The Dragon Race.
Humanity had encountered this race once before.
-Remember when the Dragon Race showed up in the rehearsal game?
-Yeah, they were spewing breath attacks as soon as we entered the map. They were certainly strong.
-But they still got cut down by Seong Jihan.
-Well, that was just a hatchling then…
In the rehearsal map of the Chaos Battlefield, the "Blue-Scaled Dragon Race" demonstrated a significant presence.
Though eventually suppressed by Seong Jihan, they left an indelible impression on the viewers who watched the games.
The thought of facing such monsters in the Space League unnerved many.
In astonishingly short order, the third match found humans facing the dragons.
='The 'Red-Maned Dragons.' They're currently ranked second.
=If they're second, it means they've not only won both matches but have also been earning a lot of points.
=We must defeat them this time and change our ranking position.
As the opponents for the third match were determined, one of the ranked races, previously displayed as "??," was now revealed.
The "Red-Maned Dragons" stood at the top tier among the ranked races, holding the second position. Seong Jihan pondered the rankings of the Dragons.
'It seems the dragons have yet to encounter the elves.'
By racial specs, Dragons surpass the Elves. Nevertheless, they consistently fell short against the World Tree Elves.
Once all races in the league were active, and as their match results rolled in, the Dragons never triumphed over the World Tree Elves—not even once.
'Well, to be fair, no race has defeated the World Tree Elves…'
In the Space League Bronze League, the World Tree Elves dominated spots one through five.
Except for matches against each other, they remained undefeated.
Even so, the powerful Elves should have managed a few wins against the Dragons, yet the Elves firmly held the top five spots until humanity was relegated.
'This time, let's shake up the stagnating top ranks.'
Unlike his previous life,
Seong Jihan resolved to personally disrupt the rankings, watching the two races' coaches make their appearances.
And then, on the screen…
=Huh…
=The table isn't showing up this time?
=Are we… above the clouds?
The coaches' room, offering a scene vastly different from usual, opened up.
"Hmm…"
Stepping into the cloud-covered coach's room, Davis tentatively moved forward.
Tap! Tap!
One more step, and he worried he'd plunge through, but fortunately,
'These clouds can bear my weight…'
The clouds supported Davis rather than evaporating like smoke beneath his steps.
Relieved, Davis walked slowly until suddenly…
Swoooosh!
Noticing a shadow closing in from his direction, he looked up.
And there,
[....]
A colossal red dragon unexpectedly appeared before him, with no prior sign.
=Is that a dragon from the Dragon Race…?
=It's huge… much bigger than the dragons seen during the rehearsal!
Bigger than the hatchlings from the rehearsal, the massive dragon made Davis realize why the room had transformed into clouds—The previous coaches' room couldn't possibly accommodate such a tremendous creature.
And then,
Swooosh....
Confronted with the dragon's golden gaze, Davis involuntarily dropped to his knees on the clouds.
The dragon's look bore no special power, and even if it did, the default mental protection from BattleNet awarded to coaches would have blocked it.
'It's just the presence of the dragon itself that's terrifying…'
Merely being sized up by the enormous beast instilled an instinctual threat in Davis.
-Davis, why are you chickening out? 😂 You'll lose momentum in the psychological battle!"
-Well, if I were there, I might've wet myself…
-Oh, but he's back on his feet now. Legs trembling, though.
-Yeah, we need to use select and ban cards carefully.
Davis, who crumbled momentarily, managed to stand again as cards for selecting and banning floated before him.
'First, a preliminary bout is necessary.'
With no information on the Dragon Race, Davis selected the most versatile option from the ban card choices, exiling three random individuals from the top ten ranks.
'Let's pick Valhalla for the select card.'
Among humanity's players, Seong Jihan stood out as exceptional. To solidify his position, Davis chose the Valhalla map, a warrior map.
And then, a flash!
As light burst forth before him, Davis startled and recoiled.
"Oh… It was just a card."
As the light faded, two cards chosen by the opponent were revealed. Among them, the ban card was flipped first.
=The Dragon Race has made the same ban selection as Coach Davis. They ban 3 individuals within the top 10 ranks!
['The Red-Maned Dragons' players ranked 1, 3, and 5 have been banned from the first match. They cannot participate in the first game.]
