Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Spendthrift Necromancer (102)

Guild Battle (3)Kim Hwanyong, an S-rank Swordsman and Ilseong's Vice Guild Master. He was known as an expert who supported Ilseong Guild alongside Guild Master Nam Cheolmin. He was also the prey Park Siwoo had been aiming for from the start.‘I need to take someone like him down easily.’Just look at Seo Yerim.

Not only had she crushed Nam Cheolmin in an instant, she was turning the entire Ilseong Guild into chaos and displaying her value without restraint.

And Siwoo?

Disciple of Sword Immortal and wielder of the Holy Sword.

The labels attached to him sounded impressive enough, but frankly, he was one of the least anticipated members of Spendthrift Guild. The other two were simply too monstrous.

Seo Yerim was a genuine Awakened and a veteran who had built her reputation long ago, while Guild Master Kim Minwoo was…….‘……

Don't think about it.’Ordinary people had their own path.

Comparing himself to a real monster would only make his life feel pathetic.

There were thirty enemies, so if the total workload was thirty people's worth.

Seo Yerim, ten.

Kim Minwoo, fifteen.‘……

I'm the youngest, so I'll just do five people's worth.’Taking down the Vice Guild Master should count for around three.

Park Siwoo charged.

Kim Hwanyong snorted as he received his sword. As expected of an S-rank Awakened, confidence filled his eyes.

You're still too green, brat!

That was practically written across them.

Only three exchanges.

Cold sweat appeared on Kim Hwanyong's forehead as the Holy Sword closed the distance in an instant and stabbed repeatedly at his vital points.

By six exchanges, his hands and feet were already tangled. The sword kept thrusting through feints, naturally forcing his movements wider and wider.

Just as they were about to reach the tenth exchange, the Holy Sword twisted cleverly and cut across his neck.

Kim Hwanyong was eliminated instantly.

Cedric was also rampaging, tearing apart the Warrior's shield.

Park Siwoo's eyes gleamed.‘This is easy without interference.’Normally, ranged Classes would've bombarded him with every kind of harassment.

But now things were different.

Archer eliminated.

Every Mage down.

The remaining Classes were losing their minds under Seo Yerim's suppression and Merhen's magic.

Merhen in particular was a nightmare for the rear line, blasting high-level magic from point-blank range.

“Block it!”

They desperately layered defensive Skills, only for one spell to shatter them all. And the problem didn't end there. Dolsoe's charge broke open the front line, allowing Skeletons to flood through. Surrounded from all directions, the Awakened's shields were rapidly draining under the barrage of attacks.‘We won.’The battle had tilted so decisively that even an ordinary civilian could've looked at it and known the outcome.

Park Siwoo's expression turned serious.‘I still haven't done five people's worth.’He needed to take down at least two more before he could say he'd done his share as a proper guild member.

He charged toward a Swordsman surrounded by Skeletons. His kill count began rising almost immediately.* * *“The Guild Battle is over!”

“Zero to 3

0. An absolutely overwhelming result!”

“Wow…… I never imagined the score would look like this. Spendthrift Guild is far, far too strong!”

The commentators erupted in amazement.―Whoa…… a perfect score for real?―Seo Yerim's incredible, but Park Siwoo's no joke either? He took down the Vice Guild Master in just ten exchanges;―Cedric is insane too; he was straight-up toying with an S-rank Awakened. How high are his stats?―Damn…… they said they'd only gather world-ranker-class talent, and it was actually true lol―For real lol. Honestly Korea gets hit with the Korea discount, but world-ranker-class talent can absolutely show performance like that lol―Did Korea just get a guild that can genuinely aim for world domination? I'm kinda excited ngl lol―I want to tell people not to get ahead of themselves, but that result makes me want to get ahead of myself lol―Nah~ not getting ahead of ourselves~ They're doing this at their current Levels, imagine when they Level up lol They'll beat the shit out of every world ranker lol“We thought even if Spendthrift Guild won, surely one or two of them would get eliminated?”

