Chapter 180

December.

The latter half of the BattleNet regional league season had ended, and now the Champions League matches were in full swing.

At this time, the public's attention was focused on the Chaos Battlefield rather than the World Champions League as usual.

The rehearsal map that gives +7 stat points for reaching 10,000 points. People were interested in whether the Earth expedition team could obtain this tremendous reward.

-Are they finally forming a proper formation and starting for real?

-+7 stats… Only warriors and supporters are psyched.

-Hurry up and pick Wang Lin!

-They're still on about that? lol

-Will it be like this the whole December?

Despite this, China's resentment over Wang Lin not being selected showed no signs of subsiding.

"I have the sole authority over player selection. I've already discussed it with the World BattleNet Association."

Seong Jihan dismissed it in a single line, and proceeded with discussions with the World BattleNet Association.

"Please select reserve members in addition to the 479 already picked."

"Reserve members?"

"Yes, some players may have issues and need to be switched out. It'd be good to have ample reserves, around 300 extra."

"Understood."

In this uncertain world, reserves were essential to fill any vacant spots at any time.

That's how the expedition force was completed with reserves.

"Do not worry about the attack. Focus solely on defense."

"Warriors, gather in formation to get division buffs."

"Supporters, don't use the shield all at once. Use it sequentially from 1st Division."

Along with experts from the World BattleNet Association, the 500 worked hard on training to coordinate with each other.

The only one excluded was Seong Jihan, responsible for attacking.

And so, December 1st arrived.

Seong Jihan opened the rehearsal map and invited the promised players.

"Oh, finally…"

As people were summoned one by one,

Unlike the players Seong Jihan had matched randomly before,

They were surprised for a moment at being summoned, before quickly rushing to take their positions and getting into formation.

'This team will surely last long.'

Elite platinum-levels nearing 200.

Moreover, with a complete defensive posture of warriors and supporters, it seemed like they could easily withstand Hatchling's breath, even if it poured down.

'As expected, the Association handles these things well.'

Despite annoying issues with the Sword King, the World BattleNet Association was perfect for leaving miscellaneous tasks to.

If he tried to handle this himself with just his guild, he wouldn't have gathered such trained players.

Seong Jihan decided to make more use of the Association and looked upon the trained players with satisfaction.

Just as the forces were quickly getting organized,

"Oh! Seong Jihan! Long time no see!"

Barren appeared with a grinning face.

He had harbored a sense of inferiority toward Seong Jihan, but being selected unexpectedly seemed to have greatly relieved the accumulated emotions.

"To choose me… what an excellent judgment! Are you finally acknowledging me as your rival?"

"Rival?"

"Right, who else could be your rival but me!"

What a joke.

"It would be nice if you had said that after winning first place in the promotion match."

"Ugh… Your niece was cheating!"

"But isn't the result ultimately what matters?"

Yoon Seah walked up from behind Barren and spoke.

"Beat me first before calling yourself Uncle Seong's rival, Uncle Barren."

"Tch… Just you wait. I'll completely crush you in the diamond promotion match."

"Even though you didn't land a single hit."

"Ugh…"

Seeing Yoon Seah, Barren grit his teeth.

That behavior resembled how he acted towards Seong Jihan in the past.

Seong Jihan was already up in the heavens as his competitor.

However, it seemed that Barren had developed some emotions towards Yoon Seah, who had hindered him.

"Has your force control improved a bit?"

"Hmph, I'm not the old me. I can even write the alphabet with force now."

Saying so, Barren started carving letters into the ground.

Although lopsided like a toddler's scribbles, the ABCs could still be discerned.

"Oh."

Seeing that, Seong Jihan was impressed.

That clumsy Barren writing letters with Force?

It's better if Barren harbors that inferiority complex. Even though he practiced in my past life, his control skills didn't improve much. But this time, he seems to have received a lot of stimulation from the bitterness of defeat.

Barren's skill had improved remarkably, especially in force control, surpassing the Barren of his past life.

