Episode 307 Biting and Biting
A few minutes later, all of PER’s team members entered the huge hall.
The atmosphere of preparation continued with a lot of chatter, but when there was no sign of it starting, the team members asked.
“So when does this start? What kind of feeling will it have…? Will it be like last time, where we line up and touch something like a crystal ball?”
Certainly. This is something that those who have only ‘seen’ it originally would not know. So there will be a need to explain it appropriately.
“Kim Do-jun. It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything.”
“I was wondering if I should do something like apply for participation… … .”
Even though there are a lot of people, they are all famous international league players in their own country. So there is no need for that.
Besides, if I remember correctly, just being in this place… … yeah. Like that.
Jiiing -.
The place we entered suddenly closed, and the white room became completely sealed.
And then, as if the lights had been turned off, the whole place became dark.
“Ah… …! Ah this”
“There’s a power outage!”
When I saw my teammates around me shouting while the other players were quiet, I felt like looking away for a bit.
‘It’s fortunate that it’s dark… ‘
On the one hand, I understood.
Because it was so different from when we first entered the tower.
In fact, this was a reaction that often came up from newcomers.
I don’t know, but even if it’s dark and you can’t see anything, aren’t the foreign players looking this way and smiling?
If their faces had been visible, they might have been labeled as rookies and targeted by our team from the very first stage.
But that reaction was short-lived.
There was a person rising alone in the center, emitting light.
In a completely dark space, a person who shines alone and focuses attention.
This is none other than the host of this year’s ‘International Hunter Festival’.
As expected, after a brief greeting and self-introduction, the long-awaited introduction for this stage was immediately introduced.
[Host: Even though they are excellent hunters who have advanced to the first stage, the international league, there are still many. There are just too many players. So, we have to weed them out, right?]
The players would have already received the information, so you know. It was also a production for the viewers who would be watching beyond the screen.
[Host: At least 10 times the population density of the existing Hunter Survival. The hellish deathmatch, Hunter Survival x500 begins!]
With those words, the room, which had been so dark that one could not see anything, began to vibrate strongly as if it was being sucked into another dimension.
It was like the feeling of dimension travel in space, as often seen in movies. The moment I opened my eyes, I felt as if space was stretching and time was rippling.
This time, exclamations came out not only from the PER team members, but also from other international league hunters.
“……and.”
A landscape where it seems as if a civilization that was carrying on its daily life was frozen in an instant.
People, objects, and even the background scenery seemed to be frozen in the extreme cold.
A place where time seems to have stopped.
A map that has probably never appeared in any Hunter’s League map, including international matches, until now.
It was a moment when I witnessed a landscape that the association named ‘frozen time’.
***
Wherever you look, it’s as if time has stopped. A map that creates an incredible spectacle while at the same time sending in an intense cold wind.
That was the stage for this episode, ‘Frozen Time’.
And there were people sitting around chatting while watching the first stage unfold. They were the first generation hunters who were serving as panelists for this year’s International Hunter Festival.
Even though they were called a panel, they didn’t directly evaluate or anything like an audition, but they did select maps, select tasks, and even chat about analyzing and evaluating each player.
They were hunters who were both planners and commentators.
“By the way, I opposed it until the end, but I never thought they would push through with that map.”
John Smith glared at the other hunters and spat out the words.
“Ahem. Aren’t the other maps all new to me anyway? They’ll probably be similar then.”
Anyway, due to the regulations, you cannot choose a map that appeared in any Hunters League match, including the International League.
However, John Smith glared even more at Lee Geun-taek, who avoided eye contact and made a somewhat acquittal remark, and continued speaking in a strong tone.
“You know that’s not what I’m saying, right? Even if the first stage is intended to weed out a lot of players, isn’t that too much?”
But surprisingly, it wasn’t Lee Geun-taek who answered those words.
Theo Dominic, a legendary first-generation hunter and supporter.
It was he who refuted it.
“Deep? What do you mean deep? All the areas of the tower that our first generation hunters encountered were undiscovered areas, and they had to face them without knowing their characteristics and ecology. Something like that is just a minor variable.”
“Theo is right, Smith.”
“Isaac… …! You too.”
It seemed that there was no one here who agreed with Smith’s words.
Of course, on the one hand, he understood his feelings. Leonardo did say some words to protect him.
“That’s true. No matter what, choosing a battlefield where [Mana Expansion] can’t be used is bad taste.”
It’s an environment where even the strongest guys can easily fall into insubordination.
If a strong contender is eliminated in this first stage, which is like a preliminary round, the popularity of the festival will drop significantly.
“But if you’re a [Mana Spread] user and can’t outperform other players without [Mana Spread], then you deserve to be eliminated long ago. That’s what I think.”
Leonardo said with a smile.
“Let’s wait and see if there’s any rebellion.”
