Day 5 of reclusive life. It's surprising how quickly time has passed. However, since Earth is a planet with a smaller radius and a faster rotation period than Alphauri, it was inevitable that the days would feel shorter.

"Oh, it's finally over!"

Anyway, it's good news. After five days of intense focus, I've finally finished preparing the dummies perfectly.

[Search history]

– Abandoned Seoul factory

– A place where no one passes by

Now, I was searching for a place to perform the next step of the ritual. As I scrolled through the internet to gather information, that article caught my eye again.

[Debate erupts over the Hunter Tournament... Experts have divided opinions.]

It was a tournament event using awakened abilities. At first, I thought it was just a noisy entertainment gimmick, but after looking into it, I found that the Hunter tournament announced by China was entangled with more interests than I initially expected.

The status of the United States began to decline due to Brooklyn's disappearance (which was actually death). The world began questioning whether the U.S. Hunter industry was functioning properly, as they couldn't even protect a precious S-rank healer, and some even started advocating for the abolition of the association.

And at this moment, China, which had been waiting for the right opportunity, introduced the card of a tournament. Taking advantage of the United States losing trust due to the Brooklyn incident, China aimed to gain the upper hand in the power struggle by perfectly mediating duels between high-ranking Hunters.

However, hosting this tournament was no easy task.

[Free Bulletin Board]

– Bringing hunters to fight each other! What will you do if someone gets hurt?

– You're using high-level personnel, who should be protecting civilians, for something like that? ￢￢ that's crazy.

– The idea is truly barbaric.

The use of ability users for entertainment was highly criticized. However, despite the numerous criticisms, China maintained its consistency and boldly argued, as if they could easily fill the void left by Brooklyn, with great confidence.

We have the means to take responsibility for and treat any injuries sustained by the hunters, so there is no need to worry about the risks. The barriers around the arena have been thoroughly constructed to ensure the safety of the spectators. If you are going to argue that it is inhumane for people to fight each other, then start by closing the shutters of the UFC arena before you speak. Duels are a deeply rooted human tradition that dates back to ancient Greece, so what right do you have to tell us what to do?

– China: Who's forcing the hunters to fight? We're doing this with everyone's consent, you know?

Moreover, China boasted about the safety of the arena while also offering additional bait to tempt the gossipers. In fact, the magic of so-called lower-tier Awakened beings, ranging from F to D-rank, can still be easily found in video materials on various platforms. However, China's tournament has selected only those with B-rank or higher abilities as participants.

A league that oversees battles between B-rank individuals. The Silver Tiger Battle. And then there's the Yellow Dragon Battle, which started with A-rank participants but has even allowed the participation of monsters at the S-rank.

This was China's argument. The skills of high-tier Awakened individuals cannot be compared to computer graphics that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and those who have witnessed their intensity and vitality firsthand naturally come to recognize the artistry of their abilities. Before long, the world has entered the age of superpowers. If we cannot even take in the full extent of their talents with our own eyes, then was there really a need for us to be born as modern humans?

"Dominance competition? Display of power? The United States' claims are not true. We simply want to purely share the mysterious talents of the awakened people with the world."

The Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member asserted the value of the Hunter Tournament in a strong tone. As his speech video was released, global public opinion gradually grew in support of China's event...

[China reveals the rewards of the IHT (International Hunter Tournament), causing a stir.]

No matter how magnificently the Colosseum is built, if there are no gladiators to fight there, wouldn't it all be in vain? So, China decided the tempting rewards for the participants of the Yellow Dragon Battle, the elite Awakened from overseas, who are treated as rare due to their small numbers.

[Exclusive Participation Gift for Top-Tier Awakened]

[Item Box (Rare)]

Are you planning to make people a spectacle with this amount of money? For such stubbornness to be mentioned, there was far too much wealth at stake.

***

"The distribution of the basic participation gift is limited to those who have won at least one round, and S-rank participants who finish with a record of complete defeat will not receive any additional rewards beyond the participation fee?"

A few hours later. Kim Giryeo's one-room apartment.

