Chapter 180

The atmosphere changed as the door closed.

Balsian began to scan Kallion sharply.

“You came quite quickly.”

“Y, yes, I did.”

Kallion lowered his head.

Thump, thump.

He had brought him along and coordinated with him in advance, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous. What if Muhyuk changed his mind? He would not only die here but also be stripped of his job.

Please.

All he could do was pray and wait.

“Well, good. Tell me, what happened? Did you promote it?”

“Ah, I didn’t promote it.”

“Really? Then, as expected…!”

The moment Balsian was about to use his hand, Muhyuk continued.

“But it’s true that I told him.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“I became friends with this friend here while catching monsters before.”

“Hooh?”

“So, while talking about this and that, I ended up mentioning my job. Of course, I didn’t tell him the method. But I found out that among those who gained the knowledge, there was someone who recklessly spread the method. That’s why people flocked this time.”

Then Kallion raised his head.

“T, that’s right. I learned how to get here through this incident, and when asked if I knew the Gangster Necromancer, I remembered hearing about it once, so I said I did.”

Balsian pondered.

He looked at Muhyuk and asked again.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Ahem, since you, my disciple, say so, I’ll believe you.”

Only then did Kallion feel relieved.

“Th, thank you!”

“Tch. It’s my mistake anyway, so take this.”

It was a small box, but Kallion didn’t even think about checking it and just kept bowing repeatedly.

“Eesh, I just wasted my energy.”

“It’s good enough that we saw your face like this.”

“Ahem, well. Anyway, it’s been quite noisy lately.”

“About…?”

“That, what do you call it, a tournament.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Are you going to participate?”

“Yes, somehow.”

Balsian’s expression became strange.

“Really? You’re going to participate?”

“Yes, why?”

“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, make sure you win.”

“I will.”

“Go now.”

“Yes.”

After answering with a smile, he left the room with Kallion. Sungminwoo, who was waiting outside, was about to return to the Vir Kingdom with them when Kallion blocked their path.

“Th, thank you so much.”

“Ah, yes.”

“C, can I add you as a friend…?”

“Sure.”

They shook hands.

[User ‘Kallion’ has been registered as a friend.]

After thanking him once again, Kallion hurriedly left.

“Tch, he just left without giving anything?”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m just saying. Anyway, are you going to the Vir Kingdom?”

“Yeah, I want to see the bracket.”

“Okay!”

They moved to the Vir Kingdom together.

He was staring at the bracket in front of the plaza when suddenly a commotion began to spread throughout the area. Even Muhyuk, who wasn’t interested, turned his head.

“What’s going on?”

The noise gradually subsided, and thanks to that, the conversation could be heard properly.

“Hey, hey. That!”

“What?”

“Look there, you idiot! F Group, Number 127!”

“F Group, Number 127?”

“Yeah!”

Following their conversation, Muhyuk also raised his head.

What’s there?

The name of the user written there caught his eye.

Nickname Dark.

The Ranker number 1 had appeared.

Hooh?

Muhyuk was quite surprised. He thought that quite a few skilled people would participate this time as the rewards had changed, but he didn’t expect the Ranker number 1 to appear so soon.

It will definitely be an issue.

He thought that the top users would gather more quickly.

The Tournament of the Strongest, which had become an issue but was said to be a bun without filling due to the lack of skilled people, changed from today.

Posts were quickly uploaded, but above all, the dedicated chat room on the Illusion homepage became very active.

[Did you hear the news?]

[About what?]

[At the Tournament of the Strongest, no less than….]

[Dark is participating?]

[No, that was already announced before.]

[Then what?]

[Martial Artist Gus is participating!]

[Heop. Muhyuk, Dark, and even Gus…?]

[Crazy lineup.]

[Guys, Shadow Archer Ares also appeared.]

[Wow, at this rate, all the Rankers will participate.]

[That would be great! There will be a lot to see.]

[I’m already looking forward to the preliminaries!]

[The preliminary method hasn’t been announced yet, right?]

[Yeah, I’m really curious.]

[Another Ranker has appeared on the bracket now.]

[Heo, I have to log in. I can’t stand the curiosity.]

[Me too!]

As the news of Dark spread, several top Rankers participated, and thanks to that, hidden skilled people also began to show interest.

“Hooh, those guys?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Well, the rewards have changed, so it’s definitely good. I actually saw an item in the noble warehouse a long time ago that I really liked. I couldn’t get it because I didn’t have enough contribution.”

“If you mention it, they’ll give it to you.”

“That’s right. But there might be even better items than that.”

“We’ll need information too, right?”

“Let’s find out.”

“So, the conclusion?”

“We have to participate.”

Users hidden in the shadows began to reveal themselves one by one.

Today was the last day of the registration period.

All the users who had been waiting or watching the situation came to the Vir Kingdom.

The line stretched beyond the plaza to the back, but fortunately, the number of people waiting decreased quickly.

Each time, the bracket was updated, and they checked the nicknames of the newly appearing users, imagining in their heads how they would fight in the tournament starting tomorrow.

Of course, even at this time, the real skilled people were struggling to raise their experience points even a little more by taking on quests or hunting.

Muhyuk and Sungminwoo were no different.

“We’ll get at least one level up today, right?”

