An hour later, the Korea-Japan match ended as JiHan predicted.
1:3
The MVP of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th matches were all taken by the Sword King, and GP was paid out immediately, as expected of Battle Net.
JiHan had multiplied his money 37 times over. He smiled and showed his phone.
“Did you see how the money got printed?”
“Haa… My blood and tears…” Massid lost his salary after betting on a 3:0 victory for Japan.
“Just think of it as payment for the orb.”
JiHan opened the Battle Net market and bought the Arachne Orb.
500K GP disappeared like smoke, and the Arachne Orb appeared.
“Here.” JiHan threw the item worth 500K at Massid.
“H… Huh?!” Massid grabbed the orb, his expression full of disbelief.
As he placed the orb on the ground, his eyes widened in shock.
The Arachne Orb was similar to a soccer ball in size and made of similar material. His SSS-rank Gift, ‘God of Soccer’, recognized it as a soccer ball.
“It recognized it! It recognized it as a soccer ball! The Gift accepts it!”
“Good for you.”
“T-to think it would really work… Can I really have this?”
“Yes, of course. We have a deal.”
“Ah.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to use it after you lower your level and change your class?”
“Th-that’s a good idea.” Massid, who was about to try it right away, nodded and stored the orb in his inventory.
“I never thought it would actually work…”
Massid’s eyes were filled with tears.
Although he’d been hoping, he never thought it would become a reality.
While others with SSS-rank Gifts were actively participating in matches as national representatives, he was just kicking a soccer ball while struggling in Bronze.
‘But now… it’s different!’
Just like when he used to dominate the soccer world as a superstar in 2010, he would become the best in Battle Net.
A man who’d once been at the top burned with determination once more.
“Thanks a lot.”
“It’s nothing.”
‘It’s nothing?’
Massid had seen how much JiHan had earned.
‘He earned four million GP from this bet.’
The Arachne Orb was worth 500K GP, so JiHan had given 1/8 of his winnings to him, who he’d only met twice.
Not only that, but he believed that he would become the best and treated him highly.
Massid, who’d lost his self-esteem after falling to teaching jobs and manual labor, felt a deep respect for him.
‘JiHan… I’ll definitely pay you back for this kindness…’
That day, Diego Massid felt gratitude that exceeded JiHan’s expectations. He’d come to the end of 10 years of wandering and hardship, after all.
‘I’m going to meet your expectations… and pay you back.’
JiHan’s intention of winning his heart rather than tying him down with a contract worked out flawlessly.
* * *
He parted ways with Massid in front of the Sword Palace’s entrance and was about to enter when his eyes narrowed.
Reporters were waiting all around the entrance, and then…
Snap- Snap-!
Flashes came from every direction, and reporters were flocking toward a foreign car trying to enter through the main gate.
“Ms. Yoon! Please, could you comment on today’s match?!”
“Have you seen the Sword King’s interview?”
“The Sword King said that he doesn’t have a daughter. What do you think about this statement?!”
‘What?’ Sung JiHan immediately ran toward the crowd of reporters.
“Hey, all of you! You can’t do this here!”
The driver tried to keep the reporters at bay, but…
“Move!”
“Ms. Yoon! Please, a word!”
“Ms. Yoon!”
There was no way to beat a crowd. The reporters broke through the driver’s protection, and the cameramen started focusing on the back seat.
He’d turned off the TV before the Sword King’s interview, but it seemed like he’d said something bad.
‘These bastards…!’ JiHan extended his hands and moved the reporters back.
Even if his power was reduced in the real world, he was at level 21, and his Force stat was at 26, so he could control dozens of people.
“Wh-what?! My body isn’t moving!”
“Th… This… It’s JiHan!”
The reporters’ mouths were forcibly closed.
Sae-ah wasn’t a player, but JiHan was a tricky figure to mess with. The reporters cautiously eyed him, but that only lasted for a brief moment.
‘With so many reporters here, he will probably be careful of his image, right?’
‘Fufu… What could he do?’
“Mr. Sung!”
“Did you see the Sword King’s interview today?”
“Please, tell us your thoughts!”
They started pouring questions onto JiHan as well. Although they couldn’t move their bodies, they could still speak.
“…” JiHan just ignored the questions.
——————
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“Sae-ah, let’s go.”
“Okay, Uncle…’
Sae-ah exited the back seat, and JiHan bowed to Hee-soo.
“Ms. Kim, thanks for bringing Sae-ah here. I’m sorry for allowing you to see something like this.”
“It… it’s nothing.”
Hee-soo waved her hands as if it were nothing, but Sae-ah also seemed apologetic.
“Hee-soo… I’m sorry. Mr. Driver, I’m sorry for asking for a ride today.”
“Come on! It’s okay! The reporters have gone too far. I’ll have a word with our reporters later!”
Hee-soo’s family owned a media conglomerate, so she could definitely pass on a request for them.
“Okay… thanks.”
Sae-ah smiled faintly and waved at Hee-soo. Her face turned cold as she turned to face the reporters.
“I’m sorry you’re all here… but I have nothing to say.”
