Chapter 214. Knockout Tournament
Day 5 of my hermit life.
Wow, time has flown by at an astonishing rate. But considering that the Earth is smaller in radius and has a faster rotation period than Alphauri, I couldn’t help but feel that each day just zipped by.
“Aha, finally done!”
Anyway.
There’s good news. After five days of intense work, I finally perfected my preparations.
[Search History]
– Seoul Abandoned Factory
– Places without people roaming around
I was in the midst of searching for a place to cast my spell for the next stage when I stumbled across an article again.
[The outburst of opinions regarding the Hunter Tournament… Disputed claims from experts.]
A duel event utilizing awakened abilities.
At first, I thought it was just some noisy entertainment, but as I looked deeper, I found out that the Hunter Tournament recently announced by China was entangled with more interests than expected.
The fall of America’s status due to Brooklyn’s disappearance (though technically, it was a death).
The world began to question whether America’s Hunter industry could function properly when they couldn’t even protect a rare asset like an S-Class healer.
And at that time.
China, lurking for an opportunity, played the card of a tournament.
Capitalizing on the trust lost by America over the Brooklyn incident, they aimed to gain an upper hand in the power competition by perfectly mediating duels among upper-ranking hunters.
However, hosting this tournament wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
【Free Forum】
– They’re making hunters fight! What if someone gets hurt?
– It’s insane to use high-level personnel meant to protect citizen safety for such nonsense.
– Such a barbaric idea!
There were many criticisms about using abilities for entertainment.
Despite the countless criticisms, China maintained a consistent stance in defense.
As if proclaiming that they could easily fill the void left by Brooklyn, they spoke confidently.
“We have the means to take responsibility for any injuries sustained by the hunters, so there’s no need to worry about risks.”
The barrier of the arena was also claimed to be meticulously designed to ensure audience safety.
If anyone argued that it was inhumane for people to fight each other, they suggested shutting down UFC venues before speaking up.
Dueling, a practice rooted in humanity dating back to ancient Greek times, surely had no one to rightfully criticize it, did they?
– China: Who’s forcing hunters to fight? Everyone agreed to participate!
In addition, while China boasted about the safety of the arena, they dangled a tempting bait for the onlookers.
While it was possible to easily find videos of mid-tier awakened individuals, classified as low-ranking variety from F to D class, on various platforms…
China’s tournament only selected participants above B class.
A league where B-class fighters duel: Silver Tiger Battle ( 은호전).
And the Hwangryong Tournament ( 황룡전), which starts from A-class and even allows monstrous S-class participants.
China’s argument was clear.
The skills of upper-ranking awakened individuals cannot even be compared to expensive CGI, and those who witnessed its intensity and vibrance naturally recognized the artistry of abilities.
The world had entered an era of superpowers; if we couldn’t relish in their talents, was there a reason for us to be born as modern humans?
“Power competition? Show of strength? America’s claims are false. We merely wish to share the mystical talents of awakened individuals with the world in a pure manner.”
In a strong tone, a member of China’s Central Political Bureau reiterated the value of the Hunter Tournament.
Once his speech was released, public opinion began to shift in favor of the event increasingly…
【China reveals rewards for IHT (International Hunter Tournament), causing a stir】
No matter how grand the Colosseum is built, if there aren’t any fighters to battle there, it’ll all be in vain, right?
Soon, China went as far as to unveil delicious compensation for the overseas upper-ranking awakened.
[Exclusive Participation Appreciation Gifts for Top-Ranking Awakened]
[Item Box (Rare)]
Are they planning to turn people into mere entertainment with such meager rewards?
For such stubbornness to be said, a treasure too great was at stake.
*
“Basic appreciation gifts will only be issued if a victory is achieved in at least the 1st round, and no compensation will be given to S-class participants with recorded complete defeats?”
A few hours later.
In Kim Gi-ryeo’s Studio.
I leaned against the faded wallpaper and fiddled with my mobile phone.
The text filling the screen was an announcement of the recently hyped event.
[Hwangryong Tournament Ranking Rewards]
[1st Place: [Divine Trident]]
[2nd Place: [God’s Droplet x20]]
[3rd Place: [Divine Tree Sapling]]
Strangely, they all contained the word “God.” It seemed the organizers had aligned the prizes with a concept.
That aside, the page I was looking at detailed the rules of the matches and various rewards. Just as I stumbled upon the identity of the 3rd place reward, my fingers instinctively stopped.
“Oh wow, the Divine Tree Sapling is the 3rd place prize?”
The God’s Droplet and the lengthy-named trident…
What could these items possibly be that even a somewhat epic-class Divine Tree Sapling was pushed to 3rd place?
“Hmm.”
I began typing the item names into the search bar.
The results revealed…
【Free Forum】
– Divine Trident = Officially known as ‘Triaina’ by Pixies.
– Crazy;; Are they really offering Triaina as a prize??
– Why does China keep naming items whatever they want?
– Honestly, I didn’t care about the event, but wow, what the heck is Triaina? Haha!
Hot reactions.
It seemed that the winning prize of this event was something that even S-Class hunters would be tempted by.
As seen, various forums for awakened individuals were filled with comments saying China went crazy.
“Let’s see. The specs of the magic tool…”
A blue spear capable of creating enormous waves with a single swing.
But the true essence of this epic-class item lay elsewhere.
“Oh, so that’s why people went crazy.”
Triaina was one of the rare cases where the performance of an epic-class item was fully unveiled, and its detailed effects were still proudly recorded in the Pixie Analyzer’s database.
[Enhances user’s strength by 20% when equipped]
[Massive additional damage when attacking with a fire attribute beast (thrust)]
[Immunity to destruction]
[Overall enhancement of skill power (25%)]
[Special skill ‘Tempest’ usable after 10 days of charging]
Five appealing points.
