“Does this make sense?! Two minutes? Two minutes?!” Mascherano screamed in the corridor leading to the waiting room. He was dumbfounded.

2 minutes and 18 seconds—it was really ridiculous.

“Stop it. In any case, we are second. What is so important about the record? All that is left is the ranking.”

A teammate placed his arm around Mascherano’s shoulder to calm him down. It was right that the record of 2 minutes and 18 seconds didn’t make sense. However, from the beginning, they didn’t consider Crescent Moon to be an opponent to compete against. They were the sky above the sky—people from another world, who stopped by Earth for a while, and left like aliens. So it didn’t matter what achievements Crescent Moon made. Red Bull didn’t care that much.

‘It is silly to care. There is no change even if we care.’

“Additionally, don’t you know they can hear everything you’re saying here?”

Crucially, this corridor was connected to the waiting room of all the teams. Naturally, it was also connected to Crescent Moon’s waiting room. This shout from Mascherano was likely to be heard by them.

“He isn’t a person who will take it to heart just because he heard things like this.”

Rather, he would like it. He would be proud of himself.

“In any case, the second place team at Arena Week is probably... the New York Warriors?”

Mascherano sighed lightly. The results had already come out, to a certain extent. 1st place was confirmed. The only thing left was a fight for 2nd place, but that seemed to have already ended.

‘Reina’s skills have improved so sharply.’

2nd place for PvP on the first day. 2nd place for the siege on the second day. They were also likely to get 3rd place in the first game of today’s raid time attack. By the time Mascherano exited the cube and saw the New York Warriors on the screen, their Clone was already on the verge of death. His entire body was frozen and slammed into the ground, so he was probably dead by now.

‘3rd place isn’t much different from us... it is decided regardless of the remaining games.’

Only PSG and Red Bull America achieved similar results to the New York Warriors. There was a very slim chance for them to beat the New York Warriors and come in 2nd place. A reversal was impossible unless the New York Warriors were in the lower ranks of the raid time attack.

Now it had become impossible. It was because the New York Warriors were on the verge of clearing the raid time attack.

“I should aim for next year when the monster is gone.”

Mascherano shook his head and walked into the waiting room of Red Bull America.

***

As Mascherano had expected, the New York Warriors finished third in the raid time attack after Red Bull. PSG and Manchester were ranked 4th and 5th respectively, proving there were no unexpected changes.

“Every team’s raid time attack is over. Fortunately, not a single team failed and they all cleared the raid.”

“Still, the rankings are set. From Crescent Moon, who topped the list with a shocking record of 2 minutes and 18 seconds, to JT Telecom, who narrowly cleared it in 3 hours, 39 minutes, and 25 seconds—all the teams have been ranked.”

“Even so, there is no need to be so disappointed. There are still two more chances. Players should prepare hard for the rest of the games.”

The names of the eight teams were listed in order on the screen. The 1st placed Crescent Moon was at the top and Red Bull America was right below them. The name of JT Telecom was at the bottom. JT Telecom was in last place, but they really killed Clone. Jung Hanbaek made several minor mistakes, causing a crisis in the raid. However, the rest of the players came together to kill Clone.

“Now let me explain the second raid boss monster.”

A 30 minutes break was given to the players. During that time, it was scheduled for the host and other commentators to explain the second raid boss monster to the crowd. The players gathered in each waiting room and the crowd at New York Arena Stadium waited for the commentators’ words.

It was important for both sides. The crowd listened because they had no information about the boss monster at all, while the players were wondering if they could get any more useful information.

“The second raid boss is a large boss monster that is a beast type.”

“The name is the elemental hydra. It is a very scary monster who has nine heads and different attributes for each head.”

“If the human clone in the first game showed off demanding combat abilities, the elemental hydra has the high defense, health, and powerful patterned attacks that is the advantage of large boss monsters.”

“Each of the heads have a different attribute, so the patterns of attacks are different for all of them. In the worst case scenario, all the nine heads can show patterns at the same time. It isn’t just one pattern at a time.”

Each commentator recited information about the raid boss monster that was written on the cue card.

“Isn’t it really hard?”

“If the patterns come out at the same time, isn’t it like facing multiple boss monsters?”

“It is harder than the first game and it won’t be easy.”

The crowd exclaimed after hearing this. It was a terrible boss monster. The reaction of the players was worse than the crowd. They were more experienced in raids than the spectators. They knew how tricky the things the commentators mentioned were.

“What lottery is this? I can’t believe all the nine heads can show patterns at the same time. It isn’t a joke.”

“Won’t it be over if we are unlucky?”

