Closed Beta That Only I Played

As soon as my brother finished talking, Director Sok opened his mouth.

“Our plan is to have Daesung and Kusan ally to take the No. 2 Captain position, and make Daeyu ally with a strong player to take the No. 3 Captain position. Of course, we have arranged for you to partic.i.p.ate as a member of the Daeyu Group.”

Since my brother and Sok explained well, I could easily understand.

Be it baseball or soccer, or any other area, there was always a problem, namely, the selection of people based on personal connections such as family ties.

For this event, the selection of the squad members would not be affected by personal connections. However, if the 60 people are selected because of the reward and not their competence, they would obviously be criticized heavily by most users in Korea, given the current atmosphere of the heated debate about the event.

In particular, Korea, or the “Land of the Morning Calm,” has mastered tactical strategy, and as such, it is home to some of the most famous stellar players on the planet.

Anyway, I felt our plan didn"t look bad.

Moreover, I was fully confident in partic.i.p.ating in the event as a member of Daeyu.

Of course, I felt sorry that my mother was not included in the squad, but her inclusion would just look like a shallow trick in the eyes of others.

Anyway, I said after having heard our plan a little more, “By the way, can things proceed as we planned?”

If things worked out as we planned, Myongjin would gain a lot of real benefits, but it was not easy to predict whether Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu would just observe Myongjin as bystanders.

Four days later at Northwood Castle central square.

[The 4th Anniversary Event squad status board.

2 days 14 hours 14 minutes remaining.

-Captain No.1: Sangman Hong and 29 others (Myongjin & Mirae Alliance)

– Captain No.2: Ungi Chung and 19 others (Daesong & Kusan Alliance)

Captain No.3: Daeyoung Suh and 9 others (Daeyu)]

“…”

So, they were grouped together in the way we had planned, and easily at that.

In other words, the publicity campaign by Myongjin and Mirae paid out. Their message was that even if family members could partic.i.p.ate, those who were not competent would be ruled out.

Such a message was so powerful that even Daesung and Kusan had to pay heed to it when they decided to include their family members.

How about me?

Of course, I was included in the squad of Captain No.3 of Daeyoung Suh and 9 others.

At first, Chairman Suh did not want to include me because he felt it was impossible to hire me.

In fact, it was more beneficial to Daeyu to include somebody who would stick with Daeyu rather than me. But I complained strongly to Chairman Suh if he intended to break connections with me at this point after giving me so many benefits until now.

Suh would have ignored my complaint if his expectations of my growth had been low, but he had such high regard for it that he immediately included me in the list.

Anyway, after putting my name on the status board by driving out those who were on the status board at first, I checked with my sister if there was anybody who challenged me. But she said there was none, including the Daesung & Kusan Alliance who took over the No.2 Captain position.

But something ominous happened after that.

[Jody and 9 other ‘Tough Guys" issued a challenge to take over the No. 3 Captain position.]

It seemed that these guys thought Daeyu was an easy target.

Of course, not all ten of No. 3 Captain team members including Chairman Suh belonged to Daeyu. If they all belonged to Deayu, Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, and Kusan would not have stood idle.

So, exactly six out of ten belonged to Daeyu, while the rest were top players who did not belong to any guild. They were the top 1% of those players whose level was 1000 or higher.

Anyway, the message didn"t simply end there.

Another message immediately appeared.

[Captain No.3 Daeyoung Suh accepted the Tough Guys" challenge.

– In 30 seconds, you will be moved to a temporary arena.]

“Whew…”

I let out a sigh before I knew it because I had to move for the fourth time today even though I wanted to focus on hunting.

As soon as I was moved to the temporary arena, I stormed into the enemy camp and launched all kinds of attacks.

“Blink! Ice Field! Ice Storm! Ice Rain!”

Pasasasak!!

Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

Since these ten guys challenged Daeyu under the name of “Tough Guys”, they must be strong enough to belong to the top 10% of players, or maybe the top 5%.

