"What the fuck…?"
JiHan usually didn't swear, but he couldn't help but curse when he saw the defeat message. It was absurd. He'd escaped from the 108th Form in 15 minutes, so how had they already lost?
= Ah, JiHan…!
= H-his curses are understandable!
The commentators tried to play off his swearing, but the public chat was already ablaze.
- They really are an eyesore, lol.
- It's amazing that he only said 'What the fuck?'. Lol. He's a saint.
- JiHan breaking the formation was the only thing worth watching… Everything else was a one-sided stomp --
- What was the team even doing? Couldn't they just survive? Was it that hard?
People had hoped that they'd be able to beat China, the 2nd-ranked country in the world.
- Even if he's their carry, it's useless if they're like that. Lol.
- I suddenly understand why the Sword King went to Japan.
- If I were JiHan, I would've already emigrated to the USA~
- For real. I feel like he will contact Gates as soon as he leaves the Battle Net Center.
After the 5th match ended, an image of the MVP appeared on-screen.
= The MVP of the final match is… Zhuge Xuan.
= JiHan received MVP in matches one and four, and Zhuge received MVP in matches two and five.
Since the MVP of match three went to Chinese Support Jiu Ling Ling, JiHan and Zhuge were tied for MVP.
= Then who's going to be the Player of the Game?
= Well, the winning team usually takes priority.
= Still, I can't help but be excited! JiHan definitely showed an overwhelming performance today!
Contrary to what the Korean commentators were excited for, the Player of the Game went to Zhuge Xuan.
= Ah… That's too bad. JiHan carried his team today.
= I guess Zhuge also led his team to victory.
= He did play a big role in the final match. Zhuge Xuan, China's Great Mage, is truly a formidable player!
After he returned to the Battle Net Center, JiHan went to the strategy room to watch a replay of the match.
= Ah. Zhuge Xuan! He pulled out 'fire' again!
= He picked the same card three times in a row… Is that even possible?
= I've made the calculations, and the chance of this happening is 0.2%!
As they said, Zhuge had picked the 'fire' hexagram three times in a row during the match. Meteors fell from the sky as soon as the match started, and every seven minutes afterward, the Bagua Overlap successfully went off again for a total of three meteors, each of which severely damaged the Korean base.
= Ah. The South Korean Warriors are sacrificing themselves to block the meteors…
= But they couldn't stop them! They're being completely defeated!
In the end, the meteors completely wiped the Korean team out. They might have been able to survive for a few more minutes if Zhuge hadn't drawn 'fire' three times in a row, but the Chinese Mage's 0.2% luck was impossible for them to endure.
"JiHan… I don't have any excuses. I'm sorry…" Coach YeongJun apologized as he watched the replay with JiHan. "I thought they could survive for 20 minutes. I never expected for the round to end after three meteors."
"Well, we couldn't have predicted him to pick the same hexagram three times."
That bastard would always get terrible draws in the Space League, but of course he just had to get one-in-a-million successes in their international game.
'We could have won with a player like that,' JiHan thought. He'd done his best, but one person just wasn't enough to single-handedly beat an entire team with great Gifts.
He needed more players who could properly support him if he wanted to raise South Korea's Battle Net ranking.
'Should I wait for Sae-ah to grow?'
When he thought of the power YouHua, who had Sae-ah's same Gift, had shown before his regression, he knew his niece could grow into a world-class player. On top of that, she also had the Void Archer class evolution.
'Anyway, going to the Champions League this season seems like it'll be difficult.'
It was the second half of the 2020 season, and since Korea had been losing since the season started, even if they won every game from then on, it would be difficult for them to place 2nd and qualify for the Champions League.
They could've considered it if they beat China, but that hope disappeared after their defeat.
"JiHan…" YeonJu, the leader of the Archers, approached him. "I'm sorry… We still lost after everything you went through for us."
"It can't be helped. The yellow dragon was a bad match for the Archer team."
"Even though the yellow dragon was good at blocking arrows, there's no excuse for not being able to score kills. Jiu Ling Ling wasn't this strong before… I've realized my shortcomings."
Jiu Ling Ling had the SSS-rank Gift 'Yellow Dragon Summon'. Until not long before, people thought it wasn't worth the rank due to his lack of control over it, but what he'd shown in the matches was precise enough to block most of YeonJu's focused attacks.
"So… is there a spot available in the Bloom Guild?"
"Yes. There are spots now since all the Chinese players left."
"Could I join…? I want to grow more." Maybe it was due to the helplessness she'd felt in the match, but she was expressing a strong desire to get better.
'She's the only one who even did a decent job, but…' JiHan looked around and saw that hardly any other players were left in the strategy room. 'Do they not want to analyze and review the matches?'
Among the 10 players still in the room, none were Warriors, who were the worst off.
'The ones who are the furthest behind don't even try… I should only support players who intend to grow.'
Just because you support someone with a high chance of succeeding doesn't guarantee the outcome. It's better to support those who truly want to succeed. That being the case, he decided to reward YeonJu's will to get better instead of trying to help the hopeless Warriors.