[Humanity players from ranks 3, 4, and 7 have been banned. They cannot participate in the first game.]
-Oh, Seong Jihan's safe!
-Plus, the Dragon Race's top rankers has been eliminated, LOL
-Davis seems spot-on with bans. Lucky draws, LOL
Despite choosing the same option, the ban option favored humanity.
Davis, seeing that Seong Jihan, ranked second, survived, breathed a sigh of relief.
'Now, it's all about the selection card…!'
If only the Valhalla map was selected, it would yield the best outcome.
Whoosh!
Davis watched as the opponent's selection card was revealed.
=The opponent's selection card is… Oh, the Chaos Battlefield! Wasn't that the map we played during rehearsals?
=Correct. Last time they alternated matches between 10 races, but this map can also be used 1vs1, apparently.
=A map quite advantageous for flying races. It appears the Dragon Race has chosen a map that showcases their strengths!
The Dragon Race chose their preferred battlefield.
However, Coach Davis smirked to himself upon seeing this.
'Seong Jihan exhibited a sure-win strategy on this map.'
The Chaos Battlefield, where the number of participating players dropped below 10% resulted in defeat. Seong Jihan had overcome this penalty by confining humanity's players within the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
'Valhalla would have been best, but being placed in the Chaos Battlefield isn't the worst outcome.'
Watching the opponent's card being revealed positively, Davis hoped for the best.
[The map for the first match has been decided.]
[The first match will take place on the Survival Map, the 'Chaos Battlefield.']
Seeing the map decided in the waiting room, Seong Jihan calmly predicted the game's outcome.
'The first match is going to be tough.'
* * *
Chaos Battlefield.
The first game commenced seemingly in favor.
[Race adjustment in progress.]
[For each Dragon, 50 human players are summoned equivalently.]
Just like in rehearsals, where 50 humans were summoned for each Dragon, the Chaos Battlefield was filled with humanity's representatives.
"Am… I'm participating too?"
"I thought I was stuck on the bench forever…"
The battlefield revealed the presence of all 2,000 members of the representative team.
[All players selected as species representatives have been summoned.]
[3,000 more players are needed.]
[The remaining players will be summoned based on rankings.]
To fill the numbers, even those not selected as representatives were summoned from Earth.
"Oh. I was just watching TV and… now it's game time!"
"This happened during the last match against Orcs too… Seems like chances to play come more often than I thought!"
"Great!"
Although the top-tier players who hadn't made it into the representative team of 2,000 members were thrilled to get a chance to play…
=Wow… They summoned 5,000 human players… Does that mean there are 100 dragons?
=That's right! And unlike the rehearsal map, human players are scattered across various regions! They're divided into groups of 500, placed in 10 different locations!
=Oh. And the defeat condition now is different from the rehearsal. If the survivors fall below 20%, they lose…!
The commentators' voices, which had been lively, turned serious as they observed the game situation.
The start of the game seemed disadvantageous for humanity compared to the rehearsal.
-If the number of survivors falls below 1,000, is it game over?
-Yeah, with them scattered everywhere, Seong Jihan won't be able to confine the players like he did last time 😒
-Yeah, he trapped them all last time and carried the game alone…
-Hey, the players then and now are different. Back then, they were losers, but now, they're representatives of humanity. You think they'll hinder Seong Jihan?
During the rehearsal, the skill level of the fellow players was low. However, the players representing humanity in the Space League matches comprised the strongest individuals.
Viewers felt an uneasy sense about the player distribution, but they didn't think humanity would easily fall behind.
And it wasn't just the viewers who thought this way.
"Inventory."
Assigned to Chaos Battlefield, Seong Jihan intended to use Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods., but Barren, watching closely beside him,
"Jihan… You aren't planning to trap us in that formation's depth as you did in rehearsal, are you?"
"That was the plan."
"No! Don't do it!"
Barren pleaded, raising objections.
"No! Don't do it! We're representatives of humanity! We're not losers like last time! We can compete against the dragons!"
"We need to save 1,000 lives. Haven't you seen the defeat condition?"
"Before we lose 1,000, we can reduce their numbers to below 20%! Why do you think we'll lose without even trying? We are the strongest of humanity!"
