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Chapter 005: The All-Master Who Returned to Bronze
At the center of the island.
Joo-ho, who had occupied the area early on with the group following him, kicked the ground in anger and shouted.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?!”
His anger stemmed from disbelief at what was happening. Of course, it hadn’t been like this from the start.
‘The hyenas will kill him quickly.’
Until the moment he entered the game, Joo-ho thought Shinhyuk would die quickly. But that thought began to go awry when Shinhyuk’s name started filling the kill logs. As time passed and Shinhyuk’s name showed no sign of disappearing from the logs, Joo-ho eventually stopped farming and headed for the center. He then set traps around the central area and selected players to team up with.
“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!”
Despite this, Joo-ho’s mind would not settle. Even while he prepared, Shinhyuk’s kill count kept rising. It was partly due to the bounty Joo-ho had placed, but unaware of that, Joo-ho only vented his anger on the innocent ground.
“Including you and me, how many players are on our side now?”
“21.”
“Ugh, will this be enough to catch him?”
“A useless all-rounder is plenty—”
“Idiot. He’s the guy who got 30 kills alone. I don’t think he’s the guy we knew.”
The player acting as Joo-ho’s aide frowned at the harsh criticism but couldn’t defy him, so he bowed his head. Joo-ho, breathing heavily while looking at the back of that player’s head, saw the remaining survivor count.
[Survivors: 36]
“…It’s dropped below half.”
“Did Choi Shinhyuk kill a third of them?”
“Can we really win against this?”
A player who alone had taken out a third of the 100 participants. The players Ju-ho had gathered to team up with were greatly shaken at the thought of facing such a person.
“Everyone, quiet. The opponent is just one guy. We just have to kill him! I’ll give each of you 100 million just for sticking with me now, on top of the bounty!”
“R-right. We have over 20 people.”
“We farmed well, too.”
“Let’s kill him and claim the bounty!”
However, when Joo-ho offered 100 million per player to those he gathered, their agitation quickly turned into heated fervor. Watching them, Joo-ho sighed in relief but also spat out curses.
“Damn it, everyone must be watching this. How embarrassing.”
The Dimension Arena could be viewed on all electronic devices—TVs, computers, phones, etc. Moreover, the placement exam was a once-a-year event, so people from all countries focused on their own nation’s exam. Meaning, every action Joo-ho took now was being broadcast in detail. While this was also part of Joo-ho’s capability and not a problem in itself, he couldn’t avoid criticism and ridicule, which greatly annoyed him.
“He’s coming!”
“Choi Shinhyuk is over there!”
“…Alright, let’s deal with that bastard first and think later.”
At the cry of a scout, Juho rose from his spot. He climbed onto the wall they had built like a fortress and faced Shinhyuk.
“Choi Shinhyuk.”
“Lee Joo-ho. You look like a mole that buried its head in a hole.”
“…Ugh. You must have had some sort of opportunity, but the fact that you’re a useless all-rounder doesn’t change.”
“Oh? Then why don’t you come out and fight me?”
“…No need to dirty my hands. Kill him!”
“Yeah!”
“That bastard is mine!”
At Joo-ho’s command, gritting his teeth towards Shinhyuk who was wiggling his fingers provocatively, the players kicked off and charged.
Tatadatadatadak!
The sight of all players—except those with long-range skills or traits like mages or archers—rushing at Shin-hyuk was more than just spectacular; it was like a scene from a movie. Amidst this, Shinhyuk wiggled his hand with a languid expression.
“Charge.”
-Clatter!
At the same time, Shinhyuk’s skeleton soldiers, hidden in the shadows of buildings, revealed themselves.
“W-what is that?!”
“It’s necromancy!”
The players who had been charging confidently halted abruptly at the sudden appearance of Shinhyuk’s allies.
“But does that make sense? F-rank Necromancy shouldn’t be able to control that many skeleton soldiers!”
“Could he have learned the skill directly?”
There were two ways to acquire skills in the Dimension Arena. One was through skill books obtained as rewards. The other was acquiring a skill by earning the Dimension Arena’s recognition through one’s own ability alone. The former was always F-rank, but the latter could sometimes yield a higher grade.
While the players were in disarray, never dreaming Shinhyuk might have learned Necromancy directly—
Peewee- Peewee!
[Choi Shinhyuk -> Lee Do-geon]
“…He shoots arrows too?”
Shinhyuk had already drawn a bow and pulled the string. Having instantly killed one player, he began firing arrows like mad, protected by his skeleton soldiers.
Peewee- Peewee!
“Crazy! Why does he have so many arrows?!”
“He must have looted others he killed!”
“Damn, necromancy and archery… He prepared well.”
“For a useless all-rounder…”
Unlike the first attack, his accuracy was quite lower, and since players took cover, no one died immediately.
Thud, thud—
“The skeleton soldiers are coming!”
“We have to break through somehow!”
But the problem was that while their feet were stuck, dozens of skeleton soldiers were slowly surrounding them. Eventually, forced to choose between Shinhyuk’s arrows and the approaching skeletons, the flustered players soon kicked off from their spots.
“Run!”
“Let’s retreat to the base for now!”
Some fled back to their base.
“Just kill him!”
“If we kill the summoner, the necromancy ends!”
