Chapter 369

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Chapter 369: The Ultimate Evil of Promotion (5)

-Y-Yeongwoo, what happens now?

Aldo, staring at the world map, let out a frightened voice.

In response, Yeongwoo calmly aimed at the world map floating in the air with his weapon, Bastard.

Dozens of teams, including the powerful contender Team 004, were closing in fast.

What would happen next?

"Well, what else? We’ll just have to follow the rules."

According to the new rule, the only way to claim the top spot in the promotion battle was to defeat the current first-ranked team.

From the perspective of the current top-ranked team, as long as they weren’t defeated by another team, they could retain their position.

"Challenging and fighting is perfectly legal. We all agree on that, right?"

Yeongwoo asked, his eyes gleaming fiercely.

The three virtuous aliens hesitantly nodded, looking visibly uncomfortable.

Given the situation, they couldn’t very well forbid counterattacks against this madman.

-But not everyone coming this way is here to fight,

Amana said, trying to deny the grim reality.

It wasn’t a baseless claim.

"What do you mean? If they’re not here to fight, why are they coming?"

-...Handshake.

"Excuse me?"

-Ranks two through five are determined by the number of handshakes, aren’t they?

As Amana spoke, she looked down at her right hand.

-With the new top-ranked rule, many teams started moving toward the central west. Naturally, other teams aiming for the rankings have no choice but to head in this direction too.

In other words, Amana speculated that many of the teams visible on the map were here to find handshake partners, not to fight for the top spot.

-There might not be as many teams gunning for first place as you think.

"Hmm. That could make sense."

Yeongwoo stroked his chin as he listened to Amana's reasoning.

It was plausible.

It didn’t seem reasonable that all those teams would aim solely for first place.

"Well, whatever the case, we can just ask them directly."

Yeongwoo nodded and turned his gaze to the "challengers" closing in on the world map.

Forty-one teams remained in the promotion arena, with nine already eliminated.

Excluding the current first-ranked Team 023, there were forty teams left.

‘About five teams seem to be heading toward the withdrawal zone…’

The remaining thirty-five teams were either converging on the central west or still deliberating, showing no clear movements.

The teams that weren’t moving yet were likely observing the situation to decide their next course of action.

One thing was certain:

‘There are definitely plenty of teams thinking about jumping into the first-place battle. Maybe I haven’t shown enough of my strength yet?’

Yeongwoo felt a pang of disappointment, believing his earlier display of mercy had been underappreciated.

After all, he had hoped to take a break from accumulating bad karma, but here they were, flocking to him of their own accord.

‘At this point, accumulating bad karma seems inevitable for me.’

Swish.

Yeongwoo turned to the three virtuous aliens.

"Looks like we’ll have a few corpses to clean up soon. Could you prepare some eulogies?"

-Eulogies?

"For those guys. When they die, we’ll wrap up their bodies and send them off with eulogies. I need you to write them."

Since Yeongwoo would handle the violence and killing, the other three wouldn’t have much else to do.

"Understood? When there are bodies, you’ll write the eulogies."

With Yeongwoo's one-sided request, the three reluctantly nodded.

-Alright.

-…Someone has to write them, after all.

-Fine. Better we do it than anyone else…

Thus, the division of labor within Team 023 was settled.

Yeongwoo got up, dusted himself off, and began scanning the surroundings, noting down coordinates in advance.

After all, he might need to use bombardments again.

‘If there are multiple teams with planetary bombardment weapons, it’ll be chaos. I should probably strike first, just in case.’

While Yeongwoo pondered various scenarios and surveyed the central west, he noticed silhouettes emerging from the northern horizon.

"Oh?"

Finally, the first visitors since the announcement of the new rule.

As Yeongwoo pointed north with wide eyes, the three virtuous aliens followed his gaze.

And then:

-Oh no…

-They’re heading this way.

-Good grief…

They preemptively offered condolences for the unnamed opponents heading toward the worst possible outcome.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo:

Ssshhh!

He unsheathed Bastard, preparing for battle, and began walking north at a leisurely pace.

‘Which team is that?’

Glancing at the world map, Yeongwoo saw the marker for "Team 042" closest to his current position.

‘Team 042.’

They were ranked fourth in power.

Unlike the others, it was clear this team intended to participate in the battle for the top spot.

‘This will be a good opportunity to gain some interstellar combat experience.’

When else would he get to fight such a diverse range of extraterrestrial opponents?

While this battle might cost many planets their representatives, Yeongwoo's perspective on such losses remained unchanged:

‘If they die in the promotion battle, they weren’t cut out for planetary promotion anyway. Better to die early and let someone else take over.’

The newly implemented rules even allowed contestants to avoid both battles and competition entirely.

They could simply move to the eastern end and wait out the timer to survive.

But the fact that so many teams chose to head west to challenge the first-ranked team was a clear measure of their judgment—or lack thereof.

‘Of course, it also shows their courage and skills. But if they end up dying to me, it means their skills weren’t sufficient.’

As Yeongwoo silently mused and stared north, Aldo, watching the world map, shouted urgently:

-Hey, Yeongwoo! Team 042 is right ahead!

