Boom!

Like fireworks starting in the sky during the Lunar New Year, thick smoke shot up over the arena. Sophia, the America n A-rank hunter, suddenly launched the first attack. She had been concealing her innate attributes as an Awakened, s o she hadn't brought any summoning stones into the arena, and her main abilities were sealed for the time being.

Fire, explosions, and the boiling heat that inflicted pain on people. Sophia, in addition to her summoning magic, had a bit of a talent for fire-based magic, and as a result, she had acquired numerous related skills over time.

Whoosh!

Among them, there was a technique where the power increased significantly depending on the amount of mana poure d in. It was a rare case where even with just auxiliary magic, she could produce destructive power that roughly match ed the level of the battle.

'Ugghh!'

Boom!

Once again, a loud sound echoed through the arena. As the A-rank awakened one unleashed unfamiliar magic, the au dience cheered as if they had been waiting for it. However, for some reason, the face of the mage who was launching the attack began to twist, as if she were about to burst into tears any moment.

'Heuk, u, ugh...'

To put it bluntly, Sophia was currently gripped by extreme fear. While an S-rank Hunter stood still, not even attemptin g to chase after his opponent, the man's calm demeanor appeared as something entirely different to Sophia.

'Dammit! Dammit! No matter how skilled that healer from China is, can they bring back the people who were killed by t hat Asian sociopath!'

Shivering.

The sorcerer's fingertips trembled as she unleashed her magic. How could she not be afraid?

During the previous ambush, Sophia had a particular misconception as she saw the blonde man chasing her.

He was simply stopping to catch his breath due to a lack of lung capacity, but in her mind, this transformed into a twist ed image of a monster S-rank, casually toying with a weakling while effortlessly neutralizing the King of the Dead.

H, how... how could you... treat an A-rank Awakened like a mere toy...?

That's why she trembled so pitifully when reporting to Brooklyn.

The situation returns to the present. The mysterious East Asian man who had mocked her in the past reappeared befo re her. Unlike the other S-rank hunters, he stood comfortably in place, maintaining a calm silence. It was as if he had n o intention of attacking at all, signaling that she could take her time during the 2 minutes, get her reward, and leave pe acefully.

It was a truly gentle gesture of concession. However, Sophia couldn't just stand still.

'Heuk...!'

This was mockery. Kim Giryeo is blatantly not attacking, 'but letting her be', looking at her as if daring her to show her skills. If she were to fail for this and do nothing, wouldn't that monster express his disappointment physically when he starts feeling bored?

As expected. Around 15 seconds into the match, Kim Giryeo tilted his head and openly started expressing his emotion s.

In his gaze, there was a deep sense of doubt. To Sophia, it felt like pressure, as if Kim Giryeo was silently asking, "Wh at are you doing just standing there, not even showing any effort?"

'He wants to see me struggle like last time, doesn't he? He's enjoying watching me like this, making me fight for it...'

As the smell of burning filled the arena, strangely, the face of the attacker, who had cast the spell, began to twist with discomfort.

Whoosh!

Another [Fireball] erupted. A miracle of the new era unfolded before their eyes—something ordinary people could nev er hope to imitate. However, by the time the thick smoke from the fire began to clear...

"Gasp!"

The awakened hunter from America swallowed hard. Beyond the smoke, the shadow of a man stood tall, and as the o paque whiteness faded...

"_ _"

A hunter appeared without a single trace of soot on him. The man in a suit tilted his head slightly once more at Sophia' s actions.

'She's suddenly going all out without conserving her mana. What's this? Could this be some kind of Earth-style comba t strategy?'

[Sacred Tree Seedling]. Originally, he was a rank fraudster who would have suffered a fracture just from Sophia casua lly flicking him with her palm. However, the protection effect he had acquired by utilizing his past life's knowledge pos sessed truly formidable defensive power.

Sophia knew it was useless, but she clung desperately. To her, Kim Gi-ryeo was truly an unpredictable individual, som eone who might display unexpected actions at any moment. The American hunter wearing a black leash was aiming fo r the S-rank pendant, and the audience was amazed by the provocative situation and roared like thunder.

'Huh?!'

However... This desperate struggle was short-lived. Before long, their match was nearing its end. Caught up in relentl essly launching attacks, Sophia suddenly realized that about 1 minute and 30 seconds had already passed. The score board in this arena was positioned for the audience rather than the awakened ones. Because of this, one particular out sider instinctively reached for his left wrist to check his analog watch instead.

"—Surrender!"

Immediately after, from the opposite side, the sorrowful cry of a mammal echoed.

"I give up... I'm giving up. Where's the referee! I made a mistake, so please, come and intervene quickly!"

At the same time, Sophia completely threw away her pride and even dropped to her knees.For reference, when a pow erhouse who had silently endured attacks for about 1 minute and 30 seconds suddenly moved an arm as if about to ca st a spell, it naturally carried quite a different nuance than originally intended.

'No...'

It truly was a match where nothing went right from start to finish.

A few minutes later, after Sophia's forfeit was accepted and the South Korean hunter officially recorded a victory...

Giryeo watched the summoner being carried away on a stretcher by the medical team, his pale face deep in thought.

'Earthlings' thoughts have always been difficult to understand, but they've never been as perplexing as they are no w...'

