The Japan BattleNet Center.
“Ugh… Ah…”
The Japan coach sat down on the floor and trembled uncontrollably.
Swish! Swish!
Around him, the Sword King’s hundred swords were flying around, destroying the surroundings.
The swords were especially focused on the BattleNet connectors.
Boom!
As a small explosion sounded from the BattleNet connector pierced by the sword, smoke rose up.
The coach shut his eyes tightly.
‘Ito Shizuru, you told me to only believe in you! Why did things turn out like this…!’
Ever since the sudden logout of the Sword King in the first round, something felt uneasy.
Shizuru fled, and the Sword King was completely running wild. The only fortunate thing was that, so far, no one had been killed.
Most of the staff had already fled in fear, and the security guards at the BattleNet Center were knocked unconscious by the Sword King’s sword.
Though he didn’t seem to have any intention of committing murder yet…
Zzzt…!
Seeing the sparks flying from the various BattleNet connectors, it looked like someone would soon die from electrocution.
“Sword King! Please stop! If this continues, there could be an explosion…! The players might die!”
“If they die, they die.”
“Th-That’s…”
“Or do you want to kill them yourself? Haha. Come to think of it, if I kill everyone here, the Japanese national team will completely collapse.”
The Sword King bared his teeth as he laughed, gently caressing his crushed eyes.
He gave off an intense aura of madness.
“Pl-Please spare us…”
“How are we supposed to bring Shizuru here?”
“How can we possibly…!”
“It’s your job to bring her here.”
Swish!
After destroying the BattleNet connectors, he pulled out the players one by one.
Despite having lost his vision, the Sword King wielded the twin swords like they were a part of his body.
It was a scene that showed why he was the world’s top-ranked warrior.
“Sword Prison.”
And as the Sword King said those words…
“What… What is this…!”
“Huh… This…!”
Glowing swords directly stretched out towards the forcefully logged out players.
Matching the players’ sizes, the large swords captured them within the sword and floated over to the Sword King’s side.
“This guy isn’t it.”
“K-Kuk…!”
Some of the captured players were knocked unconscious again when the sword prison exploded and fell to the ground.
“This one… Yes. Good.”
While some players remained trapped inside the swords.
“What is this!”
“Sa-Save me…!”
“Stay still.”
“Ugh…!”
Thanks to the Sword King’s trickery, everyone fell unconscious. Despite being powerful players, each of them selected to represent their country, they were all subdued by the Sword King.
Gulp!
The Japanese coach swallowed his saliva.
‘This monster…! Is he really blind? The players he captured are all top-ranked among Japan’s national team!’
The players confined in the Sword Prison were the top 20 of Japan’s national team. Even though they were blinded, the Sword King selected the most valuable hostages.
“I’ll give you 12 hours. If Shizuru isn’t brought here within that time, I’ll publicly execute one person every 10 minutes.”
“N-No… Public execution? That’s…!”
“Then call a reporter. Ah, no, I can’t trust you.”
As the Sword King caressed his crushed eyes, he slowly spoke.
“System, turn on BattleTube.”
After being fascinated by Shizuru, this was the first time the Sword King turned on his personal channel, a channel that he had never used since coming to Japan.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the BattleNet Center in Korea.
“We won against their team, right?”
“That’s right, sir.”
Kim Dongwoo and Lee Yoongi emerged from the BattleNet connectors with bright faces.
After the Sword King logged out in the first game, the Japanese team seemed to have lost all fighting spirit.
They easily won the second game due to the difference in power, and the third game collapsed on its own with logouts.
They didn’t know why things turned out like this, but in any case, they had dominated the Korea-Japan match they were worried about, so the Korean team members generally had high morale.
Of course…
“What on earth happened to Japan…?”
“Forced logouts in a BattleNet match, this is a first…”
“Even if the power went out, it would run on generators for 3 hours. And the national team connectors should run for 6 hours at least.”
Everyone’s attention was focused on what had happened to the Japan team rather than Korea’s 2-0 lead.
“Coach, any news from over there?”
“Hmm… Nothing yet. Though I heard people are evacuating from the Japan BattleNet Center…”
Coach Noh was listening to news from the Japan side when his eyes widened.
“What…? They’re evacuating?”
