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Chapter 408: Penalty Shoot-Out

“And lastly, may we all ask the representatives to gather together on stage to take pictures?”

Minhyuk suddenly interjected after hearing the reporter’s request, “Ah. Wait a moment. There’s still one more person coming.”

“Huh?”

The reporters looked at Minhyuk in doubt. All of the publicly declared representatives were already gathered. However, when they looked at it closely, they realized that there was still one more seat without a player.

“What? Who’s going to come?” Locke, or Jisoo, expressed his doubts. But then…

Murmur, murmur—

Another commotion started as a man, wearing a white mask that covered half of his face, walked out from the crowd. Minhyuk smiled happily when he saw the man appear. The man slowly approached Minhyuk and reached his hand out for a handshake, a gesture that Minhyuk gladly accepted. This man was none other than Death. It was ‘Jung Ji-Hoon’.

Jung Ji-Hoon had originally received the Athenae’s management’s invitation to participate in the World War since he met the requirements for the quota. This was the quota wherein each country could send out two people to participate in the games, even if they did not receive the MVP title.

However, despite their invitation and persuasion, Death maintained radio silence. He did not have any intention to participate at all. But after receiving Minhyuk’s letter, Death eventually changed his mind. Minhyuk’s letter wrote:

[I’m suffering from a rare and unimaginable disease. However, there’s a reason why I have overcome it.]

[Because there are people that lead me to a path that has given me hope.]

[You and I are no different from each other. The only difference between us are the people that surround us. You might have lacked good people around you, something that I have plenty of.]

Jung Ji-Hoon looked at the letters incredulously. Was this man mocking him? There were no people around him? But, at the end of Minhyuk’s letter…

[If you don’t mind, I wish to be one of the good people around you.]

Those words touched Death deeply. He continued to receive these letters even after Minhyuk’s eating addiction had been released to the world for the picking. This made Minhyuk’s words ring louder and resonate stronger with him. That was when Death made his decision. He willingly went to join Minhyuk in Athenae: World War.

Jung Ji-Hoon stood beside him in the photo zone as the reporters began to take their pictures. But despite that, everyone was in doubt and confusion.

[The player with the nickname ‘Death’ is an unknown player.]

[He’s wearing a white mask to cover the huge burn mark that covered half of his face.]

[I wonder if this unknown and hidden player that South Korea had chosen will perform well?]

[If he can become a variable and a stumbling block to the other countries, then he might be able to help us secure a medal.]

Just like that, everyone ushered in the first day of the Athenae: World War.

***

[Ladies and gentlemen, your most awaited Athenae: World War has now begun!!!]

Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

This was the first ever Athenae: World War to be hosted. There were a total of 50 countries participating, with around 15 known and popular events. And with the inclusion of the unpopular events, the total number of events were quite a lot. Of course, the events were divided between team and individual events. Everyone was looking forward to watching these events.

The stadium that they were using for the World War was the stadium that they used during the Pyeongchang Olympics in the past and could accommodate 40,000 people. This just went to show how much and how long the Korean Government and Joy Co. Ltd. had been preparing together.

The most awaited first event was an event made by transforming and changing the sport ‘soccer’, a sport that everyone from all over the world was very enthusiastic about. This event was none other than the ‘Penalty Shoot-Out’. The commentators started to explain the game.

[I think it’s safe to say that the Penalty Shoot-Out is the ‘Athenae Sports’’ soccer event.]

[They took inspiration from soccer but they have a completely different way of playing it. In fact, the game will have thousands of balls and hundreds of goal posts. And these goal posts can also move quickly and freely.]

[According to what I’ve heard, it’s almost impossible to make a goal with these balls if one isn’t a real ranker.]

[I believe it’s because the goal posts have a will of their own and can quickly move and change places to avoid or block the balls coming their way. What’s more, the balls will only move if they ‘reach a certain amount of damage’ or if they accurately hit a small red dot in the ball. If that red dot is accurately hit, they don’t need to worry about the damage, the ball will move normally.]

[Even monsters that are well-known for their power can’t move the ball with their normal power.]

