Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Platinum Promotion Match (2)
Translation: godtl
[Location: Underground Battleground in the Insectia dimension.]
[Insectia is a dimension ruled by cruel insect queens. Survive until the time limit to prove your qualification for promotion.]
[Time remaining: 29:59]
The system window floating in the air.
Upon seeing it, the players each let out sighs laced with curses.
"What the hell......!"
"A different dimension? For a Promotion Match?"
"It's not that strange. It happens frequently in Platinum."
From the Platinum-rank onward, various non-human races start appearing.
Naturally, unlike in Bronze Silver Gold tiers, it was common for Arena stages to take place in other dimensions.
This was common knowledge even among non-players.
The problem was—
"Who doesn't know that? That's not why we're complaining!"
This was a Promotion Match.
"Exactly! And of all places, Insectia?!"
"This is the place even Diamonds dread!"
The Insectia dimension.
As the system described, it was a dimension ruled by insect queens, where the native Insectoids all took the form of insects.
The issue was their sheer size.
But that alone wasn't why the players were reacting so negatively.
The reason for their dismay was none other than—
"The moment you touch even one, a whole swarm will come rushing at you!"
"Right! I saw it on GalTube! If a scout spots you, hundreds of them swarm you in an instant!"
—the nature of the Insectoids.
"Even Diamonds have to spam every AoE skill they have just to fend them off...... What are we Golds supposed to do?!"
"Diamonds don't even fight them head-on—they hide the entire time!"
Like the swarm behavior of insects commonly seen on Earth.
Most Insectoids possessed this hive-mind mentality.
"Goddammit! A Promotion Match in Insectia of all places?!"
"There's a cooperation condition, but...... can a bunch of Golds really pull it off......?"
They were all top-tier Gold-rank players, yet the notoriety of Insectia made it hard for them to keep their emotions in check.
Then—
"That bastard! This is all his fault!"
A short-haired man with a white tiger emblem pointed sharply at one spot, raising his voice.
His finger was aimed at a strikingly handsome man who had just arrived.
"That person......"
"Isn't that Kim Si-mun?"
"Kim Si-mun? The winner of the Gold Debut Match?"
"Wait, he's already at the level to challenge Platinum?"
A few players who recognized him gasped in surprise.
But—
"You all know him? Then this'll be easier!"
The short-haired man didn't share their awe—he snarled instead.
"Anyone who's seen his streams knows! Every Arena he's been in had its difficulty adjusted!"
At his words, the gazes of the other players turned sharp as they stared at Si-mun.
"Now that I think about it...... every Arena he's been in was a disaster, wasn't it?"
"Right. I've watched almost all his streams—whenever he's in, the difficulty spikes!"
"Seriously? Then this Insectia match is his fault too?"
The atmosphere grew chaotic in an instant.
Since quite a few had actually watched Si-mun's streams,
the short-haired man's argument gained even more traction.
And then—
"Nice to meet you. I'm......"
Before Si-mun could even finish his greeting—
"Shut the hell up and get lost, you nuisance bastard!"
A curse flew at him instead.
"Huh?"
Si-mun, who hadn't even gotten a chance to properly greet them, was met with curses.
'What's going on now?'
Before he could even grasp the situation—
"It's all your fault! Every bit of this is because of you!"
The short-haired man kept jabbing his finger in the air, raising his voice.
"Hey, hey, Chang-min! Calm down! That guy's crazy strong!"
A woman who seemed to be his companion urgently tried to stop him.
But—
"So what if he's strong? Don't you know this Arena has a cooperation condition?!"
"Exactly. Just because he won the Gold Debut Match, that means nothing!"
"Why did he have to get matched in my Promotion Match?!"
"He should've at least lowered his MMR first. Ugh...... what an absolute nuisance."
Most of the matched players were glaring at Si-mun with sharp eyes.
A collective sentiment had already formed against him.
'Ah, so that's how it is.'
Realizing how the situation had unfolded, Si-mun let out a hollow laugh.
