CH 415

The cheering audience suddenly turned mute the moment the electronic board displayed the final rankings of each country, as well as the medalists! Up until that point, everyone believed that the American Team would clinch the Penalty Shoot-Outs’ gold medal. After all, there was only a minute left in the game. However, within that short time frame, the situation was reversed and the country that won the gold medal was not America, but South Korea!

“Wo… woaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

The audience, who went silent for a moment, finally broke out into loud cheers and shouts. The Americans in the audience were all holding their heads in disbelief and frustration, the Japanese stared at the electronic display in a daze, while some just let out dejected laughs. However, no matter their reactions, one thing was certain. Korea won the gold medal.

[South… South Korea’s gold medal has just been confirmed!!! Everyone! Korea has won the gold medal in the very first event!!!]

President Kang Taehoon, a special commentator, jumped up from his seat and shouted loudly. He was shouting so loudly that the veins on his neck popped up.

All eyes were still focused on the representative teams, who could not hide their surprise, and the Korean Team standing in the middle of the stadium. That was when they saw Alexander stand up and approach the Korean Team.

***

Ghost of the Battlefield Alexander felt extremely frustrated when he saw the rankings displayed in the electronic board. The very first game was the event with the most participants and the event that everyone was most excited about. Somehow, America lost the gold medal to South Korea, only taking home the silver medal.

‘Are you telling me that we played into the palm of his hands?’

Alexander watched as Minhyuk, the captain of the Korean Team, hugged Ali and Root, cheering happily together. For a moment, he felt both anger and frustration. However, not long after, his thoughts changed.

‘Amazing.’

What kind of existence was Alexander? He was hailed as the strongest in one of the greatest Athenae powerhouse, America. He acknowledged Minhyuk and his strength. No, to be exact…

‘I’m scared.’

…he was afraid of him. There were plenty of games left in this competition, and various anomalies and variables would appear during each game. These anomalies and variables could turn an easy situation into a very terrifying one.

Alexander approached Minhyuk in curiosity and disbelief. The people around them gulped nervously as they watched the two face off. No, the entire world was in fact paying attention to the rising powerhouse, Minhyuk, and Athenae’s strongest, Alexander. Not long after, Alexander reached his hand out for a handshake.

“I’m looking forward to your performance in the upcoming games.”

Minhyuk looked at the hand that reached out to him for a moment before grabbing it and…

“Look forward to it.”

…tightening his grip. Alexander chuckled.

[America’s Strongest Alexander and South Korea’s Food God Minhyuk are shaking hands.]

[This is what they mean when they say fair competition and rivalry. Ah, just looking at this scene is enough to make anyone smile!]

The entire world admired the scene where these two people shook hands amiably. The scene of the two of them, one that wanted to rise in power, and one who wanted to defend their throne, shaking hands was very heartwarming. That was how the first event of the very first World War ended.

***

Athenae: World War, Day Two.

America had proven to the world why they were called an Athenae powerhouse. Even though they lost to South Korea during the Penalty Shoot-Out game and only won a silver medal, they were able to win three gold medals on the same day. The total tally of the medals that they gained on the first day were three gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal.

What about South Korea? After winning the gold medal in the first game, they secured another two gold medals, bringing their total to three. But after that, they were not able to secure any more medals.

On the eve of the second day, the Korean community sites were all filled with questions.

[Who in the world is Player Death? Who is he to suddenly join the Korean Team?]

[Death is a player that everyone knows little about. There are plenty of rumors about him but they are all baseless. However, there’s one thing that we’re certain about. He’s a necromancer.]

[Who in the world does not know that he’s a necromancer? That’s why everyone is wondering why Death participated in the ‘Summoner’s Great War’.]

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Only one player was allowed from each of the participating countries to fight in the Summoner’s Great War. This event would be held in a huge field where participants would be given a bracelet. The bracelet was none other than the ‘Ruler’s Bracelet’. The destruction of the bracelet would result in the participant’s disqualification from the game, while the ones that could destroy plenty of these bracelets would gain special privileges.

Simply put, the bracelets could strengthen the summoner’s abilities or increase their MP. On top of that, the player that destroyed the opponent’s Ruler’s Bracelet would be able to gain their opponent’s abilities once they had been logged out of the game. The final three players left in the field would win the gold, silver, and bronze respectively.

