122. Finals (1)
“Baek Jinwoooooo!”
“Guild Master! Wahahahahat! This is seriously insane!”
Swish!
When they returned to the arena after claiming victory, the guild members rushed at them.
“It’s the finals! The finals!”
“We’re guaranteed at least second in the world now!”
Their emotions were overflowing so much that even the usually stoic Oh Sunyoung was smiling brightly.
“Sob, sniff.....!”
Kang Geonho, unlike his usual self, even burst into tears.
As the current No. 1 in the domestic rankings, he knew.
If only they themselves had participated, they would have failed to make even the round of 16 like before and would have had to return to South Korea in loneliness.
No matter how hard they had tried, they probably would have had to endure a barrage of reporters’ questions with guilty looks on their faces.
But now?
Now they could all return as heroes.
A triumphant homecoming.
They could go back to their homeland to a passionate welcome!
“Geonho.”
“……Brother.”
Hwang Juwon looked at the crying Kang Geonho and smiled faintly.
“You’re a grown man. Why are you crying? How embarrassing.”
Yet there was a slight wetness at the corners of his own eyes as well.
How hard had they worked all this time?
To satisfy the standards of Baek Jinwoo and HunGyo, they had run and trained day and night.
Through endless sparring, they had honed each of their summons.
‘Even if that young and incredible Guild Master pretty much achieved all of this alone.’
Still!
The joy of victory was beyond words.
“You worked hard, our Guild Master. You were amazing.”
He recalled the performance from just a few minutes ago.
Baek Jinwoo vs. Xenos.
The bloody battle against Tyrant and HunGyo, and Synthesis Alchemist’s Chimera No. 9......
‘That was insane.’
That match footage would probably be clipped and preserved forever as a legendary scene.
Later on, it might even be turned into a history book.
“Ha.”
“Hahaha.”
The guild members looked at one another and laughed.
We—we’re standing together in one moment of history.
‘Later, won’t our names at least remain as a single line or so?’
No, maybe an entire book would be written separately?
Wasn’t Genghis Khan the same?
The Four Steeds and Four Hounds.
The eight generals who followed him and helped found the Mongol Empire remain in history exactly as they were.
“It’s still too early to celebrate.”
Baek Jinwoo shook his head as he pulled the guild members off him.
The emotion lingering in his expression was....
Greed?
No, “resolve” would suit it better.
“When is the final?”
“Probably in two days. The United States and Japan will play for third and fourth first.”
“Hm.”
Baek Jinwoo closed his eyes.
The excited atmosphere cooled a little.
‘No way… is he really aiming for the championship?’
‘Hah… that’s going to be brutally hard.’
‘The UK lineup is on a completely different level from the US....... At this rate, Guild Master might have to face ten players by himself. No matter how strong he is, can even he do that?’
A sense of self-loathing surged up in an instant.
Guild Master clearly had enough strength left to go up against Rachel, but the fact that he might not be able to because of them.... Emotionally, that tormented them.
‘Yeah, this really isn’t the time for us to be happy. If anything, we should feel sorry.’
‘Even if this year can’t be helped, next year we’ll really improve.’
‘We need to make it into the world rankings too. He’s practically spoon-feeding us opportunities like this.’
They had felt it too.
If they kept training together with Baek Jinwoo for the next year—they would definitely grow.
And not just grow, but do so more perfectly and more quickly than any other player in the world.
“First.”
Baek Jinwoo’s mind moved rapidly.
Right.
Now that he had faced Xenos, he understood.
Rachel was definitely a cut above him, and if he wanted to take down Olivia or Bale and others and then advance, he would surely be drained.
“I should go meet Rachel once.”
“What, Rachel?”
“Really?”
“What are you going to do by meeting her...?”
Baek Jinwoo smiled faintly.
“I’m going to prod her a little.”
Her pride.
In a fight with the honor of “Who is the strongest in the world!” on the line, if they fought while neither of them was in perfect condition, people would obviously have things to say.
A duel.
Baek Jinwoo was thinking of suggesting a proper one-on-one match to Rachel.
He didn’t know whether it would work, but with the mindset of at least giving it a try, Baek Jinwoo started walking.
* * *
London League Casino.
“Haa…”
Chairman Andrew let out a deep sigh.
The document in his hand contained the betting information placed in the VIP room.
Everything else had been overturned.
Since South Korea had made it to the finals in the first place, most of the combined bets had collapsed.
In the case of the UK winning, the odds were so low that betting on it alone was practically meaningless.
So people usually combined it with other outcomes.
In other words, this was the most heavily bundled betting combination.
[United Kingdom wins]
[United States runner-up]
‘But.’
Some lunatics had placed 1 billion won each on South Korea winning and the United Kingdom finishing runner-up.
And there were eleven such slips.
South Korea : 24.001
[United Kingdom : 3.14]
[Total : 75.36]
“What kind of lunatics throw 11 billion won on 75-to-1 odds?”
It was absurd.
It was basically like donating money, yet now it was coming back to bite them.
If South Korea really won the final—they would have to pay out a staggering 829 billion won.
‘That’s nearly 600 million dollars....’
It was a number that made him gasp.
For reference, the League Casino’s annual operating profit was 500 million dollars.
If they had to pay that out, they would record an operating loss for this year.
“Come on, there’s no way Korea wins, right?”
Robert, the CEO, said with a laugh, but Chairman Andrew was afraid.
“Didn’t you watch the match?”
“I did.”
“And you still say that?”
“……”
Thinking about it, it really wasn’t a situation where he could just laugh it off.
