Chapter 180

The last day of the National Competition coincided with a national holiday.

9 a.m.

In spite of the early hour, chicken stores all over the country started to operate. The chicken store owners mobilized their whole family to fry the chickens.

Ddrrrung! Ddrrrung!

The makers didn’t matter. The small neighbourhood chicken stores were flooded with orders for a while.

-Please bring me one chicken and three beers at 11 o’clock.

-I want to reserve two chickens for 11 o’clock. And I was busy during the last World Cup, so I will use all my coupons this time.

-One soju and beer. And one roasted chicken. Please! Before 11 o’clock!

-I want... What? You ran out of chicken and there’s only salad left? That’s okay! I will order from another store!

After a while.

At 11 a.m., the PvP tournament that the world had been waiting for finally opened. The chicken stores made more than 10 times their normal revenue during the National Competition! They shouted at the delivery drivers they hired specifically for this day.

“Go deliver!”

Buoong!

Every city in the country. The foreign tourists who came to South Korea for the National Competition saw a remarkable sight. In many places, the roads were filled with bikes! The delivery drivers’ bikes were equipped with a delivery crate and the chicken store sticker attached to them, making the foreigners stunned.

"Don’t Koreans always eat rice?”

"It seems to have changed to chicken...”

"Koreans have good physiques despite eating a lot of meat.”

And 11 o’clock.

『 The players are entering! 』

“Ohh! It has finally started!”

Family, friends or lovers. They all excitedly sat around a TV at their homes. Then the people who caused a hot topic over the past three days, Grid and Hurent appeared at the Lion’s Castle.

"I hope that Grid will win.”

"Honestly, considering the target processing, Grid seemed unlikely to win. But I hope he will do his best, even if he loses.”

"That's right, so let’s cheer him on.”

“I don’t care about the experts’ analysis. I am expecting Grid, who has a legendary class, to win.”

Ding dong~!

“The chicken has come!”

"Oh, right at 11 o’clock. They have no sense.”

Houses with young families and mothers. Houses where friends gathered. Houses belonging to lovers.

『 Now I will announce the opening of the PvP match! It has started! 』

They ran to the porch as the commentator’s words were heard from the TV. They received the chicken from the delivery men then dropped their chicken at the ridiculous sight they were greeted with when they came back inside.

『 H-Hurent has been logged out! 』

“...?”

The showdown between the legendary class and the 8th ranked user. How many people predicted that the winner would be Grid? In addition, how many believed that Grid would log out Hurent in 30 seconds as he declared? However...

『 5 seconds...! 』

"..."

『 In only 5 seconds! Grid has logged out the winning candidate, Hurent! 』

The baffled commentator shouted belatedly, and hundreds of millions of people responded to the reality.

"Waaahhhhhhhh!"

The cheering Korean crowd and viewers!

“I can’t believe it...!”

The shocked foreign crowd and viewers! The world was in chaos.

[(Breaking) Grid won in 5 seconds.]

[Pagma's Successor! The 8th ranked user was logged out in 5 seconds!]

[Grid, he fulfilled his 30 second promise!]

[The United States has received a big impact.]

[Will Grid earn yet another gold medal for South Korea?]

[The 5 second logout legend!]

5 seconds! 5 seconds! 5 seconds! The breaking news continued to highlight the 5 seconds. The Internet real time search terms were dominated by ‘5 seconds,’ ‘Grid,’ ‘Grid’s victory,’ ‘Grid is a scam,’ ‘Shin Youngwoo,’ ‘Korean’s possible gold medal.’

The netizens were the same.

-G...God Grid.

-God Grid! Forgive us who mocked and condemned you a few seconds ago !ㅠ0ㅠ

- Wow, what is this? It isn’t a bug?

-The 8th ranked user was killed ㅡㅡ;;

-Crazy... I really got goosebumps.

-My family’s sign ㅇ0ㅇ

-ㅇ0ㅇ? What is that?

-The American community must be buzzing right now ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-The Chinese forums are filled with words of envy. ㅋㅋ

-The Japanese community is bombarded with conspiracy theories that this is a bug ;;

-So exciting! That Yankee who tore the Korean flag must be shedding tears of blood. ㅋㅋㅋ Praise God Grid.

-3.2 times 4 million won. Congratulations ㅠㅠ

-Actually, I bet 6 million won too ㅋㅋㅋ...ㅠㅠ on Hurent... That bastard.

-I bet 3 million won on Hurent ;; ah, my salary.