'They think the Insectia dimension came up as the Promotion Match map because of me.'
Just as they said.
From hidden bosses to increased difficulty.
Looking back at the Arenas Si-mun had experienced so far, it was a somewhat understandable assumption.
They must have watched his streams and become convinced of it.
But.
"Excuse me—no, actually, there's nothing to excuse."
Their grievances were grievances, true.
But what was wrong had to be corrected clearly.
"First, I need to correct the misunderstanding that Insectia was matched because of me."
"Correct what? You think I've only seen your streams once or twice?"
"Exactly! You've always cleared Arenas way above your rank level!"
The immediate rebuttals erupted.
Even without Chang-min, the man who had first spoken up, saying anything more.
The glares directed at Si-mun from the other players were downright hostile.
Si-mun stared back at them with a composed expression.
"If you've watched my streams, you'd know—there haven't actually been that many Arenas with increased difficulty."
As Si-mun said.
There had been cases where his high MMR affected matchmaking or difficulty.
But not every single Arena had been like that.
"There have been Special Arenas or hidden bosses summoned under specific conditions—why are you conveniently leaving those out?"
"Th-that's—!"
"Well, that's true..."
The players faltered slightly at Si-mun's calm rebuttal.
-Yeah. This guy's streams are just so insane that people forget, but the difficulty spikes weren't that frequent.
-Fr. Don't they know Special Arenas are inherently way harder than regular ones?
-Same goes for Gold promotion and Debut Matches. This isn't even worth making a fuss over.
Even the viewers who had been watching Si-mun's streams were fired up now.
They, more than anyone, knew the truth.
At most, Si-mun had simply taken on difficult Arenas.
There had never been a case where the difficulty was artificially increased every single time.
Not to mention.
-Hell, even when there were issues, didn't Si-mun carry the whole thing?
-22. Just look at the Poisoned Supply Route—he dragged 20 players through hell and got them all out alive.
-If anything, the randoms matched with him got a free ride and even feasted on the increased rewards.
-No lie, getting matched with Kim Si-mun is on my bucket list.
-Same lol.
Increased difficulty in the Arena meant increased rewards.
With his overwhelming performances, Si-mun was actually one of the most sought-after players to be matched with.
Assuming he was on your side, of course.
"And, more importantly, the system itself made it clear."
Si-mun pointed coldly at the air.
There, a semi-transparent system message window hovered.
The very messages that had announced the start of the match.
"Read it again. Tell me exactly where it says the difficulty was adjusted because of me."
"Now that you mention it..."
"W-wait, it really doesn't say that?"
The players were visibly flustered.
"Every Arena where I did receive difficulty adjustments was explicitly mentioned by the system. But it's not there, is it?"
As Si-mun said.
Three messages—map, description, and timer.
None of them mentioned any difficulty adjustments or special conditions.
Si-mun drove the final nail into the coffin for the speechless players.
"Surely, none of you are delusional enough to think the system would lie about something like that."
Despite the thick, lush grass and flowers.
Despite the sweltering heat of the 'Underground Battleground' map.
"......"
"......"
Only a chilling silence settled among the players.
Of course, the silence was limited to the players.
-Now that he's finally grown and left the prospect tier, he's running into all kinds of clowns.
-Deadass lol. Do these idiots not read system messages?
-They'd rather jump on the hate train than fact-check. Brainless.
-This is beyond illiteracy at this point.
-And yet, here we are.
-National average IQ level lol.
-You don't deserve to reach Platinum.
-Facts. You lack the brain cells. All of you, fail.
Si-mun's chat was burning up more than ever.
And beyond that...
What's even more ridiculous is that Chang-min kid—he's from a mid-tier guild, and he's acting like that? Lol.
Right? That emblem is from the White Tiger Guild, isn't it?
Holy shit lol. Isn't the White Tiger Guild in a slump lately? Their domestic ranking's been dropping too.
