158. SKY Cooperative Test (3)
Srrk, srrrk!
The judges scattered into the brush.
Vice guild master Hong Ari and advisor Hwang Juwon were excluded from the suppression targets.
Why?
Because they had to conduct evaluations from the peaks.
Hong Ari headed for the main summit, while Hwang Juwon climbed remaining peak.
And then.
The mind game between all the climbing teams began.
* * *
Team 5.
Its leader, Lee Jongchan, was ranked 30th in Korea.
"There's no need for us to occupy a peak."
"Then what do we do?"
When another team member asked, he answered firmly.
"I've been tracking which direction Player Hwang Jiwoo has been moving for a while now."
"...No way?"
"Yes, we're going straight to suppress a judge."
"You're targeting Hwang Jiwoo, the lowest-ranked among the national team rankers and someone who used to be an unranked player?"
"It's first come, first served anyway. If we get caught up competing to occupy a peak and the other judges all get suppressed first, then what? We'll just get eliminated with our eyes wide open."
He had watched the World League too.
'The Hwang Jiwoo I saw back then did leave a strong impression.'
But compared to major players like Baek Jinwoo, Hong Ari, Gi Jaehyuk, Kang Jihoe, and the rest... she had definitely looked lacking.
"Isn't this too risky?"
Another teammate objected.
"Judge Hong Ari said it herself. Any summoned beast that gets reverse-summoned can't be used again."
It was a kind of restriction.
The maximum number of summons they could use: fifteen. The number they could directly bring out: five.
And if even one of them got reverse-summoned?
Then it could never be brought out again during this training.
"Even so, if we want to suppress a judge, we'll have to use our main forces... and if we lose after that, they're gone for good. That puts us close to elimination."
"...."
Lee Jongchan fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"You call it risky? We came here to take risks. To be honest, if the five of us can't handle even one of Hwang Jiwoo's summons, then how are we supposed to become national representatives?"
"That's true, but..."
".....Well, Jongchan is the leader, so I'll follow."
"Right. He's ranked 30th in Korea, after all, so I'll trust him."
When the other teammates also agreed to follow, the one who had objected had no choice.
Their leader had no intention of backing down, so all they could do was follow.
Whether he understood that teammate's feelings or not, Lee Jongchan grinned.
"Don't worry so much and just follow me. I'll make sure we take her down."
* * *
"Hoo."
Deep in the mountains.
After settling in a suitable spot, Hwang Jiwoo summoned a Lich.
—Krrrgh....
The frost pouring out from the hooded skull was bleak and chilling.
Watching it, Hwang Jiwoo wore an anxious expression.
To be honest, she was uneasy.
'Can I really handle an intern team by myself?'
The highest-grade summon she used was the Ice Bird.
She practiced control every single day, but Hwang Jiwoo's summons only revealed their true worth when all five worked together.
She had no confidence using just a single B-rank Lich, and she had never done it before.
But, well.
What choice did she have when her seniors told her to do it?
She had no choice but to follow.
Especially in Hwang Jiwoo's case, throughout countless sparring sessions and control drills, she had never beaten even one of them.
They were all so strong, and among them, Song Yeonhee, who was around the same rank as her, was... a real genius.
"Mmnh."
A bitter smile slipped out for no reason.
Hwang Jiwoo found a nearby rock and lightly brushed the dust off it.
Since the training would last a week, she would have to spend quite a lot of time here.
The SKY guild members were used to this kind of survival situation.
'When it comes to passing time, a breathing technique is best.'
Sitting cross-legged on the rock, Hwang Jiwoo inhaled and exhaled.
"Ssss, hoo—"
The energy of nature really was the best.
As the refreshing air seeped into her lungs, her mind calmed.
Her tension eased, and just as the natural sounds around her began to tickle her ears—
—Krrk.
The Lich's frost billowed out even more strongly.
'Hm?'
It was the gesture it made when sensing someone approaching.
'Already?'
Frowning, she rose from her spot again.
And then.
Srrk, rustle!
Far in the distance, five players were pushing through the undergrowth toward her.
'Team 5.'
Hwang Jiwoo let out a sigh.
Figures.
'They're targeting me first after all.'
It could not have been a more bitter moment.
But Ari unni had definitely told her to fight with everything she had.
Clench.
