The Great Melee Update
"Is that damned woman doing well?"
Just because the matter had been settled in World of Phantasm didn't mean his grudge against Asea had simply evaporated.
"Asea is……."
Seven hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"She's doing just fine, thanks to a certain someone. There's been some complications—she took that hit while forcing herself to use bugs—but she's perfectly sound otherwise."
"Well, that's certainly cheerful news. What kind of complications, exactly? I happen to know an expert in prosthetic bodies. I could arrange the finest custom work for her."
"How very kind of you. Though I'd say her mind is in far worse shape than her body."
Seven let out a light sigh.
"You have two minutes left. Whatever it is you came to say, say it quickly. Don't tell me you actually intend to win this tournament and steal management rights to Super Gemini?"
"Hardly. I'll put in some effort, sure, but I'm not holding my breath. What I want to say is……."
"One minute. Get to the point. 58, 57, 56……."
"This bastard is absolutely unbelievable."
Seven scrunched up his face in sheer exasperation.
"I came to declare war, if anything. You and your little Jucheongwang may be one step ahead right now, but soon enough……."
"Ahem, ahem. How utterly predictable. 31, 30, 29……."
"You're a genius at pissing people off, I swear. Our purpose hasn't changed, then or now. GA-ES will climb that tower. Be ready. We are……."
"2, 1, 0. Time's up. See you next time."
With those final words, Ryu Hwi vanished.
Seven could only let out a hollow, incredulous laugh.
"Even more insufferable than Gabriel."
He hadn't listened. Not even a little.
That was the only way to interpret Ryu Hwi's behavior.
"Do I have to force him to listen?"
The moment Ryu Hwi disappeared, leaving Seven standing alone, several gamers began closing in on him.
Seven sighed and turned to face them.
"Perfect timing. Help me blow off some steam, would you?"
[Wasn't the whole point to keep tabs on GA-ES?]
"Time was up, wasn't it? What do you want me to do about it? Their fault for showing up late."
Back in the waiting room, Ryu Hwi wore a thoroughly annoyed expression.
A guild like GA-ES—one that had tried to drag Rinzea down with bugs and seize the summit—was never going to sit quietly.
Seven had claimed he joined the tournament to make his 'declaration of war,' but Ryu Hwi just scoffed.
This stage belonged to Jucheongwang now. There was no room left for the likes of GA-ES.
"If they want to stay buried at the bottom of the sea, that's fine by me. Or maybe they'll go and develop some new game labyrinth just to face us. That'd be fine too."
Once this tournament flooded the world with 2.0 game labyrinths, he could keep growing stronger off the back of it.
If GA-ES managed to produce a quality game labyrinth, he intended to use it, no questions asked.
[If I may offer a personal opinion, that man is not someone to let your guard down around.]
"I know."
He hadn't dismissed Seven. The man still had something up his sleeve.
Intuition had sensed an indefinable unease.
Then, out of nowhere, Diamond Norn's words surfaced in his mind.
The key. The doll. The wings.
He had no idea why those words came to him now.
Could Seven be connected to one of the three?
"Anyway, GA-ES showed up right on schedule, so shall we get this started?"
He contacted Noel, who was in the middle of her long broadcast.
⟪What's up? Did you just miss me and decide to call?⟫
"Cut the jokes. Start the Great Melee mode."
⟪Huh? Already? Wasn't round two supposed to start when the field dropped below a thousand on day five? If we start it now it's going to be an absolute bloodbath, you know?⟫
"GA-ES graced us with their presence, after all. Don't we owe them a proper show? Super Gemini's 'update.'"
⟪Hmmmm, okay, fine. Should be fine. It's just the players dying anyway.⟫
Yggdrasil 2.0 had changed one more thing.
5555, the one who'd discovered it, had rigged up a little trick for the tournament.
The stage for round two was built on that very 'trick.'
It was a sudden change of schedule, but the reason was simple enough.
