Chapter 116. Team Match (4)
Cavalry battle was a game where three horses and one rider formed a single unit, protecting their own Victory Medal while stealing others’. Victory went to those who survived until twelve districts were eliminated.
“They said touching the ground means elimination, right?” Ji-Eun asked.
“Yes, Noonim! Since there are three horses, one of us will carry Hyungnim on our shoulders, while the other two each hold one of his legs!” Jae-Hyuk said enthusiastically.
“But wouldn’t that leave his back exposed? What if Eun-Ho falls backward?”
“Ah, the ones holding the legs can support his back too.”
The rules were simple, or at least, seemed to be. A team could get an easy win by playing it safe and just ran away, without needing to fight or steal medals.
However, that was wishful thinking. No one would let things end that easily. Moreover, they were clearly the number-one target.
Already, several district representatives were huddled together, whispering and glancing in the same direction. Yes, at them.
“We just need to take down half... Let’s do this together...”
“Yeah... Everyone’s thinking the same. Korea’s too strong!”
“Uh... Mister! Everyone’s staring at us!” Yeo-Jin said nervously, her voice faltering.
Sol-Ah bit her lip. “Isn’t this dangerous? All those people must have abilities too!”
She was right. Anyone who’d made it this far, especially the top representatives from each district, was bound to have a trump card or two. If Eun-Ho fell off his teammates’ shoulders and landed among those superpowered opponents, he could be crushed to death.
A chill ran down Eun-Ho’s spine.
“What if we ally with another district?” Yeo-Jin suggested. “We could promise not to attack each other if we help at the start!”
“It’s fine,” Eun-Ho replied calmly.
“How can you be so relaxed? You’re the one who’ll get hurt!” Sol-Ah exclaimed.
“I won’t get hurt.”
His unshaken tone made Sol-Ah frown. She probably thought he was being hopelessly reckless again.
“I haven’t shown you my real ability yet,” he said quietly.
Although he’d used Acceleration to intercept the shurikens, none of the Japanese team was here now. Besides, even if they’d seen it, there was no way they’d fully understood how the skill worked in such a short time.
“Plus, we’ve got one hell of a tank.”
Sol-Ah blinked. “A tank?”
Their team had a body tough enough to withstand anything.
“I guess that means I should be in, right Hyungnim?!” Jae-Hyuk said with a grin, pounding his metal-plated chest
Clang, clang!
“Well, yeah. That big dumb guy is reliable at least,” Sol-Ah muttered.
“B-big dumb guy?!” Jae-Hyuk protested.
As the two bickered, Eun-Ho turned away, his eyes settling on the newly awakened tank. “Could you explain a bit about that skill earlier?”
“Ah! Sure, sure. Let’s see now...” said the security guard.
The old man’s newly acquired skill was called Guard. He could designate a zone and create a protective barrier around it, rejecting anyone not permitted inside.
“The problem is, the barrier’s only about a meter wide. And if it’s hit enough times, it’ll eventually break, so it’s not much use, really,” the old man said with a humble laugh.
“No, that’s more than enough,” Eun-Ho said. “If it can block even one surprise attack, it’s worth it. The barrier will get stronger as your skill level increases anyway.”
A shield that could block ambushes from above or behind even briefly was a huge advantage.
“Then, are you suggesting that I join?”
“Yes,” Eun-Ho nodded. “I’d like you and Jae-Hyuk to join me.”
The old man’s eyes widened, then softened with pride.
Jae-Hyuk straightened his back, slamming his fist over his chest.
“Leave it to us, Hyungnim!” he shouted.
Then, just like that, their formation began to take shape. The others, realizing only one spot was left, immediately began to pitch themselves.
“W-what about me?!” the Swear-Master yelled, pointing at both his mouth and the other district representatives. “If I curse right in their faces, I can give them a debuff!”
“I can make sure you’ll never fall, Eun-Ho!” Ji-Eun said brightly, eyes sparkling.
“Me too!” added Bo-Ra, waving her palms in the air. “I can block everyone off with dirt walls so that no one gets close! I could even flip the whole field if you want!”
Then chimed in one more voice.
“We should probably run a few practice rounds first.”
Gong-Chan loosened his shoulders as he walked toward Jae-Hyuk and the old security guard. “Practice rounds?”
“Yeah. In this kind of match, coordination decides everything. You two, what’s your Agility stat?”
