Chapter 19 — So Easy It's Hollow (3)

"Waaaaaah!"

Jeong Suhyuk, watching the broadcast live from right beside him, let out a yell before he could stop himself—a shout threaded with a thin wire of fear, a jolt of shock, and a bright spike of thrill.

I knew Jaeha had changed somehow, but this much...?

You didn't have to be a genius to notice that the kid he'd treated like a little brother wasn't the same anymore. The boy who'd always been gloomy under the team's discrimination, sweet to the point of looking foolish, had shifted personality overnight, as if someone else had climbed into his skin. At first Suhyuk had chalked it up to quitting Sky Epic, that rotten tooth he'd been nursing for so long. Then he learned what had happened in the underground prison, and the feeling that something was seriously off refused to leave him.

And now here they were. In his very first placement match, Shin Jaeha had swept up nearly half the players on the field by himself and taken first place with an utterly dominant record, as if he wanted the whole world to see it.

Did he stumble into some heaven-sent fortune and awaken on a massive scale?

Nothing else made sense. A player trained as a supporter, moving with that kind of reckless precision as a warrior. The instinct to tilt a multi-man fight in his favor and steer the battle into the exact conditions where his skills would perform at their peak. None of it looked like it belonged to someone who had only just hit level 10 and stepped into a placement test.

Suhyuk's fist tightened. He still had no idea how any of this had happened, but his mood was unbeatable.

"Those Sky Epic bastards must be sick to their stomachs. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Heh heh!"

It felt as refreshing as chugging a hundred cans of soda. The trainee they'd ignored, discriminated against, and treated like a leftover nobody had turned out to be a flower blooming late. He hadn't said a word of this to Shin Jaeha, just in case.

A lot more eyes are on today's broadcast than he thinks.

The KPL was always hunting for capable players. In that sense, the play Jaeha had shown in the underground prison was the textbook specimen of an ideal pro. Teams would be scrambling to sign him while his price was still even a little low, and with his appearance on Taeya's stream today all but confirmed, it was barely an exaggeration to say most of the KPL was watching.

Sky Epic won't be an exception!

What kind of faces were they making right now? He'd have paid a fortune to see it in person.

"Jaeha...!"

He couldn't hold the smile back. His little brother was finally starting to shine, and the pride of it was too much.

...The sight of him bringing the hammer down with blazing eyes was a little frightening, though.

I was taking in the air of the magic city, left to me alone, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when the reward messages started to flicker.

I'd gotten so used to stats being handed out like that lately that I'd almost forgotten. The truth was, even a single point was something to be grateful for—the kind of thing that usually took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠several strong matches to earn.

"Oh."

I put on a suitably surprised face.

...These guys.

Once the quest rewards were tucked safely away, I ended the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Channel connection.

"I was waaaaiting!"

The moment I came out, Taeya threw both arms overhead to welcome me. I could practically see his eyes glittering under that shaggy fringe.

"I watched the whole thing from out here, boss! No, seriously—is it even possible to get this strong in that short a time?! I had goosebumps the entire time I was watching!"

As if to prove he wasn't lying, he brushed his palms up his arms and gave a full-body shiver.

"How do you get that strong that fast, boss?"

Under the roaring demand, I decided to be honest.

"You set overwhelming records in every game. The rewards get fat, and you use them to get even stronger. Simple, right?"

That really was the secret. Why were they reacting like that? There was a hidden trick, of course—regressing from the future—but even if I taught it, nobody here could pull it off, so I left it alone.

"Ahaha...! Our boss is just such a straight-arrow of a man... All right! Then! Shall we ride this heat straight into the next placement match?!"

Taeya poured cold sweat while he tried to soothe the burning chat. I shrugged, and I was just about to start the next test when—

A mission worth five million won, all at once.

"F... five... five million...!"

Even Taeya, a professional streamer, was shocked enough to stammer. I was pretty shaken myself.

Five million on a single mission?!

Who in the world had posted that? Some third young master from a chaebol family with money to burn? The golden cash-rush filling my vision made even my soul feel charitable. But nobody dropped a sum like that on a mission without a reason.

Normally you're better off running placements as solos, not team matches.