-Koreans should’ve cheered on a Korean... ^^ I bet 15 million won on God Grid... from now on, I will only have confidence in God Grid...

-You are a gambler ㅉㅉ

-I also bet 300,000 won so this is a jackpot ㅎㅎ I’ve made enough to last me three months. ㅎㅎㅎ

The amount of tens, hundreds, thousands, millions of won were exchanged. It might be a very big amount to somebody. But it could be chewing gum for somebody else. For example, the owner of a big company, a successful freelancer or a Satisfy ranker. They gambled hundreds of million or billions of won. And there were many people who lost.

“I shouldn’t have believed in those damn experts...!”

"Call my lawyer and prepare to sue.”

A few of the rich people suffered losses that couldn’t be ignored. On the other hand.

“Kuahahaha! Amazing! Amazing~!”

“Puhahaha! Grid! I love you!”

Someone’s misfortune was another person’s luck! The Tzedakah Guild, who’d already made billions of won from Satisfy, hit the jackpot. Those who believed in Grid’s victory bet not only their existing assets, but loans from financial institutions as well.

The dividend was 3.2 times what they invested, so they became instant billionaires. Tens of billions of won were gained at once. They could buy yachts, private airplanes, travel with beautiful women, and enjoy the life of a movie star!

But they were Satisfy rankers. Satisfy was much more precious to them than reality.

“Hehe... I have to ask Grid to make me an item with this money.”

“I will continue to invest in Grid until he makes me a legendary item.”

The gaming fools planned to buy one or two buildings for their future, but they would invest the rest of their funds into Grid.

***

『 Not only is he a legendary class, he has one or two ultimate skills. That Kill skill is the ultimate skill of a legendary class. The power of that deadly blow can’t be endured. 』

『 Of course, the power of his skill is great, but I’m more interested in that blue greatsword. Looking back at the target processing, didn’t Grid use the blue greatsword to logout the rankers? It’s clear that the blue greatsword has an excellent performance among legendary items. 』

『 I agree. It is the so called best weapon. It would be nice if Player Grid would reveal the details of the weapon. 』

The experts’ analysis was correct. Even though it was a legendary item, the weapons created by Pagma's Successor were of a different dimension.

The +9 Failure had an attack power of 1,768~3,682. It was already the best weapon at +0, so after being increased to +9 with a 70% increase in attack power, it was fully OP (overpowered).

Let’s compare it to legendary weapons of the same level. The average attack power of a powerful two-handed weapon was around 1,000, so the maximum attack power of the +9 Failure was three times stronger than that. What if 1,800% of that attack power was added due to the level two Kill?

The users could never endure it. They would just die.

Grid was inwardly surprised. ‘The boss monsters received hundreds of thousands of damage, but for Kill to only deal 68,000 damage to Hurent... He has a lot of defense. He wasn’t just bragging.’

An Aura Master didn’t need weapons. Thanks to that, Hurent was able to spend more money on armor compared to other users, and he had the highest ranked unique armor. Yet he died in one blow?

"Heok...!”

The logged out Hurent jumped out of the capsule. His complexion was pale, like a person who just had a nightmare. His whole body was sweaty.

‘What on earth happened?’

Lauel handed a towel to the confused Hurent.

"You lost."

"..."

"..."

Hurent couldn’t believe it. He had no idea that he would lose to Grid. He gazed absentmindedly and recalled the fight. Then he smiled bitterly.

“Yes... Indeed, that’s a legendary class.”

His control had been helpless in front of that strength. What was that CC skill that completely restrained his body, despite maintaining a perfect distance of 5m? He wasn’t able to control himself and received a linked skill.

He was crushed by strength. Yes, like a fly.

“Legendary skills...”

It was something he didn’t have yet. He needed to strengthen the rating of his aura to legendary more quickly through training. Hurent felt motivated instead of frustrated. His expression was refreshed as he wiped at his sweat with the towel.

"Since I have become the loser, the reporters won’t bother me for a while. I think I should abandon other activities and focus on hunting.”

He would only become strong through training.

Lauel gave his personal opinion. "The problem is the blue shark-shaped greatsword that Grid is using. Its performance transcends imagination.”

“Yes.”

Hurent admitted it. No matter the skill rating, wasn’t the damage too high? It was useless without a basic high attack power. Grid’s weapon was certainly high class. But why did Lauel say that? Hurent was puzzled as he saw the Lauel looked determined.

“You... Perhaps, are you going to follow Grid?”

