The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 110

Gugugugugung.

The entire battlefield shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

And Raul and his guests watching from the VIP seats could notice the change much more distinctly.

The miniature set shook as the players wobbled, catching their eye.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

As the people looked surprised, an announcement was simultaneously made to the players and spectators on the battlefield.

– 10 minutes have elapsed since the start of the battlefield. The area with the most players surviving is about to be obliterated. The time limit is 1 minute. Players in that area, please evacuate to another area within the time limit.

– Affected area: Zone 7

As the announcement was made, a bright red aurora rose into the sky from the southwest border of Zone 7.

“Oh, darn it!”

Quickly assessing the situation, some participants from Zone 7 crazily ran towards the direction of the aurora, followed by others finding their way out.

Like swarms of locusts scattering in all directions, the players who escaped Zone 7 found themselves in a battle situation without a moment to catch their breath.

Similarly, players from the sharp-witted Zone 6 and Zone 8 lurked near the borders and launched ambushes.

Thud, swish!

Clang! Clash!

Near the border of Zone 7, it immediately turned into a battlefield.

And the 1-minute time limit passed in the blink of an eye.

“Oh, no!”

Unfortunately, a few players who were hiding in deep buildings, caves, or dense woods failed to leave the area on time.

Bang!

Then, Zone 7 was engulfed by the crimson aurora and swiftly erased from the battlefield.

In the void left behind by Zone 7, there was only pitch-black darkness, void of anything.

Playes engaged in battle near the borders felt an inexplicable fear at the sight of this unreal space and involuntarily took steps back.

And at that moment,

The battlefield shook once again, and the ground on which they stood started moving altogether.

Boom!

Zone 6 and Zone 8, standing face-to-face with Zone 7, filled the vacated space, merging together.

Left behind were the survivors from Zone 7 and the scavengers from Zone 6 and Zone 8.

“Die!”

“Screw you!”

They began to wield their weapons at each other menacingly, making it scary to regain their senses.

***

Park Sunho felt irritation boiling up to the tip of his head.

“Who the hell designed the exam like this?”

He was hunched over in front of a cabin bookshelf, breathing as if he were holding his breath like a dead fish.

“Damn it, where did it all go wrong?”

It wasn’t difficult to organize Korean players into teams. They were strange beings with excuses like patriotism or nationalism, unable to even mutter a word of complaint.

With a large number of players, including high-rankers, everything seemed to go smoothly if the plan was followed, painting a promising picture.

However, as if expecting it, the designer scattered the players from the start.

“Yeah, things didn’t look good from the beginning. But it’s not like I didn’t expect the unexpected.”

Though he was alone, Park Sunho’s plan remained unchanged. First and foremost, he needed to become part of the majority. Being in a powerful group would expand the options available to him.

So, after five minutes, when the players’ positions were exposed, he made a different choice instead of attacking the enemies.

“Everyone, let’s cooperate instead of fighting!”

Utilizing his skill in eloquent speech, Park Sunho decided to pull surrounding players into a team. There was no rule stating that team members had to be Korean. In this insane game, all languages were automatically translated, after all.

The need for a team was not only felt by Park Sunho, and in an instant, seven team members gathered around him. But then, the annoying bell sound echoed.

And when Zone 7 was selected, Park Sunho’s expression turned sour.

“Of all the unlucky things!”

Hastily leaving the zone with his team members, they were swept into a fierce battle.

The hastily-made team awkwardly enjoyed their separate activities to the point where calling them a ‘team’ seemed embarrassing, and when the situation ended, only three, including Park Sunho, were fleeing from the battlefield.

Despite the bad luck, the idea of teamwork did not change, and Park Sunho began to gather team members again. Eventually, he gathered six team members again and decided that it was time to start reaping rewards.

His decision was based on the rapid increase in the kill count of some players while he was gathering his team members.

1st – Brent (USA), 7 kills

2nd – Kim Ilwoo (Korea), 5 kills

2nd – Bang Joyun (China), 5 kills

“Kim Ilwoo…!”

Park Sunho disliked Kim Ilwoo.

The guy who lucked out and made it onto the ranking list as the first pick. If only he had been chosen as the first pick, he would have been the one in that position, not that guy.

“Enjoy it while it lasts. I’ll crush you underfoot soon enough.”

With five good shields to protect him and considering his own abilities close to cheating, catching up to a 3-kill lead was no issue.

Thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to meet and deal with him directly, Park Sunho led his team forward. But once again, someone tripped him up.

Zing.

This time, there was no warning. A fiery red magic circle appeared beneath Park Sunho and his teammates’ feet.

“Duck!”

Park Sunho reflexively shouted as he launched himself into the air, but it was futile. The magic circle stuck to their feet like magnets and swiftly engulfed their bodies.

And once again, Park Sunho found himself falling alone to an unknown location.

“A case of unfair play (timing) has been detected. As a penalty, the players involved will be forcibly relocated to random locations.

“Bastard, damn it!”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. They should’ve announced not to do it from the beginning. What kind of message did it send to backstab like this during the exam?

He didn’t know who designed it, but it was clear that they had a twisted personality. Perhaps they were laughing at his current predicament.

