Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  The reason Eat Spicy Jokbal summoned the Snake Dungeon was to target the cockatrice. The favourite food of monster which had the head of a rooster and the body of a snake was the ‘amphisbaena’.

  Kieeeeeeek-!

  The cockatrice recovered from the wound on its neck with its unique resilience and resumed dashing. It was blinded by its appetite and didn’t even look at Eat Spicy Jokbal’s party. It only chased after the delicious smell coming from deep in the dungeon.

  “Bongsik!!”

  “Stop! Severe Cold Spear!”

  Ma Bongshik. One of the four founding members of Blood Carnival. He enchanted his spear with spells. In other words, a magic spearman. His spear had the power to induce the ‘chill’ state.

  Jjang!

  Jjeejeeeong!

  The cockatrice was stabbed by the spear and its movements started to slow rapidly. This was the power of severe cold. It wasn’t as dramatic as other status conditions such as ‘frostbite’ or ‘frozen.’ But it showed the power to ignore resistance to abnormal conditions. The chill caused the one affected to slowly lose health and agility.

  “Okay! Well done!”

  Eat Spicy Jokbal jumped high as the cockatrice was slowed down. His battle power, supplemented by the dungeon buff, was comparable to Grid before Grid for the Enlightenment Sword.

  Sakak-!

  Strong. The cockatrice’s health gauge fell by a tenth when hit with Eat Spicy Jokbal’s sword.

  Kiik…! Kiiiiiik!

  The cockatrice’s eyes widened. After receiving a certain amount of damage, it woke up from the prey it was focused on. As soon as its gaze moved to Eat Spicy Jokbal…

  “Oh my! Boys! What are you doing?”

  Viola wore a witch’s hat and spun her magic wand. Like Ma Bongshik, she was a founding member of Blood Carnival and her class was a conjurer. She had the power to strengthen an effect or increase the duration of a status effect. The gaze of the cockatrice once again returned to the dungeon. It immediately started running again while the Eat Spicy Jokbal attacked it.

  『 W-What is this…? 』

  The commentators were filled with great doubts. Why was there a dungeon in Reilt Canyon, the stage of subjugation expedition? According to the information released by the S.A. Group, a dungeon shouldn’t exist here. Then why was the cockatrice obsessed with this dungeon and why weren’t the Korean players affected by its petrification?

  More than anything else.

  ‘Strong!’

  The Korean team members were performing tremendously, despite being unknown. In particular, Eat Spicy Jokbal was outstanding. The cockatrice was only a level 260 field boss, but its base defense was high. There were few who could cause it to lose one-tenth of its health with one blow out of the 1,500 rankers participating in the National Competition. However, Eat Spicy Jokbal was doing this continuously. The cockatrice’s health fell every time his sword struck it.

  “Waaaaahhhhh!”

  “I don’t know who he is, but he’s great! I’m cheering for him!”

  While the commentators couldn’t understand the situation and had fallen silent, the crowd and viewers were cheering. The development beyond expectations excited the audience.

  ***

  “A dungeon?”

  Finally, the Russian players descended the canyon. They were confused when they entered the cave where the Korean players had hid.

  [You have entered Snake Dungeon.]

  [You haven’t received permission from the creator. The dungeon considers you an intruder.]

  “Now I understand why the cockatrice headed here.” Alexander confidently said after thinking about it. “This dungeon is the real stage of the subjugation expedition. The canyon was just a bait.”

  Ikonikoski admired Alexander’s interpretation.

  “I see! We wasted our energy and time trying to climb the canyon to get the cockatrice!”

  “That’s it. It’s my fault for not seeing it from the beginning.”

  “On the other hand, isn’t it great that the Korean players came here from the start?”

  “…”

  Was the story like this? Alexander panicked for a moment before soon denying it.

  “No. They just got lucky.”

