Chapter 53: Double the Effect

Chapter 53

– Attention. This is the production team. We have an announcement for all participants.

The voice of the main PD began to come through the radios of over 60 participants scattered throughout the mountains. Hwang Yuntaek, a former 1-1 defensive soldier, also heard it through his radio.

– The helicopter that will transport you will soon arrive at the mountain summit. The helicopter will remain at the landing site for exactly 5 minutes before taking off and will not return to the mountain.

“Five minutes… that’s not too short.”

– This will be the last announcement we make to you. We wish you all the best of luck until the end. That is all.

Confirming that the voice had stopped, Hwang Yuntaek placed the radio back into his bag.

“I’ll have to ditch this bag when the helicopter arrives. It’ll be easier to run that way.”

Thinking this, Hwang Yuntaek looked towards the mountain summit. He saw several participants emerging from their hiding spots and heading towards the summit.

“If this many people are visible now, the summit will be swarming with participants.”

With so many participants gathered, there was bound to be trouble. Reducing the number of competitors in advance would increase his chances of getting on the helicopter, even if only by 1%.

“First, I’ll scout before heading up.”

Hwang Yuntaek clasped his hands together and summoned a ‘Mana Hawk,’ sending it high into the sky. Soon, the surroundings of the helicopter landing site at the mountain summit came into view.

“Wow, there are already a lot of people.”

He saw dozens of participants hiding in the bushes near the landing site, with some bodies already lying on the ground, bleeding.

“Good thing I didn’t go up.”

Seeing the gruesome scene, Hwang Yuntaek felt relieved. If he had hurried up, he might have ended up like those bodies.

“I’ll wait until I hear the helicopter’s engines before heading up.”

Just like the supply planes that dropped supply boxes, the helicopter would likely be loud enough to hear from a distance.

“…Wait a minute.”

As he continued to scout with the Mana Hawk, Hwang Yuntaek noticed something unusual. A young man, climbing the mountain cautiously and looking very familiar, caught his eye.

“Where have I seen him before? …Ah!”

Recalling a past memory, Hwang Yuntaek recognized him.

“The guy who used the teleportation magic on the wall!”

It was the young man who had used a teleportation skill to move over 30 players onto the wall in Zone 2.

“Wait a minute! That means…”

Suddenly struck by a good idea, Hwang Yuntaek stopped the Mana Hawk skill and ran towards the young man. Soon, they were close enough to see each other’s faces.

“Gasp…!”

The young man, startled, immediately drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance.

“Wait, wait! I’m not here to fight! Listen to me first!”

Hwang Yuntaek waved his hands frantically and stopped approaching, maintaining a safe distance as he began to persuade the young man.

“You’re the one who used the teleportation skill to move players onto the wall in Zone 2, right?”

“……!”

Seeing the young man’s eyes waver, Hwang Yuntaek knew he was right and raised his voice.

“Your face confirms it! I was on guard duty as a defensive soldier in Zone 2 back then!”

“……”

“Put the sword down and let’s talk. If we work together, we can get on the helicopter without shedding a drop of blood.”

“……”

“I’m serious! Just put the sword down and listen to me. You can decide after hearing me out.”

After listening silently, the young man slowly lowered his sword.

—

A short while later, Hwang Yuntaek and the young man returned to Hwang Yuntaek’s original hiding spot and began discussing their plan in hushed voices.

“I can see everything at the mountain summit through my Mana Hawk.”

Hwang Yuntaek pointed to the Mana Hawk he had sent into the sky.

“There are a lot of people around the landing site. I can see bodies too.”

“Really…?”

“Yes. Why do you think I haven’t gone up yet? I don’t want to end up like those bodies. So, Mr. Han Seungjin, right?”

“Yes.”

“If you had gone up now, it would have been dangerous. So let’s stay hidden here and move when we hear the helicopter. It won’t be too late.”

Hwang Yuntaek continued to persuade him.

“When the helicopter arrives, the landing site will turn into chaos. We’ll watch from a distance through the Mana Hawk and approach stealthily to teleport into the helicopter.”

“Hmm… But what if we don’t hear the helicopter?”

“Come on, the supply planes are loud, aren’t they?”

“Last season, a helicopter with a silent flying magic circle arrived.”

Hwang Yuntaek’s expression changed at that.

“Really?”

“Yes. So we should keep scouting with the Mana Hawk to know when the helicopter arrives.”

Listening to Han Seungjin, Hwang Yuntaek nodded.

“Alright. Let’s check now.”

Hwang Yuntaek focused on the Mana Hawk, making it circle in the air to check for any approaching helicopters. Fortunately, there was no sign of a helicopter yet.

