Chapter 175

“Sоmеthing unbеliеvable hаs hарреned! Zik, who had bееn showing greаt perfоrmаnсе until nоw, hаs been dеfeatеd in аlmost оnе sесоnd…!!”

Rodiоn shoutеd with a stammеring vоiсе and a flustеred еxpressiоn.

‘Whаt on earth just haррened?’

In fact, he hаd bеen closely wаtсhing Dramos’s mаtchеs аll аlоng.

Until now, he thought Dramоs’s matchеs еndеd quickly еасh time beсause his оpponents wеrе carеlеss or lаcked skill, but thаt wasn’t the cаse.

‘Тhаt guy Dramos… is incrediblу strong. Моrеovеr, considеring Visсоunt Aldrik is alsо clоsеlу оbsеrving Dramоs, hе’s dеfinitelу nоt an ordinary person.’

It wasn’t just Rodion who didn’t know what had happened.

“Kkkk, hahahaha!! Hey, what did I tell you? Huh? If you bet on Dramos unconditionally, you win? I bet four times on the old man as if I were being fooled, and money is being copied!”

“No way, crazy. Really? But what exactly happened just now?”

“I don’t know either. Whatever happened, as long as Dramos won, it’s fine, man.”

“That’s true, but…”

The audience still hadn’t properly grasped Dramos’s skill.

Because his matches ended unusually quickly each time.

The audience still couldn’t even tell what Dramos did during the match or whether he used a sword.

Even the participants were equally unaware of what had happened.

“Sharin, did you see what just happened…?”

“No… what about you, Oppa?”

“I couldn’t see either…. As expected, Master is overwhelmingly strong. I thought I had become quite strong too, but I still have a long way to go.”

“Of course Byutek Oppa has a long way to go. You can’t even beat me~”

“Sharin, I told you I went easy on you.”

“What are you talking about? You lost fair and square.”

Even Byutek and Sharin, who were among the top-tier participants in the tournament, had no idea what Dramos had done.

‘This is absurd.’

Naturally, Khan was also unaware of what had happened.

No matter that Khan possessed the Rank 10 Hidden Skill ‘Sage’s Heart’ and other Hidden Skills, his Level wasn’t even 90.

Moreover, due to the characteristics of the Mage class, his Dynamic Visual Acuity was lower compared to other classes, making Dramos his natural counter.

‘If I meet him in the finals like this, it will end without me being able to do anything.’

As Khan stared at Dramos standing in the arena and had that thought.

Suddenly, a new Main Quest appeared before his eyes.

• [Win in the semifinals of the Underground Arena Tournament.]

• Will you accept the Main Quest?

• If refused, future Quest progression will be impossible.

• Reward: A considerable amount of Experience Points, Job-Exclusive Random Skill Selection Ticket

‘The reward for this Main Quest is a Job-Exclusive Random Skill Selection Ticket? And the Experience Points reward has also increased.’

Khan had been receiving only a fixed amount of Experience Points as Main Quest rewards several times.

But suddenly, a jackpot reward of a considerable amount of Experience Points and a Job-Exclusive Random Skill Selection Ticket appeared.

‘In the original <Geo Arc>, there were times when Main Quest rewards suddenly decreased and then suddenly became much better later… Is this one of those cases?’

This had happened several times when Khan played <Geo Arc>.

Therefore, Khan thought these rewards were for clearing the Main Quest with the previous smaller rewards.

[Main Quest has been accepted.]

Khan accepted the Main Quest without a single second of hesitation.

Then, a foreboding thought suddenly crossed Khan’s mind.

‘Wait, could it be… that the reward suddenly improved because the difficulty of this Main Quest is much harder?’

Somehow, it felt like this was correct.

Basically, Quest rewards were determined based on the difficulty of that Main Quest.

Of course, there were times when it wasn’t, but most of the time, the harder the Quest, the better the reward.

‘It can’t be that I’ll meet Dramos in the semifinals, right?’

If he meets Dramos in the semifinals, Khan will be defeated by him without being able to do anything.

Just like that swordsman named Zik, who collapsed with a sword stabbed in his stomach.

‘It looks like I’ll have a sword scar on my stomach too. If I face Dramos in the semifinals, both the Quest and the reward will become completely useless.’

But here, another potential problem arose.

If the 8-round Tournament Bracket remains unchanged for the next semifinal match, he will meet Sharin.

‘With my skill, if I fight Sharin one-on-one, I absolutely cannot win.’

Sharin was a genius in Mana and Magic.

That means, no matter that Khan has a Rank 10 Skill, even if he died and came back to life, he couldn’t defeat Sharin.

Originally, it seemed like he might be able to beat Sharin if things went well, but after actually seeing Sharin fight, his thoughts naturally leaned towards it being impossible.

