Chapter 137

The news sites were relentless when it came to reporting on the national team. There was excitement at first when JiHan joined and showed record-breaking results during practice, but that excitement quickly turned to criticism after the incident with Ha Yuri.

- JeongHyun, that bastard! How dare he hurt Ha Yuri?!

- Is JiHan insane? Why did he invite celebrities to a welcoming party?!

JiHan even faced backlash at first after people found out it was a party in his honor.

- No, JiHan wasn't even there. The other losers on the team were just using his name, LOL.

- Those who attended said the team members kept saying JiHan would be there soon while trying to make them drink as much as possible. It turns out JiHan was playing a Battle Net game during the party, though. LOL.

- Those losers… They're rotten to the core…

Any criticism against JiHan quickly faded when people saw he'd been on Battle Net at the time, and when the coach decided to dismiss every starting Warrior besides JiHan, they weren't sure whether to be happy or upset.

- Ahh, they finally got rid of those losers.

- Isn't cutting almost every starting Warrior going too far? Shouldn't he have only kicked the primary instigator out?

- I heard that Ha YeonJu said she'd leave with all of the Archers if the coach didn't cut them all.

- Well, then, it can't be helped. The Archers are the only competitive members of the team.

- But what will we do against Russia if we don't have Warriors?

- The usual, of course, hahaha.

- The international matches aren't just for sport. They're extremely important, and a dungeon could even appear if things go south. I can't believe they'd kick out almost all of the starters after a simple mistake… They need to apologize and take them back in immediately!

↳ JeongHyun, is that you?

"Fuck, that bastard JeongHyun is in jail," Dong-woo cursed as he wrote a reply. It was all that guy's fault. "Why did YeonJu have us all kicked out? Just JeongHyun would be understandable, but why us?"

"I heard she cherishes her younger sister a lot. Rumor has it that Yuri became a top star quickly thanks to YeonJu's support," YunGi said, relaxing on Dong-woo's sofa with a table of drinks nearby.

"Then they should have just cut those who went to the celebrity party. Ah, I heard JiHan was the one to ask for the entire team to be cut. That bastard's the worst," Dong-woo said as he looked at JiHan's face on the TV.

How could he ask for them to be fired after they prepared a grand welcome party for him? He'd initially thought they'd be able to get along, so it felt like a stab in the back.

"That's right. The secondary members are terrible, so let's see just how they do without us."

"When will the girls be here?"

"Soon. Let's drink and watch the team get crushed by Russia."

They'd been on the team just a few days prior, but now they wished for Korea's defeat more than anyone. They hoped everyone would realize just how much the team needed them.

Beep, beep-

"Oh, here they are."

Four women entered Dong-woo's house.

"Dong-woo! I heard you were cut from the team. Is it okay for you to be drinking like this?"

"Shut up. Open the whiskey."

"Your temper is as bad as ever… Wow~ JiHan's cool!" A woman exclaimed in admiration when she saw JiHan appear on TV for an interview before the match against Russia.

Dong-woo frowned and said, "Get out of here if you're going to praise the bastard."

"Why?"

"He's why we were all kicked out."

"Pf… Really? How do they plan to fight without you guys?"

"Right…? That crazy bastard. I can't wait to see them get thrashed."

"He~ But he seemed very confident during the interview."

"JiHan always exudes confidence."

"You're talking about him like you're close to him."

Dong-woo did his best to ignore the giggling women and intently watched JiHan's interview.

= Mr. Sung, there was an unfortunate incident with the national team. The main lineup has changed quite a bit now, so how has the coordination been with the rest?

- Everything's going well. Nothing's going to change in this match.

= Nothing's going to change…?

- Right. We're still going to win three-to-zero.

= Oh…!

Dong-woo felt sick upon hearing that.

'Three-to-zero? Pf. He'll come back to his senses after getting completely stomped on zero-to-three.'

How could they win without the starting lineup of Warriors? He eagerly waited for the match to start and chugged his drink.

Meanwhile, the Russian team was in a celebratory mood after they heard the news.

"They cut all of their starting Warriors after they caused some trouble before the game, right?"

"I can't understand why they'd do that when they're in last place. Why not just remove the troublemakers?"

"If they were going to lose either way, it's best to maintain some discipline, right?"

The Russian Warriors were talking as if their victory was guaranteed.

"Don't let your guard down. Isn't JiHan still there?" Vladimir Gorsikov, the leader of the Russian Warriors, tried to warn them, but…

"What can only one guy do? Also, he's still only in Gold."

"That's right. He said he would beat us three to zero, so let's take this opportunity to teach him a lesson."

They believed their victory was guaranteed.

[The East Asian League match is starting.]

[Map 1: South Gate]

"Divine Bless."

"Absolute Shield."

The Warriors received buffs from the Supports and got into formation. Unlike the Korean team's square-like turtle formation, the Russian Warriors created a triangular formation with Vladimir at the front.

= 'Berserker' Vladimir is leading the vanguard.

Vladimir's SS-rank Gift, 'Berserk', was simple in that it increased his stats, especially his attack power, for a certain amount of time.

= He's ranked 6th in the world among the Warriors, but he's considered even higher when it comes to pure attack power.

= The triangle formation buffs whoever stands at the forefront, so his destructive power is going to be tremendous.

