Chapter 65
Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Tenth Round
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The rest period after the ninth round.
This break felt much longer compared to the previous ones.
With fewer matches overall, the intervals between them had stretched out, and since there were no games in the mid-to-late stages anymore, it already felt like a full rest from this point on.
The spectators were growing even more excited, but the participants were falling quieter.
In that atmosphere, I quietly closed my eyes.
The noisy clamor around me didn't reach my ears at all as I gradually heightened my focus.
Just one step away from the main tournament.
After that, the stage to determine the true strongest would begin.
With my mind steadied, I pondered the tenth round.
The system had forewarned that it would differ slightly from the other preliminaries.
Still, it probably wouldn't stray far from the tournament format.
Before the tenth round started, I checked the community for any new info.
Despair over elimination, feelings of defeat, and envy had all faded considerably.
In particular, no one was complaining about luck anymore.
Those who had made it to the ninth round hadn't climbed this far on luck alone.
The contenders advancing to the tenth were the pinnacles of their dimensions.
Naturally, they brimmed with confidence in their own abilities.
In the community, where most had accepted their elimination,
as the preliminaries reached their latter stages, talk shifted from personal stories to mentions of the rankers, causing their information to explode in volume.
Fueling that surge was the fact that many top rankers in the final stretch were no longer hiding their powers.
The main reason was the spate of matches pitting rankers against each other.
Some high-rankers had fallen in those clashes, while unexpected players surged ahead.
Hiding their strength only to get eliminated and forgotten wasn't appealing, so those on the verge of dropping out were savoring the moment.
Of course, the top rankers wouldn't reveal themselves for such trivial reasons. With the main tournament in sight, there were deeper motives.
And among them, the ones I needed to watch were more than enough within the top ten.
Based on the intel I'd gathered so far, I began sketching out my potential rivals.
First up was the seventh-ranked, Monster.
The community had the most info on him.
A black helmet, red armor encasing his entire body, and a sword wreathed in crimson lightning orbiting him.
His features were so distinct that anyone who saw him once would never forget, or so they said.
From the details uncovered so far, he was presumed to possess a telekinesis-type unique ability.
Not only did he freely manipulate the sword drifting around him,
but witnesses had seen him bind foes with invisible force.
However, I saw it differently.
Simple telekinesis couldn't explain that overwhelming destructive power, speed, and control.
Refined mastery like that on day 20? No way.
My domain power resembled telekinesis, so I knew such finesse was nearly impossible.
Likely, the sword itself held a special ability, or it was a composite power blending telekinesis with something else.
Next, Sword King.
Unlike his active community presence, no one knew his true identity yet.
Of course, the community was buzzing with suspects.
All had exceptional swordsmanship,
and exuded an upright vibe similar to Sword King's community image.
But it could all be mimicry, so I couldn't rule that out.
Fifth-ranked, Lord.
With his soldier-summoning ability, he was one of the most standout participants in this tournament.
Reports said he'd flaunted his unique ability without restraint, crushing every match with overwhelming force.
Rumors even claimed each summoned soldier was ranker-level.
Their strength was that threatening.
Plus, the Lord's own prowess, at such a high level, couldn't be weak.
Though he hadn't fully revealed his power yet, his troops alone marked him as formidable.
Eighth, Regeneration.
He was a Warrior by class, and whether he actually had regeneration powers matching his name remained unconfirmed.
Despite his public activity, info on him was strangely scarce.
All that was known was his insistence on pure hand-to-hand combat.
'The rest lack sufficient intel.'
Veiled competitors.
Zero info on second, sixth, ninth, and tenth place.
Like me, they avoided the spotlight,
either tightly controlling leaks or simply not facing worthy foes yet.
Further digging yielded nothing, so I scanned candidates speculated for top ten.
And among those suspects, I was listed as one too.
A mysterious powerhouse who ends foes from afar in an instant.
That was the simplest description of me, with endless speculation swirling.
Human imagination knew no bounds.
I skimmed it all impassively and closed the community window.
With the system's announcement, the tournament arena's atmosphere grew heavy once more.
The system added that only 31 survivors remained.
Just 16 of them would step onto the main stage.
I checked the new rules it outlined.
A tournament demanding fierce psychological warfare based on opponent intel.
Strong players would seek to crush the weak decisively, while the weak would dodge them for later chances.