"Understood. I'll tell HaYeon to leave a spot open," he said.
"I contacted the LK Guild, and they said they'd pay the fee."
As JiHan talked with her, a few of the other players in the strategy room timidly approached.
"JiHan… Excuse me, could I join as well?"
They were all players who were stimulated by their defeat. If anything was gained from the game that day, it was their newfound determination.
JiHan smiled and said, "Yes, of course."
Meanwhile, despite their victory, a gloomy atmosphere hung over the Chinese team.
"Li Long, how did the 108th Form break so quickly?" Zhuge Xuan glared at him. If it hadn't been for the luck of drawing 'fire' three times in a row, then they might have lost the final match.
Li Long, still seated, trembled and bowed his head. "Ugh… That bastard's a monster." He was virtually unbeatable within the 108th Form, but JiHan had completely annihilated him with one attack. Though he hadn't felt pain, the chilling sensation of the lightning piercing his body still lingered.
"H-how do I face him in the next game…?" he asked. "I… I'm not confident. He's going to get even stronger than the Sword King…"
Zhuge rubbed his throbbing temples.
Divine Monk Li Long was supposed to be the 2nd-ranked Warrior in the world, but all he could do was tremble when he thought of JiHan. He wasn't fit to be the Chinese team's Warrior leader.
'Wang Lin needs to grow faster.'
Wang Lin was the owner of the SSS-rank 'Heavenly Demonic Body' and was still in Gold, but Zhuge was hoping for him to quickly become the Chinese Warrior leader.
'Even if it's just Wang Lin, I'll have to ask for him to be reinstated in the Bloom Guild.'
Zhuge had considerable influence in the People's Assembly, a guild directly under the Chinese government's control. He knew they'd withdrawn the Chinese players from the guild to pressure JiHan into revealing the name of his martial art.
'I guess paying him more money will be enough. There's no way they'd refuse if we offered double or triple.'
Meanwhile…
* * *
Back in the USA, Robert Gates watched the entire game with a Korean translator.
"C… bal? What does that mean?" he asked.
"It's similar to 'What the fuck?'."
"That makes sense."
Although everything said in-game was translated for him by Battle Net, some of the post-game comments and conversations remained in their native languages.
"JiHan… is a crazy player. He can utilize every class and is only Gold but is as strong as a Diamond. I should have recruited him earlier." He regretted having offered only 300 million and not at least a billion back when he had the chance.
His secretary entered the room. "Sofia's going to Korea again."
"Why?" he asked.
"It seems to be due to the recent romance scandal involving Mr. Sung. Since the team's games are over now, she wanted to go visit."
"Hmm…" Robert frowned. He initially thought she was just his fan because he was a great Warrior, but that wasn't the case.
'She seems more serious about him than I thought.' He was worried that she might get too involved with the Bloom Guild, so he decided he had to bring JiHan to the United States to prevent that.
'Well, there's a chance his thoughts have changed after he witnessed just how hopeless the Korean team is without him.' They were only holding him back. Even if a team had an outstanding player, they couldn't become world champions if they couldn't at least support that player.
He decided to try bringing JiHan over to the United States again. "Go ahead and give Sofia a private jet," he said, "and give her a message for JiHan when she sees him."
"What should she tell him?"
"Tell him that, if he naturalizes to the United States and joins America First… I'll make him the guild master."
"Wh-what?"
"You heard me. Oh, and I'll also give him 10% of the guild's shares."
"10%…?"
"Yes."
As the world's top guild, America First's shares were astronomically valuable. Did he really think JiHan was worth that much?
"10% of the shares and a position as the guild master… Should I really tell her to pass that message to him?" The secretary asked again, just in case.
Robert Gates nodded as if the answer was obvious. "It's a bargain if we can get him for only that much."
Instead of repeating his previous mistake, he decided to go all-out in bringing JiHan to the United States.
* * *
Sae-ah had been staying at the Battle Net Center with JiHan and took a limo back to the Sword Palace with him. She smiled down at her smartphone during the ride.
"Uncle… Sofia says she'll be here in two days."
"Why…?"
"She wanted to come right after the scandal broke out, but I told her to wait until the games were over. She agreed and said she'd be over right after they ended."
"Doesn't she have anything else to do?"
"Uncle, you're her top priority." She continued to text Sofia for a few moments before her mouth fell open. "Wow. Uncle… It seems that Mr. Gates is going to offer you the guild master position in America First."
"What? They're the top-ranking guild in the world."
"Right?! I thought it was a mistake, but it seems that they're serious! On top of that…" She wanted to continue talking, but JiHan placed a finger before his lips and urged her to be silent as he glanced toward the driver's seat.
Sae-ah hurriedly closed her mouth.
"Let's continue talking at home," he said.
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry. I was too excited."
"It's fine."
The driver was affiliated with the Battle Net Association, so their conversation would probably reach the higher-ups, especially if it was related to an offer from the United States.
'Hmm. I think I could use this situation to my advantage,' JiHan thought.