Chapter 170

The first day of the First Satisfy National Competition opened with the expectations of the world. The crowd cheered as the boss raid and labyrinth breakthrough proceeded.

There was nothing unusual. The United States, Canada and France were strong candidates for the championship. The three countries received medals. In particular, the 2nd ranked Zibal, the 3rd ranked Chris and the 8th ranked Bondre were remarkable.

Zibal participated in the boss raid. He played the perfect role of a defender and led his team calmly, allowing the United States to be more stable and quicker at the raid than any other country.

On the other hand, Bondre participated in the labyrinth breakthrough. He grasped the structure of the labyrinth quicker than anyone else and gave his country, France, a medal.

Finally, Chris participated in both events. As the leader of the largest guild, the Canadian had excellent leadership and succeeded in the boss raid after the United States. He also broke through the labyrinth. Based on his overwhelming combat power, he was able to defeat other rankers and break through the labyrinth after Bondre.

As a result, the United States and France got one gold medal each. Canada had two silver medals.

The Canadian people were frustrated by such results. Players could only participate in a maximum of three events, so Canada was desperate at not winning a gold medal despite the fact that Chris, Canada’s strongest player, had already participated in two events.

In the end, most people predicted that the two countries competing for the general championship would be the United States and France.

Today was the second day. People were paying attention to two countries other than the United States and France. South Korea and Brazil. Who were the most beautiful women in the world? If you asked any person, they would say two names.

Yura and Jishuka. Billions of people anticipated their competition in today’s target processing match.

"A long description isn’t needed. Jishuka is the expert archer, expert archer. She is Satisfy’s best archer. Of course she will win the target processing.”

“I think Yura will win. Yura’s ability to control magic power has always been well known. Her magic casting speed and accuracy are second to none. She has the ability to hit the targets.”

“What? There is a limitation that she must chant the spells in order to activate the magic. Arrows are much faster than magic. Jishuka’s arrows will penetrate all the targets before magic is cast.”

"Hrmm, you don’t know. Don’t forget that the range of magic is much wider than arrows. While an arrow will penetrate through a few targets, Yura’s magic will destroy dozens of targets.”

Yura had maintained the 5th ranking since Satisfy opened. Jishuka started Satisfy half a year later than others but she was 13th on the unified rankings. In today’s target processing, they were the ones who would win gold and silver.

The hundreds of thousands of spectators and hundreds of millions of viewers around the world predicted so. However, the opinions of the experts were different.

『 It can’t be overlooked that 17 countries are participating in the National Competition. 』

『 Unless the players from other countries are stupid, they will focus on Yura and Jishuka. 』

『 Unfortunately, the target processing match isn’t a solo exhibition. It’s a contest of pairs. One person will focus on handling the targets, while the other one has to protect their teammate. But Korea and Brazil are countries weak in Satisfy, so they don’t have the capacity to protect Yura or Jishuka. Unfortunately, it’s painful, but they will certainly be excluded. 』

The rules for target processing were simple.

The S.A. Group designated nine uninhabited islands for the National Competition. Two representatives of each country would be placed on the uninhabited island called ‘Tira.’

Each representative had to destroy small targets 5cm in diameter that were moving at a speed of 40m per second. Each target would give points, and the players themselves could be attacked and logged out.

Destroying one target gave one point, and no additional points were gained by logging out another user. The country that earned a total of 150 points first would win.

