Perspiration was pooling in Chairman Kang Minhoo’s hands while he stared at the TV screen.

[Player Carr has started to run towards Player Minhyuk while shouting loudly!]

[Do they know each other?]

His son, Kang Minhyuk, also had a dream. He wanted to become a world-class gold medalist in kendo. That was his child’s dream. After he won that unofficial competition, he got a chance to spread his wings. Unfortunately, not long after that, a disease called ‘eating addiction’ struck him.

However, Kang Minhoo knew that his son fought against this disease more fiercely and strongly than anybody else. Minhyuk kept on working out and exercising, even though it would have been alright to stop. Minhyuk kept on exercising even though something bad had happened to him. Minhoo knew that part of it was to solve the ‘regret’ from that time. Although he was not able to become a ‘gold medalist’, perhaps Minhyuk could solve that regret right now.

However, the commentators were saying the opposite.

[No matter how fast Player Minhyuk dealt with those four players with his amazing abilities, his opponent is still Carr, a gold medalist.]

[It’s a losing battle.]

Then, the swords of the two young men collided.

***

Clang!

Minhyuk quickly swung his sword and defended against Carr’s attack. Then, he dug in and penetrated Carr’s swing in an instant as he made to stab him in the stomach.

Clang!

Carr gently parried before aiming for Minyuk’s head.

Once.

Clang!

Twice.

Clang!

Thrice.

Clang!

Strangely, Carr did not create any gap. No, he even allowed Minhyuk to counterattack.

Shwoooook!

Carr then twisted his body to dodge the sword that was aiming at his flanks, while quickly slashing down on Minhyuk.

Clang!

Minhyuk shifted down and rolled once, effectively dissipating the force of the attack from behind.

Dash!

Carr began to run backwards while Minhyuk ran after him.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Sparks kept on pouring out whenever their swords met. Carr ran until he got near a wall. Then, he stomped towards the wall, before kicking off and used the rebound as a driving force to add power to his stab. However, Minhyuk skillfully twisted his body and avoided the attack, before sending his own attack towards Carr’s neck.

Vwooooosh!

Carr shifted the center of his gravity with a twist of his toes and avoided the attack. The sword of the two of them continued to clash.

“W…wow…” Jacky burst out in admiration. He thought that Minhyuk would not be able to hold out against Carr. Contrary to his expectations, Minhyuk was not losing ground against Carr’s flamboyant sword skills.

[Wh…what’s going on…?]

[Player Minhyuk is not losing an inch of ground with this fight against the gold medalist Carr…!]

[Something entirely unbelievable is happening right in front of us!!!]

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The cheers and screams in the audience stands were getting hotter and hotter. 

Meanwhile, Carr was left in shock after clashing continuously against Minhyuk. He thought, ‘His skills are not rusty at all…!’

Minhyuk’s skills that he thought should have rusted through the years, did not rust at all. It even looked like Minhyuk had been undergoing special training for a long time.

Flash!

In that moment of distraction, Minhyuk stabbed towards Carr's neck. Carr quickly stretched out his sword to parry. A chill ran down his spine. He knew that if he had failed to react quickly, his head would already have flown far away

Locke and Khan were also battling against the other players.

“Khan. Throw it to me!”

“Okey dokey!” Khan said as he swiftly punched the face of one of the players that blocked their way.

“Urgh!”

Then, Khan grabbed the player that was holding onto his bruised nose, before throwing him to Locke, who was lying on the floor.

“Hello?”

“…!”

The player that fell down in front of Locke was none other than Aegis, a mage player. He was very shocked when he felt the hands that dragged his body.

Locke’s legs had not recovered yet! However, he had been learning wrestling for five years already. It was a skill that he had learned since he got beaten by Lee Sungmin and his group.

Grab─

Locke squeezed the neck of his opponent tightly. Not long after, Aegis passed out.

[Due to difficulties in breathing, you will be temporarily knocked out.]

“One man down! Another one! Throw another one!” 

“Wait!” 

Even though Locke’s legs were still recovering and were quite uncomfortable, he was still doing quite well. The same was true for Khan.

Meanwhile, Carr was getting restless. He thought, ‘These crazy bastards. What the hell!’ 

Khan and Locke were also putting pressure on him by doing this. This made Carr realize that he would be at a disadvantage if he failed to beat Minhyuk down.

Then, at that moment…

[There are 10 seconds left for the Blessings of the World Tree.]

[9 seconds, 8 seconds, 7 seconds, 6 seconds, 5 seconds…]

…the Blessings of the World Tree was coming to an end.

Carr’s mouth immediately curled up in a grin. He knew that Minhyuk’s level was only 355. Even though he made a tremendous show of power in the Speed Eating Contest, it was still a competition for production classes. There was a difference between heaven and earth when one compared the production classes and the combat classes. It was not a gap that Minhyuk could overcome easily. He believed that as soon as the Blessings of the World Tree ended, Khan, Locke and Minhyuk would all die quickly.

Then, the notifications rang.

[1 second.]

[The Blessings of the World Tree has ended.]

A smile formed around Carr’s mouth. He quickly took a step back as dozens of swords appeared around him.

[Chaotic Sword Manipulation.]

[Several dozens of swords will be fired from the Crown Prince’s body.]

Dozens of sword beams flew from Carr’s body. At around Level 490, Carr could unleash a formidable force with his swords that had an additional 100% attack power.

Shweeeeeek!

A sword quickly flew straight towards Minhyuk.

“Like the Wind,” Minhyuk said, activating his skill and moving instantly to a distance of three meters.

The distance between them widened, but it seemed like the Chaotic Sword Manipulation was like a homing missile as it followed him around. After using ‘Like the Wind’ once more, Minhyuk triggered his Rampant Sword.