Moreover, I was challenged already four times today, and if I included the past two days, I was challenged almost 20 times. In other words, rumors about me have already spread widely because I dashed right into the enemy camp alone to end this kind of challenge quickly because it was so annoying.

But the enemy didn"t back down readily.

“Bursting Fire!”

“The Wind Spirit"s Biting Wind!”

“Triple Shot!”

“Suppress the opponent. Chains of Oppression!”

“Thorns of Pain!”

They mounted a barrage of attacks against me as if they had been waiting for me to enter their strike range.

But they began to complain when their attack didn"t do as much damage as they expected.

“d.a.m.n it! I excluded healers and enchanters from the beginning before entering the arena and we all equipped the best items. How come the dealer was killed with just one stroke?”

“But that dealer over there is up and running!”

It was clear that these guys that I was dealing with were the strongest ones.

My health had also fallen down more than ever.

Nevertheless, I did not feel it necessary to avoid their attack, especially after I gained the t.i.tle of First Successful Step that increased health and mana by 100,000 and all stat points by 300.

Anyway, I survived all of those attacks, while the enemies couldn"t withstand my attacks. So we ended up winning as always.

[You have succeeded in defending against Jody and the 9 other ‘Tough Guys" challenge.

-Jody and the 9 other players cannot re-challenge for the next 24 hours.]

Of course, there wasn"t a single person who challenged us again after they were defeated.

“Wow! Asirante!”

“I"m just speechless! I"m so amazed by your fantastic attacks.”

Anyway, I had to fight with these members of No. 3 Captain Suh"s team together.

Moreover, these four guys who partic.i.p.ated as non-guild members not affiliated with Daeyu were stunned by my brilliant performance.

So, I said with a humble expression, “Thank you.”

Honestly, I wasn"t in a position to act conceited now.

Even though my level was rather low, anybody with three fantastic traits and six t.i.tles like me would have beaten these guys easily.

Besides, I had a functional skill ring and I succeeded in enhancing all the top-cla.s.s legendary grade Sacred Permanent Snow Spirit accessories to +5 enhancement.

In any case, the presence of strong colleagues around me helped to create a good atmosphere.

Of course, Chairman Suh bitterly gazed at me at that moment.

For the next two days, I only focused on hunting.

With the 4th anniversary event coming up, all I could do was raise even one more level.

Fortunately, there were no more obstacles since the Tough Guys challenged us.

So, I could achieve a satisfactory level by hunting the monsters that the eight monster herding teams gathered for 2 days.

Of course, I thought I had to find a new hunting ground, for the EXP I gained decreased gradually even though my supporting teams increased to 8 from 4.

Anyway, a message rang while I was focusing on hunting.

[People who will partic.i.p.ate in the 4th Anniversary Event in Region 53 have been selected.]

[The status board of the 4th Anniversary Event in Region 53.

-No. 1 Captain: Sangman Hong and 29 others (Myongjin & Mirae Alliance)

-No. 2 Captain: Ungi Chung and 19 (Daesung & Kusan Alliance)

-No. 3 Captain: Daeyoung Suh and 9 others (Daeyu)]

‘Region 53?"

Region 53 was not displayed on the status board before.

Of course, I guessed what it referred to, namely, Korea.

[The 4th anniversary event starts now, and exactly 24 hours later, the 60 people selected in each area will be automatically moved to the Ludon arena.]

Finally, the event has begun.

And the moment I thought that the message was over, another one rang.

[Lumen, Asirante, you are eligible to partic.i.p.ate in the 4th Anniversary Special Event by having earned the t.i.tle ‘First Successful Step."

-Finally, you have been included in the 60-member squad. During the event, your combat power will increase by 30%.]

“?”

I was a bit embarra.s.sed by the unexpected message.

However, I seemed to have found some clues about the t.i.tle of “First Successful Step” that I had not known at all. Besides, I even gained buffs I had never expected, namely a 30% increase in my combat power. Of course, 30% wasn"t just 30% for me.

So, I blankly looked at the message for a moment.