Capítulo 5: Chapter 5 : The Crown Game - Part I
Soon, the teams that decided to participate in the bonus game were transported to a circular arena. Each team was put in separate rooms, which were all connected to a large central room. There was a large throne in the middle of the central room.
"Now that the participating teams have been decided, I will explain the rules of the game." Lero Ro announced.
"In this game, there will be five rounds and each round will be of ten minutes. In each round, a maximum of five teams can participate. The team that possesses the crown at the end of each round passes to the next round, in which four new teams can enter. The winner of this game will be the team that has the crown at the end of the fifth round."
"To enter the game, all you have to do is press the red buzzer in each of your rooms. The participation will be on a first-come, first-served basis. If you wish to end the round early, a team member can sit on the throne and wear the crown."
"Remember, at least one member of the winning team must remain seated on the throne, wearing the crown. If the crown wearer comes off the throne or loses the crown, that team will be eliminated. If another team steals the crown and sits on the throne, that team wins the round."
"Also, due to certain circumstances, an extra team from another test spot will also be participating in the game. Now then, let's start the game. I will count to five. So the teams that wish to participate, press the buzzer."
As Lero Ro began counting, the participating teams began strategizing.
"Wouldn't it be better to enter the game at the later rounds?" Ho asked.
"It may seem that way at first sight. But I say we enter the second or third round." Jinwoo replied.
"Huh? Won't the defending team be at a disadvantage?"
"No. He's right." Lauroe, surprisingly, entered the discussion. "The defending team will only hold a disadvantage in the earlier rounds."
Jinwoo nodded."In the later rounds, the attacking teams will also have to contend with each other. At that time, the defending team will be the ones with an advantage."
*BUZZ*
All three of them were surprised that certain teams decided to enter the first round.
'Either they are too cocky, or extremely capable.' Jinwoo thought to himself.
There were two teams in the current round. One team consisted of the tracksuit guy, a swordsman and the lizard girl Jinwoo remembered seeing earlier. The other team didn't seem anything out of the ordinary.
When the round began, the lizard girl alone stepped up against her opponents. One guy on the other team rushed at her, but she grabbed him by his face and tossed him at the opposite wall. Another guy punched her yet she didn't even flinch. She grabbed his arm and slammed him on the ground.
'Looks like this match won't be that easy after all...'Jinwoo thought to himself. 'As I am right now, I don't stand a chance against her '
'But...'
A small vial appeared on his hand, containing a purple fluid. It was the potion he obtained as a reward for passing the first test on this floor.
'Looks like it's finally time to use it. Luckily for me, even combined the next few rounds shouldn't take more than an hour. What a coincidence...'
While Jinwoo was making preparations, the current round continued. Sadly, it wasn't even a fight. It was a one-sided beat down. And the other two members of the lizard's team didn't even have to do anything. She single-handedly took down all members of the opposite team, without getting a single scratch. The opposite team made a last resort move to sit on the throne and end the game, but the girl landed on the throne with a single leap and wore the crown, thereby ending the round.
"The team of Anak, Hatz and Shibisu pass the test. They will move on to the next round." The announcement came.
"Let's enter this round." Lauroe said, now getting up from his sleep.
"Do you have a plan?" Ho asked him.
"Kind of. Luckily, that lizard decided to sit on the throne. I am a shinsu user. So there is a chance we might be able to get her to move from the throne." Lauroe explained.
"I can take on the swordsman. Ho, can you deal with the tracksuit guy?" Jinwoo asked Ho.
"Yes."
"I will require both of yours support sooner or later." Lauroe told them. "The lizard is strong. If we don't work together, there is no chance of victory."
Soon Lero Ro started the second round and begun counting. Jinwoo immediately pressed the buzzer.
*BUZZ*
As other teams looked on from their rooms, the trio of Jinwoo, Lauroe and Ho entered the central room. Without the others noticing, Jinwoo swallowed the contents of his vial. Surprisingly enough, they were the only other team to enter this round. But the reason was simple to understand.
Nobody wanted to face Anak.
Jinwoo equipped his steel sword and started walking towards Hatz, while Ho went up against Shibisu.
"You don't seem to be a swordsman." Hatz said calmly, while slowly unsheathing his Katana.
"No." Jinwoo smiled as he pointed his sword at him.
"I am a hunter."
