Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: World S-Rank Competition
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World S-Rank Competition.
The grandest event on the planet, with 48 countries from around the globe taking part.
True to its reputation, the technological prowess of the World Hunter Organization—GHO—shone from the very start.
A massive gate loomed imposingly in the center of the Washington Dome.
It captured the attention of every hunter participating in the competition.
"What is that?"
Yong-un asked, eyeing the gate's unusual flow of energy.
Sword Tiger shrugged nonchalantly and replied.
"Think of it as the opening ceremony combined with the preliminaries."
"Opening ceremony and preliminaries?"
"Yes. If it's like before, we'll run the preliminaries inside there. The actual opening ceremony comes afterward."
It was nothing like the Olympics.
Unlike the Olympics, where the opening ceremony preceded the events, in the World S-Rank Competition, even the honor of standing on that stage required passing the preliminaries first.
Yong-un might not have known about the Olympics, but he instantly grasped how the system around him worked and smirked faintly.
'The powerhouses are showing off to crush the weaklings' spirits.'
Yong-un's gaze swept over his surroundings.
He could feel the stares from all directions, along with the emotions behind them.
Desperate resolve to pass at all costs. Utter nonchalance without even a hint of tension.
Yong-un nodded slightly at the conflicting sentiments.
"It's already decided."
"Pardon?"
"Is that Russia over there?"
Sword Tiger turned toward where Yong-un was pointing and nodded.
"Yes, that's Russia. The ones next to them are the Ukrainian hunters."
"And what about over there?"
Yong-un's finger pointed to a corner behind Russia.
Sword Tiger stared intently at the spot, then looked back at Yong-un with puzzled eyes.
"Looks like you're scouting the preliminary favorites, but that's not them. That's Taiwan. They've only made it to the preliminaries once in history—a real underdog."
"I see."
Yong-un watched the Taiwanese hunters closely, then chuckled softly and turned his gaze back to the gate.
He murmured low, as if amused.
"If you want a high rank, watch out. At least more than Russia."
"What do you...?"
Sword Tiger's eyes widened as he stared at the Taiwanese hunters.
Their eyes burned not with the calm indifference of the strong, but with rock-solid determination to pass the preliminaries no matter what.
Sword Tiger glanced back at Yong-un—it was the look you'd expect from underdog hunters.
But Yong-un said nothing more, simply closing his eyes in silence.
The preliminaries began immediately.
The crowds roared, cheering wildly for their respective nations.
But despite all the excitement, as the preliminaries started, not a single person moved.
Except for one.
"M-Master?"
Yong-un was different.
"What are you doing not going in?"
Sword Tiger grabbed Yong-un's arm as he strode toward the gate.
Conscious of the surrounding stares, Sword Tiger whispered urgently.
"You might not know since it's your first time, but going in later is better. No one knows what GHO has rigged inside."
"What does that matter?"
"Pardon?"
Sword Tiger's worry. The expectant gazes around them.
The mocking looks urging him to rush in, reveal what's inside, and get eliminated.
Yong-un met Sword Tiger's eyes amid it all.
"Once it's yours, remember this."
Whoosh.
Yong-un turned toward the gate.
Then, just as he had taught the Demon Shadow Assassination Squad under the Sword Demon, he bellowed powerfully.
"If it's blocked, don't go around—smash it. Even if it's the world itself!"
"Master?"
Sword Tiger's voice didn't stop Yong-un's steps.
Resigned, Sword Tiger hurried after him.
"That is the path of supremacy, and my path."
The voice of the Sword Demon—once the unrivaled overlord of the martial world, even in his final moments—echoed into the gate.
"Crazy bastards, kekeke."
The massive screens covering the entire dome broadcast Yong-un and Sword Tiger entering the gate.
Even their voices—the voices of martial world's conqueror and his disciple—rang out clear.
"Path of supremacy? What bullshit, pfft. They must be nuts."
Laughter and mocking jeers erupted from all sides.
Yong-un's words painted South Korea as a global laughingstock.
The remaining South Korean hunters flushed red with shame.
"They must wanna top the fastest-elimination leaderboard."
"Kekeke, charging in without strategy—is that their 'path to defeat'? Wait, supremacy? Pfft."
"They think they're America or something."
Under the sharp barbs, the South Korean hunters couldn't lift their heads.
But there was a clear reason every hunter was acting this way.
Amid the widespread mockery, the dome's big screens caught the American hunters—champions among superpowers.
They stood before the gate, locked in serious discussion.
America, who never failed to claim first in past competitions, contrasted sharply with the reckless South Koreans.
GHO seemed to play it up, splicing footage of the strategizing Americans next to Yong-un and Sword Tiger's charge.
"Kekeke."
"Puhahaha!"
Laughter boomed across the dome.
Indeed.
The World Competition was a battle of strategy from preliminaries to finals.
Raw mana and combat power mattered, but as a team event, thorough planning through meetings was the norm.
That was how you climbed the ranks and claimed victory.
But.
Hunters from awakener-weak South Korea had spouted nonsense about the "path of supremacy" and marched into the gate without a plan.
Mockery was inevitable.