The Baek Jinwoo they had seen was definitely a monster.
Not only had he dealt with Xenos, but when he faced Chimera No. 9 with sheer control....
‘He really is insane.’
‘It felt like watching some seasoned veteran who’d played the same game for decades.’
‘How the hell do you dodge all that fountain-like acidic spray through pure control?’
“Chairman......”
Robert continued, as if trying to reassure him.
“But we still have Rachel, don’t we? And all the other members are monsters too.”
“That’s true. Definitely true. But....”
The chairman smoothly pushed over a newspaper lying to one side.
“Take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s an article that came out this morning.”
And it was splashed across the front page.
[Baek Jinwoo visits Rachel and boldly proposes: Let the final be a 1:1 match!]
“Huh?”
Robert quickly snatched up the newspaper.
Fwap!
He spread it open and rapidly scanned the contents.
“....A 1:1 duel? What kind of utter bullshit is this?”
“It seems Baek Jinwoo met Rachel separately. He said all the other players should go in without their summons, and the two of them should fight head-on in a 1:1 match.”
“No way!”
Robert let out an incredulous laugh.
“How does that even make sense? Are we idiots? Why would we accept that?”
“The problem is...... Rachel didn’t reject it.”
“What?!”
Robert’s voice rose.
“I-is that true?”
…..At any rate. From the British public’s point of view, of course they would want that proposal rejected. But you know it too. The right to make that decision—
To be honest, Rachel’s current position stood above even the king. She was the spiritual pillar of the entire nation.
The woman who had revived the soul of the once-hegemonic British Empire in the 21st century.
“And according to the experts’ analysis, Rachel showed a particular weakness toward God Ji-nu. She even admired him.”
“…I think that was the case.”
At the beginning, at least.
Looking at how she mentioned God Ji-nu in all kinds of articles, you could see the way she treated him as far too godlike a being.
And if someone like that made such a request to her?
“Hmmm. Even so......”
Would she really accept such an absurd request, even at the cost of going against public opinion?
That was what it seemed like, but he still felt uneasy.
* * *
“……”
Rachel sat in a chair with her eyes closed.
“Unni!”
“Captain, you’re not actually thinking of accepting such a ridiculous proposal, are you?”
The Red Rose guild members demanded.
“It’s obviously a cheap trick!”
“How dare he try to aim for the championship with such a shallow scheme.....!”
Rachel opened her mouth as she looked at the guild members, who were flying into a rage and unable to contain their anger.
“But.”
“.......”
“It is kind of funny.”
Swoosh.
She slowly swept her gaze over the guild members, then smirked.
“In the old days, you were all so full of confidence, saying I could go out alone and wipe everyone out...... But now your stance is a little different, huh? Why? Do you think I’m going to lose?”
“No, Unni. That’s not what we mean!”
“That’s right. It’s not, but...”
Come to think of it, that was true.
Why were they feeling anxious?
She was invincible Rachel, after all.
Wouldn’t they normally have laughed comfortably and welcomed it?
“God Ji-nu said this to me.”
Rachel murmured.
“He said if I agreed, then for the next ten years SKY and RED ROSE would be blood-allied. Of course, on the condition that neither side betrayed the other first.”
“You’re going to grant that request just to form a blood alliance with those guys?”
“It’s not ‘just’.”
Rachel said firmly.
‘It’s not small at all. It’s an enormous opportunity.’
It meant she could remain legally in a friendship with God Ji-nu, so why wouldn’t it be?
Sugoi, Xenos, Moscowman, even Baekcheon.
None of them had ever received such a proposal from God Ji-nu.
Honestly, even if he had simply advised her to forfeit, she might have considered it.
After all, the UK could not cut her off.
It simply could not.
‘What are they going to do? I’m Rachel.’
What if she suddenly chose to naturalize as a South Korean?
That was why her position in the UK was one of complete dominance.
But?
That was not the case when it came to her relationship with Baek Jinwoo.
Right now, she might seem to be slightly above him, but deep in her bones, she knew.
In just one year, he would be far beyond her.
He was a monster who would show such a gap that she would not even dare to look up at him.
Not just the UK, but every country would surely have a moment where they had to cater to Baek Jinwoo’s whims.
“If you think about me and Baek Jinwoo fighting, who do you think would win?”
“Of course you, Unni!”
“Guild Master.”
“Lady Rachel will remain undefeated now, in the future, and forever.”
At the guild members’ words, Rachel stood up.
“Okay.”
She had already made her decision in her heart.
‘They don’t know it, but.’
The championship reward meant nothing to her anyway at this point.
“Then let’s just fight cleanly, one-on-one.”
“Unniii!”
“Guild Masterrr!”
“Quiet.”
Rachel placed her index finger against her lips.
“He’s putting his honor on the line and asking to fight me. It’s the first time. The first time he has truly respected me as a player.”
“...Unni.”
“I’m going to accept that challenge sincerely as well. And......”
Her eyes turned cold.
“I absolutely won’t lose this time.”
She had watched the match too.
That dazzling control show he displayed against Chimera No. 9.
But?
Her Yellow Dragon and White Tiger were beings that couldn’t even be compared to some Chimera.
‘Even if it’s God Ji-nu.’
It would never be easy for him to handle her current power.
Yes.
Maybe it really was a foolish thing to do.
But her heart was clearly telling her—accept God Ji-nu’s challenge.
And by doing that, win his favor.
‘Let’s do it.’
The match was the day after tomorrow.
For the first and last time, she would defeat God Ji-nu.
She is such a fanatic I love her.