『 As Grid and the Behen Archipelago is becoming a hot topic, the S.A. Group has announced the new rules for the 3rd National Competition. 』

『 It was a shocking announcement. Thanks to this, interest in Grid has been dispersed. 』

『 This is a conspiracy, a conspiracy! The new rules released are too disadvantageous to South Korea! This is a blatant shot at South Korea! The S.A. Group deserves criticism at a national level!! 』

The Haenam branch of Eat Spicy Jokbal.

Peak Sword frowned as he chewed on jokbal. He was angry due to the news report.

"Those traitorous S.A... The national competition is in three months and they want to add such rules?”

The Olympics, which had long been a festival of the world, were completely different from when it was first held hundreds of years ago. From the current point of view, the first one had bizarre events and rules.

But over the years, know-how was accumulated and the Olympics applied fair rules that were close to perfection.

Yes, it meant that the Satisfy National Competition would one day have a complete system like the Olympics. However, the current system was still incomplete.

The basic rules were changed every year, causing confusion among participants and viewers.

The 1st National Competition had been limited to 17 participating countries and the players of each country were obliged to participate in three events.

On the other hand, the 2nd National Competition was extended to 32 participating countries and the players of each country could participate in three individual events and three group events, for a total of six events.

Now the 3rd National Competition scheduled in three months would be expanded to 50 participating countries and each player was only allowed to take part in two events, whether it was a solo or group event.

The problem wasn’t the increased number of participating countries.

The increase in countries meant the recognition of the National Competition had risen and the gap between players for each country had narrowed, which was rather positive.

The problem was that each individual could only participate in two events.

In the future, the first place was likely to be the U.S. which had the widest player pool.

The country that suffered the most damage was undoubtedly South Korea.

Why?

It was easy when thinking about the reason why South Korea was able to overturn everyone’s expectations and achieve top results in the 1st National Competition and 2nd National Competition.

It was only thanks to the activities of Grid. Grid secured a large amount of gold medals and raised South Korea’s ranking exponentially.

Now that was impossible.

No matter how good Grid was, he would eventually only get two gold medals. South Korea relied on the lone Grid and it was impossible to dream about becoming the top ranked country.

"The number of events has even increased to 20... Sigh.”

Peak Sword sighed.

He brought up the conspiracy theories that the majority of people had.

“It seems to be true that the S.A. Group has received funding from the United States. They want the reputation of being the strongest country in Satisfy and are threatened by our country, so they have revised the rules.”

"Isn’t it South Korea who has only relied on Grid in the first place? Can’t you win a gold medal without Grid? What is different if you don’t qualify for the gold medal? Even if South Korea stays in the lower rankings, it can only blame itself. There is no reason to blame anyone else.”

Eat Spicy Jokbal said while making makguksu.

In fact, Eat Spicy Jokbal’s words were right.

Looking at it objectively, South Korea was unusual since it ranked high due to Grid. In fact, criticism had sprung up which was why the rules of the 3rd National Competition had been changed.

However, Peak Sword refuted it.

"It definitely is sad to rely on only one person. But isn’t it funny for the organizer to change the rules just to keep one person in check? Think about it. Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina are good at soccer and keep winning the World Cup. Have they ever had rules against them?”

"...No, soccer is different.”

Eat Spicy Jokbal clicked his tongue when Peak Sword came up with an absurd example. But Peak Sword didn’t care and continued the claim.

"On the other hand, what about Taekwondo and E-sports? South Korea won medals in various competitions and they adopted rules to keep South Korea in check! This is really reasonable!! The whole world is bullying South Korea!”

“...”

Eat Spicy Jokbal was a Korean after all. He didn’t agree 100% with Peak Sword’s claim, but he could empathize to some extent.

But what could they do?

Everyone blamed South Korea and felt resentment for their ranking in the previous two National Competitions. There wasn’t a single country who felt it was fair when they saw South Korea securing a large number of gold medals thanks to Grid.

If the National Competition continued to be dominated by Grid, it would lose credibility and become a minor contest.

"Peak Sword, you should understand this part. Would you be able to speak like this if you aren’t Korean?”

“...”

"The scale of the Satisfy National Competition is big, but it’s still a new competition. Anything that feels unreasonable right now will eventually become a foothold for the future. Over the years, it will eventually develop into a competition where everyone will be satisfied.”

Eat Spicy Jokbal had organized and operated Blood Carnival to fulfill his own desires.

Considering his basic tendencies, these lines didn’t fit him.

However, Eat Spicy Jokbal was changing.

It was a phenomenon that occurred as a result of getting close to Peak Sword who came every week.

Eat Spicy Jokbal, who was only interested in his own growth in the game, was now comforting Peak Sword. He was being grabbed by Peak Sword’s warm personality.

"Stop being upset and drink more soju.”

Eat Spicy Jokbal filled up Peak Sword’s empty glass of soju.

Peak Sword drank it and revealed his true feelings.

"Eat Spicy Jokbal, I dislike people like you. People think that South Korea is a country weak in Satisfy but what is the reality? I heard rumors that there are many South Koreans among the unofficial rankers. One of them is right here, Eat Spicy Jokbal.”

“...”

"If you gamers who hide in the shadows for the sake of personal gain actually fought for South Korea, then nobody would think this. South Korea could be recognized as a great power in Satisfy like the United States or Canada. Everyone in South Korea could be proud. But what is the reality? Among the players, Yura and Grid are the only ones fighting for South Korea with pure intentions.”

Peak Sword was also blaming himself for not participating in the 1st National Competition.

Why hadn’t he taken part in the 1st National Competition?

He was afraid that he would have to disclose all his skills to the world and tricked himself, saying “Nothing will change even if I participate in the competition.”

On the other hand, Grid and Yura took a penalty and committed to the country. This was Peak Sword’s subjective interpretation. In particular, he was still shocked when he thought of the scene where Grid, who was close to obscurity, appeared in the 1st National Competition and revealed his talents.

"I hope you won’t regret it like me... Participate in the 3rd National Competition and let the world know that Grid and Yura aren’t the only talents in South Korea. How exciting would it be if we can prove that even changing the rules won’t push down South Korea!!”

Peak Sword had already eaten more than half the jokbal. First he asked for makguksu as a service and now he was making this request of Eat Spicy Jokbal.

"Didn’t you approach me to get me to join Overgeared? Now you are