Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: The Colosseum
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'This time the theme is the Colosseum, huh.'
Theme: Colosseum.
In this theme, the main event was one-on-one duels.
The rules were simple.
Players of equal tier entered the Colosseum and fought.
That was it.
The only distinctions were victory and defeat. The winner and loser could then choose whether to challenge again or not.
However, suffering three losses in total resulted in forced ejection from the game.
In other words, you couldn't challenge indefinitely.
That said, hardly anyone ever racked up all three losses.
Because players who entered the Colosseum would snag one win and immediately forfeit the challenge.
Why?
Simple reason.
Penalties.
Stat reductions, Dimension Arena access bans, and more.
Even a single loss triggered a variety of them.
Especially as losses piled up, the penalties didn't just add—they multiplied. They even squared in severity. So plenty of players would forfeit after just one loss, even without filling their win quota.
Of course, every coin has two sides.
The real deals.
Players commonly called talents, talent freaks, Super Rookies, or Saints—they treated the Colosseum like an El Dorado flowing with milk and honey.
The streak rewards were incredible across the board.
Just two wins in a row noticeably boosted your stats. Three or four wins netted top-tier materials.
From five wins onward, it showered complete equipment sets.
Of course, even they had limits.
The Gold Tier Colosseum's all-time streak record was 8 wins.
And it was set by the current world ranking #1 and #2.
The rewards they claimed for that record were still shrouded in secrecy, but one thing was clear: they were insane.
And now, Choi Shin-hyeok was entering that very Colosseum.
Naturally, he was brimming with confidence.
"This should be fun. The record's 8 wins, right? Let's break it today."
Confidence that he'd shatter the old-era record.
Of course, the viewers couldn't believe Choi Shin-hyeok's words.
His path as a rookie was impressive—no denying he was Super Rookie material.
Placement Exam #1.
Silver Integrated League entry and MVP in just one month.
His future was bright enough to shake up the spots of the so-called Three Emperors and Five Kings.
But not yet—that was the viewers' consensus.
The die-hard fans who'd followed from the beginning thought differently.
America's Robert Jason?
Europe's Roderick Banner?
They were giants of the era, no doubt.
Not for nothing were they called the Two Emperors.
But even frogs were tadpoles once. Looking at their early records—
Their achievements paled compared to what Choi Shin-hyeok had done.
As the chat exploded in debates over who was right—
"10-win streak."
"...?"
"Scrapping for 9 wins after 8 is messy. 10 clean wins is better, don't you think?"
"...!"
Choi Shin-hyeok dropped a bombshell.
He dismissed Robert and Roderick's records as "scraping by," and declared he'd set an unprecedented 10-win streak.
The chat heated up instantly.
Layered on casual racism, outrage poured in like wildfire.
Seeing the demands for apology, Choi Shin-hyeok flashed a faint smile.
'Solid aggro.'
America's Robert and Europe's Roderick.
Just a light diss, and the firepower was already intense.
Over half the chat filled with curses, but no big deal.
Clap, clap.
"Manager. Report and ban all excessive profanity, and handle legal action."
"...".
Choi Shin-hyeok was Shinwa Group's third generation, after all.
With a light clap to calm the chaos, he gazed at the now-quiet chat.
"Hate away. Criticize all you want. If I spoke falsely, go ahead. So watch. See if my words were lies or boasts."
"...".
His calm words continued.
Hate and criticism?
Fair enough.
If he'd done wrong, he deserved it.
But if he was right?
Then they couldn't hate or criticize.
Leaving the silenced chat behind, Choi Shin-hyeok faced his first opponent.
"Bronze scum. I'll kill you."
His first opponent was Chinese.
Seeing Choi Shin-hyeok, he spat vile insults. Choi Shin-hyeok made no retort.
Mistaking it for fear or thinking he'd seized momentum, the man bared yellowed teeth and kept ranting.
Amid curses filthy enough to dirty the ears, Choi Shin-hyeok calmly scattered bone fragments around.
Dozens of them.
And that wasn't the end.
"Undine, Ifrit, Sylph, Gnome."
The four-attribute spirits answered his call and appeared.
By then, the wait time ended.
