Chapter 89

[The group round’s preliminary matches will start in two minutes . ]

[Conditions of victory]

1 . Survive

2 . Defeat the enemies

[Conditions of defeat]

1 . All challengers are outside the ring .

2 . All challengers declare an intent to surrender .

The monster for the preliminary round was summoned above the ring .

This time, it was not from the Hell Difficulty .

It was about three meters tall with a gigantic head .

Its head is huge . I think the head makes up a quarter of his total height .

I bet this one has a hard time putting on clothes .

Fortunately for the monster, it was not wearing any clothes .

Actually, there is nothing fortunate about it .

A hideous monster’s nude fashion show is hazardous for eye health .

“What should we do? Should I go finish it quickly?”

Kim Min-hyuk shook his head and said,

“No . It would be best if you hide your strength . Sit this one out . We can handle something like this . ”

“I got it . ”

Kim Min-hyuk started coordinating with the rest of the group .

Although they didn’t plan for this, it seemed like they were going to fight this with a team formation .

[The preliminary will start in one minute . ]

Although I decided to step back and just watch, I was not worried in particular .

Although Kim Min-hyuk and Lee Gi-jun had been staying at the residential area on the 30th Floor, it was just for the sake of Order’s work . They were rankers who proved to be of high caliber since the beginning .

They reached the 30th Floor before anyone else . Uniquely enough, they both wielded spears .

Although they were Easy Difficulty challengers, Park Jung-an and Lee Yuu-jung had reached the 42nd Floor . They were not particularly weak either .

As for Park Jung-ah, it was hard to measure her strength with just floor progression . She was far stronger than that .

She was the one who started using firearms as a main weapon . Of the firearm users, she was ranked the highest .

Recently, number of challengers who used firearms as their main weapon had increased .

In the community, they were commonly called a ‘gunner’ class .

Firearms had distinct advantages and drawbacks .

First, it was too expensive .

Both the firearms and the bullets were purchased at the store, and they were very pricy . Taking care of them was tricky as well .

To begin with, the firearms were not included in the list of starting weapons .

Because of this, it was difficult to grow skills related to wielding firearms from the start .

As for the advantages, simply…

It was powerful .

Its power was overwhelming in comparison to non-firearm weapons, so it made up for the lack of skills .

Also, the firearms purchased from the stores were made from magic and special ores and that had otherworldly powers unlike what existed in the outside world .

With enough support, a gunner could be recognized as the strongest class .

Recently, there’s been active research going on about rankers with enough points who specialize in distance combat .

Unlike other gunners who started later among the entrance floors, Park Jung-ah had been using the handgun since the First Floor because I gave her the gun .

Thanks to the support of early stage rankers who joined the Order recently, she didn’t feel the burden of the expenses either .

Some in the community said Park Jung-ah’s achievements were just a result of having overwhelming support and funds from the Order of Vigilance, and they criticized her . However, even I think Park Jung-ah has brilliant talent as a gunslinger .

Anyway, not everyone has the composure to shoot and kill someone after just one round in the Tutorial .

Moreover, she was quite the decent marksman .

She said she didn’t have experience in wielding firearms before entering the Tutorial, she must be naturally talented at this .

As for Lee Yuu-jung… She brought out a huge shield from the inventory .

It was a gigantic tower shield . It encompassed her entire body .

Is she a shield warrior who doesn’t even wield a weapon?

This is rare .

Actually, after getting used to a shield, one could use it to attack as well .

Also, the power of the shield attacks was definitely not weak .

However, few choose just the shield without any weapons in the beginning .

Most preferred a sharp weapon .

It could be used for protection, and that put people’s mind at ease .

I guess she would make a good combo with Park Jung-ah who is a long-range fighter .

[The match will begin . ]

Taaaang!

The match begun as the translucent wall that blocked the space between us and the monster dissipated . As soon as the wall disappeared, Park Jung-ah’s gun breathed fire .

The monster’s eye burst explosively .

I thought Lee Yuu-jung would play a defensive role . However, she dashed forward immediately .

From the start, the monster lost one of its eyes, and it couldn’t get a grip of the situation . The monster was struck by Lee Yuu-jung’s shield charge and fell onto their back .

Kim Min-hyuk and Lee Gi-jun, who were next to Lee Yuu-jung, stabbed the monster with their spears .

As expected, I don’t need to worry about them at all .

Still, it feels awkward to just sit back and watch .

I don’t think it would be right to act like I’m not interested . However, I’m too embarrassed to clap and cheer .

I brought out a slingshot round from the inventory and played catch with it as I watched the battle .

It was a heavy slingshot round made from metal .

