Chapter 130. Additional Option Right (3)
The Blue Desert.
The expressions of the seven individuals heading towards the occupied high fortress were grim.
No wonder.
Kugugung.
Kraaah!
At the top of the high fortress, which was the occupation area, the sounds of intense fighting, human and beastly cries, continuously echoed.
Every time those brutal noises erupted, the faces of the players heading towards the occupation area stiffened.
At least.
“We’re almost there. Everyone, stay alert.”
The oldest-looking man among them. Only Lee Sangmin maintained his composure. But even that was temporary.
“This is insane….”
At the top of the high fortress. Lee Sangmin’s expression, upon reaching the occupation area, inevitably crumbled.
“What in the world….”
Hell itself. A horrific sight that couldn’t be fully described with words.
“Uh….”
A human-like figure groaned. If it weren’t for that faint groaning sound, one might not even think that the bloodied figure was a human. This was not confined to humans alone.
Squ, squelch….
Keyeeng….
The demonic beasts, once threatening, now scattered around whimpering. Only those who protected their heads could survive. Most of the demonic beasts were reduced to crushed corpses, creating pools of thick blood.
And amidst that chaos.
Hola-gguk.
A figure made of sand raised its long arms.
Beneath it.
“Kyaaah!”
A man with disheveled, blood-stained clothes roared like a beast. Although he looked like a blood-soaked mess, the blade he wielded was shrouded in a fierce sword aura.
Sahsak!
The ability to manipulate sand, disrupting the sand golem, easily revealed the man’s identity.
“Zayed Ban…?”
Representative of Palestine. The number one in Platinum-rank, the owner of the S-rank sand manipulation ability, Zayed Ban.
Since Platinum-rank held global matches, Lee Sangmin had experience fighting in the arena against Zayed Ban.
“If he’s Zayed Ban, he must be a skilled player in the Platinum division….”
A skilled player—relatively speaking. It was within the context of that “relatively” when considering it on a global scale that the story changes. Among all the Platinum combatants worldwide, he may be considered skilled.
Yet, such a player.
Pwak!
“Gack!”
Spitting blood, he is flung away. Considering that he was struck by a sand golem, the situation was beyond belief.
Of course.
Still.
Holagguk.
Having faced the owner of the S-rank sand manipulation ability. The sand golem was also partially destroyed, with only one arm remaining. Its gaze turned towards the Korean national team.
A slight twitch.
The national team members couldn’t help but flinch as their eyes met the damaged sand golem. However, Lee Sangmin remained calm and locked eyes with the golem.
“What’s behind… Please.”
Accompanied by a strange sound as if sand was being scraped, the partially destroyed sand golem crumbled.
“Aaargh!”
A cry erupted from it. No, it was more like a scream that struck the ears of the Korean national team.
“Get up! You must get up and fight again!!”
Zayed Ban, with bloodied fists, raged like a wounded beast, madly pummeling the remains of the collapsed sand golem.
“I won’t accept this! I can’t accept ending it like this!!”
Whatever had happened, Zayed Ban was just wildly thrashing the pile of sand like a madman.
“Sangmin-hyung…”
“I’ll take care of him, so you guys head to the occupation area.”
Lee Sangmin tightened his grip on the staff and marched to fulfill the mission from the commander.
* * *
Click.
The door of the capsule, the entrance device for the National Arena Championship, opened, and a handsome man with distinct features stepped out.
As he set foot on the ground, a continuous vibration reverberated. Shimun rummaged through his pocket to figure out the cause of the vibration.
『Kim Shihyuk: Hyung! The match was amazing! What are those summoned creatures anyway?』
『Lee Yujeong: Orabeoni! Congratulations on the victory!』
『Go Malsuk: Shameless guy. Now you’re even summoning demons? Who exactly are you?』
『Park Jinwook: I believed in you! Loyalty allegiance!』
Messages were flooding in.
“They must have been watching the match.”
A small smile crept upon Shimun’s lips. It was expected.
“Even though they must be busy running their own arenas.”
Except for Go Malsuk, they were all top-rank players. Although Go Malsuk’s rank was lower, he was also well-known in that rank. Shimun was grateful that they took the time to watch a Platinum-rank match that wasn’t even the main event.
However, his smile quickly faded.
『Rin: Congratulations on the victory~ As expected of Shimun-nim. Thanks to you, we’ve collected a hefty amount in reverse betting, right?』
An unexpected message came from an unexpected person.
“Rin? Why would Rin suddenly…”
Rin, the owner of the Black Market, was the sender of the message. Before he could ponder why she sent him this message…
‘How did she even send the message?’
Shimun quickly checked Rin’s profile, only to find that her number was clearly displayed.
‘Inverting the situation, she didn’t just send a message ID, she even saved my phone number…’
In a picture taken from a common angle for women’s social media, Rin’s number was boldly written beneath it.
Which, in other words, meant…
‘She didn’t send a message ID but directly saved my phone number…’
Why haven’t you called me yet? The question arose, but at the same time, it made sense.
