ATV PD Kim Dae-Guk’s heart started to thump wildly when the Food God appeared on the monitor. This was the first ever appearance of South Korea’s top ranker after the opening of the Continent Cloud! He was standing on top of the canyon while looking down at his enemies. However, Kim Dae-Guk and the other ATV directors could not figure out what the Korean rankers wanted to do.

“What the hell are they thinking? Why did they focus their core forces on the first and second routes? Once the third route gets breached, South Korea will lose.”

War was a battle of push and pull. It was not wise to send all of their troops at one go. Often, both sides had to use their wits and battle it out, one step at a time. That was the reason why they could not understand what Minhyuk and the rest of the rankers’ current strategy was. But more than that…

“Hu Yitian…”

Grind—

PD Kim Dae-Guk gritted his teeth as he recalled the arrogant words of Hu Yitian in one of the interviews. After all, PD Kim was very patriotic, so he could not help but get angry at Hu Yitian’s words.

‘Food God? I’ll finish him within 20 seconds if he ever appears in front of me.’

It was an outright mockery. That was why all of Korea's citizens were furious at him. Even some of the Chinese players criticized his arrogance. However, they were only the minority. The majority applauded Hu Yitian’s lofty aspirations.

‘We’ll see…’

Player Minhyuk appeared on the station's official broadcast during Barach’s hunt. According to an anonymous post from a global ranker, the overwhelming skill that he had shown back then was a Pinnacle Skill. However, according to the ranker’s analysis, the Food God’s skill was only a temporary power. This could be concluded from the sudden dramatic increase in his stats and skill back then. Because of that, they had concluded that he had not yet reached his peak. If they compared Player Minhyuk’s strength to Hu Yitian's, Hu Yitian might overwhelm him.

‘However…’

Player Minhyuk was a player that had always created variables. Even though he believed that to be the case, PD Kim was still worried. He was currently looking at the first and second routes on the other monitors. Most of their country’s rankers and NPCs were on those routes. As for the third route?

‘I can’t see anyone aside from Player Minhyuk.’

Of course, the troops that he led were the strongest, but the Chinese’s side had Hu Yitian and several other rankers too. They even had the Beijing Ghosts, a group of unofficial rankers, working with them.

The ‘Beijing Ghosts’ was a group of four extremely strong unofficial rankers, their levels at around Level 530 and higher. To put it simply, they were like the Four Hyenas of Korea.

Instead of worrying over those matters, PD Kim Dae-Guk decided to focus on the video that was being aired first.

***

A smile appeared at the corners of Hu Yitian’s lips.

‘Food God Minhyuk.’

He was hailed as the strongest ranker in South Korea after he defeated the unofficial strongest ranker, Carr, in Athenae: Korean War.

However, Hu Yitian had beaten Carr. Besides, Hu Yitian was aware that Minhyuk did not even have a Half-Pinnacle skill in his arsenal. He had compared himself to Minhyuk when he had hunted Barach and knew that he was far stronger than Minhyuk back then.

The Chinese commentators began to give their two cents.

[Not too long ago, Hu Yitian declared that he would make Player Minhyuk log out within 20 seconds. This caused a huge issue over the internet.]

[It may sound a bit arrogant, but if you look at it the other way, you can consider it as a statement of confidence. After all, Hu Yitian has defeated a lot of Korean rankers.]

[In fact, many rankers from all over the world raised their hands in support of Player Hu Yitian’s statement about fighting Player Minhyuk.]

[Player Hu Yitian can avoid most of his opponent’s attacks with his high Evasion Rate. From what we have seen so far, it seems like his defense is extremely high too.]

[There are also the Beijing Ghosts working together with Hu Yitian this time. Although our players have failed to transport the food rations on the first and second routes due to the unexpected move from the Korean players, it seems possible for us to breach through the third and fastest route.]

[As long as they succeed in one route, the Korean players will face defeat.]

Just like what the commentators had said, plenty of rankers from all over the world were placing their bets on Hu Yitian’s victory.

While they were busy discussing Hu Yitian’s supposed victory, Minhyuk had already swung his sword brimming with power as he jumped down from the canyon. Then, the soldiers standing on top of the canyon began to shoot their arrows and magic spells.

“Get in the defensive formation!”

“Great Shield!!!”

