-Why do you want to win against the Supreme?
The rankers would give different answers when given this question.
Before the rankers were given access to Slaughter Island, a child asked, “Dad, you’re going to win this time, right?!!”
Before, Richard’s son loved the E-vengers. But now? He completely idolized his father.
As a father, Richard answered that question by saying he wanted to be someone his son could be proud of.
For White Mage Ali, the answer to that question was so he could honor his hyung, who was suffering from disabilities.
[Valentino will definitely carry the people this time!]
[Italy’s Pride! Valentinooooo!]
For some, it was to live up to the expectations of their fans.
“Young Master Rausch, it’s time to log in.”
For those who had everything, it was so they could find something to bring life and color back to their boring daily life.
“Chairman, it’s time to go.”
For another father, it was so he could see his child, who wanted to live, go out there and live his life.
Each person had a different reason. But one of the biggest reasons they wanted to win was because... they were greedy.
“Son. Please don’t do anything weird. I don’t want to see you get booed again.”
“Ey! What’s the matter with you? Mom. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Dad, are you going to log in too?”
“They’re saying that Locke is receiving special privileges because Dad is also coming to Slaughter Island.”
He, who has the purest reason, looked at his father and mother with a bitter look. Most of the rankers entered this event with gazes filled with adoration, while he entered with gazes filled with concern.
Locke chuckled bitterly, “I’ll be back later.”
His parents loved him dearly. That was why they felt sad. They did not want to see their son, Locke, become a laughingstock. Whenever they saw posts criticizing their son for being ugly, they would feel their heart ache.
There were words about hunting monsters with faces similar to Locke, or talking about how Locke was the mascot of the Beyond the Heavens Empire because he was funny. Their hearts would twist painfully whenever they heard such words.
Perhaps Locke’s reason for participating in this event in Slaughter Island could be considered the purest and the greediest reason.
‘I want to become everyone’s idol.’
It was because he had never experienced something like that before.
‘I want to be hailed as the best and the greatest too.’
He had always been invisible in the eyes of the people.
He wanted them to cheer for him with pride. That was Locke’s reason for participating.
All these people, with varying reasons for participating, closed their eyes. When they opened them once again, the battle had unfolded.
“Come at me all at once.”
Locke, who had never been someone’s idol, stood before Minhyuk, holding his axe tightly.
Death, once called a monster because of the burn that covered almost half of his face but had now reemerged in the world, slammed his staff on the ground and gathered all the undead he had summoned to create one giant undead.
The giant undead’s lower body was created from hundreds of bones. Once the bones were fused, the impurities within them were expelled. This left behind only the hardest, toughest, and most outstanding bones. The armor that covered its body was created from the hundreds of golden armor that protected the Death Knights. It had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
[Death Knight Emperor Barrancar. Level 911.]
Standing in front of Death was Ali, the Great Mage’s Descendant.
Ali stood before everyone, his white hair fluttering in the wind. He then used his most powerful skill to protect everyone.
Richard slowly raised his sword. Then, he gave the command to all of the rankers.
All of these people had different reasons for participating. However, all of them could agree on one thing. They wanted to defeat the Supreme simply because he was the best.
Finally, the battle began.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh–!
Barrancar, the bone version of a transformer, charged forward with the sword and shield in its hands. It was immediately followed by waves of rankers. They looked like they would raid a Calamity-level boss monster with how they were charging forward.
The sword in the hands of Minhyuk, who was in a state of Transcendence, moved swiftly and clashed with Barrancar. It was a simple swing, yet the undead’s hand shook from the impact.
Meanwhile, Ali disappeared from behind Barrancar, only to appear in the sky above. Blink, a magic that could only be used every 0.9 seconds by ordinary mages, was different in Ali’s hands. He utilized it every 0.2 seconds, gaining the attention of everyone.
A rain of spears fell upon Minhyuk, who had sent Barrancar flying away with a single swing of his sword. The Supreme looked up at the falling spears and said, “Let’s Have a Meal.”
A blue barrier appeared and sent all of the falling Disses bouncing away. As for the other rankers? They had already surrounded Minhyuk’s barrier. They were all preparing their lethal skills while waiting for the barrier protecting him to disappear.
Alas, the moment the Diss was terminated, Minhyuk terminated the barrier. Then, the Ego Chain Sickle appeared above him and wrapped itself around his wrist.
Minhyuk propelled himself to the sky and slashed Ali, who wanted to make a comeback and bring glory to his hyung. As the Supreme, Minhyuk had judged that it was much faster and better for him to go to the sky and use his power than wait inside the barrier and prepare for an attack.
