[TL: This is a continuation of Park Jung-ah’s perspective.]

  [Park Jung-ah, 44th Floor: Yes. Please tell him no.]

  I sent him the reply and closed the messenger.

  After that, I looked at the guest. He was still looking anxious.

  His gaze ran met mine. He flinched.

  I’m used to this kind of response, but it still hurts to see this.

  Even before I entered the Tutorial, I’ve heard from people that my eyes look a little fierce. However, it was not this bad back then.

  It is not like I shoot some kind of laser beam from my eyes. Why are they so surprised?

  Does deadly aura get piled up every time I kill people?

  Only until recently, I didn’t care if people were scared of me or if they cursed about me behind my back.

  I actually liked that, thinking that such an impression of me would help me.

  However, lately……

  They were useless thoughts.

  I should just focus on what’s happening in front of me.

  “I’m sorry. I had to send a message real quick. Well then, may I hear the rest?”


  “Yes, yes.”


  The visitor was a Korean.

  He was no ordinary Korean.

  He was summoned to the tournament as a part of the Australian server.

  His name was Jung Chan.

  29 years old. He introduced himself as a student who went to Australia for his studies.

  However, when I asked further, he said he also obtained the Australian citizenship.

  I could not figure out if he was summoned as a part of the Australian server because of the citizenship or if because he was simply residing at the country.

  I will have to inquire the manager after the tournament ends to learn about this.

  Also, Jung Chan provided us with an interesting information.

  It was information about the gangs that were dominating the Australian server.

  “So, that is…… Where was I…… So……”


  The man stuttered.

  “You said that the atmosphere in the Australian server was different during the last tournament. That’s how far you were.”


  According to him, the uneasy atmosphere in the Australian server was growing during the first tournament.

  It had not been long.

  Other than that particular gang group, there are many other groups. Also, even that gang is internally divided into several groups. There is no large faction that encompa.s.ses the entire server. I don’t find that surprising considering that the first tournament only happened a while ago.

  “I think the first problem happened during the second day of the tournament.”


  They had the group matches during the second day of the first tournament.

  “When it begun, it was some of the challengers from the Hard Difficulty who sparked the issue. They attacked other challengers they met at the tournament. The attacks were one-sided and carried out as a group.”


  It was plausible.

  The people in Hard Difficulties who spent rounds after rounds at the lower floors would have had an easier time organizing themselves than people from other difficulties.

  “They blocked people’s mouth in middle of the matches. They kept attacking to interfere with others when they tried to surrender. Like that, they struck down the other challengers. During the second day, even after the tournament was over, they continued their violence and attacked many challengers.”


  Like that, with their power and through violence, they spread terror and committed acts of viciousness.

  Also, as soon as the third day came, people all returned to waiting rooms to take shelter from the gang’s violence.

  Meanwhile, at the place of the tournament, only the perpetrators remained to stay for another day.

  We don’t know what they discussed there.

  After that, time pa.s.sed like that, and the second tournament was held.

  He said that the Australian people greatly feared that the gangs will perpetrate acts of violence again, especially because this tournament was going to last longer than the past tournament.

  Also, he said that some of the gangs left taunting notes on the community, saying that other challengers should look forward to the tournament.

  However, when the tournament started, they ran into the Order of Vigilance. Instead of fighting the Order, the gang choose to hold their breath and stay quiet.

  Jung Chan stuttered his way through the conversation. After he finished telling his story, I sent him back. Before I realized, it was already evening.

  The story had so much unnecessary details, so more time had pa.s.sed than I realized.

  The details were mostly about the violence committed by the gang and the suffering of the victims.

  The details spoiled my mood.

  “Ugh.”


  My insides were a ruckus.

  I memorized the details of appearances of the gang’s main figures.

  I was thinking about their faces, but also other faces were being superimposed on them.

  Also, I saw another face superimposed on Jung Chan’s face.

  My hand was shaking a little. I brought out the sphere shaped Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms from the inventory.

  I placed it on top of my hand and let it roll in the palm of my hands. I felt like my insides were feeling a little better.

  I changed its form into a ring shape.

  It was no ordinary ring. It had a needle spike the length of a forearm attached to its front.

  It was a kind of a weapon. After all, this was Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.

  Still, it is a ring.

  I put the ring on my finger. I closed my eyes for a moment and calmed my breathing.

  “Are you alright?”


  Lee Yuu-jung brought me tea and asked.

  “Yes, I’m all right. Thank you for the tea, Big Sis.”


  I put up a peaceful face and responded to her.

  However, she grabbed my hand and looked at me with moist eyes, like how she always was.

  I wonder how long this trauma will follow me around.

  It’s been a year, which is a long time. I think it is about time for it to disappear, yet……

  I lifted the tea cup and took a sip from it.