The players of JT Telecom muttered as they watched the television. It was a consistent response. They were dumbfounded. Skills were skills, but they would never be able to kill it if luck didn’t follow.

Killing a boss monster for the first time. This was a challenge. Still, they could kill it somehow. There was a reason why skills existed. It was possible by utilizing their experience so far. The problem was after that. What if three or four patterns appeared at the same time? Then there would really be no answer. They had to move desperately in hopes that there would be no victims.

“Don’t think like that. There is no need to have cold feet already. Is it hard for just us? It is equally difficult for all teams. Do you think we will get four or five patterns at the same time, while Red Bull America gets only one? No, it is just luck,” JT Telecom’s captain and oldest brother, Kim Jinyong comforted his younger brothers.

‘What should I do if the atmosphere is already like this?’

There were still two games remaining. They had to show a good performance at least once. This way, they would be able to look at the faces of their fans when they returned to South Korea.

‘In fact, I’m afraid of criticism...’

JT Telecom was severely scolded shortly after Arena Week last year. It was because they didn’t achieve anything at Arena Week and only continued to lose. Of course, it was similar this time. It wasn’t much different from last time. No, it was even worse. It wasn’t present last year, but there was a direct comparison this year.

‘Crescent Moon.’

A team that was performing in an overwhelming manner at Arena Week. It was compared even more because they were teams of the same nationality.

‘Some of them don’t know...’

After Arena Week last year, several of the team members left. No, it was retirement. They quit because they couldn’t overcome the excessive criticism. In the case of Yoo Bin and Choi Wonseok, who were currently on the team, they joined in summer with Jung Hanbaek. Due to this, they never knew that level of criticism.

‘I don’t know if they can withstand it... they are especially soft-hearted.’

Kim Jinyong sighed lightly as he watched his younger brothers who were worried about the raid without knowing anything.

‘If they can’t... it can’t be helped.’

Kim Jinyong’s gaze stayed on Jung Hanbaek for a while. For the others...

He was willing to cut off a finger that was less painful.

“Let’s stop worrying and think about how to kill it.” Kim Jinyong smiled as he looked at the players.

***

In the dark investigation room where there was only a fluorescent light, Kim Junsik and Jung Cheolho faced each other across the desk. Kim Junsik thoroughly abided by the rules. He gave breaks and even provided meals. He moved so there were no illegal parts.

As Kim Junsik’s actions continued, Jung Cheolho looked at Kim Junsik with eyes filled with even more questions.

“Are you wondering why I am only asking these questions? Why did I dare to arrest you?” Kim Junsik, who was asking questions regardless of Jung Cheolho’s behavior of repeating the same answers, finally brought up different words.

Jung Cheolho just stared at Kim Junsik without giving any answers.

“I’ll explain because you look curious. Why were you suddenly summoned, questioned, arrested, and questioned again?” Kim Junsik smiled at Jung Cheolho and continued talking, “Would you like a cigarette?”

Kim Junsik took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Then he gave a cigarette to Jung Cheolho.

“......”

Jung Cheolho was still silent. He didn’t move or answer. He was staring at the desk.

“Do you know the saying about cutting off a lizard’s tail?”

Kim Junsik took a puff of the cigarette and slowly blew smoke toward the fluorescent light.

“The other day, I blew up Ilseong Capital, but I was actually aiming at the old people of Yeouido. However, they were so hard that they didn’t budge. I just grabbed their tail, Ilseong Capital.”

Kim Junsik took another puff of the cigarette. The cigarettes quickly burned down to the filter. Kim Junsik threw the cigarette to the ground and rubbed his shoe against it to put out the fire.

“This time, someone gave me very good information. It was the perfect flow of accounts. It is so that I can recognize it just by reading the numbers... yet I only grabbed the tail again? Ah, the world is so dirty.”

The tail. If the last tail was Ilseong Capital, this tail was Jung Cheolho.

‘It is like this.’

Jung Cheolho finally realized how things were going, but there was still something he didn’t understand. No matter what other players said, he was competent. He had a natural talent for money.

‘There are probably a lot more incompetent people than me...’

Due to his ability being recognized, he borrowed enormous power from Geumgang Investment Finance to ruin Damsu Construction and siphoned off money in the process.

“You still don’t know why it is you... is there anyone as famous as you in South Korea right now? In order to cover something, you have to cover it with something bigger. Isn’t it useless to cover it with something small?”

Jung Cheolho’s eyes widened when he heard the words. He realized where things had become twisted.

‘Gang Hyeonu!’

He still didn’t know that from beginning to end, he was dancing on someone else’s palm.