Over the course of four days since the start of the Continental War, the players had analyzed deeply, determining the Continent Cloud to be a field. The place had countless hidden dungeons and plenty of mysterious and unfamiliar monsters loitering around. Even the amount of artifacts and gold that dropped was quite good.

Athenae did not announce any of the rewards that they would receive in the future. However, the country that would win the war would definitely receive great rewards. There was also the possibility of receiving far greater rewards if they were a part of the small number that achieved high scores inside the Continent Cloud.

And then, there were the Cloud Tickets. Anyone could get Cloud Tickets, anywhere from twenty to a hundred, by hunting monsters, discovering hidden dungeons, or obtaining attack and defense bases.

At first, both the Asgan and Cairon Continents seemed to show similar patterns. Then, on the fourth day, the tide suddenly turned in favor of the Cairon Continent. And the main reason was none other than Hu Yitian!

Hu Yitian was originally only ranked fourth among the Chinese Assassins, one of the country’s top rankers. Although a bit unexpected, he was able to transfer to a High Class. But what was even more surprising was that he met the character named Da Zhuang, the King of Assassins of the past, overcame the trial and learned the Pinnacle of Dagger Techniques. Hu Yitian was currently at Level 501. However, after learning the Pinnacle of Dagger Techniques, he could be considered as the strongest in PVP. In fact, he could even defeat five of the Korean rankers with just his strength alone. What was more shocking was the fact that he had only been able to learn half of the Pinnacle of Dagger Techniques.

Since Hu Yitian was the guild master of the assassin guild, Black Mask Guild, Da Zhuang also ended up teaching his guild members various assassin skills like dagger techniques, throwing techniques, and even stealth techniques which resulted in a significant increase in their stats. Currently, Hu Yitian was leading forty of his guild members all over the Continent Cloud on a mission, to destroy the rankers of South Korea.

“It seems like the level of the Korean players is as bad as I heard.”

Right now, Hu Yitian had been hailed as a hero by China after he started killing the Korean rankers. Since this was a battle of pride between countries, the Chinese players cheered loudly whenever Hu Yitian knocked down a Korean ranker. In fact, High Class players were all strong, so killing these rankers must mean that they were just bad at playing this game. Of course, Hu Yitian had only met with one High Class player so far, which was none other than Ares.

‘He was strong.’

However, Ares was still no match against Hu Yitian. And, if the other High Class players of Korea were only at Ares’ level, then Hu Yitian’s prestige would just increase, since he could easily defeat them.

Da Zhuang said, “Keep in mind that we have to find Ellie, who’s hiding like a rat, as quickly as possible.”

“Of course, Master,” Hu Yitian answered, smiling softly at his master.

Da Zhuang was a legendary NPC at around Level 600. However, with his Pinnacle Skill, the strength that he could show was comparable to someone at Level 700. But from what he heard, the strength that he was wielding right now was actually around 20% less than his original strength. This was a restriction imposed on him after his revival. So, it was safe to say that Da Zhuang’s power was ridiculously strong.

There was only one reason why Da Zhuang wanted to deal with Eivelis Empire. That was because Ellie’s ‘Ellie’s Swordsmanship’ was also one of the Pinnacle of Attacking Skills. However, no one knew where this Pinnacle Skill was located, except for Ellie. Da Zhuang planned to compensate for his 20% loss of power by acquiring her Pinnacle Skill. Just thinking about it made Da Zhuang laugh gleefully.

“What’s the matter, Master?”

“Ellie. She’s an unlucky woman.”

“What?”

“It’s because she has the power that she shouldn’t have, that’s why she can’t climb any further.”

“...What do you mean?”

“Empress Ellie has one of the Pinnacle Skills. From what I heard, she has the best out of the eight Pinnacle of Attacking Skills, which is known to be difficult to learn. She will probably become the best Empress in the continent if she can even reach the fourth level,” Da Zhuang said, clicking his tongue at the thought.

***

The fifth day after the Continent Cloud opened, a ‘Sudden Mission’ was released simultaneously to players from both the Asgan and the Cairon Continents.

[Mission! Please recapture Berdk, the largest attack base located in the center of the Continent Cloud!]

[The Empire that successfully recaptures the base will be given 1,000 Cloud Tickets.]

[The Empire that successfully recaptures the base will be given the chance to gain the Kharamis Soldiers.]

[The Empire that successfully recaptures the base will be given a bottle that can recover physical STM.]