It’s easy to see why hunters were excited about its emergence.
‘Excluding everything else, that 25% skill power enhancement is something rarely seen. Just one weapon brings such a huge boost in magic.’
Of course, from the perspective of a Great Mage…
There was a high probability that a magic tool with such functions would increase the user’s magic power consumption compared to usual when equipped.
But anyway, epic-class weapons were used by top-ranking awakened individuals from A to S-Class.
So, a slight drop in efficiency wouldn’t matter too much. Unlike some low-tier bodies, they wouldn’t go down easily with only one or two big techniques.
“Haha.”
For some reason, I suddenly felt uneasy.
I suppressed the rising irritation and continued to type on my mobile phone.
I still hadn’t found any information on the 2nd place reward, the [God’s Droplet].
“Oh, this side is quite the heated discussion as well?”
But what was the [God’s Droplet]?
It turned out to be a specialty item exclusively for awakened individuals.
Meaning it was a liquid that essentially intoxicates awakened individuals, bearing effects similar to alcohol.
For newcomers who had awakened strongly beyond a certain threshold, typical alcohol wouldn’t affect them, so even drinking beer or soju would leave them unfazed.
The God’s Droplet appeared in 800ml magical stone bottles.
And it was said to be dangerous enough that it could make even S-Class awakened individuals tipsy, so for an ordinary person, swallowing even a single drop could land them in the emergency room.
【Free Forum】
– [God’s Droplet] x20??!
– I just applied for Hwangryong Tournament, LOL. Is it true that overseas participants get priority? All the S-Class fellows are in trouble, haha!
└ Trouble? No way~
– It seems Koreans may have trouble obtaining this. A lot of people in America are recovering alcoholics who can’t drink anymore after awakening, so I guess Enzo from Spectrum might be after this.
But why are they… so crazy about that…?
【Free Forum】
– Honestly, it’s clear that China will slyly take the Hwangryong Tournament’s victory as a host country privilege.
– LOL, true. There’s a 100% chance they’ll operate some sleight of hand. There’s no way they’ll give that to other countries for free.
– So the best shot is the droplet, huh?
– By the way, the prizes from 4th to 16th haven’t been disclosed yet; they’re crazy to be throwing money around like this!
The [God’s Droplet] only appears in the dungeon of Kaifeng City, China, so there was no way for others to obtain it.
Thus, a now-popular form of ‘item diplomacy’ has emerged, replacing panda diplomacy.
China monopolizes this specialty item, reaping vast profits, while also gifting it to a few countries to show goodwill.
Upon looking up, tons of information regarding the rare item poured in, but even after reading every line, confusion lingered in my mind.
Why were the mages here willingly trying to poison themselves by spending untold riches?
‘If I say this, wouldn’t the earthlings see me as a primitive man? I can’t quite grasp the exact effects of intoxication…’
In Kim Gi-ryeo’s mind, there was no memory regarding alcohol consumption, leaving a lack of reference materials.
However, it wasn’t entirely unfathomable.
The Alphauri once enjoyed noxious substances, and in modern day, that had transformed into mentally harmless magical forms.
“Alcohol, huh~”
I found myself positively intrigued by Earth’s nightlife culture for a moment.
Thinking, maybe I’d try to obtain a God’s Droplet someday.
But that thought only went that far.
In truth, a Great Mage had absolutely no plans to participate in that international tournament.
– Grrr.
I switched off the mobile phone I was looking at and stood up.
Next, I opened the refrigerator and glared into the bottom section to see if there was a snack at all.
Having been surviving on borrowed time, I just realized that carelessly strutting about could lead to unimaginable consequences.
‘How grateful you are for the lesson… Morgan…’
After the Mimic City incident, I decided to stop acting recklessly.
I resolved that I’d only step out when a perfect opportunity to earn a body arose.
Esther had referred to this stay-at-home life as ‘being a shut-in’, but since I had earned quite a bit, what’s wrong with seeking safety?
That event promised prizes so monumental that a variety of S-Class individuals would undoubtedly show their faces.
So, it was best for a rank manipulator like me to stay cooped up to avoid trouble.
‘Let’s not act recklessly due to useless greed.’
I reminded myself of my newly set code of conduct while pulling out food items from the fridge that might provide some nutrition.
Some leftover convenience store tofu from a 1+1 deal. And a pack of seasoned seaweed that I couldn’t recall when opened.
Since I wasn’t particularly starving, this was enough for a snack.
However, at that moment. The familiar ringtone of my mobile phone echoed in the dry studio.
[Kang Chang-ho ☎]
What brings him here at this hour?
“Hello?”
I answered the call while gripping the pack of tofu in one hand.
But as the conversation progressed, my lips involuntarily began to droop lower.
– Ah, Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter. Is this a good time to talk?
“Yes.”
– It’s nothing serious; I just have something to convey. It seems you’ll have to clear some time next Saturday… If you have any other schedule, cancel it right away.
Wait, next Saturday? No way.
– I’m planning to depart for China around that time.
“China?”
– But thinking about it, if something happens while I’m away, it could be a big deal, so I was thinking of bringing you along.
Satan’s temptation.
But I was determined to uphold the hermit plan I just established, not wavering under the allure.
Still, as a Great Mage, I had some dignity. How could a mage so easily break promises with themselves!
“Ah, that… I’m kind of busy next week…”
– Just so you know, if you’re someone who’s free enough to head out at 2 AM, I believe you’ll follow this schedule without question.
“……”
– And as an additional note, I happen to be right in front of your place. You wouldn’t dare to give an odd response at such a crucial time, would you?
I had to be careful.
While it was natural to feel stressed if plans got disrupted, such mental burden was nothing compared to the prospect of death.
