Chapter 39

Chapter 39.

 

After returning home, Ha-kyung mechanically reported to the training ground.

Practicing skills and swordsmanship,

and occasionally coordinating with John had become his daily routine.

However, there was something special today.

As though he had discovered something new,

John approached with a broad grin on his face.

“Hey, bro.”

“You said you forgot English, so just speak Korean.”

“If I speak too fluently, there is a sense of disconnect. I have to cosplay as a Foreign Worker like this from time to time.”

“Of course. That is what makes you John. I gave up trying to persuade you long ago. So why did you call me?”

“Look at this. The Ranking Tournament announcement is out.”

On the laptop screen John showed him, there was a notice from the Association.

It said they would be holding Ranking Tournaments by category,

and asked for many people to participate.

In truth, Ha-kyung had no interest in rankings whatsoever.

However, the Ultimate Abyss Fragment proudly listed as a special prize

was the problem.

Ha-kyung clicked his tongue briefly.

“I cannot avoid participating.”

“Right? I’m only going to enter the Tank One-on-One Combat.”

“What about the Special Match?”

“I’m going to focus on just one thing. What about you, bro?”

“I will only participate in the Special Match.”

The Special Match was a kind of punching machine competition.

It was a contest to see whose mana was stronger.

All one had to do was simply strike the target with all one’s strength.

Ha-kyung shrugged.

‘It is something I do all the time anyway, so there is nothing difficult about it.’

Then John tilted his head.

He seemed unable to understand Ha-kyung’s choice.

John pointed at the Ranking Tournament rewards and said, “The first-place reward is an Unfathomable-Grade artifact. Second place is Unknown Grade. You are skipping this?”

“There was not anything that particularly suited me.”

“Then why are you entering the Special Match?”

“I like this black gem.”

Ha-kyung pointed at the Ultimate Abyss Fragment.

Perhaps no one knew what it was.

An artifact that could not particularly be used and only had a high grade.

Since it was a precious item in its own way, they seemed not to have even considered breaking it open.

As a result, it appeared to have been put up as a prize for entertainment.

At Ha-kyung’s answer, John slapped a hand over his forehead.

“You told me I was impossible to communicate with, but you are worse, bro. What are you going to do after getting something like that?”

“It is simply a keepsake.”

While John shook his head,

Ha-kyung quickly finished his application.

‘It is not as though I am a professional Champion. What would I gain from being good at One-on-One Combat?’

In the Abyss, he fought huge monsters anyway.

Having a high ranking did not mean someone was good at raids or Dungeon Raids.

Ha-kyung focused only on recovery and training.

However, a few days later, he received an unexpected visit.

“Good day. Are you Mr. Lee Ha-kyung?”

A middle-aged man in a suit had come to see him.

A face that seemed somewhat familiar.

And four young employees who had come with him.

An unusual atmosphere flowed out of nowhere.

Ha-kyung first asked a question.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, yes. My name is Jang Myeong-cheol. Thanks to the help of many people, I was fortunate enough to become the Vice President of the Awakened Association.”

For such a modest introduction, he was a big figure.

The Last Savior.

After all, Jang Myeong-cheol was a fairly famous 1.5-generation Awakened.

Ha-kyung could not help feeling a little bewildered.

‘I thought his face looked familiar. He was an impressive person. But why has the Vice President come to my house?’

Perhaps he had read that puzzled gaze,

because Jang Myeong-cheol smiled brightly.

“I came to visit because there are several things I would like to discuss with you.”

“Please come in first.”

“Thank you.”

Ha-kyung led the people from the Association into the main building of the mansion and first served them simple drinks.

After a brief awkward moment passed, he asked directly, “What brings you all the way here?”

“You know that the Ranking Tournament is being held this time, yes?”

“Yes, of course.”

“When I checked, I saw that you had only applied for the Special Match.”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No. Not at all. May I ask why you are not participating in One-on-One Combat?”

