TGMBS 07

Chapter 07

**Blood and Flag (2)**

Meanwhile, at the same time Go Taemin was having a modest party with Chae Geon-uk.

The news that the first undefeated promotee in the Japanese amateur league had appeared was spreading across the world in an instant.

《We are witnessing the birth of another star》 – New York Times

《The night that made the word “amateur” colorless》 – Asahi Shimbun

《This league tested him, and he passed. Perfectly》 – LEquipe

《We have gained another “Warrior who defies explanation”》 – Xinhua

《There is only one next question. How far will he rise?》 – FAZ

《The Japanese league has become too small to contain him》 – Bloomberg

《We have witnessed another boundary collapsing》 – Corriere della Sera

《His record left questions. The answers are not yet here》 – Der Spiegel

《An undefeated prospect who appeared in Japan… Are we prepared?》 – Daehyeon Ilbo

The reason the whole world was paying attention to this news was simple.

Because the demon was still not affiliated with any Legion.

His rare record of an undefeated promotion, the mystery of his hidden identity, and above all, the fact that he was an OA (Open Asset) belonging nowhere — these drew the eyes of the entire world.

So the major Legions of each country all took interest in the demon’s performance and watched his final match to directly assess his skill.

The result——

“Only a C-rank…….”

“His fundamentals are poor, and his swordsmanship was not good either. However, his stamina and physicality seem to be somewhat complete.”

As George Miller quietly murmured while scanning the data on his tablet screen, Jack Morrison, standing beside him, responded as if he had been waiting.

The two were scouts belonging to Atlas, one of the four great Legions of the United States.

Atlas was a super-large Legion that even possessed Super Warriors, and they were currently seriously considering recruiting the demon.

“That is exactly why we must secure him. The fact that he promoted undefeated with only this level of skill means there is talent in his play that cannot be quantified.”

After a moment of silence, Jack Morrison spoke again.

“I agree. If he is at this level despite failing fundamentals, I cannot even imagine what kind of monster will be born once systematic training and care are added.”

George replayed the final scene in slow motion.

On the screen, the demon was slipping past the Ninja’s blade by a paper-thin margin and digging in.

“This scene in particular. The timing of dodging the Ninja’s attack and converting to a counterattack was enough to give even me chills. It was like a beast snatching its prey.”

Even watching it again, his sense of distance was truly outstanding.

That was not something that could be acquired through training or repeated practice.

And…… most Legions would have recognized that talent in the demon as well.

“Did you find out where they are trying to contact the demon?”

“What has been confirmed is Korea’s Oath Legion and…….”

“Heh, forget that one.”

Miller snorted.

Korea was a peripheral country without even a properly established Warrior development system.

There was no way the demon would join a Legion from such a country.

“Japan is showing interest, of course, right?”

“Of course. Jinen, Makazuki, Shiranui, Fudo, Kasaneha. All five great Legions have reportedly entered the race to recruit the demon.”

“Competition will be fierce.”

“And Crownfall, Eisenlicht, Robe Noir, and the Heavenly Demon Cult are also preparing contract offers for the demon.”

That meant Legions from countries recognizable by name alone — England, Germany, France, Canada, China, and others — were moving as well.

But at one unexpected name among them, George Miller tilted his head.

“The Heavenly Demon Cult? You’re saying China is showing interest? They don’t scout unless it’s their own Warrior, do they?”

“There is a rumor that the demon is Chinese.”

“Tsk, that would be the worst in its own way.”

It was not a one-day or two-day affair for Chinese players to hide anonymously on Japanese, Korean, or Taiwanese servers and cause chaos.

It was impossible to rule out that possibility this time as well.

But Miller decided not to mind it.

Whether the demon was Chinese or Japanese did not matter.

What mattered was that he was a contractable Warrior — in other words, an OA.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s not Chinese but North Korean. Atlas must secure the demon by any means. If he wants, we can even offer citizenship. Tell him we’ll give him a flashy penthouse in Manhattan too.”

“Understood.”

George Miller closed the tablet.

Now only one thing remained.

Who would take the demon first, and at what price.

And Atlas Legion was recording a fairly high win rate in that fight.

George Miller curled the corner of his mouth into a deep smile.

“Nova Arena is going to get a lot more interesting from now on.”

—

The next day, the Pro License was successfully issued.

I decided to use the nickname 惡鬼, meaning “demon” in Chinese characters. It was my senior’s opinion that we should make his nationality even more confusing.

Thanks to my senior taking on all the complex administrative procedures regarding Legions and whatnot, I could focus solely on preparing for the Pro League.

The first thing I did was study the Pro League.

Depending on what rules and what format of matches were played, the kind of fundamentals I needed to prepare immediately would differ.

To extract the result called victory from randomly thrown battlefields, I first had to put into my head how this game worked.

Fortunately, I knew very well how to study this unfamiliar field in the fastest and most accurate way.

“The Pro League is very different from the amateur league. What do you think is different?”

At my senior’s question — now possessed by a teacher — I yawned widely and answered.

“Yeees, well, the name is different, I guess.”

“…First, in the Pro League, you can only compete if you receive an offer. It’s not a concept where you join matches by spinning the matching system like in the amateur league.”

My senior tapped the monitor.

In short, if no offer came in, the Pro License was nothing more than an ornament.

