The Hero Returns

Rumble—

The ground of the stadium started to warp. The ground rose and the sky turned upside down. Some awakeners were panicked and prepared to fight. Hak-joon also seemed a little embarrassed as well.

"Don't be nervous." Su-hyeun shook his head and grabbed Hak-joon's arm. "Nothing is going to happen."

"…Yes?"

Hak-joon looked around. Most of the awakeners were still calm in this mess. Hak-joon felt shame. He slowly took his hand off from the sword and looked at the changing landscape. They waited a little more. Soon, the world changed to white just like the Tower of Trials.

Rumble, rumble—

Su-hyeun lifted his head up. A small purple magic circle was drawn on the hand of Johnny Brad who was floating in the sky with Gordan Rohan. All of this was his work.

"Ok. Everything is ready."

Puff—

Johnny Brad disappeared like morning dew. At that moment, Gordon Rohan jumped down. He landed in the center of over a hundred awakeners.

"What do you think? I prepared a little bit for this," Gordon Rohan said.

It was more than a little bit. The entire stadium was surrounded by lower-grade Ether stones. He needed a medium-grade stone to create and maintain hallucination skills at this scale.

"Somebody spent crazy money on this."

"That's one of my strengths." Gordon Rohan smiled at the grumbling of one awakener and continued. "As you guys know, I am the host of this competition but also a participant. So, I tried to set fair rules."

"How can you be fair? The mission is private, and the rules of the final are also closed."

One Asian awakener spoke with a disgruntled voice. He seemed to think that it was unfair for Gordon Rohan, the host of the game, to participate.

"The missions are not my decision. They are not Johnny Brad's decision, either."

"Then?"

"They will be random. Setting teams is the same."

"Teams…?"

"Are the competitions team games?"

People started to wonder.

Gordon Rohan answered. "There are a total of 175 participants, so we will solve the missions in teams of five."

"How will the missions go?"

"As I said, the mission you will get is random. And the teams will be decided randomly. too."

"How the hell do you set the missions and teams randomly—"

Ding—

Ding, ding—

Numbers from one to thirty-five appeared above the heads of everybody. There were five people with the same number.

"People with the same number are the same team. I am sorry, but my number is 35. If I started from the beginning, the match would have an issue. So, please understand this."

"You are doing just as you please."

"Anyone who has a problem with me, just come out now and bring it on. I will just make you fail to qualify," Gordon Rohan said, bobbing his hand.

There was no awakener who had enough nerve to come at Gordon Rohan. Some awakeners who couldn't understand English also realized Gordon Rohan was trying to provoke them. But they didn't pounce, either. Everyone knew that there was nothing good about fighting Gordon Rohan right here.

"If there is nobody, that is fine. Then, let's begin."

Poof—

Poof, poof—

Five awakeners who had been standing throughout the stadium disappeared from their spots. They were the people who had number one above their heads. Su-hyeun looked at the numbers of Hak-joon and Song Hyeon-gi.

"Number 17 and 33…"

"You are the fastest one among us, Su-hyeun."

"Yes. You are right."

Su-hyeun's number was three. Su-hyeun found other people who had the same number. Su-hyeun knew the faces of two out of the four.

<<I don't know the other two.>>

He usually knew the names of other awakeners. But it was rare to know their faces as well. He could remember their faces by chance. It was not like he knew them well.

"I think you guys will be bored waiting. So, let's just watch what is happening."

Snap—

When Gordon Rohan snapped his fingers, four huge screens appeared around them. On the screen, the image of the awakeners who just started the Ranking Wars appeared. They were summoned somewhere in the dark.

"Are they in Johnny Brad's hallucinations?"

It seemed to be a space created from the hallucination skill, just like the S-Rank examination. Perhaps, they were given a mission in that space.

<<It would probably be a foul if I broke the hallucination itself. I guess the goal would be completing the mission and escaping.>>

Su-hyeun could grasp how the competition would work. The problem was the detailed rules.

<<I guess I have to start the mission to figure out the detailed rules.>>

Su-hyeun took his eyes off the screen and looked around. He could sense the gaze of Johnny Brad, who was watching the players from somewhere.

<<He is quite amazing.>>

It had been a long time since Su-hyeun admired someone like this. Johnny Brad's greatness was different from simple strength. His versatility even made Su-hyeun surprised. It looked like he could make everything that he could imagine.

<<My number is three…>>

Su-hyeun, who had looked around for other four people with the same number, soon watched the screens' back.