But with only one evade per person, it had to be used wisely.
So what info gets revealed?
The details followed soon.
Info disclosure.
That was the core of round 10.
Expose a sliver of your own while gaining the opponent's.
Then decide: fight or flee?
It put a small crack in my plan to reveal nothing before mains, but dropping the opponent fixed that.
As long as they didn't evade.
Reviewing the rules, I weighed them mentally.
Highest rank defeated, class, unique ability, one skill, level, all stats.
Overall judgment:
The most dangerous leaks were unique ability, all stats, and level.
They laid bare my power's foundation.
Those three must never see light.
Unique ability might not show full strength but was a secret I wanted hidden forever. Stats and level let anyone gauge my might at a glance.
Skills were risky too, but only one of many was revealed, softening the blow.
Class hinted at style but wasn't decisive.
And the most useless: highest rank defeated.
Pure facade, unrelated to true skill.
If that leaked, opponents would underestimate and rashly duel.
Best-case for me.
But stats or level? They'd see no chance and evade instantly.
Worst-case, obviously.
Luck had played a big role so far, but this round felt crucial.
And,
'I'm dueling no matter what.'
Whatever leaked, I had no intent to back down.
Evade wasn't even on the table.
I refused to lose even once on this stage.
The system window hovering in the arena center vanished, and matchups were announced.
I drew fifth in sequence.
Moments later, a message signaled the first matchup of round 10.
No match nearby, so I headed to spectate others.
Unlike prior rounds, the arena had reverted to its initial simple cube form—just vastly larger.
By arrival, the third match was underway.
With so few arenas left, each drew hundreds of spectators.
At center, two summons: both in standout gear.
One bore a massive shield, the other a bizarrely sharp spear.
Unmistakably ranker-tier powerhouses.
After info check, they dueled without hesitation.
Spear clashed shield, raising the curtain on round 10 proper.
Midway through their fierce exchange, my turn neared with a message.
'My turn already.'
Ten seconds later.
Light faded, and I was summoned into the arena.
The chill of the marble floor underfoot.
Spawned at center, I locked eyes on my opposite.
Average build, basic shop gear.
But the twin axes in his hands were no joke.
Strange runes etched the blades, emanating an eerie aura I'd never sensed before.
His gaze brimmed with fierce confidence.
As I sized him up, he did the same to me.
Moments later, our infos swapped.
Lucky break.
Out of six possibilities,
the one I most wanted—the useless one—surfaced.
With that, he'd likely underestimate and duel rashly.
His info hit me too.
Level 23.
Impressively high, but no threat to me.
I chose [Duel] without pause.
He followed suit.
Emboldened by my meager record, he picked it right away.
With both committed, a countdown appeared at arena center.
3...
2...
1...
Duel underway, I prepped to end him like prior rounds.
But this time, with prep time, he moved first.
Gripping his twin axes, he kicked off the ground in a ferocious charge.
Blue aura bloomed from him, exploding his speed and power.
Yet to me, it was glacially slow.
Casually, I toyed with the Red Crystal Ring on my finger.
Mana condensed into a razor-sharp crystal shard.
Shwick—!
The shard sliced air.
Shockingly, he didn't dodge the incoming projectile.
He accelerated straight into it.
Foolish overconfidence in his ability?
Or true breakthrough certainty?
Too late—the shard, trajectory perfected, nailed his forehead dead-on.
Thud!
One shot, again.
I returned to my spot as if nothing happened.
But the vibe there shattered the usual calm.
My match arena adjoined my return point, so for the first time,
I witnessed reactions right after my fight.
Arena-side silence hung in stunned disbelief.
They froze as if by pact.
Expressions mixed shock, confusion, and incomprehension.
That hush soon erupted into roars of awe and chaos.
"...One shot again?"
"Insane. That was a legit opponent this time."
"...In one hit?"
Still reeling from the dominance, voices rose everywhere.
"With skills like that, top ten at least—why unknown till now?"
"What the hell..."
As I began unveiling my power bit by bit,
I tuned out the uproar and reflected quietly.
This moment marked my official emergence.
Exactly as anticipated.
In the end,
I could no longer blend as an ordinary participant.
On the path to victory, scrutiny was inevitable.
Savoring the reactions, I resolved to focus on mains.
However, among the gazes on Oheon, some were far from ordinary.