“Exactly. Even if nobody did, I expected the undead army to get wiped out at least…… but no. Starting with Guild Master Kim Minwoo's two summons, then the Golem and Skeletons. They're all perfectly fine! Alive and kicking! That's what we're looking at!”

“Literally almost all of them survived. Only around two hundred unlucky Skeletons were destroyed.”

“What makes this result so frightening is that this match honestly wasn't very different from a real battle.”

“That's right. If this had been an actual fight, one guild would've been annihilated while the other would've simply spent some Mana and walked away.”

“Frankly, looking at this as objectively as possible. Like people are saying in chat, I can't help wondering whether we've just witnessed the birth of a guild capable of aiming for global supremacy…….”

“I feel the same way. They have only three guild members, but I can't even imagine where their ceiling lies.”

The commentators spoke with serious expressions. Ilseong Guild might be ranked fifth in Korea, but the gap between them and Dorim in first wasn't enormous.

Which meant.

Even if Spendthrift Guild fought Dorim Guild, there was a very high chance Spendthrift would win.

“……

Perhaps Korea's greatest guild was born today.”

“That may be a little premature, but one thing is certain. Spendthrift Guild? They're unquestionably a top-five guild in Korea! And it's also true they're strong enough to aim for first place!”―For real lol Dorim? Spendthrift tears them apart in my book. They're just fucking strong lol―Korea's number one is still only tier 2.5 globally~ Obviously they should tear them apart, kyaaa lololol―Honestly was Dorim number one because they were that good? Nah lol Korea just didn't have enough talent lol―Every top Korean guild was probably watching this lol Their heads must be burning right now lol―It's about time Korea got another golden generation lol―Can we actually look forward to this year's Gate Contest? lol―For real lol. If the government has a brain, how could they not select these guys? lololol―Their backing is insane too, so the Association can't play games with them lol They have to pick them lol―So reassuring lol―But doesn't this look beyond an S-rank Achievement? Even world-ranker-class talents didn't show this kind of performance at that stage.―Yeah; I'm an S-rank Achievement Awakened, and this looks above that no matter how I see it. This isn't performance you get from an S-rank Skill.―Park Siwoo might look S-rank. But Kim Minwoo? I have no clue. His summons are completely insane; is he seriously above S?―Divine Archer is kinda suspicious too lol Sure, her Level's a little high…… but even accounting for that, she's way too strong.

Then caster Choi Yongjun moved forward for the interview. Kim Minwoo and his two guild members climbed onto the platform.

“Um, Guild Master Kim Minwoo.”

“Yes.”

“Could we perhaps bring those summons over too……?”

The two special summons.

Cedric could speak.

And given how human the woman with the parasol looked, there was a high chance she could speak as well.

With countless viewers curious about them, he couldn't pass up the chance for an interview.

Kim Minwoo smirked at Choi Yongjun's whispered request and nodded.

“Merhen, Cedric. Come here.”

The two summons joined them on the platform.―All right, then! Let's begin the winner's interview! There was so much to see today, but we absolutely cannot leave out this woman's performance! Bow Phoenix? Not anymore! Please welcome Divine Archer Seo Yerim!

Waaaaah!

Seo Yerim stepped forward amid thunderous cheers.

“Hello.”

“Yes! Great to have you! Not only the audience here, but our viewers have countless questions. I'd like to start with this one. Guild Master Nam Cheolmin's Skill. Did you learn it as a new Achievement Skill after becoming an Archer?”

“I just copied it.”

“……

Wow. So you're saying you copied Bow Ghost's trademark just by seeing it once?”

“Yes.”

“We suspected as much, but that is truly frightening talent! I'm curious about something else too. The arrows targeting Guild Master Nam Cheolmin spread apart midway and then converged again. Was that intentional……?”

Seo Yerim nodded.

“……So you intended that from the moment you fired?”

“Yes.”

“How in the world did you do it?”

“I just did.”

“Ah…… I don't think there's room for disagreement anymore. Genius is incomprehensible to ordinary people! Divine Archer it is. Starting today.”

“Thank you. I'll keep working hard to show everyone good results.”

Next came Park Siwoo's interview.

