Chapter 193 : SSR Cup - Demon King
Chapter 193: SSR Cup: Demon King
[Special Effect – 『World Within the Mirror』]
The highly anticipated first random special effect of the Arena of Chaos was 『World Within the Mirror』.
Just as one’s reflection in a mirror appears reversed left to right, 『World Within the Mirror』 possessed an effect derived from that very principle.
In short, it meant that sensory confusion with reversed left and right was inflicted upon all participants of the Arena of Chaos.
〔『World Within the Mirror』! A simple yet incredibly difficult effect to deal with has been applied!〕
〔Unless you’re someone who frequently plays the Arena of Chaos, adapting to left-right reversal is absolutely not easy!〕
-fr that shit’s insanely hard
-How to deal with Mirror World: stand still and click skills
-Then what about melee builds…?
-“Die”
“Urk!”
“What is this?!”
Before the situation where moving their left arm moved their right arm, and stepping with their right foot moved their left foot, participants collapsed en masse.
It was a natural result before sensory confusion that ordinary people would never experience in their lifetime. Only those who knew how to deal with it were barely managing to stand.
Looking at the overall scene through the official broadcast, quite a few had failed even to stand and ended up falling on their behinds.
“Coach is— well, perfectly fine as expected.”
“How could something like left-right reversal be a problem for me!”
“…Right…”
-??? : Did I do something?
-Look at him not even blinking
-Gotta twist it more complicated for him to go ‘hm?’ once
-fr lol easy peasy~
Team All-In, who had been gathered together—Baek Woohyun had been with them before participating in the Arena of Chaos—watching the last day of the SSR Cup, shrugged their shoulders.
Just as their conversation suggested, Baek Woohyun, the focus of everyone’s attention, was perfectly fine even before 『World Within the Mirror』. Enough to casually swing his military dagger once.
To him, who had easily overcome even greater confusion than this ‘over there,’ this much seemed like nothing.
Perhaps it was because Baek Woohyun’s appearance, standing so loftily, didn’t sit well with someone.
A participant who was somewhat familiar with the Arena of Chaos and was somehow managing their body reached out both hands toward Baek Woohyun.
Normally one hand would have been enough, but since distinguishing right and left was tricky due to the reversal, they just threw up both.
“[Thorn Storm]!”
Swish swish swoosh!
〔Walalalaka is attacking Baek Woohyun!〕
〔It seems they’re determined to eliminate the most dangerous opponent here first〕
〔There is advice in the arena to take down strong people first, after all〕
Ashen thorns shooting toward Baek Woohyun!
The spike-like pointed thorns visibly numbered over several dozen. With so many projectiles being fired, the attack range was also wide.
Unless it was a defensive supernatural ability technique, deflecting all of them in a left-right reversed state seemed impossible. Not just one, but dozens of them.
Moreover, the build Baek Woohyun used was an extreme melee build based on [Perfect Being] that completely excluded supernatural ability techniques and maximized physical capabilities.
Therefore, it would certainly be difficult for him, unable to use defensive supernatural ability techniques, to overcome this crisis… or at least it should have been.
Cha Seongcheol, who had long been with the monster called Baek Woohyun in the ‘Hack Tour’ content, seemed to think differently.
〔There’s a saying in Hackphysical’s broadcast〕
〔What saying?〕
〔—’If it’s Hackphysical, it’s possible.’〕
Chaeng chaeng chaejeng!
Cutting through the shadow of impudent doubt cast upon him, the military dagger deflected all the dozens of thorns.
Baek Woohyun’s response didn’t even stop there. Having caught the last thorn with his bare hand, he spun around and threw it with superhuman strength.
Swoosh, thunk!
“Urk!”
[◇ Baek Woohyun –[Eliminated]–> Walalalaka]
Flying faster than when it was part of the supernatural ability technique [Thorn Storm], the thorn lodged precisely in the participant named Walalalaka’s forehead.
Meeting an unexpected counterattack, the participant fell backward with a single scream. In an incredibly bizarre posture, perhaps due to the left-right reversal.
The eyes of those watching with a ‘Maybe?’ turned to ‘As expected…’. There was also a slight feeling of ‘They’re done for, they’re done for.’
