Episode 168: The Difference in Ranks
“We don’t have any connections, and… we’re just here as spectators, so I get that we won’t be able to meet the American International League players… I get that.”
“… … ?”
“Then let’s go see the LTD players whom we met once and had a practice match with, and whose faces we know.”
Kim Do-jun said with a mischievous smile.
The other team members seemed to be curious about those words, and their faces lit up.
“no.”
There’s no way that could happen.
“Why? Wouldn’t it be okay to just meet up once in a while?”
Yoon Han-gyeol also expressed his doubts, wondering if I would allow it.
At the moment when he was about to answer that question, Ryu Jae-jun was the first to speak.
“The Korean team will be in Korea. Even if we tried to meet here in the first place, we wouldn’t be able to meet.”
“Huh? The international league game is tomorrow and you’re still in Korea?”
“Of course. There was no need to come all the way here.”
A situation where people do not understand each other.
I felt like some traffic control was needed.
First of all, the reason why this kind of communication breakdown occurs is… …it was simply a lack of information.
“You know that the tower isn’t just in one place on Earth, right?”
“Oh. Really?”
“But you also know that they are all just ‘entrances’ to the tower, and once you go in, they are all the same place, right?”
“What… was that?”
Huh… … The guy who wanted to be a hunter didn’t know this?
I’ve heard that there are hunters who don’t know much about top because they’re so absorbed in the game. I never thought there’d be someone like that on our team.
‘Well, it’s not something you really need to know… … .’
“Anyway, when it’s game time, the Korean team will enter through the tower on the Korean side considering the time difference.”
So there is no need for the Korean team to come to this hotel. No, in the first place, there is no need for the players to go through the hassle of going to another country just because it is an international league.
Each person entered the tower from their own country. That was it.
I guess those words lost some of their steam.
“Ugh… … That’s too bad.”
There were some team members who were quite disappointed, but there was nothing they could do.
‘To begin with, it doesn’t make sense to visit players the day before an important match.’
“But still, there’s a lot to see here. Since this hotel is like a forward base before entering the tower, there’s a lot of hunter equipment.”
“Oh… …There’s something like that?”
When I saw those guys with their eyes shining like children again, I thought to myself, they are just kids.
‘Come to think of it, they’re really that old.’
In return for saying that, I had no choice but to spend that night exploring the hotel’s various facilities with my team members.
***
And the next day, after brunch, it was almost lunchtime before we left the hotel.
Likewise, when I arrived at the airport, there was a car there to escort me.
The atmosphere inside the car was chaotic. The guys were as excited as children, as if they were on a school trip.
And there were some guys who were really nervous.
“You’re not even playing. Relax.”
In particular, it was heartbreaking to see Kim Yu-hyeon frozen in place as if someone was bullying him.
“Well… … Since you said you’re competing at the top, this is also my first time going inside the top. You know, the top is a place where monsters and all, just like where we compete, appear and stuff, right?”
“Oh, what? That was it? You don’t have to worry about that at all.”
Of course that’s true, but it’s not like something like that would appear in a place where people can watch it with common sense.
“Now that I think about it, I’m really curious about that. I didn’t know about the international league because I always watched it on the screen. Now that I think about it, there are a lot of strange things about it.”
“What else?”
“The Hunters League is popular all over the world, so why are you opening it in such a small way? You could have just filled up the seats and sold out the tickets to make a profit. You’re not good at business.”
Lee Gil-han didn’t seem to understand, so he lashed out and said such things.
Well, I guess the average person might think that way.
But now we were no longer ordinary people.
Since I’ve already been promoted to the first division and will soon be able to play in the international league as a representative of Korea, I thought I should tell you.
“You don’t really understand what it means to watch directly from the top. In fact, watching directly from the top doesn’t mean watching the fight directly from the same floor as the players.”
“… … .”
At those words, the PER guys, except for Ryu Jae-jun, opened their eyes wide as if wondering what he was talking about.
“There are other spaces on the tower. Among them, there is a place called [the observation room] where you can see the players’ senses and viewpoints, as well as the observer’s viewpoint.”
“Eh… … What? Then that wasn’t intuition either?”
“Of course. The mere presence of a person on that map could change the situation, but that’s impossible. It’s also dangerous.
Rather, it is better not to ignore the place called [Room of Observation] just because you are not viewing it in person.
“It’s as vivid as what I show you as [the commander of the ideal dream]. It’s a place where you can see the players’ senses over their shoulders.”
That alone was a great experience for the players.
In addition, since there were so many people who wanted to get in despite the limited space, the price was high.
“If we play in an international league later, we’ll be the ones standing there. It wouldn’t be bad to get some experience in advance.”
Only after I explained it to that point did the PER team members’ eyes change. It seemed like they only now realized what a great opportunity this was.
***
Finally, 1 hour and 30 minutes before the game time, we entered the tower first.
Since the phases connected to the tower changed every hour, and the places you could enter were different, there was a set time to enter the [Observation Room] to watch the game.
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The space exposed like that is a dark space where nothing can be seen.