  Eat Spicy Jokbal, Viola, and Ma Bongshik. The Korean team members participating in this event were really nothing. They were unknown players he had never heard of before. Alexander was certain that the three of them were certainly the lowest of the 1,500 players competing in this National Competition. The lack of skilled Korean players gave credence to this thought.

  “The cockatrice came to the place where they are fearfully hiding… Those guys are really lucky.”

  They were really ugly players who got to eat for free.

  “Let’s go after the cockatrice. No matter how weak, the Korean players can hunt the cockatrice. We can’t give them the chance.”

  It had been three minutes since the cockatrice entered the dungeon. It was the time when the cockatrice had just unleashed its opening petrification offensive. It was the right timing for the Korean team to counterattack.

  ‘They will slowly chip away at its health… It should be around 1/30th so the momentum isn’t that high. All variables should be blocked.’

  It wasn’t good to relax. Alexander lit a torch and started running with his colleagues. They advanced into the depths of the surprisingly large dungeon. Snake-type monsters popped up several times along the way. But they were only level 100 and weren’t a threat.

  ‘Strange.’

  Alexander and the Russian players got goosebumps. It wasn’t convincing that monsters who were only level 100 would appear in the National Competition. There was also the warning window about not getting the permission of the creator when they first entered the dungeon.

  ‘It’s like a separate space…’

  There were many reasons to be wary, but they lacked grounds to doubt the situation. The Russian players were forced to move forward and eventually reached the end of the dungeon. Then they saw it.

  Kyaak!

  The cockatrice’s head was separated from its body!

  “What?”

  Only seven minutes. It had been seven minutes since the cockatrice entered the dungeon. Yet the cockatrice ended up being raided. It was by the unknown Korean players!

  “W-Who the hell are you?”

  How could they do this? Alexander asked in a trembling voice and Eat Spicy Jokbal replied while dealing the final blow to the cockatrice.

  “The two gold reserves.”

  ***

  “Run!”

  The wave that occurred when South Korean defeated Russia and overturned everyone’s expectations was huge. After the Group A game, the other players participating in the subjugation expedition ran to the cave at the entrance of the canyon at the start of the game. It was because everyone knew that the cockatrice would come to this place.

  But,

  “…?”

  “…????”

  The cockatrice didn’t move from the top of the canyon. It stayed in place and waited for the invaders. It was the same in the other games. Apart from South Korea’s Group A match, the cockatrice never descended from the canyon.

  ‘What is this?’

  The commentators, spectators, participants, and viewers thought they were possessed by ghosts. No one could understand why the cockatrice showed a different behavior pattern only in Group A. In the meantime, the games continued and now there were only 12 countries remaining

  The quarterfinals began. The first teams in the quarterfinals were South Korea, the United States, and Canada. Nobody felt sorry for South Korea, who was assigned to be in the same group as the strongest winning candidates. It was because the players were aware of the Korean players’ strength after they defeated the cockatrice in an instant.

  ‘It’s tricky.’

  The US representative, Cloud clicked his tongue. The United States hadn’t won a single gold medal in the four group events that
were held. They were in a position to win a gold medal in the subjugation expedition, but they had to face Canada, who had won three gold medals in the previous team events, and South Korea, who showed an unexpected power.

  ‘If we fall here, there won’t be a bronze medal.’

  The United States representatives had to figure out how to increase the odds and the conclusion was surprisingly quick.

  “We have to stop the Korean team from entering the cave.”

  It was a fact that the cockatrice showed a strange behavior pattern when the Korean players entered the cave. They didn’t know what the principle behind it, was but there was a possibility that unexpected variables would occur when the Korean players entered the cave.

  As a result, Cloud and the other US players ran in the direction of the Korean players at the start of the game. The Canadian players made the same judgment as the American players. They were worried that they cockatrice would jump down while they climbed up the canyon.

  『 Ah! South Korea is in a great crisis at the very beginning!! 』

  South Korea became a common target because of their unimaginable power. The commentators were making a fuss while the Korean players were calm. No, they rejoiced at being noticed.