*CLANG*
The sound of steel hitting steel echoed throughout the room. Jinwoo started the fight with a vertical cleave which was blocked by Hatz with his Katana. Breaking off, Hatz unsheathed his second sword and tried a horizontal slash but Jinwoo jumped back to avoid it.
'This guy is good.' Jinwoo and Hatz thought simultaneously, as a slight grin escaped both their faces.
"Highest Flying Sword." Hatz tossed one of his swords in the air as Jinwoo dashed towards him.
They entered another clash. Suddenly, Jinwoo's senses flared up. He ducked right on time to avoid the earlier sword which his opponent had tossed into the air.
'That's a unique way to use two swords.' Jinwoo was quite amused.
The exchange of attacks continued as both Jinwoo and Hatz tried to breach each other's defences. They both seemed to be almost equal in physical stats, although Hatz was more skilled with a sword.
And around the room, the other regulars not involved in the fight and even the rankers watching the game were observing their fight with keen interest.
'Hmph. Just as I thought, that turtle is strong.'
'Oh? Neither of them seems to be from any of the great families. But they are good.'
'Where are all these strong regulars coming from?'
'Wow. Mr Jinwoo is strong.'
'...'
'Judging by his pose, stance and attacks, it's pretty clear this guy has no formal training in swordsmanship.' Hatz blocked another one of Jinwoo's attacks. 'And yet he's able to keep up with me?'
As he blocked an overhead attack from Hatz, Jinwoo kicked him in the gut causing him to stumble.
'System! Allocate remaining points to Strength.'
*DING*
Jinwoo had not accepted his daily quest rewards from that day. He was still conflicted on what stats to invest in. But his current predicament cleared any doubts he had.
Not wasting the chance, he delivered a straight uppercut onto his opponent's chin. Even though he had only used three stat points, they were applied to his base stats. The boost from the potion made it an effective increase of six stat points.
'What the?! Did he get stronger suddenly?!' Hatz fell to the ground. But he used the momentum to roll over and managed to get some distance away from Jinwoo. But the damage was dealt.
Jinwoo himself was not in the best shape. He had several cuts in his body. The only reason he managed to get that earlier hit was that the stat increase managed to break the rhythm of his opponent.
'Looks like I'll have to use that skill after all...' Hatz thought to himself. Changing his footwork, he adopted a high guard stance.
Jinwoo, wanting to finish the fight quickly, rushed at him with the sword.
Sadly, that was a mistake.
As he got closer to Hatz he got an ominous feeling of danger.
<Demonic Fish Wheel Dance: Single Slash Annihilation>
Jinwoo realised the trap a bit too late. He tried to block the slash with his sword. But-
*CLANG*
*SLASH*
The blade broke into two. Jinwoo fell backwards with a huge gash on his torso.
For a few seconds, there was silence.
Every participant looked at the scene. Ho and Lauroe with a hint of shock, Shibisu with both a bit of shock and relief that a strong enemy was taken out, Anak with indifference. The rest of the onlookers had similar feelings as well.
Hatz slowly walked towards the body of Jinwoo.
"That was a good fight." He simply said. He saw Jinwoo slowly mumbling something but didn't mind it.
He turned around to take on the rest of his opponents. That was when it happened.
*WHAM*
A fist smashed against the side of his head. He literally flew off, crashed on the wall and fell down. When the dust cleared, Hatz was on the floor, unconscious.
"You know, if you had given me even the slightest bit of support the fight could have ended sooner." Jinwoo said walking towards his teammates.
[You levelled up.]
[You levelled up.]
'So I don't necessarily have to kill others to gain experience? Or could it be conditional? Well, not that it matters...'
"How? How did you do that?" Ho was quite surprised by what happened. He definitely saw Jinwoo getting slashed by Hatz. But now, not only does he look better than ever, even the wound he received earlier had disappeared.
The attack would have put him in a serious condition. But due to his passive skill 'Tenacity' which reduces the damage received by 50% when health drops below 30%, he managed to at least stay conscious. Secondly, he used another one of the rewards he got from the daily quest - The status recovery option.
"A little trick I learned a while back. And I see you're done as well."
Ho himself had done his part. Shibisu was lying on the floor, presumably knocked out. Lauroe who was...resting on the floor till now also got up. It was time for the final stretch of their plan. Only the final opponent remained.
'This is quite literally a final boss battle. Hell, she is even seated on the throne.' He found the irony to be a bit amusing.
Jinwoo rushed at the throne. He knew this opponent would be hard to beat. Hard, but not impossible.