It was a mysterious space where we could clearly see each other, but it seemed like there was nothing else. We couldn’t even tell what we were stepping on.
“Wow… …But how do you watch the game from here?”
“Just wait a little and you’ll find out.”
With those last words, the space changed into a pitch-black space where nothing could be seen.
This was the battleground where the participating teams of the Korean International League, LTD and the American Black Hawks, would fight.
[The Old Wasteland]… … .
It was a wasteland with an atmosphere reminiscent of an American western.
As the team members were looking at each other one by one, wondering, without any warning, a sound was heard in the room we were in.
[Caster: International League Round 3. Korea’s LTD vs. America’s Blackhawks. Starting now.]
It was the cheerful voice of the caster we heard during the first part of the promotion match last time.
‘It seems that Lehmann even took this into consideration.’
It was definitely good.
With those words, players began to be summoned onto the map one by one.
LTD, who had an intense practice game with us last time. Everyone looked quite energetic.
Rather than being as flustered as last time, he had a look of sadness on his face.
[Caster: From the first round, we have to face the American team, which is considered the strongest team. What do you think about this?]
[Commentator: First of all… … As everyone knows, the American Black Hawks are the team that ‘Ethan’ is a member of, so I have no choice but to tell you that countermeasures against him are the top priority… … First of all, it is important to know what special strategy LTD has prepared.
Because for David to defeat Goliath, a head-on confrontation was not the answer.]
‘Even though it’s a Korean commentary, it doesn’t seem to be very biased. Isn’t it too cold-hearted?’
It was a pretty cool analysis from a player’s perspective, to the point where I thought that way.
While we were discussing various analyses.
The opposing team. Black Hawk’s team members also started to be summoned one by one.
It was the start of the game.
The dark spaces around us that had been transformed into the stage for the athletes had now changed to something that seemed to be vividly visible right in front of us. Not only that, but being able to see things as I imagined them felt like a giant camera floating in the air.
“Oh… … This is amazing!”
As PER’s players began to get used to this, one by one, they felt the freshness and were about to start playing the game.
From the beginning, each team’s tactics against each other were fierce.
[Commentator: Player Oh Je-heon… …! Is this a new technique! As soon as Black Hawk Ethan’s location was determined, he summoned a giant meteorite from the sky!]
“… … That’s it!”
Yeah, he was a familiar guy we’d seen in our games too.
“That’s the tactic you used on us last time!”
Yes. But… … the situation is completely different now. There was no place there where one could avoid the meteor.
Its utility was different from that of the battlefield we were in, which had all kinds of cover, including apartments and underground parking lots.
As expected, the meteorite headed straight for Black Hawk.
“Wow… … That’s the tactic they were trying to use. If our team had met in this wasteland, we would have been finished as soon as we started. It doesn’t even look like we can stop it, but something like that… … .”
“If it were our team, maybe.”
“What if it’s our team?”
At that moment, a thin white line was drawn in the sky, following the meteor’s trajectory.
“That’s… … !”
And the very next moment.
Shh …
A very thick beam of light was shot into the orbit where a white line had been drawn.
The beam of light was so thick that it made meteorites look shabby.
“That’s Ethan’s shot… …!”
It’s embarrassing to call it a shooting attack. Well, it would be more accurate to say that it was an attack where a gun shot a laser beam.
[Caster: Oh Je-heon’s decisive blow…! The walls of the international league are indeed high!]
‘Is it still the same…?’
There were some minor changes after his return, so I wondered what Ethan would look like, but it seemed like he was still the same.
A guy who uses guns like me, but doesn’t have any technical skills. Instead, he’s an overwhelming and brutal guy who shoots something that can’t be called a gun.
[Commentator: Ahhh… … However, LTD had predicted to some extent that they would block it! While Oh Je-heon’s meteorite caught their attention, they quickly charged into the opponent’s side!]
While Oh Je-heon’s skills drew attention, the one who dug into the heart of Team Blackhawk was none other than Kang Jun-hyeok.
[Commentator: Player Kang Jun-hyeok… …! He dug into the opposing team’s center. If this happens, what can be expected from his strategy?]
[Mana Expansion]. Kang Jun-hyeok’s sword area was instantly spread across Black Hawk’s camp.
The ability to unleash a barrage of boundless sword energy like crazy was realized right in the middle of the opposing camp.
[Commentator: It’s possible! This game! Black Hawk’s arrogant game management failed to stop Kang Jun-hyeok’s charge! If this happens, LTD will also use [Mana Expansion] to… … .]
The commentator was unable to continue speaking.
The moment I was about to keep saying that it was advantageous. The moment I was about to explain how advantageous it was. It was because the situation had completely turned around.
That too, very vainly.
It’s like shooting a moth flying into the air with a laser.
That’s what happened.
Shh …
Ethan, who had just deleted Oh Je-heon’s meteorite with a single shot, shot Kang Jun-hyeok this time.
‘[Mana Unleashed]… … But, that is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.’
Team LTD’s seasoned tactics were shaky from the start in front of the big wall of the international league.
fantasy,
