National Team Selection Tournament (1)
Baek Jinwoo's daily life was the same as always. Running the Intermediate weekday dungeon in circles, then training!
If there was one thing that had changed, it was that he'd been focusing all his attention on Gale Slayer.
—Krrk, krrrkk…..!
To be honest, if you picked apart Gale Slayer's skills, there was nothing special about them.
[Owned Skills]
Assassination: Becomes invisible for a short time. The first attack deals 100% critical damage.
Gale: Spins the reaper's scythe once, dealing area damage.
That was all. Approach while invisible, slash—then spin the scythe once.
'But.'
If you pushed that to the extreme?
With insane speed, you spun around several times and wiped out every single one of the opponent's summons.
It was the kind of refreshing thrill where everything in the area simply vanished, like you'd swept it away with a vacuum cleaner.
That was because Gale dealt splash damage, and it wasn't something you could really understand from an explanation. You had to see it.
'So it's the selection tournament or whatever now. One week left.'
That was where Baek Jinwoo's dilemma began.
Was it really right to send Lamba, HunGyo, and Explosive Dragon into player-versus-player?
Regular players might not know, but the ones who'd been "marinating" in 「Battle of Summoners」 long enough would recognize those three.
Wind Fairy (E-rank), Training Instructor (E-rank), Explosive Dragon Sorcerer (D-rank).
They were summons that had once been fairly popular.
'Especially…'
O Ji-myeong, a real-world ranker, would definitely know.
'But so what?'
If they knew, what were they going to do about it?
Maybe not in the old days, but now his form was starting to rise.
And ever since he'd gotten Gale Slayer, he no longer felt any need to force himself to hide who he was.
If he got found out, he got found out. If not, then not. He'd just take them with him.
If he truly wanted to hide himself?
Then he wouldn't be entering the national team selection tournament in the first place.
'But I can't give that up.'
There was a reason he'd always played PvP in 「Battle of Summoners」.
'Because the rewards are insane.'
In the game, rankings were calculated every month, and individual players received massive rewards.
And for about seven years, God Ji-nu had never once lost the #1 spot.
That was why he'd been called the "veteran among veterans", One Heaven.
The rewards existed in real life too. The difference from the game was that the ranking period was one year!
And while individuals could receive rewards, entire nations could receive them too!
After the World League ended, the System ranked countries and distributed enormous amounts of natural resources and items with differences based on placement.
Natural resources included oil, minerals, technology, and so on… and especially when it came to technology, it was said to be packed with mysterious breakthroughs far beyond the current scientific level.
Which meant—
The league results had a huge impact on national power.
In fact, the UK—where Rachel belonged—had developed so explosively that even the United States couldn't ignore it.
And Taiwan, where Baekcheon belonged, had completely shaken off China's harassment.
That was the real reason the whole world went crazy for the league.
'We can't lose either.'
Even if Baek Jinwoo was calculating, he wasn't the kind of guy who'd sell out his country.
He had his own patriotism, and every World Cup he'd screamed himself hoarse cheering.
For the past three years, South Korea hadn't even made it to the round of sixteen.
Always eliminated in the preliminaries.
Every year they swallowed the bitter cup of defeat—but this time would be different.
'Because I'm here.'
Baek Jinwoo clenched his fist.
Let's do it all—serve the country and claim the rewards.
* * *
Yoo Jia handled the selection application and all the administrative work.
The only thing Baek Jinwoo had to do was train.
After fitting Gale Slayer with a suitable rune, Baek Jinwoo focused solely on leveling the little guy up.
And finally, on the day before the national team selection tournament—on his way to the Player Headquarters auditorium to register—
"Hoho, Mr. Baek Jinwoo! Over here."
He ran into the bearded man, Park Changseok.
"It's been a while."
"Have you been well?"
"Well, me… thanks to you, I've been doing fine."
Baek Jinwoo genuinely felt grateful to Park Changseok.
If it weren't for him, he never would've met Yoo Jia—and he might not have been able to grow so smoothly, the way he had.
