Chapter 131: 131

“I got lucky,” said Su-hyeun .

That was the opponent he had in mind, the very same man he wanted as his first fight and asked Gordon Rohan about it earlier . Su-hyeun had been ruing the missed opportunity after his request was denied, but luckily enough, he got matched up with the individual he wanted to fight anyway .

“Who’s your opponent that you’re saying you got lucky?” Hak-joon asked . He was busy searching for his own name until he heard Su-hyeun’s muttering and began searching for the latter’s name instead . And after spotting what he was looking for, he gasped in surprise and asked again . “What do you mean this is luck? That’s Thomas, isn’t it?”

“That’s why it’s good . ”

“Dude, could it be that you get, like, super excited and stuff when fighting strong enemies?”

“You think I’m a monster? I hate fighting . I’m a pacifist . ”

“But then, why… . That dude, he’s dangerous, isn’t he?”

Hak-joon glanced at Thomas grinning away in the distance .

That man also must’ve been rather pleased with who his opponent was . It was quite likely that he, too, had been conscious of Su-hyeun .

“You know, I just wanted to step on him at least once, that’s all . ”

Hak-joon knew that Su-hyeun was quite angry . Still, he couldn’t help but worry . It probably had to do with Thomas’s previous display of ruthlessness .

“If you think it’ll get too dangerous, please throw in the towel . Please,” said Hak-joon .

That was what Su-hyeun told him yesterday .

“If it comes to that . ”

And the reply implied that it wouldn’t come to that .

Hak-joon spat out a lengthy groan .

While the two of them were chatting away, Gordon Rohan began addressing everyone else .

“Everyone, I assume that you’ve all confirmed who your opponent is by now . As for who goes first, it’s coincidentally me . Well now, lucky me . ”

Gordon’s opponent was an awakener named Mirage Rowoon . The latter sucked in deep breaths — perhaps out of nervousness — and raised a shield and a shortsword .

Mirage Rowoon was famed for his high defense and endurance . So much so that as far as defending was concerned, he was absolutely confident in enduring the whole day, even if the entire world started attacking him .

“Okay, then . Let’s get started right away . ”

Swiiish—

With the exception of Gordon Rohan and Mirage Rowoon, all the other participants were transferred to the waiting area .

Crack, craack—

Gordon Rohan’s body slowly descended to the floor . “Good . This is not bad for my first challenger . ”

“Challenger? Are you talking about me?” Mirage Rowoon gripped the shield even tighter and glared straight at Gordon Rohan . “Sure, I might not be as strong as you, but it still feels pretty insulting to hear you looking down on your opponent even before the start . ”

Clunk—

The four-sided wooden shield began transforming little by little, and eventually, was enveloped in blue-colored metal . Its size also grew much bigger than before . Now curved in an elliptical shape, it had transformed to provide not just protection from the front, but from both sides, as well .

“Right, it’s understandable that you feel confident about your chances . You must be pretty skilled just by the fact that I’ve heard your name . ”

Gordon Rohan was feeling quite happy with this match-up because he knew about his opponent .

“You allegedly said that even if you were fighting the whole world, you can still last the entire day . Is that true?”

“That I did . ”

[The match will begin . ]

The moment Johnny Brad’s start signal reached the two…

“Why don’t we put that claim to the test?”

Fwooosh—

Gordon Rohan’s figure disappeared from the spot .

At the same time, Mirage Rowoon raised the shield, having instinctively realized that an attack was incoming .

Kaaaa-boooom—!

Kurung, kurururung—

An incredible impact force was transmitted over the shield . While being pushed back, Mirage Rowoon looked over the shield at his front .

It was just a single punch with nothing special about it .

Although magical energy was injected into that one strike, it didn’t look like any special skills had been activated .

But…

That impact caused by a single punch was easily the strongest attack Mirage Rowoon had ever experienced so far . Even though he had heard Gordon Rohan’s name many times before, not once did that name loom intimidatingly large like in this very moment .

“You’re indeed quite sturdy . ”

Gordon Rohan rolled his fist tightly . He struck so hard just now that his hand felt a bit numb . “Looks like you’re qualified to make that claim, after all . ”

“At the very least, I’m not planning to easily… . ”

“But the thing is…”

Two pairs of wings suddenly unfurled right behind Gordon Rohan’s back .

“Did you know?”

Right afterward, pure-white magical energy began spreading out around those wings .

It was at that moment Mirage Rowoon’s unique crisis perception began ringing warning bells .

The moment those wings appeared, Gordon Rohan felt like a completely different person .

Not just the density of his magical energy, but even the amount spreading out to the surroundings were on another level altogether . Up until a second ago, Mirage Rowoon believed he could somehow battle it out and endure, but now, that was no longer the case .

Mirage Rowoon injected far, far more magical energy into his shield . At the same time, every single defensive technique in his possession was wrapped around it . Never mind one day, lasting for one hour would be a miracle at this stage .

“Did you know that everyone lives in their own little worlds?”

Gordon Rohan stepped forward while extending his hand in the air . “A newborn baby believes the room within its field of vision is the entire world . ”

A pure-white spear soon appeared in his hand . It was shaped like a trident, with nary a speck of imperfection or dust on it .

“Students think of their schools as their whole world, while adults experience the world called their workplace . While riding planes, you view the world outside, and through experiencing culture, you gain knowledge and understanding . All of that is a process to broaden your horizons . ”

“What the hell are you trying to say here?”

