who was ranked 7th, was quite large.
"Yes, you are right."
Rachel, who had been listening, nodded as well.
Her gaze was still fixed on HunGyo.
"Realistically, Baek Jinwoo has not had enough time to raise his summons. He is putting on that kind of performance only because the current world rankers are all bubbles..... Against a properly built player, it probably would not work."
"See? Right?"
"But you must not let your guard down."
Rachel said firmly.
"As I said last time too, God Ji-nu is not someone who can be explained by ordinary standards."
It had been the same before.
When everyone else said summons had limits, he alone had shattered those limits.
He was the one who had taken down that terrifying Chaos Demon Dragon in under one minute, and he was the one who had blatantly conquered the 99th floor of the Tower of Trials.
"If we happen to face South Korea this time, we give it everything we have."
"Sis."
At Rachel's words, Olivia asked back,
"Do you really believe South Korea is going to make it all the way to the finals? They will have to face Xenos or Veskov in the semifinals."
Xenos was of the United States.
Veskov was of Russia.
Both were far stronger than Olivia, and both belonged to countries where the Five Emperors representative she admired so much resided.
In other words, if Rachel was right, then Olivia's own theory that South Korea would be stopped at Bale's level would collapse.
"Yeah."
Rachel smiled broadly.
"I believe there is a high chance they will."