  “Cloud and Henry… It wouldn’t be an excellent debut if I didn’t face people of at least this standard!”

  “Yes. It’s better than one Alexander.”

  “Then let’s hunt humans instead of a chicken this time.”

  The six US and Canadian players participating in the subjugation expedition were the highest ranked players in the top 500 unified rankings. It was evidence that both the US and Canada recognized this event as important. Since both countries wanted to secure the number one position in the overall rankings, it was natural to boldly invest in this event. However, South Korea had invested more than the two countries.

  Eat Spicy Jokbal. The concept of ranking was meaningless to a sun grade powerhouse. South Korea had the strongest players who could match Grid. The rankers in the top 500 were just hatched chicks in front of Eat Spicy Jokbal.

  Puk!

  Sukakak!

  Without needing to reveal any special powers, the Eat Spicy Jokbal trio slaughtered the American and Canadian representatives with pure combat power. Both the United States and Canada missed out on a bronze medal while South Korea won the gold medal.

  Throughout the day, Eat Spicy Jokbal rose to the top of all portal sites’ search queries. The sale of spicy jokbal in the country rose sharply. Ironically, the jokbal store that Eat Spicy Jokbal operated in Haenam was on holiday.

  Chapter 757

  Chapter 757

  “There were such high rankers in South Korea?”

  “Cloud couldn’t do anything…”

  The United States wasn’t able to win a single gold medal in the team events held today. The result of the ‘subjugation expedition’ was very important since their overall ranking was reversed with Canada. It was a situation where Cloud, the right arm of Zibal, participated in the subjugation expedition. The US wanted Cloud to win a gold medal and didn’t doubt that he would live up to their expectations. Yet he was disastrously defeated by the unknown players of South Korea. The US representatives were in a big shock from the unexpected situation.

  In this atmosphere, Skull was feeling impressed.

  “It’s a perfect combination.”

  Skull. He was the US’s top ranking player who maintained the top 10 in the unified rankings for the last four years. He used his excellent eyesight and saw that the Eat Spicy Jokbal trio was really perfect.

  Ma Bongshik used his spear to cause the ‘chill’ status condition, Viola used her magic to maximize the power of the cold, and Eat Spicy Jokbal finished off the weakened enemies with his powerful attacks. The three Korean representatives had excellent individual ability and also compatibility with each other. Looking at their activities, they had been colleagues for at least a few years.

  ‘Grid and Kraugel won’t be able to easily go against them.’

  Skull thought this and saw Kraugel’s eyes. He witnessed Kraugel’s black eyes shining with interest.

  ‘This is it.’

  He thought that the DNA of Koreans were still alive when he saw the Korean players captivating the minds of the people. It was the gaming DNA of South Korea, which used to be a powerful in e-sports.

  ***

  “This is…”

  The Canada team’s waiting room. Unlike the other players, Chris already knew about Eat Spicy Jokbal and was thrilled. He knew that Eat Spicy Jokbal was acknowledged by Grid but he hadn’t expected Eat Spicy Jokbal to be at a level to kill Henry at once.

  ‘Just looking at the strength stat, he has more than me.’

  Chris paid attention to Eat Spicy Jokbal’s attack power.

  ‘Dungeon Maker… it isn’t a combat specialized class. There were very few combat skills. However, the ability to exert a high attack power is purely due to the high strength stat.’

  It was evidence that Eat Spicy Jokbal’s strength stat was very high. The Dungeon Maker could be classified as an architect. Unlike the production classes of blacksmiths, construction workers, and tailors where ‘stats were increased every time an item was made,’ the architects increased their strength and stamina by two every time they built a building.

  ‘I know why Grid and Peak Sword covet him so much.’

  Eat Spicy Jokbal was basically a good fighter. Once he combined his strength with his colleagues, he would be a full-fledged presence in PvP. Indeed, he was the head of the former PvP group Blood Carnival.

  ‘Becoming stronger in a dungeon…? I also want to fight him someday.’

