NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42 - National Team Selection (4)
Chapter 42: National Team Selection (4)
Inside the Battle Hall, waiting room.
“Ugh, uuwaaeeck!”
Oh Ji-myung, who was thrown out, clutched his stomach and began vomiting.
‘It hurts.’
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
Although it was a person who hit him, it felt like being struck by a truck.
“Are you, are you okay?”
“Ranker-nim!”
Staff from the headquarters rushed over, but Oh Ji-myung raised his hand to stop them, his face grimacing.
‘Damn it, how humiliating.’
If he had been struck by a summon, he could just call it out for bad manners.
But being hit by a person made it harder to explain.
Especially since he was always full of pride, it hurt even more.
“Phew, I’m fine. Just go.”
Oh Ji-myung wiped his mouth with the hem of his clothes and thought about Baek Jin-woo.
‘Monster.’
He admitted it.
Baek Jin-woo was a monster.
Not only were his summons monstrous, but Baek Jin-woo himself was no joke.
‘That composure isn’t for nothing.’
The defeat was so overwhelming that he simply accepted the result instead of understanding the process.
And then.
“Uwaaeeck!”
Not long after he came out, Park Ho-seop was thrown out in the same manner, vomiting.
‘You got hit too, huh?’
This was madness.
It was shocking enough to be eliminated in just a few seconds, but for Park Ho-seop to be wiped out in under ten seconds?
The eyes of the two rankers met.
‘Senior, that guy is not human. Haah, it’s hard to breathe.’
‘I know. Looks like we picked the wrong fight.’
Suddenly, Oh Ji-myung recalled.
“The media is hyping you up lately, but standing too tall might keep you from ever being selected.”
The words he had arrogantly thrown at that monster.
At the same time, he realized.
‘I’m screwed.’
If anyone would fail to get selected for life, it wouldn’t be Baek Jin-woo, but himself.
Because.
Next year’s selection competition would also include team matches, and every time, Baek Jin-woo’s hammer would fall on their heads.
There was only one solution.
Retire or swallow his pride and beg for forgiveness, no matter the cost.
Oh Ji-myung didn’t want to ruin his ranker career over one mistake.
At that moment.
“Hey, you bastards!”
From inside the waiting room came the loud shout of Congressman Im Hee-su.
His face was flushed red, a clear sign of extreme anger.
“I’ve done so much for you guys, and not only did you get knocked out of the team match, but you lost to him of all people?”
‘Lost to him, you say.’
Grit.
Oh Ji-myung ground his teeth.
What did he mean, lost to him?
Since he’d told them to target that guy first, of course they would lose to him.
“That’s what happens when you rely on your rankings and get complacent instead of training. Ugh!”
Im Hee-su was furious.
The fact that the rankers he trusted had been defeated was bad enough.
But losing a bet to Park Chang-seok was an unbearable blow to his pride.
“Watch your words, will you?”
“What?”
“When you think about it, isn’t this your fault, Congressman?”
“What did you just say, you punk?”
“Punk?”
Oh Ji-myung wiped the vomit off his lips and glared at Im Hee-su.
“Just because I showed some deference to you as a congressman, you think you can look down on us?”
“What, what…?!”
Im Hee-su clutched his neck as if his blood pressure was spiking.
But Oh Ji-myung didn’t care and spoke his mind.
“If we had known Baek Jin-woo was that strong, we wouldn’t have followed you. Right, Ho-seop?”
“That’s right, Senior. Because of him, our careers are ruined. What are we supposed to do next year? We’ll have to keep facing that player.”
Ordinary people tend to blame others when problems arise, believing the fault lies anywhere but with themselves.
Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop directed all the blame for this situation toward Im Hee-su.
It wasn’t entirely wrong, but still.
It was a matter of ‘not my fault, but yours.’
“Congressman, I think we deserve some compensation for this.”
“You crazy bastards!”
“Whether we’re crazy or just reasonable… You’ll find out soon enough. You’re smart enough to hold that position, so I’m sure you understand what we’re saying. See you soon. Let’s go, Ho-seop.”
“Yes, Senior.”
Step, step.
Oh Ji-myung and Park Ho-seop walked out of the Battle Hall.
“W-wait a second!”
Im Hee-su was flustered.
What did they mean by that?
Compensation? See them again soon?
‘Are those bastards threatening me?’
100%.
“See you again” meant “Watch your back.”
If rankers started acting like gangsters, there wasn’t much anyone could do.
Even if they’d been defeated by Baek Jin-woo, they were still among the top talents in Korea!
If they resorted to violence like a gang, there would be no way to stop them.
‘Damn it.’
Im Hee-su was painfully aware that things were spiraling out of control.
***
Baek Jin-woo, who had decisively taken out the two rankers, didn’t bother to move.
‘Honestly, it wouldn’t be fair if I did.’
He had no intention of wandering around, eliminating innocent applicants.
All he did was continue stacking Lamba’s buffs.
Though there was no real need for more.
Hun-gyo in his current state?
Even if all the remaining players teamed up against him, it wouldn’t matter.
A single stomp from Hun-gyo would be enough to annihilate them all.
[Participants Remaining: 22/40]
Baek Jin-woo glanced at the player count displayed in the corner of his vision.
‘Two more to go.’
If just two more players were eliminated, the team match would be over.
It would then transition to the individual league.
‘I wonder who will survive?’
Lulu~
Humming a tune, Baek Jin-woo was enjoying a moment of leisure.
Rustle.
A player emerged, pushing through the bushes.
She was a sharp-looking woman.
‘She must be ranked outside the top 10, since I’ve never seen her before.’
Her eyes were filled with venom, suggesting she had already eliminated quite a few players.
“……”
“……”
The two silently locked eyes.
‘Why.’