Lauel didn’t deny it.

“That’s correct.”

He was sick of the title of rookie. He wanted to quickly jump to the top of the rankers. But he started too late. When he was level 1, the top rankers were already level 180. Talent alone couldn’t cover that gap. In order to catch up with them...

"I have seen the power of items through this match.”

Lauel was one of the 10 Rookies. Even now, Ibellin of the Tzedakah Guild has set Lauel as his rival.

“I will join the Tzedakah Guild.”

"...”

2nd on the unified rankings, Zibal. He had the ambition to occupy all the territories of Satisfy and become Satisfy’s ruler. But in order to do that, he needed the strongest players and at the moment, he was eyeing Lauel. He offered shocking treatment to Lauel when inviting him to the guild. However, Lauel was going to turn him down.

"Lauel, didn’t the Snake Guild promise you millions of gold? Is it worth rejecting such an astronomical sum to follow Grid?”

Lauel nodded without hesitation. "Don’t you now know better than anyone else? You can’t ignore the fact that combat sense and control isn’t special. The most important aspect of a game is items.”

Millions of gold? What would he do with that? No matter how much money he had, he couldn’t buy the strongest items. In Satisfy, Grid was the only one who could create the most powerful items. His power was necessary in order for Lauel to become a top ranked player. Basically, Lauel had a great liking towards Grid.

“Items rather than control... I’m envious of Grid, who made me realize the simplicity and greatness of it. I am fascinated by the strength that logged you out in just 5 seconds. I would like to play the game with him. How about you?”

“...”

Zibal also invited Hurent to join his guild. But Hurent had high pride as a sword saint candidate and was reluctant to go under someone else. Therefore, he hadn’t responded to Zibal’s invitation.

But now.

He experienced Grid’s power directly and once he heard Lauel’s words, he started to move. In order to become stronger, items were needed. In order to obtain those items...

‘There is no answer except for Grid.'

But his pride didn’t tolerate it.

“...I’m an Aura Master. The strongest items? They’re useless in front of me.” Later, his aura would become a legendary rating. “At that time, I will cut down Grid and his blue greatsword.”

The next time they met, he would logout Grid before Grid could even use a skill. Hurent vowed. He left the stadium and headed straight to Incheon International Airport. He was ready to return to the US and pour all his efforts into building up his strength.

***

"Amazing."

The French representative, Bondre. The 11th ranked user considered Grid’s skills. No, he marvelled at them. Logging out Hurent in just 5 seconds? He never even imagined it. But he didn’t feel threatened.

"The Restraint and Transcended Link skills are somewhat burdensome.”

Bondre’s class was an ice mystic. What if he froze the entire ground with overwhelming magic power? Grid’s sword dances wouldn’t be able to be properly enacted. Pagma's Sword Dance needed at least four steps to be activated.

Could that guy dance properly on frozen ground? It would be lucky if he didn’t fall on his ass.

'Looking back at the Bairan battle, he has an artifact that can help him fly.’

What if Grid flew up to avoid the ice on the floor? Bondre would feel even more comfortable.

The PvP stage was an island. The atmosphere was filled with moisture. If he froze all that moisture, Grid would be trapped in the sky. The physical constraints of the ice webs meant they couldn’t be broken with CC immunity.

‘An island is the perfect stage for me. Grid, you can never beat me.’

[Absolute Zero Lv.2 (76.0%)]

Freezes the target and deals a fixed damage of 42,000.

Skill Mana consumption: 50% of your current mana.

Skill Casting Time: 7 seconds.

Skill Cooldown Time: 20 minutes.

It was the ultimate skill he learned from an S-grade magic book. Yura’s Divine Punishment that she showed in the target processing looked miserable compared to this. The casting time was incredibly long, so he didn’t have many opportunities to use it.

But it was different in a one-on-one duel. If he could completely restrain his opponent’s actions, he could use it as a winning card. This was superior in terms of damage compared to Divine Punishment because it was a single target skill.

It was this Absolute Zero skill that made Yura and Hurent lose to Bondre.

‘Assuming that Grid is level 290, his health must be... No, it isn’t possible even when assuming the worst.’

Grid’s health must be 35,000 or less.

"This time you will be the one to die in one blow. Kukukuk...!”

Bondre laughed with joy. He would meet with Grid in the round of 16. He would prove he was the strongest by completely overwhelming Grid, who logged Hurent out in five seconds.

Bondre was confident. Just like Hurent, a few minutes ago.