  The tea cup shook a lot because of the ring I had on my finger.

  The ring is too heavy.

  I put down the tea cup and opened the message window.

  [Park Jung-ah, 44th Floor: I finished my conversation with him.]

  [Kim Min-hyuk, 30th Floor: Please start with a brief summary.]

  As he requested, I started with an explanation.

  I suppressed my emotions as much as possible. I tried to describe it as objectively as possible.

  I am not sure if I did well.

  [Kim Min-hyuk, 30th Floor: I vote that we wait.]

  [Park Jung-ah, 44th Floor: I second that. However, what if they do not show themselves until the tournament ends?]

  [Kim Min-hyuk, 30th Floor: If that happens, then we should go and hunt them down.]

  [Park Jung-ah, 44th Floor: I also second that. Please ask other captains about their opinions.]

  [TL: The perspective is now back to Lee Ho-jae’s view.]

  [Tournament, Day 3, 11:30]

  “Ugh. Huk. Huk.”


  Lee Hyoung-jin was gasping for air while sitting at a spectator seat. I clicked my tongue at him.

  You totally lack endurance.

  “Is it hard?”


  “Ugh…… Phuuuu…… No.”


  Oh, is that so?

  “It is not hard. I think I’m going to die, Big Bro.”


  Oh, is that so?

  “Can you describe your current condition in detail?”


  “Ugh…… That is…… I just…… can’t breathe very well. I feel like my vision is spinning. I feel dizzy. The color of the ceiling is shifting. Uuuuaaaa. I feel like there is a mosquito that’s circling around at the tip of my nose. My ears. I cannot hear anything through my ears sometimes. I hear the high pitch noise sometimes too. My inside hurts as well. Big Bro. I feel like I’m experiencing motion sickness, and then it feels like I’m being pressed down all of the sudden. Also, I cannot feel very well through the tips of my fingers. I think it is just cold too…… Also…… From the back of my neck……”


  Outside the arena building, he finished a special training that went on only for three hours. However, Lee Hyung-jin was already completely exhausted.

  It could not be helped, so I carried him on my shoulders and brought him into the arena building.

  Lee Hyung-jin finally regained his consciousness after 10 minutes of lying on the seats.

  He needs to develop faint resistance.

  “You only trained for three hours, and look at you. You are already exhausted. I see you had not been training when you were by yourself usually.”


  “I…… I did train! Big Bro, and how could you call that training!”


  It seemed he felt wronged. He shouted in a loud voice. He closed his eyes again and gasped for air. His breathing was rough.

  When one is trying to catch breath, it is not a good idea to talk so much like that.

  That will make the head spin due to a lack of oxygen.

  “Anyway, I really think you lack persistence. You only know to treat your body carefully. Um…… How should I say this. Ah, right. You are too weak against pain. You need to be able to endure difficulties. Only then, you will be able to accomplish anything.”


  “Pardon?”


  “I think you will need to raise pain, paralysis and faint resistances first. From now on, continue to buy poison potions and diligently train with them. Ah, first, I’ll help you until the tournament ends. I have a skill called Poison Energy, you see? If I use this, then you won’t need to waste points buying poison potions.”


  “B…… Big Bro…… Please let me live.”


  “It’s all right. You won’t die. No, actually, you could die if you were exposed to Poison Energy skill for a long time, but I can adjust it so you won’t die. I’m an expert at this, you know? Just trust your Big Bro.”


  Lee Hyung-jin’s face was full of sweat. Now, new drops started to form on his face. They were flowing down his face like a waterfall.

  You, are you crying now? Crying?

  I could not stand to watch this. I turned my face away from him.

  Still, I had no intention of allowing him to skip the special training.

  “Would you stop torturing the kid? Although I’m just watching, even I can feel the pain.”


  I want to say I will stop this.

  However, one day, Lee Hyung-jin will be challenging the 17th Floor. Thinking about this, I want to give him a harder training and grinding.

  Also, Lee Hyung-jin was quite motivated.

  He was complaining that he was so exhausted and on the verge of death. However, he saw the training to its end. As we saw at the individual tournament’s preliminary matches, he tried all sorts of things to focus on his growth.

  However, it was just that his body was not able to catch up to the harshness of the training I gave him.

  Still, the training I made for him is going to become his blood and flesh. No matter how much he suffers during the training, I have no choice but to make him go through it even if it is going to bring tears to my eyes.

  Well, it is not like I’m a pervert who enjoy making another person suffer. Would I force someone into grinding when he doesn’t want to?

  “By the way, aren’t you going to go do your work?”


  I changed the topic from about Lee Hyung-jin.

  This was a question that has been in my mind since yesterday.

  Jung-ah never showed herself throughout the day, saying she was busy. However, this rascal was sucking honey while sitting around at the spectator seat.