“Of course.”

“Ooh, good. The possibility of getting into the rankings will increase a little more!”

With that, he charged towards the numerous monsters in front of him.

“Hrahap!”

However, there was something different from usual, and that was the fact that there were no summons assisting him.

The two had already engaged in countless battles in conjunction with summons. Therefore, they were now learning how to fight alone for the tournament starting tomorrow.

Of course, they would fight with summons in the tournament as well, but in the end, they were the ones who would remain until the end, so it was necessary to maximize their senses.

“Heup!”

It was definitely difficult to fight without summons.

Windstorm, Powerful Archery.

It was natural that there was no time to rest.

Wind Step.

They had to move endlessly to avoid being trapped in the monster horde. The moment they hesitated even for a moment, attacks flew in and took away their HP.

Kwaaang!

This time, he blocked it with his shield, but Muhyuk’s expression was not good.

It’s hard without summons.

Sungminwoo also looked burdened.

Still, just a little more.

He approached the monster again.

He stared at the claws being swung at him from close range and lowered his upper body. Then, twisting his body, he swept the floor with one leg and drastically changed direction. He quickly moved behind the monster and swung his sword.

Windstorm, Cross Slash.

Almost at the same time, the monster’s tail hit Muhyuk’s side. Was it because he was too focused on avoiding it? He kicked off the ground and jumped into the air.

Ah, damn it.

If this happens, I won’t be able to avoid the next attack.

It would have been better to just take a hit.

He learned one more thing again.

The problem was that in that short moment, three monsters surrounded Muhyuk.

What if I block the attacks with my shield?

Even then, I won’t be able to avoid death.

“Skeleton Warrior Summon.”

He had no choice but to summon Skeletons.

Kireek, kiririk?

The appearing Armor Knights took the attacks instead.

“Huh? What is it!”

“Ah, I thought I was going to die.”

“Hua, I’m too tired too. Let’s just deal with them for now!”

Sungminwoo also summoned a spirit.

Then they were able to finish the monsters in an instant.

“Wow, it’s so different like this.”

“Of course.”

“How is it?”

“I learned one thing.”

“Good. Then we should move again, right?”

Muhyuk nodded.

The next day.

The north gate of the Vir Kingdom opened.

It was also the first time in the history of Illusion that the path to enter the castle became free.

No qualifications were required.

The number of people participating, the number of people for coverage, and even the number of people for viewing.

The castle was wide enough to accommodate all of them.

It was possible because it was several times wider than the outside of the castle where users could move freely.

“Wow, is this inside the castle?”

“Is this where the nobles and the king are?”

“It’s my first time here, man.”

“Kuh, it’s magnificent.”

“No, but how can it be wider than the outside?”

“They’re nobles, you know.”

“Ha, it’s so unfair. I want to get a title too.”

“You’ll get it someday.”

Many users were talking with their friends or colleagues and walking around the castle.

“It’s magnificent.”

“Kuh!”

Of course, guards were stationed everywhere, so they couldn’t go to forbidden areas. They couldn’t even dream of suspicious behavior.

Nevertheless, when users gather, incidents and accidents occur.

It was the same this time, and a commotion was coming from somewhere. Among the people moving busily out of curiosity were Muhyuk and Sungminwoo.

“What’s going on?”

When they pushed through the users, they saw a group of three and a group of five confronting each other. The expressions and momentum they showed each other were unusual.

“If you bumped into me, you should apologize!”

“Ha, that’s ridiculous. You stepped on my foot first!”

“Bullshit.”

“Bullshit? Did you say bullshit?”

“Yeah, I did. What are you going to do?”

“This bastard…!”

The two groups of users were approaching each other. Sungminwoo had a mixed expression of interest and worry at the sight.

“Looks like they’re going to fight?”

“It’ll be fun.”

“You’re not going to stop them or anything?”

Muhyuk widened his eyes at Sungminwoo’s question.

“Why would I stop them?”

“Huh? No, well. Just asking?”

“They’ll take care of it themselves.”

“Well, yeah. They’re all grown-ups.”

Watching a fire and watching a fight.

Wasn’t what was about to happen in front of him one of the two most fun things to watch?

Muhyuk crossed his arms and watched the confronting users with both eyes. In a short time, the tension reached its peak, and they eventually reached the point of taking out their weapons.

“Damn it, just kill them!”

“This bastard!”

Thus, the 3 vs 5 fight began.

It was a series of skills from the start.

Five users pushing with numbers and three users overcoming the disadvantage with teamwork and combination.

“They’re fighting better than I thought?”

He watched them with interest, keeping a slight distance from them.

“Hooh.”

“Woah, good. Fight more!”

Other users cheered and applauded excitedly.

“Everyone stop!”

But the atmosphere suddenly cooled down due to the guards who had appeared.

Of course, the eight users who were fighting in excitement were still attacking each other.

The approaching guard slammed the ground with the spear in his hand.

Kuuuung.

A huge vibration spread in all directions.

[Your body is temporarily paralyzed.]

The users made absurd expressions.

After that, it was a piece of cake.

All eight users who had fought were bound and dragged to prison.

“This bastard started it first!”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

It was truly futile.

But one thing was certain.

The guards are strong after all.

After that, there were no more disturbances.