I leaned against the old, faded wallpaper in places, fiddling with my phone. The screen was filled with the announcement of a recently trending event.

[Yellow Dragon Battle Ranking Rewards]

[1st Place: [Great Sea God Spirit Trident]]

[2nd Place: [20 Bottles of God's Droplet]]

[3rd Place: [Sacred Tree Seedling]]

For some reason, all the rewards have the character for 'god' in their names. It seems like the organizers deliberately chose prizes to fit a theme. Anyway, the page I was looking at contained detailed rules of the competition and various rewards. By the time I came across the identity of the third-place prize revealed by China, my fingers instinctively froze mid-scroll.

"Oh my, a Sacred Tree Seedling is the third-place prize?"

God's Droplet and the long-named trident. Just what are they that even the Sacred Tree Seedling, which is at least of epic grade, got pushed down to third place?

"Hmm."

I moved my thumbs and typed the names of the prizes into the search bar. And the results that came up were...

[Free Bulletin Board]

• Great Sea God Spirit Trident = Officially named 'Triana' by Play.

• Crazy; They're putting Triana up as a prize??

• Why does China keep naming items however they want?

• Honestly, I had no interest in the event at all, but wow, what even is Triana? ￢￢

A heated reaction. It seemed that the championship prize for this event was something even those esteemed S-rank hunters would find tempting. As you can see, various forums used by Awakened individuals were already flooding with opinions about how China had lost its mind.

"Let's see. The specs of the magic weapon..."

A blue spear said to summon a massive surge of water with a single swing. But the true essence of this epic-grade item lay elsewhere."

"Oho. So this is why everyone was making a fuss."

Triana is one of the few epic-grade items whose full capabilities have been publicly revealed, and its detailed effects are proudly recorded in Play's database even now.

[When equipped, it increases the user's strength by approximately 20%.]

[When performing a fire attribute beast attack, 'massive' additional damage [stabbing].]

[Destruction Immunity]

[Overall Skill Power Enhancement [25%]]

[Special skill 'Tempest' can be used when charging for 10 days]

A whopping five powerful attributes. With this, it's easy to understand why hunters were so excited about its appearance.

"Even if I disregard everything else, that 25% skill power enhancement is something you rarely ever see. The fact that a single weapon alone can provide such a massive magic boost is incredible."

Of course, speaking from the perspective of an archmage—a magic weapon with such abilities likely comes with the drawback of increased mana consumption when equipped. But in the end, epic-grade weapons are meant for top-tier Awakened individuals, from A-rank to S-rank. So, a slight decrease in efficiency wouldn't be much of an issue. Unlike certain useless bodies, they wouldn't collapse after just one or two big spells.

"Haha."

For some reason, my mood suddenly soured. Suppressing the irritation rising within me, I tapped away at my phone's keyboard. I still hadn't found any information on the second-place prize, [God's Droplet].

"Oh, the reactions to this one are just as intense?"

So, I wondered what exactly [God's Droplet] was...

Turns out, it was nothing more than a luxury item exclusively for Awakened individuals. A liquid that functioned almost exactly like alcohol, essentially, something designed solely to get Awakened beings drunk. For those who had undergone a certain level of powerful Awakening, regular alcohol no longer had any effect. No matter how much beer or soju they drank, they'd only end up feeling full, without even a hint of intoxication.

God's Droplet comes in a magically sealed 800ml bottle. It's potent enough to make even an S-rank Awakened feel tipsy, so for an ordinary person, just a single drop could mean an immediate trip to the emergency room.

[Free Bulletin Board]

• 20 bottles of [God's Droplet]???

• Just signed up for the Yellow Dragon Battle, lol. They prioritize overseas participants first, right? RIP to all the S-ranks. ￢￢

• - Are you saying you're going to beat them-

• I don't think a Korean will be able to get it. The U.S. has a high rate of alcoholism, and there are quite a few Awakened who were forced to quit drinking. I bet Spectrum's Enzo is eyeing that prize.

But why are these guys... so obsessed with something like that...