  “I’m working. Through the messenger.”


  “Really?”


  “Really.”


  I really think this rascal is just goofing off and loafing around.

  However, I have no way to confirm my suspicion.

  I moved my gaze away from Kim Min-hyuk for a moment and looked down below into the arena.

  The first place my gaze headed was the match where the Korean server’s h.e.l.l Difficulty challengers formed a party and entered.

  Initially, Lee Hyung-jin was included in that party. However, he left the party momentarily left the party for the special training.

  With Lee Hyung-jin out, I thought the rest of the h.e.l.l Difficulty challengers would give up on the match, but it seemed they decided to try anyway.

  They were not able to do so well.

  After all, they were all from the First Floor.

  Also, there weren’t many of them.

  There were fewer of us h.e.l.l Difficulty challengers in the Korean server now.

  Now, there were just six of us, including myself and Lee Hyung-jin.

  I know I have to do something for them too.

  Kim Min-hyuk said that perhaps I shouldn’t give them advice so soon.

  He was concerned about people challenging traps with misplaced courage blown into them by encouragement, and that could only lead to more deaths instead.

  Although it may look like he was being irresponsible, he was not wrong.

  How am I going to get them to pa.s.s through the First Floor?

  I feel so frustrated.

  Other matches had consisted of Hard Difficulty challengers from the Korean server who formed their own groups.

  Most of the people from the Hard Difficulty formed parties with people they like and entered the group matches.

  Also, they were all overwhelming the opposing sides.

  The difference is significant.

  There was the difference in heights between Korean and foreign servers, but even within the Korean server, the power of the groups from the Hard Difficulty was overwhelming.

  They were from the higher difficulty, so it could be said that this was an obvious outcome. However, even with that under the consideration, the gap was too big.

  Since the early days of the Tutorial, the Hard Difficulty challengers had a exclusive club-like atmosphere amongst themselves. I think this had a big influence.

  The challengers of the Hard Difficulty have been training and clearing stages together since the lower floors. So, their mastery level in party battle itself is different.

  They show great synergy too.

  However, it was not like the formation of such an atmosphere among the challengers never posed problems.

  Because the Hard Difficulty challengers were sticking with one another too much, they had a tendency to alienate and patronize challengers from other difficulties.

  In fact, something similar to the ideology of being superior, chosen people had rose among them, and we went through a tough time because of this.

  It would had developed into a huge problem if it was not for the fact that Park Jong-shik was the leader of these people from the Hard Difficulty and the fact that I was standing above them.

  In the world inside the Tutorial, the standard of anyone’s worth was based on strength. Considering this, it is difficult to retort against their ideology.

  In fact, all of the challengers in the leadership roles in j.a.panese or Australian servers are from Hard Difficulties.

  The Korean server is the only one with high partic.i.p.ation rate from Easy and Normal difficulties.

  It’s all because of the Order of the Vigilance.

  Well, anyway, from the looks of things in the tournament’s group matches, I think Korean server’s victory is a certainty.

  [TL: This section is in Kim Gyoung-jin’s perspective.]

  [Tournament, Day 3, 11:10]

  “Ahah. I am no good at these.”


  “No, you can do it, Gyoung-jin. I, your Big Sis, believe in you.”


  “Believe in? Do dogs have horns?”


  I’m serious.

  I hate stepping up and facing people like this.

  I tried to voice my dissent. However, all I got in return was belittling laughter.

  “Kim Gyoung-jin, you are the biggest attention addict in the community. What did you just say that you hate?”

  The group was snickering around. I sent them a ‘f.u.c.k you’ to them all. I went to the friend who was standing on the far back.

  “Anyway, I didn’t know you would come too, Jun-suk. What happened?”


  “I was also…… got beat up a lot yesterday. Should I say it is for revenge?”


  “Oh, that makes some sense. It sure does.”


  For some reason, the group was finding this amusing as well. Having heard Lee Jun-suk’s answer, they started to snicker and laugh again.

  What a bunch of crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Have you guys been drinking?

  “Now that I think about it, other than Jun-suk and direct subordinates of Jong-shik, everyone is here?”


  I know. They are all here.

  Big Bro Jong-shik’s direct subordinates, in other words the Order’s Strike Division, are not here. All of the other Hard Difficulty’s rankers are here.

  Every single one of them.

  Ah, this feels strange.

  “Hey, hey. Let’s get going. The patrol will be here soon.”


  The Order’s patrol will come by here soon.

  I told the group that we should get going now to avoid the patrol.

  The group again found it entertaining. They said it was exciting and nervous. They snickered around.

  Ugh, you crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

  Leading the group, I walked through the narrow street.

  Before long, we were able to arrive at the building that we had an appointment at.

  It was a rough looking wooden door. I beat on it.

  “Say the pa.s.sword.”


