The communities around the world were boiling.

-The way he used his skills made it hard for the Hero to react.

--Wow ㅋㅋ While fighting, it seemed that the distance between the Hero and the God Hands gradually increased ㅋㅋㅋ It is due to Control Sword.

-Is Control Sword really controlled by Kraugel?

-What? Are you nuts? Of course it is.

-Wow! He moved to the left and did something to block the Hero’s view.

-Every time he uses the sheath, his body is so elastic. ㅡㅡ;

It was immediately after the Breaking the Hero event. The topic that revitalized the communities was naturally Kraugel and the Breaking the Hero event. People repeatedly watched Kraugel’s combat video and tried to analyze his methods and intentions. They tried to learn by sharing opinions with each other.

In the meantime, a new dispute arose.

-Grid didn’t participate in the National Competition because he was afraid of Kraugel.

There were people who called Grid’s absence from the National Competition as a ‘cowardly’ means of defending his title. It was reasonable to interpret it like this. Grid’s level increase in the rankings in the past year had been small. This was the basis for the idea that this year’s Grid was similar to last year’s Grid. It encouraged the idea that Kraugel, who defeated the Hero, was stronger.

-Grid can’t help it. He has to rule over his country while doing blacksmithing work. The amount of time he has to grow is small.

“I think your rage will burst if you look at the Internet?”

Shin Youngwoo slowly looked up from his phone from where he was sitting in a spacious waiting room. The person who knocked and entered was the S.A Group’s team leader, Yoon Nahee, who shook a lunch bag.

“Do you want to eat?”

“Of course.”

Yoon Nahee felt different from the time he met her at the S.A Group’s headquarters. There was a smile on her face instead of a business-like expression and she wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt instead of her office attire. She seemed to be enjoying her trip to China. She was a considerable beauty. The problem was that Grid had adapted to the beauty of Yura, Jishuka, Sehee and Yerim. Youngwoo only vaguely felt that his vision had grown too big.

“Aren’t you frustrated by the people’s reactions?”

“What?”

“Despite Youngwoo-ssi showing something new every year, people continue to disparage you. In many cases, they distort the truth.”

There were many strange people on the Internet. People who were anonymous sometimes showed a psychopathic temperament. They spoke nonsense just to relieve their stress. However, from a certain point in time, Youngwoo had stopped worrying about the Internet’s response.

“It is like that. On the Internet, there are people who call Lim Cheolho a stone head.”

“Stone head? The chairman is a stone head?”

Lim Cheolho was the founder of a virtual reality world. He wasn’t recognized as just the world’s best scientist but the best scientist ever. Of course, even Lim Cheolho knew it wasn’t perfect. He was only exceptional in his own field. He had many ordinary parts. Even so, it was unexpected for him to be called stupid. This was quite fresh and funny.

“In fact, he is called a stone, not a stone head...”

“Stone... Pffft!” Yoon Nahee burst out laughing. She grabbed her belly and laughed loudly. The atmosphere of the two people was cheerful as they ate. Team Leader Yoon Nahee had watched Grid for a long time and knew Youngwoo very well. Youngwoo was also familiar with her. They got closer this year while preparing for the Demon King project.

“Have you been watching the last four days? Many rankers this year have passed level 330 and their skill levels have risen. Can you fight against them alone?”

“Um...”

Youngwoo thought about it while enjoying the overflowing juices of the Beijing duck. Certainly, the level of the players had increased sharply. In particular, the difference in growth between normal classes and hidden classes had reduced. Unlike the hidden classes, who got good skills from the beginning, the normal classes got more skills and characteristics as they raised their level. This narrowed the gap between classes.

The gap was closing. The words that Lim Cheolho said a long time ago were becoming a reality.

“At first, I thought it would be easy. Now I am feeling a lot of tension.” Youngwoo replied honestly as he ate the fried rice. He looked at the growth of the other players during this year’s National Competition and was forced to acknowledge their skills.

“However.”

“...?”

“Nevertheless, I don’t think I will lose.”

The gap was closing? There was no need to worry about that. Not all hidden classes were the same and few people could persistently try without giving up. Look around now. People gave up on quitting smoking, drinking or on their diets every day.

Youngwoo’s face was red as he spoke confidently and drank the jjampong soup. The soup that Youngwoo drank was Malatang, not jjampong. They were distinctively different foods. He started sweating as he spoke in a quivering voice.

“...W-Water. Hiccup!"

‘He is like the chairman.’

They were confident because they were the best in their fields, but they had a bad side in everyday life. It was a personality that she couldn’t hate. Yoon Nahee smiled and handed him a bottle of water.

“400 against 1. I’m looking forward to it.”

400 rankers from 125 countries against the lone Grid. The fact that the result was hard to predict was frightening.

***

Grid’s absence. This was the only reason why this year’s PvP participation rate was so high.

‘At least we won’t die in one blow. I am also world-class if I can show my skills.’

467 people had these thoughts and participated in PvP. Only 64 of them were selected to appear on stage. The 403 people eliminated in the preliminary round felt a big shock. The US players, excluding Kraugel, the Overgeared members like Pon, Seuron of Argentina, Bubat of Turkey, Damian of Japan, Goshar of India, Everton of New Zealand etc. They directly experienced the skills of those they had been watching from afar and realized there were insurmountable walls that could never be overcome.