‘Well, she’s the owner of the Black Market. Finding a phone number shouldn’t be that difficult.’ It was none other than the owner of the Black Market, right?
『Rin: Hehe. I’ll treat you to a delicious meal as a thank you~』
Shimun chuckled at Rin’s text message once again and was about to reply with a “got it” but ended up putting the phone away. The reason was simple.
“Shimun!!!”
It was a somewhat chubby middle-aged man. The coaching staff of the Platinum team, including Coach Jang Yunshik, ran towards him with tears streaming down their faces.
“Oh! Shimun, thank you! Thank you so much!!”
“Phew! Thanks to you, we survived!”
Although it was somewhat awkward to see the teary-eyed coach, Shimun thought, ‘He must have had a hard time.’
It was a special match with a qualification for the main tournament on the line, on top of all the noise about substitute rights and additional options. And to top it off, didn’t they face a sudden 8-person lineup in just one day?
If they were to lose here, they would be considered criminals who wasted the national buff. Naturally, everyone was on edge.
“If it weren’t for you, we would have…”
“K-huk!”
It seemed like he had gone through a lot of mental strain. The tears and even the runny noses of the coach and coaching staff were something to behold. Just as things seemed overwhelming, a strong, low voice rescued Shimun from the uncomfortable situation.
“Let’s all calm down. Doesn’t Shimun look uncomfortable?”
“Sa-Sangmin!”
It was Lee Sangmin, the 3rd place player in the Republic of Korea’s Platinum team.
“K-hem! I’m sorry, Shimun. I’m just so happy about this…”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“No, I’m just happy to win.”
Shimun smiled gently at them, patting their shoulders, and giving a comforting smile to the struggling coaching staff. The seven players then approached Shimun.
“When I first entered the game, I couldn’t see anything in front of me, and I never thought I would win without doing anything… it’s all thanks to Shimun-nim!”
“Thanks to you, we could win comfortably. Thank you for carrying us!”
“I was really impressed! I’ve never ridden such a bus even in a regular arena!”
Just before the game, except for Lee Sangmin, the other players could hardly make a word. But now, they were all smiling and expressing their gratitude warmly. Shimun nodded in agreement with their words, wearing a calm smile.
‘Indeed, bonding during battles is truly effective.’
People generally tend to bond after going through tough battles. While it wasn’t as life-threatening as the battles of their past lives when the regular arena started, winning in such a despairing environment with 8 participants was enough to break down the walls that had been difficult to overcome.
At that moment…
“You guys. Is that something you say in front of Shimun?”
“Sangmin-ajussi.”
“Sir…”
It was Lee Sangmin. He spoke with a somewhat sharp gaze.
“This isn’t a personal arena. It’s a special match for the national championship. You are also representatives of the country. What’s there to be so proud of in being carried and saying it so boldly?”
“T-That’s…”
“…”.
The players fell silent under the truth of his words, unable to offer any rebuttal, and tried to gauge Shimun’s reaction. Yet Lee Sangmin’s firm expression didn’t seem to soften.
“It’s normal to express gratitude, but we are also national representatives. Speaking so boldly about being carried can be disrespectful to Kim Shimun-ssi. Aren’t we just as capable? Saying we did nothing in this game would be the same as saying we were absent.”
“…. Excuse me, Kim Shimun-nim.”
“I’m sorry, Kim Shimun-nim. We were short-sighted.”
The players immediately bowed their heads at Lee Sangmin’s words. Kim Shimun, momentarily taken aback, scratched his cheek with a wry smile as Lee Sangmin also bowed.
“I didn’t really think that deeply about it….”
When everyone just sent their thanks.
Ah, that’s right. That was what he was thinking, understanding why they were thanking him.
“Well, I can see why they would say that.”
As Lee Sangmin put it.
They were national team players in the same position as Kim Shimun, who had been overtly targeted with an additional option.
They had achieved victory without lifting a finger, though conveying gratitude would have been sufficient. But from the perspective of being national team members like Kim Shimun, it wasn’t a flattering picture to openly mention being carried or bus’d.
‘He probably felt his pride wounded a little.’
In the end, he was player classified in the top tier Platinum rank. Moreover, had he not also been selected for the Arena national team among 30 others?
Receiving a carry from one person in such a position was quite embarrassing and bruised their pride.
“It’s probably because of that mindset that he’ll end up being promoted to the Diamond rank.”
With a faint smile, Kim Shimun carefully patted Lee Sangmin’s shoulders, who still had his head lowered.
“Don’t say that. I never thought that way.”
Kim Shimun then gently lifted Lee Sangmin to his feet.
“I won’t amend my statement about carrying. But I can’t agree with the notion that you all did nothing.”
He smiled softly, looking straight at the determined Lee Sangmin.
“If I had been alone, I wouldn’t have won that match. It’s true that I swept the Palestinians with my summons, but in the end, I couldn’t defeat the top-ranked player on the opposing team, Zayed Ban.”
