Chapter 163
Chapter 163
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Deathmatch Preliminaries
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As the preliminaries began, the entire stadium was engulfed in white light.
The spectators who had come to watch a confrontation match live for the first time buzzed with excitement.
They had expected the match to unfold right there in the vast stadium, but the moment it started, all the participants vanished along with the light.
Unhyang and Cheongryang, who had watched several confrontations before, didn't panic.
Cheongryang, who had come to spectate in person after a long time, already had her hands full of snacks.
"Watching live really is the best. This screen is insane."
That white mist was a massive screen of sorts.
The moment all preparations were complete, it would display the participants' views.
"What do you think they're talking about?"
"Talking? What talk?"
"The stream. You've just been stuffing your face since earlier—no proper monitoring?"
At Unhyang's nagging, Cheongryang flinched. In her excitement over coming to the stadium after so long, she'd forgotten to monitor.
Unhyang let out a small sigh and said,
"It's been muted since earlier. Looks like they're talking with Cha Min-woo or something..."
"Yeah. The viewers are losing it."
"What's going on?"
"What could it be? Probably prepping the next collab stream or whatever."
"Why mute for something like that?"
It was odd.
These two had only met for the first time today. What kind of secret conversation warranted muting?
Cheongryang pondered for a moment while munching on a piece of candy.
"Anyway, if they end up meeting, it'd be huge. Killer content, right?"
"Not likely. The prelim map is way too big."
"You never know? Maybe they just promised to link up somewhere."
"That would be fun..."
Unhyang's face grew paler by the second as she spoke. The air around them froze solid in an instant.
Only Cheongryang noticed the change.
The surrounding spectators, oblivious, continued cheering and focusing on the stadium screen.
"Hey. What's wrong with you?"
Cheongryang shook Unhyang's shoulder.
For that brief moment, she felt strangely detached from the tens of thousands of spectators. No matter how she thought about it, this wasn't normal.
"Why..."
Her lips were parched as she asked.
"Why... did you come in person?"
'In person?'
Cheongryang's eyes widened. In that instant, her gaze shifted to the man in the bamboo hat sitting right next to Unhyang.
The man's face was half-hidden by the hat.
The moment he slightly revealed his face, Cheongryang's body froze.
"You..."
Yun Cheon-geuk.
He was sitting right next to Unhyang.
'Does no one know?'
Cheongryang glanced around at the packed stands, including the seats next to Yun Cheon-geuk.
Yun Cheon-geuk was Murim's second-in-command—a heavyweight on par with Kim Il-su, who had just given the opening ceremony speech.
If word got out that he was in the middle of the spectator stands, all hell would break loose.
Yet strangely, no one seemed to notice his presence.
"Don't make too much noise. It'd be a shame to ruin this festive event because of me."
"Why are you here?"
"You're being too harsh. Isn't it fine for a father to come see his daughter?"
He smiled affably, but to Cheongryang, he seemed like a snake. Every time she faced him, she pictured a pure white viper wearing human skin.
Yun Cheon-geuk, arms crossed, greeted Unhyang sitting right beside him.
"Been well? My daughter?"
"Who's whose daughter?"
"Still on about that, huh."
"I'm not going back. Never."
It was unclear if she was saying it to him or to herself.
One thing was certain: her resolve was ironclad.
But it meant nothing to Yun Cheon-geuk.
"Defying heavenly bonds is as hard as defying the heavens themselves. If you're set on it, then gain the power to match."
"Leave me alone."
"Hasn't this tantrum gone on long enough?"
Squeeze—.
Blood trickled from her clenched fist. Her nails dug deep into her palm.
"It won't be easy. Never."
She slowly began to gather her hostility. Even then, the surrounding spectators felt nothing.
Soon, Yun Cheon-geuk smiled faintly.
"Don't worry. Not right now, anyway. I just came to get a glimpse of your face today."
Whoosh—.
As he rose from his seat, the suffocating tension melted away like a lie.
"Nice seeing you. Next time, at home."
With those words, he pulled his bamboo hat low and vanished into the crowd as an ordinary, unremarkable spectator.
Cheongryang's strength drained from her body, and she slumped into the spectator seat. In that short time, Unhyang's face had already gone deathly pale.
"...You okay?"
"Better than I thought."
Unhyang didn't just brush it off with a simple "I'm fine." Instead, her honest response put Cheongryang at ease.
Her face was pale, but for someone who'd just met Yun Cheon-geuk, Unhyang seemed remarkably composed.
Back when they were in the Divine Alliance Fortress, she had been like a mouse before a snake in his presence—utterly helpless.
"Good. Glad to hear it."
"There's something else going on."
"Huh?"
"He didn't really come just to see me. He had other business."
Yun Cheon-geuk had said as much. But Cheongryang didn't fully trust his words.
He was a snake who deceived people, toying with them through mixes of truth, lies, and silence. How could she?
It was surprising coming from Unhyang, who knew him better than anyone.
"Why do you think that?"