A power that could contact the enemies even if the skill user was eight meters away from them was activated.
At the same time, the power that only had a 1% chance of triggering activated. Both powers appeared and ravaged Ali. As the White Mage fell, a being that Minhyuk had summoned appeared beneath him as if he had been waiting for Ali to fall. It was none other than Puppet Viel.
The person who posed the greatest danger to Minhyuk was eliminated and turned into ashes that disappeared with the wind.
Of course, Richard and the other rankers did not stay idle at this time. They all grabbed a rope and threw it around Minhyuk. The ropes had already wound and tied Minhyuk up before the floating Ego Chain Sickle could move and cut it down.
At this moment, Richard thought of his son. His son would be watching this! So, he had to give it his all.
Richard’s Absolute Monarch class was originally a commander-type class. Even so, he had at least one outstanding ability to kill stronger enemies.
Richard disappeared in a flash, appearing in the sky above Minhyuk and falling straight toward the Supreme, his sword in hand pointing at his heart. Richard was delighted, falling like a meteor straight toward the man.
‘I am my son’s hero. And I will continue to be—’
Still in the sky, Richard fell to his knees in front of the power that could force anyone and everyone to submit and worship the skill user for two seconds. Minhyuk stared at the kneeling Richard and raised his sword, activating his skill right when the man was almost before him.
Slash, slash, slash, slash–!
The attack hit Richard right in the face and left him tattered and broken. Everyone was stunned when they saw the absolute being from the past fall so quickly.
Then, Calauhel, who participated because he wanted to find something to bring life and color back to his bland life, raised his sword engraved with dragons and ascended to the heavens to reach Minhyuk.
He cut Minhyuk once in every direction, his figure disappearing every five seconds and appearing shortly after to cut and slash at Minhyuk’s body. However, no matter how hard Calauhel attacked, the Supreme’s HP did not fall. It was because Minhyuk’s HP was being restored with every attack that he landed on him.
“Annihilator’s Sword.”
With an additional 11,000% of damage, the Annihilator's Sword wreaked havoc and landed upon Calauhel.
But then, someone appeared in the sky and attacked Minhyuk.
Black Dragon appeared with a faint smile on his face. Following the orders of Minhyuk’s father, the dragons roared and began to bite at Minhyuk. Black Dragon started this game for his son. And the reason why he participated in this battle was so he could see how much his son had grown.
Minhyuk screamed as four Breaths hit him at the same time. However, he was able to trigger Absolute Defense right away. With the protection of the absolute shield, he moved to cut the head of the leading dragon off.
He passed by the first dragon and moved on to cut down the remaining three. Even though Minhyuk cut down his dragons in seconds, his father, Black Dragon, did not feel frustrated. He even felt delighted. This was because Minhyuk, his son, was hailed as the Supreme and was truly strong. And he was now proving to the world his worth and qualifications. Then, Black Dragon fell with one swing of Minhyuk’s sword.
In just an instant, no less than four rankers were forced to log out.
At that moment, the person with the greediest yet purest reason for participating in this battle fell from the sky with an axe in his hands.
Minhyuk, still falling, was suddenly slamming down on the ground. He looked up at the sky in surprise. Not long after, he once again soared to the sky. Locke, who had already landed, immediately chased after him.
The reason why Locke wanted to defeat the Supreme was because he wished to be recognized. He wanted the people to realize that he, too, was worthy of their recognition.
He had seen his mother cry in her bedroom whenever he appeared on TV.
He had seen his father grow furious after hearing someone say, “Your son was hilarious today, huh?” on the phone.
He had heard one of his blind dates say, “You’re quite funny. But aren’t you trying so hard...?”
Funny? He was not trying to be funny. He was doing his best to do what he liked to do.
Minhyuk’s sword moved faster than Locke’s axe. Minhyuk, now using the Dual Swordsmanship Technique, tore and ripped him apart in the sky. Just like always, Locke was being torn apart. Locke caught Minhyuk’s gaze as he slowly turned into ashes. There was a bitter smile on his face.
And just like usual, the commentators began to comment on his performance.
[Locke appeared differently this time. He had made an extraordinary appearance. However, he could not withstand a few strikes from Minhyuk and is now forced to log out.]
[Ali had become the White Mage. Richard had grown stronger as the Absolute Monarch. And Death was now able to summon the Death Knight Emperor.]
[But even after a year, it seems like Locke did not particularly grow in any way.]