“Uh... Mine is fifteen...”
“M-mine’s fourteen! I-I never thought I’d stand shoulder to shoulder with Park Gong-Chan...”
Huh?
Judging by that serious expression, Gong-Chan clearly thought the last spot was already his. To be fair, it made sense.
Gong-Chan had top-tier physical stats and the Shoot skill, making him one of the most balanced fighters around, both in terms of offense and defense. However, in a chaotic free-for-all like this, they did not know what abilities the other survivors had yet, which meant Eun-Ho had to assume they’d all come for him.
“I think we need a support-type instead.”
“What?”
Rather than boosting their attack power, it was smarter to reinforce their overall stability.
Gong-Chan’s face twisted in frustration.“So you want to increase team stability instead, huh.”
Meanwhile, Ji-Eun and Bo-Ra’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“Really?”
“Then, that means...”
Even Swear-Master shuffled closer, grinning hopefully. “Me?!”
“The three people I choose are...”
Eun-Ho explained his picks one by one, including why he’d chosen them, how their skills would work together, and the strategy behind our formation.
Then, he tapped the blue screen hovering at his side, entering each name carefully into the three empty slots one by one.
“If that’s your plan, I’ll trust it,” Gong-Chan said quietly. “Good luck out there.”
“Please stay safe! I believe in you.”
“Eun-Ho! You’ve got this! Don’t lose!”
[All chosen participants, please proceed to the central arena.]
Leaving their voices behind, he stepped forward toward the battlefield, where eighty-eight competitors awaited.
***
[The Victory Medals had been distributed.]
Clink.
Something heavy landed against the back of his neck. It was a palm-sized, golden medal.
“Oh... It’s bigger and shinier than I expected!”
“It needs to stand out, so that everyone will fight for it.”
“Wow, now that you say that, their eyes are brutal!”
[Riders, mount your horses!]
The twenty-three representatives climbed onto their chosen horses. They twisted and shifted to find the optimal position, but kept their eyes sharp on the other teams.
A taut silence wrapped the stadium. Dust rose as a few excited feet stamped the ground.
“Let’s start with Korea. They got first place once already so we have to push them down.”
“Right. If they get into the top ranks again, they’ll be hard to catch. We have to drop them early.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to throw everything at one team, though?”
“You take out the strong ones early and there’s no backlash. Finish them quickly and pick off the losers’ medals.”
Teams of white, black, and Asian people, easily more than ten groups, stared back with a mix of pride and tension in their eyes.
The ones stepping up are mostly the U.S., Russia, Spain and India... Eun-Ho thought.
Those had been the mid-to-high ranking teams yesterday, meaning if Korea fell early, those teams stood to move up in combined scores.
They sure did form an alliance pretty quickly.
It wasn’t surprising, as one Training Point difference here and there made temporary cooperation easy to broker. That did not mean they would go easy on them, of course.
“But the important thing is...”
“Where is the Korean team?”
Jae-Hyuk swallowed hard as the emotionless system announced the start.
[We will begin the Cavalry Battle now!]
Immediately, a thunderous roar exploded across the arena. At once, the fighters around them each shouted a single phrase and then changed.
Crack! Whoooosh—!
They transformed, like cartoon villains morphing into battle forms.
“W-what the! Hyungnim, look! Look at that one! It’s a giant!” Jae-Hyuk screamed.
“A giant?” Eun-Ho echoed, watching a blond, massive figure inflate as if he had been pumped full of air.
This is insane, he thought.
The man’s calves and thighs bulged into column-like shapes, and his forearms, which were already the size of small children, swelled without end.
“Young Man! Is he even human?” the security guard asked.
“With a gust of his breath, you’d fly away!” Jae-Hyuk stammered, trembling.
Even that was only the beginning of the absurd abilities on display.
An Iraqi representative rode into the sky on a richly patterned carpet and vanished upward.
“COME OUT! TEAM KOREA!”
The Filipino representative had used a vocal attack so powerful it almost ruptured bystanders’ eardrums.
“Ugh!”
“My ears, they’re bleeding!”
“If we’d been closer, we’d be deaf,” the security guard said.
“There are every kind of ability here,” Jae-Hyuk said quickly.
“Yeah, I guess... But we’ve got cool abilities too,” Eun-Ho replied.
Then, he felt weight settle against his back.
“You okay? That was loud, right?” he asked, patting the head of the small child bundled on his back.