『 Before the event starts, let’s take a look at a map of Tira. The area is 67.21km, slightly smaller than Ulleungdo, and there are two mountains standing 589m high in the centre of the island. The island is made up of dense forests, and there are areas where monsters spawn and deep cliffs, so the participants need to be careful. 』

『 Is there a point where the targets are? 』

『 No. There are a total of 1,500 targets distributed evenly throughout the island, and they continue to move. The targets are small, fast and have various movement patterns, so it is very difficult to destroy them while the enemies are interfering. 』

『 I heard that the colors of the targets vary. Are all points equal, regardless of the color? 』

『 That’s right. But there is one exception. It’s the gold target. Unlike the other targets, destroying the gold target will give the player 50 points. Therefore, the gold target is what we should pay attention to in this competition. It is an important target that will help a team win. However, it moves 10 times faster than normal targets... It will be very difficult to shoot at it. 』

『 10 times faster is 400m per second? Isn’t that similar to the speed of a bullet fired by a pistol? How can it be destroyed? Since the targets have 100% resistance to status conditions, isn’t it impossible to restrain the targets’ movements with magic? 』

『 A target that is smaller than a human and faster than bullets. It’s impossible in reality, although Satisfy is different. Isn’t Satisfy an impossible world? Maybe Jishuka can easily handle the gold target? 』

『 As we are speaking, the players are entering. 』

Seoul Olympic Stadium. The hundreds of thousands of spectators welcomed the 33 participants who headed to the capsule room in the middle of the stadium. That’s right. There were 33 people, not 34. All the countries had two people participating, except for South Korea, who only had Yura.

The crowd belatedly realized the situation.

“What? Yura doesn’t have a partner?”

"Won’t she be at a disadvantage if she joins alone?”

“Ohh! South Korea! What are you doing?”

“South Korea must be crazy! Are you going to bully Goddess Yura now? Huh? You deserve a scolding!”

There was booing from the stands.

Inside the capsule room. The players started laughing.

“South Korea has no one except for Yura. The second person who would participate would just be trash, so Yura has probably given up.”

“I feel sorry for her.”

"In the first place, it is just significant that South Korea managed to participate in this National Competition. To be honest, it was almost a miracle that South Korea was able to put its name on the list of participating counties. They should be satisfied with just that.”

"Indeed... South Korea doesn’t have anyone except for Yura and Peak Sword. Peak Sword isn’t even participating in this competition.”

“It is funny. How was South Korea able to participate in the National Competition? Wouldn’t it be difficult for them to do well in the selection quests?”

"The host country is South Korea and S.A. is a Korean company. There was probably some manipulation.”

"Maybe Yura entertained them? Kilkil.”

Everyone was gossiping and murmuring. But Yura had a unconcerned expression on her face. She prepared to enter the capsule without caring about anyone else.

A British representative approached her. It was Regas. He was unable to hide his uncomfortable tone as he asked Yura.

"Miss Yura, why are you participating alone? It would’ve been hard originally, but now that you’re fighting alone? Surely you aren’t giving up on the competition like everyone else said?”

Regas had moderately accurate Korean pronunciation. He had studied hard to learn Korean. But there was a sense of stiffness. In order to ease his efforts, Yura replied in fluent English.

"I don’t know the words ‘giving up.’ It might be hard when fighting alone, but I will surely win. So don’t worry.”

Yura was beautiful and 5th on the unified rankings. She was a remarkable commodity. Most of Satisfy’s rankers had been exposed to the media. This was the first time they met directly, but Regas had seen interviews of her and knew her personality.

“You mean it. You really plan to win by yourself? But is it possible? I don’t understand why you are playing alone without a partner.”

"My partner can’t be contacted.”

"Partner...?”

What was this?

'Her teammate...!’

A representative couldn’t be contacted? They were the worst. The angry Regas turned his gaze to the capsule next to Yura’s capsule. Then he was surprised to see the participant ID on the badge attached to the capsule.

“...Grid? Grid was supposed to be the one to participate in the target processing with you?”

"Grid-ssi didn’t agree. I registered him as a participant without telling him. I don’t blame him if he doesn’t come. Rather, Grid will probably grumble since I acted arbitrarily.”

‘Does Yura know Grid’s identity? So she wanted to depend on Grid?’

Certainly, South Korea would get a high ranking if Grid participated in the National Competition. But it was regrettable. Regas was a fellow guild member, so he knew that Grid wasn’t willing to participate in the National Competition.