“What happened?”
After winning MVP in three consecutive games, Seong Jihan approached Coach Noh with a stern face. As they looked at the monitor he was watching, various breaking news reports were scrolling.
– Staff evacuating urgently from the Japan BattleNet Center!
– Witness testimonies emerge about the Sword King going berserk…! The one causing havoc inside is presumed to be the Sword King.
Going berserk? More like regaining his sanity.
Seong Jihan thought this as he asked Coach Noh.
“It seems you still can’t grasp the internal situation clearly?”
“Yes… It seems the Sword King did something to the BattleNet connectors… I wonder how things will turn out…”
As the coach clenched his fist and watched the monitor seriously, a staff member urgently shouted.
“Coach! I heard the Sword King’s BattleTube is opening!”
“What… His BattleTube?! Put it on screen immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
Jjing!
The displayed screen of the Sword King’s BattleTube shocked viewers from the beginning. Both eyes twisted, with bloodstains still visible underneath, the Sword King appeared as if shedding tears of blood.
“Huh…!”
“Hi-His eyes…!”
[Hello, everyone.]
Then, the Sword King, opening his mouth, spoke in Korean. A language he hadn’t used once since naturalizing to Japan.
[To all the fans who have supported me in Korea, I offer my sincere apologies. I lost my mind over a woman and caused a lot of trouble.]
The Sword King touched his eyes, which he had gouged out himself.
[In the end, only after destroying my own eyes… Was I finally able to wake from this nightmare.]
“Ah… He’s regained his sanity! Sword King! Jihan, was this your doing?”
“It seems that way… Though it must not have been easy with his eyes destroyed like that.”
Perhaps Shizuru had tried to re-enthrall him.
To stab his own eyes…
‘No, his eyes… can be regenerated. The important thing is not falling under her spell again.’
Lost body parts could easily be recovered.
Even if it was difficult to exhibit such recovery effects in reality now, after the tutorial ended and the supporters’ healing resembled the game, it would be fine as long as he was alive.
While calmly making such judgments, Seong Jihan heard the story of the Sword King, who had now returned as ‘Yoon Sejin.’
[I will take responsibility for this… I will resolve it myself.]
Now he heard the story of how the Sword King would handle things from here on.
[I will report this to the Japanese government. Bring Shizuru in front of me within 12 hours. If you don’t…]
Swish! Swish!
Perhaps because he lost his eyes, the Sword King who couldn’t grasp how he looked on the BattleTube camera…
Roughly moved the sword prison with 20 hostages around.
Coach Noh’s eyes widened as he barely made out the spinning hostages inside the sword prison.
“Oh… It’s Sakura… Heiji is there too… He’s captured players with SS-rank gifts!”
“Except for my brother-in-law, they are the players picked in the top five in Japan, aren’t they? Who are they?”
“Yes… Even when the Sword King was in Korea, they were quite troublesome opponents… To take them hostage like this…
[I will kill them one by one every 10 minutes.]
The Sword King, who had only taken top-tier players as hostages, officially declared that he would kill them if Shizuru wasn’t brought to him.
Coach Noh frowned.
“Hmm. Threatening murder… If he becomes a murderer, he’ll be banned by the International BattleNet Association…”
“What happens if he’s banned?”
“He can’t be on the national team anymore and will be prohibited from participating in international matches.”
That kind of rule might apply during the tutorial, but…
In the savage age after the tutorial, it probably won’t mean jackshit.
Even if he gets banned from participating,
As long as it meant uprooting the troublesome Shizuru.
But still.
‘I can’t leave him like that for long.’
No matter how absolute the Sword King’s power is, there are clear limits to where he can exert his strength in reality.
Using the hundred swords in such a powerful manner now may display a formidable image, but there’s always the uncertainty of when his energy might run out. This becomes especially critical in a situation where Japan has become a complete enemy.
As Seong Jihan raised his phone to contact Manager Park Yoonsik,
“Uncle!”
Yoon Seah rushed into the BattleNet Center.
Un-uncle! Did you see Dad’s broadcast? Looks like he broke free from the enchantment! Did you do that, Uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Ah… As expected! But dad’s eyes! What about his eyes? Ah, seriously… What kind of person stabs their own eyes…!”
