Korea-Japan Friendly Match (3)
"...What do you mean, confidence?"
Shusuke said, flustered.
Was this for real?
They were using an expression like Korea had confidence against Japan? Really?
'Hm.'
This definitely wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. If it were the old Republic of Korea, they would have accepted these terms unconditionally.
Because a friendly match didn't simply mean playing one match and calling it a day.
They could film each other's matches, and through that analyze things like fundamentals and skill timing and other strategies.
And for that price, 1 billion won? In the industry, that was extremely cheap.
Murmur, murmur.
Even the rankers who had come along looked like they couldn't understand it, and the same went for his four disciples and Yoo Jia.
"Jinwoo... this isn't a bad offer."
Yoo Jia whispered as she stepped beside him.
"You might not need it because you're obviously strong, but real combat experience against Japan would be pretty valuable for us. Headquarters has been consistently asking for it over the last three years."
Hong Ari also urged the friendly match.
Right.
'That reaction is the honest one.'
Shusuke nodded.
As far as he knew, Korea was in no position to be picky right now. Historically and geopolitically, it was in a situation where it needed to build strength.
'He's just pretending to be tough.'
That was what he had heard from Hikaru.
God Ji-nu?
Apparently he had been an overwhelmingly hardcore veteran of a game called 「Battle of Summoners」 in the past.
He had seen Hikaru's interview too.
'But so what?'
That guy. Wasn't he no longer some hardcore veteran or whatever now?
This place was reality, not a game, and Japan's summoner combat ability had continued to develop over the last three years.
No matter how extraordinary that man might be, he would be no match for him.
"No, I'm serious, though?"
Baek Jinwoo looked at Yoo Jia and continued.
"Paying money to fight someone only makes sense when that person has something to teach you, doesn't it?"
"...That's true. It is, but."
"I sincerely believe this. We have nothing to learn from those people. You guys should think about it carefully too."
Baek Jinwoo looked at his disciples.
"Rather than wasting money fighting them, it'd help way more to just keep doing the training you've been doing with me. Forget 1 billion won—use that money to help the underprivileged instead, or better yet, give it to me."
He turned his back. A clear order to leave.
At this point, the one growing desperate was Shusuke.
'Shit, this is fucked.'
Hikaru had clearly told him to properly assess their strength. And to do that, they had to fight, but things had gotten twisted from the very start.
'What do I do?'
Go back to Japan and say, "They said 1 billion won is too cheap"?
What would Hikaru say then?
"What 1 billion won? Are you insane? I clearly told you to have them fight for free!"
He would probably explode in anger.
And if it were only anger, that would be the lucky outcome. He might even strip him of his right-hand-man position.
The only reason he had been able to remain world rank 30 was all thanks to Yoshida Hikaru!
If he got abandoned?
He would immediately be shoved further and further down. Some other right-hand man would take his place.
That was how enormous the gap was between the Five Emperors and ordinary world rankers, and Hikaru's standing within Japan was just that overwhelming.
As a joke, people even said Yoshida Hikaru stood above the Emperor of Japan, which said it all.
"Wait a moment!"
So he grabbed Baek Jinwoo, who was turning to leave. He had grown desperate.
"What is it?"
"Free!"
Screw it, whatever. It was an unprecedented offer.
"Pardon?"
"Let's do the friendly match for free! We'll just play the matches for you!"
"...?"
Baek Jinwoo frowned again.
What the hell was this guy even saying?
At the same time, the words that came out of his mouth hit like a bolt from the blue.
"I don't think you quite understand yet... why would we play a friendly match for free? Maybe if you paid 10 billion won per match."
To be honest, the side that stood to gain a lot from the matches was Japan.
At least, that was what Baek Jinwoo thought.
At those words—not only Shusuke, but even Yoo Jia and the disciples' mouths fell wide open.
What?
Not receive it… Give it?
And 10 billion won at that?
Is he insane?
"Hey!"
Hong Ari shouted with an exasperated look.
"M..Master! Isn't that going way too far...?"
"Hooooly..."
Gi Jaehyuk and Kang Jihoe watched the Japanese rankers nervously.
Even offering to do a friendly match for free was already an enormous act of goodwill.
Were those guys just any rankers?
They were national representative rankers of mighty Japan.
Demanding a match fee of 10 billion won per round from people like that wasn't just rejection—it was basically asking for a fight out of spite.
'No matter how strong big bro is... he went too far.'
'Isn't this going to make relations worse for no reason?'
In truth, anti-Japanese sentiment in present-day Korea had faded quite a lot.
It wasn't so much that Japan was liked, but rather that, as an ally, it was putting pressure on North Korea and China.
In a world where nuclear weapons no longer worked, Yoshida Hikaru's existence inevitably served as pressure on China.
And just as expected, Shusuke's face was turning red and blue with rage.
"...Those words just now."
His voice was thick with anger.
"Can you take responsibility for them?"
"Hmmm."
Baek Jinwoo folded his arms and closed his eyes for a moment.
Well.
He did have some affection for Sugoi, so maybe he had been too harsh?
Still, wrong was wrong.
Why would he pay 1 billion won per match to face those guys? Receiving money would be one thing.
Still, they didn't know any better.
After organizing his thoughts, he nodded.
"Then how about this?"
"...Go ahead."
"If both sides are so confident in their skills, then let's settle it with a tournament. The side that wins gets money from the side that loses."
"You want to make a bet?"
Well, well.
Shusuke laughed with a dumbfounded expression.
Did the being in front of him really think he could sincerely beat them?
Not just acting tough, but for real?
