Chapter 119
Chapter 119
"He actually did it."
Yoon Sangmin, the Director of Operations for the S.A. Group, leaned back in his leather chair and rubbed his face. His tie was loose. There were three empty coffee cups on his desk.
On the massive wall monitor in front of him, a replay of a player in a black trench coat was playing. The player was casually bashing a twenty-foot stone golem into rubble.
"Soloing a Vampire Earl this early in the game's life cycle," Chairman Lim Cheolho muttered from the couch. He took a sip of his tea, shaking his head with a wide, genuine smile. "I knew he was strong, but breaking through the 13th City alone is absurd. He completely bypassed the raid mechanics."
"It's his new skill," Sangmin said, pointing at the screen. "That Atlas's Rebound. He's using it to absorb high-tier magic and completely negate the level difference."
Chairman Lim Cheolho watched the screen closely. When Rudra spun his staff to absorb the chain lightning, the Chairman’s smile faded just a fraction.
"Atlas," Lim Cheolho murmured. "He's digging too deeply into the Titan mythos."
Sangmin looked over. "Is that a problem, Chairman? It's just a skill derivative."
"For now," Cheolho said, resting his teacup on his knee. "But the current Gods locked the Titans away for a very good reason. If he keeps adopting their ancient techniques and pulling their power to the surface, the Heavens will eventually take notice. The Gods of Satisfy are not forgiving."
Sangmin nodded, making a quick mental note. But his attention was immediately dragged back to the screen as the video shifted to the final treasure vault.
Both men fell completely silent as the glowing soul of Braham appeared.
When Rudra treated the legendary Great Magician like a minor annoyance, Sangmin actually snorted. And when Kratos literally ate Braham's soul fragment, Lim Cheolho burst into loud, echoing laughter.
Then, the system logs scrolled rapidly down the side of the monitor.
[A legendary Staff Saint has been born!]
[Title Acquired: Legend of the Destroyed World]
"He triggered it," Sangmin whispered in awe. "The lost era title. The only other Staff Saint existed before the current pantheon even ruled the world."
"A magnificent achievement," Cheolho praised, clapping his hands together once. "Truly a pioneer."
But a few minutes later on the playback, the cheering completely stopped.
Sangmin stood up from his chair. His face went pale. On the screen, Rudra was cooking a pot of glowing silver soup. The skeletal Lich, Mumud, drank it, and human flesh rapidly knitted over his bones.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait," Sangmin stammered, swiping his hand to bring up the system logs. "He recruited Mumud?! The greatest magical potential in the history of the continent? Chairman, this is a disaster! The balance is completely shattered! If Rudra has Mumud spamming Ultimate Magic, he could siege entire kingdoms by himself!"
Lim Cheolho frowned, clearly concerned. Giving a player a legendary-tier mage this early was definitely game-breaking.
Before Sangmin could hit the emergency meeting button, a calm, androgynous voice echoed through the monitoring room.
"There is no need for panic, Director Yoon."
A holographic equalizer spiked on the center console. It was Morpheus, the supercomputer that managed the entirety of Satisfy.
"Explain, Morpheus," the Chairman ordered.
"Mumud is currently suffering from extreme physical discordance," Morpheus stated smoothly. "Player Rudra crafted an artificial vessel using cooking and alchemy. While it looks human, it is essentially a biological puppet. Mumud's soul and ancient magic circuits are completely out of sync with this new, fragile flesh."
Sangmin blinked. "So... he's nerfed?"
"Severely," Morpheus confirmed. "His mana flow is bottlenecked. If Mumud attempts to cast his Ultimate Magic, his artificial heart will rupture, and his flesh will instantly vaporize. He must start from the basics to condition his new body. He has effectively been reset to a lower state to scale alongside Player Rudra. Furthermore, Mumud is an independent super-named NPC with free will. He will not act as a mindless, automated weapon."
Sangmin let out a massive breath, slumping back into his chair. "Oh, thank god. A growth-type companion. That's manageable. It's somewhat balanced."
Lim Cheolho chuckled, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Rudra is going to be very disappointed when he realizes his new legendary mage can't nuke a city on command."
The Chairman stood up, walking over to the window that overlooked the sprawling city of Seoul.
"Let's put the 1st Ranker aside for now," Lim Cheolho said, his tone shifting to pure business. "How are the preparations for the National Competition?"
Sangmin immediately pulled up a new file on the monitor.
"On schedule, Chairman. We've secured the Seoul Olympic Stadium. The international broadcasting rights have been finalized. As a trial run to see if Satisfy can actually stand alongside the real-world Olympics, we are strictly limiting participation to the countries with the highest active player bases."
Sangmin brought up a holographic globe. Seventeen countries lit up in blue.
"The United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Great Britain, South Korea, Japan, Turkey..." Sangmin listed off. "Seventeen countries in total. They will send their top-ranked players to represent their nations in PvP, crafting, and raid events."
Lim Cheolho nodded, looking at the map. He noticed a massive grey patch in South Asia.
"India didn't meet the player threshold?" the Chairman asked.
Sangmin shook his head. "No, sir. Their esports infrastructure is growing, but their total active player base in Satisfy fell just short of the top seventeen cutoff. They won't be receiving an invitation to the 1st National Competition."
Lim Cheolho stared at the map. A slow, amused smile spread across his face. The irony was almost too rich.
"The absolute strongest player in the world," Cheolho mused, looking back at the frozen image of Rudra standing in the vampire city, "and he's benched for the biggest Satisfy event of the year."
Sangmin laughed softly. "It's going to drive the international fans crazy. But rules are rules."
"Indeed," Cheolho said. "Let the other countries fight for the gold medals. Rudra has bigger things to worry about now anyway."