Baek Jin-woo just sat there.
He had no intention of attacking first.
The choice was hers.
With only two more players needing to be eliminated for everyone to pass, would she choose to fight? Or cooperate?
If she proposed cooperation, he would agree, but if she initiated a fight…
That would be her fate.
– Grrr…
– Growl!
The wolves behind her adopted a hostile stance, indicating she had likely given the attack order.
She didn’t seem particularly bright.
‘She must think I look like an easy target.’
It was understandable.
All his summons, except for Hun-gyo and Lamba, were put away.
However.
‘That’s her problem.’
Baek Jin-woo wasn’t the kind of person to forgive someone who attacked him.
As Hun-gyo, sensing Baek Jin-woo’s gaze, was about to draw his sword,
“I regret this.”
The woman spoke first.
Oh?
At least she had manners, apparently.
“Rules are rules. I’ll eliminate you. Better luck next year. Don’t take it personally—it’s just bad luck. Luck is a skill, too.”
With that, she leapt forward.
Her wolf summons lunged at him.
However.
“No, there’s no need to regret anything.”
Baek Jin-woo smiled faintly.
At the same time.
Slice!
The throats of the five wolves were severed in an instant.
Baek Jin-woo would later learn that this woman had been ranked 5th.
“I’m the one who regrets this. If you had brushed past me and gone another way, you might have passed. But why, of all people, did you have to meet me?”
“W-what…!”
The woman stared at Baek Jin-woo in shock.
“But, well. Who said it? Luck is a skill too.”
She wasn’t wrong.
After all, 「Battle of Summoners」 was inherently a game of wild luck.
“This doesn’t make sense…”
“Goodbye.”
And just like that, the player disappeared.
[Participants Remaining: 20/40]
[The team match has ended.]
Somewhere, another player was taken down, bringing the count to 20.
The first round was officially over.
“……”
“……”
The commentators and audience were in stunned silence.
The screen had been focused on Oh Sun-young, Korea’s 5th-ranked player, at the moment of her defeat.
– W-what just happened?
– I didn’t see it. There was just a flash, and then… it was over.
– Let’s check the slow-motion replay.
Even the professional commentators stammered, overwhelmed by the shocking scene.
The highlight replay was similar to earlier events.
No, it was even faster.
The slash was so quick it remained invisible, even when slowed down.
– That summoned instructor… sliced through Orang’s wolves with a single stroke!
Orang (Five Wolves).
That was the nickname of Oh Sun-young, the vice-guild master of Arirang Guild, one of the Big 3.
She was called that because she always fought alongside her five wolf summons.
– So, along with 9th and 10th place, 5th place has also been eliminated?
– That’s correct, according to the rules.
– Baek Jin-woo. He’s truly overwhelming. It’s terrifying. At this rate, even Korea’s top-ranked player wouldn’t stand a chance. Where has this prodigy been hiding all this time?
– Korea is lucky to have him! With this, we stand a real chance in the world league!
The commentators showered Baek Jin-woo with praise.
And it wasn’t just the commentators.
The entire country was abuzz.
[Breaking News! Rankers Falling Like Dominoes!]
[Player Baek Jin-woo: The Rookie Phenomenon, Next Year’s Rising Star!]
Articles spread in real-time, and online communities were filled with talk about Baek Jin-woo.
Clips of Hun-gyo’s performance were already circulating everywhere.
└ Insane…
└ It doesn’t make sense, no matter how many times I watch it. At this rate, even Kang Gun-ho would be eliminated in 10 seconds.
└ Sounds plausible. Korean rankers are all around the same level. This guy might even compete on the global stage.
└ Thinking about it, it makes sense. He’s already broken all the domestic weekly dungeon records. That means he’s faster than all the current rankers!
└ Wow, damn. Can we actually cheer for the world league this time?
└ Daebak Jin-woo! God Jin-woo!
└ Jin-woo oppa, I love you!
└ By the way, isn’t that summoned instructor pretty good-looking? It’s an E-grade, so why haven’t we seen it before?
Especially.
Talk about the summoned instructor began to surface.
└ Is that summon even available on the market?
└ I couldn’t find it. Even if it were, it’d sell immediately.
└ Overseas forums are buzzing too. They say such a summon doesn’t exist.
└ So, what’s the deal?
└ Thinking about it, isn’t that fairy behind him also a rare summon?
└ Huh? You’re right!
Discussions about the Wind Fairy also emerged.
└ Gamers are saying that’s the Wind Fairy.
└ Apparently, it was an early-game summon removed during a balance patch.
└ But how does Baek Jin-woo have all this?
└ …Well, he must have his ways.
└ What ways?
└ If I knew, I’d be doing it too. Like I’d share that!
While curiosity was understandable, it wasn’t the point.
What truly mattered to the public was that Korea had produced a player who could shake the world.
Even Baek Jin-woo’s family was in shock.
“Daughter.”
“Y-yeah…?”
Baek Ah-jin, who had been staring at the screen in a daze, even stopped chewing her chicken.
“So… our Jin-woo… defeated all those top players in Korea?”
“Yes, Mom… That seems to be the case. I think my brother’s insane.”
“Watch your language about your brother!”
“Mom, it’s a compliment…”
Baek Ah-jin and Hwang Myeong-hee were both amazed.
‘Jin-woo, that kid…’
Baek Jin-cheol stood up abruptly.
‘He’s really going to become a global player.’
Clenching his fists, he murmured with a face full of emotion.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
Baek Ah-jin asked.
“Frying chicken.”
“Huh? Suddenly, chicken?”
“It’s a celebration! We’re sharing it with everyone in the neighborhood. It’s a golden bell moment, golden bell! Wahaha!”
In that moment.
The Baek Jin-woo family was the happiest family in the world.