“Honestly, a lot of people expected you to be eliminated early, Mr. Siwoo. But not only did you charge in confidently and take down the Vice Guild Master, you cut through every Swordsman in sight. How could anyone not look forward to your future after that performance!”

The audience nodded.

Seo Yerim and Kim Minwoo's performances had been so shocking that they overshadowed him, but Park Siwoo's showing was absolutely nothing to underestimate.

He'd cut down S-rank Swordsmen in fewer than ten exchanges. How was that not impressive? Even more so when his Level was considered.

“Please give us a few words about your goals going forward!”

“I'll just do five people's worth.”

“Five people's worth?”

“Noona does ten, Hyung does fifteen, so I figure I need to do at least that much.”

“Ahh. In that sense, I understand. Your ambition is surprisingly modest.”

“Rather than that…… maybe everyone else is just too monstrous.”

From caster Choi Yongjun to the audience.

Everyone nodded as though they agreed.

Park Siwoo's performance would've been enough to earn MVP consideration under normal circumstances, yet reality was…….

Cedric had actually contributed even more. That said plenty about how absurdly powerful Kim Minwoo's summons were.

The feeling of an ordinary person stuck among geniuses.

It was an emotion most Awakened had probably experienced at least once.

The world was vast, and there were many geniuses.

Feeling an inexplicable sympathy, Choi Yongjun nodded.

“Well said! Still, doing five people's worth absolutely makes you a genius! Mr. Siwoo, you have no reason to feel discouraged at all! That guy is the one who's weird!”

Choi Yongjun shouted while pointing at Kim Minwoo.

“Guild Master Kim Minwoo! Was Necromancer always this kind of Class? If it was a Class that casually popped out summons like those, I would've picked Necro myself!”

“Normally, it isn't.”

“Then how did you do it, Guild Master?”

“I worked pretty hard. Got a little lucky too.”

“Ah, as expected from the house specialty. Looks like we're not getting the secret recipe. What a shame. Setting that aside, we can't possibly skip interviewing those two summons either. Sir Cedric?”

The Skeleton took the microphone.―Ah, ah. Is this how you use it?

“Yes, that's right. I'm guessing this was your first Guild Battle. What did you think?”―Ilseong Guild. You said this was the fifth-ranked guild of a nation?

“That's right.”―Compared to where I lived, I suppose it would be similar to a knight order. But for that, it was rather unimpressive.

““Uh…… is that so?”―It felt like even the knight order of some count could sweep them away easily. As a knight myself, I'd say they lack grit by a considerable margin. Korea's Awakened should devote themselves more seriously to training.

“Uh…… yes. Of course. Training is an endless road for any Awakened. Haha…….”

Choi Yongjun spoke while sweating coldly. Cedric was talking with zero concern for what happened afterward.

But filling himself with patriotic fervor and arguing back here felt awkward too.

They're the weakest of the top guilds!

He couldn't say that when there wasn't some enormous gulf between first and fifth.

And Cedric's own performance had been terrifying.

S-rank Awakened?

He'd simply punched holes through them with his spear.

It was enough to make one wonder just what realm his spearmanship had reached…….―Bone Knight hyung dropping truth bombs lol―Not an imperial or royal knight order, they get cut off at count-tier lol―He definitely has the right to say that lol He tore the front line apart by himself lololol―Are knight orders really that strong?―Maybe Hyung came from a hardcore world lol―Sorry for being a Korean Awakened ㅠㅠ Sorry for being a Korean Awakened ㅠㅠ Sorry for being a Korean Awakened ㅠㅠThen.

Cedric looked toward Choi Yongjun and spoke.―Still, there is one thing Ilseong does well.

“Oh, and what would that be?”―Quality. In particular, the upcoming Ilseong42 smartphone includes real-time foreign-language translation and voice functions, making it extremely useful when traveling overseas, and…….

Cedric recited the lines as though reading straight from a textbook.

At some point, the unreleased new product had appeared in his hand.―?―What?―(Fact) He never said the guild was good.―Ah lol He meant the products were good lololol―That ad pivot for real?―Is this that knightly grit thing he was talking about?