Main Character Hides His Strength
chapter-9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – Krill Regall (3)

translated by curry

Money made anything possible .

This remained true for both the real world and this one . Two of the preselected belonging to the Iron Blood Knight Order were dead, but only one death had been reported . The other magician who had lost his preselected was dragged off by the Iron Blood Knights and was never seen again . In Krill’s short lifetime, there has never been a moment that has caused him to shudder more . Krill was now standing at attention in the office and in front of the high ranked and armored Iron Blood Knight .

“You are wise, my friend . You said you were Krill Regall?”

The high ranking Iron Blood Knight brought up the thick emerald to his eyes and carefully examined it through one eye . He has had many accomplishments, as the scars on his face gave witness . This man was the 3rd Assault Regiment’s Captain, Sangil Ma . In this mass summoning, he was the one in charge of nurturing the preselected .

“If you tried to bribe me with pocket change, you would have gotten some harsh treatment . You might have suffered a worse fate than the other idiot who got dragged away earlier . In a place you don’t know very well called Korea, there is a serious crime called overstepping your boundaries . ”

Sangil said this with a bone-chilling smile .

“When… When have I ever done such a thing?”

He placed the emerald deep into his pocket and spoke in a low voice .

“I know that . That’s why I’ve called you over . ”

“For now, return to the observation tower . ”

“What? You said… return?”

His preselected was dead . What was there to be done even if he returned?

Sangil trimmed his fingernails with a nail clipper as he spoke with an annoyed voice .

“I thought you had a good head on your shoulders, but maybe I was mistaken . ”

“…”

“Hyunsuk is alive . ”

When he heard this, Krill sensed a chill running all over his body .

‘It’s exactly like that guy had said!’

The man, who hadn’t revealed his name, told Krill with a cold voice .

“They will at least leave you alive for the moment . But remember, they will never let you go, nor will they forgive you . ”

The current situation was flowing exactly as the unknown man had predicted . Sangil sent Krill back to the observation tower to wait on standby . In the bird cage, there was a small flying squirrel with white striped fur moving about busily . Krill tied a letter the size of a sesame seed to the leg of the flying squirrel then whispered as he opened the back window .

“Please deliver this to that person . ”

“Kyu kyu!”

The unusually intelligent flying squirrel nodded and then let his small body fly out through the open window .

*

“Kyu, kyu!”

Kim Sungchul untied the paper on the squirrel’s leg and confirmed the contents within .

[ Tomorrow’s Ranked matches will go by Alamo Rule . You will go up against zombies . ]

[ The rewards cutoffs are at 1/3/10/30 zombies ]

[ The bonus monsters will be wearing red hats . ]

“… . . ”

Sungchul memorized the contents in his head and rubbed the paper between his fingers . The paper became dust and scattered in the wind .

“You did well . ”

Kim Sungchul took out a piece of bread from his pocket and offered it to the flying squirrel .

“Kyuing?”

The flying squirrel enjoyed the bread, then stared at Sungchul with some interest before disappearing into the darkness .

He’s a smart cookie, Sungchul thought as he recounted the information Krill Regall had provided him .

“Zombies will be coming out with Alamo Rules . That’s not a bad start . ”

Rank matches had many methods . There could be death matches amongst the summoned of each plaza or fights arranged between elites representing each plaza, or even Pac-Man game where you have to avoid the monsters, and many other odd rules with names that had no clear origin, like his own .

The Alamo Rule, which would begin soon, was one in which the summoned would work together to defend against numerous demonic creatures . Although the demonic creatures were easy enough for newbies to overcome individually, there would be a great number of them . As the defenders, it would feel like they were fighting against endless waves of monsters .

However, this was also an opportunity . Even though these were weak monsters, as long as you could take care of them you would be rewarded . Krill Regall had mentioned cutoffs for the rewards, which changed at each marking of 1, 3, 10, and 30 kills .

