The Grand Final Opens
The playoffs.
A battlefield only a select few chosen hunters may enter.
A brutal battlefield, at that.
Desperately. Earnestly.
Fiercely. And cruelly.
The winner and loser are decided. The winner takes everything.
That is why it is a cold-hearted battlefield.
And why it is a glorious one.
It was coming!
People were flooding in!
League fans were pouring into Busan!!
“We are live from Busan, host of the Grand Final. As you can see, Busan Station is so packed with fans here for the championship match that there is no room left to stand…”
“Busan City has officially designated today as ‘League Day’ and promised full support for this Grand Final…”
Grand Final promotional banners lined the streets, planted so densely they rippled like waves in the wind.
Flags stood on both sides of the road, featuring hunters from Mir Guild and Kirin Guild. Fans snapping photos with their favorite hunter’s flag soon realized the entire city had become a backdrop for hunters.
Electronic billboards played Grand Final promo videos. Every high-rise building displayed massive banners—Mir Guild’s centered on the Mountain King, Kirin Guild’s on the Divine Archer—hanging side by side.
The whole city of Busan had immersed itself in today’s finals.
And the city was not alone in its obsession.
In truth, this side had gone far beyond mere immersion.
“Chairman Lee Sang-byuk of Ido Group has exceptionally taken the microphone himself at a press conference. He declared that he would make this finals the greatest in history…”
“Chairman Kim Jang-chun of Kirin Group also held an emergency press conference, promising the most spectacular victory on the greatest stage. Chairman Lee Sang-byuk responded with a sharp jab, saying, ‘Victory is something the guild achieves.’”
That day, every Busan-based corporation quietly closed for business.
The police chief deployed an unprecedented number of officers across the city and announced full traffic control for the entire day.
Once they had used their influence to create smooth traffic flow, the next step was transportation.
Both conglomerates dispatched buses nationwide. Kirin Group refused to accept another pitiful crowd like in the second half of the season, and Ido Group refused to be outdone.
They went wherever fans were and brought them straight to Busan.
The resulting helicopter shot of Mir City split perfectly into two colors was quite the spectacle.
“Fans who couldn’t obtain tickets have gathered in Mir City. The right side is packed with the sky blue representing Mir Guild, while the left is filled with Kirin Guild’s gold. The off-site cheering is already intense.”
“We can also see the Yeongdo ward mayor. It appears they are currently apprehending ticket scalpers.”
If it was like this outside, the inside of the arena defied imagination.
Whatever you pictured, it was more.
An hour before the match, the two fandoms were already roaring at each other.
Whenever Kirin Guild hunters appeared on the empty standby screen:
The Kirin fans chanted names and waved flags wildly.
Not to be outdone, the Yongbungs raised their mufflers high above their heads the moment their hunters appeared.
From the streets outside to the seats inside the arena.
Even before the match began, the two guilds collided fiercely.
For my hunters, for our guild, they screamed until their throats tore, as if they were ready to die today.
The blazing heat rose without end until it reached its peak. When the time finally arrived—
Tap. Tap.
The arena lights went dark.
The moment the Flame Queen appeared on the screen, a thunderous roar erupted from the Kirin Guild cheering section.
Whoaaaaaaa——!!
If Mir’s Holy Bone Youth Park Su-bin was inviolable, then Kirin’s inviolable superstar was the Flame Queen, Kim Ji-ah. A franchise player and the superstar who would carry Kirin’s next generation.
That was the moment.
The lights dimmed again and another face appeared. This time the Mir Guild cheering section exploded.
Because there, their superstar Yu Ri-ra was smirking.
Two losses in the rivalry matches and one in the regular season. Three losses total.
If you lose three times and claim you’re not conscious of your opponent—
You’re the best, Yu Ri-raaaaa———!
The Yongbungs roared at Yu Ri-ra’s high-level provocation.
The two-shot on screen now showed Kim Ji-ah and Yu Ri-ra staring each other down.
After the two women’s fiery trash talk ended, the screen switched to Spear Ghost Yang Kang-cheol and Park Su-bin.
Besides them, there was Baek Yeon-woo coldly telling the Gumiho—who had called the rookie lucky to have a good team—that he “sucks,” along with the Manwang and Hwarang declaring they would give their all.
If the goal had been to raise the atmosphere with trash talk, it was a massive success.
The cheers kept climbing until they were loud enough to hurt the ears.
When the excitement reached its absolute peak, the two protagonists of this match finally appeared.
The Divine Archer, Son Yul.
The Mountain King, Kim Jong-pil.
Master and disciple faced each other.
To the strong, what must be avoided is complacency. What is necessary is struggle. What is required is a powerful opponent.
With respect and courtesy.
It was only right for the best to face the best.
Son Yul smiled for the first time.
At last, the curtain rose on the Grand Final.
Arrows shot like lightning. Swirling orbs of light raged.
The Divine Archer’s arrows became beams of light that pierced their target. Park Su-bin’s orbs carried his will to protect their master.
The two lights clashed in the mid lane, neither yielding even an inch.
He’s strong…!
Park Su-bin bit his lip until it nearly bled.
The Divine Archer’s arrows were far more destructive than he had anticipated. They were impossible to track with the eye, their trajectories changed unpredictably, and by the time the sound reached him the target had already been pierced.
Losing focus for even a split second would have turned him to rags without question.
Yet the surprise was not Park Su-bin’s alone.
Hmm… Interesting?
The Divine Archer was equally astonished.
He was shooting with genuine intent, yet every arrow was being blocked.
Walls formed, shields rose. The strikes he had fired with real sincerity were met with ghostly precision—double and triple layers of defense rose to intercept them. The way the orb swirled and altered the flow of magic power was especially impressive.
Even the Divine Archer, who rarely spoke during matches, opened his mouth when an arrow was devoured by the orb.
“……”
If one had to describe it—
The absolute power a gate emitted.
That same power dwelled within the orb.
The Mountain King had raised countless disciples, yet not a single one had been called a potential successor in front of the Divine Archer.
Why? Because they had all been crushed.
The Mountain King’s masterpiece was as harsh to his own disciple as it was to everyone else.
The Divine Archer’s eyes changed. His curiosity had been satisfied. There was no longer any need to hold back. The moment he drew the bowstring—
The world stopped.
A droplet fell in the darkness.
Drip… splash!
The ripple spread outward in concentric circles, forming an intangible domain.
The Divine Archer released the arrow.
The arrow blinked.
Thud!
Arrow embedded in the shoulder!
…Teleportation?!
The orb had clearly been blocking the trajectory, yet the arrow had passed straight through it.
The defense had been breached!
As arrows rained down like a storm, he immediately tried to summon the giant, but—
“…!!”
Squelch!