“Ms. Yoon! Ms. Yoon! Ugh…”
“He clearly said in the interview… Ugh…!”
The reporters who ignored Sae-ah’s words and tried to ask questions couldn’t finish their sentences.
“That’s enough.”
Their mouths were completely shut by JiHan’s Force.
“Eek…”
Hee-soo’s driver instinctively shook when he saw JiHan using his ability. He’d also experienced that in the parking lot. It was a terrifying experience that made you feel as if your whole body was paralyzed.
“We won’t do any interviews. I will release the paralysis once I enter the building, so wait for a moment.”
“…”
The reporters couldn’t answer; they just nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
JiHan entered the Sword Palace with Sae-ah as Hee-soo had just finished watching the Sword King’s interview on her smartphone.
“So the Sword King gave such an interview…” She murmured while sneakily glancing at Sae-ah’s retreating figure.
A smile crept onto her face. “Oh, poor Sae-ah. It seems like you’re done…”
* * *
“Uncle. Dad… No, did you hear what the Sword King said?”
Was she trying to fully come to terms with the situation? Sae-ah referred to Ito Ryuhei as the ‘Sword King’.
“I’m not sure.” Pretending not to have heard it, JiHan entered the Sword Palace’s penthouse.
He’d successfully obtained GP, and after contracting with Massid, he thought everything would go smoothly for the rest of the day.
What on Earth had the Sword King said during the interview to cause such a commotion among the reporters?
“I guess it will be on TV. Uncle, let’s watch it together.”
“That guy’s interview?”
“Won’t it be better if I watch it with you…?”
Squeeze-
Sae-ah’s grip on his clothes tightened. She’d been overcoming her dad’s naturalization issue bravely, but she looked a bit more vulnerable that day.
“Okay… let’s watch it.” JiHan walked toward the living room and sat on the sofa.
The shattered face of the Sword King was still on full display behind the sofa.
Beep-!
He turned on the TV in the living room and started to flip through the channels. Sure enough, many channels were talking about the Sword King’s recent interview.
As he switched to a channel showing the interview from the beginning, the contents of it with subtitles appeared.
= Why did you do that in the 1st round?
The Sword King had committed suicide in the 1st round, which was the thing he was asked about the most.
Sword King Ito Ryuhei answered in fluent Japanese.
– There were many problems regarding coordination with other members of the Japanese team. I thought I needed trials and errors to sync with them properly, so I took a drastic measure.
= So that’s why you committed suicide…
– Rather than suicide, I would appreciate it if you saw it as tactical showmanship.
– I have now joined the Japanese team. We’ve become a formidable power in Asia, but we were still following old tactics.
– It’s time to break away from the defensive, passive tactics. We should use strategies befitting the strongest team, so I had no choice but to use my own educational methods.
JiHan laughed in disbelief. The Sword King had committed suicide in the name of match-fixing, but he was very good at speaking.
= Ah~ I see. Then should we talk about the 2nd round? In the 2nd round…
The interviewer started asking about the other three matches, which were completely dominated by the Sword King.
They recapped the match where the Korean team was completely trampled upon, and Sword King Ito Ryuhei made a happy smile.
– The Korean team was indeed weak.
= Oh, is that so?
– Yes. Once we united, the Korean team was no match for us. I think the Korean team has become one of the least competitive in the East Asian League.
= So… you’re saying the Korean team is at the bottom?
– Absolutely.
Sword King Yoon Sae-jin, the person who used to be Korea’s hope, had changed his name to Ito Ryuhei and was giving an interview where he laughed and said his birth country would probably come last in the near future.
There were probably very few Koreans who could watch the interview without feeling angry.
JiHan felt that he could get a grasp of public sentiment without checking the internet, and lastly…
= There have been many questions about the daughter you left behind in Korea. What do you think about that?
Sword King Ito Ryuhei clearly replied,
– I don’t know what you’re talking about.
– Excuse me?
– I don’t have a daughter.
– Ah… that’s…
– I, Ito Ryuhei, have renounced everything and naturalized as a Japanese citizen, so I don’t have a daughter.
The Sword King said he didn’t have a daughter and had given up on everything with a smile.
“So that’s it.” After she saw the interview, Sae-ah smiled in a similar manner to the Sword King. “That’s why there were so many reporters.”
“…”
“What were they expecting me to say in response? They’re really disgusting… right?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about them. They’re filthy bastards.”
Sae-ah gripped JiHan’s collar. “Uncle, could I ask a favor of you?”
“What favor?”
“You said you’d grant me a wish if I found a clue for that quest.”
JiHan had cleared all of the other Bronze quests, so that was the last remaining one.
[Epic Quest]
– Find the Shadow Queen sitting in the audience of the Colosseum map and provoke her.
[Reward: 50,000 achievement points and interest from the ‘Shadow Queen’ constellation]
That was the highest-difficulty possible quest in Bronze.
“Sae-ah, I’ll gladly grant any of your wishes, even if you haven’t found anything.”
“Come on~ that’s no fun.” Sae-ah smiled faintly. “I think… I found her… the ‘Shadow Queen’.”
