Chapter 230 (1/2)

A port city in the coastal region of Russia—Vladivostok, which meant ‘Ruler of the East,’ was the largest port city and military port on the east coast. It was full of history and travelers. It was also the place where Russia’s Arkstar national team selection was being held today.

A total of 64 Russians had passed the qualifiers. The most popular one among them was Reina, an executive of the Zeus Guild and the only woman present.

“Reina!”

“So s.e.xy!”

“Look at me!”

“Marry me!”

Reina's popularity was unparalleled in Russia. If a passing child was asked about the identity of the most popular woman in Russia, the answer would be ‘Reina.’ Her beauty blossomed every day and the media praised her, saying she was at her peak. This was why she always appeared in the media with a haughty look. However, today Reina wasn’t feeling very good.

‘You dare to run away from me? This Reina...?’

Reina never had a man hate her in her life, so the words she heard from Dark Wolf yesterday came as a big shock. She didn’t even seem like a woman to him.

‘I’ve been seducing him like that for the past week...’

Reina gritted her teeth. Just then, a broadcast was heard.

-Next is a Russian treasure! Reina Genrich!

Waaaah!

The audience’s shout rang through Vladivostok. The circular dome stadium had a stage with access to capsules and screens placed in the center, with the audience around the stage. Once her name was called, Reina gracefully stepped onto the stage like a model in the new high heels that she bought yesterday. ‘Genrich’ was her surname and it was said to be the surname of an ancestor who played the piano very well. Well, this wasn’t important.

-The opponent is Leonid Koscha, who is known as the Russian Human Bomb Tank!

“Ohhhh!”

Leonid Koscha was the name of a man wearing a navy blue sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscles. He was the man who used the ID ‘Leonid’ in the game. He pursued the path of a tanker and had a pretty big fan base in Russia. He was also one of the people most likely to be selected for the Russian national team. There was virtually no tanker in Russia that could be compared to him.

‘He is far below Reinhardt, but it isn’t bad.’

She didn’t have the slightest intention of going easy on him. This was a personal exhibition that determined the individual competence of a player. Reina planned to thoroughly trample on Leonid in front of her. She was in a very, very bad mood right now.

Soon, the two people got in their capsule. Their field of view flashed and they appeared in a spacious plain surrounded by a dense forest. Reina saw Leonid appear in front of her eyes. He was walking while bumping his fists together. “Huhu. How about joining my guild, Reina? I will treat you well with my lower body, ohuhu.”

It was a very explicit comment. For Reina, who was already angry, Leonid should’ve chosen more respectful words.

“You... today you will be caught well.”

Reina emitted dark energy and a faceless soul in a black cloak and holding a huge scythe appeared behind her back. Her power, which was nicknamed ‘Reaper,’ burst out and chilled the surroundings.

“It would be good to protect it well—your lower body.” The black scythe in Reina’s hands shone in a chilly manner. “It might be cut off.”

* * *

Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Since the early morning, many people had been busy moving to Jamsil Stadium. The police stepped in to control foot traffic in order to reduce the chaos. Countless cars lined up and arrived one after another.

“Ah~ this refreshing air.” Mido arrived at this place. She stretched the moment she got off the athlete-only shuttle bus. She might’ve come here last time, but she still felt the air here was really good.

Mido yawned as she saw the players getting off behind her. Various Korean rankers were riding this large bus that could carry a total of 50 people. It included Kim Hyeonu, Park Taehyeon, and Eun Jeonghyeok who were in the same guild as Mido. They also came to the finals so it was natural for them to be here.

“It is always spacious here.”

Park Taehyeon heard Kim Hyeonu’s words and said, “It isn’t a playground.”

“Hey, I’m tired. Let’s go to the waiting room and relax.”

They nodded and headed to the players’ waiting room prepared by Union. Originally, there should be separate waiting rooms for men and women. However, there was no reason to do so due to the nature of the virtual reality game. Union gave consideration to people who were close to each other, so all the members of the Icarus Guild, including Mido, used the same waiting room. There were only four people from the guild, including her.

“Wow, so many of the guild members failed? In the preliminaries? It somehow feels empty.”

Mido sighed deeply as she recalled the preliminaries. In yesterday’s preliminaries, Icarus had a total of 38 players. However, as could be seen, they were the only survivors.

“They all failed because they were weak.” Park Taehyeon shook his head and clicked his tongue.

In fact, they might be weak, but he thought more people would survive this year. He hadn’t expected Union to make it more difficult than last year.

“Yes. I never expected traps to be present in the monster wave.”

Eun Jeonghyeok shook his head as he thought of the preliminaries. More than 1,000 people participated in the preliminaries and 100 people were divided into each group. It was just that the traps prepared by Union were stronger than expected. They were saying that those who couldn’t even pass these traps weren’t qualified to be national representatives. Those who weren’t good when it came to traps all dropped out.

‘Ah, I feel numb just thinking about it again.’

Huge rocks rolled and a huge mace hung from the ceiling in front of them. The trickiest were the arrows flying from the wall. Fortunately, Eun Jeonghyeok had the ability to identify traps in advance. He might’ve survived, but it was different for his other guild members.

“I don’t know how the finals will go,” Eun Jeonghyeok murmured.

Park Taehyeon heard it and exclaimed like it was insignificant, “Won’t it be divided into an individual competition and team competition like last year?”

“The rules have changed. Maybe the selection method has also changed.”