In other words, it meant the finest rewards could be had from hunting over 30 of them . Of course, if you were to be in the top 3 in kill score you would also get a special reward; but he had no intention of being in the top 3 . He would do just enough work to get all of the standard rewards . That was Sungchul’s goal, he would be on the lookout for the so-called bonus monsters .

The zombies with the red hats, these bonus monsters, were slightly stronger than the normal ones; but defeating them yielded great rewards .

Sungchul wasn’t certain about exactly what the rewards would be, but based on his past experience, it definitely included Palace Tokens . This information was valuable to Sungchul who was in dire need of 19 additional Palace Tokens .

On the dawn of the second day . Sungchul opened his eyes to a familiar demonic energy .

The necromancers had arrived at the summoning palace and were chanting an incantation to raise the dead .

“Guuuuuuh”

In the morgue below the summoning palace, the dead were coming to life . These were the victims from the first day of the mass summoning . Thousands of these corpses followed the necromancer’s orders to move through the underground tunnels to stand just outside Blanche Plaza’s entrance which was connected to the palace . Most of the summoned couldn’t imagine such a scene, but the Preselected were told ahead of time of what was happening

“Kim hyung! Did you hear that voice?”

Yungjong acted rather friendly .

“You mean the part where ranked matches will start today?”

“Yup . According to their guides, they were told to fight at the front instead of heading towards the backlines . ”

“Is that so?”

“They said to get at least 30 . God damn it… I’m a bit nervous . ”

Getting 30 kills was the minimum requirement to get the best rewards . Krill Regall’s information seems reliable . A little after sunrise, the homunculi, including the Drill Sergeant, appeared at the Blanche Plaza .

“Now now, humans! Rise and shine! The most important event; the ranked matches, starts now!”

The people who were hungry and thirsty all stared at the homunculi with vacant eyes . The Drill Sergeant showed off his razor teeth as he smiled and started speaking in his particularly annoying voice .

“All of your friends who had come with you will be here soon! It’s simple! Just play with your old friends for 1 hour! But remember! If you kill your friends, you can get water and rations . The rewards will grow with the more you kill!”

After the homunculi disappeared, a low trumpet sound was heard over the palace walls . The gargantuan walls that were always closed were now being opened wide . Each member of the crowd had a blade in hand and was staring nervously at what lay beyond while the doors slowly opened . Outside the palace doors were several humans . Humans that were staggering and walking strangely . While the crowd was bustling, Sungchul read the message that appeared in front of his eyes .

[ First round of the Ranked matches now begins . ]

[ Rule: Alamo ]

[ Featured Monster: Zombies ]

[ Raise your sword and fight . Cut down your enemies . Here, your value will be measured only in what you prove through your own actions . ]

“A sword . ”

Sungchul smirked as he grasped the staff in his hand . Moonlight, one of Vestiare’s gifts . Today, Kim Sungchul thought of using Moonlight instead of a sword for the audience at the observation tower .

The ruling class of Other World gathered in the observation towers on Ranked Match days and would gamble great sums of money on which plaza would win . Among those in the plazas, there are some who are able to wield a sword well in their own right, as well as those who are naturals in fighting .

Using Moonlight would help him stand out, but the bastards up in the tower would lose interest quickly; What they wanted to see was not some wimp who relied on items but diamonds in the rough who showed a genuine talent for fighting . The strong, hidden among the crowd, will awaken to their true nature on the battlefield today and will henceforth work themselves to exhaustion during the trials to grow even stronger .

“Kim hyung, let’s try our best . ”

The preselected were all at the frontlines, as if by a previous arrangement . Sungchul found Ahram among them . He was also at the frontlines . But he was not holding onto a sword; he held a staff . It looked a little different from Sungchul’s, but it also looked like a mage staff charged with magic power .

‘Since he didn’t train properly, did they have to babysit him with that staff?’

Sungchul had destroyed Vestiare’s fragment, so the magician in charge of Ahram didn’t really have much of a choice . Even though it was conspicuous, in order to raise Ahram’s capability immediately, he had to be given an item that could be used instantly to boost his power . To Sungchul this was good news; It meant that he did not need to be careful about holding back with Moonlight .