“I am not particularly interested in rankings.”

“Ah...”

Regret flashed across Jang Myeong-cheol’s face.

It seemed there was some deeper story behind this.

Ha-kyung did not bother asking and simply waited.

In the end, the thirsty person would be the one to dig the well.

Soon, Jang Myeong-cheol spoke in a heavy voice.

“The reason we came here was to ask if you, Mr. Lee Ha-kyung, would please participate in the Ranking Tournament.”

“Me? Why?”

“The truth is... we received requests from several places.”

Ha-kyung was still puzzled.

Who would want him to appear in the Ranking Tournament?

Then, he suddenly thought of the couple he had met a few days ago.

Ha-kyung asked with a doubtful expression, “Is it because of popularity?”

“That is the biggest reason. Your AI Raid Videos have been popular recently.”

“It sounds as though there is another reason as well.”

“We received requests from several guilds. They said they would send out skilled participants only if Mr. Lee Ha-kyung appeared.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Whether Ha-kyung participated or not, what did it matter to a Guild Master?

As Ha-kyung looked at him with suspicion,

Vice President Jang Myeong-cheol did not seem inclined to explain.

At that very moment,

Ha-kyung realized it.

‘This must be Choi Hyun-ki’s doing.’

Why would he deliberately try to draw Ha-kyung into the arena?

It must be to avenge the humiliation he had suffered last time.

With ordinary methods, it would not be easy to Duel Ha-kyung.

They would need some sort of pretext to face each other.

This Ranking Tournament was an excellent stage for Choi Hyun-ki.

But when Ha-kyung did not apply to participate, he seemed to have been quite flustered.

‘If he went so far as to pressure the Vice President and send him here, he must really want to pay me back.’

He could understand the circumstances to some extent.

Since it was the first Ranking Tournament to be held,

the Association would want it to succeed.

However, skilled Awakened had long since grasped the truth.

Rankings were meaningless.

Was Ha-kyung not intending to avoid participating as well?

Perhaps having read his subtle expression, Vice President Jang Myeong-cheol hurriedly continued.

“Of course, we are not asking you to participate empty-handed.”

“Are there any conditions favorable to me?”

“Invited participants will advance straight to the main round without preliminary matches. In addition, if you win, we will give you the right to choose one artifact owned by the Association.”

“That sounds rather weak.”

Ha-kyung’s reaction was lukewarm.

The former was something anyone with skill would naturally achieve anyway.

The latter was nothing more than a blank check.

If he did not win, it would have no meaning at all.

Vice President Jang Myeong-cheol gave a meaningful smile.

“In addition, we plan to provide every invited participant with a key that can open an Unknown-Grade dungeon.”

JINGLE!

A golden key appeared before Ha-kyung’s eyes.

With this, the story could not help changing.

Dungeon Keys were extremely rare.

Ha-kyung curled up the corners of his mouth.

‘Even I only pick up one or two of these in a year. This is rather tempting.’

It was certainly an attractive offer.

Soon, he readily nodded.

“If you are putting in that much effort, I suppose I have no choice but to accept.”

“Thank you. Then we will see you at the tournament.”

“Yes, let us do that.”

“I will leave this here as a sign of trust.”

Vice President Jang Myeong-cheol placed the Dungeon Key on the table.

Then he bowed politely and withdrew.

Ha-kyung saw Jang Myeong-cheol and his party off, then returned to the living room and sat back down on the sofa.

As he was lost in thought for a moment,

John suddenly approached and spoke to him.

“Oh! Ffffuck. Bad King bro.”

“Yes?”

“Just how great has your influence become?”

“Mine? What influence?”

“Those rude Association bastards came here personally and bowed to you, did they not?”

“The Association people have not been that rude to me so far.”

“To a Foreign Worker like me, they threw courtesy to the dogs and ran off. I thought they had aged through their assholes.”

John poured out the hardships of his life in Korea.

