National Team Selection Match (2)
The long-awaited June 30th!
The matches would be held at "Player Zone's Battle Arena" in Samseong-dong.
A building where proper duels were possible, thanks to the System's assistance!
-Alright! At last, the long, long-awaited national team selection match has begun!
Just like any popular sports event, there were commentators and casters on the broadcast team, and countless cameras—from the three major TV networks to individual streaming channels—were filming.
-So, who will be the national team players chosen this time? For the record, the number of national team players being selected today is ten! With national support, they'll spend half a year preparing for the World League!
-That's right. The national support is great, but just being selected comes with enormous benefits, doesn't it? I hear you get reinforced gear and color-grade rate boosts… and on top of that, the government recently played its trump card! In the World League, reaching the Round of 18—
That just shows how desperate the situation is for South Korea!
While the broadcasters took turns explaining the selection match, people gradually gathered in front of their TV screens.
Baek Jinwoo's family was no exception.
"Mom! Mom! Hurry, come!"
June 30th wasn't a national holiday, but most companies guaranteed their employees rest that day.
Because everyone knew it—if you tried to make them work, they'd just secretly watch the selection match anyway.
Most companies chose to be generous, give them the day off, and earn some goodwill. Thanks to that, Hwang Myeonghui didn't go to work and rested at home.
"My brother's coming on soon!"
"Is he?"
Hwang Myeonghui sat on the living room sofa with a tray holding chilled cans of beer.
"Dad, hurry too!"
"Heh heh, wait a second. It's almost done frying."
Chiiii— chiiiii!
Dad had practically become a chicken researcher.
And showing off the skills he'd practiced all this time, Baek Jincheol—who had fried the chicken to perfection—also sat down on the sofa.
-Alright, then! It's about time we introduce the players who applied for the selection match!
-That's right! The nation selected a total of forty players through various methods, and only ten of them can become national team players!
-I want to emphasize that just making it onto that stage already means you're an incredible player!
The commentators explained the players one by one, and the screen displayed famous, top-tier players people had seen in the media over and over.
And among them—
-Next up is Baek Jinwoo, Player!
-Yes, he's a hot topic these days! The protagonist behind the weekday dungeon record! I hear he made a decent amount of money selling that information to rankers.
-Everyone's watching closely to see what kind of performance he'll show in these player battles!
"Whoa, there, there! It's my brother!"
"Oh my, it really is!"
"Hahaha. That kid actually made it all the way to the selection match."
Baek Ajin clapped excitedly, while the parents watched their son with faces that still looked like they couldn't quite believe it.
It was truly an honor for the family.
"Ajin."
"Yeah, Mom."
"Can your brother really win over there?"
"Hey, honey!"
The one who answered wasn't Baek Ajin, but Baek Jincheol.
"No matter how proud we are of our son, how could he win there? Don't you see the players competing? They're all incredible people. This is just experience."
"Right.
"No, Mom. It hasn't even been half a year since my brother awakened. Just being there is already amazing. Come on! Still, let's cheer for him while feeling all emotional! For my brother's future—"
"Hehe. Is that so? Cheers!"
The family's canned beers clinked in midair.
* * *
And at that same time.
Outside the arena, in a temporary waiting room.
Players and staff were gathered together, warming up before the match. There were four people supporting Baek Jinwoo.
Yoo Jia, Park Changseok, Kim Byungjin, Hwang Taeseop.
"The first round is a group match."
Yoo Jia approached Baek Jinwoo and whispered.
"If they're selecting twenty, that means they'll eliminate half here… Be careful of the existing cartel."
"The existing cartel?"
"Yes. The players who were selected last year. They won't bother attacking each other."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Humans naturally tend to avoid risk.
They wouldn't want to clash with other strong players and get eliminated by a mistake.
So then?
They'd target newcomers they've never seen before—or the weak.
Just like O Ji-myeong and Park Ho-seop over there, blatantly staring at him and flicking their tongues.
Yeah.
Just wait.
'I'm definitely knocking you two out first.'
When Baek Jinwoo briefly met their gaze—
Heh.
The two rankers just laughed.
Oh, really?
Baek Jinwoo also slowly smiled.
If One Heaven, Five Emperors had done that, it might've been irritating, but with these guys acting like that, they just seemed cute.
Like two chicks going peep-peep.
Whether she noticed the tension or not, Yoo Jia kept talking.
"At first, try not to stand out. Read the room and endure as much as you can. It'll be tough, but that's the best choice."
In truth, Yoo Jia was starting to get greedy.
Of course, she knew Baek Jinwoo was unlikely to achieve great results here.
No matter if he was God Ji-nu, he was still a player who hadn't even grown for a full year yet.
Meanwhile, those people were the nation's top elites—who had spent three years pouring in money and runes to grow.
'But…'
Why was it?
When she looked into Baek Jinwoo's relaxed eyes, her heart thudded and fluttered.
It was like he was looking at her as if to say, Want me to cause another incident?
"Mr. Baek Jinwoo."
"Yes?"
"Just in case… if, by any chance… you make it all the way to the final selection."
"Why? You going to give me a cut of the shares or something?"
"Yes, yes. That much I can definitely do, so please do your best."
"Whoa, really?"
Baek Jinwoo currently held 70% of the total shares of Yoobaek.
At first, it didn't feel that real, but these days he could feel it like crazy.
Even if it were just 1%, he knew it would still be an enormous amount of money.
'Are they that desperate?'
It was surprising.
