Chapter 174

The torrent of flames suddenly pouring down from the sky sent the 500 players into disarray.

"What, what is this?!"

"Quick, block it! Barrier!"

"Warriors, do something!"

Perhaps due to the hastily matched squads, the coordination was off, and players were about to be swept away by the flames before even setting up a defensive posture.

'Can't let this happen.'

Seong Jihan quickly planted the Phoenix Flag on the ground, granting the team the 'Phoenix's Protection' buff, and leaped upward with the Shadow sword in hand.

Nameless Divine Arts, Dark Shadow Technique – Dark Soul Vortex

As the Eclipse transformed into a massive black vortex, it absorbed the flames. The players' faces showed relief.

Seong Jihan, as always, was a player more reliable than anyone when on the same side.

However…

"O-Over there, something's coming!"

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Along with sounds slicing through the wind, massive creatures descended one by one from the sky.

"Th-Those are…"

"Dragons… right?"

"They look a bit small for that, no?"

Ten creatures in the shape of winged reptiles, resembling dragons, surrounded from all directions, opened their mouths simultaneously.

Then, once again, a torrent of fire breath poured down.

Unlike a while ago, it was difficult for Seong Jihan to block, and it poured down exquisitely from every angle.

"Ahhh!"

"Bring the barrier this way…!"

"It broke even though I cast it!"

Under the attack of 10 breaths, the player units collapsed from the outer edges in an instant.

'Can't block this at all.'

Breath attacks. Although powerful, compared to the overwhelming force that fell from the sky initially, the attacks of the 10 creatures were relatively weak.

However, the players who were not well-coordinated were in disarray, and they were partially annihilated.

'I need to save whoever's left.'

Seong Jihan reduced the absorption power of the Dark Soul Vortex and expanded its size even more.

Then, the flames that were pouring down from the outer players and the center were all sucked into the black whirlwind.

[One of them is quite annoying.]

[The rest are still bugs.]

[But we're still hatching, so there's no need to take risks. Let's withdraw.]

[Understood.]

Powerful voices from all directions were automatically translated into each person's language and echoed in their ears.

And then.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The young dragonkin that had been shooting breath attacks from all directions, the Hatchlings, disappeared into the sky in an instant.

The dragonkin effortlessly wiped out over half of the human unit and disappeared smoothly, showcasing their full-fledged hit-and-run tactics, leveraging their flying race characteristics. However, Seong Jihan wasn't content to let them escape so easily. He didn't just leave them be.

Pulling the Phoenix Flag from the ground, he threw it into the sky like a spear.

Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree – Celestial Judgment

A massive hole opened in the sky. A powerful spear of light shot towards the fleeing Hatchlings.

[Absolute Barrier!]

[Scatter!]

Kaaaahhh!

Though the Hatchlings urgently employed potent defensive magic, they couldn't completely block the Celestial Judgment, and two of them were impaled and melted by the spear.

-Oh…

-As expected, he's doing it all alone lol

-At this point, aren't the remaining Earthlings just baggage??

-For real, if he had just left them and chased the Hatchlings, he could have caught them all lol.

Viewers were once again in awe of Seong Jihan's one-shot, one-kill prowess, but he couldn't hide his disappointment.

'Only two of them?'

Despite the awe-inspiring one-shot, he couldn't help but feel a bit unsatisfied. The Absolute Barrier wasn't entirely useless; it managed to minimize the damage by blocking the currents around the spear, reducing the casualties to just two.

'Dragons are indeed strong.'

In the Space League, the planet of dragons ranked high. While their species' capabilities were far superior to elves, strangely, their track record against the World Tree Alliance wasn't impressive, always settling for sixth place.

Of course, in battles against other planets excluding the World Tree Alliance, they were overwhelmingly dominant.

'Earth has never won against them.'

Humans were always miserably swept away by the dragon's breath. This time, Seong Jihan had to produce a different outcome.

With that determination, he opened the score board.

"Scoreboard."

Opened up the scoreboard.

1st ? NO.259 Blue-Scaled Dragonkin ? Kill Points 9243

2nd ? NO.796 ?? – Kill Points 4451

....