“Not yet. Do you have any spare mana potions? I need to maintain the Mana Hawk…”

As he turned to ask, Hwang Yuntaek froze. A long sword was deeply embedded in Han Seungjin’s forehead, who had been sitting next to him. Hwang Yuntaek’s gaze followed the sword to its owner, a very familiar face.

“Wh-What?!”

He covered his mouth with both hands to stifle a scream and fell backward onto his rear.

The man who had rampaged alongside Kang Minhyuk on top of the Zone 2 wall.

The man who had withstood the combined assault of nearly 20 defensive soldiers and annihilated them in return.

That monster was now staring right at him from up close.

“Aaaah!!”

Panic-stricken, he instinctively turned and ran at full speed. The thought of fighting didn’t even cross his mind. His only instinct was to get away from that monster as quickly as possible. However, his escape didn’t last long.

**Thud.**

Before he realized it, his head had been severed and fallen to the ground. Hwang Yuntaek’s headless body continued running for a few more steps before collapsing. Kim Jinsung, the one who had killed him, didn’t even glance in that direction.

“Teleportation and Mana Hawk skills…”

He was focused on the notification window that had appeared before him.

“Mana Hawk is quite a useful skill in situations like this.”

Having made his judgment, Kim Jinsung immediately used his points to activate dark energy. Three more lines appeared in the notification window.

—

▶ The unique trait skill ‘Dark Energy’ has been activated.

▶ Due to the ‘Demon Physique’ trait, the maximum range of Teleportation has increased from 10m to 20m.

▶ Due to the ‘Demon Physique’ trait, the Mana Hawk’s field of vision has doubled, and its flight speed has doubled.

—

“Double the speed, huh? Let’s check it out.”

Kim Jinsung summoned the Mana Hawk onto his palm. The black hawk immediately flew up at high speed and began circling above the mountain summit. It was indeed flying at nearly double the speed of the Mana Hawk Hwang Yuntaek had used earlier.

—

At that moment, in the monitoring room.

The main PD urgently called out to Baek Jun.

“Kim Jinsung has killed two participants!”

“I saw.”

Baek Jun responded briefly and then gave instructions.

“Show the commentators and viewers only the bodies after Kim Jinsung leaves. Don’t mention who killed them.”

“Understood.”

The PD waited until Kim Jinsung had left the area before changing the TV broadcast. The commentators were shocked upon seeing the bodies of Hwang Yuntaek and Han Seungjin.

[Who is this? Isn’t it Hwang Yuntaek, the former 1-1 defensive soldier?]

[And next to him is Han Seungjin, who made a significant impact with his teleportation skill in Zone 2.]

[Both have been found dead! Who killed them? We’ll inform you as soon as we find out!]

Though the caster said this, he wouldn’t be informing the viewers of the killer’s identity anytime soon.

[…Wait? Look at the sky for a moment.]

At that moment, commentator Kim Jincheol pointed to the corner of the screen showing the sky. The camera, focused on the scene with the bodies, barely showed a black bird flying in the corner.

[Isn’t that Hwang Yuntaek’s Mana Hawk skill?]

[Uh… It looks like it! But isn’t Hwang Yuntaek dead?]

[And why is the Mana Hawk black?]

The caster and commentator exchanged glances, sharing the same thought. Meanwhile, the official chatroom started buzzing.

– Huh? Could it be…?

– Kim Jinsung?

– Didn’t Kim Jinsung have a copying ability?!

– Experts say it’s more likely absorption than copying.

– Does it matter right now, idiot?

– Wasn’t black mana exclusive to Kim Jinsung?

– Oh my god.

The main PD, seeing the chat, reported to Baek Jun.

“The chat is going wild. It seems they’ve figured it out.”

“That’s better. If rumors spread now, it’ll attract more viewers when the helicopter lands.”

This was exactly what Baek Jun wanted. If such scenes spread online before the helicopter arrived, the speculation about Kim Jinsung’s survival would drive up viewership.

“When does the helicopter leave?”

“In an hour.”

Baek Jun’s question was answered by Jang Seungwook, who was standing nearby. Baek Jun nodded.

“An hour is plenty of time for the rumors to spread online.”

—

An hour later.

From his hiding spot on the mountainside, Fade saw the helicopter approaching rapidly to pick up the participants.

“…I can’t hear the engine.”

The helicopter, equipped with a ‘Fly’ magic circle instead of propellers, was almost silent as it flew towards the mountain summit. Then,

**Slash! Bang! Bang!**

“Aaagh!”

“Ugh…!”

Familiar sounds suddenly erupted near the landing site. Without even looking, it was clear that a fierce battle was taking place to eliminate competitors. It was the highlight of this preliminary round. Listening quietly to the screams from the summit, Fade’s body gradually faded away.

“It’s time for me to move as well.”

As Fade completely disappeared, the helicopter, which had flown in quickly, reached the summit.