Why did I even win...? Technically speaking, if she had just stayed put for another minute, she would have destroyed t he pendant for sure. But with an unexpected forfeit, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. And that wasn't the only thin g bothering him.

'Is that just how Americans are? To properly understand, should I get my hands on an American corpse later?'

The audience became as quiet as if ice water had been poured over them. They must have paid a hefty price for the p rivilege of watching high-level sorcery in action. But thinking about it, this match was essentially just an S-rank being r elentlessly beaten up. From the spectators' perspective, how boring and tiresome must this have been? 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

'Hmm.'

The rank fraudster of Korea came to that conclusion and soon lowered his gaze.

'It must have been really boring...'

Maybe the voices from the audience during the match were actually insults. This body doesn't have any functions rela ted to the Chinese language, so those unknown words they were shouting kept bothering Giryeo.

'I'm really sorry...'

But what could he do now that the match was already over? He handed the match pendant necklace back to the organ izers. Then, as he descended the stairs with a leisurely step, he thought to himself.

'It's obvious that people will criticize me from all sides for ruining the event, so maybe I should stay off the internet for about a week.'

Of course, this half-electronic-addicted alien wasn't likely to give up web surfing, nor did his concerns ever turn into r eality.

***

Kiiek.

Saturday, 11 a.m. A man in his 30s with an average appearance stretched lightly before sinking his tired body onto the living room sofa. He was an office worker employed as a developer at a mid-sized company. Up until this point, he ha d no interest in international events.

Whether Awakened beings fought each other or not, he was just an ordinary person, busy making a living day by day.

'Ugh. The Olympics, this, and everything else... Seriously, people who never cared about sports their whole lives alwa ys make a fuss only on days like this...'

It was the weekend, and he thought about ordering some chicken, but with the rush today, delivery might be tough. Th e office worker sighed, tired from the week, and stood up. He then turned on the kettle, preparing to settle for a quick meal with some instant noodles.

Bubbling, bubbling... Click!

While waiting for the water to boil, his hand naturally reached for his phone. Resting his chin on the dining table as usu al, he browsed through the Y tube app. The video streaming platform had a separate section dedicated to content limit ed to 60 seconds in length. Simply swiping his thumb upward repeatedly was an effective way to kill time.

Clank!Hahaha!Kikk!

But at that moment, a short 15-second video entered the office worker's view.

Boom!

Unlike humorous content, the video began with a heavy explosion. The man's hand, which had been moving out of ha bit, suddenly stopped. And what he saw was—a mass of heat creating a loud explosion, as if fireworks and metal mea nt to decorate the sky had instead crashed into the ground.

H, heuk...!

However, despite such a fierce attack, the figure on the other side remained coldly silent. A hand calmly gripping the e nd of a silver necklace. The camera, which had been focused on the hand, now slowly panned upward, capturing the veins and bones that stood out against the teal-colored skin. Eventually, the screen was filled with the eyes of a perso n. The video ends with the dry, apricot-colored eyelids slowly opening to reveal the impressive Sambaegan eyes.

"_ _"

As the video automatically looped back to the first frame, the office worker instinctively checked the comment sectio n.

[gfj] [5531] [★172,000]

[**Is that a person or a monster? ⌧ ⌧ ⌧]

[0:13 What even is this? Fireworks are exploding right in front of him, but he doesn't even blink...]

[Amazing]

[This approach is certainly refreshing.]

[At this point, the opponent who didn't give up as soon as she saw her opponent's face was even more amazing...]

.

.

.

Superpower person. Just the mere existence of such beings feels unfamiliar, and now, if they were to use their power s and fight, wouldn't anyone be intrigued?

[Oh?! I thought that IHT or something was fake news, but is it real??]

########################################

Hunter Association: This is South Korea's national archery representative.

↳ What the hell, give them back.

↳ Don't take it away!!!

########################################

Of course, even a certain country's signature sport was no exception. Since magic power was still a newly emerging c oncept, various transitional issues were arising throughout society.

[If it's going to be like this, why not just hold a separate Olympics for Awakened individuals?]

[It seems like a good idea]

[No, I mean, there's even the Paralympics, so why are Awakened individuals automatically disqualified? Honestly, thes e athletes have dedicated their entire youth to their dreams ⌧ ⌧]

[Guys... They say that the awakened people have a big difference. But the games are going really well.]

[That's true, too.]

[Oh, really;]

Discussions regarding the participation of Awakened individuals in sports had been actively taking place recently.

[China faces controversy over discussions on hosting an international tournament...]

In the midst of all this, an event using actual magical powers was introduced, and naturally, the reactions were intens e. Even intellectuals who had maintained a negative stance were eventually lured by curiosity and subtly tuned in to th e TV channel. Soon, what filled the viewers' living rooms was the historic first page of the Awakener Tournament, the start of the Silver Tiger Battle (B-rank battle).

The opening ceremony performance by the ice-attribute wizard. Skipping over minor controversies like the 6-million- won spectator seat quality debate, let's get straight to the point.

China's event was a great success. As expected, the brilliance of magic was more than enough to captivate humanity.

[Wow... After only ever seeing Hunters' activities hastily filmed by regular people on their phone cameras, watching a bilities captured with proper cinematography like this is truly impressive.]

The strange pleasure that violence gives.

After successfully completing the Silver Tiger Battle on Friday, China's IHT now has only the highlight of the event, the Yellow Dragon Battle, left.

And then Saturday arrived.