  Eat Spicy Jokbal. He captured the attention of the popular rankers as well as the general public, making it a splendid debut.

  ***

  『 South Korea’s victory! South Korea has won the gold medal in building walls after the subjugation expedition! 』

  『 South Korea has won two gold medals in the team events! I never imagined that this development was possible… 』

  『 This is a huge variable. The United States hasn’t won a single gold medal in the team events today, while Canada missed the opportunity to widen the gap with the US. China, who is chasing these two countries, is also shaken. 』

  South Korea had shaken up all three candidates to be first. The country that would be first in the overall rankings was becoming more and more of a mystery.

  Canada: Gold (5), Silver (5), Bronze (1)

  United States: Gold (4), Silver (5), Bronze (2)

  China: Gold (3), Silver (1), Bronze (1)

  South Korea: Gold (2), Silver (1), Bronze (0)

  United Kingdom: Gold (1), Silver (2), Bronze (4)

  Japan: Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (3)

  France: Gold (0), Silver (0), Bronze (3)

  Brazil: Gold (0), Silver (0), Bronze (1)

  South Korea obtained two gold medals and their ranking rose. Considering the fact that there were still Yura, Peak Sword, and Grid remaining for South Korea, it was likely South Korea would finish in a high position in the 3rd National Competition.

  It was an entirely different result from before the competition started. South Korea’s strength went beyond expectations and turned the whole world upside down. South Korea had a completely festive atmosphere.

  “Every season of the National Competition is very enjoyable.”

  “I agree. Grid was active last year and the year before, while there are new faces this year…”

  “Ah, I’m really happy! This year we will get the National Competition buff!”

  “I’m really excited about Eat Spicy Jokbal. I’m going to eat spicy jokbal instead of chicken during the National Competition.”

  “I like Ma Bongshik. I didn’t know there was a person who raised the ‘chill’ skill to such an extreme.”

  “Yes. It’s usually evaluated as a junk skill. He must have special insight.”

  “If Viola wasn’t th
ere, they wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

  “It’s the first time I’ve seen a conjurer. It has a high difficulty.”

  There were those who were happy and those who were sad! While South Korea was excited, China had a funeral-like atmosphere. The wide country that contained 1.5 billion people didn’t know what to do.

  “Will we once again be ranked lower than South Korea in this year’s National Competition?”

  “No way! How can a small nation with a population of 50 million beat us every time? I can’t accept it!”

  Did South Koreans have particularly good genes? Some people had these types of doubts while others were angry at being questioned. The fact that their great nation was caught by a small country shattered the pride of the Chinese people. One of the 50 Chinese players, Jang Zheng, was the same. He was extremely proud that he was born in the great country of China and grew well enough to enter the world stage.

  “Silver medal… not even a silver medal?”

  China had been in the last four countries in the subjugation expedition and had advanced to the finals. He thought they could win a gold medal against South Korea, who defeated America and China. But reality was cruel. The Chinese players were trampled by the Korean players and were the first to be eliminated. As a result, China didn’t win a single medal in the subjugation expedition. This was despite the fact that they were within the top five rankers of China. The loss was very large.

  The agitated Jang Zheng seized the throats of the players who participated in the subjugation expedition.

  “Do you think you can live if you bring such humiliation to our great country? Huh?”

  “Kek! Kekek!”

  Among the Chinese rankers, Jang Zheng was known as a crazy person. Jang Zheng had his father, a high ranking official, behind him. He was really outspoken and easily hurt people. There was a rumor that he stabbed people with a small knife he always carried.

  He took out the knife and threatened his colleagues.

  “Remove your hand. They also fought very hard. Don’t blame them as if they were sinners.”

  “Hao…!”

  Jang Zheng’s bloodshot eyes stuck to Hao. He wanted to stab and kill Hao right now. But Hao didn’t even blink. Jang Zheng’s influence and the knife he wielded didn’t pose any threat to Hao.