𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟗: 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥 2
“The machine broke down so the measurement was wrong, whatever, maybe it will sound like this.”
Siwoo’s gaze turned to the other Hunters.
In short, let’s get over it here, because there might be some nonsense later.
“How about measuring for 1 more second?”
At the meaningful remark, the Hunters remained silent and watched Siwoo and the operating committee members.
Since they had also taken the test, they were aware of how ridiculous it was for the machine to explode.
Edward decided to briefly share his opinion with the other executives, including Marquis Charles , who was sitting next to him.
Everyone whispered their opinions one by one.
However, none of them said anything about retaking the test or that it was a machine problem.
Anyone who had seen what had happened in the 1st to 3rd stages would have known that the biggest variable in this ranking match was Siwoo.
Edward stood up after the discussion was over and said.
“It is not the examinee’s fault that the test machine broke down, but the fault of the operating committee that hosted it. It is right to re-examine for fairness. . . .”
He hesitated for a moment and looked at the broken terminal and Siwoo before continuing.
“If the examinee broke it because he was too strong, it’s obvious that it will break again, so let’s stop here. In other words, this is not the examinee asking us for our understanding, but us asking the examinee for understanding.”
Edward announced the end of the exam after finishing his speech.
In fact, it was advantageous for the examinees to use even 1 second more.
The overall mana level could be measured higher, or a higher output could be achieved in the last 1 second.
However, since Siwoo’s test results were only measured in 2 seconds, this would have been a negative variable for him.
That’s why Edward used the expression, ‘we asked the examinee for understanding.’
Siwoo shrugged and got down from his seat.
He tried to attract aggro and slightly reveal his original personality, but no one attacked him.
‘𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘳?’
For most Hunters, the name Namir, who had an accurate ranking, was scarier than Siwoo, who was an unknown quantity.
“Thank you for your hard work, master.”
“Master, you worked hard!”
As Siwoo approached his party, Namir and Kang Yeo-hwa approached him first and spoke to him.
Then, the MC stood on the central stage and broadcasted an announcement to the Hunters.
“All Hunter measurements have been completed. We will now combine the information and announce it shortly.”
The ‘Gaia System’ began to calculate the Hunters’ rankings based on the data obtained in the match and the tests that continued up to the 4th stage.
Some Hunters who were not present here had completed their system registrations in their respective countries, including Shamal, who was ranked 1st in the current world rankings.
He didn’t participate much in ranking matches, and he was satisfied with testing in his own country.
Of course, it was possible because all the machines used for testing were input with formulas by magic engineers, so there was no error.
A few minutes passed.
“We will now announce the results. What will be released from now on will be uploaded live on Hunter Tube.”
At that, people took out their cell phones and checked Hunter Tube.
As the MC said, the blank screen of the scoreboard was being broadcast live, and the number of real-time viewers reached 15 million.
The ranking of Hunters was a worldwide concern.
If a country had more than 10 Hunters ranked within the top 100, that country could be considered a developed country.
What’s more, if there is even one super high-ranker within the top 10?
That was the pride of the nation, and it was no different from owning a large corporation.
Not to mention South Korea, where Choi Dae-soo was, or India, where Shamal was, Kazakhstan, where Korean Kim Hwan was, or Iran, where Zachary was, had risen in national status.
However, if what happened at today’s banquet were to be officially reported, countries like Kazakhstan would not be able to avoid responsibility.
“There is a slight delay in making adjustments for the deceased Hunters. Their lifetime records will be deleted, and the details will be covered in the official news soon, so please note this.”
The MC spoke about the precautions first.
Since SNS was not controlled, the incident at the banquet hall today was spreading from the hands of the Hunters present to all over the world.
The rankings of people began to be released one by one on the scoreboard.
“Only those ranked within the top 100 will be listed here. For those who are ranked over 100th, please check the Hunter Association’s homepage.”
Everyone gulped and stared at the screen.
The number of real-time viewers on Hunter Tube exceeded 20 million.
“Wow! That guy made it to the top 100?”
“Hey, my name is 96th!”
“That bastard did better on the test than me?! How can he be above me?”
“Wow━ crazy! I moved up ten steps!”
The Hunters reacted fiercely each time a ranking was revealed and talked excitedly about the corresponding ranker.
Siwoo’s party’s rankings were all adjusted upwards.
Kang Yeo-hwa, who was 98th, jumped up to 76th, and Do Kyung-hoo, who was 33rd, moved up to 29th.
This alone was a huge improvement, but the most surprising thing was the ranking of the high rankers.
15th ━Benedict / S++ rank
12th ━Lo-an / SS-rank
“Wow~~ Grandmaster! Little master! I’ve been promoted from S+ rank to S++ rank! It’s all thanks to the master’s training!!”
Benedict exclaimed with a moved expression.
“Crazy. . . Hey, you went up from S++??”
Kang Yeo-hwa, who had been happy about her 20-step rise in rank until a moment ago, frowned at Lo-an’s ranking.
“. . .samae. How about being a little happy about your colleague’s growth?”
“Oh, yes. I am living with gratitude for the master who taught me after bringing me from China where I was doing illegal fighting matches and selling drugs?”
“. . .I guess I said something unnecessary.”