<<It will be fun….>>

On the screen, numerous monsters appeared.

Act 9

The second-round test was over. It took 30 minutes for each test. The test had been continued for about an hour without break time. To finish all 35 teams, it would take almost a day.

"Good luck."

"Good luck."

The test of team number two ended quickly. Su-hyeun nodded lightly at the support of Hak-goon and Song Hyeong-gi. All five people who were given the number three rose up. Soon, their bodies disappeared.

Poof—

Suddenly, Hak-joon and Song Hyeong-gi disappeared from Su-hyeun's view. The landscape also changed. The shining white turned to a dark area. Gray walls that were difficult to measure the height surrounded him.

"It is a very simple background."

"It looks like some sort of maze."

All five seasoned awakeners, who were summoned to the test site, checked the theme of the test as soon as they arrived. The test's theme, background, and purpose all looked different based on the first and second tests; they could not get a hint or check the contents of the test before starting it.

Su-hyeun put his hand on the wall. He let his magic flow through the wall. He could feel the structure of the maze. Soon, a voice came from the sky.

[The third round of testing will begin.]

[You must escape the maze as a team.]

[If the wall of the maze is broken, the wall will be reconstructed in a different shape, and the location of the exit will be changed.]

[There are traps and monsters in the maze.]

[When the team escapes, your achievement points would be calculated. The two people who have the most points will be able to advance to the next game.]

[If the mission fails, all five participants will be eliminated.]

[If you commit murder, you will also be eliminated.]

It was the same dry voice as the one from the Tower of Trials. Su-hyeun was surprised that they even reproduced things this much. It was very interesting. Also, it looked like the mission would not be easy.

<<So, I have to pass the mission as a team but also have to compete at the same time.>>

He had to compete and work as a team at the same time. This part was quite different from the trials from the Tower of Trials. They usually happened individually.

[00:29:48.]

The remaining time appeared at the ceiling. There was not much time. Fortunately, as it was planned to reduce the time to introduce each other, the number above their heads were changed to their names.

"Then let's begin. We will find something eventually."

"How about dividing the team?"

"I have a detection skill. Let's find out the way with it first."

Each one had a different opinion. Su-hyeun looked around them and turned his body.

"Where are you going?"

"Follow me," Su-hyeun said.

"How do we trust you—"

"I found the exit. All we need to do now is go."

"What…?"

The other four became blank.

<<What does he mean that he found the exit already? When did he find it?>>

"The structure of the wall was designed to flow the magic easily. I think it is because part of the hallucinations was made of Ether stones."

"Are you saying that you've grasped the surrounding structures by sending your magic through the walls?"

They were also S-Rank awakeners. They understood pretty quickly.

"Yes. You know well."

"But how can it be that easy?"

"Well. I guess the exit was close."

Perhaps the maze itself was not that difficult. But the difficulty of the traps and monsters in the middle was set to be difficult. Like Su-hyeun, they all flowed their magic to the wall to find the exit. But soon, they frowned and stared at Su-hyeun.

"Hey, look. It's not the structure like you said."

"How do you say such obvious lie…"

They assumed the maze would be small because of Su-hyeun's words. But the maze was too huge to figure out by just letting the magic out. In order to grasp the maze at a glance, it was necessary to spread a lot of magic over all ranges. Also, they had to remember all the results from that.

However, the size of the maze was so huge. It was impossible to send magic through the entire wall. But Su-hyeun was so confident. The other awakeners naturally thought that Su-hyeun was lying.

"Think as you pleased." Su-hyeun ignored the opinions of the four people and began to move. "I will go as I found out."

"W-what the…"

"Wait!"

When one of them tried to vent his anger, the only female awakener, Mirald, said, "Let's just follow him for now. We don't know the way anyway, right?"

"Umm…That is true."

"We can find the way while we go."

They didn't like the fact that they had to follow Su-hyeun. But they had to hurry to find the exit anyway.

<<If that guy finds the exit first, that will be a problem.>>

Four of them thought the same thing. Su-hyeun shook his head, listening to the footsteps of the other four following.

<<Teamwork is fake.>>

Su-hyeun got to know why Johnny Brad made such a mission. Five people teamed up, but only two people were able to go to the next stage. It was not a team activity. It was a competition to check and move forward a little bit more than each other. Moreover…

<<Murder is foul.>>

With this simple rule, everyone would have realized.

<<All things are allowed except that.>>

In other words, there was no foul.