Debuff Master

Before the second round started, a highlight reel of the first round was being played on the big screen, and the commentators were going wild, praising Tae-Sung’s quick-thinking.

– Wow! He’s really smart!

– That’s a start in the making! The play he showed us is not something we get to see every day!

– This is going to be on everyone’s mind for quite a long time!

The reason was that there were many people who didn't understand what had happened in the first round.

In their eyes, Tae-Sung simply got lucky; they thought he managed to seize the perfect timing when the Blache of Ascension was swimming upward, so they were saying that Tae-Sung didn't deserve to win the match.

However, the misunderstanding was quickly resolved after the highlight reel was played.

The commentators pointed out that Tae-Sung had thrown his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp at Kwon Oh-Shin not only to distract him but to force him to evade in the direction where the Blache of Ascension was swimming upward.

Thus, people reevaluated Tae-Sung’s play and decided that his win was far from a fluke.

However, it didn't mean that all the commotion had died down, as the viewers were still divided in their opinions.

– Pepevi: Can anyone else do what he did? He threw his weapon to force Kaosin right underneath that giant fish! It’s clear Han Tae-Sung won with pure skills.

– e92M3: It seemed like he was getting pushed back in terms of strength, but that kick proved that there is a skill gap between them. This has been scientifically proven.

– !_-_!: Using the map to your advantage is also a skill, right?

– Jicksong: I think Han Tae-Sung would’ve wiped the floor with Kwon Oh-Shin even without that tuna.

Tae-Sung’s play was indeed impressive, and people were saying that utilizing the map to his advantage was also a skill.

– PorkLord: He just got lucky ㅡㅡ;;

– REAL_TMI: He was losing the entire time, so how can you call it skill when he just got lucky? LOL

– o_o;; : Tuna carried him. lol

On the other hand, there were still those who refused to acknowledge Tae-Sung’s victory and claimed that Tae-Sung simply got lucky due to the Blache of Ascension's assist. Perhaps that was the reason, but the second round attracted far more attention than the first round.

“Shall we go fight until our bones break down?” Siegfried said. He paid no attention to what people thought of him and focused solely on his match against Kaosin.

Right before the match was about to start.

“Kyu! Owner punk!”

“Hmm?”

“Are you having a tough time? Do you want Hamchi to help?! Kyuuu!”

“Nah,” Siegfried replied, shaking his head. Then, he said, “I normally would have accepted your offer, but this is a tournament. I’ll keep fighting one-on-one unless my opponent is using pets, too.”

“Kyuu! But Hamchi is bored!”

“Let’s go have some fun after the tournament, so just watch from the sidelines this time.”

“Kyuu! Alright!”

Siegfried pressed the "Ready" button after he was done consoling Hamchi.

“Aren’t you a fucking lucky one?” Kaosin growled and pressed the "Ready" button, too.

[Alert: 3… 2… 1…!]

[Alert: Fight!]

The arena’s environment changed once again.

[Alert: Arena of Extremity’s Random Terrain has activated!]

[Alert: The terrain has changed to Double Rail Tunnel!]

The arena suddenly grew smaller and smaller until it was only around ten meters in width. The once spacious arena turned into a corridor with gravel laid out on the ground and two railroad tracks on top of it.

The ceiling became smaller as well until it was only about four meters in height. In other words, the Double Rail Tunnel terrain was a narrow tunnel with railroad tracks.

‘A train will probably pop up while we’re fighting,’ Siegfried thought while observing the Double Rail Tunnel map. Judging from the two separate tracks, Siegfried could tell that the trains would come at different timings, which meant that he had to evade the oncoming truck and hop onto the other track.

‘It’s similar to the tuna…’ Siegfried thought, clenching his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp.

Kaosin seemed to have also understood the kind of map where they were going to fight. He gripped his dual swords tightly and walked slowly toward Siegfried.

Exactly three seconds later…

Siegfried and Kaosin kicked off the ground at the same time and attacked each other as if they had agreed to do so beforehand.

***

The second round went in a completely different way compared to the first round. There was a standoff of around thirty seconds in the first round, as neither of them made a move until they had an accurate grasp of what their opponent was capable of doing.

However, it was different for the second round…

– They’re wasting no time!

– They’re so fast I can’t even see them!

– Both of them are going all out from the start!

The two attacked each other with the intent to kill as soon as the match began.

Siegfried placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Hell on top of activating the second stage of Overclocking. On the other hand, Kaosin armed himself with every single buff in his arsenal to try and kill his opponent.

Whoooong! Whooooong!

A loud sound reverberated from the end of the tunnel, and a black steam engine train appeared at the same time. The train ran along the right track of the tunnel, instantly crossing the arena.

“...!”

“...!”

Both Siegfried and Kaosin were shocked by the sudden appearance of the train, and they hastily jumped onto the other track.

[Instant Death Runaway Train 1]

[A neutral object in the Double Rail Tunnel terrain of the Arena of Extremity.]

[It is a steam engine train that runs at incredible speeds. Getting hit by it will result in instant death.]

[Type: Machinery]

Getting hit by the train meant instant death. The Instant Death Runaway Train was the same as the Blache of Ascension in the earlier Shipwreck map.

