Team Battle (1)
The sound of clinking jewelry filled the air with every step I took, each piece chiming brightly against the others. I had equipped nearly every type of accessory obtainable in the individual round. While accessories for the same slot didn't stack their effects, there was a very specific reason I had layered myself in so many.
The helpers who had been staring at me with disbelief soon clicked their tongues and began gathering the players from each coordinate.
“Ah, you’re all gathered here.”
Not far away, I spotted my companions who had been with me since the tutorial, including Park Jocheol. They looked reasonably well-equipped, having apparently completed the individual round without major issues after we split up. I walked over to them naturally and removed one of the bracelets I was wearing, holding it out to Park Jocheol.
“Here, take this.”
“Huh? Siin, this is…”
“I noticed you didn’t have a bracelet.”
“Ah, I see.”
Park Jocheol accepted the bracelet with a slightly bewildered expression. I continued by handing out accessories for slots they didn’t already have to Seo Seyeong, Namgung Cheonho, and Han Gamin. The helpers frowned and shot me dirty looks.
Is this enough of a warning?
This was my way of sending a message to the helpers. The team battle was coming up after the individual round. I didn’t know exactly how the scoring worked, but I was essentially telling them to carefully consider whether competing against us would benefit or harm their own coordinates.
Of course, the stronger we became, the more likely it was that other groups would suggest forming an alliance to take us out first. But…
The chances of that are slim.
I had already observed most of their teamwork during the individual round. An alliance? If something like that were possible, plenty of them would have formed during the individual round already. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t get stabbed in the back after pouring all their strength into attacking us, so no group would willingly strike first.
“Um, ahjussi, I already have a ring like this one?”
“You can equip two rings and two bracelets total, one on each side. Take another.”
Han Gamin’s eyes sparkled as she accepted the elegant silver ring. I had paid attention to the design since she was a girl, and it seemed she quite liked it.
“Where do you keep getting all these from?”
“You still have some left even after handing those out? I’m jealous…”
I wrapped up the distribution without making it too obvious that I still had plenty left. There was no need to reveal my full arsenal. The helpers stopped the players who kept glancing my way, hoping for more handouts.
Among them, however, were a few players who recognized me.
“That bastard… isn’t he that guy?”
“Yeah, it’s him.”
A small group wearing black robes stared directly at me. They were the murderous gang I had fought in the jungle shortly after the individual round began.
“Whoa. This is a nice surprise, isn’t it?”
One of them—the player who had died last to the white monkey—gave me an unpleasant smile. His sharp eyes were a mix of rage, contempt, envy, and jealousy. But I sensed something strangely familiar in his gaze.
He really does seem glad to see me.
I had a rough idea why he was so happy to see me. Given their aggressive personalities, they must have been grinding their teeth ever since losing to me in the jungle. Maybe they had actually missed me.
Still, for people I had killed, their eyes didn’t show any fear. It was more like… elementary school kids trying to hide their excitement after drawing the joker in a game of Old Maid.
“Siin, is something wrong?”
“Looks like ahjussi made a lot of friends during the individual round.”
When the clearly dangerous group approached me, my companions moved to my side and chimed in. Park Jocheol calmly rested his hand on his sword, while Han Gamin growled with a fierce expression. Having our group’s biggest member and smallest member standing like that probably made for quite an interesting matchup for the spectators.
“Ah, so you’re from the same coordinate? That powerless group from a place called Earth, right?”
“……?”
They began talking as if they knew all about us. They pointed out that we lacked combat sense compared to other groups and that everyone except the five of us wasn’t much help in battle.
“Heh. Look at those clueless faces.”
It wasn’t entirely wrong. The modern world we came from punished people just for carrying weapons and imposed severe penalties for harming others outside of legal sports. Unless someone had practiced kendo, developing combat sense with a sword was nearly impossible.
But the important thing was that the place we stood now wasn’t the modern world—it was the third floor of the Tower.
There’s something going on here.
Their expressions were far too relaxed. It was as if they knew exactly what was about to happen. They kept emphasizing the fact that we had started from a powerless world and were only now climbing the Tower.
“Kick. See you in the next competition!”
“Especially you. Better be ready.”
The reason they had provoked us like predators circling prey slowly became clear after we left the lobby and began listening to the rabbit’s explanation of the next event.
“Aaaah.”
“What did you say?”
“C-can you explain it again?”
After all the players from our coordinate had gathered, the rabbit finished explaining the team battle and let out a sigh as if he had expected this reaction. He looked around at everyone.
The team battle would involve every player. There were more than a few ways we were at a disadvantage compared to other coordinates. First, since we had started with virtually no abilities, we were the group that suffered the most deaths during the tutorial. That alone meant we were already outnumbered.
But the more critical issue came with the ‘stat adjustment’ rule for the team battle.
“……With those conditions, aren’t we at too much of a disadvantage?”
“Y-yeah! If all stats are fixed the same…”
The people who spoke glanced at me nervously.
The rabbit had said that every player’s stats would be fixed at 10 for this team battle. It was a restraint designed to prevent a small number of players from dominating with coins, and it emphasized that everyone had to work together—which fit the name ‘team battle.’
So that’s why the individual round was so important.
The accessories obtained during the individual round would grant additional abilities on top of the fixed Level 10 stats. When everyone fought with the same base strength, agility, and stamina at Level 10, having physical superiority through accessories would be a huge advantage.
“Um… Helper-nim.”
A nameless woman at the back hesitantly raised her hand and asked with clear anxiety, “Will magic power also be fixed at 10?”
It was probably one of the questions everyone here was most curious about. For people who didn’t know how to fight physically, the magic power needed to use skills was their lifeline.
The rabbit’s firm answer drew sighs from the crowd. These were people who had cleared the second floor with magic and had only just figured out their own survival methods. But for me, whose main focus wasn’t magic, there was something even more important.
“So, what exactly are we doing in the team battle?”
This was the most crucial point. The plan I would make from now on would change depending on the theme of the team battle. If it was something like annihilation, our chances of taking first place were zero. But if it involved capturing territory or hunting monsters… we might actually have a shot.
The theme of the team battle is Flag Stealing!
Flag stealing?
It was a simple rule. The kind you would have encountered at least once if you played a lot of FPS games. While the Tower probably had more varied rules than online games, the basics didn’t feel too unfamiliar.
The rabbit’s words caused the murmuring among the players to grow louder. In a team battle where everyone started with fixed stats, even a small stat increase would lead to group growth. Individually it might be a minor difference, but when over a hundred people received the reward, that single Level 1 became far more significant.
However, there were many risks involved in attacking others first. The damage we would suffer during large-scale battles was one of them. Simply defending would distance us from victory, but rushing into an ill-prepared offensive could lead to total annihilation.
“Does the team battle have separate rankings?”
I asked while rubbing the back of my stiffening neck. The rabbit gave a bitter smile and nodded.
To stay in the middle ranks, we would need to focus on defense. To aim for the top ranks, we would need to attack.
I looked around, carefully observing everyone’s expressions. Was it really the right decision to go on the offensive with this many people and this level of power?
Just as I was sinking into deep thought, one man quietly raised his hand and spoke in a calm, measured tone.
“Um… I have an opinion. May I speak?”
Namgung Cheonho smiled awkwardly as he looked around at the group. He was a programmer from Korea’s largest game company. I later learned that he had actually been a balance designer who worked on growth systems and stat balancing for games.