From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 38: The Battle of Champions Pt. 3

"Ooa… Ooa…"

Flicker.

A blaze began to emerge within the ogre village gate. Once his special ability lit a fire in the forest, it wouldn’t go out unless there was a Hunter or monster that could control water. Of course, the higher the grade of the gate, the higher the tolerance it had against attributes.

‘There were barely any B-Grade Gates before the cataclysm.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was walking slowly within the roaring fire. He walked through the flames as if he were a demon, listening to the ogres scream. Setting fire to a forest was an easy way to deal with low-rank monsters, but it wasn’t a tactic he used often.

Not only did he gain less experience from using this method, but Lee Jun-Kyeong also knew he had much less combat experience compared to the other Hunters, so it was better for him to hunt them directly.

However, there was a simple reason why he was using this tactic now..

“Huff… Huff…”

He could hear an unusual breathing sound. It came from an ogre that had a considerable stature compared to the others.

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s tactic was meant to deal with this monster that was large enough to be mistaken for an Ogre King.

“Huff…”

It seemed to have a resistance to fire comparable to a high-ranking monster. Furthermore, with every breath it exhaled, the nearby flames flickered and then faded little by little.

Lurch.

Nevertheless, like a demon, Lee Jun-Kyeong walked through the flames he had reared. He had finally found the one he had been looking for.

‘The ogre mage.’

The giant monster that had red eyes and had suppressed the flames that had been lit ablaze through Reign of Fire with just a breath was the real boss of the gate. The ogre village was one of the special gates. A twin-headed ogre usually appeared as the boss, but if one scoured the gate, it was possible to find something else occasionally.

Specifically, the ogre mage, a red-eyed wizard, or even a sorcerer.

However…

‘It took quite some time before people discovered the hidden piece?to all of this.’

The reason it took so long was simple. The monster was insanely strong. It had a strength that didn’t match the B-Grade ogre village, and it only seemed to fit in after the cataclysm. Therefore, some Hunters who had left for a B-Grade raid were killed by it without any information escaping to the outside. Eventually, Heroes were dispatched to investigate due to the incomprehensible raid failure.

That was when they found it.

Even the Heroes had struggled to deal with it.

“Hooahhhh!”

Finally, the ogre mage had found the intruder who had set fire to its nest: Lee Jun-Kyeong.

The ogre began barreling through the forest full of flames.

Crash!

Every time it moved its hand, a burning tree collapsed with a strange noise. Unlike normal ogres, the monster ran at an incredible speed, and the red light from its eyes left behind an afterimage.

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Finally…

“Hooah!”

The monster reached for Lee Jun-Kyeong.

However, Lee Jun-Kyeong had already prepared in advance and smashed the ground with his feet right before the monster rushed in.

Boom!

Both fists of the ogre mage had sunk into the spot where Lee Jun-Kyeong had just been. Debris flew into the rising dust. However, it soon realized that the arsonist had avoided its attack. It reacted quickly.

‘Is that really an ogre?’

Its speed was astonishingly fast, So he had almost been caught by it. The ogre screamed aloud and searched around for the arsonist, but Lee Jun-Kyeong had already disappeared somewhere.

***

Bang!

There was a crashing sound of a door opening.

“What are you doing right now?” asked a voice immediately following the commotion.

“It’s okay. Let him through.”

The owner of the room where the commotion was caused waved his hand and sent away the person who protested. The door closed, leaving the owner and the intruder in the room where the commotion had originated. The owner stared at the intruder with a calm but fierce gaze as his one remaining eye emitted a harsh and bright light.

“What is this?” asked Odin. He not only owned this room, but he was the one who had also commanded that this entire building be built. He stood as a pillar of this country while also working in the shadows behind it. He was Jang Hyo-Jin, the president of the Association.

And, an uninvited guest had appeared here.

“Did you know?” asked Yeo Seong-Gu.

Odin didn’t answer.

Yeo Seong-Gu asked again, a bit more vehemently, “I asked if you knew.”

“This doesn’t seem to be our meeting room. What are you doing?”

However, Jang Hyo-Jin’s voice was serious, as if he was scolding him.

"I will ask you again. Did you know?" replied Yeo Seong-Gu.

"I don't know what you mean."

