Chapter 138 (1/2)
Chapter 138. He Who Wishes To Wear the Crown (2)
Early July, 2017 AD.
Around 300 Paradise days after the opening of the Neutral Zone on March 16.
The event that garnered the attention of countless Earthlings was officially over.
The fifth Banquet had been expected to be similar to the fourth Banquet, which was also known as 'The Festival of Blood', but the results proved to be the opposite.
Contrary to all expectations, a large number of survivors exited the portal.
The rate of survival in Stage 3 of the previous Banquets had always been devilishly low — the third Banquet had two survivors while the fourth had none. Considering this, the fact that over half returned alive instantly became widespread news.
Particularly, the rumor that an Earthling from Area 1 was the root cause of this phenomenon instantly spread like wildfire to the seven cities.
The Southeast City of Eva
“Did you see the article about the Banquet? Look here! We are from the same year, you know? We were in the tutorial together!”
As if waving the article back and forth wasn't enough, s.h.i.+n Sang-Ah bounced around everywhere shouting at the top of her voice. The people around her cringed when they heard her shout.
One person even sighed. “Hahh… Here we go again.”
“Alright, alright. Miss Sang-Ah, we get it, now please calm dow-”
“Do I look like I can calm down?”
With a weak smile on his face, a man attempted to calm her… only to no avail.
“Isn't it freaking awesome? Like, they say he's already Level 3! Get it? Level 3! Huh? He's Level 3! Okay?”
In the midst of a helplessly sighing crowd of people, a slow-witted woman with a curious look committed something that shouldn't have been done.
“Hey Unni, just what kind of a person is he to get you this fired up?”
In that moment, s.h.i.+n Sang-Ah looked at her with the eyes of a predator, while a man who was just about to cover his ears trembled.
“Oh my. You don't know who Seol-nim is? Then I suppose there's no helping it but to tell you about him again. Listen carefully, now. Our fates crossed paths on the second floor of the-…”
“N-Nooooooo!”
The man teared up.
“…-tutorial. Anyway, there was a son of a b.i.t.c.h called Kang Seok.”
s.h.i.+n Sang-Ah then proceeded to preach the gospel of G.o.d-Seol without pause.
The Northwest City of Nur.
“I don't believe it!”
A middle-aged man exclaimed as he looked through the newspaper.
“Not only did he fend off an Orc Champion, he slayed it? Even if he wasn't alone, it's not something a Level 3 can pull off… No wait. Since he cleared the Banquet, I guess it's just a matter of time that he'll become Level 4?”
The man muttered to himself before his jaw suddenly dropped to the ground.
“T-This. Isn't he almost leveling up once a month?”
A teen wearing a green cap backwards chuckled when he saw the middle-aged man shake his head.
“I told you. He's something else.”
The gaping mouth of the middle-aged man showed no signs of closing.
There was a limit in trying to understand the unreasonable. Considering that an Earthling usually took 2 to 3 years at the fastest to reach Level 4, Seol Jihu's growth speed had long surpa.s.sed being just 'amazing' and was simply terrifying.
Even throughout all of history, his monstrous speed would have easily placed him in the top three.
On the flip side, this also meant that while his case was extremely rare, there were still cases like him. Only after realizing this did the middle-aged man barely close his mouth.
“It's all good nevertheless. After Miss Seo Yuhui, Miss Baek Haeju, and that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Sung s.h.i.+hyun, it seemed like Area 1 stopped producing noteworthy people. It's been a while since someone that I can place my expectations on showed up.
“Was Area 1 viewed as 'barren' for a while?“
“Not 'barren' or so to say, but after the three bigshots, well two bigshots and one son of a b.i.t.c.h, it's true that not many people with talents appeared.”
“Well, putting that aside for now. Why did you only mention people from our country?”
“Aren't we all proud Koreans?”
“Ughh. The stench of patriotism.”
“You little punk.”
The middle-aged man chided. Then turning around and neatly folding the newspaper, he softly asked.
“By the way, Sangmin, didn't you say you knew this guy?”
“Well I guess you can say we're acquainted.”
Hyun Sangmin replied as if it wasn't anything big.
“Choosing that guy in the Tutorial was the best choice I've ever made.”
“Really? Then.”
“No, don't even try.”
The middle-aged man hesitated hearing the teen refuse even before listening to the rest of what he was about to say.
“I know what you're expecting, but we're not that close.
“I know, but still.”
“I told you already. We might greet each other on the road, shake our hands asking each other how we've been and all, but we'll still go our separate ways after maybe a meal together.”
He continued after briefly clicking his tongue.
“And more than anything else, I just don't want to. Also, Seol… umm, I guess his name now is… Seol Jihu?”
He tilted his head for a second before resuming.
“Anyway, he might look like a kind, amiable guy, but he's the type who is very straightforward in making and breaking relations.h.i.+ps. He's not someone that can be used. Definitely not.”
“Who said I'll use him? I only meant that we should work together as people from the same nation.”
The middle-aged man retorted with a grumpy face.
“That patriotism. Put a lid on it, will you? And pfft.. 'work together', huh?”
The sharply retorting Hyun Sangmin suddenly smirked.
“If you really want to do something, then push me instead.”
“What's this now? How much more do you want us to support you.”
“Won't I just go and embarra.s.s myself if I went and met him right now? I need something to back up my words if I want to confidently ask for a collaboration or something, don't I?”
“Well, won't you look at this guy! You tell me not to use people when you're the one using me, huh?”
“Tsk, you notice too fast.”
“Why you little punk.”
The two men both broke up in laughter.
The Capital City, Scheherazade
“Noona! Noona!”1
Yi Sungjin frantically rushed over while waving a piece of paper in his hand.
“Look! Look at this!”
“…Hmm?”
The blankly standing Yi Seol-Ah tiredly responded as she turned around.
“What is it?”
“You remember Hyung, right? Seol Hyung.”
“Orabeo-nim?”2
“Yea. Hurry and look.”
Yi Seol-Ah peered at the paper. And as she read, her face began to fill with astonishment.
“Whoa…”
As if reading about the news of someone she knew was that gratifying, her once dull pupils slowly regained its light, and her pale face started to regain some color.
“Heavens! Is this all true?”
“It is. Isn't it amazing?”
“Just what on earth. He's really awesome…”
“Isn't he? He must be super successful nowadays. Well, if it's Hyung then, it makes sense.”
Yi Seol-Ah chimed in without letting go of the paper in her hand.
“Yes, of course! That's our Orabeo-nim!”
Yi Sungjin snickered seeing his sister react with such joy.
“Hey Noona. Just call him Oppa. Orabeo-nim sounds weird.”
“So what if it does? Anyway, it says his name is Jihu here. It wasn't Seol?”
“Oh that. I was wondering about that too, but I'm confident it's Hyung. There must be a reason.”
It was only for a moment that they were able to chatter excitedly.
“What are you guys doing?”
The siblings both went stiff when they heard the sharp voice that interrupted them.
They made unwilling faces, but upon forcibly turning their heads around, there she was.
A woman with one hand on her waist, staring at them with an impa.s.sive expression.
At first glance, her haughty face with her famous knife-like personality made her seem like she was exuding a hostile aura.
Yi Seol-Ah immediately bent her waist in greetings.
“H-h.e.l.lo!”
“What were you doing?”
Clack, clack.
Gravely striding over, the woman didn't respond to Yi Seol-Ah's greeting and s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper she was holding.
“Ah!”