Usually, it was used in conjunction with a sligh . However, I had been just throwing it at my enemies .

Using it that way was powerful enough .

‘If someone ends up in danger, I should save that person by throwing this at the monster . ’

I thought about it as I watched the battle . However, the opportunity never came .

Um… I wonder if anyone would make a mistake soon .

I’m bored .

* * *

The battle dragged on longer than I thought .

There was a simple reason for this .

The monster’s ability to regenerate was beyond our wildest imagination .

The eye that got blown up in the beginning of the battle had completely reformed . Most of the wounds on its legs, arms and body were closed .

It was probably going be difficult to defeat this monster unless its head was blown up in a single blow or its heart was pierced .

At least its rate of recovery was slowing over time .

Its recovery ability had a limit . The match was testing the participants’ ability to fight until the monster could no longer utilize its ability to recover .

It was perfect as a preliminary match opponent for the group round .

The monster’s movements were not quick . It did not excel in its attacking power but its defensive abilities based on its ability to heal .

Anyway, its recovery rate is no joke .

If only my recovery rate could be that fast .

Ah, could it be that this bastard is a troll?

A troll never appeared in the Hell Difficulty, so I don’t know how a troll looks like .

If this really is a troll, then I am a little disappointed .

The troll that I pictured in my mind all this time looked a little more ferocious and less stupid .

There was a time when my goal was to become a human troll . With that goal in mind, I used to work diligently on hurting myself, yet…

[Wuuuuurrrrr-]

The troll running rampant and roaring .

Everyone is dodging well and continuing to deal damage to it .

As this continued, Kim Min-hyuk made a mistake with his steps and faltered for a moment .

He tripped over his own foot . That’s just plain stupid .

Did his fighting sense full from staying in the residential area too long?

Whatever . Finally, I have something to do .

After winding up my throw with all my might, I swung my arm and threw the slingshot round at the monster’s shoulder .

Kwang!

Along with piercing sound, the slingshot round made direct impact with the monster . The monster’s left arm and shoulder disappeared along with it .

Blood and flesh scattered into the air . The slingshot round went over the arena and flew to the stands .

Fortunately, it was blocked by the invisible barrier that separated the stands from the arena, so it didn’t cause casualties .

There were screams from the stands, followed by sighs of relief .

That was fortunate .

It’s been a while since I used slingshot rounds . I made a mistake in controlling my strength .

The monster fell down immediately . It was unable to move .

Its legs and arms twitched occasionally .

Actually, since it lost an arm, I should say its legs and arm twitched occasionally .

Anyway, it was foaming at its mouth . It unable to get up .

I looked carefully, and I saw that its heart area was crushed .

Surprised, Lee Gi-jun looked at me once . He approached the monster and stabbed it with the spear to end its last grasps at life .

As for Kim Min-hyuk…

With crumpled face, he turned to look at me and mouthed words .

‘Hey! I told you not do use your strength!’

You complain even though I saved you . Even though I saved you .

* * *

“Wasn’t that too much? How many times have I told you? Huh? I told you not to flaunt your strength needlessly . If you didn’t want to keep quiet, then you should have just said so . Why did you say, that you will stay quiet and then go back on your words? You did it at the individuals, and this time too? Huh?”

“I got it . Seriously . I am sorry! I saved you when you could have gotten hurt, but you are nagging . ”

I ignored Kim Min-hyuk who was berating me from the side . I plucked a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into my mouth .

It’s delicious .

As I thought, popcorn is all about its salty taste .

The preliminary matches were not over for the group round .

The monster’s specialty was its ability to recover, so the battle dragged on longer than I thought .

Ah, as a supplementary information, the monster was not called a troll .

It was called Akinicos or whatever . It was a monster with a strange name .

Park Jung-ah, Lee Yuu-jung and Lee Gi-jun said they had work to do and left . I was sitting with Kim Min-hyuk and watching the battles from the stands .

The people from the Hell Difficulty were fighting pretty well .

They were challengers of the first floor who had put everything in their abilities to dodge attacks, so they were not even thinking about attacking the monster . Instead, they were just dodging the monster’s attacks .

I wondered if they would be able to slay the monster at this rate, but still, that counted as valuable experience .

This was different from the traps . They were facing the monster’s deadly aura and dodging its attacks .

When the people get tired, Lee Hyung-jin will kill the monster .

Really, this monster is optimal for gaining combat experience .

I’m glad .

“Hey, were you not listening just now?”

“No, I was listening to you perfectly?”

