C28
The stage turned into chaos in an instant with the appearance of the three Administrators.
Commotion among the participants
"What? The Administrators?"
"Why are the Administrators here?"
The Administrators bared their teeth in response to the participants' shock.
The Arcane Power in the air transformed into sharp fangs.
Some Rankers, with the pressure crushing their throats, collapsed to the ground.
The same was happening with the Rankers from the Celestial Realm.
Then, Lee Rangjin looked perplexedly at Taishang Laojun, the origin of this situation.
"Joining 'us' means joining the Administrators?"
"That's right. You've understood correctly."
"...Have you betrayed the Celestial Realm?"
"It's not betrayal, young one."
Taishang Laojun called Lee Rangjin and persuaded him.
"The Tower will soon return to its original owner. For Celestial Realm to survive that turbulent storm, they must join us."
In response to Lee Rangjin's words, his gaze shifted to the three Administrators.
The absolute rulers of the Tower.
They were the ones who possessed overwhelming power but had not used it until now.
Players and Guilds from each floor had, at some point, taken for granted the silence of the Administrators.
However, no one ignored that the Tower's order would crumble the moment they made a move.
"This is the only way for Celestial Realm to survive."
He couldn't help but have doubts.
Lee Rangjin was currently the Leader of Celestial Realm.
The mission entrusted to him was the protection and prosperity of Celestial Realm.
He had lived for it until now.
A moment of choice.
With this single decision, Celestial Realm could either thrive or fall.
'What should I do here...?'
"Thanks to you, I've realized something good."
Step~
At that moment, when everyone fell silent at the appearance of the Administrators, someone spoke.
"It seems like they're stumbling back and forth between the Guilds?"
In the face of the voice that didn't seem tense, Lee Rangjin's gaze shifted from Taishang Laojun to a man walking towards him among the participants.
Who is he?
One of the 64 participants who made it to the Main Round. His face seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember his name. He appeared to be one of the less well-known Rankers.
However, he dared to introduce himself without any fear.
Fwoosh!
At the same moment he thought that, something happened.
The Arcane Power crushing his breath was released a bit.
[The 'Mana Master' controls the mana around him]
The same message appeared in everyone's minds.
Lee Rangjin's eyes widened.
The same energy that the Administrators possessed was felt in this participant.
"Who are you?"
Taishang Laojun stared at YuWon approaching him.
The three Administrators also focused on him, feeling the familiar flow of mana emanating from YuWon.
Who was he to possess the same ability as the Administrators?
"Kim YuHun."
"Kim YuHun? I've never heard of a Ranker like you before."
"Because I'll become famous from now on."
YuWon shrugged and looked at the Administrators floating in the sky.
"I'm going to catch them all."
The eyebrows of the Administrators furrowed.
No one, not even in this situation, would dare to show such audacity.
Until now, no Player had dared to challenge the Administrators in this way.
"A bit arrogant, don't you think?"
"Seems like that idiot doesn't know who we are."
"Or maybe... he thinks he can handle us?"
The Administrators mocked YuWon and pointed upward with their fingers.
The participants' gazes turned to the sky.
In the clear sky the Administrators were pointing at, there was a thick white cloud.
And then...
Fwoosh!
The clouds gathering in the sky dispersed in an instant.
Within the scattered clouds, countless Envoys hid in silence.
"Hehehe."
"Fight, fight."
"Players. Mosquitoes."
"Some are strong."
There were so many that it was difficult to count them.
Judging by the number, the Envoys hidden in the clouds easily surpassed ten thousand.
"Uwaaah, uwaaah...!"
"What, what are those?"
"So many Envoys?"
There is a saying that the crowd beats strength.
In the Tower, this saying was not very applicable.
Because in this world, there were great Rankers who could overwhelm the majority, like Vishnu, Son OhGong, and Zeus.
However, the pressure exerted by an overwhelming number was different from individual absolute strength.
The three Administrators with absolute power.
And with the appearance of ten thousand Envoys, the tension that consumed Lee Rangjin's entire body dissipated instantly.
This cannot be won.
Even if he fought against the Administrators alongside Asura, Tsukiyomi, and Lee Ye, there was no way to handle so many Envoys.
However...
"Don't you find it strange?"
Even in the face of such a number, YuWon smiled.
As if the situation unfolding before his eyes amused him.
"Hasn't it suddenly become too quiet?"
"What?"
"Until a moment ago, it was a noisy festival, right?"
YuWon's words brought a strange feeling to the Administrators.
It was true.
Although the Administrators had appeared, the stadium had strangely fallen silent.
It wasn't just a feeling that the sound had reduced.
The countless auras.
They had all disappeared.
"Could it be..."
The gazes of the Administrators and the participants turned to the surroundings.
The stands.