Phew!
Seong Jihan exhaled quietly.
Barren was finally playing the troll, it seemed.
He looked around.
"Right… Who says we can't fight dragons?"
"Let the dragon slayers do their job. When else if not now?"
"During the rehearsal game, the players participating were platinum-ranked, so that's why we fell behind!"
Hearing Seong Jihan and Barren's exchange, several players whispered amongst themselves, seemingly agreeing with Barren.
Perhaps due to their status as the selected human representatives, they all were reluctant to be confined in the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods without a battle.
"Inventory."
Seeing their reaction, Seong Jihan put the sword back into the inventory.
Despite their resistance, he could still use the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods like a dictator.
'But even if we do that, as soon as a few escape, we'll lose anyway. It's better to let them experience it.'
The Chaos Battlefield map, where victory seemed unlikely anyway.
Seong Jihan decided to awaken the reality for the players representing humanity.
"All right. Let's give it a try."
"Wow. Okay! I'll just use my big magic…! Where are those dragon jerks?!"
Barren was eager to use magic as soon as Seong Jihan put the sword away.
"No. Whether it's big magic or small, try blocking that."
"What…?"
As he pointed his finger towards the sky, his eyes quickly filled with shock.
And understandably so.
"The breath is coming this way."
A massive flame engulfed the entire sky.
It was rapidly descending towards them.
"Ahhhh! Absolute Shield…!"
Flustered, Barren and the others hastily deployed protective spells,
But…
Swoosh!
The Fire Breath swept through the players.
The human representatives, selected from the top 1st to the 3,000th in the world rankings, harbored strong pride in their abilities. While they respected and highly regarded Seong Jihan's skills, they were reluctant to simply sit idly within the "The Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods" and do nothing
Despite not being the main stars in the Space League, most desired to play a significant role rather than being mere extras. However, the disparity in strength between their own species and the Dragon race was overwhelming.
"I…I don't remember it being like this during the rehearsal…!"
As the Absolute Shield dissolved in an instant, Barren bit his lip, watching in shock. The dragons during the rehearsal game were indeed strong, but not to this extent. Barren had believed he had grown significantly himself and could contend adequately. He never anticipated being swept away by flames in one fell swoop.
Meanwhile, amidst the torrents of Fire Breath, Seong Jihan stood unscathed and even chuckled upon hearing Barren's remarks.
"Did you intend to fight thinking it was still a rehearsal? Last time, the Dragon Race was also made up of Platinum-ranked dragons. Just like you have grown stronger, so have they."
"But, still… I didn't expect such a huge gap…"
"You should always expect the worst."
As the barrier vanished completely, Barren was engulfed in flames, looking at Seong-Jihan with a dismayed gaze. Despite the world being a sea of fire, he stood untouched, feeling like he was in a different world altogether.
"How… are you unharmed?"
"I have my ways."
Swoosh…
A purple light flickered across Seong Jihan's entire body.
The fire breath seemed to halt in its tracks, unable to infiltrate the space where he stood.
He had learned the Crimson Divinity technique from Dongbang Sak.
This martial art, which dealt with the void, proved to be quite useful.
Though he had not mastered the technique completely, having only learned it recently,
'Crimson Divinity's purple aura seems to act like a barrier itself.'
The untamed force swirling around Seong Jihan perfectly blocked the fire breath.
Perhaps if he had spread Crimson Divinity more broadly, he might have been able to save more people from being burned by the fire breath.
'But for players who do not possess the void, covering them in Crimson Divinity might lead to them being devoured instead.'
For the average player, this purple energy could potentially be fatal.
Seong Jihan looked at Crimson Divinity for a moment, then said to Barren, who was sinking into flames,
"Sorry. I'm still not good enough at controlling this power to use it on others. This is the limit for me."
"…There's nothing for you to apologize for. It's me who wanted to fight…!"
"Did you? Actually, I'm not sorry at all. Next time, listen quietly."
"Cough…!"
With a bitter smile, Barren disappeared, triggering the disappearance of all the players summoned alongside Seong Jihan. The representatives of humanity vanished without seeing the dragon's form, succumbing to the Fire Breath bombardment from afar.