Despite the obvious differences in their statuses, Yeo Seong-Gu didn’t seem inferior at all to Odin. It was a situation that no one could have imagined. After all, even if it could be said that the League Guild was somewhat established, it was out of the ordinary that their Guild Master would act aggressively and even threateningly in front of the Association President.

But, as if to contradict common sense, Yeo Seong-Gu became even more extreme after getting rebuked by Jang Hyo-Jin. He raised his voice even further, “What were you thinking?!”

“Whew, settle down…”

In the end, Jang Hyo-Jin raised his left hand. The eye behind the eyepatch and his left hand shone together, and suddenly the space was surrounded by a barrier.

“Are you not going to abide by the principles of Asgard?” Odin asked.

A smirk appeared on Yeo Seong-Gu’s face. “Did you just say principles?”

He continued in a low and frosty tone, “Where did the greatest principle for humanity disappear to that you’re bringing up other principles that amount to just side branches?”

“Are you scolding me?”

Yeo Seong-Gu snapped, “To say that I’m scolding you … I would have thought about it if you were the type to actually listen after being scolded, but it doesn’t look like you even care enough to listen.”

“...”

Finally, a fire blazed in Jang Hyo-Jin, no, Odin’s eye. Yeo Seong-Gu’s position in Asgard was higher than most people would expect, but it wasn’t enough that Jang Hyo-Jin would endure such an insult.

Yeo Seong-Gu then spat, “It’s Heracles.”

Odin calmed down quickly from his enraged state. His expression hardened when he heard the name that came out of Yeo Seong-Gu’s mouth.

“What did you say?”

The bald man responded, “I’m talking about Heracles participating in the Battle of Champions this time around.”

“Hmm…” Jang Hyo-Jin ultimately murmured to himself.

Even he hadn’t expected this development. He hadn’t paid attention to the battle because of some other urgent matters, and then he had shifted his attention away because he felt as though it didn’t merit any further concern.

While the Hunters who had already gone to England may not have known, the outcome of the Battle of Champions had already been guaranteed. IKorea was supposed to win. Therefore, the original plan had been to send a new Hero, Choi Yeong-Seong, who the Northern Army Guild had produced.

‘I sent him instead, though…’

But then, to think that Heracles was participating.

Jang Hyo-Jin asked, “Does Olympus not plan on keeping the agreement?”

“So it looks like you didn’t know either,” said Yeo Seong-Gu as his frown deepened..

The middle-aged man in front of him, Odin, was a cunning and clever old man. If he had known of Heracles’ existence and had sent Lee Jun-Kyeong anyway, then at least Yeo Seong-Gu could have thought there was some sort of plan in place.

To think that even he hadn’t known.

It meant that the brat was sent without any support.

“I will go,” he said.

“..."

“Are you going just to leave him to die like this? I thought you were interested in him too.”

However, Odin quickly relaxed and looked at Yeo Seong-Gu. In response to the unexpected reaction, Yeo Seong-Gu stopped talking for a moment.

Odin remarked, “You don’t have to worry too much.”

“...?”

“I wasn’t prepared for things to develop like this, but… I don’t have any intentions of letting him die yet, either.”

Apparently, he had some sort of plan. The cunning Jang Hyo-Jin had made a promise to the secret organizations: to let the victories in the Battle of Champions be rigged according to need. It had been his intention to control all of the secret organizations from the shadows. However, Olympus broke the agreement.

They had pulled out their secret weapon as if they intended to disregard Korea, which was supposed to obtain victory this time.

“I put a restriction on him.”

“A re…striction?”

Yeo Seong-Gu frowned. There was nothing good to be associated with the word restriction.

Odin explained, “It’s not as strange a ban as you’re thinking about. It’s just a ban to prevent leaks about Asgard and its secrets. Because what he knows is dangerous.”

“I can’t say that you did well, but in the current situation, that’s a relief,” responded Yeo Seong-Gu as his expression finally cleared up. If he had Odin’s restriction, it meant that the power of Odin was influencing him.

Odin continued, “If there is an emergency, the restriction on him will react and send out a signal. Olympus would have broken the contract, so that means I would be able to break it too.”

If a considerable threat came for Lee Jun-Kyeong’s life, then the restriction would send out a signal, and that was when he would be able to interfere. While Heracles was their secret weapon, he wasn’t enough for them to butt heads against the secret organizations just yet.