"Hehe, thank you. To think you'd even step up for the national team under my sponsorship."
"I heard about it."
Every morning, Yoo Jia came out to the open lot to work out, and she told Baek Jinwoo this and that.
Among those stories was the incident about Park Changseok's bet.
"I heard you made a pretty big bet based on my placement."
"Ah… that… I'm truly sorry. Getting old and acting ridiculous."
"No. You did well."
"Pardon?"
"Doesn't that just mean you believe in me that much?"
Right.
Trust should be repaid with trust.
Honestly, Baek Jinwoo wasn't thinking much of anything.
Whoever his opponent was. He wasn't nervous, and he didn't think he'd lose.
'If I can't take first place in South Korea… I should just tear off that One Heaven label.'
Losing while bringing around current EX-rank monsters?
That made no sense.
"Still, please give me a rough explanation."
"An explanation of what…?"
"About the selection tournament. Who the candidates are, what format it's held in, things like that. It's my first time, so I don't know anything."
"Ah, of course! Shall we go in? I'll explain as we walk."
Park Changseok extended a hand with an extremely respectful posture and began to lead the way.
* * *
Inside the spacious auditorium.
It was packed with people.
"Oh, looks like there are quite a few applicants?"
"It's not so much that there are many applicants… they all came together."
Applicants, their guild affiliates, and headquarters personnel.
Everyone had gathered to complete final registration for the selection tournament.
Shouts of spirit and cheering were a bonus.
"Actually, there can't be that many applicants. There's something called a seed slot."
"A seed slot?"
"Yes. Thirty slots for the top 30 in the rankings, ten slots—one each—for the major domestic guilds, and ten slots—one each—for headquarters council members. That's fifty total, but… usually only around thirty people apply."
"And you're picking ten out of them?"
"That's right."
Makes sense.
If just anyone could apply, it would be meaningless—wasted manpower, wasted time.
A policy that mainly selects rankers, but also hands out seed slots to council members and guilds in case talent appears outside the rankings.
'Not bad.'
Baek Jinwoo wasn't a ranker yet. That was why he was participating using Park Changseok's seed slot.
"Hm."
Baek Jinwoo quietly hummed as he looked around.
Everyone's gaze was fierce.
They probably saw each other as competitors.
Just as he lined up with Park Changseok to finish registration—
"Hey there, Assemblyman Park Changseok."
Someone approached with a greasy smile.
'Im Heesoo.'
Park Changseok frowned.
That snake-looking bastard… why was he coming all the way here to talk again?
Wasn't the provocation already over?
Im Heesoo walked up without caring about Park Changseok's expression.
"Ah, and the player Baek Jinwoo who's been gaining popularity lately is here too. Nice to meet you. I'm Assemblyman Im Heesoo from Headquarters."
Behind Im Heesoo's smirking face stood two players.
O Ji-myeong, currently ranked 9th. Park Ho-seop, currently ranked 10th.
'What? Who are those guys?'
Baek Jinwoo tilted his head.
Because the two of them were staring at him openly, smacking their lips as if savoring something.
It was like the look a lizard gave when it spotted a tasty piece of prey.
'They look like they're just begging to get punched.'
Of course, they only looked like that. They hadn't picked a direct fight, so Baek Jinwoo simply lowered his head slightly.
"Yes. I'm Baek Jinwoo."
"Ha-ha, I've heard a lot about you. You really are tall and handsome, just like on screen. It looks like you're joining this selection tournament for experience, so I hope it helps you a lot, and I'll be cheering you on—"
Hmph.
He talked like that, but his eyes were definitely laughing. It was blatant mockery.
Like, you're not even a ranker—who do you think you are, entering the selection tournament?
The rankers behind him didn't greet him either. They just stared.
Not that Baek Jinwoo cared.
He wasn't curious about them in the first place.
"Yes, I hope it helps a lot."
Baek Jinwoo replied, refusing to take the bait.