  Pa.s.sword? What the h.e.l.l is he yapping around for.

  I forced the locked door open and entered.

  As soon as I opened the door, a dagger came up on my face. However, I leisurely twisted the wrist of the hand that held the dagger. I neutralized the opponent and entered the building.

  Inside the building, there was a small hall with just a table.

  There was the uncle from the j.a.panese server named Nakajima whatnot.

  It seemed he was displeased with something. His arms were crossed and his mouth was firmly closed quietly.

  Also, this other guy from the Australian server is…… who was he?

  “Welcome. If you entered more politely, then we would have given you a warmer welcome. You said your name is Kim, right? Mr. Kim.”


  [TL: There is a Korean/English translation related comment by Kim Gyoung-jin here that would make no sense since this is translated to English now. It is irrelevant to the story, so it was omitted.]

  I thought about if I should tell him to call me Kim Gyoung-jin, but I decided to let him just call me Kim.

  “That…… what is it.”


  “David.”


  Lee Jun-suk, who was standing next to me, whispered the name quietly in my ear.

  “David, as promised, we got here without being tailed.”


  “I see. Thank you for keeping the promise. Have a seat here.”


  Ugh, man. I really hate this.

  I glanced at my group, but they were all pushing me to go take the seat.

  In the end, I am taking the role of both the head and the mouth.

  I sat at the seat and said to David,

  “I’ll get straight to the point.”


  “Oh, wait. Please wait for a little longer. We still have one more guest who has not arrived yet.”


  “You have another one coming? I didn’t hear about this?”


  “He just joined recently. I am not saying you guys will not be enough, but we should make sure of our preparations.”


  Having heard the man, I decided to sit quietly and wait.

  The j.a.panese man, who was sitting on the opposite end, was also quiet as well. So, David also quietly closed his mouth, and like that, an uncomfortable silence lasted for a while.

  Several minutes pa.s.sed and another person entered the building.

  He was most unexpected.

  “Big Bro Chan-yong?”


  He was known to be nearing his goal of clearing the entire Tutorial. He was the challenger who was at the highest floor.

  It was Lee Chan-yong.

  [TL: Dear readers of LightNovelBastion,

  I would like to make a correction in TTTH chapter 54. In the raw version of that chapter’s conversation, it is not clear if Kim Min-huk was ever married to Park Jung-ah. Meanwhile, I translated the chapter 54 a.s.suming they were married. My misinterpretation happened due to the ambiguity in the Korean sentences (author was missing the subject of the discussion). Even some of the Korean readers in Munpia thought they were married. As the story progressed and more character/relationship developments happened, the idea of them being married looked odd. Also, as some readers in Lightnovelbastion pointed out, from the practical standpoint, it is unlikely for Kim Min-hyuk and Park Jung-ah to get married since they can rarely meet (I’m pretty sure they live in different difficulties.). I corrected the chapter 54’s English translation so now this matter of who married who is left to ambiguity. Chapter 123 shows Kim Min-hyuk is to be married to a girl who is not Park Jung-ah, so the marriage and divorce mentioned at the Chapter 54 is probably about Kim Min-hyuk and this girl. Please read this chapter to find out who the girl is.

  I apologize for this misinterpretation.

  Sincerely, TL]

  [Tournament, Day 5, 05:05]

  “This is a little unexpected.”


  “What is?”


  The group rounds were over. Now, the event for the fifth day started.

  We gathered together for breakfast and meeting. At the place, I looked at the list of people who would be partic.i.p.ating in the faction matches. I could not help but to be surprised by the list.

  “About the reward for the faction matches; the reward is given to every member of the faction that achieves the most number of wins, right? So, I thought a lot of the people from j.a.panese and Australian servers would want to join the Korean server for the faction matches. Also, I thought the tournament would conclude without too many problems because of that.”


  Korean forces won the group rounds yesterday as well.

  It was Park Jong-shik’s party that won the group rounds.

  Also, the runner-up group and the others who made it to some of the lower standings were mostly Korean groups.

  The Korean server was showing more dominance in the group matches instead of during the individual matches.

  Because of the significant difference in caliber, many of the j.a.panese and Australian spectators didn’t even bother entering the arena building during the fourth day. Instead, they just spent the time outside.

  Like that, the Korean faction took over the individual and group matches. So, Korea was the overall victor for the tournament.

  In other words, anyone who joined Korea for the faction matches could get the reward for the overall win for free.

  It was not like Korea was going to lose something if a foreigner got the overall win reward for free. Actually, they could even add a few conditions to this and make a business out of it.

  So, I thought this would give Kim Min-hyuk some headaches. However, instead, when I checked the list, I saw that not a single foreigner joined Korea for the faction match.