The Russian team's strategy was to buff Vladimir as much as possible so he could shatter the enemy's ranks with his explosive strength.

"Let's go! For Mother Russia!"

"Oryaa!"

Vladimir lifted his huge axe and charged forward, with the rest of his Warriors following close behind.

"Target Eliya!" YeonJu shouted, designating the weakest opponent, but the other Russian players actively provided support for their Warriors.

BOOM-!

Attacks poured down from the Koreans on the castle walls, and the Russians responded with their own attack from below as magic exploded around the battlefield and Support debuffs spread in a long-distance contest of firepower.

"Ugh!"

"I'll go first!"

Korea seemed to take the upper hand early on since their Archers and Mages were stronger than Russia's, but YeonJu didn't look happy with their results.

'Only three…?'

They had to take down as many enemy Warriors as possible before they reached their own team's Warriors, but the Russians surged forward with their triangular formation.

Even though they were focusing fire on the weakest members first, they only managed to kill three Russian Warriors.

'It'll become impossible to snipe them when they reach the gate!'

South Gate had two basic ways for attackers to win: They could either battle it out at range, which was the go-to method when the Warriors of both teams were at similar skill levels, or, if they thought their Warriors were better, they could break through the enemy team's formation in front of the gate.

Going for close combat was a risky tactic since the defenders had the advantage of the high ground and usually won if they could just hold out for a bit, so Russia's determined charge indicated they believed the Korean Warriors were below standard.

Of course, YeonJu thought that as well.

'JiHan might've shown amazing results in practice, but that can't compare to the real thing! Their Warriors are going to slaughter ours, so we have to take out as many of them as we can before then!'

"Next target is Sergei! Aim for the blue armor!"

"Okay!"

A barrage of fire ensued after she gave the signal. Thankfully, concentrated fire was the trademark of the Korean team. Their Archers were truly their greatest advantage.

Paf! Paf!

Two more Russian Warriors fell before they could reach the gate.

"Five have fallen!"

"Their triangular formation's efficiency has dropped to 180%!"

Vladimir grinned. His flushed face and bulging muscles were indicators that he'd already entered his berserk state. "That's fine! Five Warriors won't affect the outcome against Korea!"

"Blood Rage!" He rushed toward the Korean shields before swinging his large axe, which was stained crimson with blood.

BOOM-!

The Korean team's formation crumpled after a single blow.

"How weak!" He shouted. How could members of a national-level team be unable to endure even a single blow? They were pathetically weak and had even made the mistake of expelling their starting Warriors over a trivial matter.

Vladimir smirked and drew a horizontal line with his axe.

Swoosh-!

More of the Korean Warriors fell like chopped logs as five died in a single stroke.

That's all it took for their numbers to equal out.

"Hahaha! This is too easy!"

"Where's JiHan?!"

The Warriors behind Vladimir rushed forward to slaughter the Korean Warriors.

"How could the turtle formation be breached so easily…? Why did these guys even show up?" one of the Russian players asked.

Vladimir's eyebrows twitched. 'This is supposed to be the turtle formation…?'

Though the Korean team was shielding each other in a defensive line, their arrangement was weird. Usually, the turtle formation required them to make a perfect square, but their Warriors seemed to be primarily gathered at the front line.

Rather than a square formation, it seemed like they were making a reverse triangular formation. If Vladimir was at the tip of the Russian team's triangle, then the one receiving all of the buffs at the tip of the Korean team's reverse triangle would be…

"So you've come," JiHan said as he walked through his ruined team.

* * *

They'd determined that they couldn't go with the usual turtle formation after the starting lineup of Warriors was cut.

- Now, the efficiency… doesn't even reach 150%.

- I guess that's the difference between the starting and secondary teams.

Even if JiHan increased the efficiency of the formation, he couldn't fill the gap that 29 relatively skilled players left in their absence.

- They're all below level 225.

- I'm not sure if they can even endure a single one of Vladimir's blows

Other than the Sword King, Vladimir was known as the most destructive Warrior. If he used his Berserk Gift and started chopping away with his axe, then just how long could their backup Warriors last?

The coach had been in despair until…

- How about we try this?

JiHan ended up proposing a triangular formation instead of their usual turtle formation. It was usually an offensive formation that didn't make sense when it came to defense, but maybe relying on JiHan was their best course of action.

- Are you going to stand in the front and block?

- No. I'll be in the back.

- In the back…? But the effect will vanish if the Warriors at the front fall.

- No. I think I can be efficient by myself.

Though the Korean Warriors were being slaughtered and the effect decreased a bit, it leveled out at 110%.

- I'll take advantage of how the enemy spreads when they meet our Warriors and make a perfect strike.

- Will one opportunity be enough…?

- Watch and see.

The Russian team assumed the game was in the bag when the Korean team fell before them and broke formation to chase down kill points.

As soon as their formation broke, JiHan raised his spear.

"Let's start," he said as intense pressure flowed from his body.

'What's up with that power…?!' Vladimir flinched for a moment, but…

"You foolish bastard…! What can you do by yourself?!"

Vladimir cast his surprise aside and shot forward like a cannonball, closing the distance in an instant.

"Blood Rage!"

The man's bloody axe flared up and seemed as if it would split JiHan in half at any moment.

That's when JiHan leisurely used his third Divine Technique that he hadn't been able to make use of before.