That was why the remaining South Korean hunters hung their heads.
"Thanks to them, we got a good laugh. Hahaha!"
The GHO commentator's mocking comparison of the footage boomed across the dome.
But then, one of the two commentators—his expression growing grave—spoke up.
"Something feels off, though?"
"Pardon? What?"
"It's been over a minute since they entered. But why isn't South Korea on the elimination list?"
"......"
The laughter died as the commentator's words sank in.
Hunter expressions shifted with every passing second.
And soon, that flipped the preliminaries on its head.
"Woooaaah!"
"Waaaaah!"
Mockery turned to cheers in an instant.
Shock rippled through the thousands in the massive dome.
"Simple enough."
"Not simple at all."
Sword Tiger collapsed as they exited the gate back outside.
He shook his head, panting heavily.
'Only Master could pull this off. Anyone sane wouldn't dream of it...'
Even Sword Tiger, who had won competitions before, had never imagined such a brute-force approach.
'Smashing straight through everything with pure power...'
A gate was a kind of space.
Destroying space itself to move forward defied all of Sword Tiger's common sense.
"Hurry and move!"
"No time!"
GHO staff scrambled about.
They were racing to repair the preliminaries gate before other hunters entered—wreckage courtesy of Yong-un.
Sword Tiger's eyes gleamed as he watched the staff rush in, then glanced at Yong-un.
"No one else could even imagine this."
"Imagination is for everyone. They just lack the insight to act on it."
Sword Tiger shook his head again at Yong-un, standing arms crossed like it was nothing.
He turned to the screen displaying the results.
- 1st Place: South Korea
It was glory itself.
He hadn't seen outside, but the shock there must be massive.
He almost regretted missing the sight of all that mockery turning to stunned awe.
"Ugh."
As Sword Tiger stood, another group emerged from where they had passed.
"Huff... huff..."
Six hunters, hands on knees, gasping for breath.
Sword Tiger checked their national flags, then the screen.
- 2nd Place: USA
As expected.
True to the nation that never missed first, America took second.
The American hunters caught their breath and approached Yong-un and Sword Tiger.
"How'd you do it?"
"Sorry, we don't speak English."
Sword Tiger replied in Korean to their English.
Unable to communicate, the Americans stared blankly at Yong-un for a moment.
"Blah blah foreign words."
They muttered something incomprehensible and huddled in a corner for a meeting.
"What'd they say?"
"No clue. English isn't my strong suit."
Sword Tiger shrugged.
A GHO staffer from the preliminaries area translated for them into Korean.
"They say thanks to you, they passed quickly."
Apparently, some sections wrecked by Yong-un hadn't been fixed yet.
Yong-un nodded faintly, and the staffer continued.
"And they say see you in the finals."
The finals.
A very American declaration.
The bold confidence only they could muster.
Any other Korean hunter would have been honored and thrilled.
But Yong-un just smirked at the words.
"If you make it."
His gaze shifted to the next group to pass.
- 3rd Place: Taiwan
True to the scale of the World S-Rank Competition preliminaries, the opening ceremony started with 48 countries—but more than half were cut, leaving just 20.
Global media exploded with heat afterward.
And at the center of it all stood South Korea.
Sword Tiger and Yong-un's names shook the world beyond South Korea.
And the next hottest buzzword?
"The Path of Supremacy."
The phrase, once uttered only in the Heavenly Demon Cult, now echoed globally.
It exploded into memes, flooding websites worldwide.
Clips of Yong-un spread like wildfire online.
But.
While global media burned hot.
In South Korea, other news buried the stories on Yong-un and Sword Tiger.
A black gate deep under Bupyeong Station.
All hunters had cleared out, leaving only Minister Baek Myung-hee, three foreign hunters, and Park Myung-su.
The three foreigners carefully examined the gate—suspected to be demonic.
But after 10 minutes with no answers, Minister Baek couldn't hold back.
"Can you do it?"
"Please wait a moment."
The foreigners' faces stayed grim.
They circled the gate endlessly, offering no answers.
But Baek held her tongue after that.
Because their power surpassed South Korea's entire strength.
Myung-su, sensing it, quietly approached her.
"GHO support?"
"Yes. That's why I didn't call Sword Tiger."
"So they're all...?"
"Just as you think, Mr. Myung-su. All S-Rank hunters."
S-Rank hunters.
Meaning all three foreigners wielded Sword Tiger-level might.
"That's why you didn't summon Sword Tiger."
"If they fail, Sword Tiger won't make a difference. If it's impossible anyway, we grab everything we can."
She hadn't risen to minister on a woman's whims.
Even in crisis, Baek Myung-hee had it all mapped out in her head.
How to handle worse scenarios.
"All civilians are evacuated, right?"
"Yes. The standby hunters will widen the perimeter too."
"Good call. All we can do is minimize damage. Even if it means abandoning Bupyeong—no, Incheon."
A demon rampage would be the worst nightmare.
She had plans for hardline action in that case too.
Still, she prayed these three could end it.
But.
Minister Baek's hopes were dashed.
The GHO elites approached, faces deathly serious.
One pressed a button on his wrist and shouted.
Minister Baek's face hardened.