  “It’s probably because there is still some mistrust. It might have been different if there was no problem through the tournament, but there were. There was a big problem even inside the tournament arena, and there were several problems outside too.”


  For the past five days, on daily basis, there were violent incidents.

  Most of them were caused by the people who ended up in fighting in their excitement.

  In such cases, the Order didn’t go further than moderating the exchange of apologies between people. However, for serious crimes such as murder, rape and gang a.s.sault, most of the perpetrators were executed unless agreements between the people were reached quickly.

  Could it be that people are hesitant to join the Korean faction because of them?

  “Also, this is the first time for the people to be given the opportunity to join another faction. Maybe people are hesitant because the consequences for making such a choice is not yet known. Also, there probably are people who wish to make the change but do not know who to come and talk to about it. Moreover…… On our faction’s list of partic.i.p.ants……”


  What the? Why are you looking at me?

  Kim Min-hyuk blurred the end of his sentence and glanced at me. I was dumbfounded.

  Are you blaming me?

  “Now, now…… Let’s cut the chit-chat. Let’s get things organized first. Ho-jae and Jung-ah will be handling the arena. I’ll be handling the spectator seats. Min-hyuk will be handling the outside. Right?”


  “Yes. Let’s a.s.sign things like that. Everyone, please check the list before the match starts. Let’s conclude the meeting here.”


  Park Jung-ah ended the meeting, and Park Jong-shik’s face brightened.

  “Well then, let’s go eat, finally.”


  Well said.

  Let’s stop talking about complicated stuff and just eat.

  Everyone started to bring out food from their inventories. However, Kim Min-hyuk tossed out the following.

  It was done casually as if he was merely expressing that he was going to the bathroom for a bit.

  “I’m getting married.”


  Everyone didn’t even bother to react. They just continued to enjoy their meals.

  Even I had to take a moment to think about the meaning behind what he just said before realizing what he meant.

  “.…… What?”


  This is so out of the blue.

  Kim Min-hyuk had been constantly complaining about the life inside the Tutorial, saying we are living in a world where anyone could die the next day, and that this place is h.e.l.l for couples and a heaven for singles. Now, what did the man just say?

  “I said I’m getting married.”


  “With who?”


  “You met her before during the day of the great harmony. Her name is Jung Min-jung……”


  He gave me a brief description of who she was, specifically noting she her status as the bride.

  He said I met her before, but honestly, she was not the kind of person who would be memorable.

  I was diligently racking my brain, but Park Jung-ah joined in from the side.

  “She is one of the people who decided to stay at the 30th Floor, right?”


  “Oh, right. You remember her.”


  “Yes, Recently, she started helping out with our work in the Order.”


  From hearing what Kim Min-hyuk and Park Jung-ah said, it seemed this woman named Jung Min-jung also had given up on clearing the Tutorial and instead decided to live at the 30th Floor.

  Well, that’s why they could get married and stuff.

  Um…… It must be nice.

  “By the way, why is Big Bro Jong-shik not showing any reaction?”


  “I already heard about this once before.”


  I wondered why the one who would cause the biggest ruckus about this was staying quiet, but now I see why.

  “Hey, but how come are you telling me this now? If you told us sooner, then we could have done a simple marriage ceremony here.”


  “Marriage ceremony? What for? Is there a need to draw global attention by doing that here? There probably are more people who would not think kindly of it. Min-jung and I are getting married because we decided to settle down at the 30th Floor. As for the ceremony, we are just going to share a meal with a few people we know at the 30th Floor.”


  Still, that is a little disappointing.

  “There are countless people out there who are fighting brutal battles to move up through the floors. It would be wrong to show people that we are going to settle down here comfortably as if we were gloating. Also, we have a lot of work to do as well, so we didn’t let people know right away. I’ll formally introduce her to you around lunch time tomorrow.”


  It seemed he was feeling guilty about being able to live comfortably at the 30th Floor.

  I don’t think you need to worry so much about that.

  It is no easy task to get to the 30th Floor to begin with anyway. Also, no matter what others say, when it comes to a wedding ceremony, it would be best to do it properly.

  That rascal thinks way too much. It’s a problem.

  I had a bit of time left after the meal.

  I didn’t exactly have anything to do for the time being. I thought I should call Lee Hyung-jin and train him, so I opened the message window. At that moment, Park Jung-ah called me.

  “What is it?”


  “Please close your eyes for a moment and give me your hand.”


  “Huh? …… Why?”


  “Ah, please hurry.”


  It was out of the blue, but I did as she asked for now.

  “Please give me your right hand.”
……

  As she requested, I gave her my right hand.

  Although I had my eyes closed, I could feel Park Jung-ah moving around busily.

  I waited for a bit, and I could feel something cold on my fingers.

  I opened my eyes, and there was a strange looking weapon placed in my fingers.

  “It is a ring.”


