Chapter 1554

The world was tumultuous even after the war ended.

The

controlled zones of the Overgeared Guild relaxed

their control, the Hell Gao raid where tens of thousands of people participated, the changes in the religious forces, the 7th National Competition, etcetera.

The issues that attracted the attention of people around the world hadn’t ceased.

In particular, people’s attention was focused on the National Competition.

『 The National Competition is a stage where world-class powerhouses gather to compete with their skills. The purpose is to select the best talent of that year. However, this year, there is an announcement from the S.A Group that it will add events where players will compete under the same conditions in order to give more players the opportunity to participate. 』

『 The AoS and battle royale genres will be added as new events, right? 』

『 Yes, each country will hold an online preliminary round to select players... 』

The National Competition was a contest of national prestige.

People looked forward to and cheered to see how far their rankers could prevail in the world.

However, significant rewards caused unexpected problems.

As the gap between those who won medals in the National Competition and those who failed to win medals widened, more and more people started to feel a sense of deprivation.

A festival that took place once a year—it was a competition that carried the national flag and it was right for it to be a stage for qualified people.

It was no wonder why the rewards were so great.

Even so, it would be nice to give more people a chance...

The S.A Group responded to the wishes of people like this.

It was to appease the public sentiment that had worsened since the Great Human and Demon War.

A total of seven new events were added to this year’s National Competition.

Five of these events were based on ‘competing under equal conditions.’

The AoS games, FPS games, etcetera, which were popular until the release of Satisfy a few years ago.

This included the battle royale games that would be held as an event.

In every event, participants chose a specific profession. They started the game at level 1 and sought victory by cooperating or competing with other participants.

The background of the game was naturally Satisfy. It was easy to understand it as various genres of games being played as a virtual reality version.

People had no choice but to be excited.

They would have an opportunity to participate in the National Competition that was only a festival for a few people.

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Honestly, we would be rankers if we had money and time.

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That's right.

If only luck had followed.

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We will be competitive if the conditions are the same.

Most people were tolerant toward themselves.

They acknowledged the strength and performance of rankers, but they also believed they were qualified to stand beside the rankers.

The reason they didn’t become rankers was due to the differences in environment and bad luck...

Many believed so and desire ignited in them.

It was similar to a person who hadn’t studied properly thinking, ‘If I had made up my mind to study, I would’ve gone to a prestigious university.’ The experts pointed out their attitudes.

『 It is sad to see what public opinion is like recently. More and more people are distorting rankers into those who are privileged. They should keep one thing in mind. Rankers were also ordinary in the past. A ranker isn’t a position that can be maintained with money and time alone. Please note that if you have the opportunity to compete with them under the same conditions, you will surely experience great frustration... 』

『 Professor, are you afraid that the gap between new participants and rankers will be large? 』

『 Of course. I expect the actual rankings and result of the participants to be directly proportional to ther real rankings. 』

『 An example of this... Grid will unconditionally win gold in any events he participates in, right? 』

『 Right. 』

The opinions of experts from all walks of life were similar.

They predicted the overwhelming performance of the rankers.

They appreciated the ‘experience’ of rankers rather than their ‘innate talent.’

They argue that the polished insights, control, and senses from experiencing countless unimaginable incidents would exceed predictions and that it would take several years to narrow the gap.

Public opinion became angry.

-It is in direct proportion? ᄏᄏ Do the people who aren’t rankers have no dreams or hopes?

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It is bullshit.

Has it only been one or two times when the experts speak X-ing bullshit sentences?

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Sports players and professional gamers will eventually be pushed by rookies and disappear into history, yet the experts are prioritizing experience...

a game is more about talent than experience.

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Rankers rely on their level and items.

I admit that they did better than others in obtaining levels and items, but isn’t it too much of a leap that the experience gained after being a ranker is so important?

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They are being overly meticulous.

Those who respected and cheered for rankers not long ago started to discredit them.

It wasn’t a strange thing.

A person’s attitude was bound to change depending on the situation and position.

The proof was the readers swearing that the manhwa or novels they enjoyed reading until last week were trash today.

It changed because it was worth changing.

From the time when events that anyone could challenge were added to the National Competition, people’s attitudes were bound to change. Rankers became competitors, not world-class existences.

『 People’s interest in this year’s National Competition is unprecedented. The number of participants for the online preliminaries to select players for the new events is... 』

『 Many people are curious about whether Grid, who missed several competitions, and Kraugel, who didn’t participate in last year’s competition, will participate this year. In response, the S.A Group has revealed that it hasn’t received applications from the two people to participate. This has disappointed people... 』

『 Many rankers aren’t expressing their intention to participate in the new event. In the midst of speculation over the reasons, the interview of the named ranker Peak Sword has become controversial. Did he say, ‘What ranker will go to participate in a feast for the general public and light candles’? 』

『 That’s right. He definitely seemed to distinguish between rankers and non-rankers. 』

『 What is the reaction of public opinion? 』

『 It is very negative. The majority of opinions say they feel the ranker’s sense of authority from Peak Sword’s attitude. 』

『 It is true that rankers are great. Still, it isn’t an official position. 』

『 Yes, the reason why rankers are recognized is due to their skills. Most of the skills recognized here are exercised only when the specs support it. Thus, public response is colder. 』

『 I’ve seen many comments like that. I am sympathetic with some of them. The advantage of rankers lies in their specs. The great thing about rankers is that they built up those specs... this is what they are saying. They feel that rankers who have lost their specs aren’t much different from the general public. 』

『 That’s right. Additionally, there are many talented people even among the general public. The reason they can’t become rankers is because the environment isn’t good or they started Satisfy too late. There is no way they won’t win when fighting under the same conditions as rankers. 』

『 Is it reasonable to say that the reason why rankers are absent from new events is because they are afraid of losing? 』

『 Yes, it is too risky for the rankers to give up th