“Are you guys scared of just one person?!”
Others charged at Shin-hyeok.
Crunch! Thwack! Crunch! Thwack!
The skeleton soldiers, unable to withstand their assault, began to crumble rapidly.
Peewee- Peewee!
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Kwon Se-hui]
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Min Hye-ri]
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Jeon Ju-wan]
Of course, the number of players steadily decreased as a price. And—
“Rise.”
Ding ding ding!
Needless to say, the decreased number of players was matched by a replenishment of skeleton soldiers.
The players, briefly exhausted by the seemingly endless waves of skeleton soldiers—
“We broke through!”
“I broke through too!”
“Kill him quickly!”
Players began to emerge who broke through the skeleton soldiers’ protection and reached Shinhyuk. They rushed at Shinhyuk gleefully, and—
Swish!
[Choi Shin-hyeok-> Hong Dae-in]
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Lee Seong-soon]
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Pyo Jin-tae]
Their heads flew from the sword Shinhyuk swung.
[Skill: Swordsmanship[B] acquired.]
“As expected, swordsmanship is rated highly.”
Shinhyuk’s main weapon in his past life was the sword. As such, his highest-ranked skill was also swordsmanship. Whether it was a reflection of that, he was satisfied with acquiring Swordsmanship at B-rank from the start. He then picked up the weapons scattered on the ground.
“Axe, spear, and gauntlets.”
Looking at the weapons dropped by the three, Shinhyuk equipped them. He put on the gauntlets and held an axe and spear in each hand. The players laughed at him.
“We get that you’re great with necromancy, archery, and swordsmanship, but axe, spear, and martial arts are completely different, don’t you know?”
“He’s just stupid. Good for us.”
“Kill him!”
As the number of skeleton soldiers gradually decreased, more and more players broke through their protection. The players who rushed at Shinhyuk, laughing at him, all—
Crunch— Thud— Smash!
[Skill: Axe Mastery[D] acquired.]
[Skill: Spear Mastery[D] acquired.]
[Skill: Martial Arts[E] acquired.]
—had their heads split by the axe, chests pierced by the spear, and heads exploded by the fist.
“Crazy…”
“He can use those too?”
“They said he was a useless all-rounder! That he wasn’t above average in anything! Then what is this?!”
While the players were in disarray over this fact—
Pippipipiping! Kwaaaaaaa!
The archers and mages who remained at the base came to their aid. They looked at them as if they were a ray of salvation, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“Cough!”
“Why us too…?”
The arrows and magic of the archers and mages had no eyes. Unable to distinguish between teammates and foes, they swept away everyone indiscriminately, Shinhyeok and the other players alike.
“Did we get him?”
“This bastard?”
Just as someone tried to cover the mouth of a player who blurted out something they shouldn’t have—
“Phew.”
Shinhyeok, positioned inside a semi-transparent barrier, swept back his hair and exhaled.
[Skill: Shield acquired.]
[This is a sub-skill of Basic Magic.]
“…A shield.”
“He can use magic too?”
Shield. One of the spells belonging to Basic Magic, the most fundamental defensive spell. But given the overflowing skills he had already shown, revealing another ability only deepened the players’ despair. The players who had gotten close to Shinhyeok had all met their end by their allies’ hands.
But that wasn’t the end.
“He’s holding a blade…!”
“And he grabbed a staff?!”
“Don’t tell me he can use those too?!”
Blade and staff. At the appearance of new weapons, the players were at a loss for words. Watching them, who had even lost their will to fight, Shinhyeok pointed the weapons and wiggled his fingers.
“Come on.”
“…!!”
Though about ten players still remained, they were utterly overwhelmed by Shinhyeok alone. It felt as if all the weapons scattered around belonged to Shinhyeok
When no one moved, Joo-ho finally stepped forward.
“Damn it! Move! Move, you sons of bitches!”
“Um…”
“Uh…”
At Juho’s urging, stomping his feet for them to fight Shinhyeok quickly, the players fidgeted, unsure what to do.
Right then.
“Ah. Or how about this?”
“…?”
“I’ll give you 1 billion if you catch Lee Joo-ho and drag him here to me.”
“…!”
Shinhyeok chuckled and made them an offer. Lee Joo-ho. The offer was to capture him and drag him before Shinhyeok At the sudden proposal, the players teamed up with Joo-ho were bewildered, but—
“You’ll really give it?”
“Do you think the name Myth Group is below Oseong Group?”
“…Well, no.”
“You bastard!”
At the question from the player who acted as Joo-ho’s aide, Joo-ho erupted in anger and grabbed the player’s collar. But that judgment became the catalyst.
“Honestly, I didn’t like him.”
“All he’s done since earlier is order us around without moving himself.”
“He’ll end up with a high rank anyway. Piled on our corpses.”
The resentment towards Joo-ho, who had been bossing them around since earlier, began to simmer. Watching the players slowly start to surround him, Joo-ho stretched out his hand urgently.
“2 billion! No, 3 billion! So just go out and catch that bastard!”
“Ha, still giving orders till the end.”
“And we don’t think you’d actually pay us after we already betrayed you once.”
“Grab him.”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!!”
You can’t block ten hands with one. In the end, Ju-ho was captured by the players who had been his team and dragged to Shin-hyuk like a dog.