[Seah, he seems to have improved. Keep teasing him. It seems he thrives on that.]

Yoon Seah nodded slightly in response to Seong Jihan's message.

While Barren's skill was rapidly advancing, a new topic arose.

"Uncle, why didn't you pick Uncle Wang Lin? I keep getting asked that a lot lately."

Of course, Yoon Seah already knew the reason from Seong Jihan, but

'Need an occasion to explain before the rehearsal game starts.'

Just saying it's my choice as the selector wasn't enough for 1.4 billion citizens spewing malice.

Sensing Yoon Seah's intention, Seong Jihan casually answered.

"Ah, that? I was going to pick him, but a representative of the People's guild sexually harassed one of our guild members. So I decided not to."

"Sexually… harassed?"

"Yeah, until that person apologizes, I have no intention of picking him. If Wang Lin happened to leave the People guild, well, the opportunity is gone since I've already selected 20 people."

Seong Jihan calmly explained that he decided not to pick Wang Lin because of the insult from the People guilds representative. The huge influx of hate comments from the 1.4 billion population made the decision easy.

Barren, who listened to this, responded enthusiastically.

"Heh, if he lacks manners like that, not picking him was the right choice!"

More than just poor manners, Barren seemed to enjoy his real rival Wang Lin being excluded.

"That guy babbles a lot in front of you too. He's a guy without manners. Absolutely don't pick him!"

Giving a lecture when he's partially at fault too.

Seeing this, Seong Jihan pointed at the empty spot.

"Anyway, go to your position. If you keep wandering from your spot, I'll replace you."

"Ugh… I'm not the only one though? Your niece left her spot too."

"She's my niece."

"Fine, I'm going!"

"I'll go too, uncle!"

And so after Yoon Seah simply created an opportunity for an explanation, she left.

Seong Jihan chuckled.

'As expected.'

Who cares what malice other countries spew?

Having experienced hell after the tutorial ended, such things didn't affect Seong Jihan at all.

The focus should be on something else.

[The player recruitment is complete.]

[The game will now start.]

[Assigned map: Chaos Battlefield]

The 500 had assembled completely and the rehearsal game was beginning.

* * *

"The map's opening!"

"Get in defensive formation immediately!"

As soon as the game started, warrior leaders prepared their defensive positions. One of the first facts Seong Jihan confirmed through several random matches was that attacks would start pouring in as soon as the game began.

Hence why they were on guard.

[Finally opened huh.]

Swoosh…!

The Chaos Battlefield darkened as massive shadows enveloped it.

In the sky, 20 enormous metallic hands simultaneously smashed down at the humans.

"It's giants this time huh…!"

"I wore fire resistance armor expecting the Dragon hatchlings attack!"

The warriors groaned as they raised their shields toward the sky. Compared to the giant's enormous hands, the shields were no larger than fingernails. However,

"Shield Binding!"

When hundreds of warriors simultaneously used the Shield Binding skill, a massive shield of light rose above the expedition, resisting the giant's hands.

The "Shield Binding" skill strengthened as more people used it, and it became even more effective in countering the attacks that poured in right from the start of the game. Of course, the damage dealt by the giant's hands was considerable, and the shields made of light were showing signs of strain.

"Ugh…!"

"Heal…! Need heal…!"

Some of the warriors supporting the shields below had their bodies torn apart, and many suffered injuries, but compared to the breath attacks of the hatchlings, there were surprisingly few casualties.

If it continues like this, we can clear this map faster than expected.

"Just endure a bit more. I'll go cut their necks now."

Seong Jihan looked around.

10 metallic giants had surrounded them and were relentlessly pounding the shields with their palms.

Simple overhead smashes compared to breaths, but still very powerful done by metallic giants as tall as the sky.

'First…'

Whoosh!

Seong Jihan threw the Phoenix Flag into the sky.

Swish!

The palm of the giant's hand, which was in the trajectory of the Phoenix Flag, tore apart, and blue blood flowed out. The spear reached the sky, creating a massive space of bright light.