"That's right. Surely you wouldn't have used phrases like 1 billion won per round, or saying you'd do it for free, for opponents you couldn't even beat."
Baek Jinwoo grinned as he spoke, and somehow that looked irritating.
"Fine."
Shusuke said sharply.
"There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing better than money when it comes to teaching an ignorant opponent a lesson."
"Are you really sure?"
This bastard!
Of course he was sure. Who did he think Japan was?
The only problem was the money.
"How much would you like to set it at?"
"As for me, whatever amount is fine. I can match whatever you want."
Baek Jinwoo smiled brightly.
These days, as 「Yoobaek」 had grown rapidly, he had plenty of money. Besides, it wasn't money he was going to lose anyway.
'The more we bet, the more I profit.'
"Understood. I'll discuss it with them and contact you again tomorrow."
"Yes, Yoo Jia?"
"Y-yes, yes!"
Yoo Jia, who had been listening to the conversation, stammered.
'Goodness.'
To think he could stand up to a major ranker like Shusuke without giving an inch!
And even put money on the line?
She always felt this, but whenever she looked at Baek Jinwoo, she felt hope for Korea.
Of course, Yoo Jia had seen something in Baek Jinwoo's eyes.
Absolute certainty that he would win.
"Please give them a room. Judging by the looks of it, they probably have nowhere else to go."
"Understood."
* * *
Inside the apartment.
The Japanese rankers, who had been given a room used as a guest room, wore grim expressions.
"What are you planning to do?"
One of the rankers looked at Shusuke anxiously.
Hikaru had clearly warned them.
Absolutely.
Do not provoke him, and if possible, help him in a favorable way and come back.
"I got the impression that he's more seasoned than expected."
"That's right. Usually, when people stand before a heavyweight ranker, they cower or start groveling... But his back was straight."
"He also seems fairly skilled. Did you see the video?"
He had seen the video.
Though there was hardly anything to see, since every match ended in a minute.
"I can do that much too."
Shusuke muttered with an expression that made it clear he didn't like this at all.
The Baek Jinwoo he saw was a frog in a well.
Causing havoc against low-level Korean rankers?
Any one of the Japanese national representatives here could do that.
"So how much should we stake?"
"Well... That's the problem. It's a problem if we win, and it's a problem if we lose."
That was true.
If they lost, the problem was obvious—they would lose money.
But if they won and took an enormous sum? That would be directly disobeying Hikaru's orders.
"We can't lose anyway."
That bastard had clearly proposed a tournament.
And what was a tournament?
Winner takes all.
In other words, if you had even one player who wouldn't lose, it was a format where victory was guaranteed.
"Because I'm here."
"That's true."
"You're absolutely right."
Shusuke was world rank 30.
He was simply on a different level.
No matter how much non-world-ranked players struggled, there was nothing they could do against a heavyweight.
To exaggerate a little, the skill gap was so great that he could probably win even while using summons other than his main lineup!
The rankers all agreed with Shusuke's words.
The problem was how much they should bet.
"Since we've already decided to do it, there's not much else we can do, is there? Let's just bet big. 100 billion won—how about that?"
"100 billion won?"
Shusuke made an odd expression.
That was too much, wasn't it?
"The important thing is to show those arrogant fools the difference in class. And since we're going to win anyway... wouldn't it actually be perfect if we won 100 billion won, then generously returned half of it so they could admire our broad-mindedness?"
"Hoh."
That method! It wasn't bad.
"Then shall we go with 100 billion won?"
"Let's do that. There are four of us, so we each put up 25 billion won. Does everyone agree?"
"Agreed!"
"It's putting money down and taking money back. Of course we should do it."
The Japanese rankers looked at one another and laughed.
Shusuke nodded.
Okay.
"Let's do this."
* * *
And so the Korea-Japan friendly match was held.
4 versus 4.
The format was a tournament.
Yoo Jia did the filming, and the contract tied up 100 billion won. In other words, the system itself acted as a notary.
"We'll reduce unnecessary details and send them separately afterward. As originally promised, since this is a private friendly match, the contents of the match will be known only to us and not spoken of to anyone else in the world—"
"Wait."
Shusuke raised his hand.
"Let me confirm again. We have to report this to Yoshida Hikaru. Otherwise, we cannot accept these terms either."
"I confirmed it. The match contents will only be seen by the people here and Yoshida Hikaru."
"Then there's no problem."
The agreement proceeded fairly cleanly. After all, this was a match with 100 billion won on the line.
Naturally, there would be restrictions on sharing information.
"Who are you sending out first?"
Shusuke looked at Baek Jinwoo.
Yoo Jia stepped back.
The battle would take place at the training ground, and the rule was that if five summons were unsummoned, that side lost.
First, Japan sent out a man named Atsuto.
He wasn't a world ranker, but apparently he was ranked 5th in Japan.
Then for us—
"Kang Jihoe."
"Yes, big brother!"
"You go first."
"Understood!"
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, Kang Jihoe stepped forward.
"It's fine whether you lose or win, so take it easy. Just do your best with what you've learned."
Those words from Baek Jinwoo gave Kang Jihoe tremendous comfort.
What did it mean when he said it was fine even if he lost?
'It doesn't make sense, but still.'
Didn't it mean Baek Jinwoo alone could handle all four of them by himself?
And besides, Yoobaek had placed the entire bet.
That much confidence, then.
Of course, Yoobaek would take all the winnings too, but Kang Jihoe was satisfied just with the chance to gain real combat experience without taking on any risk.
"Then—I'm going in!"
And then,
Kang Jihoe vs. Atsuto.
Their match began.
[For latest updates visit our website: https://revengernovel.com/ ]