"...It will be a struggle. The British team won’t attack the lone Korean team.”

Regas said with a grim expression on his face, while Yura sent him a taunting smile.

"You might get hurt if you ignore a lone woman.”

"..."

This was truly the confidence of a top 5 player. Regas reminded himself.

‘That’s right. There is no weak person here.’

Everyone who participated in the National Competition... There might be gaps between them, but they were excellent representatives of each country. Regas was reminded of that thanks to Yura. He was delighted to be able to compete with the strongest players.

Meanwhile, Jishuka was pouting over at the Brazilian team.

‘What? Grid isn’t coming?’

It was a large shock when Grid ignored her whispers in Satisfy. However, she didn’t despair because of her strong mental state. She grasped all the events that Grid was signed up to in the National Competition.

She was looking forward to seeing him in the target processing event. She hoped she could meet Grid. But in the end, Grid didn’t come. Her disappointment couldn’t be hidden.

‘Really... I can’t meet him despite being in South Korea?’

This was the first time she was interested in the opposite sex. She wanted to see his face, but it was too hard. It seemed too much when she was a star.

“I am angry.” But she needed to separate her priorities. She calmed down and ordered her partner, Samuel. "We will enter the forest as soon as we log into the game.”

Samuel had the strongest fighting power among the remaining Brazilian users, but his overall ranking was very low. Samuel questioned her.

“As an archer, isn’t it better for you to occupy the top of a mountain? Isn’t it easier to snipe the enemies from a high place?”

"On the contrary, it is easier to become a target. It isn’t just one team participating, but 17. We’ll be attacked if we stand out in the beginning. Let’s hide as much as possible until the enemies are annihilated.”

“Indeed...!”

Jishuka was the leader of the Tzedakah Guild, a strong group in Satisfy. She was much smarter than Samuel, so he vowed to always obey her orders. Then all the players entered their capsules.

After a while.

The large screens installed all around the stadium started to show Satisfy. 33 players appeared on the small but lushly forested island of Tira. They were logged in at regular intervals, so they could move quickly to secure their safety. Most teams ran to occupy the top of the mountains, but some teams were hiding in the forest like the Brazilian team.

Then Yura aimed at magic spell at the small targets flying around in the sky.

“Dark Storm.”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

“...!”

It was truly an overwhelming sight. One-fifth of the forest that made up the island was swept away by the storm and completely destroyed. The commentators shouted in a trembling voice.

『 The South Korean team has acquired 28 points! The Italian team has been logged out! 』

“What...?”

The crowd was shocked and fell silent. The players participating in the game were also confused.

“What? Why are the Italian people dead?”

“They seem to have fallen off a cliff because of the storm.”

“It’s crazy.”

"Wow, look at the forest. What type of magic is that? How high is her magic power?”

“Indeed... It’s true that she’s the Eighth Servant.”

The 5th place on the unified rankings was a special place. Since Satisfy opened, many rankers tried their best, but the 5th rank never changed. It was because the wall of Yura blocking them was too high and solid. The 5th place wall was insurmountable.

When they actually faced her, it was really great. But they weren’t afraid.

‘We are also strong.’

Right now, she was just a lamp in front of the wind.

The waiting room of the United States team. Zibal smiled as he watched the live relay on the monitors.

“She is choosing a quick victory. Indeed, she’s a girl that I acknowledge.”

In the first place, she was outnumbered. If they enemies allied together and dragged out the time, Yura would be helpless. She planned to win before the other teams could block her. She judged that it was wiser to move fast and hit hard.

“But Yura. You would do well not to ignore the participants. Everyone is wise and strong.”

Zibal was sure. Yura would soon meet her end. This was her limit, despite her 5th rank.

At the same time.

"The sound of the shouts are amazing.”

Youngwoo arrived at the entrance to the stadium.