4th World League
One of the hostages in the London terror attack uploaded a post on a player-related forum.
Along with a roughly 15-minute video.
Translated, the post said this: I'm one of the actual hostages from the London terror attack, and you seriously need to watch this video.
The players beating the crap out of those Muslim bastards weren't Chinese, but North? No, I think they were South Korean.... Seriously, they were no joke.
You can see the insane, completely unbelievable scene where the hostages and captors basically switch places in an instant.
The video begins with the rattling sound of gunfire—ratatatata!—and the voices of the assailants shouting, "Get down!"
At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to say it was recorded practically from the very beginning.
It even contained scenes of Xenos in action, as well as the voice of one of the Five Emperors appearing and trying to negotiate with the attackers.
The secretly filmed shots, recorded in constant fear of being discovered, heightened the tension of the footage even more.
And then.
The real highlight began when Baek Jinwoo stepped forward.
When he ripped his clothes apart, and the subordinates beneath him stepped up too, saying they would fight alongside him.
ㄴ No~ seriously, this part is insane!
ㄴ How do you even think of stepping in under those circumstances?
ㄴ .....This is crazy.
ㄴ Who's that Taekwondo girl over there? She's super cute.
Those were the live comments.
Once the video's views surpassed 1 billion, the platform actually opened a live chat window for it.
ㄴ Those terrorist bastards grinning like that is really pissing me off.
ㄴ Ah, seriously, I want to wreck those assholes.
ㄴ Just wait a little. Those bastards are about to be fed rice gruel.
The fight started quickly.
From Baek Jinwoo smashing the head of the big man swaggering up and pressing his forehead forward with a crushing strike, to him dodging the punches of the ones rushing at him and lightly turning them back as they were, the footage captured it all as perfectly as a martial arts movie.
Was it from this point on?
Even the person filming stopped trying to record secretly and just started filming openly.
Thud!
Every time he landed a punch,
"Gyaaaah!"
"Guhk!"
The big men either went flying as if it had all been rehearsed, or screamed in agony.
ㄴ!????
ㄴ??????
ㄴ!???
ㄴ????
ㄴ!????????
ㄴ!???
The live chat window filled up with countless hooks.
ㄴ Does that even make sense?
Wow.
ㄴ Those fists aren't human.
ㄴ His hand speed is f*cking insane. At this point, shouldn't he be a research subject?
ㄴ For those guys, this is basically a horror movie.
And so, until he took down the boss among the big men and his subordinates cried out unconditional surrender.
The video began with question marks and ended with question marks.
ㄴ He's seriously f*cking strong…..
ㄴ His destructive power is absurd, but isn't he basically a gentleman? He knocks them out in one hit, lol.
ㄴ That said, way too many of them are groaning in pain....
ㄴ Monster
ㄴ Seriously, that's the kind of overwhelming talent you only see in comics.
ㄴ At this level, he's actually f*cking terrifying. Even on the Day of Peace, nobody should mess with him.
ㄴ God Ji-nu.
ㄴ He's that God Ji-nu people keep talking about, right?
ㄴ Oh, he's in the video. He talked to Rachel so naturally too.
The video and the reactions to it spread farther and farther.
God Ji-nu!
Before the 4th World League had even properly begun, Baek Jinwoo had become a global superstar.
Naturally, South Korea went wild.
Especially this part.
-That's enough, Rachel.
-Cut out that cringey title. Just call me Baek Jinwoo.
That scene—where he coolly said those words while tearing apart his cotton T-shirt—was turned into highlight shorts and started spreading everywhere.
ㄴ Damn.
ㄴ Holy shit! That's f*cking awesome, lol.
ㄴ Look at how cool Baek Jinwoo is. I'm a guy, and even I'd fall for him.
ㄴ Was that directed at Rachel?
ㄴ God Ji-nu really is cringey, lol.
That Rachel.
One of the Five Emperors and world rank number one.
The presidents, prime ministers, emperors, premiers, chairmen, and so on of the world.
No matter what head of state arrived, they would have no choice but to bow before her.
An asymmetric military force comparable to a living nuclear bomb!
When someone spoke that coolly to a woman like her, how could people not go wild?
And on top of that.
That video, where he solved with absurd force what even one of the Five Emperors could not, pushed national pride beyond the limit and into a lethal dose.
No, at this point, even calling it national pride was wrong.
"National pride" is internet slang for being intoxicated by fantasies about one's own country and praising it unconditionally!
But this was not fantasy.
Objectively speaking, it really was amazing.
It clearly imprinted upon people all over the world once more the status of South Korea, which had been known as little more than a vassal state of China!
Only now did talk of "God Ji-nu" start popping up all across the world.
* * *
People have always liked the strong and been curious about them.
That is why they line up great commanders from history and mash together real-world martial arts for comparison.
So naturally, a great deal of attention was focused on "God Ji-nu", and he built up quite a fanbase.
Quite a fanbase?
No, it did not seem to be at that level anymore.
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"God Ji-nu! God Ji-nu! God Ji-nu!"
"Long live South Korea!"
Crazy.
In the middle of London, foreigners were shouting, "Long live South Korea", a bizarre sight indeed.
It had already been three days since the terror attack was brought to an end, but the cheers outside showed no sign of dying down.
"We're getting way too much attention, aren't we?"
Yoo Jia slightly lifted the curtain by the window and looked below.
Who knew how they had found out they were staying at this hotel, but a huge crowd had gathered there.
If not for the police and security personnel surrounding the hotel, would it not have turned into complete chaos?
"Seriously."
Baek Jinwoo currently had his fist in a cast.
No matter how hard he had tried to hit lightly, getting through a sudden fight without injury would have been stranger.