However, they weren’t in a position to leisurely watch Baek Woohyun’s rampage. Especially those remaining near him even more so.
Having eliminated the participant who had brazenly attacked him first, Baek Woohyun lit up his inverted eyes eerily as he searched for his next victim.
And that would naturally have to be an enemy not far away.
“……”
Tap! Slash!
[◇ Baek Woohyun –[Eliminated]–> Amollaying]
Baek Woohyun instantly approached the opponent unable to control their body and sliced their throat with chilling precision!
His extremely natural movements seemed as if 『World Within the Mirror』’s left-right reversal hadn’t affected him at all.
In fact, considering he had just been taking kills while demonstrating invisible ultra-high-speed movement, there was probably some effect, but anyway.
“Looks like a bug kept the effect from applying!”
“That’s not human…!”
“Domhwangcha—!”
-not human fr lololol
-Seriously isn’t it a bug? How does he move that fast and naturally?
-“If it’s Hackphysical, it’s possible”
-The doubts don’t end no matter how much he proves it
Participants around Baek Woohyun fled in droves, letting out scream-like cries.
In a situation where they couldn’t fight due to 『World Within the Mirror』, their best option against Baek Woohyun was to evacuate first.
Having already seen one person step up to attempt a counterattack only to get wiped out, counterattacking seemed completely erased from their minds.
They couldn’t even dare to coordinate an attack, because they judged that if they carelessly brought up coordinating, Baek Woohyun might target them first.
Additionally, since 『World Within the Mirror』 wasn’t very effective at stopping him right now, they had the mindset to pass on this and wait for the next effect.
The natural disaster called Baek Woohyun couldn’t be stopped at all unless the Arena of Chaos lent its power.
“……”
[◇ Baek Woohyun –[Eliminated]–> Babaz]
Even while everyone was running away to avoid him, Baek Woohyun silently carried out what he had to do.
He eliminated three more people before 『World Within the Mirror』 ended, and including the participant who attacked first, a total of six more were kicked out of the arena.
Adding the ten he killed before the first random special effect was applied, that made a whopping sixteen people eliminated by him.
Even that seemed insufficient as he eerily lit up his inverted eyes, making participants shudder.
“Hurry up and change already—!”
[Random Special Effect Applied!]
[Special Effect – 『Infinite Fall』]
Was it responding to that participant’s outcry?
Replacing 『World Within the Mirror』, a special effect called 『Infinite Fall』 was applied to the arena.
“—Huh? Uwaaah!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“We’re faaalling!”
-lololol
-Super fun effect appeared lol
-The flailing is so funny lol
-Wow there’s an effect like this too
As the floor disappeared simultaneously with the special effect’s application, participants screamed in unison as they fell.
However, as you could tell from the special effect’s name 『Infinite Fall』, while this fall might have a beginning, it had no end.
It meant they had to keep fighting other participants while continuously falling for the next thirty seconds. …Though whether ordinary people could do that was uncertain.
〔The second effect is 『Infinite Fall』〕
〔『Infinite Fall』, huh. That’s quite an interesting effect. Anyway, it seems fortunate for the other participants excluding Baek Woohyun〕
〔Oh, why is that?〕
〔Well, in a situation where they’re continuously falling like now, Baek Woohyun with a build that went all-in on physical abilities will have a harder time moving than before!〕
Cha Seongcheol laughed loudly upon hearing the conversation between caster Kim Gwangjin and special commentator ‘Muz’ Kim Oyun.
Naturally, when the other two broadcasters asked why he was laughing, he shrugged his shoulders conspicuously and answered.
〔Hackphysical will be affected by this much. There was a time when I thought that too. I laughed remembering those days〕
“How long do we keep falling—!”
“It’s like bungee jumping, super fun!”
“……”
Baek Woohyun slowly looked around at the participants falling with him. Since everyone had been running away from him, they were quite far apart.
In a situation with nothing to step on and jump from, it would be difficult to eliminate them with a military dagger. At best, he could take down one person with a throw.
But he had no intention of wasting the full thirty seconds. There was no need to in the first place.
He had brought various weapons to use appropriately for situations after hearing that all sorts of random effects were applied in the Arena of Chaos.
Clank.
Baek Woohyun loosened the chain scythe tied at his waist and spun it around. Despite using only wrist snap for the rotation, the speed was tremendous.