With Hu Yitian’s cry, Ghost Mage, who was one of the Beijing Ghosts, stepped forward and created a huge shield, comparable to a barrier due to its large size.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

At the same time, the golden leaves that fluttered around Minhyuk’s sword began to fly towards them.

‘During Barach’s hunt, I recall that he created a barrier and ate some food to boost his abilities. And the skill that he used after doing all that, was that skill with the golden leaves.’

From what Hu Yitian had gathered, the skill with the golden leaves was something that Minhyuk could use during the short duration of the buff that he had received. And its power…

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—

…hit the Great Shield continuously until it was completely broken. Hu Yitian immediately dashed forward to where Minhyuk had landed. But before he could even reach him, a woman wearing a black robe suddenly appeared behind Minhyuk.

‘Who’s that woman?’ Hu Yitian thought in doubt.

Hu Yitian was sure that the woman was not Saintess Loyna. Even if she was hailed as the Saintess, she was very vulnerable in battles. In fact, her steps were unusual as she went down the canyon.

However, the woman did not run towards Hu Yitian. It was actually Minhyuk that weaved through the arrows and magic spells to dash towards Hu Yitian.

‘Come, I’ll show you who’s the strongest!’

At the same time, the people of China and South Korea, as well as the rest of the world, were all paying attention to this fight.

[From what it looks like, it seems to be true that Player Minhyuk would not last 20 seconds against Hu Yitian. Hu Yitian is one of the few players that have learnt the Pinnacle.]

[Hu Yitian’s Evasion Rate and defense are extremely high. Player Minhyuk’s attacks won’t work.]

Hu Yitian immediately activated his skills after seeing Minhyuk dash towards him.

[Pinnacle Defense Arts]

[Your defense will increase by 250% and your Evasion Rate will increase by 600% for one minute.]

A skill that could increase one’s defense by two hundred and fifty percent, and Evasion Rate by six hundred percent, was a remarkable skill. With the increase in Evasion Rate, Hu Yitian could easily ignore half of his opponents’ attacks. And that was on top of being an assassin, a class that was well-known for their good evasion. For someone like Hu Yitian, who only needed to evade or defend easily, fighting another opponent was an easy job. He continued to cast his skills leisurely while Minhyuk ran towards him.

He had vowed to finish Minhyuk off in twenty seconds! For him to do that, Hu Yitian needed to use his strongest one-shot kill skill. The skill had no cooldown, but it could only be used once every month. It also had a huge penalty that decreased all five of his basic stats by three points.

[Pinnacle Assassination]

[Launches a successful attack towards the enemy within two seconds, shaving off 95% of their HP and leaving them stunned for five seconds.]

It was a very shocking skill that could overwhelm anyone in a PVP! In fact, it was this skill that allowed Hu Yitian to be arrogant and make conceited remarks. On the other hand, a strong current of energy wrapped around Minhyuk’s sword. It was the telltale sign of a skill being triggered.

Hu Yitian counted in his head, ‘One, two…’ as they both ran towards each other. By the four second mark, Hu Yitian watched as Minhyuk tried to swing his sword. However, the scene just brought a smirk to Hu Yitian’s face.

‘Heh! You won’t be able to use that skill at all!’ Hu Yitian thought as his dagger turned red, looking like it was dyed with blood. It was a sign of him executing the skill Pinnacle Assassination.

Fwooooooosh—

The dagger equipped with the skill, Pinnacle Assassination, flew swiftly and accurately pierced through Minhyuk’s neck.

“Keheok!” Minhyuk groaned as blood dripped from his mouth, but he continued to run.

‘So, it’s true that stun does not affect him?’

Hu Yitian had also investigated Minhyuk. From the videos and information that he had gathered, he assumed that Minhyuk had the power to ignore abnormal states. However, even without the stun effect, it would still be alright.

Hu Yitian believed that Minhyuk’s HP would be at 5% at most, after the strike. He could tell that Minhyuk had the skill to restore his HP and MP, as well as another skill that could revive himself. So, he knew that Minhyuk would immediately use his HP and MP recovery skills.

To counter those, Hu Yitian used two skills of his own. Once he used that, only ten seconds would be left. However, he would be able to focus and concentrate on killing Minhyuk.

Hu Yitian immediately dashed forward after the successful attack. Minhyuk, who seemed to have staggered, sent out his skill.

