Chapter 167

A few moments prior…

After Shizuru teleported away, she watched the Sword King's hostage drama until she received a call from the prime minister.

[Shizuru, what are you going to do…? I'll go with whatever you say.]

She'd put Enchantment and Obedience on him, so of course he was little more than a slave.

Shizuru sighed. "Haa… Just wait a moment. I'll prepare and head over."

[It will be dangerous if you go by yourself!]

"I have a plan. Just buy me some time."

[Understood!]

Beep-

'I won't be able to use Enchantment again,' she thought after she ended the call. The ability relied largely on sight, so there could've been a chance if the Sword King hadn't blinded himself.

'I have to give up on the Sword King,' she concluded. He was a unique player, but the world was vast, and there were others with SSS-rank Gifts she could exploit, even if they weren't JiHan or the Sword King.

There was the USA's Baron, who had 'Two Status Windows', Heavenly Demon Wang Lin, and others, so she still had top-tier options. She was planning to lay low for a while before starting to Enchant such individuals again, but…

'This situation is a problem.'

The Sword King was holding members of the Japanese team as hostages, and it seemed like he was ready to kill them if she didn't show up. She didn't care much for them as individuals, but…

'Our country won't be able to maintain its ranking on Battle Net if they die.'

Shizuru frowned. Those useless idiots were being held hostage because they couldn't defeat the Sword King.

'I should have set up my center of operations in the USA.' She'd done it from Japan because it was her home country, but she would've started from the USA instead if she'd known Japan's players were so incompetent.

Shizuru bit her lip. 'For now, let's go there and die…'

She headed down to her basement, which was equipped with all sorts of security systems.

Beep. Beep-

[Fingerprint Recognition: Successful.]

[Facial Recognition: Failed.]

"Ah." The Sword King had destroyed her face. She took out a mirror from her bag and took a look to see a perfectly normal face looking back at her that would be considered neither pretty nor ugly.

"Ugh, how disgusting," she said when she saw her original appearance. "Edit."

She changed her face again.

[Facial Recognition: Successful.]

After she finished going through the security systems, she entered a room with dozens of monitors and a massive supercomputer humming in what looked to be a big server control room.

In the center of all of it, a glass chamber held a person who looked to be identical to her.

"Every time I make a copy… she dies." Shizuru lamented as she opened the top of the glass chamber.

"Hey, go out there quickly and die," she said.

Swoosh-

Shizuru's copy stood up within the chamber.

'At least I should be able to release Obsession after she dies.' Maybe he would think something was off, but he wouldn't be able to find her secret hideout.

'Let's hide here for a while,' she thought as she monitored the Sword King's stream. Then, when the copy she'd sent was pierced by the Hundred Swords on the Sword King's steam…

'Done.' She smiled. 'Let's release Obsession now.' She hoped the Sword King would think she was dead after Obsession faded and she died in front of him.

She believed it to be the perfect plan and extended her hand to release the abnormal status.

"Huh…" she mumbled after an unexpected message appeared.

[Gan Jiang and Mo Ye's special ability, 'The One Who Refuses,' has activated.]

[The target refuses to be released from 'Obsession'.]

['Obsession' is maintained.]

"There's no way…" Shizuru's expression stiffened.

Stab-!

The Sword King's Hundred Swords pierced her clone's body before she could get close, and the world's most beautiful woman appeared to die a terrible death, buried by swords.

"It isn't enough," the Sword King said. His swords didn't stop there and continued to violently rip Shizuru's copy apart.

- Ugh… This is disgusting;

- I thought I'd gotten used to these things on Battle Net, but this is a bit…

- The Sword King killed someone! The Battle Net Administration should immediately revoke the Sword King's player rights!

- Revoke what? This is legitimate revenge!

- Ah, but now we won't be able to see Shizuru anymore… That's a shame.

- A shame? It's a relief, hahaha. She really died a horrible death.

- Was that the real Shizuru?

People were discussing Shizuru's death on the Sword King's Battle Tube.

"So easy… I can't believe it." He couldn't bring himself to believe that she'd died so easily.

"Sword King! Please, release the hostages! Isn't your revenge done?"

"Wait."

[Abnormal Status 'Obsession' has been released.]

"She really died…?" She wasn't the type of woman to sacrifice herself for the sake of some hostage Japanese players.

'Did I kill Shizuru before she could try anything…?'

Thanks to the message, the Sword King couldn't help but think that she was dead.

Then…

[You can resist the Abnormal Status 'Obsession' with the Trait 'The One Who Refuses.']

[Will you resist?]

A chilling smile appeared on the Sword King's face. Yes. There was no way she'd die so easily.

"I refuse."

[The abnormal status 'Obsession' has been maintained.]

[The target of Obsession is 'Ito Shizuru'.]

"Shizuru, did you think things would end with you sending a copy and hiding? Your abnormal status is still affecting me."

"What does that mean…?!" A Japanese staff member yelled. "A copy? That's ridiculous! Release the hostages right now!"