On the map, the markers for Teams 042 and 023 overlapped almost completely.

Of course, in the actual terrain, there was still a distance of about 300 to 400 meters between them.

“Yes, I know. I was just about to—”

As Yeongwoo shrugged his shoulders and gestured not to worry—

Whoooosh!

“…Huh?”

A massive void opened up beneath his feet, a pitch-black hole appearing suddenly.

“Ah…!”

The moment Yeongwoo instinctively recognized it as the power of the Void, a giant hand emerged from the hole, enveloping him.

-Huh?

-Hey, Yeongwoo?

-What’s going on? An ambush?

Before the three allies could react, the hand grabbed Yeongwoo and dragged him into the hole.

In that instant, Yeongwoo found himself thinking:

‘Who the hell are these bastards?’

He was trapped in a zone imbued with the Void’s peculiar, time-stopping aura, cursing under his breath.

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This was clearly a remote abduction.

It had to be someone skilled in using Void power, making a preemptive strike.

And soon—

Fwoosh!

After a brief moment of gray obscuring his vision, Yeongwoo’s surroundings lit up again.

His body was raised back to ground level.

“……!”

It was then that Yeongwoo saw the four aliens surrounding him.

-Haha, welcome.

-Are you the leader of Team 023?

-Whoa, your energy levels are off the charts.

-You’re smaller than I expected.

The ones who had used the Void to abduct Yeongwoo were none other than Team 042.

[Team 042]

A dark blue mechanical humanoid, a towering beastman with an eagle’s head, a lizard covered in blue scales, and a humanoid alien with pupil-less eyes.

The last one, in particular, caught Yeongwoo’s attention.

Despite its pale skin, its hands were pitch black.

At a glance, Yeongwoo knew this one was the abduction’s executor.

The distinct, unsettling sensation of the Void emanated continuously from its hands.

-Sharp, aren’t you?

Sensing Yeongwoo’s gaze, the "Black Hands" alien blinked its pure white eyes.

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but ask:

“What’s the point of coming after me here? Are you really after the number one spot?”

The eagle-headed beastman, who had been aiming a long spear at Yeongwoo, moved its beak threateningly.

-Of course. There are incredible perks for ranking first in the promotion matches. Why wouldn’t we aim for the throne?

“But if you challenge the number one and lose, you’ll die, won’t you? Wouldn’t it be safer to aim for just the top five?”

Though Yeongwoo kindly offered them a chance to reconsider, Team 042 only laughed.

-Amusing fellow.

-If we don’t lose, that’s all that matters.

-That’s cowardly logic.

After all, they had the ability to abduct someone from hundreds of meters away in an instant.

There was no way such individuals would give up the throne with its promised extraordinary rewards.

Then the dark blue mechanical humanoid spoke.

-And why did you create such ridiculous rules in the first place?

It referred to the rule that one could only claim the top spot by defeating the current number one.

Without that rule, Team 023 wouldn’t have become everyone’s target.

Yeongwoo’s response?

“Damn it, I didn’t expect every dog and stray to come after me. I was just trying to minimize collateral damage.”

-What?

-You bastard.

-How arrogant!

Infuriated by his response, Team 042’s eagle-headed beastman gripped its spear tighter.

Crack.

-Collateral damage? We’re no strangers to committing atrocities ourselves. Let’s see how well-versed you are in evil!

With that, the eagle-headed beastman swung its spear to strike Yeongwoo’s neck.

But Yeongwoo, who had been warned by his precognitive instincts, raised Aratubank to block it.

Clang!

In the same motion, he lunged forward and drove Bastard through the beastman’s chest.

Thwack!

And with that, another planet’s future darkened.

“So, you lot are familiar with atrocities? Then wouldn’t taking you down count as a good deed?”

As Yeongwoo withdrew his blade with a wicked smile, the remaining members of Team 042 stepped back, sensing something was wrong.

-What… what was that?

-That sword! It’s not normal!

-Regroup! We have to attack together to have a chance!

While Team 042 reeled from the shock of their comrade’s sudden demise, a deafening explosion erupted in the distance behind Yeongwoo.

Boom!

“…What the?”

When Yeongwoo turned, he saw a blazing red pillar of fire rising from the spot where he had left his three allies.

Another team had ambushed them while Yeongwoo was occupied with Team 042.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He had expected such chaos, but not in such rapid succession.

And more importantly—

“Wait.”

Wasn’t Prince Aldo, who would be arriving with a massive dowry tomorrow, in that very spot?

‘Those idiots, if they face a real opponent, they’ll be useless.’

With this realization, Yeongwoo hurled his Aratubank, knocking the Void-user backward.

Thud!

-Gah!

Yeongwoo leapt onto the alien’s chest with blinding speed and drove his dagger into its blackened hands.

Thwack!

“You can use that power again, right?”

-W-What?

“Send me back over there.”

-I-I can’t. I don’t have a way to send you back.

“You bastard.”

Yeongwoo adjusted his command without hesitation.

“Then bring them here instead.”

…What?

“Everyone over there. Bring them here. I’ll handle the rest.”

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