[ Ranked match begins now . ]

[ Restrictions have been removed . ]

[ Warning! You could die! ]

As the message disappeared, the zombies outside the palace door pushed forward into the plaza with a singular purpose .

“Uwoooooh!”

The summoned chose to step back frightened by the sight of the zombies pouring in .

“Uuuh . . ! Please let me live!”

“What the fuck is this bullshit…”

There were some who edged back from the fight .

“Alright, everyone! Let’s go!”

Some of the summoned who had the will to fight got into a formation and faced off against the zombies . Sungchul noticed that the man who was leading them was the middle-aged office worker from the first day, who had recruited a party despite being told off numerous times . The man lacked strength but fought on desperately and engaged with a hit-and-run battle tactic .

Unlike that man, there were those who stood their ground and fought . It was uncertain if they were also one of the preselected, but they had courage on par with a preselected and good instincts for battle . They were the type that got the feel of it with each zombie kill and quickly grew stronger . These are probably the types that the ones at the observation tower watched with the most interest . Of course, the preselected behind them were not just idling either .

“Now! Everyone, let’s go!”

The Preselected including Yohoon went into the fray as well .

Slash!

Zombies were cut down easily . This was inevitable; the zombies’ power were on par with the average summoned’s power on their first day in the world . In the past week, the preselected had been bestowed blessings, given enchanted weapons, and gone on training; To them, the zombies were nothing more than smelly lumps of meat .

“Wo… Woah! I got one of these!”

Among the preselected, Yungjong was rather cowardly, but even he was able to easily cut down a zombie . Some of the women stubbornly refused to go out and fight, but the preselected were already doing their part . Meanwhile, Park Ahram was standing with the women in the rear until he decided it was time . From his staff, two spirit wolves emerged and leapt at the zombies, whipping up a bloody storm .

“Excellent! You’re doing great!”

Ahram’s raucous laughter reverberated over the battlefield .

“……”

Sungchul avoided the battle until there was a lull before using his staff . He aimed his staff at a zombie and poured strength into it . Energy bolts shot out of the end of the staff and pierced through the bodies of the zombies .

“Woah! Kim hyung! What was that?”

Youngjong asked in surprise .

Kim Sungchul replied nonchalantly .

“This? I picked it up in the forest . ”

As he said this, Sungchul made a quick work of the zombies . Ten, Twenty, Twenty-nine . With one more left, Sungchul scanned the masses of zombies rushing in . Finally, he found the bastard he was searching for; the zombie wearing a red hat . Sungchul headed towards the bonus monster . However, two spirit wolves passed by him and rushed at the red hat zombie first .

He could hear a giddy laughter coming from behind him .

“Ahahahaha! That one’s mine! Nobody shall touch it!”

It was Ahram . Anger erupted from Sungchul’s eyes .

‘That son of a bitch is asking for a beating . . ’

Sungchul held himself back in the hopes that the kid would still have some uses in the future . He grabbed the head of a zombie off the floor and threw it backwards . The zombie head flew like an arrow straight towards Ahram .

“Ack!”

Ahram cried out and crumpled on the floor . He dropped his precious staff before he fell unconscious .

As soon as he let go of the staff, his connection to the spirit wolves was severed . Sungchul now had the opportunity to take the red hat zombie for himself . As he was aiming his staff, he noticed a woman who ran like a cheetah towards the red hat zombie .

On the outside, she looked like an ordinary summoned . However, the vigor and skill with which she ran… the energy in her focused gaze was unusual; If he wasn’t careful, he could lose the red hat to her .

“…”

Sungchul poured his herculean strength through his body and in a flash, he was standing between the mysterious woman and the red hat zombie

Stab!

Sungchul’s sword pierced through the heart of the zombie and their gazes met . Her eyes were filled with astonishment, but her unwavering gaze was abnormal even by his battle-hardened standards . However, the message which popped up concealed her from his eyes .

[ You have eliminated the bonus monster! ]

Rewards:

1 . Palace Token x 3

2 . Light Shield of Vitality (Common)