[He had switched and become an unofficial ranker since a year ago. It is assumed that he has concealed himself because he feared the criticism he would receive for his leveling speed, which is much slower than the other rankers.]
[Even so, he still did his best.]
[There’s no reason to criticize Locke, especially when the other high rankers cannot even do anything...]
The falling Locke looked at Minhyuk, who had now looked somewhere else. Despair slowly colored his eyes as he continued to fall and turn into ashes. At that moment, he grabbed his axe and channeled something.
[The Undying Priest.]
Once again, Locke soared to the sky amidst the gray ashes fluttering around him.
Locke’s mother and father sat in front of their already turned-off TV, heartbroken and unable to continue to watch the broadcast.
The two stared at their buzzing phones, their hearts sinking and aching. They knew why their phones were buzzing like crazy. They were likely calls from people sarcastically asking them what they should do because their son, Locke, was also not doing well this time.
These calls were nothing but the jealous ones’ cries. After all, even though the people were mocking Locke, he was still a certified ranker who had accumulated his wealth and glory. They mocked him because they could not bear to see him do well.
Of course, Locke’s parents were fine. They did not care about those things. The reason why they were so heartbroken was because they could see that their son’s heart and pride were slowly rotting and breaking.
They heard cheers from outside their open veranda. The two looked at each other. Then, Locke’s father stood up to close the veranda’s doors.
“Locke! Locke! Locke! Locke!!!”
A strange yet familiar cheer rang in their ears. Amidst their confusion, someone knocked on their door, shouting, “Jisoo’s mom! Are you watching TV?!”
They could tell that something was off. Turning on their TV, they saw Locke soaring to the sky again. Words that they were unfamiliar with appeared on their screen.
[The Undying Priest.]
[Your HP and MP have been restored to 100%.]
[Your HP and MP will burn in exchange for explosive power and strength for ten seconds.]
[All of your stats have increased by 75%.]
[All of your attack power has increased by 94%.]
[All of your defensive power has increased by 64%.]
[The God of ‘Priests’ is with you.]
The soaring Locke swung his axe at Minhyuk. Despite defending against the attack, Minhyuk was still unprepared. His stance could not withstand the attack's impact, and he was sent flying back.
There was only shock on Minhyuk’s face.
Locke’s gaze was no longer the playful gaze that he usually sported. It was filled with a firm and absolute determination as he swung his axe at Minhyuk at a tremendous speed.
There was no way for Minhyuk to stop or avoid the attacks. Locke was covered with a red haze and attacked him rapidly and constantly.
[The reason why Locke has switched to become an unofficial ranker is not to hide the fact that he did not grow but to hide the fact that he had grown this strong!]
[The world is going wild as they watch Supreme Locke stand before The Supreme!]
[Now, Locke is getting more cheers and responses than Supreme Minhyuk!]
[If Locke forces Minhyuk to log out here, the world will pay attention to him! Perhaps they will all show interest in the player Locke for a very long time to come, too!]
Locke’s father and mother held hands as they watched their son on the screen with tears streaming down their cheeks.
Although it might sound like the greediest reason, the desire to stand at the top of the world and become the Supreme remained the purest human desire. And Locke had always stayed true to this desire.
Locke had always done his best. He worked as hard as Ali, Death, Richard, and Ascar and had experienced a crazy growth. Of course, he had always hidden it.
Locke swung his axe at Minhyuk’s chest and fell along with him.
[Your HP has fallen below 3%.]
Minhyuk was close to being forced to log out.
[The Undying Priest will end in two seconds.]
Locke was also nearing his end. At this moment, his instincts told him, ‘I won...!’
He threw his axe at Minhyuk, now stuck on the ground.
[The Undying Priest will end in one second.]
[You will be forced to log out soon.]
Once this axe hit Minhyuk’s heart, he would die. But this hope was dashed. Locke’s face grew ugly. Minhyuk, who was still stuck on the ground, stabbed a Giant Bee that was floating near him.
A blood bead restored a portion of Minhyuk’s HP as Locke’s axe hit his heart.
[Your HP has fallen below 2%.]
Minhyuk, who barely survived, realized that he was very, very lucky today. If no Giant Bee had been floating near him, he would have failed to recover some of his HP and already died.
Locke’s face grew dark, his expression helpless and despairing. In the end, he could not achieve his goals.
“You’re quite strong, huh...?”
Locke knew Minhyuk well. He was doing this on purpose. Of course, Minhyuk was praising him and speaking the truth. He based it on facts.
“You’re amazing, Locke.”
Locke, who had finally turned into ashes, disappeared with a bright smile.