With members like that, no wonder their ranking's tanking lol.
If he's from the White Tiger Guild, he must've been streaming, right? You're screwed.
I'm coming too, guys. Open the gate!
Viewers flocked to the stream of Chang-min, the player who had first raised his voice to incite the others.
Perhaps because he had actually been streaming.
"Ah, no! This isn't—!"
The short-haired man, Chang-min, frantically tapped at the air with a flustered expression.
Si-mun glanced at him and said,
"If you have anything else to say, say it now. I'll give you a clear answer."
"......"
"......"
Where had all that fiery rhetoric gone?
No one dared to speak.
Of course not.
"No! Every time I watched that person's stream, I—! Of course I thought it was because of them! Ah, no! Please, the guild—!"
Chang-min flailed, spewing excuses disguised as explanations.
On top of that, the system window displaying only the Promotion Match details.
At this point, anyone with half a brain could tell what was true and what wasn't.
"Haah..."
Si-mun let out a deep sigh at the silent players.
'No chance of cooperation now, huh.'
Friction had arisen even before the Arena began.
Though the truth had been set straight with facts, the already soured mood was beyond repair.
Si-mun had no intention of trying, either.
Roughly pushing his bangs back, he spoke.
"Even if we clear the air... I'm uncomfortable, so I'll move separately."
After all, the system's explanation only mentioned cooperation as a condition.
'Even if we meet the cooperation condition, there's no additional reward tied to it.'
Unlike the previous Arena, Poisoned Supply Route.
There was no extra reward for all participants cooperating or surviving.
Even with the cooperation condition, this was still a Promotion Match.
An Arena to test whether participants were qualified to advance to the next rank.
Had the others realized that too?
"W-wait a second!"
"Si-mun, please hear us out!"
They hastily grabbed Si-mun as he turned to leave.
Some of it might have been shame for mindlessly following the incitement, but—
'Among the players here, no one's as strong as Kim Si-mun.'
'This isn't just a bus—it's a damn jet. I can't lose it because of some idiot!'
'If I let him go, my Promotion Match is over!'
They didn't want to miss the Kim Si-mun express.
"It's a misunderstanding! No, we were a thousand times wrong!"
"Why should you leave, Si-mun? That Chang-min bastard should be the one to go!"
"R-right! He was the one who blamed you out of nowhere!"
They were all top-tier Gold-rank players, the kind who could participate in a Promotion Match.
Yet, as if flipping a switch,
they changed their tune, cursing Chang-min and clinging to Si-mun.
Of course.
'A Platinum Promotion isn't some child's play.'
'Once you get promoted, you can waltz into any decent guild's upper ranks!'
'With my skills, I'd never make it to Platinum on my own. I have to catch this bus!'
Platinum.
The rank that officially classified one as an upper-tier player.
The Gold-rank players' obsession with reaching Platinum bordered on madness.
And most of them had seen Si-mun's streams, hadn't they?
Knowing his strength, they'd kneel if it meant keeping him.
Then.
"Hm?"
Si-mun, about to leave, tilted his head and stopped walking.
The faces of the players holding him lit up—but only for a moment.
Kwa-rurururuk!
A sudden quake, and the ground collapsed beneath them.
Tak.
Si-mun, sensing the warning signs early, flicked his fingers and leaped into the air.
"Wh-what the—?!"
"Kyaaah!"
The other players, caught completely off guard, screamed as they were swallowed by the thick dust.
'This is...'
Perched on a giant leaf, Si-mun frowned as he scanned the dust-choked area.
Along the edges of the sunken ground.
Skreee—skree—
The relentless sound of something being scraped away.
When Si-mun identified the source, he couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
No choice.
'They didn't put the cooperation condition there for nothing.'
The culprit behind the collapse was none other than—
-Holy shit!
-Is this for real?
-It's already a mess from the start lol.
A massive, armored insect, its long, sturdy carapace easily encircling the sunken area.
"Kreeeeek!"
A Metal Worm.