  Did all rings in the world melt away and disappear?

  “Instead of calling it a ring, it looks more like a knuckle cru……”


  “It’s a ring.”


  “.…… All right. Let’s call it a ring.”


  Still, no matter how I look at it, it is not a ring.

  First of all, it has four holes instead of one.

  I think it would be weird to even call it a knuckle crusher.

  It has a large needle at the center.

  It is not a knuckle…… Anyway, this is not a ring. It is a weapon.

  If you absolutely want to call this a ring, then that’s fine too, but……

  Why did she put this on me all of the sudden?

  “That’s Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.”


  “Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms? Oh, it had a form like this too.”


  “Yes……”


  With that, Park Jung-ah fell to silence.

  This is a completely different form. It is not like anything we tried so far.

  I never even imagined that such would be possible.

  Is my imagination a bit behind other people’s?

  While I was thinking this, Park Jung-ah mumbled in a quiet voice,

  “I…… I would…… like to have one…… If you could provide one…… for me……”


  “Huh? Give you one?”


  “Yes……”


  This is unexpected, but I can understand it.

  The Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms is such a great weapon, and I happen to have two of them.

  Still……

  “I see. No.”


  These are mine.

  From the side, Kim Min-hyuk and Park Jong-shik were staring at me and trying to say something at me with their faces. However, well……

  These are mine.

  [TL: Just in case it was not made apparent enough, please note Park Jung-ah was not asking Lee Ho-jae for the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms. She was most likely hoping for a ring.]

  [Would you like to enter the arena?]

  The faction matches were to be held in two steps. The first match was between Korea and Australia.

  The j.a.panese server went up to the final match by default because they had the fewest number of people partic.i.p.ating.

  I responded to the message, and I was moved to the arena.

  In the Korean side’s formation, the first ones I noticed were Park Jung-ah and other challengers who were not related to the Order of Vigilance.

  Most of the challengers who were members of the Order did not partic.i.p.ate in the faction match.

  The official story was that they decided to stay out of this one because they had been taking wins from everything so far. However, the real reason was for them to be a.s.signed on the spectator seats and outside of the arena building as the Order of Vigilance’s forces.

  The total number of partic.i.p.ants in the Korean faction was only a little over twenty people.

  The partic.i.p.ation rate is lower than I expected.

  There were all sorts of people partic.i.p.ating in the Australian’s side.

  Wow……

  First, everyone from the gang-like groups partic.i.p.ated.

  It seemed they all partic.i.p.ated regardless of individual abilities.

  There were about sixty of them.

  There are too many of them. This far exceeds the number projected by the Order.

  On top of this, there are j.a.panese server’s rankers in the mix.

  Even the bearded uncle is there.

  There are over twenty of the people from the j.a.panese server.

  Lastly, there were rankers from the Korean server in the Australia’s side.

  There were Hard Difficulty rankers including Lee Jun-suk and Kim Gyoung-jin. There were other challengers as well, including Lee Chan-yong.

  They are all rankers, nineteen of them in total.

  I knew of their numbers precisely at least because there was a list.

  [The match will begin in 360 seconds.]

  The Australian faction was full of confidence.

  That guy is grinning more widely with every pa.s.sing second. It is spoiling my mood.

  What was that bald guy’s name? I don’t remember.

  “Hu hu hu. Is that all? What are you guys going to do? You guys should have gathered up more people even if you had to force them. Did you think it would work out fine to left it on volunteer basis? You ended up with this result because of your complacency, you hypocrite dumba.s.ses!”


  The bald head shouted loudly.

  He sure is excited, really excited.

  “It seemed he spread anxiety among the Korean server’s people about something bad happening during the faction match to steer them away from partic.i.p.ating.”


  “Ah, really? You knew about it?”


  “Yes. It is not that I could not stop him. I just left it be. Some people came to tell us about this, but I just told them not to partic.i.p.ate.”


  I see, so those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had been busy.

  “Hey, you leftover b.a.s.t.a.r.ds on the back! It would be wise for you to think carefully even if it is late now. Do you really think your f.u.c.king rules or whatever would protect you! In the end, what’s important is power! Once that b.a.s.t.a.r.d over there dies here, it will be the end.”


  As usual, the bald head from Australia was diligently and loudly running his mouth off.

  Is he thinking about killing us all here and maintaining the force he has now to take over everyone else?

  It seemed he was thinking that he had gathered enough forces to fight all of us even if everyone on the arena at this very moment decided to forfeit and leave the arena.

  As for the Korean challengers who were standing behind me, they ignored the bald head who continued to shout. Instead, they locked their gazes with the bearded uncle from j.a.panese server.

  The bearded uncle nodded with an emotionless face.

  “What about the j.a.panese people?”


  “Ignore them for now. They decided to stick to the side who wins.”