By the time participants noticed that he had drawn a different weapon instead of the useless military dagger, it was already too late.
The chain scythe swung like a whip with a swoosh broke through the speed of sound thanks to his superhuman strength.
Thwack!
[◇ Baek Woohyun –[Eliminated]–> FrostFlamesFist]
Baek Woohyun’s chain scythe boasted insane power that could instantly bisect at least one participant who had been flailing while falling.
The sight of the unlucky participant dying without even letting out a death cry forced other participants to gain enlightenment.
The enlightenment that he would never stay still even while 『Infinite Fall』 was maintained.
“”……””
A moment of silence.
Exchange of glances that followed.
Tacit agreement reached at the end of it.
Having confirmed through nods that everyone shared the same thought, participants glared at Baek Woohyun in unison.
“[Flame Storm]!”
“[Wave Cannon]!”
“[Wrath of the Storm God]!”
“Uwah! [Lake’s Judgment]!”
Kwaaa—! Kurureung—!
〔Baek Woohyun is in crisis!〕
〔How will he handle this, um, how?!〕
-Left speechless lol
-Can’t even imagine how he’ll handle it
-Bet he’ll escape in a way that makes you say “That works?!”
-fr lol pattern analysis complete now
Even the dozen or so supernatural ability techniques flying at once couldn’t change Baek Woohyun’s expression.
He calmly threw the chain scythe again, and the chain scythe flying while writhing as if alive wrapped around one nearby participant.
Then he changed his position with the force of pulling the bound target. In other words, he placed another participant as a sacrifice before the supernatural ability techniques and escaped.
“Hey—!”
Kwagwagwang!
[◇ Spitade –[Eliminated]–> Narbu]
-lololol
-Would’ve heard the curse if they lasted one more second
-Would’ve been filtered [beeeep!]
-Honestly it is unfair lol
〔Ah—! Narbu is swept up and eliminated instead of Baek Woohyun!〕
〔It was a heroic sacrifice〕
〔Was it really a sacrifice if it wasn’t intentional?〕
Afterwards, Baek Woohyun became a flying-Hackphysical, wrapping others with his chain scythe to traverse the air, continuing to reduce the number of participants even within 『Infinite Fall』.
Even when 『Infinite Fall』 ended after thirty seconds and the next random special effect was applied, his momentum didn’t break.
Over thirty people, a third of the participants, fell to his hands, and now the Arena of Chaos had truly become a structure of Baek Woohyun VS other participants.
It was because all participants clearly recognized that they could never win without somehow eliminating him first.
[Random Special Effect Applied!]
[Special Effect – 『Curse of the Dead』]
〔『Curse of the Dead』 is being applied here!〕
〔The participants finally have an excellent opportunity! They can’t let this one slip away!〕
“Oh…!”
“With this?!”
Was the Arena of Chaos also displaying its will not to watch one person demolish the match any longer?
The newly applied special effect was 『Curse of the Dead』, which applied debuffs equal to the number of other participants that participant had killed.
Since eliminations had occurred almost entirely at Baek Woohyun’s hands except for a few kills here and there, essentially all the curses were concentrated on him!
Gooooo—!
Kiyaak! Kyaaak!
“……”
Specters who had met their deaths at Baek Woohyun’s hands surged out from jet-black darkness, covering his vision and trying to bite or tear his entire body.
But he still had an indifferent and composed face. As if no curse could bind him. Or, as if he was too familiar with it.
Wearing the jet-black specters screaming around him like a halo, he was truly the Demon King itself.
〔Truly, overwhelming! Who could dare stop the Demon King’s advance?〕
〔It’s only natural that the Demon King leading the undefeated champion’s demon army is strong〕
-Fucking insane
-His physicality is coveted by pros for a reason
-Hackphysical going pro petition day 1
-He’s really too strong lol just breaking balance even in Arena of Chaos lol
—And so what followed was nothing but a massacre.
Because there was no one to stop the Demon King’s rampage, like a natural disaster.
Baek Woohyun annihilated all participants trying to stop him, achieving an overwhelming victory and once again proving why he’s called Hackphysical.
It was the most spectacular finale of the SSR Cup’s final event match.