Chapter 204
Chapter 204: The Path to the Throne
-"···Yeah, well. Understood. I'll give it my all."
-"Thank you!"
Baek Woohyun didn't bother refusing his opponent's request.
In fact, to him, his opponent was essentially asking "Please defeat me quickly!" so there was no reason to reject it.
Moreover, looking at those sparkling eyes like his previous opponent made him feel willing to give his all as an instructor.
Either way, it was a path he had to pass through to reach the summit, so what was the big deal about granting such a small request?
[Time remaining until first round starts - 10 seconds]
As they exchanged brief words, the start of the proper round drew closer.
In the previous match, he had started inhaling right at this moment, so Baek Woohyun's eyes caught his opponent flinching and adjusting their stance.
It seemed they were preparing for some kind of roar attack using a Superhuman body, but unfortunately, his opponent's actions were meaningless.
The reason Baek Woohyun had shown a new attack method to his previous opponent, Reverdin, was simply because that had been the most suitable countermeasure for him.
The 'Alchemist of Steel' build had no way to block sonic attacks, and he could sense the intent to guard only against ultra-high-speed attacks.
On the other hand, he didn't even know what build this opponent used, and since they were already preparing in advance, there was no way he'd employ the same tactic again.
[3 seconds]
[2 seconds]
[1 second]
[First round, begin!]
Tat!
The moment the system message announced the start of combat, Baek Woohyun disappeared from his position.
More precisely, he appeared to disappear. It was because he moved so fast that ordinary people's dynamic visual acuity couldn't keep up with him.
The physical power obtained in exchange for abandoning all supernatural abilities was this overwhelming. So much so that it was more fitting to call it an authority.
Setting aside whether it was possible to handle it as perfectly as the current Baek Woohyun did.
-"[Mirror of Infinity]!"
Shaaaaa-
"To counter Hackphysical's ultra-high-speed movement, ElMagic has pulled out the technique [Mirror of Infinity]!"
"[Mirror of Infinity] would be the 'Trickster Mirror' build."
"His opponent brought out a rare supernatural ability build."
-Info) ElMagic originally used the Trickster Mirror build
-His top 3 builds in match history are Trickster Mirror, Fake Magician, Bullshitter ㄷㄷ
-Look at his main build lololol
-??? : You don't play games to win. You play to piss off your opponent
His opponent's response to Baek Woohyun's first strike was textbook. He first laid down a defensive technique around himself to prepare for an attack that could come from any direction.
The semi-transparent mirror that appeared from thin air surrounded his opponent in a cube shape, making it seem as if his opponent had entered a world within infinite mirrors.
A sight truly befitting the name [Mirror of Infinity], one could say.
Baek Woohyun's brow twitched before this supernatural ability technique he hadn't seen before, but that didn't make him stop.
Either way, to achieve victory, he would have to break through his opponent's defense and then take down the opponent hiding behind the space created by the mirrors.
Having instantly gotten behind his opponent, he swung down his military dagger with tremendous power as before.
Crash—!
[Mirror of Infinity] shattered far more easily than [Steel Curtain]!
Was it because of the difference between a curtain made entirely of steel and a mirror that was only coated with metal on the back of glass?
Making a mockery of its name as a defensive technique, [Mirror of Infinity] couldn't withstand the blade of the military dagger for even a moment and completely shattered into pieces.
Thousands of mirror fragments scattered in all directions, scattering brilliant light, and revealed between them was his opponent wearing an expression that said 'Just as planned!'
-"[Scattering Fragments]!"
-"···!"
"Hackphysical has fallen right into ElMagic's trap! It seems he didn't know about the Trickster Mirror build!"
"Even Woohyun can't know every build. Besides, Trickster Mirror is a relatively minor build, right? There aren't many chances to encounter it···."
-ㄹㅇㅋㅋ That's hard to see ㅋㅋ
-A build used by people with hipster tendencies
-Or people who think pissing off opponents is more important than winning lololol
-Getting toyed with by mirrors is seriously infuriating
The [Mirror of Infinity] of the Trickster Mirror build was both a defensive supernatural ability technique and a starter to amplify the power of attack techniques.
