Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: Star Horse Battle (6)
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After the third match ended, the audience stands were in absolute chaos.
“Kyaaah! That match was insane!”
“Kuhhh, no way……! To think he could beat the hell out of that famous Grand Elder like it was nothing. Joo Dong-hoon, is he really a rookie?”
“The Grand Elder was impressive too. Even in defeat, that’s the true spirit of a ranker, right? Alright, starting tomorrow, I’m hitting training hard again.”
“Both were amazing! Beyond the win or loss, it was moving!”
It was a match worth every penny.
Joo Dong-hoon’s overwhelming and refreshing magic was a sight to behold.
And the Grand Elder’s indomitable will stirred something deep in the audience’s hearts, giving them all sorts of realizations.
└ But what does this mean for the results now?
└ What do you mean? Magic Tower got crushed 3-0. Utterly dominated.
└ Shocking;; What kind of group is Star Heaven? How can they ignore rankings and wipe the floor like this?
└ Even the Tower Lord might not know what to do. Like some said, Joo Dong-hoon’s skeleton could totally wreck her.
└ Hey, isn’t that going too far? The Tower Lord is world rank 4.
└ Haven’t the matches so far been too one-sided? The outcome’s already in another galaxy, dude.
└ Fair, but still……
Public opinion among viewers had flipped.
From the Tower Lord’s advantage to Arin’s.
No matter how much the experts blabbered, it didn’t matter.
Star Heaven had already pulled off miracle results three times in a row.
└ Anyway, not a single expert got it right.
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ For real.
└ They’re all idiots from the start. If they were true experts, they’d rank higher than those rankers, right?
└ I’m the black sheep for betting based on them.
└ You don’t bet stocks or toto on experts anyway ㅋㅋ
└ I’ve already lost it all. Just enjoying now.
A ‘what if’ or ‘no way’ started creeping into the hearts of people worldwide.
Joo Dong-hoon is a monster.
He builds bone mountains with tens of thousands of skeletons.
He’s skilled in all sorts of martial arts, and even deeply versed in magic.
Plus, he rose to hyper ranker in record time.
And they say he contributed the most to taking down that horrific Jisu Dragon.
More than that famous Demon King or Heavenly Demon.
So, what about his summoned beast?
Could it really beat even the Tower Lord?
└ Does that make Joo Dong-hoon the world’s strongest?
└ Could be. From what I know, Joo Dong-hoon’s skeleton isn’t just that one mage, right? If all his skeletons are hyper ranker level?
└ Whoa……! Crazy, that gives me chills for real?
└ If so, we gotta reevaluate Star Heaven. Beating the Tower Lord and key figures means they’re stronger than the Big 3, right?
└ Don’t jump to conclusions. Tower Lord hasn’t lost yet.
Over 100 million viewers chattered nonstop.
They’d come to truly recognize Star Heaven as a group from the previous matches and began praising Joo Dong-hoon.
The name Magic Tower isn’t to be taken lightly.
It’s one of the Big 3, one of the world’s most influential organizations.
Dozens of rankers belong to it, a place where all hunters with magic-related unique abilities gather to study and compete.
At the top of such a place sits the elders.
And Star Heaven had beaten them.
Not just beaten—crushed them easily.
That’s why everyone was so excited.
They were witnessing the moment the equation [Magic’s pinnacle = Magic Tower] shattered.
Crunch!
Of course, not everyone was thrilled about this.
Usher, who had fainted and woken up, ground his teeth.
“This is cheating.”
Thud!
He irritably tossed his phone onto the hospital bed.
The reactions trash-talking Magic Tower and hyping Star Heaven pissed him off.
“Exactly. This is foul play!”
Brandon, beside him, vehemently agreed.
Despite getting thoroughly beaten, their rapid healing had them recovered in no time.
“Is that magic? Is that an Energy Bolt? What Energy Bolt blocks all magic and moves that fast?”
At least if it had been high-tier magic, he could’ve understood.
In a fight, numbers or mind games could turn the tide.