‘I have to be careful,’ Siegfried thought and was about to attack Kaosin again, but…

Whoooong! Whooooong!

Another train appeared at the end of the tunnel, but it was running on the track where both Siegfried and Kaosin were standing. The train that appeared was called "Instant Death Runaway Train 2."

“...!”

“...!”

Siegfried and Kaosin were forced to jump away upon seeing Instant Death Runaway Train 2. Surprisingly, they resumed attacking each other the moment they jumped out of the train’s way.

‘I guess I can get another easy win if I just time my attacks properly,’ Siegfried thought and placed down Shadow Hell to restrict Kaosin’s movement. Then, he waited for another Instant Death Runaway Train to appear.

“Until when do you think you can hold on?” Kaosin sneered and unleashed a barrage of attacks at his opponent.

It was then…

‘Huh?’

Both of Siegfried’s ears perked up.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!

He could hear the steam engine of the Instant Death Runaway Train 1. Only he could hear this sound, as the game character, Siegfried van Proa, was far more sensitive than any other character in the game. He was capable of hearing even the faintest sound from afar.

‘This looks good,’ Siegfried thought. He purposely showed an opening to Kaosin.

Shwik!

Kaosin’s blade pierced Siegfried's abdomen and emerged from his back.

“Kuheok!” Siegfried gasped in agony and coughed up blood.

“Got you!" Kaosin exclaimed. He pushed his face close to Siegfried’s and revealed a sinister smile. "You’re dead meat now, bastard. Haha!”

Whooooong!

The Instant Death Runaway Train 1 appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Siegfried smirked and said, “See you later.”

“...?”

“I’ll be going first,” Siegfried said before placing down a white debuff field.

Woooong!

“...!”

Kaosin’s face turned pale upon seeing the color of the debuff field.

It was the same debuff field that had completely frozen Yong Seol-Hwa in the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Flash!

A blinding white light flashed from the debuff field, enveloping both Kaosin and Siegfried.

‘I’m outta here!’ Siegfried slipped out with his saber and jumped onto the other track.

Meanwhile, Kaosin was left frozen by Absolute Zero. He couldn't move at all as he stood frozen solid in the middle of the railroad track.

“A-Argh…!”

His stats were so high that even Absolute Zero couldn't freeze him completely, but he couldn't move, just like Yong Seol-Hwa.

To make matters worse…

Whoooong!

The Instant Death Runaway Train 1 let out steam and sped down the track without caring whether Kaosin was standing on it or not.

“N-Nooo!” Kaosin desperately screamed—no, muttered, but the train didn't stop.

Why? Because a runaway train would not even stop for a red light!

Baaaaam!

The Instant Death Runaway Train 1 ran over Kaosin.

And just like that, the second round of the Super Rookie Tournament’s final match ended—it ended in Siegfried's victory as well.

***

A highlight reel of the second round was being played on the big screen, and the commentators were going wild. But this time, they had decided to reevaluate Siegfried.

– Look! Did you see his ears twitching?

– Yes! I can see it!

– BNW provides different information depending on the character’s stats and the gamer’s sensitivity! What you are witnessing just now is Han Tae-Sung hearing the runaway train!

– So he purposely showed an opening upon hearing the train?!

– Yes! He gave up an arm to take his opponent’s life away! Han Tae-Sung lured Kwon Oh-Shin into stabbing him!

The commentators’ opinions of Tae-Sung went up to another level after they realized that he had purposely lured Kwon Oh-Shin into stabbing him before freezing the latter up with Absolute Zero.

– Han Tae-Sung is an expert at using the environment to his advantage!

– That’s not all! His combat sense is on a completely different level as well!

The commentators were all riled up, but it was different for the viewers.

– AttackOldMenV: What’s up with the maps today? ㅡㅡ;;;

– ii12ii1i: Don’t tell me… Will something similar appear on the third map?

– OppaChicken: I want to see them fight properly;; Both the first and second rounds ended too quickly -_-

The viewers seemed to be more interested in the action rather than who had won the match, so they were hoping that no more neutral objects would appear in the next round.

“Fuck… Do I have to go that far…?” Kaosin cursed under his breath while looking down at the Rune of Contract on his chest. He contemplated whether or not to use the true power of the rune. It was a very dangerous and risky thing to do, but he had no other choice right now.

He had already lost two rounds, so the only thing awaiting him was the humiliation of losing three to zero against Siegfried and becoming the Savior’s slave.

Kaosin was standing at the edge of a cliff, and his only chance at salvation was to use one hundred percent of the rune’s power to win the third round as well as the following fourth and fifth rounds.

“Tsk…" Kaosin clicked his tongue and grumbled, "Let’s win first and cross that bridge once I get there."

With that, Kaosin decided to unleash the true power of the Rune of Contract: Rampage.

Wooooong!

The Rune of Contract: Rampage unleashed a tremendous amount of mana that instantly pervaded Kaosin’s mana hall.

“A-Aaaargh!” Kaosin gnashed his teeth, withstanding the immense pain.

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

Sparks flew around him, and blue flames burned fiercely in both of his eyes.

“I will… Kill… Yo—Kuheok!”

Soon, Kaosin made his way to the arena, armed with the newfound powers that Rune of Contract: Rampage had bestowed upon him.

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