Hwang Jiwoo tightly balled her fists.
At the same time, she controlled her mind.
As if this very moment were the same kind of isolation she had experienced in the World League.
* * *
"She's over there!"
Lee Jongchan shouted.
Sssshhk!
In an instant, he and his teammates' summons spread out in all directions.
'We have to end this quickly no matter what.'
Lee Jongchan, too, was a veteran in Korea.
He had already figured out through the brush what kind of summon Hwang Jiwoo had brought out, and he briefed his teammates.
"It's a Lich! It's an ice-attribute dealer, so don't spread out too much—stay grouped together!"
The Lich's trump card was Blizzard.
Because it was an area-of-effect skill, one mistake could lead to a total wipe.
The best option was to stay close to a tanker, shielder, or a summon that provided warmth effects.
And.
'I'll take down Hwang Jiwoo myself.'
KIAAAAAAAAH!
Nightmare Drake (B-rank)
Lee Jongchan's main summon began to move.
Kududududu!
A dinosaur charged forward at high speed, shaking the entire mountain!
His teammates also moved with perfect coordination, beginning to surround the Lich.
"Just throw every strongest skill you've got at it!"
"Yes!"
"Let's do this!"
Greed flickered in the eyes of the team members as well.
It was only a single shabby Lich.
They had suspected it, but this really was a situation where she was using only one summon.
'What kind of insane freebie is this?'
'This actually looks doable.'
'We're getting through this that easily?'
And then, at that moment.
The Lich reacted first.
Hwang Jiwoo's finger moved ever so slightly.
Sssshhk!
The Lich's eyes glowed red, and dozens of frost arrows formed in the air.
And then.
Pababababat!
They scattered in every direction.
"Block them!"
"Tanks to the front!"
But.
These were no ordinary frost arrows.
Kwaddeudeuk!
The moment they touched a summon, it froze solid on the spot.
'Nightmare!'
The Nightmare Drake tried to shatter the Lich's mind.
But—
—Krrk?
The Lich did not budge an inch.
The ultimate techniques of their various summons were all hurled toward the Lich, but—
—Krrrgh....
It drifted lazily through the air, avoiding every single attack.
'What the hell.'
Hwang Jiwoo frowned.
'Why are they this bad?'
Their attacks were far too straightforward.
Like the straight punch of a little kid, maybe?
They were on a completely different level from the skills thrown by her national team seniors.
Kwaddeuk!
Even while evading, it kept firing frost arrows.
Blizzard?
It did not seem necessary to waste that much MP.
The arrows were razor-sharp.
The tanks with high HP were frozen solid and unable to leave their positions.
The dealers, who were much worse at tanking, were reverse-summoned the instant they were hit.
"...Holy shit."
"What is this?"
Team 5, every single player looked as if their eyes were about to pop out.
There had clearly been twenty-five summons.
And yet?
Now, only five remained.
And even those five were tanks.
Tanks frozen in place, on the verge of being reverse-summoned.
"With just a B-rank Lich..."
"How is this even...?"
Their mouths simply would not close.
What on earth had just happened?
Crack, crk-crack!
Even as they stared at the Lich still conjuring frost arrows in midair, they could not understand the situation at all.
"Ah..."
Lee Jongchan in particular was deeply devastated.
At this point, it was over.
The twenty-five summons they had sent in this time were Team 5's elites, and now that all of them had been reverse-summoned... taking a peak was out of the question.
Even if they brought out more here, it would be nothing but suicide.
'I misjudged it.'
The current national team was monstrous.
The reason they had been able to fight so fiercely in the World League too, was because that stage had been a battlefield for monsters.
'And Baek Jinwoo is some unknown thing standing above even those monsters.'
Ah...
Lee Jongchan squeezed his eyes shut.
The wall called SKY was so high, so overwhelming, that it completely erased any thought of wanting to join it.
"Would you like to continue?"
Seated lightly atop the rock, Hwang Jiwoo asked softly.
"..."
Continue from here?
If they brought out their remaining summons, those frost arrows would obviously come flying again.
"L-let's retreat for now."
Feeling the thorny stares of his teammates, Lee Jongchan had no choice but to break into a cold sweat.
* * *
Team 5 had no reason to be the only ones crushed.
There were many teams, and naturally, many of them made mistakes.