  In other words, to put it kindly, they are being neutral. To put it honestly, they are going to play bats in the most obvious manner possible.

  [TL: In Korea, there is a children’s book about the story of a war between four-legged land crawling animals and the birds. When facing the animosity from the four-legged land crawling animals, the bats claimed they were like other four-legged animals. However, when the bats faced animosity from birds later, they claimed they were like birds with wings.]

  Well, it is not exactly for their profit. They are doing this for their own safety, but……

  “Look! We even have Korean challengers in our side! Not only that, they are very powerful challengers! It is not too late for you! If you side with us, we will definitely guarantee your freedom, rights and rewards!”


  Oh my, you think you are partic.i.p.ating in some kind of a speech compet.i.tion?

  Your voice sure sounds energetic.

  “I’ll skip asking you about the whole freedom and rights stuff. What’s the reward thing about?”


  “He is saying they will have the power over each server, and the authorities will be acknowledged by each other. As for the reward…… Well…… a few items from the people they killed and having their turns with women. It is probably something like that.”


  Um……

  I felt awkward to hear such a straight explanation.

  “I’m shocked that people actually went over to their side because of such terms.”


  “There are rankers who hate being restricted by the rules of the Order. Also…… as for their s.e.xual l.u.s.t that cannot be resolved……”


  “Ah, don’t tell me about that in detail.”


  Not just the s.e.xual l.u.s.t, but their desire to rule over people must be powerful.

  The challengers had been living relatively dull lives in the Tutorial, other than having to face dangers. Living such lives for a long time, the desire must be so strong that it must be hard for them to resist.

  In fact, when the Representative Federation gathered up people, they used a similar method.

  Park Jung-ah turned to look at the people in Korea’s side.

  “Now, everyone. Please pay attention for a moment.”


  They had been listening to the bald head babbling on. Now, they gathered up together.

  “I’m sure you all noticed this, but I’m afraid it will be hard for us to guarantee your safety in the arena. If you do not wish to partic.i.p.ate, please forfeit right away and return to the spectator seats. We will be all right if you made that choice. Even if you forfeit in the middle of the match, you will receive the reward just the same.”


  “Is everything all right outside of the arena building?”


  “Yes. The members of the Order who did not partic.i.p.ate in the faction match are on standby there.”


  “Ah, I see. In that case, I would like to take my leave before the match starts.”


  “Yes, I apologize for our inconvenience.”


  A few of the challengers returned to the spectator seats right away.

  “Inconvenience? You don’t need to say that. Well…… Will you be alright if we all went back? It would be difficult for Mr. Lee Ho-jae to fight all those people by himself. Won’t it be better if we helped?”


  “It would be difficult, but it will be all right if you didn’t stay to help. I have no intention of forcing you to take on the risk that’s unnecessary for you.”


  Difficult? No way.

  [The match will begin in 60 seconds.]

  Park Jung-ah was still talking to the people on the back. I left Park Jung-ah be. Instead, I stared at the front.

  I confirmed the signal from Kim Gyoung-jin.

  I brought out a dagger from the inventory and placed it on the ground.

  After that, to the front of the dagger, five people were teleported from the Australian side’s formation.

  Kim Gyoung-jin, Lee Jun-suk and three others whom I didn’t know the names of were there.

  “Hey, Ho-jae b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Your Big Bro is here.”


  “Although I’m seeing this for the second time, this technique is definitely cheat-like. You can teleport without any restriction as long as you have the medium. On top of that, you can teleport with other people too. It is totally a cheat, a super cheat.”


  “Aren’t you the one to talk? Your very existence itself is a cheat, you rascal.”


  “All right. All right. You have done good work. Ah, you worked hard too, Jun-suk.”


  Kim Gyoung-shik gave us the list of the people who defected to Australian’s side and the Australian’s plans.

  Kim Gyoung-shik was never close to the Order since the beginning, so it seemed he was able to melt into the Australian’s side with ease.

  “Yes.”


  This rascal still has that p.i.s.sed look on his face.

  Are you still like this because of getting beat up last time?

  “By the way…… Can we really win? I think the difference in forces is too great.”


  Lee Jun-suk…… This rascal also carries a mountain of worries inside him.

  The worry and anxiety are written on his face.

  “Difference in forces? Bullc.r.a.p. I will win even if you guys stayed on their side.”


  “You are bluffing. If we stayed at their side, then we would win of course. Even now, I think this is going to be a close one even if we fought like our lives depended on it.”


  From the side, Kim Gyoung-jin was boasting.

  “In that case, why are you b.u.t.ting into a deadly battle where you could possibly die?”


  “Why would I die? If it looks dangerous, then I’ll just forfeit and bounce to the spectator seat.”


  Spoken like a real Kim Gyoung-jin.