Nameless Divine Arts, Divine Thunder Decree – Celestial Judgment

From the gap in the light, a massive spear descended towards the ground.

"Oh, It's Celestial Judgment…!"

"Seeing this in person…!"

However, Seong Jihan's displayed martial art was different from usual.

"Huh…?"

"What, what is this? Another one is coming out?"

"This time, it's red?!"

From one hole, two spears fell. Moreover, compared to the usual light spears that fell, the crimson one exuded an even more intense aura.

[I'll try to block it.]

The metallic giant hit directly by the first light spear tried to resist. When the spear pierced through the top of its head, the giant gradually tried to pull it out.

Creak…

But when even its hand couldn't exert strength and turned black,

[An unknown attack. Damage irreparable. Retreating.]

After uttering those words,

Swoosh…!

Like a deflated balloon, the body shrank in an instant and disappeared.

Although the giant's form vanished like that, perhaps because of the retreat, the kill points for killing it were not added.

The second spear, filled with raging thunder, was different.

Piercing through the giant's head the moment it hit,

Whoosh…!

Crimson currents instantly flowed through the metallic body, then raging flames rapidly engulfed it.

Then, completely unlike earlier, it spoke in a different voice.

[Retreat is impossible. Control room down. NO.4212 Humanity. Data input required.]

Swoosh…!

Unlike the giant who shrunk and disappeared earlier,

This one melted away into a clump of molten metal.

And its disappearance added 100 kill points for humanity.

-Oh, 100…!

-It's the same as Hatchling.

-Hatchling died with one hit, but this one seems tougher. Shouldn't we get more points for this?

-They fly around instead. They're hard to catch. It's all the same.

-True, it's because it's Seong Jihan. He makes it look easy.

Metallic giants, evaluated as being equivalent to Hatchling. They all emitted mechanical sounds simultaneously when one of their comrades died.

[How did a lower species come here?]

[So you had a hidden sword.]

[Perhaps a constellation candidate. Retreating.]

They stopped striking with their palms and all turned around at once.

Rather than seeking revenge for their comrade, they seemed more focused on maintaining their strength.

'These guys… Are they not gonna fight back?'

Seong Jihan quickly approached to dispatch the rest, but

Whoosh…!

Like balloons losing air, the giants' bodies rapidly shrunk in an instant.

Then they completely disappeared without a trace.

"There are all kinds of species… Check the scoreboard."

Since they faced them, they should be able to identify what species they were.

Seong Jihan opened the scoreboard.

However, the species names that came out were completely unexpected.

1st place – NO.113 Pillar of The World Tree – Kill Points 8782

2nd place – NO.456 ?? – Kill Points 3321

…

9th place – NO.3491 ?? – Kill Points 930

10th place – NO.4212 Humanity – Kill Points 100

'Pillar of The World Tree?'

I thought it was just one of the giant races but…

Pillar of The World Tree?

Seong Jihan asked Ariel, a World Tree expert.

"Ariel, do you know anything about the Pillar of the World Tree?"

[Pillar? Why do you ask?]

"The giants just now mentioned a pillar."

[What?!]

Surprised by Seong Jihan's question, Ariel, instead, asked him in return.

[Th-that's impossible… That giant was a pillar? Are you sure?]

"It appeared like that on the scoreboard."

[Well… It must be certain…]

Looking flustered by Seong Jihan's question, she maintained her silence for a moment before answering.

[…I will contact the Queen to ask. That giant as a pillar…]

"Yeah. Do it quickly."

[It can only be done after the game ends. Let's talk when we go back.]

"Alright."

Seong Jihan nodded and ascended into the sky. To the east, there was a rift in the land where chimeras emerged. To the west, in the distance, a space enclosed by a giant circular barrier came into view.

'I don't need to go straight to the chaos rift.'

Since they only gave up to 2000 points anyway.

"Let's go west."

Seong Jihan led the expedition team towards the barrier.