It sounded fun.
[This man is in full-on "have fun at all costs" mode, isn't he.]
Total Participants: 17,693
Survivors: 6,767
⟪Attention, everyone. We've confirmed the survivors have dropped below 7,000. Beginning now, we will be unveiling the newly 'updated' mode for Super Gemini!⟫
At those words, not only the competing gamers but even the viewers watching the broadcast wore puzzled expressions.
Updating Super Gemini?
Once a game labyrinth was created, it couldn't be managed—everything fell under Yggdrasil's jurisdiction.
That had been the conventional wisdom until now.
Just then, Noel appeared on the screen.
⟪Ta-daa! I'm sure some of you are surprised, but get ready for an astonishing revelation! All those game labyrinths built back in the old version were structurally such a trainwreck that they could barely hold themselves together on Yggdrasil's resources alone!⟫
The gamers found themselves nodding along despite themselves.
Everyone agreed that the old-version game labyrinths were riddled with problems.
⟪And because the structure was such a mess, any additional interference was blocked outright! One wrong move and the whole carefully-built labyrinth could have come crashing down in an instant!⟫
With the arrival of Yggdrasil 2.0, any sources not even worth implementing were rejected by Yggdrasil itself.
⟪Under 2.0, a game won't be made into a labyrinth unless its structure is rock-solid. Which means it's that much more stable. In other words, Yggdrasil 2.0 game labyrinths now permit a degree of outside interference!⟫
That set them apart from the game labyrinths of the past, where all you could do after building one was stand there and gawk at it.
Now, as long as you didn't wreck the labyrinth's balance, a certain amount of interference was allowed.
⟪I mean, if you couldn't interfere with a labyrinth in the first place, you couldn't even hold a tournament like this, could you?⟫
True enough—no such production had ever been pulled off in an old-version game labyrinth.
Taking advantage of the ability to interfere with a game labyrinth, 5555 had carried out an 'additional data update.'
Updating an already-created game labyrinth was a world first.
⟪And now, without further ado, allow us to present the newly updated 'Great Melee'!⟫
The world blazed with light.
Great Melee
When they came to, the gamers were standing in an 'arena.'
A vast circular arena in the shape of a colosseum.
The battlefield, ringed by spectator stands, was built across multiple tiers.
Open gaps and stairways connected each floor, letting combatants move freely up and down.
Each tier of the arena felt as though an entire stage had been compressed into a single floor.
Stunned by the abrupt change, the gamers panicked.
Until a moment ago they'd had to roam sprawling stages hunting for opponents, but here in this arena, they could spot enemies at a single glance.
No—not just spot them. Everywhere you looked, there was nothing but enemies.
It was total pandemonium—a stage of 'great melee' designed for countless gamers to pile together and brawl to their hearts' content.
⟪And now, in ten seconds, round two—the Great Melee—begins!⟫
"Ha……."
Seven found himself laughing despite everything.
Yggdrasil 2.0's first game labyrinth.
The first-ever game labyrinth event.
The first update of a game labyrinth using the 2.0 system.
Jucheongwang had brazenly snatched up every first there was to claim. They were showing the world exactly how a 2.0 game labyrinth was meant to be run.
Everything GA-ES had dreamed of doing first.
They had wanted to plant the flag of GA-ES and outrun everyone to the finish line.
Every game labyrinth that emerged from here on, large or small, would bear the influence of the 'Super Gemini' that Jucheongwang had built.
'They probably had the update ready to go anyway. But the timing of the reveal is off. If the round-two trigger is dropping below 7,000, they should have started ages ago.'
Why had round two started so abruptly?
Seven figured out the reason almost instantly.
"Because I made contact with him? So he's rubbing it in my face on purpose? Wow. Look at this guy. He holds a grudge like nobody's business."
Having seen straight through Ryu Hwi's intent, Seven spat out a curse in sheer disbelief.