This was where the issue laid…

[Everyone knows that a necromancer is the weakest class in the summoner category, right? So, what the hell were they thinking when they let him participate?]

That was right. The necromancer was the weakest class among all of the summoner classes. This was mainly because the summons that the necromancer could call for were very weak. The participants from the other participating countries had summons of varying ranks, from Epic to Legendary.

But, a necromancer?

The current official global number one necromancer, Jack, could only summon three Death Knights at most. Were these three Death Knights powerful?

The answer was no.

The Death Knights that he could summon were incredibly lacking in front of the monsters that the best summoners could summon. This was because the undead had literally died, which meant that the power that they could exert were just 80% of the power when they were still living. The 20% loss in power was enough to cause them a huge disadvantage.

Unlike what was depicted in most novels, a necromancer gaining victory through numbers with the undead was an impossible feat in Athenae. From what they knew, Necromancer Jack could no longer summon any other undead after he summoned the three Death Knights under his disposal.

It was because of this that everyone judged that the necromancer class would not be able to do much in the Summoner’s Great War. Even the game’s ‘rule’ posed a great problem. The rule where they could gain special privileges if they destroyed plenty of Ruler’s Bracelets.

Naturally, most of the players would go for the easiest target and try to attack Death, a necromancer, to destroy his bracelet. In other words, Death, or Jung Ji-Hoon, was just an easy prey in that huge field.

Currently, this very same person that everyone was talking about was sitting and waiting in the players’ waiting room for the game that would start in ten minutes. He was holding something tightly to his chest and his eyes were red. The other participating players looked at him and whispered to each other.

“Is he crying?”

“Maybe he’s crying because he’s scared to play? Pffft.”

“His gloomy and dark aura really fits his necromancer class.”

Some of the representatives felt that he was dull and dim-witted, so they laughed and mocked him. That was on top of people from all over the world questioning and mocking his abilities.

There were two decisive reasons for their mockery and disregard of Death. One, half of his face was covered in a mask. There would definitely be people who had bad intentions. They would mock, criticize and dig into other people’s pain. It was especially worse for the people that came from other countries. Plenty of them wanted to mock Ji-Hoon for having a huge burn on half of his face. And two, he had acted in a strange manner yesterday, during Athenae: World War’s first day.

Most of the time, he had looked left and right with a scared look on his face and could not even raise his head. It was as if he had some kind of mental disability with how weird he acted. He was the textbook example of a weak person. That was why everyone wanted to trample him even more.

However, unlike yesterday, he only stared in front while hugging something unknown. But then…

“Hey, monster bastard. Take that mask of yours off.”

…someone that went a bit overboard passed by. Death’s poker face broke for a moment before going back to how it was. The man that mocked Death had long blonde hair. This man was none other than Bastien, France’s official number one summoner, and the global official number one summoner.

The main reason why he taunted and mocked Death was because he was one of Blackstone’s executives, and was Calauhel’s de facto right-hand man. The fact that he was the global official number one summoner made him the strongest candidate to win this game. All of the players of this event had great admiration for him, mostly because he could summon two legendary monsters.

That was not all. He could also summon more than a hundred unique and epic monsters at the same time. His existence was akin to the summoner world’s king.

Bastien looked at Death and laughed, “Hey, monster bastard, are your ears not working? Take off your mask.”

“…”

Death maintained his silence. The other players knew that Death was a complete underdog. After all, they did not have any data on him. However, perhaps it was because he did not have any feat that made him famous, or perhaps it was because he could not speak at all and was releasing a pathetic aura, that they felt that there was no way that such a man could do something.

“Then, I will take off that mask for y…”

Just when Bastien was about to touch Death’s mask…

“Participants, please enter your capsules!!!”

…the officials announced the start of the game. Bastien sneered as he walked to his capsule. Ji-Hoon ignored him and just silently entered his own capsule.

***

[Athenae: World War’s Summoner’s Great War is now starting, with a more impressive and hotter bang than any other games!!!]

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”

Loud and fiery cheers erupted from the stands as dozens of dragons, which they placed as an event, flew to the skies and breathed fire to set off fireworks that marked the beginning of the Summoner’s Great War. And with that, dozens of contestants appeared together with the huge field.

The Summoner class was well known for summoning or taming monsters! The participants quickly dispersed, running to take advantage of the huge field’s terrain.

“Kiheeeeeeeeek!”