[Rampant Sword.]

[A flurry of rampant swords with additional 30% attack power will be created for 14 seconds.]

Carr’s eyes widened when he saw Rampant Sword, with a longer duration, being unleashed. The sword beams that he had created were shot down by the ones that were created from Minhyuk’s skill.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

‘How can this be possible…?’ Carr thought in disbelief. Cancelling an opponent’s attack would only be possible if both players were at the same level. However, Minhyuk’s level was only at Level 355. He was even a production class player.

‘Come to think of it…’

Minhyuk had shown two skills in the Speed Eating Contest. The first skill was ‘Fluttering Sword’. Carr had also seen the Fluttering Sword in the replay and he had seen hundreds of leaves flashing like swords, as they devoured and ravaged his enemies. Such a sword skill was usually only exclusively available to fairly high-leveled sword class players, or to players with special job classes. Therefore, he was quite surprised that Minhyuk could pull out hundreds of such things like that. Even so, he had only seen one sword skill together with Minhyuk’s magical abilities.

‘No. But the level gap is…’

It was something that could never be narrowed down. While he was lost in thought, Khan regained his strength and began to run and increase his momentum.

[Crazy Priest’s Reinforcement.]

[A powerful curse will be applied in both your hands. This curse can cause your enemies to rot in one strike.]

Locke was definitely a damage dealer as well as a healer. However, he tended to lean more towards debuff skills instead of the healing skills.

[Giant’s Strike.]

[A huge fist will hit your enemies recklessly.]

Khan stretched his fist quickly as a huge fist formed and hit the players that tried to kill them.

Bang! Bang, bang!

The players were able to defend quickly. However, their arms felt some sort of numbness spread in their arms. They felt as if there were bugs crawling around their arms.

[Your hands are beginning to rot at a fast pace.]

[Your HP is constantly being reduced.]

[Your hands will be incapacitated if you leave them unattended.]

Locke and Khan had been friends for quite a long time so when they fought together, they had some sort of tacit understanding that left the other four players at a loss.

‘I have to get this over with quickly.’

[Eight Legendary Greatswords.]

[Eight strong sword attacks will hit one player. Each attack will have an additional 140% damage.]

A huge greatsword appeared and dropped down from the air. The other swords appeared and stuck to the ground with Minhyuk at the center.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Minhyuk could see that the swords that got stuck in the ground showed off an unusual energy.

***

“…I can’t believe that he got caught in such a skill.” 

The remarks of Jackal, the second in the official domestic rankings, rang loudly in the VIP stands. Jackal was donned with the name Black Star since all of his artifacts, even his suit, was dyed in black. His words as a Level 472 player proved to be quite catching.

“Ah… Jackal has fought with Carr before, right?” 

Jackal smiled bitterly as he nodded at one of the tankers’ words. He said, “That’s right. At first, I thought that it was just a walk in the park, but that skill took me out. That ability can trap and lock people up like bugs caught in a spider web. Its power is so formidable that a player will not be able to penetrate through it. I can tell… because even I was not able to penetrate through it…” 

“…” 

“…”

The players readily agreed with him. After all, Jackal was strong enough to be ranked second in the official local rankings. Not long after, a woman suddenly said, “Wait… I think he’s going to break through it?” 

“…What?” 

Their heads turned around. They saw Legend Guild’s guild master, Genie, sitting with her legs crossed.

“Everyone, I believe you have only seen only one side of the Frying Pan Killer. Right?” She said confidently.

***

Minhyuk keenly felt a sense of danger so he hurriedly tried to avoid it. However, a notification suddenly rang.

[You can’t escape while the skill is still in effect.]

‘What kind of fraudulent ability is this…’ 

Then, the eight greatswords that surrounded him started to glow brightly. Minhyuk realized that he could not avoid it, so he decided to break it, and quickly activated Fluttering Sword.

Swoooooooosh─

Hundreds of falling leaves fell on the eight three-meter long greatswords around him. Suddenly, a bright flash erupted from one of the greatswords.

Ping─

The flash that appeared instantly slashed Minhyuk’s arms. His HP got cut down by at least five percent. Then, one after another, the swords flashed and attacked Minhyuk’s body.

Ping, ping, ping, ping─

“Kghhk!”

Minhyuk’s body started to bleed after being torn by the flashes of light. It seemed like it was not just Minhyuk’s Fluttering Sword that had a long cast time. Even Carr’s skill also had a long cast time. However, the first to activate the skill was Carr. The greatswords flashed brightly as they slashed through Minhyuk’s body.

Ping, ping, ping, ping─

[Your HP has dropped below 60%.]

[Your HP has dropped below 40%.]

[You have received a critical strike.]

[Your head will start to feel dizzy due to continuous bleeding.]

[Your HP has dropped below 20%.]

[Your body movements have been restricted.]

Carr smiled wickedly. He believed that it was about time for Minhyuk to collapse from the bleeding that he was experiencing. However, contrary to his expectations, Minhyuk did not collapse. Even the wind around him began to blow intensely.

Vwooooooom─

At that moment, a flash pierced through Minhyuk’s neck.

‘I won…!’ 

Carr felt gleeful. He did not forget to stare straight at Minhyuk. This was something that he did not wish to miss.

[You have used the Armor of Immortality’s special ability.]

[All of your HP and MP is refilling at a high speed.]

Flash!

Minhyuk’s wounds began to regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a flash, his HP had already been restored to 100%.

‘What kind of ridiculous thing is this…!’ 

Carr looked on in horror, and chills ran down his spine when he saw this scene play out in front of him.