"If he'd come to see me, he wouldn't have shown up like this."
It wasn't wrong. If she were his target, he'd have chosen somewhere far more discreet and deserted than this noisy event.
"Then he really just came for a peek?"
"Are you an idiot?"
"Hey, I know it's not about me. Doesn't make sense—that heavy-ass old man dragging himself here just for a glance."
There was some other purpose here besides Unhyang.
Both their minds grew complicated.
Same time.
"It's starting."
Lee Won-jae rose from his seat after watching the opening ceremony.
Hwang Gyu-seong had been up for a while.
"We starting too?"
"Yes. We have eyes on their movements right after the opening ceremony."
"Then let's hurry."
His blood was pumping; Hwang Gyu-seong couldn't stay still for a second.
Ever since the opening ceremony began, he'd been wrapping his arms tightly around himself to suppress his rage.
"Mind if I ask a rude question?"
"Now?"
"While we move. This way."
Lee Won-jae guided him. As Hwang Gyu-seong hurried after, quickening his pace, he asked,
"What's the question?"
"Between the two of you, who was stronger?"
Kim Il-su and Hwang Gyu-seong. Both were legends who had written the history of the old Blue Eyes.
But thanks to the unparalleled Lee Soo-hyuk, tales of who was stronger between them hadn't spread much.
Still, there must have been a clear hierarchy between them.
"Worried I might lose?"
"A little."
"To answer: back in the day, it was Kim Il-su."
An unexpected answer came from Hwang Gyu-seong's mouth.
She'd assumed his strong pride would make him claim he was stronger.
"That guy was always second place. Probably why he left us. He could never be number one as long as Soo-hyuk was around."
"'Back in the day' means things are different now?"
"They will be."
It wasn't baseless bravado. Even if he seemed blinded by revenge, Hwang Gyu-seong wasn't that foolish.
On the contrary, precisely because he sought revenge, he was marshaling every means, method, and shred of reason to view Kim Il-su with the clearest eyes.
"Understood."
At Hwang Gyu-seong's reply, Lee Won-jae quickened his guiding steps.
"I hope so."
Fwaaah—!
The brilliant white mist that had lingered for a while gradually faded.
As if one's eyes had been blinded by the intense light only to recover, colors returned to the surroundings, revealing a new field.
Cha Min-woo confirmed the field where the preliminaries would take place.
'Cloudy urban field.'
Drip, drip—.
Rumble—.
Raindrops fell from the sky. Even in broad daylight, the weather was overcast, and faint thunder rumbled from the thick storm clouds.
An urban field was terrain he'd practiced extensively. With his guild's help, he'd memorized ways to utilize it.
'Finally starting.'
His heart raced. He'd finally taken the stage for the confrontation match he'd waited so long for.
The weather was perfect too. A rainy city—romantic, wasn't it?
He spotted players who had landed not far away.
Indifferent to the confrontation or perhaps wary, they were already sneaking around cautiously.
The rules were simple.
Survive until 100 remain. But if time ran out, the ones with the most kills would win.
You had to survive. But to guarantee advancing, mere survival wasn't enough.
You needed to rack up kills to boost your score.
Two choices.
Hide for now, or hunt some weakling lurking somewhere.
Step—.
But Cha Min-woo already knew his direction.
'Lee Soo-hyuk.'
The meeting spot they'd agreed on was the center of the map.
The city center.
Pinning down the exact location wasn't hard.
Far off in the distance.
A conical building towered high enough to touch the sky.
That was the center of this map.
Just as Cha Min-woo started heading toward the map's center.
Thwack—!
A spear flew from somewhere, grazing past Cha Min-woo's head.
Crack—!
Rumble—.
The missed spear slammed into an innocent building wall.
The spear's power exploded on impact, crumbling several stories of the building.
Cha Min-woo's gaze turned toward where the spear had come from.
And in that instant.
Flick—.
Cha Min-woo's figure vanished from the spot.
"Fuck, missed! Can't you throw straight?"
"You said team up right away, but your skills are trash as expect..."
"Ah, shut up. You're so noisy I can't focus."
On the rooftop of a building.
Three participants were raising their voices in a group.
One gripped a spear, the other two an axe and sword each. The spearbearer was closest to the railing.
"Next one will hit for su—"
"Hanging with random scrubs? I can already gauge your skill level."
"...!"
The three participants' eyes bulged at the unexpected voice.
Reflexively, spear and blades moved. Quick, agile motions. Qualifying for confrontation prelims meant they were at least semi-ranker level players, no matter who.
But they'd picked the wrong opponent.
"Three's not bad."
"...Huh?"
"My weapons..."
The axe and sword vanished from their hands. The two weapons were already in Cha Min-woo's grasp.
In the split second the three realized "oh shit."
Kwaaang—.
Craaaack—.
Their waists were sliced clean off along with the opposite rooftop.
Cha Min-woo.
Before Lee Soo-hyuk appeared, he had been called the next-gen Lee Soo-hyuk.