[There’s also a special golden ball among the thousands of balls. It appears erratically but they can score 15 points as long as they slam it in the goal post. However, the golden ball has a will of its own and is much heavier than the other balls. On top of that, it can only be moved by reaching a certain damage.]

[And they also can’t control the trajectory of the ball unless they use their magic and skills. However, scoring a golden ball will ultimately allow them to gain a huge leap in scores.]

[Three people per country can participate in this event.]

[There are many familiar faces from Korea’s side that will participate in the first event. Food God Minhyuk, Mage Ali, and Root. However, their situation is a bit worrying. Mage Ali was said to have fallen back to Level 1. It’s already a foregone conclusion and it makes you wonder why he still participated.]

[Perhaps it’s because they want to fill in the numbers. However, I believe Korea’s decision to add him to the roster is very foolish.]

[There’s also Root. He’s a player called Master Archer and a very promising player for the World Olympics. However, he retired due to some accident.]

[But the balls will only move after receiving a ‘certain amount of damage’ and the damage that a bow can incur is very small. It’s also a weapon that requires a high amount of concentration and accuracy. These are the reasons why all of the countries, except Korea, have added an archer to their roster.]

[Let’s look at Player Minhyuk, Korea’s Penalty Shoot-Out captain and the highest contributor in Vormon’s hunt. Plenty of comments from people all over the world ignore his capabilities while plenty also say that he’s comparable to the Summit Five. However, there’s one thing that we’re sure of, everyone expects him to play very well in this Penalty Shoot-Out.]

In the South Korean players’ waiting room.

“Hooooo!” Ali, or Yoon Ji-Hoo, let out a shaky breath. He felt very grateful to Minhyuk and the Let’s Eat Sect.

“Uwoo, uwooo!”

“What’s this? Huh? Are you drawing something for me?”

Yoon Ji-Seok, Ali’s hyung, was staying with them in the waiting room. He really wanted his hyung to be present in the stadium and watch him on that stage. After all, this was something that his Yoon Ji-Seok hyung had told him time and again before. He told him that he wanted to personally watch him on that stage, playing in a competition. And everyone from Let’s Eat Sect was looking after his brother fondly and with kindness.

‘As expected, my vision and judgment for people are very good.’

Then, Minhyuk beckoned to Ali, “Ali, come and look at this!”

In the past, Yoon Ji-Seok was a fine arts major and right now, he was drawing something on the national representatives’ wrist where ther friendship token was originally drawn on. In other words, he was drawing some kind of friendship token on the wrists of all the people present in the room.

Ali looked at them in doubt, as Root and Minhyuk held out their arms only for him to see a Korean flag drawn on both of their wrists. Ali smiled as he watched his hyung finish the Korean flag on his own wrist.

“Frieeeeeeeend!”

“Frieeeeeeeend!”

“Frieeeeeeeend!”

The three of them all reached their arms out to place the flags together before shouting loudly. The other representatives were shocked by their sudden outburst but they did not really care that much.

And finally, the first game, the Penalty Shoot-Out, started. The representatives of each participating country warped one after the other inside the stadium. The same was true for Minhyuk, Ali, and Root.

The area where the game was going to be held was a huge plain. The scale of this event was beyond anyone’s imagination, even with hundreds of rankers running around, the place did not even feel cramped.

There were also dozens of goal posts, a third of the size of an ordinary soccer goal post, whizzing over the players’ heads. The goal posts moved swiftly, flying in the sky, dashing on the ground, or even taunting the players right at their face. There were also transparent shields that appeared and disappeared in front of the goal posts. These shields were playing the role of the goalkeepers.

As for the rules of the game? There was none in particular. All they had to do was to score a goal. The team could kill their opponents and keep them in check as long as they could accept the risk of falling behind the others in terms of goals. Not long after, a ball appeared in front of each of the teams.

[The first five minutes of the game is set for the players to familiarize themselves with the ball.]

[The movement and trajectory of the ball will vary depending on how strong your attack is.]

Victor, one of the Russian Team’s players, was a former soccer player that also represented Russia before. He was also one of the close combat fighters in their team and had learned the Korean traditional martial arts, taekwondo, an art that used powerful kicks to attack the enemies.

