As soon as I sat down, my father said something to Director Sok.

Then he took out something from his pocket. It was the Memory Bead.

Director Sok said quietly, “It is the Memory Bead that our guys obtained from Osaka, Japan.”

I had some doubts about the word ‘Osaka, Japan’, not Korea, but I remained silent, for my father would not have called me if he had thought this was not a big deal.

Anyway, Director Sok played the Memory Bead on the screen inside the room.

Bang! Bang!

A downtown area lined with skyscrapers.

It was not difficult for me to guess that this place was Osaka, given the neon sign of the Glico running man, one of the most well known landmarks of the city.

But this neon sign of the Glico running man, the landmark of Osaka, was crumbling now, not to mention other buildings.

“Kheeeeeek!”

“Help me!”

“Damn it! Stop the monsters! Stop them!”

The situation was pretty chaotic.

So I had no choice but to comment, “Was it because some very powerful monsters appeared and they couldn’t stop them, so the situation became worse like this?’

There was only one reason why the world was still in order despite the endless appearance of monsters. In other words, humans could kill the monsters with the weapons that mankind had from the beginning. If that was not the case, almost all the areas except for some pockets of the Earth would have been overrun by monsters. Besides, there were exceedingly few people who raised their reality actualization rate in the early days of the monsters appearing.

While watching the video, one doubt ran through my mind.

I couldn’t see the monsters on the screen. But I saw a guy who seemed to have achieved a tremendous reality actualization rate relentlessly killing ordinary people.

Of course, it’s possible that a crazy psychopath who got strong after playing ‘Revival Legend’ could make such a big fuss. But I didn’t think so.

And it wasn’t possible that a crazy psychopath could increase his reality actualization rate as high as that guy.

So, I had no choice but to wonder, “Are they the NPCs that the guys in America mentioned?”

Even though President Xi of China said they were not NPCs, the Holdridge guys in America told me they were certainly NPCs.

However, since there was no proper expression to call them yet, Myongjin internally decided to call them NPCs for the time being.

Director Sok answered my question.

“Yes, we think they are the NPCs that the American guys mentioned to you. But it seems that these guys are several times or even dozens of times stronger than the one on the video that the Holdridge guy gave you at that time.”

Like Sok said, the guys on the screen seemed to be incomparably stronger than the one in the video sent by Holdridge. That’s why not only the Japanese Self Defence Forces but also those players from the Mitsuya Guild who had raised their reality actualization rate were helpfellesly defeated by the NPC-looking guys.

“By the way, is that the current situation in Osaka?”

“No. What you see on the screen happened half a day ago. Right now they are in a lull because the Japanese government and all the guilds, including the Mitsuya Guild, have encircled them in a broader siege.”

“Is there any message from the Japanese government or the Mitsuya Guild?”

“Not yet.”

Of course, I couldn’t help but be concerned because of what President Xi told me about them. But it was a little awkward for me to step forward at this point because of my bad relationship with the Japanese government and the Mitsuya Guild, which took over almost all the guilds in Japan. Besides, I once fought the Mitsuya Guild fiercely.

Anyway, we talked for an hour or so, then wrapped up the meeting after we agreed that we should watch the situation a little more.

The next day.

Your opponent in the King of Kings event to select the strongest has been decided.

-You will be transferred to the arena in 10 seconds.

Starting off with a total of 24 players, the event had now reached the round of 6 after the round of 12 ended. Since I was repeatedly frustrated after the previous rounds, I did not have high expectations for this round, either.

At that moment I heard the other party saying something.

“Well, it’s not that bad that I have met Asirante here in the round of six. Besides, I’m curious about his capabilities because he and I are the same ice-type wizards.”

Unlike my previous opponents, this guy that I faced in the semi-finals did not choose to abstain.

Watching him, I couldn’t help but smile a little.

But something unexpected happened.

“Ice Punishment!”

As soon as the 30-second preparation time was over, and the transparent wall in the center of the arena disappeared, the enemy already started attacking me with one of the skills I possessed, namely Ice Punishment.

Bang!

In fact, level 8 skills such as Ice Punishment and Ice Tornado were not exclusive to me.

Anyone who had a high level could obtain the skill.

And it was only natural that if my opponent would have obtained Ice Punishment as as ice-type wizard who was also one of the top players in one of the 40 regions.

“?”

Since I could not use Ice Punishment against myself, it was my first time being attacked by it.

And the Ice Punishment I had used until now never disappointed me because I could kill any monsters with it even if they were level 1500.

So I was a bit nervous and uneasy, although I had a smile on my lips.

“Man, is this really Ice Punishment? Why does it inflict so little damage then?” wondered the other party, as if he was really disappointed.

Ice Punishment could be called the ultimate level 8 skill.

But my opponent’s Ice Punishment was too weak.

And it was no wonder that my opponent was a bit embarrassed by my nonchalant reaction.

“Hey, don’t lie! Asirante, no matter how strong you are, I’m also the strongest player of a region. I’m not weak at all! Ice Tornado! Blizzard!”

Wheeeeeeeeeeng!

Puck! Puck! Puck!

Probably his Blizzard was level 7.

There was no clue about how to get level 9 Blizzard, and the functional skill ring was not common. That’s why it was treated as a myth grade, even though it was just a legendary grade.

My opponent’s Ice Tornado turned out to be different from when I used it.

In other words, the Ice Tornado I used was accompanied by a gust of wind that pulled everything around it.

However, my opponent’s Ice Tornado did not have such a gust of wind. It just created an ice whirlwind.

To put it simply, its damage effect was much weaker than I expected.

It seemed that the other party noticed there was something wrong because I was standing tall without any damage.

“Man, as expected, Asirante is really strong…”

Of course, I had no intention of comforting him, for it would be a lie if I told him he could reach my level if he tried harder.

So, I used the same skill that he used against me at the start.

“Ice Punishment!”

Bang!

“Kheeeeeeeeh!”

Like me, the other party was an ice-type wizard.

Apparently, he didn’t have the same stamina and vitality as me, so he collapsed right away at a single attack just like the level 1500 monster.

After that, the following message rang.

Lumen, Asirante has won.

– You advance to the next round.

So I was moved back to the original hunting ground where I was, namely, the Land of Titan.

I continued to hunt as if nothing had happened to me.

Of course, I had one question while I was hunting.

‘Alright. I can understand the rounds of 24, 12, and 6. Now there are only three players left. Will they give up, too?”