9th ? NO.4121 ?? – Kill Points 1130

10th ? NO.4212 Humanity ? Kill Points 100

Species they hadn't encountered yet were listed as ?.

And no ranks below 10th on the scoreboard.

Meaning humanity was in last place.

"Why do we only have 100 points…"

"Ah, maybe it's because Seong Jihan killed two dragons, and each is counted as 50 points?"

"Yeah, exchanging points with them at a 1:1 ratio wouldn't make sense."

"Wow, but what's with the 9,000 kills… Are they still here somewhere?"

Surviving players, following Seong Jihan, opened the score board and discussed among themselves, speculating about the situation.

"There were a total of ten dragons. If we assume 50 points for each, then the summoning count for each race would be 500 points, right?"

"That makes sense. But if you add up the points from 1st to 10th place, it's only 5,000 points… How come the dragonkin have over 10,000 kill points?"

As people were analyzing the new map, changes occurred on the score board.

"Oh! NO.4121 above us disappeared."

"And right below, a new team from a different planet joined."

"Oh, it keeps changing like this…"

In the chaotic battlefield where eliminated teams were immediately replaced by new ones, people were trying to understand the rotating structure of the map.

[Special Mission in Celebration of Rehearsal Entry.]

[Conquer the Chaotic Battlefield!]

[Achieve 10,000 Kill Points for the entire race, and receive a growth bonus for the race for the next 5 years.]

[Achieve 10,000 points, and players participating in the rehearsal will receive an additional +7 stat points. The race MVP will also receive a special individual reward.]

[Clear the mission before the tutorial ends!]

A special mission was presented to all players.

* * *

"Oh, they're giving us missions too…"

"Growth bonus and stat points…"

"The rewards are incredible!"

Players sensitive to stat points 1 and 2 were intrigued. However, when it was revealed that everyone would receive +7 residual points, people couldn't help but be excited.

"But how do we get 10,000 points…"

"Those dragons had 9,000 points earlier."

However, the conditions were extremely challenging. 10,000 points seemed unattainable. Just to give an idea, defeating 200 Hatchlings was required.

"How many of us survived?"

"Around 150, I think…."

For humanity, which had lost more than half of its members in a single clash, achieving 10,000 points was an ambitious goal.

Still, the additional +7 stats tempted them.

"But we have Seong Jihan-nim here…"

"Couldn't he alone reach 10,000 points even if he was the sole survivor?"

"That's true. This place still only summons Platinums."

Among the survivors, there was a growing sentiment that relying on Seong Jihan would be the best course of action.

-Are they planning to collectively freeload?

-Seong Jihan was already exploited as a bus driver on the national team, now here too

Initially, viewers found the players' discussions amusing, but gradually, practical considerations started to emerge.

-But would they even be helpful…

-Yeah, honestly, it might be better for Seong Jihan to solo play after the other 499 are wiped out.

Realistic discussions about the usefulness of these players started to surface.

'Honestly, it would be more convenient without them.'

Matched players who were hastily assembled and didn't coordinate well. Fighting with such a mismatched group in the chaotic battlefield might be more challenging than just dying and solo playing for Seong Jihan, both physically and mentally.

'But I know that in the chaotic battlefield I'm familiar with, the system kicks you out if the survival rate drops below 10%.'

The unique system of the chaotic battlefield map made solo play impossible. In Seong Jihan's past life, even if he managed to survive alone with the help of dragons, once the survival rate of the race fell below 10%, the entire race was forcibly expelled.

Although it was uncertain how the rehearsal map would differ from the official map, it seemed that there wouldn't be no penalties.

"Let's try to cooperate as much as possible for now. Don't rely too much on me alone."

"Okay, understood!"

"Yes, we should be helpful too!"

Seong Jihan's words motivated them as they prepared for battle again.

"Supporters, raise your hands!"

"Warriors, come here!"

"Archers, gather here!"

They organized themselves as best as they could, trying to figure out how to survive as long as possible on this chaotic battlefield.

"Summon Lightning Cloud."

While the players prepared, Seong Jihan rode the lightning cloud into the sky to scout the vicinity.

A vast expanse of black land stretched out without anything in sight. When humanity had somewhat formed a formation…

Rumble…!