‘Six…’

That was the amount of seconds that had passed since the two of them saw each other.

Hu Yitian watched in confusion as Minhyuk brandished his sword. He suddenly could not understand the situation at all. Minhyuk raised his sword high up in the sky as dozens of sword lights covered with lightning began to rain down on them.

‘Pinnacle…?’ Hu Yitian thought in disbelief.

The Pinnacle Skill that Minhyuk had used before was definitely temporary. He also obviously did not receive the buff that could rapidly increase his strength. In other words, he did not have the power to use the skills that he used back then. So, how come he was able to use it? No, when Hu Yitian looked back, he found something strange. There was a woman that went down together with Minhyuk. Hu Yitian immediately turned his attention towards the woman, only to see a bright and white light covering the tips of her fingers.

‘…!’

The Pinnacle Skill, Sword of Lightning!!!! It suddenly poured down on Hu Yitian’s body.

‘It doesn’t matter, my defense and Evasion Rate will be enough…’

But then…

Baaaaaaaaaaang—

[Your defense has been ignored by the sword attack.]

“…?”

For a moment, Hu Yitian could not understand what the notification meant. In that moment of daze, his HP had already been cut down by twenty percent. And it did not end there.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Dozens of sword lights covered with lightning rained down on Hu Yitian. Hu Yitian swiftly weaved through the attack, running around as he evaded the sword lights. But at that moment…

[Goddess’ Shackles]

[Strong shackles will appear and restrict your movements.]

[Your AGI has decreased by 20%.]

‘…!’

Hu Yitian’s resistance against abnormal states was already beyond anyone’s imagination after he had reached the Pinnacle. In fact, no other ranker could make him suffer from an abnormal state.

‘That woman… what the hell…’ Hu Yitian thought, eyes widening in shock.

By the eight second mark, Minhyuk’s sword was already approaching Hu Yitian.

‘It’s a normal attack! As long as I get out of its range…!’

Hu Yitian firmly believed that Minhyuk would not be able to cast a skill within that short period of time. Unfortunately, contrary to his expectations, a skill was cast.

Shwaaaaaaaaa—

Strong wind blew and tore through the surroundings, as a red current appeared and surrounded the sword in Minhyuk’s hand. Just when Hu Yitian tried to block the sword with both of his daggers…

Stab—

The tip of Minhyuk’s sword was initially two meters away from him, but it suddenly pierced through his chest.

“Urrrk!”

Nine.

At the same time as Hu Yitian’s vital point was pierced through and he collapsed…

“D…die!!!”

“Attack that woman!!!”

“Focus on the Food God!!! Don’t let your guard down against the robed woman!”

The mysterious woman appeared behind Minhyuk and stood back to back with him as they both glared at their enemies.

Shiiiiiing—

The crisp, clear sound of the sword being drawn from the sheathe hanging on the woman’s waist rang loudly in the surroundings.

Slaaash!

The sound of Minhyuk cutting through Hu Yitian and the Ghost Knight, one of the Beijing Ghosts that tried to intercept his attack, also rang loudly.

Slash, slash, slash, slash!

After the first attack, ten more attacks followed right after. And the attacks did not stop there.

Bang, bang, bang!

A huge lightning bolt fell from the sky and struck the man thrice, forcing him to log out. And when the woman brandished her sword, countless gigantic golden spears appeared in the sky and attacked the Ghost Mage, another member of the Beijing Ghosts.

Stab, stab, stab, stab!

“Kyaaaaaaack!”

Sixteen.

That was the amount of seconds it took for two Beijing Ghosts to die. Minhyuk looked at the remaining Beijing Ghosts that were rushing towards him as he stabbed his sword into the ground. At the same time, the woman placed her hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder and granted him a buff.

Flash, flash, flash, flash—

Hundreds of blooming sword lights appeared on the ground and engulfed the two Beijing Ghosts and the troops behind them.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Not long after, a huge explosion swept the entire area. The woman that appeared with Minhyuk was none other than the Bread Shuttle, Mei Wei.

Twenty. 

That was the amount of seconds it took for them to dispose of the four Beijing Ghosts and Hu Yitian.

[…]

[…]

[…]

The chattering Chinese commentators, as well as the so-called experts, no to be precise, Xperts, all turned silent, as if a cat got their tongues.