To put it simply, Victor viewed this ‘Penalty Shoot-Out’ event as something ridiculous and funny. In fact, he firmly believed that Russia would win the gold medal for this event. Of course, it was all on the basis that Russia had named him as someone that could reach the Summit Five.

Countless cameras zoomed in on Victor’s face.

[It seems like this game is very much suited for Russia’s Victor, a former soccer player, a taekwondo martial artist, and a close combat fighter class player.]

[You’re absolutely right. Plenty of people are expecting him to score a lot of goals in this event.]

[Yes. To add to the explanations, the cooldown of the skills and abilities that the players will use during the five minute preparation period will be reset once the actual game starts.]

Meanwhile, Victor confidently stood in front of the ball and slowly pulled his leg back.

‘A ball like this will easily move around with just a basic attack.’

Victor was a player whose class focused on strengthening the legs. And when he kicked the ball strongly…!

Boom—

A loud noise erupted as the ball moved. However, shockingly enough, the ball stopped after flying for about 1.5 meters.

[…?]

[…?]

[…?]

The audience looked at Victor strangely. Even the other representatives felt strange.

Boom—

Booom—

Booooom—

They punched, kicked, slammed it with an iron mace, and even used their skills, but the ball only moved within a five meter radius from their starting point.

“No, what the hell is this…?!”

Only then did the players start using their individual skills.

Baaaaaang—

Even though they used their skills, the balls only flew up as if someone just kicked it normally.

That was when they remembered the ‘red dot’ on the ball. According to the rules, the ball would move easily as long as they accurately hit it on that spot. However, there was a problem. The red dot was literally just a small red dot on the ball, and it was very difficult to find with the naked eye.

[The Red Dot System is closely related to the concept of critical strikes. Just like inside the Athenae game, our chances of getting a critical strike increases when we hit a vital point. The only difference here is that the vital point is reduced to the size of a dot.]

[However, even if you struck the red dot, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the ball will move. The force of your attack must be concentrated on that red dot for the ball to move. In other words, just striking the red dot on the ball won’t mean anything. Let’s put it this way, assuming that the red dot is 1 and the rest of the ball is 99, you have to focus at least 50% of your power and damage into that one point for the ball to move.]

[I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to move the ball using that red dot.]

[I agree. The red dot is an element taken from the critical strike rate system that Joy Co. Ltd added for fun.]

Meanwhile, the representatives from each country were all sighing.

“I think we can only move the ball with our skills, right?”

“Ahh! What the hell is this ball?!”

Fortunately, they still have their buff abilities. As long as they used their buff abilities and increased their basic attack power, they would be able to move the ball a lot. And if they used their skills on top of that, the ball would move sharply as if it had been kicked normally. Through trial and error, they each found out that the ball could be moved and controlled with skills, buffs and occasional passive skills.

But then, at that moment…

Thud—

Thuuuuuuud—

Thuuuuuuuud—

Thuuuuuuuud—

A strange sound began to ring loudly in the stadium. All of the representatives turned their heads to look at the direction of the sound. The sound was, in fact, the sound of the ball getting hit. When they finally turned completely, they saw Minhyuk holding a sword with one hand while his other hand was placed over his eyes, as if he was checking if the course of the basketball-like ball was correct and if he had hit it properly. Everyone knew what that meant.

“What the hell?! Are you telling me that his basic damage is much higher than mine?!”

“Crazy…”

Then, something unexpected happened.

“I think I can make it fly further…” Minhyuk mumbled to himself. Then, he used his sword to hit the ball.

Thud—

Minhyuk’s sword struck the falling ball accurately and then…

Crackle, crackle, crackle—

Baaaaaaaang!

A bloody lightning bolt struck down from the skies accompanied by a loud explosion the moment his sword made contact with the ball. The ball flew straight towards one of the goal posts. A transparent shield immediately appeared around the goal post to act as the goalkeeper, but it was no use. The net of the goal post was already fluttering wildly from the ball rotating fiercely inside it.

[Gooooooooooal! It’s a goal!!!]

[The game hasn’t started yet but Player Minhyuk has already scored a goal!]

Minhyuk’s following words brought shock to the other representatives that were focused on him. He said, “It’s easy.”

“…”

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