“No. Kim Shimun-ssi, even if we weren’t there, you would have defeated them all. There’s no need to say it like that, really…..”
“No, I’m just stating the facts.”
Kim Shimun interrupted Lee Sangmin’s attempt to counter.
In reality, it wasn’t an incorrect statement. Although he almost annihilated the Palestine team with 100 demonic beasts and a huge Sand Golem, that was it. It was almost annihilation, not total annihilation, right?
“The Palestinian’s occupation rate exceeded 90%. If you hadn’t dealt with Zayed Ban, the game would have ended in our defeat.”
“I…… only helped finish the job. Zayed Ban wasn’t in top condition due to you, Kim Shimun-ssi.”
“In the end, you didn’t bring him down. Even if I had taken down Zayed Ban, I wouldn’t have been able to enter the enemy territory due to the limited range of activity. Then we would have lost the game.”
The Arena event with Palestine is a ‘Occupation Battle’. Even if Kim Shimun had killed them all, as long as he couldn’t set foot in the occupation area himself, the game would end in their defeat.
“As a matter of fact, a full one-person carry in the National Competition is impossible. If it were possible, we wouldn’t have to endure this hardship. In the preliminaries, Sword Saint alone would have swept them all.”
That’s what the National Competition was like. Even that arrogant high-ranked player, the younger brother. And many players who had shone in the National Competition before.
None of them left a solo carry achievement in the National Competition. No matter how skilled a player is, they couldn’t single-handedly face the strategy of dozens of similar ranking players.
Of course, there were exceptions in human affairs. Only two. After the Galaxy Arena opened, only two players have left the achievement of a solo carry in the National Competition.
One was from the strongest guild in the United States, American Dream’s founder. The other one.
‘Father…..’ The awakening association president of the former Korean national team and the current chairman, Kim Muyeol’s eldest brother. Also his own father, Kim Mujin.
A man who vied with the top guildmaster of the time, American Dream, in the small country of Korea. As he recalled his father, Kim Mujin, a sense of bitterness crept around his lips. As if trying to shake it off, Kim Shimun raised his head lightly.
“Kim Shimun-nim….”
Whether it was interpreted differently.
“… Definitely. I will definitely be of help in the next game,” Lee Sangmin said, his eyes moist as he clenched his fists.
***
The Jamshil a dedicated stadium for Galaxy Arena matches.
With a total of 8 individuals, a number unprecedented, the atmosphere here, which had previously sunk into indifference, was now ablaze with excitement.
The difference from ordinary stadiums with spectators was clear here.
“Congratulations on your victory! Did you anticipate the victory in this special match against Palestine?”
“There were claims that Palestine simply wins. Is that true?”
“What is your exact profession? Many are curious!”
“You mentioned in your platinum debut that summoning demons yourself was impossible. What about these large group of monsters in this match?!”
“Player Kim Shimun! Please tell us about the creatures you summoned in this match…”
The focal point of the fervor filling the stadium was not the spectators but a multitude of camera lights, reporters, and journalists.
‘Ugh, this is chaotic.’
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
Setting aside the flashing camera lights,
‘When did I ever say those things?’
Where were all these statements coming from that even Kim Shimun didn’t know he’d made?
“Everyone, step back! This is a restricted area for authorized personnel only!”
“If you come any closer, we will take direct action.”
“Hey! Don’t cross that line!”
Despite the coaching staff and national team players forming a protective wall around Kim Shimun, it wasn’t enough.
“Player Kim Shimun! Just one comment, please!”
“Let go of me! We have the right to inform the public!!”
“Viewers, can you see this? Awakened individuals are hitting non-awakened reporters. This is excessive force!”
The crowd, ranging from major broadcasting stations to individual streamers, swarmed in uncontrollably. Most of the crowd were ordinary people, while most of the protectors were awakened individuals. A mishandling could easily result in casualties.
At that moment,
Vvv.
Kim Shimun felt a small vibration from his pocket and took out his phone to check it.
Then,
Snap.
A crisp and clear sound quieted the noisy arena atmosphere. Raising his hand, Shimun snapped his fingers. Though the gesture had no particular purpose, it effectively drew everyone’s attention in the arena.
“There is still one more match in the special series, so I won’t be doing any interviews. Also.”
Kim Shimun subtly waved his phone.
“I have to head straight to the association due to a summons from the president, so if anyone is dissatisfied with my refusal to interview, please direct your complaints to President Kim Muyeol, the Ironwood King himself.”
“……”
“……”
An oppressive silence filled the arena.
The Ironwood King.
And Association President Kim Muyeol.
The effect of those names exceeded Kim Shimun’s expectations.
“The Ironwood King!”
“Ahem! If the president summons you, there’s nothing we can do…”
Is this what Moses from the Bible felt like?
‘This is almost like a cheat code.’
Without lifting a finger, Kim Shimun parted the metaphorical sea of Korea’s most persistent onlookers and walked through unimpeded.