Take Team 10, for example.
Fwoooooosh!
Song Yeonhee's puppet moved brilliantly and burned all of Team 10's summons to ashes.
Not a single player could keep up with the puppet's movements, controlled at a speed that was almost impossible to see.
"Good work."
There was no player who could dare complain to Song Yeonhee after she had burned everything down and politely greeted them.
Team 7 was even more absurd.
For whatever reason, they had challenged An Gijeong, but he was ranked 87th in the world.
A true heavyweight.
Crack!
And on top of that, he did not even use his own summoned poisonous snakes.
D-rank.
He faced them with battle skeletons he had apparently picked up from somewhere, yet not a single summon managed to touch even one bone of those skeletons.
It was an utterly overwhelming gap in control.
And so, little by little, the interns began to realize just how huge the difference in level was between themselves and the SKY guild members.
By getting beaten into the dirt.
* * *
The moment the occupation battle began, Team 1's leader, Jeong Siu, spoke calmly.
"For now, don't even look toward the judges."
It was only natural.
Things were always easier if you thought about the test-setter's intentions.
Why had Hong Ari deliberately restricted the judges to using only one summon, and only B-rank or lower?
"If our level is like elementary school kids who enjoy a neighborhood soccer game, then the judges are English Premier League star players. They set up rules like that because if we rush in without knowing our place, they're just going to toy with us."
If they challenged them recklessly?
They would simply get played with.
"Then what do we do?"
Han Yuna asked.
"We head straight for the summit."
Jeong Siu was full of confidence.
"As soon as it starts, we run up, seize it first, and defend it."
"That's the surest way?"
Kang Daehyuk asked.
"Yes. Most teams will probably be floundering in the early stages."
Adjusting his glasses slightly, Jeong Siu continued.
"Some teams will target comparatively weaker judges, some will try to conserve stamina and fish for an easy win later, and others will probably start clashing among themselves because they can't even agree on what to do. Once all of that clears out, there won't actually be many teams left to compete with us. And there are two peaks, after all."
"That makes sense."
Seo Yiyoon nodded as well.
"Well."
Kang Daehyuk smacked his fist into his palm.
"No matter what, we promised we'd follow the leader immediately. I won't ask any more questions. Let's run."
"Sounds good, brothers and sisters! Let's gooo!"
With Kim Daebok's burst of spirit, Team 1 immediately sprinted toward the summit.
They broke through in an instant to the place Hong Ari was judging.
Having arrived first, they each fortified the key points along the mountain trail like an iron wall.
Strangely enough, everything flowed exactly as Jeong Siu intended.
"Wow, it's real?"
"Why is nobody coming? Do they all have some kind of plan?"
Even after occupying it for the first thirty minutes, no team approached.
Then at last, Team 2 came near, and Jeong Siu stepped forward at once.
"Head to the other peak instead. There won't be anyone there. There's no reason for us to clash this early among ourselves, right?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. You can hear fighting down there, can't you? Over there too, and there too. Everyone's going wild trying to catch a judge. On the other hand, there's no sound at all coming from that peak."
"...Understood."
With just a few words, he sent Team 2 away.
They might have thought they had a chance in a fight, but Jeong Siu was ranked 11th in Korea.
They could not rashly challenge him.
Unable to hold back, Kang Daehyuk asked,
"Is there really nobody at the other peak?"
"As if."
Jeong Siu smiled.
"Didn't the judge say not to care about means or methods? I just bought us some time."
"...This bastard's crazy."
He had heard Jeong Siu was ranked 11th in Korea, so he assumed he'd be a gentleman, but apparently he was anything but normal.
Still, well.
As long as the result was good, that was all that mattered.
And so another twenty minutes passed.
Then Team 3, sensing how serious the situation was becoming, approached the summit.
They were trying somehow to stop Team 1 from holding it.
But?
"Now all we have to do is keep them from coming up. Use everything you've got."
Fortunately, Team 1 was strong in raw combat power too.
They overwhelmed their opponents and blocked the attacks with ease.
In the end, another ten minutes passed.
—Piiiiiik!
The sound of Hong Ari's whistle rang out.
"Team 1 passes."
The training had been planned to last a week.
But Team 1 passed in the shortest time possible, fully proving their ability.
This cooperative test had been a perfect carry by Jeong Siu.