"Fufu…"

Swoosh-

Swords gathered under the Sword King's feet as he used his trademark 'Twin Sword Flight' and floated into the air. His Sword Prisons with the 20 hostages floated behind him.

"Wh-where are you going?!" The Japanese Defense Force Commander yelled. "Why the hostages…?!"

"I will release everyone other than these 20, who I'll take them with me."

"Wh-what…? Th-that isn't what we agreed on!"

"I'll release them after Shizuru truly dies."

"You bastard…! I won't let that happen! Fire!" The commander angrily shouted.

"If you don't mind them dying, then do what you want."

The 20 Sword Prisons were floating around the Sword King, so it was obvious that any gunfire would kill them before reaching him.

"Ugh…" In the end, the commander couldn't stop the Sword King from flying away.

Whoosh-!

The Sword King instantly disappeared into the horizon, along with the 20 hostages.

The commander was surprised at the terrifying speed. 'Maybe this is the best outcome…' he thought. They'd prepared guns and ammunition designed for great players, but the casualties would have been immense if they'd engaged in an all-out battle.

"We're entering the Battle Net Center," a subordinate said, and the commander turned his eyes from the sky. He needed to take care of the remaining hostages and entered the Battle Net Center along with his underlings.

At Japan's Haneda Airport…

"So we've landed."

"It was my first time in a cargo hold…"

JiHan had managed to infiltrate Japan thanks to stowing away in a cargo hold with Akari.

"I'll explain the route from Haneda Airport. I will become a spirit, and you will turn into a shadow to sneak out…" She was about to explain the route to JiHan based on the information she'd researched before boarding the plane.

"Why sneak? Let's just go," he said.

"R-really?"

"Yes. Once we join my brother-in-law, everyone will know we're here."

"But still…"

"Let's go."

As soon as the cargo door opened, JiHan stepped out with Akari.

"Wh-what…?!"

"It… it's Sung JiHan!"

The airport employees were surprised to see him exit the cargo hold, but JiHan ignored them and used his skill.

"Thundercloud Summon."

A bright yellow cloud appeared above him, and intense currents of lightning sparked through it.

BZZT-

"Come," he said as he climbed onto it and reached out to Akari.

Whoosh-

"Won't I get electrocuted?" she asked.

"It doesn't harm those I explicitly allow."

"Understood." She jumped onto the cloud, and her eyes widened in surprise. Just as JiHan had said, the electricity flowing through the cloud left her unharmed.

"Where's my brother-in-law?" he asked.

"Right… He's currently on the way to Shizuru's residence."

"We'll just join him there. Give me directions."

"You just have to go that way."

Whir-!

The cloud swiftly flew in the direction Akari was indicating.

"Th-this way…!" an airport staff member called out to the police. "Ah. He's gone…"

They were just in time to see JiHan fly away. Shortly after, news of his arrival in Japan spread through both Korea and the country in question.

- Sung JiHan went to Japan?

- LOL, really? He skipped the POTG interview, but when did he go?

- I heard he popped out of the cargo hold.

- Crazy, hahaha.

- Isn't it too dangerous?

- If Sung JiHan and the Sword King join forces, Japan will probably be the one in trouble.

- For real.

The Koreans shelved their worries about the Sword King upon hearing that Sung JiHan had arrived in Japan.

- What, Sung JiHan… It hasn't been that long since the match ended. How did he already get here?

- Let's use this chance to kill both! What are the defense forces doing?

- I think the special unit would get wiped out…

- We should complain to the Battle Net Administration Office and get both disqualified!!

- Is complaining Japan's only hope?

- Good. Let's send JiHan to jail for illegal entry and execute the Sword King for murder.

- But who's going to catch them?

Japanese netizens quickly realized the hopelessness of the situation. With both the Sword King and JiHan joining forces, who could stop them? Even if Japan's forces went against them, the outcome seemed bleak.

- Just yesterday, we were celebrating being 1st in the League, having secured the Champions League…

- This is a bad dream, right…?

- Shizuru's residence collapsed.

Some Japanese viewers went to Shizuru's channel and laughed while watching Shizuru's house fall apart.

- You should have cast Enchantment properly.

- Why didn't you seduce JiHan?

- Thanks to this, we will finish last next season.

Amid all the chaos, JiHan arrived atop his thundercloud.

Swoosh-!

"Haa… Haa… It's here." Akari struggled to catch her breath.

"Ah. I see the Sword King throwing swords over there."

BOOM-!

The Sword King was bombarding Shizuru's house with his swords, intent on not leaving a single pillar standing, and JiHan approached him atop the thundercloud.

"Brother-in-law, I'm here," he said.

Since the Sword King had returned to his senses, JiHan reverted to being respectful toward him.

The Sword King was surprised to hear his voice. "JiHan…? How did you come so fast…?"

"I have my ways," JiHan lightly replied, then he took out the World Tree's leaf from his inventory.

"First, please eat this."