But what they used was basic magic.
The most basic of basics: 「Energy Bolt」.
Usher refused to accept it.
“Joo Dong-hoon, that bastard must’ve pulled some trick. From his match with the Grand Elder, looks like he’s got a way to enhance basic magic.”
He checked clips online.
Absurd firepower Fireballs.
Enormously large Water Bombs.
“It’s ridiculous. He must’ve buffed Do Ha-rang and Emily too. That’s why the Energy Bolt was that fast.”
“So what do we do?”
“We complain.”
“……Complain?”
“Officially protest and make it public. The game wasn’t fair from the start, right? Cowards.”
“…….”
Brandon shut his mouth.
It seemed plausible.
But he worried about backlash.
“We need evidence to complain…….”
“Evidence?”
Usher scoffed.
“Why would we need that? We are the evidence.”
Magic Tower boasts an ironclad position in the study of magic.
If Magic Tower says so?
That’s it.
Who’s any expert to contradict Magic Tower?
“There are already plenty of such reactions on the communities. We just fan the flames. Honestly, everyone wants to believe it.”
Why?
Because plenty had bet on Magic Tower.
Just look at how ‘match-fixing’ still pops up in reactions.
“Ohh.”
Brandon grinned brightly.
“True, us losing like this is unbelievable anyway.”
“They’re newbies, won’t even know how opinion wars work. Time to show those who dared mock Magic Tower with tricks what real punishment looks like. Heh, can’t wait to see those boneheads become the world’s laughingstock.”
Usher chuckled lowly too.
Damian, beside them, nodded in agreement just as—
Bang!
The hospital room door flew open as someone stormed in.
“Boneheads? What boneheads?”
Gritting her teeth, the intruder was none other than Magic Tower’s master, Sophia.
Her face was filled with fury.
“Not thinking about how you’ve made Magic Tower a joke, and what? Fan the flames? Real punishment?”
“T-Tower Lord!”
The elders panicked and straightened up.
Why was the Tower Lord, who should be prepping for the final match, here?
“Elders who can’t even grasp magic basics acting all high and mighty, now plotting conspiracies? My mistake. I never should’ve kept idiots like you in Magic Tower.”
“Tower Lord! That’s too much!”
Usher shot to his feet and shouted.
“Idiots?! How hard we’ve worked for Magic Tower…….”
“What? Too much?”
Rumble……
At that moment, an overwhelming aura erupted from Sophia.
A tremendous pressure that froze the space bound the elders in an instant.
“Guh, guhuk!”
“T-Tower Lord!”
The elders thrashed to escape the aura.
Sophia shook her head at them.
‘Ahh, so embarrassing.’
She felt ashamed.
That Joo Dong-hoon had seen Magic Tower like this.
“Seeing basicless fools sitting as elders with nothing but pride, I won’t die of old age—I’ll die of anger.”
If the other world’s Tower Lord, ‘Eloise Arin,’ learned of this, how hard would she laugh?
“My mistake. Should’ve cut you weeds early. Magic Tower has no need for idiots like you. Hand over your elder positions and never set foot here again.”
“Tower Lord! How can you do this?!”
Usher shouted in shock.
He’d expected her anger over community stuff.
But stripping three rankers? No way.
He’d dedicated his life to Magic Tower.
He’d gone all-in on this match, now broke.
Sure, as a ranker, any guild would take him……
But abandoning everything he’d built here? How?
“We’re not just rankers—we’re high rankers. Cutting us will hurt Magic Tower too…… guhuk!”
Mid-shout, Usher clutched his throat.
An unprecedented force was strangling him.
“You’re mistaken about something.”
Sophia muttered coldly.
“Magic Tower was built by me and the Grand Elder. With or without you, Magic Tower loses no strength. Drunk on the empty title of elder, discriminating like bigots—did you think you were actually something?”
And it was true.
Even the Big 3’s leaders were their full strength, right?
Hundreds like Usher wouldn’t match one Joo Dong-hoon.