The little ninja, who was using her Hide-and-Seek, answered proudly without letting go of his jacket’s seams, “Yup! I'm fine! I covered my ears!”
“Is it uncomfortable?” he asked.
“Nah! It’s fun! It’s just like a roller coaster ride!” she said, flapping her arms.
They were employing the so-called piggyback strategy, where Yul would use her skill to remain unseen while sitting on Eun-Ho, allowing him to move his arms freely. The plan was to stay concealed at first, then snatch medals from careless opponents to rack up points.
We could just sit and hide the whole time, but then other teams would steal all the points in the meantime, Eun-Ho thought.
Glad she wasn’t frightened, he smoothed the child’s hair, then called to the two others, “Let’s go, starting from the left side in order.”
“Yes, Hyungnim!”
“Got it!”
Time to go for a medal hunt! Eun-Ho thought.
***
Swoosh—!
They ran across the grass. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t so much that he ran because he was being carried. Straddled across Jae-Hyuk’s right shoulder and the security guard’s left, he threaded himself through the press of physiques.
“Hyungnim! You oka—” Jae-Hyuk began, breathless.
“Sst,” Eun-Ho cut him off, then nodded toward Jae-Hyuk, whispering, “... Are you okay?”
At first he had worried that having only two horses would make them unstable, but the formation felt steadier than he had feared. The slight difference in pace between Jae-Hyuk and the old guard caused a little wobble now and then, but Eun-Ho’s lower-half strength, developed with his Strength stat, held their balance firm.
Steadying his posture, he tightened his grip on his sword, scanning for their first target.
I think he’s a fire user, he judged.
The man balanced a small flame in his palm, clenching and unclenching his fist like someone nervous before a strike. He seemed to have decent combat power and was positioned in a cluster of allied teams with a face full of suspicion.
This guy’s it.
“Where’s that Eun-Ho guy? I don’t see him!”
“There’s nowhere to hide though. Where did he go?!” another demanded, looking around frantically.
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation scoffs that surely these noisy kids would not be able to get you.]
[A number of observers shake their heads at the rash courage on display.]
[A fewer number of observers worry about the numerical disadvantage.]
Jae-Hyuk and the guard mouthed something to each other with round, surprised faces, and Eun-Ho gave a curt nod.
Freeze, he mouthed back.
He reached out with slow, careful motion, being mindful of even the barely audible whoosh of air his hand made.
“Wouldn’t it be better to hit the Chinese teams first? They’re easier,” a voice suggested.
“Ugh... I don’t want to attack first though. Maybe we should hide?” another answered.
“But if we hide and they steal our medal, we lose. Or we could grab the next guy’s and move on!” a third argued.
Clack.
A tiny sound was made when his fingers brushed the medal. The owner was busy shouting and didn’t seem to notice. Eun-Ho snapped the necklet without hesitation.
“Huh? Something just—” another voice trailed off.
Before they could finish their sentence, the announcement cut through the chaos.
[A participant has been eliminated.]
[Remaining medals: 22]
“What the hell!”
“The medal! Damn it!”
Others shouted in panicked chorus, realizing they had been robbed right before their eyes.
Confusion spread like wildfire, exactly as Eun-Ho had planned. Allies turned on each other with accusing shouts.
"You! It's you, right?! You bastards! You said we'd all rise together in the rankings!"
"Ah, no! We didn’t do anything!"
The sudden theft startled those standing nearby as well.
"You’re going down with us!"
"What?! What are you doing!”
"Steal that bastard's medal! Quickly!"
It all happened in an instant. With expressions that seemed to say they’d known this would happen, they turned on each other, their knives aimed like the quills of a prickly hedgehog.
"Damn it, I knew this would happen! Hey, hold on to the medal and let’s spread out!"
"Alliances? This is war! Everyone, grab your weapons!"
[The Brain from the Bureau of Investigation wonders if the division was planned from the very beginning.]
[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation laughs and replies that this is just how you are.]
If the enemy forms an alliance, I just have to break that cooperation apart, Eun-Ho thought.
After all, these guys only briefly united to catch Eun-Ho, meaning this alliance, as fragile as glass marbles, would be shattered as soon as this match was over.
Then, the sound of their footsteps distancing from each other echoed like the cracking of glass marbles. The chaos had begun.
"Let’s go for the next one!” Eun-Ho suggested.
“Yes sir!”