It measured how strongly the opponent attacked [Mirror of Infinity], and thus how many pieces [Mirror of Infinity] shattered into.
And by using those shattered pieces with [Scattering Fragments], it amplified and maximized the power of what would have been an ordinary attack technique.
In other words, [Mirror of Infinity]-[Scattering Fragments] was close to a type of combination technique, and Baek Woohyun, who had shattered the mirror into thousands of pieces, had been properly baited.
There was a reason why his opponent, ElMagic, wore a 'Just as planned!' expression even after witnessing his defensive technique instantly shattered.
If the defensive technique was only good for one use anyway, the build's strategy was to use that to one's advantage instead. That was the Trickster Mirror build.
-"······."
Before the thousands of fragments rushing toward him, Baek Woohyun's eyes sank heavily.
He realized he'd fallen for his opponent's scheme, but he also knew well that this fact didn't mean defeat.
A combination of [Mirror of Infinity] followed by [Scattering Fragments]? Who cares. In the face of overwhelming power and skill, it had no meaning anyway!
Gripping the military dagger's handle firmly, trajectories to strike down the fragments were clearly drawn in his field of vision. These were the trajectories to cut down thousands of fragments.
He didn't choose one among them. Instead, with his characteristic physical ability and combat sense, he perfectly drew them all in reality.
At a speed that made it seem as if the blade's trajectories all appeared at once.
Chaejaejaejaejaeng!
-"Wow!"
-Why are you impressed lololol
-But I would've been impressed too ㄹㅇㅋㅋ
-How can you hold back seeing that?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-He just deflects everything regardless of technique combinations ㅋㅋ This is Hackphysical ㅋㅋ
That sight was so impressive that even his opponent ElMagic unconsciously let out an exclamation.
Well, where else could one see the rare sight of deflecting thousands of fragments with just a single military dagger?
Of course, setting aside the fact that he had no choice, he shouldn't have done that. The battle wasn't over as long as Baek Woohyun was breaking through the supernatural ability technique combination.
He probably thought he had some leeway—but against Baek Woohyun, such foolish judgment was as good as poison.
Swish!
A dagger throw executed one step faster than the moment trajectory drawing finished.
ElMagic managed to react to the suddenly flying military dagger's attack. Despite being impressed, he was also a Pro Player after all.
Even though he barely blocked it using the Trickster Mirror build's supernatural ability utilization when it had nearly reached his face, he did block it anyway.
However.
-"······."
Kwadeuk!
-"Keurheuk!"
He couldn't block Baek Woohyun's strike that exploited the opening created by that.
There were probably various psychological factors involved here, such as the half-beat faster throw, or the peculiar technique of throw-slash he'd shown before.
Considering various circumstances, one could say he was instead devoured by the simplicity of just 'going fast and punching hard with a strong fist.'
At this point, everything would ultimately be nothing but excuses, but anyway.
[First round complete]
[Winner: Baek Woohyun]
[Loser: (Anonymous)]
[Current record -- Baek Woohyun 1:0 (Anonymous)]
[Proceeding immediately to next round]
[Final record -- Baek Woohyun 2:0 (Anonymous)]
[Final winner: Baek Woohyun]
[Final loser: (Anonymous)]
The winner of the second round was also Baek Woohyun.
ElMagic, who had reviewed the match in his own way after the first round ended, struggled more than before, but that was all.
The skill gap between Baek Woohyun and ElMagic wasn't narrow enough to overcome by reviewing just one combat experience.
And so, the next match followed.
-"Greetings! Hackphysical-nim! Please go easy on me for one match!"
-"···Yes. Please treat me well."
"This is also a Pro Player, right?"
"Correct. This is Ion, a Division 2 league player."
-Three Pro Players in a row ㅋㅋ
-Even if Challenger is a Pro Player playground ㄷㄷ
-Breaking news) Over 100 Pro Players running Duel solo queue
-All Division 2 league players are doing it and Division 1 league players are steadily increasing too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The match after next.
-"I request a match where you give your all! And if it's not rude, just one piece of advice after it ends!"
-"No reason why not."
-"Thank you!"
"Ah, I know this person. I saw a post saying he's a promising rookie to watch in Reverse Time!"