CLANK!

Gordon Rohan’s spear slammed down on Mirage Rowoon’s shield .

Despite deploying every single defensive skill on the shield, the latter still ended up stumbling backward . The moment he blocked the former’s hit, an impact great enough to break his arm had been transmitted .

“When you said that you could defend against the world for the entire day, did I exist in your little world?”

That question caused Mirage Rowoon’s eyes to quake unsteadily . Indeed, he didn’t know about Gordon Rohan when proudly making that statement .

“The world is far wider and greater than you think . It’s the same story for me . And that is precisely why I built the tallest tower in the world and organized this competition . ”

Right now Gordon Rohan wasn’t addressing Mirage Rowoon . No, he was speaking to the rest of the world who should be watching his figure through the cameras currently focused on him .

“In order to broaden the scope of the world that I know, in other words . ”

His desire to become the best was also the desire to stand on the very top of this world, as well .

BANG, KWA-BOOM!

Gordon Rohan continued to pound down on Mirage Rowoon’s shield . The latter felt the numbness spread all over his arm with every attack and gripped the shield as tightly as possible .

Mirage Rowoon’s shield began to crack apart little by little . The unexpected development took him by surprise, and just as he hesitated for a moment…

Craaack!

“Heo-urhk?”

A spear penetrated through the shield, and he fell on his behind while looking at its tips approaching him . Even then, he still hadn’t let go of his shield . However, he didn’t even get the chance to swing the sword held in his other hand once .

Gordon Rohan’s spear was now pointing squarely at the fallen man’s throat . The tip of the weapon ever so faintly nicked the flesh and drew small droplets of blood .

If he willed it, Mirage Rowoon’s neck would’ve been thrust cleanly through .

Gordon Rohan withdrew his spear and leaned it against his shoulder . And with a brightly beaming face, he extended his hand towards Mirage Rowoon .

“I congratulate you on your world broadening one step further . ”

* * *

The first match was quite one-sided .

The winner was obviously Gordon Rohan .

The matter of winning or losing no longer seemed important to other participants watching the proceedings through the screens .

They all got to hear the reason why Gordon Rohan organized this Ranking Wars just now .

“You know, he’s a bit…insane but at the same time, pretty cool . ”

Hak-joon was dazed by Gordon Rohan’s proclamation and could only mutter those words . For sure, what he said contained a lot of hidden meanings . The American was indeed deserving of that high position .

Gordon Rohan organized this event in order to broaden his horizons – the world that he knew .

He was perhaps one of the “greatest men” alive . Everyone acknowledged that . Whether it be his financial muscle or sheer physical power, it didn’t matter what the category was; he couldn’t be satisfied unless he was the best at it, and eventually, he achieved that status .

However, that still failed to satisfy him .

He was thinking of the world that he didn’t know .

He didn’t settle for the status he finally achieved and longed to find an even broader world, and was trying to prove that he was still the best even in that context .

“Makes sense to me why he’s become so famous,” Hak-joon muttered as if he was impressed even more .

But Su-hyeun was thinking about something else at that moment .

Even back In the past — before he regressed — each and every phrase Gordon Rohan uttered went on to become well-known anecdotes on their own .

So, Su-hyeun should’ve heard of such a proclamation that carried so much impact from somewhere before, yet strangely enough, he couldn’t remember ever hearing about it . Sure, it wasn’t as if he knew everything about Gordon Rohan, but his knowledge base should have been about the same with other people’s .

It was possible that he simply wasn’t aware of it, but then, the thought of that not being the case abruptly entered his mind .

That answer had a higher chance of being right . If so, this should be nothing more than a minor change . Even then, he couldn’t help but frown at how the future began changing recently because of his interference .

“You’re up next . ” Hak-joon reminded him .

“Yeah, I saw that . ”

The match to follow right after Gordon Rohan versus Mirage Rowoon was Su-hyeun versus Thomas .

Su-hyeun got up from his seat . He glanced back and spotted Thomas also standing up while looking back at him .

Soon afterwards, two men’s figures vanished .

The location they reappeared in was the competition arena as seen through the screens . They were standing about twenty meters apart while staring at each other .

“Ooh, this place is so cool!” Thomas exclaimed right after being summoned to the arena as he took a look at his surroundings . He then swept back his long, disheveled red hair and continued to grin away .

“Let me ask you something before we start,” said Su-hyeun .

He unsheathed his sword right away .

Johnny Brad was delaying the start of the match as if to let the participants prepare first . It seemed that it was to prevent potential sneak attacks as soon as the summoning process was completed .

“Did you really have to do that?”

“Mm? Do what exactly?”

Maybe his mental age was slightly lacking?

Thomas was still grinning foolishly away . The old saying went that it’d be hard to spit on a smiling face, but this very moment would be a rare exception to that rule .

At the bare minimum, he should’ve understood what Su-hyeun was asking about .

“I’m talking about breaking the arms and legs of those who couldn’t even fight back . That was not a fight, but a display of one-sided brutality . ”

“Uh… . Oh, that?” Thomas clapped his hands as if he finally remembered and replied . “Yup . ”

“…’Yup?’”

“Yup!”

Son of a… . Su-hyeun spat out some choice words under his breath .

He initially thought that Thomas would bring up some other reason . However, this guy seemed to be, simply put, a damn nutcase .

“Is that right? In that case… . ”

[The match will begin . ]

“Looks like I’ll have to do the same . ”