Chapter 98

Barren, who just arrived and was waiting for the other party members, was surprised when he saw Sophia’s group arrive before him from the tower.

“Sophia. Seems you’ve exerted some effort. Destroying the first tower. Even if I was leisurely playing in the mid.”

“Masied did most of it. Well.”

“Heh. A bronze player?”

“You’ll be surprised when you see for yourself.”

“Still, he’s just a ‘God of Soccer’… Humph.”

Maybe he was irked that they destroyed the tower before him.

Barren half-heartedly picked a quarrel, but,

“Thank you for the 100GP, Lim Gangin.”

Masied, however, showed no interest, busy expressing gratitude for the donations.

When Seong Jihan said he would hunt Count Naseed, this game attracted much attention.

With the inclusion of American superstars Barren and Sophia in the party, not only Koreans but also international viewers gathered.

Perhaps due to the large audience, Masied’s usually empty channel began to buzz.

Especially before the advent of BattleNet, many football enthusiasts were pouring in generous donations.

– I used to love soccer.

– But lost interest after BattleNet. Still, the World Cup was fun.

– Remember when we reached the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup?

– When are you old folks talking about? LOL

[Kim Cheongyong donated 100GP.]

– Remembering the good old soccer days~ I wanted to be a soccer player after watching the ’02 World Cup… Here’s a small donation for you, Masied!

“Thank you, Kim Cheongyong. The 2002 World Cup is especially memorable for our country.”

As Masied actively communicated in Korean with every donation,

Barren pointed at him, asking,

“What’s he doing?”

“I think he’s thanking for the donations. He’s been doing that for a while.”

“Ha! How much is he even getting?”

“Even for 100GP.”

“100… Ridiculous.”

Barren chuckled and no longer showed interest in Masied.

Belittling someone so thankful for a 100GP donation.

He deemed him not worth his time.

“We’re late. Sorry about that.”

“My apologies~ Hehe.”

Just then, Seong Jihan and Yoon Seah, who had been in the bot lane, approached.

“You’re really late. What were you up to?”

“While raiding the enemy base, I also leveled up my niece a bit.”

“What level are you now?”

At Sophia’s intrigued question, Yoon Seah made a ‘V’ sign with her fingers.

“Level 15.”

“…15!? Weren’t you at 6 just a while ago?”

Barren was shocked.

How did she level up by 9, even if this was a silver map?

He couldn’t fathom how many minions Seong Jihan had led her to.

“Everyone’s working hard to level up, but having a good uncle sure helps. Enjoying the carry?”

Although Barren himself was benefiting from a double experience effect, he taunted Yoon Seah.

“Yes. It’s amazing. I love being carried!”

Yoon Seah replied with a bright smile.

“…Ugh.”

“Stop bickering and get ready.”

Seong Jihan, noticing Barren’s loss for words, headed toward the violet puddle at the bottom of the valley where Count Naseed was hiding.

“How are you thinking of summoning Count Naseed?”

“Like this.”

Seong Jihan took out fragments of the ‘Archangel’s Sword’ and ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ from his inventory and threw them into the puddle.

Splash!

The Archangel’s Sword, which emitted a white glow, and the Reaper’s Scythe fragment engulfed in crimson flames, lost their light as soon as they hit the violet puddle.

Then, soon after,

Kaaaaa!

A loud cry echoed from the depths of the puddle.

Thud!

A massive mouth lunged out and swallowed the two fragments whole.

[Since light and darkness have declined…]

Slowly, from the center of the lake, a creature emerged.

A massive snake with translucent purple scales, four huge horns, and seven red eyes.

[The time for ascension has arrived!]

It was the boss monster of the Valley of the End, Count Naseed.

“Wow. It really appeared…!”

Count Naseed, exuding an overwhelming presence from the puddle, stretched all the way to the cliff.

Upon its appearance, the sky turned purple.

On the surface of the cliffs surrounding the lake, eerie symbols began to be engraved.

‘That’s it.’

Seong Jihan looked at those symbols, his eyes shining.

The symbol of Count Naseed being engraved on the cliff.

This was precisely why a team was needed in the Count Naseed raid.

‘While the symbol is active, Count Naseed’s defense and regeneration abilities are significantly enhanced.’

Some team members attack the symbol to prevent the enhancement effect on Count Naseed.

The remaining team members fight Count Naseed.

This was the basic strategy against Count Naseed.

Hence, a standardized approach was formed where two members would block the symbols and three would fight Count Naseed, termed the ‘2:3 strategy’.

“Alright. We’ll proceed with the pre-discussed strategy.” Seong Jihan, holding a sword and arrow, said.

“Are you really going with the strategy you mentioned earlier…?”

Sophia asked in a worried tone.

And rightly so.

The strategy Seong Jihan mentioned before the game was not the 2:3 strategy but:

“How are you going to handle that all by yourself?”

Four attacked the cliff’s symbol, and he alone fought Count Naseed, a rather extreme method.

It might have seemed possible because Seong Jihan, who initially defeated a Diamon Rank, was exceptionally strong.

‘But it looks so formidable…’

The sight of the actual Count Naseed was quite daunting.

How could anyone handle such a monster alone?

“Why? He said he could do it. Let’s see it then!”

Barren smirked, crossing his arms.

Although he joined the party to tackle Count Naseed.

‘I won’t cooperate until he asks for help.’

Barren, having an emotional rift, secretly hoped Seong Jihan would fail and ask for his help.