This mission marked the beginning of a full-fledged war. The troops from Cairon Continent were around 3,000, and they stood face to face against the 2,500-strong troops from Asgan Continent. Both troops were gathered at the center of the Continent Cloud.

At the forefront of the Asgan Continent’s players stood Carr, the Emperor of Swords. After completing his High Class trial, Carr had changed his class from Crown Prince of Swords to Emperor of Swords. Standing next to him was Lucia, the Assassin of the Moon. Lucia was now leading her own guild after becoming one of the best rankers at Level 501. Her guild ‘Murderous Beauty’ was also comprised of semi-rankers and top rankers. Finally, the person standing next to them was the Blacksmith of Steel Ruwan.

Then, Ruwan asked, “Do you know what the three of us have in common?”

“...”

“...”

Lucia and Carr turned to look at him strangely wondering what he was talking about.

“Don’t we all like Minhyuk?”

“What bullshit?!”

“Oh my, of course~” Lucia said as she smiled lightly behind her mask.

Meanwhile, Carr gritted his teeth and roared, “If you say something like that again, I will be the one to PK you first.”

“Woah, woah. What’s wrong with you? We’re both from the same continent.”

“But…” Lucia gulped dryly as she looked at the battlefield, and asked, “Why aren’t they showing up?”

“...”

Ruwan’s mouth turned shut. Perhaps it was because they did not succeed in changing into a High Class? Or perhaps it was because the Legend Guild had truly broken up and was only a memento of the past? Ruwan had worked hard and ran after Minhyuk hoping to be like him, wanting to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. He ran forward with that thought in mind. Right now, he believed that he was already in the same position as him, but he could no longer see him.

‘The moment High Class appeared, perhaps Minhyuk…’ 

Perhaps Minhyuk was no longer the best ranker in their country. Maybe that was also the reason why he was not showing up? Then, Carr said, “If they haven’t changed into a High Class, then they will only be excellent rankers. They wouldn’t be helpful anyway.”

Carr was just reveling in his sarcasm when the enemies began to attack.

“Archers!”

Carr wanted to wash away the shame that he had experienced in Athenae: Korean War in this place and take revenge. The archers pulled their bows and fired their arrows towards the Cairon Continent’s players and troops. Hundreds of magic spells ran rampant in the air. In between them was the attack base, Berdk.

“Mages and archers! Continue to attack from a long distance! Close combat fighters!”

Shing!

Shing! 

Shing! 

Weapons were unsheathed one after the other.

“Charge!!!”

Carr and the other players ran forward. The fastest among them was Lucia, the Assassin of the Moon. With every step that she took, she would disappear and appear at another location. She looked like she was teleporting. She even used her skills to deal with the enemies that appeared in front of her.

[Beautiful Moon]

[The moon shines light upon your enemies, dazzling them and bringing them into a 0.4 second stun.]

A beautiful moon rose behind Lucia, causing the players of the Cairon Continent to fall into a momentary stun.

“B… Beautiful…”

“Wow…”

That single moment was enough for Lucia’s dagger to reach their throats. Just like that, hundreds of dagger lights spread towards her enemies.

Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab―

These hundreds of dagger lights accurately stabbed the Cairon Continent players’ vital points.

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

This was what a High Class’ player’s skill was like. And it did not just end there. Carr ran forward and jumped high up in the sky.

[Emperor of Sword’s Bloody Wind]

[Strong wind made of bloody sword energy rips and shreds your enemies to pieces.]

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash―

A bloody wind blew towards the Cairon Continent’s camp and became blades that cut the players’ bodies to pieces. Hundreds of players and soldiers alike screamed from the wide-area attack that was unleashed upon them.

“Ack!”

“Keuaaaack!”

“Ugh!”

The rankers collided not long after.

Slash! Slash―!

Bang!

The commentators were also busy explaining the situation.

[Both sides aren’t only composed of rankers. Their levels vary from 200 to 500.]

[This is because the higher the level of the Cloud Ticket, the lower the probability of dropping.]

[There are only a few rankers among them. It seems like the influence of the soldiers is quite large in this battle.]

[But if the rankers are able to get a good head start, then I think there’s a possibility that our Korea can win this war.]

The players’ levels were varied. Most of the tickets that were released tend to be for NPC soldiers. In other words, the NPCs' tickets and the players’ tickets were different. The commentators continued their live commentary.

[In fact, I believe that this mission will give us the opportunity to turn the tide that’s going in favor of Cairon Continent!]

The Koreans watching the scene all had their hearts up their throat.

[I feel so sorry that I’m not there. Awoo!!!]

[Let’s go, Korea! Let’s go!]