“If something happens, I won’t just sit still,” warned Yeo Seong-Gu.

“How… What sort of relationship does that brat have with you? It’s not as if you’ve known each other for a long time either,” asked Jang Hyo-Jin curiously.

However, Yeo Seong-Gu kept his mouth shut and left the room. Neither of the two knew, though, that Odin’s restriction…had already been released by <The Sky of the Apocalypse>.

***

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> smiles at you.]

“All of a sudden?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong made a puzzled expression at the sudden notification, but for some reason, he felt as though he knew why.

“Damn it…”

He could feel an ominous mana from behind him. He turned around…

“Hooah….”

…and made eye contact with the tanned monster that had an intensified reddish glow to its eyes. It was the ogre mage.

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned away and ran in the same direction the monster had come from and found what he had been looking for. The reason why the singularity, the ogre mage, had been created. The reason behind the monster, who couldn’t use any sort of magic, and the secret behind why it was given the name of mage.

Lee Jun-Kyeong grabbed the mineral he found and started running.

Of course, the monster followed him.

“Hooah!!!”

He had finished what he had to do in the ogre village. Now that he had found what he had been looking for, there was no reason for him to spend any more time here.

Tak tak tak!

“Hooah!!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong fled while the ogre mage chased after him. He crossed through the burning forest, and the mage rushed after him, barrelling through. Like the increased reddish glow in its eyes, its movements had also become sharper and more destructive. Finally, the mage began to catch up with Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Hyeon-Mu!” Lee Jun-Kyeong shouted at his arm while running, but there was no response.

“HYEON-MU!”

“Hooah!!”

He screamed again, but the only thing that responded was the ogre mage. It was too much for him to deal with easily. It may have been possible to win against it, but he would end up taking a lot of damage. It was a monster that had far exceeded the gate level.

In the end, Lee Jun-Kyeong had to stop. He turned and settled into a stance with his shield raised. Unfortunately, it was too late to flee, and Hyeon-Mu hadn’t responded.

‘I have to block its attack and begin attacking.’

He couldn’t lose.

No.

‘I’m going to win.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong adjusted his stance and raised his round shield. At this moment, he wished he had a better quality shield more than ever.“Hooah!”

Finally, both of the monster’s fists were careening toward Lee Jun-Kyeong…

–Your orders have been fulfilled.

…and he finally heard a voice.

Right when the monster’s fists were about to collide with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s round shield, a notification appeared.

[The gate has been conquered.]

Hyeon-Mu, or rather, Jeong In-Chang, had dealt with the twin-headed ogre.

The ogre mage stopped moving. The moment right before it had collided with Lee Jun-Kyeong’s round shield, the magic power supplied to it from the gate had disappeared, so naturally, it would proceed to vanish as well.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the frozen figure.

“Whew…”

He let out a long sigh and threw his spear. Muspel’s Spear drilled toward the middle of its forehead. He wouldn’t miss a target that was standing still. Muspel’s Spear pierced through the head of the ogre mage that had lost its power.

“I lived,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said while retrieving Muspel’s Spear.

As the gate was cleared and began to collapse, there was no notification of any achievements, nor had the proper experience points earned. Instead, the ogre mage seemed to have only been registered as an ordinary ogre.

The gate slowly began to collapse. Perhaps because of the singularity that was the ogre mage, the gate quickly collapsed despite its high rating.

The surroundings changed, and Lee Jun-Kyeong stepped out as the remnants disappeared.

“Blech! Retch! Retchhh!”

He saw a man standing there as he screamed and twisted his body continuously.

“Mr. Jeong?”

“I’m blocking it! I’m blocking it! I’m telling you that I’m blocking it!!”

Jeong In-Chang had only responded with an incomprehensible scream.

Williams had most likely been dozing off while waiting for their return, came to his senses and shouted, “Umm… What… What is going on?”

1. A funny thing the author, and most Korean Authors who write for this age group, does is use the word ?? to refer to people almost entirely. ?? can mean many things, but generally is a term used to refer to someone who is lower in the hierarchy but likes to act up. Therefore, it is often translated as punk, brat, etc., based on the tone of usage. I’ve generally left it as man/person until the emphasis is necessary, at which point I’d use punk, but in this case, it's meant in an endearing way.

2. This may have been a mistake, but the Korean has both sentences side by side.