Lo-an nodded slightly and acknowledged that his remark had been thoughtless.
Then, the list of super high rankers within the top 10 was revealed one by one.
Every time a name was revealed on the scoreboard, applause and exclamations erupted from the Hunters.
5th ━Micelson / SS-rank
4th ━Harold Bloom / SS-rank
It seemed that the rankings had risen overall, albeit slightly, due to the deaths of four of the Hunters within the top 10.
In fact, the ranking order of Hunters within the top 10 didn’t change much.
That is, unless a supernova-like rookie suddenly appeared or a ranker died.
People gulped and waited for the three names that would appear next.
3rd ━Kuga Haruki / SS-rank
2nd ━Namir / SS+ rank
1st ━Shamal / SS+ rank
The moment the names and ranks appeared one by one, the hall was filled with astonished exclamations from the audience.
Most had expected the order to be like that, to be sure.
Shamal of India was the greatest monster of his time, so he would not have come down easily, and it was natural that Namir was stronger than Koga Haruki, as anyone could see.
However, people were very surprised not by the ranking, but by the fact that Namir and Shamal had moved up in rank.
What that meant was that they were still growing.
It was not difficult to rise from B-rank to B+ rank, or from A-rank to A+ rank, but from S-rank and above, it was definitely not easy to rise one rank.
It was something that was possible only through hellish training while enduring excruciating pain.
“Is it because she’s a half-demon and has a different body structure than us?”
“Crazy. Go and say that to her face. That she’s high-ranked because she’s a half-demon?”
“Ah, I see. . . That’s what people say, who said it? But if Shamal had one more +, wouldn’t he be higher than Choi Dae-soo?”
“So, is Shamal the strongest human now?”
“Hey, by the way, why isn’t that Min Siwoo guy on the ranking?”
“Really? Maybe he dropped out because there was a problem with the test process?”
“Damn, that’s it. What can you say when the measurement results are like that? Even Shamal wouldn’t come out like that.”
When people saw that Shamal’s name had come up to 1st place but Min Siwoo’s name was not there, they reacted with ‘that’s it.’
An empty cart pretended to be noisy and looked like something was there, but in the end, he didn’t even enter the top 100.
The Hunters laughed and ridiculed the place where Min Siwoo was.
However, they couldn’t do it openly because of Namir, Lo-an, and Benedict, who were standing right next to him, so they were just muttering to themselves like they were talking to themselves.
“Master, I think the results are strange. I’ll go and investigate.”
Namir’s eyes lit up and she gripped the mace in her hand.
At that cold remark, the MCs and the magic physicists managing the ‘Gaia System’ trembled in shock.
“No, wait.”
“But it doesn’t make sense that Master is not even in the ranking. I think there is a problem with the machine, so I’ll go and talk to the machine.”
She infused her mana into the mace.
That was when.
Beep.
Beep, beep, beep.
As if a heavy program was running with difficulty, the ‘Gaia System’ belatedly began to spit out the last piece of information.
Namir’s steps, which were about to move forward, stopped.
Siwoo crossed his arms and raised one side of his lips.
The moment that one line appeared.
No one among the many people in the hall opened their mouths.
And the real-time chat on Hunter Tube stopped for a moment.
0th ━Min Siwoo / Estimated SSS-rank
It was the moment when the world’s first SSS-rank appeared.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
A large magic circle appeared in the air, shining brightly.
[Incineration : Blazing Spear]
Dozens of red spears emerged behind Min Si-joon’s back and shot toward the azure dragon at high speed.
The azure dragon watched the spears of fire flying through the air and surrounded itself with ice.
Zzzt!
The spears pierced the ice as if they were going to pierce it, but they soon subsided due to the intense cold.
“It doesn’t allow even a single attack.”
Min Si-joon bit his lip and muttered regretfully.
Despite having attacked several times already, the azure dragon had blocked every attack by freezing its surroundings.
He had tried attacking using different elements that he knew, but it was useless, only consuming his mana.
“It seems that fire is somewhat effective. . . To get a hit, I’ll have to gather more mana and shoot it. I’ll need Hunter Choi to keep guarding.”
“I’m fine. . . But are you okay, Hunter Min?”
Choi Sung-il asked with a worried voice.
At this rate, it would be a battle of who would run out of mana first, and compared to a summoned beast made of mana, it was clear that their mana would run out first.
In the end, what was needed was a stronger firepower to break the bastard’s shield.
However, attack power was not something that could be suddenly increased, and above all, one dealer was not enough.
‘𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. . . 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.’
Min Si-joon suddenly smiled at the thought of his brother that came to mind.
If Siwoo had been there, he would not have been just a melee dealer, but he would have steamed the azure dragon by himself and eaten it down to the bone.
“I. . . I’ll try to squeeze out some firepower.”
“I understand. I’ll block the enemy’s attacks, so please concentrate on attacking.”
Choi Sung-il gritted his teeth and spread out a huge shield.
Would he be able to deal damage to the azure dragon with just one magic spell?
The moment Min Si-joon took a deep breath, a familiar voice came from behind.
“I came instead of Older Brother Siwoo!”
“Calm down, calm down.”
Ah-ming and Ah-sul appeared and smiled.
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