"Fine. You've got a head start for now—but let's see how long it lasts. I will never forget today's humiliation!"
Seven declared he was forfeiting and left Super Gemini.
By the original plan, he'd intended to fight to the very end of the tournament, but right now every second felt like a waste.
Overthrow Jucheongwang!
Ryu Hwi's provocation had lit a proper fire in Seven's chest.
Round two—the Great Melee.
The tournament descended into utter chaos.
Natural enough, when hundreds of people traded blows in a cramped, confined space.
But for the spectators, nothing could have been more entertaining.
"Get off me! Stop! Grabbing! People! You blasted—!"
The most eye-catching gamer of all was Bisque.
True to her nickname, the Mad Dog, Bisque roared as she mercilessly carved through the other gamers.
Her kill count ran at number one in the entire tournament.
"Wow, this is no joke at all. Haven't had this much chaotic fun in ages."
Pokryeol Daedo's performance stood out as well.
True to his name, Pokryeol Daedo wielded the sword as his weapon of choice even in Super Gemini.
The way he maneuvered and toyed with other gamers with such effortless skill proved he hadn't been called a 'next-generation ace' for nothing.
"Best to steer clear of Bisque and Pokryeol Daedo if I can."
Ragna, being Ragna, survived by making clever use of the arena's gimmicks and items.
Over six thousand gamers brawling in a single location!
Word spread, people flooded in from everywhere, and the live viewership skyrocketed.
Communities across the internet burned white-hot with the news.
"Yes! This is it!"
He cheered as he watched the ferocious competition.
"So, when should I jump in? Might as well pick a fun moment."
[You're not even considering the possibility that you'll lose, are you.]
"Come on, I'm not that arrogant."
Just how far could he get on two things alone—Intuition and the Shuffle Gun?
Intuition was undeniably broken, but without the blessings of the Sword Saint and the Demon God, his body had hard physical limits. Game over could come at any moment.
"It's because I'm not arrogant that I can enjoy this like my life depends on it."
[If you truly aren't being arrogant, then use 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art,' wouldn't you say?]
"That's a completely different issue, isn't it? For the sake of a reasonably fair fight……."
[You've had Intuition on this whole time, so what difference does it make? Speaking personally, I'd say Intuition is far more broken than Heavenly Demon Divine Art?]
"……."
He had no comeback for that.
"Anyway, setting that aside……."
Ryu Hwi's atmosphere shifted.
"YggON. What do you sense?"
[I can't pinpoint it, but it's definitely here. I detected that distinctive 'code.']
He'd hoped the tournament would wrap up without incident, but it didn't look like it would be that easy.
"Well then, shall we sit back and see how they make their move?"
⟪You're asking me to disrupt the tournament?⟫
"Yes, precisely."
Crowley of S.E.N was on a call with someone.
⟪Wasn't the official policy non-interference for the time being?⟫
The voice on the other end sounded distinctly displeased.
"That may be the organization's decision, but there was never any order dictating how individuals should conduct themselves."
⟪In other words, you want me to follow your personal judgment. Is there some particular reason the tournament must be ruined?⟫
His contact seemed far from satisfied.
"Are you enjoying yourself right now?"
⟪Well, I suppose I'm having a decent time.⟫
There was commotion on the far end of the line.
"How wonderful for you. That's exactly the reason."
⟪Pardon?⟫
"An utterly personal one. If I had to sum it up in a single phrase……"
Crowley's beaming expression twisted into something ferocious.
"I simply can't stand the sight of these so-called gamers laughing and carrying on."
⟪…….⟫
"Well, it's a personal favor, so feel free to refuse. In that case, I'll just have to find another way."
⟪Fine. I'll do it.⟫
"Are you certain?"
⟪I owe you a debt, after all.⟫
Crowley ended the call.
His eyes were fixed on the live broadcast of the 'Super Gemini tournament' currently airing.
"Now then—how will you make your entrance, Master of UR?"