[Let’s gooooo!!!!]

[The Chinese are laughing and mocking our country, you must win!!!]

[Awoo! If only we had the Legend Guild, we might have wiped them out!]

[Legend? Aren’t they outdated? Many people even say that they already disbanded. They did not even post any videos or anything even after they created a new guild, right?]

[It’s been quite a while since Legend broke up…]

[Even if they come, they wouldn’t be able to create the miracles that they performed in the past. None of them had announced that they changed to a High Class.]

[When they come there, they would only be high-leveled rankers, not special rankers.]

[Regardless… I want us to win!!! Is that even important? I hope that we win!!!]

Their anger had all been bottled up. In the past four days, plenty of articles had poured in saying that South Korea’s chances of winning against China was close to 0% after the ‘Ranker Destroyer’ incident. There were even plenty of rumors that the Asgan Continent would be devoured by the Chinese players in the end. Even the global rankers thought the same.

American Mage Alex…

[South Korea is very weak in the Athenae Global Rankings. There’s no way that a small and weak country like that can beat one of the three major nations, China.]

Russia’s Ruvid…

[The probability of South Korea gaining victory? Maybe around 1%? You think what I said is too much? But if they did not even have that 1% chance of winning, would it still be fun to play such a game?]

Japan’s Kentaro…

[I really want to meet with Food God Minhyuk again! What? Ah, it’s not about that? Talk about the Continental War between Korea and China? But more than that, I just want to meet with Minhyuk. Minhyuk, aishiteru.]

And lastly, South Korea’s Carr…

[We will do our best to win. Just like when our country failed to advance to the 16th Round of the 2018 World Cup but still successfully beat Germany, the number one in the FIFA rankings. I will make that miracle happen.]

At that moment…

“Keuaaaaack!” The very same Carr shrieked. Hu Yitian, the ranker destroyer, had appeared. And with his appearance, the balance that had initially seemed to be equal, started to break and tilt to one side.

[Ah… Pushed… We’re being pushed back!]

[The Korean rankers are starting to get pushed back!!!]

[But our fellow citizens, don’t be discouraged yet. We still have hope!!!]

However, unlike their hopeful commentary, the commentators’ expressions looked so forlorn, as if they had ‘confirmed’ their defeat. Even the viewers were aware. The phrase ‘We still have hope!’ is something that was only used in tragic situations.

***

At the same time.

South Korean player Roy was busy focusing on hunting Level 350 monsters inside the Continent Cloud. The monsters that resided in the Continent Cloud were all made up of clouds.

Shwaaaa―

After cutting down an enemy, Roy suddenly heard a scream.

“Keuaaaaack!”

“Run away!!”

“The Chinese players are extremely strong!!!”

“...”

Roy also wanted to participate in the same battlefield as them, but his level was only at Level 370. He knew that his power was not enough to give a significant boost even if he went there. So, he just went to sharpen his blade and increase his level.

‘One day, I’ll also…’

He would also join the fight and fight for his country one day. Alas, that was clearly not the time right now. The reason why Roy did not participate right now was because he was a patriot. His heart was so patriotic that he knew that he would not be able to see reason the moment he participated in the battle. He knew that he would completely lose if that happened.

“...Damn,” Roy muttered dejectedly.

All of a sudden.

“Huh…?”

The sky above his head suddenly turned dark. He slowly raised his head…

“Gasp…!”

…and saw something huge flying in the sky. It was around 500 meters, no, 1,000 meters wide? Anyway, something surprisingly huge was flying in the sky.

***

At the same time.

Minhyuk turned Atlas territory into a ‘City in the Sky’, and sent it to Cloud Continent. The reason why none of the members from the Let’s Eat Sect had appeared over the course of five days, was simply because they took that time to check the enemy’s power and military prowess.

Minhyuk also took the time to determine if he should change Atlas into a City in the Sky and transfer his territory over. If their enemies were stronger than expected, then their NPCs would die. So, if his assumptions were wrong, all of their NPC troops would be wiped out. That was why it was necessary for them to check if he should send the entire territory over, or just the players alone. In other words, with his decision, he was confident that their troops would not die nor incur much damage, since he sent the territory over.

Minhyuk had also entered the Continent Cloud. However, he was not in Atlas. Instead, he was somewhere else, standing in front of Ellie, to be exact. Right now, Ellie was looking at him coldly, as she said, “Minhyuk, grab your sword. Attack me as if you’re going to kill me.”

“...?”

Minhyuk was bewildered, not understanding what was happening right now.