“No, they must be, you dirty bastard.”

Park Sunho momentarily put aside his grievances and started thinking again.

Finding teammates from now on was almost impossible. Even if they were gathered, catching up to the kill count wouldn’t be easy.

“Well then…”

“What are you doing there?”

“….!”

So lost in thought, he didn’t notice someone approaching. Park Sunho reflexively aimed his weapon and looked towards the source of the sound.

“Damn it, of all times.”

He had met someone he didn’t want to see at the worst possible moment.

“Oh, Ilwoo! Are you unharmed? I’m so relieved.”

Park Sunho found himself smiling brightly and lowering his weapon as he approached Ilwoo. To an outsider, it would seem as if they were reuniting like brothers separated in war.

And amidst all this, Park Sunho didn’t miss the sight of Ilwoo tucking something away in his pocket.

“Wait. Don’t come any closer.”

Ilwoo raised his sword, stopping Park Sunho in his tracks.

“No need to be defensive. We’re both Koreans, there’s no reason for us to fight, right?”

Park Sunho put down his weapon and spread his arms, indicating that he had no intention to fight.

“Isn’t it fate that we meet again like this? How about cooperating, as we discussed earlier?”

Ilwoo, annoyed by Park Sunho’s bold proposal after their previous altercation, shook his head dismissively.

“I have no interest. Let’s go our separate ways.”

While part of Ilwoo wanted to just go ahead and take down Park Sunho as he had considered earlier, he hesitated knowing that the broadcast was still ongoing.

“Think again… Wait! Behind you!”

Park Sunho, who had persistently clung on, looked surprised and pointed behind Ilwoo.

Clang.

“Oh no…!”

With a loud noise, a tremendous force overwhelmed Ilwoo, who quickly turned around and raised his shield. In front of his eyes, a massive flame dragon opened its mouth wide and swooped down towards him.

“What is this?!”

Ilwoo realized that this was definitely not an opponent a player in their 20s could handle. He clenched his lips tightly and mustered all his strength into the hand holding the shield. The flame dragon engulfed his body.

“…?”

At that moment, Park Sunho, who had concealed a dagger in his sleeve, was stabbing at Ilwoo’s back.

“Haha, fool. Farewell!”

The flame dragon was Park Sunho’s creation. His special ability was ‘Trickster,’ a rare talent of A-level deception and illusion through sophistry and magic. Naturally, the flame dragon was just an illusion, and the real attack was Park Sunho’s backstabbing.

“I did it!”

If he could bring Ilwoo down like this, Sunho was confident he would pass. Ilwoo had clearly hidden pieces of a golden eagle’s talon in his possession. Several pieces, in fact.

Sunho also had three pieces in his possession that he had stolen from fallen players during the chaos of battle. Collecting the pieces would allow him to use his special ability to easily deceive other players.

With the glory of passing looming in front of him, Sunho forcefully plunged the dagger into Ilwoo’s back. However, the sensation he felt was not what he had anticipated.

“What, what is this?”

Surprisingly, a hand holding a shield emerged from behind Ilwoo’s back and blocked the dagger that was aimed at him. And in the next moment, Park Sunho found himself facing Ilwoo’s chillingly burning eyes, and that was his last sight.

Swoosh.

Ilwoo’s sword cleanly sliced through Park Sunho’s neck. Ilwoo collected his weapons and rummaged through Park Sunho’s belongings to retrieve some pieces. His lips were slightly curved upwards as he bowed his head.

* * *

The preliminary round of Group A was over.

*Final day 1- Brent (USA) 11 kills.

*Piece Collector – Kim Ilwoo (Korea) 7 kills, Yang Weilong (China) 4 kills.

*Most kills (excluding existing qualifiers, order based on survival time if kills are the same):

1st place, bang Joyun (China) 8 kills.

2nd place, Satoshi (Japan) 7 kills.

3rd place, Manninger (Germany) 6 kills.

4th place, Vasili (Russia) 5 kills.

5th place, Marcus (Mexico) 5 kills.

Raul, checking the list of qualifiers, let out an incomprehensible sigh.

“Ilwoo. Why did you…”

The skilled participant who was the first to gather pieces in Group A and also secured 7 kills. The only Korean who made it through the preliminary round. But he was not supposed to be here in the first place.

Kim Ilwoo. He was the only friend that Bae Dohyun trusted and relied on in his past life. He was someone who had never connected to Connect even once, as far as Bae Dohyun could remember.

“Is Ilwoo’s life twisted because of me?”

Ilwoo was a fellow orphanage mate of Bae Dohyun. They grew up like brothers since they were young and even after starting their social lives, they occasionally met to comfortably drink together.

While Ilwoo led a normal life working in a stable company, unlike Bae Dohyun who poured his life into the game Connect, he was a reliable pillar for Bae Dohyun, providing a connection with the world and a strong support.

“I thought the ties with Earth were completely severed, but I never expected to meet Ilwoo again here.”

Raul was at a loss on how to accept this fact.

Should he find a way for Ilwoo to live his original life from now on, or should he actively help Ilwoo in his current state?

Raul’s dilemma on which path is truly for Ilwoo deepened.

(To be continued…)