For that, he should taste the bitterness of failure once…

The party members quickly sensed his thoughts.

‘Ugh… Petty… So petty.’

Sophia thought to herself, but she didn’t utter it out loud.

“Typical Barren. Always narrow-minded. Owner, just ask. I’ll help anytime.”

Masied openly criticized Barren.

Since receiving Arachne Orb and harnessing the God of Soccer’s power, he had unconditional trust in Seong Jihan.

“It’s okay. Just focus on attacking the symbol. I’ll handle the rest.”

“…Okay. I’ll bestow blessings upon you.”

Sighing in relief at Seong Jihan’s words, Sophia bestowed various buffs.

Feeling her blessings, he felt instantly lighter.

‘Trinity. Its effect is indeed profound.’

Support Sophia’s Gift was ‘Trinity’.

This SS-grade gift had a simple effect.

As the name Trinity implies, buffs can be stacked up to three times.

‘With this gift, Sophia became the world’s strongest Support.’

Though it’s only SS-grade, the efficiency of her blessings was exceptional, making her rank 3rd in the world during the Last 10 Nations era.

“Thank you. This should suffice.”

“You’re welcome. If you need healing, let me know anytime!”

“Thanks for the thought, but that won’t be necessary.”

Swooosh!

Seong Jihan confidently held the shadow sword Eclipse in his left hand and Phoenix’s Arrow in his right, flashing a confident smile.

“I won’t get hit even once.”

* * * * *

The hunt for Count Naseed went smoothly.

[Mortal! Do not resist!]

Initially, the confident Count Naseed shouted,

[This rat-like creature…!]

[You dodge well!]

[Ahhh! Kaaaah!!]

As Seong Jihan predicted,

The Count couldn’t land a single blow, only displaying his furious outbursts.

During the 5-minute battle,

The purple semi-transparent scales were cracked all over,

And out of the seven eyes, three had lost their red glow.

– Wow… Such graceful movements…

– Messing with Count Naseed, LOL.

– The skill difference is real…

Even after 5 minutes of intense combat, Seong Jihan looked unfazed.

Most of the attacks were easily dodged,

And the unavoidable blows were slowed down by force and blocked.

Seong Jihan continued to showcase his best moves,

As if watching a well-orchestrated dance.

– Mr. Seong! Come to Japan The goddess awaits you~(laugh)

– You have great synergy with AF. Mr. Seong, the US always welcomes you ????

Foreign viewers who came to watch Count Naseed’s hunt were amazed by Seong Jihan’s solo show and flooded the chat asking him to come to their countries.

– Ah, foreign comments are flooding the channel ㅡㅡ

– It’s become global.

– Even if they flood the chat, Seong Jihan won’t see, right?

– Luckily, donations start at 10 million won, LOL.

– Shh! Don’t bring the attention of the likes of Gates…

Korean viewers were annoyed by the automatically translated foreign comments,

But they seemed less sensitive than before, probably thinking Seong Jihan would have already left if he wanted to.

– Count Naseed seems to endure well, even though he’s hit accurately.

– Is the damage lacking?

– Normally, three players deal damage to the boss. It’s tough to do it alone.

– Yeah, in general, mages or archers deal more damage than warriors.

The battle seemed one-sided,

[Kaaaah!]

Count Naseed spat out huge thorns from his scales and spewed fire from his mouth,

But Seong Jihan used those thorns as stepping stones to approach the Count.

In an instant, his shadow sword Eclipse enlarged.

With a swish,

Another crack appeared on the giant snake’s scales.

“Sigh…”

Watching from a distance, Barren clicked his tongue,

That guy is too good.

How can a human be like that against such a monster?

He should at least get hit once!

“The damage is lacking.”

“Really? It seems he’ll defeat it soon. Usually, a first-time Count Naseed hunt takes more than 10 minutes.”

“No, it’s lacking.”

Ignoring Sophia’s comment, Barren thought,

Indeed, he knew that the damage might not be that lacking.

During this battle, Seong Jihan did not use his special skills,

Only damaged the scales with his sword.

But,

‘If he defeats Count Naseed alone, I’ll be just a sidekick.’

In front of countless viewers from all over the world,

Seong Jihan would be the shining protagonist,

And Barren would be reduced to ‘Seong Jihan’s party member 1’.

What’s the point of joining the raid party then?

‘Alright… I’ll land the final blow!’

Currently, among the symbols engraved on the cliffs of the four directions,

South was Masied, the closest West was handled by Yoon Seah and Sophia,

And the symbols on the farthest cliffs, East and North, were covered by Barren.

‘If I attack the symbols on the East and North lightly, I can prevent their activation.’

Barren tried to manage both cliffs while also dealing damage to Count Naseed.

“Sophia, buff me.”

“Why? You’re strong enough.”

“I’m tired of weak attacks. I need to use a powerful Fire Wave.”

“Well… If you say so.”

As Sophia layered the buffs, Barren smirked.

That’s it!

“Fire Wave!”

The cliffs to the East and North were engulfed in flames.

And the massive wave of fire didn’t stop there,

It moved towards Count Naseed.

“Barren, what are you doing?!”

“The damage is not enough! We need to end this quickly!”

Barren confidently responded to Sophia,

He couldn’t hide his smile, thinking of landing the final blow.

Then,

“Sigh… Can’t even endure 5 minutes.”

Watching the Fire Wave, Seong Jihan clicked his tongue as if disappointed.

* * * * *

[Notes:

AF – America First]