Fortunately, there was no crack in the bone or anything like that, and it seemed his ligament had only stretched a little.
This much was nothing.
As long as he borrowed the power of his summons, he would recover quickly.
"I don't know what's so amazing about what I did."
More than anything else.
He just wished people would stop calling him God Ji-nu.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Baek Jinwoo cursed his middle-school self.
Being cringy is a sin, a sin!
"It was amazing, though….."
Even now, just thinking about that moment made Yoo Jia's heart pound.
The terrifying terrorists.
The explosive, on-the-edge situation she had felt right before the clash.
"Were you always good at fighting?"
"As if."
Baek Jinwoo gave a short laugh.
Fighting?
He had spent all his time gaming; there was no time for that.
"But one thing is certain….."
Baek Jinwoo slowly swept his gaze around.
All the guild members were sitting cross-legged, training their breathing techniques, while HunGyo carefully watched over them.
Was it because they had seen Baek Jinwoo's overwhelming display?
They seemed to be training even harder than before, with fire in their eyes.
"I don't think I can afford to neglect martial arts anymore. The Day of Peace, the Day of Peace—I'd always only heard about it in words before.....but this time, I truly felt it."
Players have to be strong too. Only then can they become perfectly safe.
"We also need to study more ways to stay safe from guns, sniping, and things like that."
What had shocked him the most this time was, without question, the removal of the shield.
Of course, that item itself was probably not common, but Baek Jinwoo did not want to allow even the slightest opening.
'I need to practice more.'
He still did not know what kind of martial art HunGyo would recommend, but he was willing to learn it actively.
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo!"
"God Ji-nuuuuuu!"
People were still shouting outside.
Seriously, they never got tired of it.
The hero who had saved London from terror, or something like that?
'Attention isn't a good thing.'
Attention was practically the same thing as vigilance.
Luring the opponent into lowering their guard was also part of strategy, but if he had to fight with that card taken off the table—
'But whatever.'
Whether they stayed on guard or not, he could just crush everything anyway.
After roughly analyzing last year's match footage, it did not seem like there was much to worry about.
What mattered was combat instinct and control in unexpected situations.
"Ms. Yoo Jia, stop worrying about what's going on outside and do your breathing technique too."
"Me too?"
"Yes. If you do this, you'll get healthier and live longer. Probably."
"Huh, then I'll do it! Actually, I've wanted to try it for a while!"
"HunGyo."
—Yes, my lord!
"Recommend a mental method or heart technique that suits Ms. Yoo Jia."
—Understood, my lord!
Baek Jinwoo looked at HunGyo, who had lowered his head and fallen into deep thought, then closed his eyes.
"Sssup, hoo!"
He drew in a breath and let it out.
Yeah.
'Until the league starts, I'll just do breathing techniques.'
That's the best option.
* * *
December 31.
Early morning.
Countless players were entering the London Player Zone arena.
Click-click-click-click!
Only a handful of people in the world who had received permission were allowed to bring cameras inside, and they were filming the scene live.
"It's Moscowman!"
"Wow, he really is huge, like a bear."
"Russia's one of the favorites for runner-up too!"
Alexander Veskov.
A man with an enormous build led the Russian national team and strode into the arena.
"Mr. Veskov, who do you think will win it all this time?!"
"Is it true you'll be forming an alliance again this time?"
The reporters bombarded him with questions in English, but he did not answer.
He simply slipped into the arena under the guidance of his security personnel.
A total of 92 countries had entered.
920 players.
Afghanistan and Pakistan, the countries tied to this terror incident, were excluded.
The major powers had declared that if either nation participated, they would reduce the countries themselves to the Stone Age, so they had no choice but to stay out.
In truth, they had no grounds to complain anyway.
All of their national team players were members of Zahir Shah's armed group.
[There is not much time left!]
[The 10 players from each country must enter the Player Zone in 'London', England before the opening!]
[Failure to enter within the time limit will result in automatic elimination!]
Tick, tock!
Time passed.
Countries all over the world were filming the live scenes in London and broadcasting them in real time.
ㄴYes, we have confirmed that all of proud Team South Korea's national players have entered safely!
ㄴThat's right. One way or another, our national team has already become the main focus of the league before it even begins, hasn't it?
ㄴCaptain Baek Jinwoo's performance was incredible. Whether he can really create the miracle of reaching the semifinals as he promised the people is drawing a lot of attention.
ㄴHonestly, well, we've practically already enhanced the nation's prestige!
ㄴHahaha! Isn't the whole world already shouting the name of South Korea?!
South Korea was no different.
As always, professional MCs and commentators had been assigned, and the broadcasting rights for the arena had been purchased at a high price.
"Mom, Dad! Over here!"
Baek Ajin had practically gathered all the residents of Yoobaek City.
Guild members, employees' families.
On top of that, she had handed out one invitation ticket per person, gathering quite a large crowd.
"Sit here. Starting today, it's basically going to be a festival for almost three weeks."
Unlimited food!
Unlimited drinks and alcohol!
A giant beam projector, and even a guesthouse!
It had been Yoo Jia's idea that cheering together would strengthen the residents' sense of solidarity and bond them more closely.
"Alright, Ms. Hong Ari's mother, please come this way too! Mr. Jaehyuk's father! Over here! Right here!"
Naturally, the families of those ranked players were there as well, and while preparing for the festival, they had gotten acquainted and become fairly close.
Yoobaek had finished its own preparations for watching the league in Yoobaek fashion!
And then.
At last, when noon arrived!
[The World League is beginning!]
The system message appeared before everyone's eyes.
At last.
The 4th World League had begun.