In a solo, if you put up a record of your own, the evaluation treated you kindly, and so long as you did your best alone you at least wouldn't land a rank far below what you'd hoped for. A team match was different. No matter how well I played, if my teammates lacked the ability and we lost, that result still went into the placement. Sometimes you came out with a better score than your skill deserved. Far more often, it was the opposite. Worse, team matches sometimes paired you with players who weren't even in placements. You saw plenty of trolls who lit themselves on fire just to ruin the game—Oh? You're in placements? Perfect. Sit tight, I'll gift you a truly magical experience.

And the reason to gamble on a team match anyway...

"Let's go, right now!"

Was more than enough. Five million won was no joke.

Even split in half, that's two and a half million!

I could already smell the sweet scent of money brushing past my nose. Sure enough, a man needed wealth before his heart could afford any room to breathe.

This team match was a Defense: protect whatever object the Channel designated so it wouldn't be destroyed for a set length of time. The ground changed beneath me, and sheer cliffs rose in grandeur on either side—a canyon on a scale that suited the name Valkyrie Gorge. Ahead lay a passage of modest width. Behind me stood the statue we were actually meant to defend, a goddess in stone. A blindfold covered her eyes. Lush hair fell to just below her chest, and brilliant wings folded along her back as if to embrace her.

The statue declared a sanctuary and bestowed two random buffs inside it. What came up this time was Accelerated Recovery and Luck Increase.

"Those rolled pretty well."

I was loosening up when this match's teammates began to appear one by one. Defense depended on your team more than anything else, so the luck of the draw mattered.

"Kahaha! So this is my battlefield!"

The first to show was a blustery-looking man carrying a spear that might as well have been a fangtian ji. If a piece of gear had been born and raised in Korea, this was exactly how it would have turned out.

"Ah."

Next, a mage with a staff—a young man in glasses, with a scholarly air.

The one who looks like a warrior is a little eccentric, but so far this is fine.

Then a short-haired woman who looked like an archer. And last—

"...Ooh?!"

A man with eyes slit sharp as a snake's. Gauntlets wrapped both hands, and spaulders rode his shoulders. A warrior, by the look of him.

Warriors... three of them?

That was strange. No supporter position had been summoned.

"Well, isn't this a pleasure!"

While I was still turning it over, the snake-eyed man came up and offered his hand.

"You're Shin Jaeha, right?"

"Yes? Ah, yes. That's me."

"I was watching the broadcast. Heard you were running a team match, so I logged into the Channel at the same time—and wouldn't you know it, same team right away."

A sniper. Suhyuk-hyung had told me about them: the nasty sort who logged in at nearly the same moment as a streamer so they'd land in the same game, then set out to sabotage it on purpose.

There are decent snipers who actually try, sure, but...

The air coming off the guy in front of me was not pleasant. He kept looking at me with that greasy little grin, and the urge to slap him clean across the face would not quit. Still, I couldn't just beat a man who hadn't done anything wrong yet while yelling why are your eyes like that, you bastard. I was a proud modern citizen of a nation governed by law.

"Um, shall we hurry and start with introductions?"

The mage pushed his glasses up as he spoke. Everyone nodded at once, and we shared our information one by one. A level 10 mage. A level 10 archer. A level 11 warrior. When it came around to Snake Eyes, he grinned and opened his mouth.

"Level 13. Position's warrior, class is Apprentice Fighter. Rank is Bronze."

"A class?! And Bronze on top of that?!"

"Th-that can't be right... This was supposed to be a placement match...?"

The archer's and the mage's eyes wavered. They'd come expecting an ordinary placement and landed in a Bronze-level game instead.

"What a shame~ I feel like I even know who's to blame..."

Snake Eyes slid a sidelong look at me and smiled, thin and fishy.

"Mr. Jaeha's level has to be pretty high, doesn't it~ Bad luck, getting matched onto a team with me, so now you're stuck playing a Bronze-level game."

The way he talked had a way of scratching at you, soft and constant. Truthfully, I hadn't expected to be matched into a game with a Bronze rank either.

Did I get dropped in the middle and drag these people onto a team with Snake Eyes?

Flip it around, and the Channel's system was tacitly acknowledging that I, as I was now, sat at Bronze level. Clear this, and receiving Bronze as my placement rank was halfway confirmed.

"...Hee-hee-heek!"

So much for Snake Eyes. The supporter, meanwhile, was still missing. Surely the system wouldn't make a mistake like that...

...Don't tell me?

I turned my head, casual as anything, toward the man in the Korean gear. His eyes lit up. He threw out a chest packed with solid muscle and declared:

"This humble one is level 12! A supporter, he is! I leave myself in your care!"

No way... seriously?