=The human side, trapped in Fire Breath, has been wiped out in an instant!
=Only 500 have perished so far. Oh, my mistake, it's 499! Seong Jihan is still alive!
=As expected of Seong Jihan! He truly withstood that powerful Fire Breath!
=But seriously, if they were going to perish so quickly, why not just obediently enter the sword formation… What is Barren even trying to do?
=Chris, your mic is on!
=Ah, ahem. Sorry about that! Emotions got the best of me for a moment!
In a series of events, the commentator, Christopher, expressed irritation, and it was broadcasted live.
-The American commentator criticizing American prospects, lol.
-Well, it's justified. Barren was boasting about his pride as soon as he joined the human representative team but got cut in 10 seconds.
-Christopher's commentary was definitely intentional, lol.
-Seriously, he's already loaded with supporting gifts, lol.
-But still, they can't just keep riding on Seong Jihan's coattails forever. They have to make the players fight somehow…
-If the human ranking drops, will you take responsibility?
-He needs a dungeon in his house to get his act together, lol.
The consensus on the representatives was at rock-bottom, as they were easily obliterated by the fire breath.
And then,
=Human representative team. It's okay. If we strategize around Seong Jihan, we can still win! Only 499 have fallen so far… Oh, the number of casualties is rising rapidly!
=Breaths are pouring out from all over the battlefield!
=But where on earth are the dragons? Are they up high in the sky? We can't see them!
The overall situation was overwhelmingly against humanity.
'Indeed, this map is tough.'
Seong Jihan looked up at the sky.
The place swept by breath no longer had flames raining down.
But far off where the human forces were presumed to be, fire breath continued to pour down.
'Given the near-simultaneous attack, it seems like 10 dragons were summoned in a similar region. Even if I had used Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, saving 1000 would not have been easy.'
Had he confined the 500 people from Seong Jihan's region with Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods, the game would have ended before they could have moved to another location.
Seong Jihan decided to at least appreciate making the representative team face the harsh reality for the first match, as he gazed at the sky.
'But I should at least take down one dragon.'
Swoosh!
Seong Jihan leapt toward the sky to locate the unseen dragon.
As he maneuvered beyond the clouds,
[Over 80 percent of the human players have been eliminated.]
[The game is going to end soon.]
Quickly, the message that the game was coming to an end appeared.
'Already?'
It was indeed potent, the breath, but this was excessively harsh.
As he decided he might as well search for a dragon before logging out, Seong Jihan maximized his lightness skill.
And soon,
he discovered a massive life form high above in the sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Crossing clouds, he saw a red dragon with a tremendous presence in the distance.
As he appeared quietly flapping its wings,
The dragon, which had been resting with closed eyes, noticed Seong Jihan's arrival and slowly opened its eyelids.
"…"
The dragon gazed at him, a sense of calm in its eyes.
=Ah, is that the dragon?
=It's huge…
=The dragons from the rehearsal game must have been just babies.
The red dragon, gigantic enough that it couldn't even be compared to the hatchling witnessed during the rehearsal, instilled primal fear in the onlookers.
'Shall I try slicing it up.'
Seong Jihan wasn't deterred and was filled with the intent to attack.
Swoosh…
His left arm manifested the shadow sword Eclipse, and his entire body, which had been radiating purple energy, drew it into the sword.
'Since we've lost the first match already. There's no need to go all out… Just a light jab will do.'
Being too strong might make him a focal point for the opponent's concentrated countermeasures.
Consequently, considering future matches, Seong Jihan lightly drew a horizontal line with his sword.
Fundamental Divine Art, Triad of Martial Mastery -Total Annihilation Horizontal Sweep
Then,
Zishsh…!
The barrier in front of the dragon's head formed countless times and split apart instantly.
The sword, which sliced through everything, reached the dragon's forehead.
Psshh… Psshh…
From the cut, dragon blood spewed in all directions.
Touching the atmosphere, it boiled instantaneously and became smoke that disappeared.
'…Adding Crimson Divinity makes it stronger than I thought'
Seong Jihan's light jab, meant to merely scratch, made a deep gash on the dragon.
[The game is ending.]
[The player is logging out.]
Flash!