With another slight bow, he started walking forward again.
A clear message: If you're done staring, move along.
"Those are the guys?"
Not long after, he asked Park Changseok.
"The ones you said you were betting on?"
"...Yes. That was uncomfortable, wasn't it?"
"No, not really. Just… whatever."
Park Changseok was on edge.
He worried Baek Jinwoo might suffer because of him. And those opponents weren't exactly ordinary.
O Ji-myeong and Park Ho-seop—both former national team members last year, and both fairly popular with the public.
"Their faces just look bad."
Baek Jinwoo said, thinking simply—unlike Park Changseok's tangled feelings.
'Those guys…'
If there's a chance to knock them out, knock them out. If not, then whatever.
* * *
"Did you see him?"
Off in a corner, Im Heesoo spoke to the two rankers.
"In this selection tournament, all you have to do is eliminate that guy. You two are supposed to make the team, obviously. You're confident, right?"
There were two PvP formats.
Team battles, and solo matches.
Since the system-run World League mixed the two appropriately, the national team selection tournament also started with a team battle for the first match.
And then—
All the nobodies got swept away in the team battle.
"Well, dropping some kid who isn't even a ranker is nothing, but… making the team might be a bit hard, you know?"
"Heh, true. Making the team isn't easy. Even last year we barely got in."
O Ji-myeong and Park Ho-seop snickered as they answered.
"You idiots."
Im Heesoo pressed his thumb and index finger together, forming a circle.
"Just make it in. Anyone who makes it in—I'll make sure you score a big haul this year too."
If you became a national team member, you received generous support from the national treasury.
And Assemblyman Im Heesoo had the means to launder that cleanly into personal money.
"If you put it that way, I guess we'll have to work hard."
"Baek Jinwoo… that pretty-boy freeloader. We just take him out in the team battle, right?"
Ah.
How reassuring.
No matter how much Baek Jinwoo dominated weekday dungeons, PvP was a different world.
Rankers weren't made through time attacks—rankers were made through PvP.
"Yeah."
Im Heesoo grinned.
"When that happens, I want to take a good look at Park Changseok's face. See what kind of expression he's wearing."
"That'll be fun."
"Understood."
The two rankers were relaxed.
That was the dignity of high rankers.
How could they possibly imagine losing to a non-ranker?
"Tomorrow, the moment it starts, we'll deal with him quickly."
* * *
Official registration was finished.
The selection tournament began tomorrow.
Slurp.
Sipping an iced Americano through a straw, Baek Jinwoo searched up all sorts of information.
He'd heard the rough outline from Park Changseok, but nothing beat looking it up himself.
'So this is how it works.'
He pulled up last year's and the year before's match videos, and after watching, he had a decent grasp of the situation.
First was the team battle.
All players were dropped into a huge arena and fought a survival-style match.
Next was the solo matches.
Exactly what it sounded like—1 vs 1.
A league format with a total of ten games, scored by points, and only the top ten players with the highest scores were selected for the national team.
'They've already picked all the favorites too.'
From ranks 1 through 10, to the masters of major guilds.
The community was already arguing nonstop about who would make it and who would take first.
'What about me?'
Just in case, Baek Jinwoo tried an ego-search.
"Baek Jinwoo? He's on the list too? Why'd he even apply?"
"LOL for real. He's famous these days, but he's not that level, is he?"
"He probably thinks he's top-tier just because the public is hyping him up lol"
"Team battle—one-minute KO, calling it now."
"He's a weekday-dungeon bully at best, only runs up to Intermediate lol. He got big off face hype and Yoo Jia hype."
Baek Jinwoo's eyebrows twitched upward instead.
Most of it was negative.
Ha.
These bastards.
For a moment he felt like tracking them down one by one and smashing them all…
But all he had to do was show them.
Why blame them?
If they were guilty of anything, it was ignorance.
And honestly, judging by last year's level, it didn't even seem like he'd need to bring out Gale Slayer.
To be honest, it might end at HunGyo alone.
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