The eastern land shook, collapsing and revealing something.

"Grrr…"

Chimera with a patchwork of beast parts squirming out from inside appeared.

'The regular monster groups that appear in the chaotic battlefield.'

The most manageable and point-gaining chaotic monster, Seong Jihan informed the players of the enemy invasion.

"Chimeras are approaching from the east. Let's respond."

"Yes!"

Then, the player units skillfully moved toward the eastern formation. It seemed that, at the Platinum level, they had entered the realm of professionals. Overcoming the initial confusion, they moved swiftly and efficiently.

'Not bad.'

This level of coordination should prevent an easy wipeout.

"I'll land in the middle of the enemy first, so please handle the incoming enemies."

"Understood!"

"We'll do our best!"

Shuuuu!

Seong Jihan fell from the sky like a meteor towards the earth.

Crackle crackle…!

Instantly, currents spread across the ground.

"Kieeeeek…"!

All the chimeras were engulfed in flames.

Now, almost formally recognized as the 2nd in the world of warriors, Seong Jihan continued to dominate the battlefield where Platinums participated, as always.

When the eclipse slashed through,

Chiiiing!

The bodies of the chimeras were torn apart simultaneously.

As the phoenix flag was planted in the ground, a red current enveloped the ground.

Seong Jihan, who was fully utilizing the tactics of a one-man army, displayed his prowess without reservation.

-Slaughter really is the best part of games

-So refreshing~

-Have a beer while watching, and all stress will be relieved

-The chimeras are barely coming out. How many were there? Around a few dozen?

-Yeah, he'll handle it easily.

Viewers felt catharsis witnessing Seong Jihan's power after a long time. They didn't pay much attention to the somewhat escaping monsters.

The chimeras were being easily slaughtered by Seong Jihan. Even if a few of those small fries managed to escape, the Platinum players should be able to handle them.

However,

"What, what is this…!"

"The barrier is breaking!"

"Why is it so powerful?"

The small fry may be just that against Seong Jihan, but against the players, they proved to be a different story.

"Kuaaargh…!"

A warrior's shield flew away from a chimera's punch.

Even though the supporter's defense buff was stacked, it couldn't cope with the chimera's blow.

"The arrow isn't sticking…!"

"It's glaring at us!"

"I shot it in the eye, but the arrow bounced off!"

"What kind of insane monster is this?!"

Seong Jihan made the massacre of chimeras look easy, but when the lid was lifted, it wasn't a joke. The attacks didn't land, and warriors were either sent flying or turned into minced meat with a single punch. The formation the Platinums had gathered was collapsing in an instant.

"No way…."

Seong Jihan was speechless as he looked back. It was strange. These small fry monsters were causing havoc. In the Space League, everyone used to rejoice at the opportunity to earn points by defeating chimeras. Seong Jihan, watching the collapse of the human unit, realized what the problem was.

'…There are too many low-level players.'

The Platinum level range was from 100 to 200. Perhaps due to the party formed through matchmaking, the level range was varied. In contrast, chimeras required at least level 180 to be considered worthy opponents. At the low levels, chimeras were more like boss monsters than small fries.

Before Seong Jihan could even help, the human team, reduced to less than 50, received the verdict of certain expulsion.

[The team's survivors have fallen below 10%.]

[You will be expelled from the map in 15 minutes..]

They received a definite elimination notice.

But since it was a Rehearsal map, They weren't kicked out immediately, and were given 15 minutes.

'…I'll have to settle for confirming the 15 minutes today.'

Now that there was no need to care for the team, Seong Jihan raised his weapon and advanced. With the team facing expulsion, he had only one goal in mind – kill as many monsters as possible.

"Kie, kieeek…"!

"Kik, kik!"

Sweeping away the chimeras like fallen leaves, he continued to advance. He reached the crack in the ground where monsters were pouring out.

'The cracks still have light.'

The crack emitted a purple light, pouring out monsters. Seong Jihan, planning to take a stand here and defeat monsters until the end of the game, suddenly saw a message.

[You've discovered the Chaos Rift.]

[An epic quest will be unlocked.]

His eyes widened at the sudden message.