On reaching near the throne, he leapt into the air and tried to punch her. Anak simply smirked and replied with a punch of her own. Their fists collided and Jinwoo skidded backwards a bit while Anak remained on the throne.
'Damn that hurt like hell. What is she made of?'
"Not bad. I honestly thought you would at least break your arm. Now, how will you deal with this?" She swung her weapon, which looked like an elongated hook. Jinwoo ducked to avoid it. He began dashing around the throne all the while avoiding casual attacks thrown by Anak.
Meanwhile, Ho tried to land a surprise attack on her. But she dodged and shoved him back.
Then it happened.
Out of nowhere, a large wave of shinsu came and hit Anak causing her to stagger. Everyone was surprised to see the culprit being the one who didn't do anything till then.
Lauroe however didn't stop and kept attacking her with wave after wave of shinsu blasts. He eventually paused.
"Give us the crown. As you can see, I can attack you from anywhere in this room." Lauroe calmly said.
But when the smoke cleared out from the throne Anak was standing there with a pissed off look. And it seemed as if the earlier shinsu blasts hadn't done any damage at all.
"Tch. Who do you think you are, shithead? Know your place." She said in a cold voice.
"Ignite."
Suddenly, the hook that was in her hand enlarged to an enormous size. The aura it was releasing simply screamed danger.
"Now you all can die." She said with a sadistic grin and slammed the weapon at Lauroe. Luckily he managed to escape.
"Damn it! Is that an ignition weapon?!" Even the normally calm Lauroe seemed to have lost his cool. But this was just the beginning.
The weapon in her hand suddenly branched off and attacked every enemy in the room from multiple directions. While Lauroe and Jinwoo managed to avoid most of them, Ho was hit by one of the branches and was sent flying towards a wall.
"Ho! Damn it!"
"What was that you said earlier? You could attack anyone from anywhere? Well, guess what? I can target anywhere from the throne!"
The onslaught of attack continued from all directions, just like what she said. Both Jinwoo and Lauroe were now finding it hard to dodge all strikes, while they were contained within one room.
'I guess I'll have to use it after all. System, equip item 'Night's Edge'. Activate skill 'Sprint'. '
The familiar dagger appeared in Jinwoo's hand and his speed increased. He was now casually dodging the different branches while circling the throne and closing the distance between them.
Anak who was mainly targeting Lauroe till then now noticed Jinwoo. She started focusing her attacks more on Jinwoo, but he was now avoiding almost all of her attacks.
'What the... Did he get faster?' She was surprised a bit by the increase of his speed. But now, this gave Lauroe a big opening.
'Looks like Jinwoo is giving it his all. I guess I should at least try a bit.' Lauroe thought to himself. He used both his hands to gather a lot of shinsu, preparing for one of his strongest skills.
<Eurasia Style Shinsu Manipulation Technique: Cry of Slicing Water>
He launched a crescent wave of shinsu at Anak, who suddenly sensed the danger approaching. Unlike the other times, she leapt upwards to dodge the attack, which went on to hit a wall and left a giant slash mark on it.
"Did you try to kill me just now?" She shouted at him.
"And you weren't?" He casually retorted. "Also, are you sure you want to take you eyes off an enemy in the middle of a battle?"
She realised the meaning behind those words a little too late and turned around to see Jinwoo who had also leapt into the air and thrust his dagger at her. By pure reflex, she tried to block it with her forearm. Because of the unique condition she was born with, she had an unnaturally high level of endurance and strength. She could tank shinsu attacks, and ordinary weapons couldn't even scratch her.
At least, that's what she thought.
And that was why her eyes widened in surprise when the dagger managed to pierce her forearm. And it was not some fluke. She could feel the dagger piercing her hand, like a hot knife through butter.
"Looks like we win this round."
Her thoughts were broken by Jinwoo's voice. While she was in that daze, Jinwoo casually took off her crown.
Both of them landed on the floor. But there was only silence around them.
Pure silence.
Until it was broken by an announcement.
"The second round is over. The winner of this round is the team of Sung Jinwoo, Phonsekal Lauroe and Ho."
_________________________________________________
[Name: Sung Jinwoo
Level: 7
Class: None
Title: None
HP: 855
MP: 96
Fatigue: 21
<Stats>
Strength: 21
Vitality: 17
Agility: 16
Intelligence: 16
Sense: 16
Available Stat points : 0
<Active Skills>
-Sprint
-Dagger Throw
<Passive Skills>
-Tenacity ]
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