Of course, it must have been difficult at first.

There were plenty of Abyss Gates in America as well.

How many Awakened would come all the way to Korea to work?

The Association would not have been prepared either.

He must have clashed with them often in many ways.

Ha-kyung shrugged and said,

“Was it not because your English was too fluent eighteen years ago, John?”

“My wife says I am harder to understand now. I forgot English, and my Korean is too clumsy.”

“Pardon? Wait a moment. You are married?”

“Yes. To a Korean woman.”

“No, then why are you here doing this?”

“Uh... this is hard to explain with words. Just become a married man too, bro.”

“Ah! It seems married life is difficult for you.”

“No. I am happy. I am happy, but I just like training, that is all.”

Suddenly, John’s shoulders looked endlessly drooped, and his face became that of a man bearing every worry in the world.

They had only talked about married life.

Ha-kyung could not understand why he was acting that way.

Soon, John held up his phone and said,

“Are you wondering why I am suddenly like this?”

“No, I did not even ask...”

“It is all written on your face, bro.”

“So why are you like this?”

“My wife messaged me. She says she knows I am not in the Abyss, so I should come home.”

John began gathering his belongings with a dejected expression.

He had pretended not to hear Ha-kyung telling him to leave,

but one text from his wife made him suddenly obedient.

Ha-kyung nodded with the expression of a man who had attained enlightenment.

‘I should get his wife’s number. It is a miracle cure.’

***

The Ranking Tournament opened as scheduled.

Looking at the list of participants, Ha-kyung saw many prominent names.

Iron Wall Butcher Kim Tae-gwang, for instance.

A large number of professional Champions had participated.

It was a natural result.

For One-on-One Combat powerhouses, this was no different from an easy festival.

The preliminary matches began, but people’s interest was lukewarm.

Ha-kyung felt he knew why the Association had taken such a humble attitude.

‘Beginners who know nothing beating each other up may be fun for a match or two. But if every match is low-level, who would watch?’

That was why they had prepared the Special Match.

It was a competition where participants struck a metal pillar to obtain a high score.

It was not a matter of simply striking it with a bare fist.

A participant’s weapon, mana, skills, and so on— the power of a single blow using everything would be quantified.

WHOOOOOM―! BOOM!

One participant struck the metal pillar with a large greatsword.

Then the number shot up wildly.

Soon, the host shouted, ―Participant Choi Su-ho! With seventeen thousand eight hundred points, he sets a new record!

Immediately afterward, the spectators’ cheers shook the arena.

As expected, the Special Match was far more popular than the preliminary matches.

As Ha-kyung quietly waited for his turn, John suddenly tapped his arm.

“Hey, bro.”

“What is it?”

“Look over there.”

Where John pointed, there stood the Awakened who had just struck the metal pillar.

Choi Su-ho.

He was smiling at Ha-kyung with a faintly mocking expression.

Ha-kyung frowned slightly.

“Why is he acting like that?”

“You do not know that bastard?”

“It is my first time seeing his face.”

“Bro, you are not on good terms with Ladies or Raiders or whatever, are you?”

“Ah?”

Now that he thought about it, the man resembled someone.

The Guild Master of Raiders.

Violet Magnum, Choi Hyun-ki.

That man.

Of course, Ha-kyung did not know exactly who his opponent was.

“I can roughly guess. He must be related to Choi Hyun-ki.”

“His nickname is Executioner, and he is just a lump of unpleasantness in human form.”

Ha-kyung wondered what one had to do to end up with a nickname like that.

At that moment, the host called Ha-kyung’s name.

―Next up is the Immortal Tyrant, Lee Ha-kyung!

SWAAAAAAH!

He thought some sort of fireworks had gone off,

but it was merely the sound of cheers and applause mixing together.

At Ha-kyung’s appearance, the spectators were reacting intensely.

He rose with a meaningful smile.

‘Shall I lightly flatten the nose of their secret weapon?’