‘Moreover, Sharin is in a state where she has become much stronger than before through her matches. At my level, winning is impossible.’

Because Sharin has a genius-level Talent for Magic and Mana, the spells she can use will be stronger than the ones Khan uses.

As for Mana, Sharin would naturally have an overwhelming amount.

‘I must absolutely avoid Sharin or Dramos.’

Having reached that conclusion, Khan decided to wait and see the situation.

Because the semifinal Tournament Bracket wasn’t completely out yet.

They might rearrange the bracket again like before.

‘I should wait a bit more.’

Khan waited as calmly as possible, looking at the arena for the next bracket to be announced.

* * *

“You’ve waited a long time! Since Zik was in such critical condition, it took quite a while to treat him. Now, we’d like to proceed with the semifinals… but, uh, could you please wait a moment…?!”

It was when Rodion was shouting to the audience, trying to proceed with the semifinals.

Suddenly, he stopped mid-sentence and started talking to someone through the walkie-talkie attached to his ear.

And after a short while.

“Please allow me to offer a brief apology! From the quarterfinals onward, we will continue to proceed by randomly drawing the Tournament Bracket. We will create a new bracket and return, so please wait about ten minutes!”

After saying that, Rodion vanished somewhere.

‘Whew, that’s a relief.’

Khan, who had been on edge, was relieved that Rodion said he would bring a newly made bracket at the last moment.

“Wow, that’s a relief. If it continued like this, I would have met Master in the semifinals… I was wondering whether I should just forfeit or have a good, clean fight with Master.”

“……”

Khan stood there, pretending nothing was wrong after hearing Sharin’s words.

But inwardly, as soon as he heard Sharin say she thought about having a good fight, he felt a chill run down his spine.

“Well, of course I wouldn’t be a match, but it was a chance to receive one-on-one sparring guidance from Master… Thinking about it this way, it’s a bit disappointing.”

“Sharin.”

“Yes?”

After hearing Sharin’s words, Khan quickly organized his thoughts and continued.

“This is a tournament. It’s a situation where both sides could get hurt during a one-on-one battle. So, if by any chance you end up facing me, forfeit, Sharin. I’ll give you one-on-one sparring guidance separately later. I can’t let my disciple get hurt.”

“Ah… I understand, Master!”

Sharin, upon hearing Khan’s words, seemed moved instead, her eyes turning red.

‘Master cares about me this much! Right, I shouldn’t cause trouble in the Underground Arena Tournament for no reason, I should ask for one-on-one sparring guidance when there’s time later!’

Unaware of Sharin’s inner thoughts, Khan inwardly sighed in relief.

‘It’s a relief Sharin said she understood. I feel a bit sorry for deceiving her… but it’s not a lie, after all.’

If he met Sharin in the semifinals, he would fight her with all his might.

If that happened, either Khan or Sharin could be seriously injured.

Before such an unfortunate incident occurs, it’s a much better choice for one side to forfeit first.

“Hahahaha! That’s right, Sharin. If you fight Hyungnim for no reason, you could get seriously hurt, so forfeit unconditionally! Ah, besides Hyungnim, if you meet my Master… it would also be better to forfeit if possible, Sharin.”

“Byutek Oppa’s Master… you mean Player Dramos?”

“Yes, my Master is also an incredibly strong person, no less than Hyungnim. Moreover, Master won’t go easy on you. So I recommend you forfeit.”

“Hmm… well, I’ll think about that!”

Sharin also knew that Dramos was an incredible master, so she took Byutek’s advice to heart.

* * *

As soon as Rodion entered the announcer’s waiting room and saw Aldrik inside, he immediately bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“Hey, you punk! What are you doing?! Huh?! Didn’t I say we should redraw the bracket for the semifinals too?!”

“S-sorry!”

“Whew, I’ve drawn and arranged a new semifinal bracket, so proceed with this!”

“Ah… Yes! Sorry! Thank you, Viscount!”

“If you understand, then get out and proceed with the tournament quickly!”

“Yes…!”

Rodion left the room in an instant, holding the new bracket.

Aldrik, left alone, returned to the VIP seat with relief.

“That was close; Khan and Sharin almost met in the semifinals. It’s fortunate I intervened in time.”

If the two met in the semifinals, there was a possibility Khan would forfeit for his disciple’s sake.

Therefore, Aldrik had arranged a new semifinal bracket, and the tournament could proceed safely with the newly changed semifinal bracket.

* * *

“Everyone, thank you for waiting! Now, before starting the semifinals… let me first reveal the Tournament Bracket!”

Rodion appeared and announced the start of the semifinals.

Finally, the semifinal Tournament Bracket was revealed.