“…….”
Sophia barely contained her boiling rage, watching the elders bite their lips in resistance.
Her words were harsh, but she couldn’t deny their past efforts for Magic Tower.
Basics aside, they’d handled all the early admin work.
But today, they’d crossed the line.
“I’d love to twist your limbs off, but for your past merits, I’ll let you go easy……. So.”
Sophia recited quietly in a icy voice.
“Get out before I change my mind.”
She had plenty to say.
But didn’t want to.
Even nagging needs affection.
Sophia just wanted these idiots gone from her sight.
Bang!
The door opened, and the aura released.
“Guh, guhuk! Cough, cough!”
“……Kuhk.”
Under the Tower Lord’s eviction order.
The elders exchanged glances, gauging each other.
Usher gritted his teeth.
It was unfair.
But no help for it.
The opponent was the Tower Lord he could barely meet eyes with usually.
“……Let’s go.”
Dash!
The three elders bolted out the door.
They sensed provoking her more could really get their limbs twisted.
“Whew.”
Sophia let out a deep sigh, watching them go.
How had Magic Tower come to this.
The elders were a headache, but the Grand Elder?
Sure, he’d shown ranker spirit, but the result was……
‘Got crushed.’
Joo Dong-hoon……
Completely beaten by that guy.
Or was ‘beaten’ right?
Magic Tower provoked first on Grand Elder’s suggestion, and Joo Dong-hoon confidently accepted.
They thought he was just another kitten, but turned out to be a tiger.
‘What to do.’
Cheers from the audience outside grew louder.
The fourth match was about to start.
Honestly, even Sophia was shocked.
Do Ha-rang and Emily’s Energy Bolts made sense due to mana affinity.
But Joo Dong-hoon’s basic magic was on another level.
Truth be told.
She hadn’t expected such a thrashing.
Magic Tower winning was baseline; at best, Star Heaven fights evenly for mutual benefit.
Total wipeout instead.
‘The problem is.’
Even she didn’t know now.
If she could beat that infamous worst Tower Lord, ‘Eloise Arin.’
If she went out and got crushed miserably?
Magic Tower would face worldwide humiliation.
‘Just forfeit?’
No, no.
Sophia shook her head.
That’d be worse than losing.
They’d just say she chickened out 100%.
This was simply.
Time to accept it.
‘Joo Dong-hoon is strong.’
Didn’t Delaila sing about it when they met?
Some absurd monster appeared.
Sophia finally felt it with her whole body.
‘Just fight.’
Give it her all.
Accept the result.
‘If he can really beat me…….’
That’s as good as handing him rank 1.
Losing to future rank 1 wouldn’t be as embarrassing.
‘Somehow.’
It felt like setting a grand table for Star Heaven to devour……
“No, snap out of it!”
Sophia shook her head and clenched her fist.
Can’t start psychologically defeated.
You don’t know till you try, right?
‘Don’t let guard down, face her seriously. No regrets.’
- Alright, everyone take your seats! We’ve got the final match left! This one’s the super highlight—the main event of the eventttt!
MC Spirit’s announcement rang out again.
Only one match left between Magic Tower and Star Heaven.
* * *
At that moment.
“Guild Master.”
Kwon Seon-ji quietly called Kim Jin-ah.
“Yeah?”
“……Um, a group-related prophecy came in. Confirming it’ll consume energy. We can skip, but unlike others, this one takes quite a bit. Shall I?”
“Uh…… sure? How much?”
“If minor ones are 10, this is about 100?”
Kwon Seon-ji’s accumulated energy was over 1,000 so far.
100 was worth it.
“Alright? Let’s do it.”
“Yessir.”
A moment later.
Kwon Seon-ji wore a subtle expression.
“Looks like some folks planning organized slander against Star Heaven for this match……. Three of them.”
“What?!”
Kim Jin-ah, engrossed in the match, shot up and glared.
The nerve.
Slander? How?
“Which bastards?”
Snap.
She’d fold them in half.