***
‘International Hunter Festival’.
Each time, the subject, mission, and method were different, but of course, there was a certain framework.
‘From what I remember of the few times I participated… … .’
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Usually, the first stage has too many players, so it is better to give missions and stages that can reduce the number of players at once.
So, it usually flows mainly to [Mana Unleashed] users who can unleash powerful and magnificent powers… …
This time, things were a little different.
‘As expected… … As expected.’
Looking around, the only thing different was the cold temperature that made my skin sting.
An environment where mana is extremely scarce. [Mana Expansion], which requires sensing and spreading not only the mana within the body but also the mana from the external environment, was an environment where it was impossible to even dream of.
‘In this environment, the density of mana in the air is so low that rather than controlling the surrounding mana, it will just scatter.’
That’s not all. [Mana Expansion] Users being unable to use it only affects some people. But there was another penalty.
This cold temperature would be expected if it were natural. However, since it was not the environment of Earth, it was extremely cold, as if to prove why the surrounding environment froze over in an instant.
To a degree that would be unbearable for an ordinary person.
Memories came flooding back vividly.
In the past, memories from this festival map.
‘A map where you have to move while making the most of your body’s mana… … You have to delicately control your body’s mana to maintain your body temperature as much as possible, while also minimizing the use of your abilities.’
If you use mana for battle, you will quickly run out of mana and may even die from not being able to maintain body temperature.
However, it was a map where if you were too frugal with your mana and got caught in the opponent’s attack phase, there was a chance that you would die to the opponent.
So the standard strategy on this map is to stay hidden as much as possible, conserve your mana, and avoid facing enemies for as long as possible.
Even in my life before my last regression, I noticed it faster than anyone else. And I think I noticed it faster than anyone else in this game too… …
Unfortunately, I had no intention of following that optimal strategy of digging a tunnel through the ground and defending myself.
‘This is a festival.’
For the underdogs, so that they can have a good time no matter who their opponent is.
It’s an equal battlefield where everyone can test their mettle, both long and short.
Are you just digging a tunnel and holding out to win?
Because that kind of thing absolutely didn’t suit my temperament.
‘Hold on? No, it’s time to go hunting.’
[Full Bloom]’s rank went up a lot, and it was a bonus that it was easy to move around because it had enough mana.
It was a good opportunity for those who couldn’t use [Mana Expansion] to test how long they could last.
Suddenly, the events that happened in the audition program in this life flashed through my mind.
Those days when I became a hunter who hunted beasts.
***
In order to use [Mana Expansion], you naturally had to be able to handle mana very skillfully.
Being able to handle it skillfully meant that one understood its nature well and had a good grasp of it. As a user of [Golden Realm], Wei also had no choice but to immediately understand the situation as soon as he reached this map.
‘Is this how this year’s map was chosen?’
The theme was probably easy to guess. It would probably be something like ‘inversion’ or ‘abnormality’.
The first stage is usually the main stage for users of the flashy and grandiose technique [Mana Expansion], but this time, its use has been almost completely blocked.
But Way seemed to be smiling in that situation.
‘Rather, it’s better… … If I can’t use [Mana Expansion] fairly, I have the upper hand.’
Several international hunters came to mind in Way’s mind. Ana from Europe, who had somewhat similar abilities, but who often humiliated him with her [Mana Expansion] ability. Chris, who pushed him back with his ability despite not being able to attack properly.
A somewhat defensive mana deployment ability. [Golden Realm] was a skill that he had that he wanted to take revenge on, as there were more than one or two opponents he wanted to take revenge on.
Since he can move at incredible speeds using mana, he could easily gain the upper hand if they couldn’t use [Mana Expansion].
Of course, there were other guys I wanted to take down, like Lee Chang-hyun. But I liked that guy anyway.
First of all, we need to take down the guys we can take down now.
‘Even if you fall down in the middle, that’s fine. I’ll give you the ultimate humiliation in front of the whole world.’
Way thought about it and explored the map at a speed that only showed afterimages.
And it didn’t take long for him to reach some battlefield.
It seems like a twist of fate, surprisingly.
Or maybe those guys were thinking the same thing as Way?
There was already a battlefield where fighting was taking place.
I don’t know if they maliciously placed the starting point similarly, or if they came looking for it after sensing the traces of mana like Way.
But one thing was certain.
In this battlefield that Way has reached.
Anna, Mertens, Alex, Chris, etc… …
The fact that there were so many players that would make your mouth drop open even if there was just one of them, somehow, gathered together and a battle was taking place.
The entire surrounding area is frozen like a statue. The building. Among the icebergs and ice walls.
Way smiled, showing his white teeth, as if he had found a treasure.
Without even noticing the danger that was actually approaching, they were lost in the illusion of seeing some good blood.
fantasy,