“And the matches aren’t simple one-on-one duels either. You receive and carry out specific missions. In the most recent Ash Moon Night 189, the mission was a defense battle. The number of participants was a thousand. The number of invading NPCs was about ten thousand.”

My senior manipulated the keyboard and brought up a video.

The paused screen gradually brightened, revealing the silhouette of a massive castle wall.

“…Whoa.”

Beyond the sturdy rampart built of gray stone, a thousand people in distinctive outfits were moving busily.

Armed with all sorts of armor and weapons, they shouted and formed ranks, and inside the walls, smoke rose thickly from huge cauldrons of boiling oil.

The camera passed over the smoke and now shone below the walls.

Soldiers blanketing the horizon to its very end were advancing, making the ground tremble.

Soon, a scene of hell unfolded.

The catapults in the rear roared and launched boulders the size of houses, and following that, a rain of arrows covering the sky poured down onto the walls.

I watched the video with my mouth hanging open.

“That’s insane.”

I understood at once why people were so crazy about Nova Arena.

Soccer? Baseball? Or mixed martial arts?

No sport could achieve a scale like this.

This overwhelming spectacle of tens of thousands clashing could only be seen in Nova Arena.

“How is it? No joke, right?”

My senior paused the screen and asked casually.

I nodded, dazed.

On the one hand, my heart was already beginning to pound.

The number of people who had watched this match was a whopping 500,000.

I too would soon stand on a stage like that. No, depending on the circumstances, I could even become the protagonist of that stage.

For someone like me, who had lived his entire life like a shadow, it was a picture I simply could not imagine.

“Alright, then shall we watch the next match this time? In match 7…… it’s monster subjugation?”

“Monsters?”

At the sudden word, my imagination was cut off.

“Yeah. Things like goblins, orcs, ogres. You don’t know?”

“I know of them, but……. Those come out too?”

“Hey, do you think Nova Arena is called Nova Arena for nothing? In here, you should assume anything that can be implemented with data will come out. If it were only about fighting humans, the fantasy tag wouldn’t have been attached in the first place.”

My senior replied as if it were obvious and tapped the keyboard again.

Soon, instead of the castle wall from before, a dense, humid jungle appeared on the screen.

“This is the match 7 video.”

The moment the video played, a scream as if tearing ears apart burst through the speakers.

Hundreds of orcs with forearms as thick as an adult man’s thigh were pouring out in a swarm.

Behind them, a monster the size of a house was swinging a giant wooden club, devastating the surrounding trees.

Carrying out various battles and missions within a commonly known fantasy worldview.

From the Pro League onward, matches seemed to proceed in that manner.

I let out a hollow laugh as I watched people tangled in desperate struggles with monsters.

“Hah. Unbelievable. At this level, I guess there’s stuff like magic too, right?”

It was, of course, a joke.

But my senior’s answer lightly missed my expectations.

“There is.”

“…There really is?”

At my retort, my senior nodded indifferently.

“Yeah. There’s an energy called mana. If you process it through incantations or magic circles and fire it, it becomes magic, and if you condense it inside your body and load it onto a weapon, it becomes aura.”

“How are we supposed to deal with people like that? That’s too unfair!”

I did not have extensive knowledge about fantasy worldviews, but I still knew the basics.

Magic encountered through movies and games displayed supernatural power, and a swordsman clad in aura moved at superhuman speeds beyond human limits.

There was no way ordinary people could handle such beings.

But my senior continued as if laughing at my worries.

“You can wield it too.”

“Huh? Us too? Really?”

“Anyway, in that world, it’s a concept that clearly exists. Naturally, it’s a law that applies to anyone moving in that worldview. The problem is that just because anyone can wield it doesn’t mean anyone can feel it.”

My senior tapped the screen and continued.

“For reference, from the World League onward, handling mana is a basic option. People who cannot feel mana eventually hit the wall called the Pro League and cannot rise above it.”

“Then what about me? Can I feel it too?”

At my question, my senior took his eyes off the monitor and stared at me.

Then he smirked and nodded.

“If it’s you, the way I’ve watched you so far, you’ll feel it and have plenty left over. Your senses are incredible.”

“Right?”

“If a guy like you, who slips past incoming attacks by a paper-thin margin, can’t feel it, then who can? That’s not something you can do through effort — it’s an area that requires innate intuition.”

At my senior’s confident assertion, I scratched the back of my head.

Actually, that wasn’t possible because my reflexes or senses were good, as my senior thought.

It was simply because I moved my body along the red lines only I could see.

‘What if I can’t feel it.’

Just as anxiety was about to rush in, a flash of thought crossed my mind.

Wait a moment.

My senior said mana was an energy that actually exists in the world.

A power that becomes magic when you chant, and becomes aura when you condense it.

Chewing over those words, I slowly raised my head and looked around.

Actually, in my vision, besides the red lines, there existed countless other lines.

However, unlike the red ones, they didn’t clearly indicate attack trajectories — they merely drifted through the air like ghosts, so I had deliberately ignored them.

Tens of thousands of lines with a strange color, seeming transparent yet not.

Those white lines were, even at this very moment, brushing my fingertips, flowing past my senior’s shoulder, filling the air of the room itself.

‘Could it be… these unidentified lines are mana?’