“This is strange. Wasn’t everyone below Grid and Kraugel supposed to be equal?”

“There is a class division everywhere we go.”

“Shit! I can’t admit it! I’m not weak! It is ridiculous!”

“...It is a shock. Experiencing it directly is completely different from just watching.”

The difference wasn’t always the same. Goshar of India was a person who had been eliminated from the PvP qualifiers every year. His career was poor compared to the high evaluations that other rankers and experts gave him. Thus, he knew it was a bubble. Then what was this?

“Yohohoho! I am a giant!”

The magic that Goshar summoned while laughing oddly was on a different level. He was almost a slaughterer in the preliminaries.

“...”

In fact, Goshar was strong. His opponent in the round of 64 was trapped in a sand castle and Goshar summoned a golem to kill him. He was ranked first among the earth magicians for a reason. The players who were eliminated from the preliminaries felt cheated. Goshar had deliberately been pretending to be weak for the last three years.

Of course, this was a big mistake. The reason why Goshar was eliminated from the preliminaries every year was because he met a stronger opponent early on. Yes, his luck was bad. However, this year’s Goshar had a good feeling. His luck was very good during the preliminaries. His opponent for the round of 64 was weak and his next opponent for the round of 32 was Bubat.

“Yohoho.”

The round of 64 finished. Goshar laughed as he went on stage for the round of 32 and faced his opponent Bubat. Bubat had been devastated by the Chinese rookie called Zhang Zheng in PvP last year. Goshar wasn’t afraid of the person who had already lost the promise of victory.

“Why do you participate in the PvP event every time? If you participated in the team events then you would be able to win a medal. Aren’t the Turkish people quite frustrated? Yohohoho.”

Bubat had a hidden class and was a strong player with powerful tanking and CC abilities. However, he was weak in a one-on-one match due to a lack of attack power. His clinging to PvP was truly poisonous. However, this year’s Bubat was different.

“Yohoho... hik!”

The most important virtue for Bubat’s initiator class was the ability to approach the enemy. The nature of the initiator was to open up the battlefield. The ability to tank was a basic and his resistance to abnormal conditions must be high. Goshar laid all sorts of earth magic on the ground to block the enemy’s advance but Bubat easily approached.

In addition, this year’s Bubat had Artina’s Natural Disposition Gloves. It was a legendary item that boosted attack power in proportion of the wearer’s defense. Thus, Bubat was able to make up for his lacking attack power.

“Hiyoouk...!Hik!”

It was safe to say that the battle was over when Bubat approached the magician Goshar. As a magician, he suffered from a lack of defense. Goshar was caught by Bubat’s wicked hands and pushed to the ground. After a few minutes of being beaten up, Goshar died. Bubat scoffed as he easily advanced to the round of 16.

“A person who talks too much and can’t back it up.”

In that sense, Grid was a fearsome person. Every time he spat out some words, he swung his sword and killed the enemy instantly. Bubat gulped and shook his head as he recalled the time he was cut by Grid.

‘This is really the last opportunity. I can aim for a medal in Grid’s absence.’

Winning PvP was the dream of every high ranker. Bubat’s motivation rose. This year, Kraugel wasn’t participating in PvP. It was a heaven-sent opportunity.

***

The PvP round of 16 ended.

'It’s nerve-wracking.’

Grid, who was monitoring the competition, bit his lips as Yura emerged. It was because Yura seemed especially lonely and sad today. It felt like she was soaked in water. There was an illusion that it was only raining around her.

‘What’s wrong?’

Grid didn’t express it but he usually cared a lot about Yura. He received her help in reality and in the game, so he thought about her more than once. Thus, he was worried. Today’s Yura didn’t look good.

‘What’s wrong?’

The contestants for the round of eight included Yura, Pon, Regas, Damian, Chris, Zibal, Seuron and Bubat. According to Grid’s observations, they were all great talents. In particular, Damian was the worst opponent for Yura. It was because the field magic, Hell Summoning, normally raised the power of a Demon Slayer while applying a debuff to other people. However, this debuff wouldn’t have an effect on Damian.

Yet Yura ended up meeting Damian in the round of eight. She was in an incomplete condition and met an opponent she couldn’t beat.

“Yura.”

Grid’s ass kept shaking. He wanted to run to the side of Yura, who was swinging her sword like she was being chased by something.

“Eh...?”

Grid hesitated. On the screen, Yura blocked Damian’s sword with her sword and fired her pistol, causing Damian’s head to go back.

“Kuek...!”

Damian was very upset. It was natural to feel like this. A few months ago, Yura defeated Agnus and cleared the fourth class quest ‘Old Enemy’ and acquired the class mastery skill Swordsmanship of Light. It was the first time the pope saw her swordsmanship and the force of the bullets was also much higher.

“Divine Protection, Incarnation of Light, Light's Blessing, Goddess' Protection, Goddess’ Blessing.”

Damian used healing on himself and full-buffed without hesitation. It was the first time since facing Grid that he showed the ‘true dignity of a pope’ toward another player.

“Yura-san, sumimasen.”

“I’m really sorry.”

The shining divine power was cut by a jade light sword and the bullets danced. She was a legend, just like Grid and Kraugel. She also had the right to become accustomed to victory.

“Nightmare Rumination.”

The path of penance was especially long. The light came to her too late. However, it was already too late to go back.