The translucent barrier between the Chinese player and Choi Shin-hyeok vanished with the duel-start message.
At that instant, the Chinese player charged at Choi Shin-hyeok.
His movements were solid, no doubt.
Mature Gold Tier stats and real combat experience meshed into stable footwork.
In a flash, he closed the distance.
"Shun Kawei! Name of the great hero who'll crush you!"
Shrieeeek!
A sharp guan dao.
The sight of it slicing air was beyond fierce—it was spectacular.
Choi Shin-hyeok casually snapped his fingers.
Snap!
"Rise."
Rumble rumble rumble!
As his fingers snapped, his mana spread, infusing the scattered bone fragments. They transformed into dozens of skeleton soldiers.
The skeletons rose instantly and lunged at the Chinese player, Shun Kawei.
"With mere undead?!"
Smash smash smash!
Of course, they were outmatched.
Skeleton soldiers were decent at Silver Tier, but they fell short against Gold.
Sure, hundreds or thousands might be different, but that was impossible for a fresh Gold player's mana stats.
No one had skills ranked that high anyway.
In the end, the skeletons shattered, again and again, scattering white bone dust.
"Kahahaha! You gonna hide behind undead like a coward?!"
Shun Kawei was like a runaway locomotive.
Smashing through blocking skeletons while cackling wildly said it all.
The skeletons drained his mana to repair and cling on, but that was it.
They shattered faster than they reformed.
Yet they didn't stop, buying time as Choi Shin-hyeok finished preparing.
"Elemental Shower."
Shwaaaaa!
Condensing the four spirits' power into a rain of elemental might.
Shun Kawei urgently threw up a mana barrier against the falling four-attribute rain.
Sizzle— The barrier burned away, slowing his movements inside.
'Spirit Summoning's great.'
His Spirit Summoning was a mere E-rank.
But commanding all four attributes made it effectively two ranks higher.
Even a mature Gold Tier player found his feet caught.
Naturally, it didn't end there.
"Bone Chain."
"...!"
Clank!
The shattered skeletons weren't just for stalling.
Their remains turned to bone dust saturated with mana, reforming as fragments.
With countless fragments scattered—
Choi Shin-hyeok pulled the trigger.
Bone Chain.
Bone chains ensnared Shun Kawei.
Arms.
Legs.
Torso.
Finally, his head.
Shun Kawei couldn't twitch a finger or nod his head.
Yet his momentum didn't fade.
"Come at me, mongrel of a small nation! I, Shun Kawei, won't kneel to this!"
Fwoosh!
Aura.
Wrapped around his body, Shun Kawei thrashed against the bone chains' pressure.
If Choi Shin-hyeok approached recklessly now, Shun Kawei would amp his aura, burn the chains, swing his guan dao, and cleave him in two.
Wait it out?
Eventually, the chains would burn to ash, and Shun Kawei would leap and charge again.
A dilemma from hell.
Go and problem. Stay and problem.
Even so, Shun Kawei inwardly seethed with a demonic grimace.
'Damn it! Humiliated by a small nation's brat. I can't face the Martial Emperor or Sword Emperor!'
A fresh Gold Tier player.
Not even half a year past his Placement Exam.
A raw chick like that forcing a stalemate was humiliation for Shun Kawei.
Shame enough to hide from China's pillars, the Sword-Martial Twin Emperors.
So Shun Kawei gritted his teeth.
'I'll smash him. Whether he comes or I go. I'll split him in half.'
The moment he vowed to turn shame to victory—
Choi Shin-hyeok entered his view.
Grooooan!
"...A bow?"
Choi Shin-hyeok drawing the string of a greatbow as big as himself.
An arrow as massive as the bow.
No, spear-sized.
The instant it launched—
Splat!
Choi Shin-hyeok's shot pierced Shun Kawei's brow perfectly.
Well, "pierced the brow" was inaccurate.
Simple reason.
Shun Kawei's head—where his brow should be—had been literally erased.
A headless body couldn't move.
Thud!
Choi Shin-hyeok impassively watched Shun Kawei's corpse slide and tumble across the floor, then lowered his greatbow at an angle.
"First win, secured."
9 more to go for the 10-win streak.