[TL: In Korea, people use “no” and “yes” to say if the statement given is true or not . Since Lee Ho-jae was in fact listening to what Kim Min-hyuk was saying the whole time, he was ‘not’ not listening only just now, hence Lee Ho-jae said ‘no . ’]

“Ugh . ”

Kim Min-hyuk sighed deeply . He was quiet for a moment, but he suddenly reached for my popcorn and took a handful .

“It’s tasty . ”

“I know, right?”

“Um . About Park Jung-ah, last night, did you guys…”

“Yep . It’s what you are thinking . ”

“… Ugh . I wonder how I ended up setting up the bridge between you two . ”

“What are you saying? It’s not like you did anything . ”

“Do you know how worried I was because of the awkwardness between the two of you? Now that it is resolved, you guys took it to the next level . ”

“Anyway, it is not awkward anymore . It worked out well . ”

“ . . . The two of you looking at each other and smiling like fools is not a proper picture . You know that, right?”

I put on a sour face and nodded .

That’s true .

The managers of the Order tried not to show human sides of themselves to the public .

When it comes to managing people, appearing to be super humans who lacked human emotions was better at reducing complaints even if it made a miniscule difference .

The image that Park Jung-ah had was a powerful charismatic person, with a machine-like composure and almost cruel degree of decisiveness . It was not the beautiful and bubbly personality of typical girl .

Should I act stiff toward her in public as much as I can?

Like secretly dating?

While I pondered about what to do, Kim Min-hyuk said out of the blue,

“Still, this is good . ”

“What is?”

“Because of the happy look on the face . ”

What’s this out of the blue?

“Ah, Jung-ah? Yeah, it is totally good . She just turned 20 . She had so much burden on her shoulders until now . It’s great that we got to see her beam with laughter . It’s so great . Even if she is going to usually maintain a calm, business look, she should still know to smile like that when people are not looking . If she doesn’t, it wouldn’t be good for her mental health . ”

I had once seriously worried about her mental health .

She was under tremendous stress and numerous restrictions . I feared that her mentality would rot away gradually and explode .

I guess she should be a little better now .

“No . I see about Park Jung-ah, but I’m talking about you . I was talking about you . ”

“Huh? Me?”

“I saw you talking to the Hell Difficulty’s people earlier . ”

“When did you see that?”

“There were people gathered at that empty field . I had to come and check it out . ”

He picked up the drink socketed in the armrest . He quenched his thirst and continued .

“I wondered if the person I was seeing was really you . Um… How should I say this? You looked a little brighter . This was probably why they could ask you questions and talk with you comfortably . ”

“Tell me a bit more in detail . ”

I definitely felt like people were not scared of me today for some reason .

They greeted me . They even asked various questions .

I cannot just let this pass . He is saying I look different to people .

I started to think seriously about my mental condition and my attitude toward others while I went through the 13th Floor, so I have even more reasons not to let this pass .

“How should I explain it . You knew that you look super scary when you just sit with an emotionless look on your face, right?”

Um…

“Is that so?”

“Yes . You look angry as if you have a complaint . People aren’t afraid of approaching you for no reason . From standpoint with common sense, someone like you who possesses overwhelming power, will attract people like garbage to flies . But even such people are afraid of approaching you . ”

“Since when?”

From experience, I knew that my public image was not very good .

Still, it was not this bad .

“It was like this since they saw you for the first time at the very first day of the great harmony . ”

During that time, I was under tremendous stress .

Around that time, I was just starting to get used to the pain . The goblins appeared, and I had to kill them . From doing so, I piled up a large amount of mental stress .

Meanwhile, the existence of the Representative Federation was slowly starting to scratch at my nerves .

Before then, I was spending the days at the Second Floor inflicting self-injuries . Before then, I had to accept the death of others who I met at the First Floor’s waiting room .

I had to get away from the fear of the First Floor’s traps and struggle for my survival somehow .

Before then… I had been drinking alcohol by the buckets . I was dying .

I was in a slump and quit professional gaming because of that . There was the thing about my father as well .

My image now was definitely different from how it was many years ago when I used to hang out with many people . This could not be helped .

“So, I was not like that earlier?”

“Yeah . It will be hard to explain in words . You have the same look on the face too . Still, you looked brighter than the usual . Your voice sounds more excited too . You’ve been like that the entire day . ”

My mood is brighter? Could it happen without me noticing? I do think I look a little excited ever since the morning, but…

“You are still like that too . How should I say this, you look more comfortable? You look more human like now . You still look sharp and fierce as always, but regardless, you still look more human-like? In the past, you looked like people would get attacked just from approaching you carelessly . ”

There is nothing bad about this .

The fact that my image looks brighter is a good thing .

It is a good thing, and I am thankful .

I lifted my head and looked around the stands to find Park Jung-ah .