"Jo Jeongho is famous as one of the four promising rookies."
-Now they're even asking for advice ㅅㅂㅋㅋ
-You're a star teacher~ Have a drink~
-Hackphysical Classroom suddenly opened in Challenger tier ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Students burning with academic fervor are overflowing
The match after that.
-"I'd like to request the same as last match!"
-"Haha···."
"McMor is a Division 1 league player. Why are you here?"
"Doesn't it mean Division 1 league players are also working hard to become as strong as Division 2?"
"Oh···."
-Even Division 1 league finally comes to get educated
-What's with 'same as last match' lololol
-Stream sniping openly saying they came after watching the broadcast ㄷㄷ
-I also want to receive 1-on-1 customized education from Hackphysical
'Star Teacher' donated '1000 won'!
[Currently over 150 prospective students ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Baek Woohyun, who ran matchmaking, had to face one after another those gathering to face him—or to receive coaching.
Since all of them were Division 2 league Pro Players, with Division 1 league occasionally mixed in, the studio watching couldn't stop laughing, of course.
The Hackphysical Classroom that suddenly opened in PVP, which they'd thought would simply be climbing to Challenger rank 1, had quite an interesting aspect.
[Final record -- Baek Woohyun 2:0 (Anonymous)]
Baek Woohyun gladly faced them all, bestowed teachings, seized victory, and continued raising his tier.
As mentioned earlier, most of them were Division 2 league Pro Players, with Division 1 league Pro Players occasionally present, yet it was still so.
Before the composition that had become like a wheel battle of endlessly continuing pro opponents, one might waver at least once, but there wasn't even such a crisis.
-"······."
Victory, victory, and victory.
The myth of complete victory and undefeated record simply shone alone and wholly.
It was newly proven that the monster called Baek Woohyun was truly an existence of another dimension, possessing skills that even pros couldn't dare approach.
'ㅇㅇ' donated '1000 won'!
[It's getting scary ㄷㄷ When will Hackphysical finally lose?]
-The record just won't break ㄷㄷ
-Is it over 120 consecutive wins now?
-The previous record was 76 consecutive wins and he's about to pass it with double score ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-What's more terrifying is it doesn't seem like it'll stop even then; He'll just keep stacking records ㅁㅊ;
"Everyone. Just erase the word defeat from your minds. Have you already forgotten?
'If it's Hackphysical, it's possible.'
That's the catchphrase of 'Hack Tour.'"
-If it's Hackphysical, it's possible
-A catchphrase with nothing but facts ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㄹㅇ Abandon the thought that Hackphysical will lose
-At least until he reaches Challenger rank 1, he absolutely won't lose
Even Pro Players win and lose, and if one is human, it can't be helped.
Baek Woohyun, who only repeated victories, was clearly beyond the human realm. It meant he was truly worthy of being called a 'Superhuman.'
The catchphrase that started as a joke, 'If it's Hackphysical, it's possible,' had now become the most perfect phrase to describe him.
-The graph is insane ㄷㄷ
-A heaven-defying monster that even pros can't stop
-Is this that insurmountable four-dimensional wall they talk about?
-So an insurmountable wall actually existed ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
In the midst of this, the tier graph that Cha Seongcheol had displayed at some point was jaw-dropping.
The line that had been flowing quietly sideways for a while since he hadn't been doing 'Duel' mode suddenly soared high without knowing limits, erecting a massive wall.
Now even words like upward trend or upper limit became meaningless. That was, as one viewer said, nothing less than an insurmountable four-dimensional wall.
As a result of crushing Master, smashing Grand Master, and trampling even Challenger like that.
Ppappababam—!
[You have been promoted to 'Challenger' rank]
With a grand sound effect, Baek Woohyun finally reached Challenger tier.
Having met the proper qualifications, proper climbing of the Challenger ranking was now possible for the first time.
Differently put, one could say the path to the throne had been clearly revealed!
-"Let's stop here."
······However, unfortunately, Baek Woohyun didn't immediately walk that path.
Having used quite a long time reaching Challenger tier, he declared the end of the broadcast, reasoning that the broadcast time was getting long.