The sounds of the tens of thousands of Players and residents filling the edges of the stadium had suddenly disappeared.
Like a mirage that never existed.
They were still silently cheering for the match, without any sound or movement.
And then.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Like a light mist or dust scattered by the wind, the figures of the audience vanished from their places.
["The Nameless Mist" appears.]
["Magnum Innominandum" appears.]
A purple mist enveloped the stadium.
An enormity that covered the entire Tournament battlefield.
Mist with a physical form, capable of freely changing shapes.
The faces of the Administrators turned pale at its appearance.
"It can't be..."
"N'yog-..."
Krrr-.
A Lightning Bolt resonated in the sky.
The Administrators looked up.
In the brief moment their eyes landed on the mist, the clear sky had turned dark.
The disappeared clouds had reappeared.
Black clouds carrying thunder and lightning.
Looking at the dark clouds, YuWon clicked his tongue and muttered.
"That guy's personality is quite unfortunate, but..."
Now, there was no resident or Player who wasn't a Ranker inside this stadium.
"His ability is the best."
The one who can throw the spear farthest in this Tower.
The being with the most powerful Lightning Bolt, specializing in crowd control like no one else.
Zeus.
Craaaaaack-!
The Olympus Lightning, writing a new history, echoed above the heads of the Envoys.
-------------------
Craack, craackl-e
Even after throwing the spear, the Arcane Power remained in his hand.
It had been a long time.
Since the last time he threw a Lightning Bolt with such force.
"I'm a bit tired."
Setting aside the power, the distance was too great.
Throwing a spear through multiple floors to a designated location was not an easy task, even for Zeus.
He had to prepare in advance, take time to aim, and spend a large amount of Arcane Power to cover the long distance.
It was impossible to do it without knowing the exact time and place, and without there being Players or residents around who could be affected.
That's why Zeus didn't throw the spear in this way against a moving opponent.
However...
"Anyway, I did it."
All those conditions had been met.
What was certain is that Hargan hadn't intervened in this matter.
The only thing the guy had done was convey a message.
The words of a man named Kim YuHun.
"What do you think?"
Swoosh-.
Zeus, massaging his sore arm from throwing the spear with all his might, turned his head.
At that moment, a guest had arrived at his temple.
"Administrator."
An Administrator with thick beard and hair.
A ragged giant of the size and build of a giant.
He was the Tutorial Administrator, commonly known as Floor 0 in the Tower.
"It's strange."
"Strange?"
"It's unusual, and also..."
He immersed himself in thought, stroking his curly beard.
The crystal orb showing the landscape of the Tournament where the Lightning Bolt had fallen glowed with a golden light.
Undoubtedly, right now it would have turned into a battlefield, even if he didn't know it.
"It doesn't seem to be just intelligent."
"And then?"
"He either knows our identities very well, or he possesses an ability like Foreknowledge that allows him to see the future. One of the two, I can't believe it any other way."
He didn't dare to think that both things were possible.
Even one of the two was hard to believe.
It wasn't normal for someone to know the secret of the Administrators or for a nameless Ranker to have an ability like seeing the future.
"More than anything..."
The Administrator fell silent before finishing the sentence.
His eyes were still fixed on the crystal orb, which shone brightly with the residual glow of the Lightning Bolt.
'Can't be, right?'
At the last moment...
In the vaguely visible landscape, he seemed to see a purple mist.
'They disappeared.'
The Outer Gods.
Beings that opposed them from time immemorial, entities that stood on the opposite side of the world. Their power and Names had already disappeared after the battle ten years ago.
Wasn't it to confirm this that the Administrators broke their long silence and started acting?
On the other hand, Zeus narrowed his eyes at the sudden silence of the Administrator and asked:
"More than anything?"
"No, it's nothing."
"...Really?"
In terms of insight, no one in the Tower surpassed Zeus.
Zeus found the Administrator's reaction a moment ago much more interesting than simply calling it strange or unusual.
"Meaning..."
"You have a rather ominous expression."
"I don't like that way of speaking."
"You'll have to accept it. The fact that you recruited our guys in the past doesn't change."
Long ago, Zeus had recruited the Tutorial Envoys to attract talented Players in advance.
Since then, the Tutorial Administrator had harbored resentment towards Olympus, but now the relationship was a bit different.
"Didn't we agree to forget about that? How grudgeful you are."
"Well. As for 'both,' I feel too aggrieved to say that."
"You're more petty than you seem."
Zeus shifted his attention after a brief dispute.
Inside the crystal orb, which began to gradually illuminate once the aftermath of the Lightning Bolt dissipated.
Through this reaction, Zeus could be even more certain.
"Kim YuHun..."
Kim YuWon.
"I wonder how I'll feel seeing him in person."
If he survives, I should definitely meet him.
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Tags:
LWTG (Novel)