Yoon Seah spoke rapidly with teary eyes.
Despite portraying a strong front without lingering emotions regarding her father, now that the situation had come to this, her true feelings seemed to emerge. Concern for Yoon Sejin was palpable.
“For now, let’s contact Manager Park Yoonsik and ask him to arrange a flight to Japan.”
“Ja-Japan? You’re going there…?”
“Well… you see, no matter what, that’s…,”
As Seong Jihan casually mentioned going to Japan, everyone looked at him in surprise. Even if the circumstances were dire, deciding to go to Japan without observing the situation first seemed too hasty.
“For now, it won’t be long before he can’t endure losing his vision. Plus, he needs to be fed the leaf of the World Tree.”
“Uh… that’s true, but isn’t it dangerous?”
“Dangerous? For me?”
Seong Jihan’s confident demeanor exuded absolute certainty. After all, he was someone who could stop bullets in midair using domain control. If Seong Jihan and the Sword King collaborated, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for the opposing side.
“Uh… But we don’t know the language or geography…”
“I’ll go too.”
Behind the still worried Yoon Seah, Akari, who had been silently observing, stepped forward.
“I won’t be any help in combat, but… I can sufficiently serve as a guide in Japan.”
“Then Seah is the issue.”
“I’ll follow along too–”
“No.”
“Ah, fine. I’ll quietly stay locked up at home then! So don’t worry and go with Unnie Akari!”
At some point, Yoon Seah had latched onto Hayeon’s side and waved her hand at Seong Jihan.
Seeing that, he smirked and picked up his phone.
“Manager Park Yoonsik, please arrange two seats on a flight to Japan.”
[Ja-Japan…?]
“Yes, right now.”
* * *
The Sword King’s live broadcast instantly became a hot topic around the world.
Especially on the Sword King’s BattleTube, viewers from Korea and Japan had flocked in astounding numbers.
The view count had easily surpassed 10 million.
-Sword King, I believed you would come back like this
– What happened to your eyes?
– BattleNet should have a way to regenerate them… Let’s gather money in the Sword King’s name again!
-Wow, the Sword King fanclub isn’t finished yet, Haha!! There are so damn many comments.
-Huh… but is the hostage drama real?
-Tsk tsk. This is why you can’t trust Japs…! What is our national team even doing? No matter what, how could they be pushed around by one guy like this!
– The Japs are throwing a fit Lol
– Feels so damn good to see this. Return the Sword King immediately and rank last in the league from now on.
The Koreans who had been mocked by the Japanese netizens ever since the Sword King went to Japan.
Now that the tables were turned, they mercilessly taunted the Japanese in return.
But still.
-But will he really commit massmurder like this?
-Will Shizuru come out? The atmosphere is getting intense.
-I think the hostages will die first before the JSDF suppresses the Sword King.
-The JSDF should hurry up and subdue him!
-With 3 SS-rank hostages?
Although Japan had a special force for suppressing players in their Self-Defense Force, they couldn’t recklessly try to suppress the Sword King because the hostages he had captured were the core pillars of Japan’s national team.
[Ito Ryuhei, immediately disarm and release the hostage!]
Surrounding the BattleNet Center in Japan from a distance, they demanded the release of the hostage through a loudspeaker. The staff watched from afar as the situation became increasingly desperate.
“As expected, they don’t seem to have any intention of bringing her.”
Zzzt…!
In addition to the 20 hostages in the sword prison…
Thunk!
“Ugh…!”
Whenever the other unconscious players showed signs of waking up, he knocked them out again.
“Now, who should I execute first? Should I start with Sakura, who annoyed me the most in Japan?”
In front of over 10 million viewers, the Sword King brought up death without any hesitation.
As time passed, the atmosphere grew heavier.
‘At this rate, he might really kill them…!’
‘What is the government doing!’
When the Japanese staff who had been watching the situation from a distance fell into despair,
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
“Oh…”
“That person is…”
A woman entered the BattleNet Center where the hostage situation was unfolding.
“I’m here… Ryuhei.”
The Shizuru who had hastily fled just a while ago had returned on her own two feet.
And the moment the Sword King heard her voice…
“All right. Die.”
He simultaneously swung his swords at her.
*****
*****