Some of the summoners quickly summoned their aerial monsters and used them to fly up in the sky. Now that they were wearing the Ruler’s Bracelet, they realized that they had to protect it from the very beginning! And just like that, the summoners revealed the summons that they were very proud of one after the other.

[The dragon of the sea, the Turtle Dragon has appeared! It’s known for its ridiculous defense!]

[The Ogre Troll that reaches as high as nine meters has also appeared. Its master, Matsumoto, climbs on its shoulder and looks down on the other players.]

[Summoner Nick, the Emperor of the Skies, has already occupied the skies with his dozens of wyverns. He’s even standing on the back of a Wyvern King!]

[Our impressive summoners have called out their most powerful summons one after another, bringing in more heat to our already fiery stadium!!!]

And Bastien, who stood among them, hurriedly looked around to find Death’s location.

‘I’ll kill you first, you bastard.’

Although he had received instructions from Calauhel, Bastien was willing to do it even without one. This was because he found Death’s existence an eyesore. He wanted to ridicule and humiliate him. Besides, he was convinced Death was already living a pathetic life, so he wanted to push him off the cliff. Bastien was such a man. Then, he called out for his summons.

[You have summoned the Siren’s Knight.]

[You have summoned the King’s Guardian.]

He summoned exactly two of them. But the impact that these two could bring was immense. He summoned a knight that had protected the siren for hundreds of years. Its level was said to be around Level 550.

But was that all? No. The King’s Guardian was a monster created to protect the king of Italei Kingdom. It looked similar to humans, but had a far superior speed and destructive power than them. With its level around Level 530, it boasted a ridiculous amount of strength. And it did not even end there, as more monsters continued to appear one after the other around Bastien. It was his Epic and Unique monster corps! Their momentum was so strong that it brought an immense amount of pressure to all the players present.

[The… the strongest summoner corps has appeared! This is the global official number one summoner, Bastien!!!!]

Several summoners had tried to attack Death. However, Death was Bastien’s prey. The Siren’s Knight and King’s Guardian swiftly rushed forward and approached Death. Everyone believed that Death, who looked grim with his long black hair and ragged robes, would eventually be deprived of his Ruler’s Bracelet. Swiftly, the Siren’s Knight’s sword stabbed Death in the chest. But at that moment…

“Death Knight Summon. Varda.”

Claaaaaaaaaaaang—

A bolt of black current fell down from the sky only to reveal a Death Knight. One swing from the Death Knight and the Siren’s Knight’s attack was nullified.

[It’s… it’s a Death Kniiiiiiiight!]

[It’s the same undead knight that the global official number one necromancer, Jack, can only summon three of!]

Bastien frowned at the sight. But Death did not stop there.

“Death Knight Summon. Ondoen.”

“Death Knight Summon. Baroque.”

“Death Knight Summon. Kiara.”

“Death Knight Summon. Black.”

“Death Knight Summon. Gerpin.”

“Death Knight Summon. Amber.”

“Death Knight Summon. Ilrod.”

“…Wh… what?!”

“What the hell?! Are you kidding me?!”

Dozens of bolts of black currents fell down from the sky, as one Death Knight appeared after the other. They all lined up and knelt down on one knee in front of Death. He looked back at the other players coldly and…

“Kingdom of Death.”

Crack, crack, crack, crack—

The ground twisted and cracked as thousands of undead broke through and crawled up. Each and every single one of them were wearing armor and holding weapons. Gigantic bones sprang up from the ground and created a small kingdom. A long red carpet rolled out as the gates to this kingdom opened. At the other end of the red carpet was a throne made entirely out of bones.

“Im… impossible…!”

“Ho… how…”

Everyone, including the participants and the viewers, were left speechless at the sight. Death summoned his black staff and slowly walked past the speechless players.

Step, step—

Finally, he sat down on his throne. The hood of his robe fell down as he leaned back, revealing his smooth forehead. Then, he crossed his legs and leisurely placed his black staff on his chest before looking down at his opponents. His gaze was both piercing and indifferent, as if he was looking at someone ‘insignificant’.

Meanwhile, Bastien thought, ‘He, he summoned fifteen Death Knights…?!’ He was so shocked that he lost his words and even forgot to breathe.

Then, Death looked at Bastien and said, “What the hell are you f*cking looking at, dumb*ss?”

Death completely overwhelmed Bastien with a string of curses.