As he landed a hit and logged out, the red dragon looked at the spot where Seong Jihan disappeared in silence.
[While unremarkable, there is something peculiar about you…]
A fleeting spark ignited in the indifferent eyes of the dragon,
[And there's the Void. Perhaps… ]
* * *
=We lost the first match. The game ended in an instant…
=The dragon. Truly a formidable presence worthy of second place in the league…!
The first match ended in defeat.
This game instilled a strong sense of helplessness in humanity.
-Well, is it over just from getting hit by breath attacks in the sky…?
-Even if we increase the ratio from 50:1 to 500:1, we would still lose, right?
-We played the ban cards well, and Seong Jihan survived, but to lose so one-sidedly… is there any hope for this series?
The match ultimately ended with dragons reigning their breaths from the sky.
Although Seong Jihan survived and managed to injure the Dragon Race, by then the game had already ended.
Such a dramatic disparity in racial capabilities couldn't be mitigated just by improving the numbers.
'Too strong… This is just too strong.'
Coach Davis entered the coaching room with a significantly darker expression than before.
The Dragon Race.
While they were expected to be strong, no one anticipated such a crushing defeat despite favorable ban cards.
How were they supposed to fight such creatures?
'For now, we must focus on Seong Jihan.'
In the previous game, unlike the others, Seong Jihan had easily withstood the breath.
If they didn't strategize around him, victory for humanity seemed impossible.
'We can't always rely on this situation…'
Being dependent on a single ace player, Seong Jihan, wasn't a strategy Coach Davis favored.
However, humanity urgently needed a victory right now.
Having decided to select the warrior map Valhalla for all remaining matches,
Coach Davis walked through the clouds within the coach's room.
'We'll go with the same cards as before.'
He set the ban and select cards the same as the first match, then,
[You, the insignificant one.]
Once the opposing side initiated contact without uttering a word in the first match,
Coach Davis, startled, stumbled again.
-Why is the coach falling down so much today?
-Seems like he got scared because the dragon spoke suddenly.
-Did he not know it could talk?
-To call him trivial… after seeing the first match, it's sad that we can't refute.
"What, what is it?"
Davis scrambled to his feet, replying hastily to the dragon.
He tried to exude confidence, but his voice betrayed a tremor.
The dragon gazed down at him and spoke once more.
[Summon your true representative. I wish to have a conversation with him.]
"Our true representative?"
[The one who inflicted pain upon us. He is a mutation born from an insignificant race.]
Was it referring to Seong Jihan?
Coach Davis frowned, not understanding the dragon's intentions.
'Seong Jihan is our core player… If he comes here, he'll likely get pinned down by the enemy. We don't need to listen to their stories.'
Davis was ready to decline the conversation with the dragon right away, but then,
[If you summon him, I will let you win the second match.]
"What… what…"
[Is one match not enough? Then I'll give you the third match as well.]
Lose the second match?
Coach Davis's pupils trembled.
"How, how can we believe that?"
[I promise in the name of the dragon. Witnessed by the system.]
"Well… that's…"
Just by changing the coach, would they give up the second match?
Davis swallowed hard.
The Dragon Race.
They were an adversary humanity faced difficulty defeating in the first match.
Yet they were willing to give up two matches merely for a conversation with Seong Jihan…
"W-We'll take the authentication first."
Coach Davis couldn't easily believe such favorable conditions, so he requested authentication from BattleNet first.
[Agreed.]
The dragon's coach accepted the proposal immediately and proceeded swiftly.
=…What on earth is happening?
=Why is the dragon suddenly interested in Seong Jihan?
As the situation took a strange turn, the commentators and viewers, all unable to understand the situation, had no choice but to proceed after BattleNet's authentication was completed
"Seong Jihan. I will need to ask you a favor."
"Understood. If they'll give us two wins, let's have a look."
Seong Jihan thus replaced Coach Davis in the coaching room, and…
And so, instead of Coach Davis, Seong Jihan stepped into the coaching room.
Flash…!
[Better than expected.]
The dragon looked at Seong Jihan with glowing eyes.
[What do you say? Will you join our clan?]
"Um…?"
The dragon made a sudden scout offer to Seong Jihan.
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