[Free Bulletin Board]

• Let's be real, China's just gonna sneakily take the Yellow Dragon Battle victory as a host-country privilege——.

• ￢￢ for real. There's a 100% chance they'll pull some shady tricks. No way they're just handing that over to another country.

• Then the best we can aim for is the Droplet, I guess.

• Guys, the rewards for 4th to 16th place are out too ￢￢￢ This is insane—they're literally throwing money around.

Since [God's Droplet] could only be found in a dungeon in Kaifeng, China, there was no way for other countries to obtain it. As a result, 'item diplomacy' has become a trend to replace panda diplomacy. China monopolizes this luxury item, earning vast profits, while also giving it away as gifts to certain countries as a sign of goodwill. When I searched for more, tons of additional information about this rare item appeared, but even after reading all the details, my confusion didn't disappear.

Why are the wizards here so eager to spend hundreds of millions just to poison themselves?

"Saying something like this might make Earthlings see me as primitive, but... since I don't exactly understand what being intoxicated feels like, I just can't grasp it."

Kim Giryeo didn't have any memories of alcohol consumption, so he lacked any reference material. However, it wasn't something completely beyond his understanding. Even Alphauri had once indulged in toxic stimulants, though in modern times, those had simply been replaced by psychoactive magic that was harmless to the body.

"Alcohol--"

I briefly took a positive interest in Earth's entertainment culture. If the opportunity arose, I even considered the possibility of obtaining God's Droplet in the future.

But that was as far as my thoughts went. After all, a certain archmage had absolutely no intention of participating in that international tournament.

Growl.

I turned off the cell phone I was looking at and got up from my seat. After that, I opened the refrigerator and searched the lower shelf for something to snack on. For a fake who barely survives thanks to items, acting cocky could lead to an unexpectedly harsh downfall—hadn't I just been reminded of that not too long ago?

"Thanks for the lesson... Really brings tears to my eyes, Morgan..."

Due to the Mimic City incident, I had resolved not to act recklessly anymore. I would only step outside when there was a guaranteed 100% chance of acquiring a corpse. Esther had once called this way of living 'being a shut-in,' but what was wrong with prioritizing safety when I had already earned plenty of money?

With such immense rewards on the line, this tournament would attract an unprecedented number of S-rankers from various nations. So, for a rank fraud like me, staying holed up in my room was undoubtedly the best course of action to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Let's not act rashly out of pointless greed."

I repeated my newly established code of conduct to myself as I took out some nutritious food from the fridge. A convenience store tofu pack from a buy-one-get-one deal and a pack of seasoned seaweed whose opening date I couldn't even recall. I wasn't particularly hungry, so this would be enough as a snack.

At that moment, the familiar ringtone of my phone suddenly rang through the dry air of my one-room apartment.

[Kang Changho]

What's going on at this hour?

"Hello?"

As I held the packaged tofu in one hand, I answered the call. However, as the conversation progressed, I could feel the corners of my mouth gradually turning downward.

Ah, Hunter Kim Giryeo. Are you available to talk right now?

"Yes."

It's nothing major, just something I need to inform you about. It looks like you'll need to keep your schedule open for next Saturday... If you had any other plans, cancel them right now.

Wait, next Saturday, no way.

I'm planning to leave for China at that time.

"China, huh."

But come to think of it, it'd be a big problem if something happened while I'm away. So this time, how about I just take our dear contractor along with me?

It was the temptation of Satan. However, I refused to waver and firmly held onto the reclusive plan I had just established. After all, as an archmage I had my dignity to uphold. How could a wizard take their own promises so lightly!

"Oh, that. Next week, I'll..."

For reference, I fully expect someone who has enough free time to go on raids at 2 a.m. to, of course, join this schedule.

"_"

And just to add one more thing, I'm actually right in front of your house now. You're not planning to give some strange answer and make this more troublesome, are you?

I have to refuse. When plans get disrupted, everyone feels some stress. But the mental strain it takes on your life expectancy is nothing compared to an instant death.