  Still, including the three who came with them, they are all Hard Difficulty rankers. They would be of great help in the battle.

  Lee Jun-suk can launch ranged attacks. With him as the main attacker, the others only have to protect him. If situation changes, then they could continue the fight while switching up the positions. They definitely would be helpful to the battle.

  “Jung-ah, why don’t you forfeit first and return? Honestly, you won’t be able to help us much.”


  “.…… It hurts to know that I cannot really object to what you said. I will.”


  “All right. See you later.”


  The battle was about to start soon.

  Most of the challengers on our side went back to the spectator seats.

  There were just myself, Park Jung-ah, Kim Gyoung-jin, Lee Jun-suk and a few challengers who happened to have a needlessly strong sense of righteousness.

  In comparison, as for the Australia’s side, they didn’t look like they were missing the five people who just came over to the Korea’s side. There was no commotion either.

  They were still taunting us at the top of their lungs. However, what they were saying was not worth carefully listening to.

  I ignored them and formed a long sword with the Trans.m.u.table Thousand Arms.

  “I’m sure you already know this, but there are people on that side who were forced into this. You must not kill them all. Kill only the ones who are on the list. As for the rest, just neutralize them.”


  “I got it.”


  “Also…… please keep up your fighting spirit. I am sorry I always end up making you handle the difficult matters.”


  With that, Park Jung-ah returned to the spectator seats.

  [The match will start.]

  “I’ll handle the offensive measures. Everyone, please stay defensive for now. You guys too.”


  I told them that and then turned around.

  “Hey, so, is it really going to be all right if we don’t help you?”


  “Ah, I said it will be all right! If you don’t like it, then just forfeit and watch.”


  [Perseverance]

  [Talaria’s Wings]

  Perseverance increased my combat abilities based on various conditions. Just like this skill, Talaria’s Wings also improved my combat abilities and suppressed enemies.

  In addition,

  [Overwhelm]

  [Soul Steal]

  Overwhelm made the opponents shrivel mentally. I also used the Soul Steal, which dealt damage over time the enemies in the effective area.

  Unless it is someone of high floor ranker’s caliber, anyone who approached me with hostility would temporarily fall to a state of panic.

  “Oh, what is this? Some kind of a boost?”


  It is the first time for me to use these skills in front of others.

  Kim Gyoung-jin mutters from behind me. I stepped forward.

  [Blink]

  In an instant, I pierced into the Australian faction’s formation. I swung my sword toward the bald head.

  It was a full frontal maneuver, but they didn’t even notice it. Instead, the bald head was busy yapping away about just how powerful their side was. While in middle of it, he lost his head. It was sent flying.

  Meanwhile, the place was full of enemies who still didn’t even realize that I approached them. Still, the black man, who was standing right next to the bald head, noticed me.

  Did he say he was at the Sixth Floor of the h.e.l.l Difficulty?

  Looking at him, I raised my sword.

  The black man tried to stop my attack by bringing out a huge b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword, but it was no use.

  I struck down the sword that I raised up.

  The sword was layered with Aura Blade. It smoothly made its way down and slashed through the man and his gigantic sword.

  The man’s body was slashed through diagonally. Blood spewed out like a water fountain.

  Let’s wait.

  One, two……

  Finally, screams started to explode from the surrounding.

  Their response is too slow.

  There were people who took steps back in a hurry. Some plummeted onto the ground on their b.u.t.t and struggled on the floor. Watching them, I thought that numbers were meaningless no matter how many there were.

  It would not have mattered if there were a hundred or a thousand.

  With the Soul Steal, it probably would not have mattered if there were ten thousand.

  In the end, this battle is just a fight between me and the extreme few who could respond to my speed.

  As for the rest of their forces, which were many, they could not even be small fries or p.a.w.ns.

  People were quickly retreating. Before they could shout forfeit, I used another skill.

  [Soul Cry]

  It was a crowd control skill that forced enemies to attack me and disabled them from running away.

  As for the people who were forced into this, and hence do not truly hold hostilities toward me, I’m okay with them forfeiting.

  However, for those who are here to be my enemies willingly, I cannot let them escape.

  I was standing in the middle of their formation. However, instead of trying to gang up on me, people were trying to back away as much as possible, even if it was just a step further.

  I sighed. They were nothing but a bunch of losers.

  I killed the noisy b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had been yapping away, and the powerful b.a.s.t.a.r.d who was standing next to him. Although these were all I had done so far, n.o.body was interested in anything but retreating.

  Even the skilled ones among the Australian side looked like they were not liking the idea of stepping in first to fight. They were retreating too.

  In the chaos, there were people who were glaring at me. I looked at their eyes.

  They were Lee Chan-yong and the rankers of the Korean server’s Hard Difficulty.

  All right. They are worthy of being my opponents.