That pure sincerity—cheering for him while sacrificing even her own portion.
Baek Jinwoo wasn't cold enough to take even someone like that's share.
"The shares were a joke. Don't worry."
Baek Jinwoo chuckled.
"Even if heaven and earth were turned upside down, there's no way I'm getting eliminated at this level."
"…Pardon?"
"Ah, and one more thing I'm curious about."
"…?"
"If I drop all forty people here at the same time, what happens? So even the system can't judge—just slice them all at once."
"…?!"
Yoo Jia's expression twisted into something bizarre.
'This man…'
What on earth is he talking about?
"Ah, I guess there's no need to go that far. If I want to make sure those two unlucky players get eliminated first… hmm, no. I shouldn't do that."
What?
Is he joking, or is he serious?
He has the ability to do it, but he's choosing not to?
"Ms. Yoo Jia, and Mr. Park Changseok."
"Yes?"
"...Y-yes, go ahead."
"Is there anyone you absolutely want eliminated? Or a player with a bad personality. Or someone you personally dislike?"
"W-why are you asking that?"
When Yoo Jia asked, Baek Jinwoo's smile deepened.
"They say if you become part of the national team together, you'll do a training camp as roommates. I figure it'd be uncomfortable if I end up living with weird people."
Park Changseok and Yoo Jia exchanged a glance.
They looked like they had no idea how to react to that absurd confidence.
* * *
The Battle Arena.
It was a kind of dungeon.
A dungeon where the System provided a field, and you could fight to your heart's content.
But unlike ordinary dungeons, your opponents weren't monsters—they were players.
And if you lost all your summons in there, you'd be automatically ejected from the dungeon.
"The first match will begin as a free-for-all, just like the Sem League qualifiers! The field has been set as a forest, and it will proceed as a survival match until twenty people are eliminated! Each player, please enter in order!"
'A free-for-all.'
Back in Battle of Summoners, he hadn't done that many. For one thing, there weren't that many users.
And when God Ji-nu joined, everyone would complain it wasn't fun and forfeit on the spot.
"Jinwoo, fighting!"
"Let's go! Fighting!"
Hearing the cheers of the Yoobaek staff, Baek Jinwoo entered the dungeon inside the arena.
[Entering the Abandoned Forest.]
His vision flipped, and he saw birds floating around nearby. More precisely, birds with camera lenses for eyes.
'Oh.'
Looks like they were using summons that could film inside the dungeon. They'd broadcast the match outside through those.
"Lamba, HunGyo, Explosive Dragon, Gale Slayer, Falcon."
The moment he entered, Baek Jinwoo brought out his summons.
In particular, as soon as Gale Slayer appeared, he activated the Assassination skill.
It was a skill that made it briefly invisible—and if you kept using it without attacking, you could maintain invisibility indefinitely.
That was originally Baek Jinwoo's style.
Don't expose information about your core summons to the enemy.
That was why, even back in the days of God Ji-nu, none of the other One Heaven, Five Emperors—including Rachel—had figured out what Gale Slayer really was.
-God Ji-nu, what even is that summon?
-What the—every time it starts, it's over instantly with some absurd burst damage… did you get some new S-rank summon or something?
They never even dreamed the summon that had butchered theirs was actually a B-rank Gale Slayer.
They probably still didn't know. Because he'd never told them.
Not long after, they'd been isolated as well, so they couldn't dig deeper.
"Lamba."
—…!
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Without replying, Lamba began swinging its staff. The target was, of course, HunGyo.
—Kkirururururu!
The falcon also poured a movement-speed buff onto HunGyo.
Shing!
With his sword drawn, HunGyo closed his eyes and received stacks in a solemn posture.
'Normally, I'd build stacks on Gale Slayer… but I don't feel the need.'
Not revealing your full strength was also a strategy.
'This free-for-all starts with HunGyo and ends with HunGyo.'
Baek Jinwoo smiled faintly and leaned back against a nearby chopped log.
Sitting with his legs crossed, he began resting in an extremely relaxed posture.
'Do I really need to move?'
Anyway, the ones who were going to get eliminated would come find him on their own.
Just as Baek Jinwoo expected—
O Ji-myeong and Park Ho-seop linked up the moment they entered.
The two players met eyes and formed greasy smiles. Someone might curse them for it.
In a survival match, forming a team isn't fair competition, is it?
But in the modern international world, even that is considered part of skill.
"Where's that punk brat right now?"
"Wait a second. Mm, this way. Two hundred meters north, distance between us seven hundred meters. That's pretty close."
The World League wasn't run by the headquarters—it was managed directly by the System.
In other words, judging "fairness" by human standards was meaningless.
"Let's go and ambush him right away."
"Do we even need an ambush?"
"True. Should we go humiliate him a bit and end it?"
The two players maintained their confident attitude.
Domestic ranking 9th and 10th.
And since they'd been selected for the national team last year as well, no one had the guts to mess with them.
If anyone ran into them, they'd just turn their backs and flee as fast as they could.
"Heh."
O Ji-myeong sneered at those people, but didn't chase them.
Baek Jinwoo came first.
He had to finish off that pathetic pretty-boy parasite.
Step, step.
Pushing through the bushes, they walked on—until they reached their destination.
And there—
"Huh?"
They saw Baek Jinwoo, smiling with a relaxed expression, both hands clasped behind his head.
'Look at this rude little bastard.'
For a moment, O Ji-myeong's face was colored with sheer disbelief.
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