How to Survive Restructuring

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 117: Showdown (5)

Boom!

The golden-haired giant's massive fist slammed into the ground.

"As expected, everyone was hiding their trump cards."

"That monster! Crazy bastard!"

"Fuck, weren't they the ones who brought up the alliance first?!"

"I knew this would happen!"

It was impossible to tell who was an enemy and who was an ally...

No, in this true chaos—everyone was an enemy.

And amidst it all—

Slash!

A stray medal changed ownership.

[ A new participant has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining tokens: 21 ]

"U-Us?"

"What the hell! What happened?!"

"Where are they?! Come out, you bastards!"

[ A new participant has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining tokens: 20 ]

"Hey! We agreed not to attack each other!"

"Bullshit! The top rankings are already out of reach. Might as well cut down the competition!"

"You traitorous bastard…!"

With the instant alliances breaking down, the arena descended into complete mayhem.

Thanks to the chaos, another blind fool lost their medal.

[ A new participant has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining tokens: 19 ]

But no one noticed the unseen hand at work.

【 Multiple observers cheer for contestant 'Lee Eunho's' overwhelming momentum! 】

Overwhelming momentum.

It was an accurate description.

If this had been a battle to the death instead of one for tokens…

‘It would've been a massacre.’

【 'The Raven of the Administration Bureau' nods approvingly, noting how useful their little subordinate is! 】

【 +500 welfare points donated! 】

【 'External Affairs Department's Rookie' chuckles in disbelief, saying this isn't just useful—it's downright broken. 】

The more he thought about it, the more amazed he was at Yura's abilities.

The possibilities were endless.

The only restriction was that he had to maintain physical contact with Yura.

But that also meant—so long as he maintained contact, there were virtually no other limitations.

"This is starting to feel like we're just sweeping up everything."

"Couldn't agree more!"

"Shh. We can't let our guard down."

Just as Jaehyuk and the old man started to relax a little—

"Th-They were just here a moment ago…!"

"Invisibility! They’re hiding!"

"!!"

A single cry echoed across the battlefield.

"No way…!"

The atmosphere turned ice-cold in an instant.

There were no dismissive remarks like "That’s impossible."

No doubts about whether such a skill existed.

‘They figured it out.’

Panic was brief.

Judgment came fast.

As expected of those who had survived this long.

Each participant instinctively clutched the token hanging from their neck, eyes scanning their surroundings sharply.

And then—

"There! Footprints!"

The trampled grass and disturbed dirt revealed Jaehyuk and the old man's exact position.

"H-Hyung!"

Jaehyuk looked up in alarm just as—

"Attack!"

"Haaaaaaah!"

A rain of glinting steel rained down.

"Old man! Your skill!"

"O-Okay!"

The security guard gritted his teeth and raised his massive shield.

He squeezed out every ounce of energy from his body.

And then—

Duuung—

The dark shield trembled, ever so slightly.

And with a deep, resonating drum-like sound—

Fwaaash—!

A translucent barrier expanded outward from the shield's jagged edges.

Paaaaaaah—!

A faintly glowing barrier formed, encasing them in a small dome.

Thunk! Thud!

Thuuuunk!

Dozens of daggers, arrows, spears, and swords rained down all at once.

"!!"

"D-Did we block it?!"

Most of the projectiles embedded themselves into the barrier, unable to penetrate further.

But—

Thud! Thunk!

Not all of them were stopped.

"You think this flimsy barrier will hold?!"

"Keep firing!"

The old man was right.

The barrier managed to withstand the initial assault, but it had limits.

"I-I'll block them! Hyung, get behind me…!"

"Forget it."

Jaehyuk moved, attempting to shield me and Yura with his own body.

As if he intended to be our human shield.

But—

"The best defense is a good offense."

"…?!"

"C-Careful, kid!"

Clang!

With a swift motion, I deflected the remaining projectiles.

And at the same time—

"Sword Wind!"

A storm of cutting wind surged forth.

Directly countering the incoming weapons.

Swoooooosh—!

[ Sword Wind Usage: (2/3) ]

Arrows split in half.

Iron swords crumpled.

Smaller daggers shattered, fractured, and scattered.

And then—

[ Sword Wind Usage: (1/3) ]

All of those broken fragments were sent flying—

Straight back toward their original owners.

[ Sword Wind Usage: (0/3) ]

The shattered blades scattered in all directions as sharp shards of metal.

Like the disassembled segments of a box cutter, the flying metal shards shot toward the enemies’ eyes, hearts, and thighs.

"!!"

"Urgh!"

"M-My eyes! My eyes!"

Blood splattered in various places.

But in the end, they were just small shards of metal.

Not enough to take a life.

Just enough to make the enemies stop their attacks to cover their faces and bodies.

【'Sales Bureau Uncle Bara' is delighted to have discovered an excellent swordsman!】

【1,000 Welfare Points Sponsored!】

I don't know if I'm truly a great swordsman, but one thing is certain…

'My attacks have gotten stronger.'

Was it because my swordsmanship skill had improved?

Either way.

"You rat bastard…! Show yourself!"

"Yeah! Fight us fair and square!"

Some of them, agitated, gritted their teeth despite the blood trickling down their foreheads and cheeks.

Their faces, smeared with fresh, dripping red blood, looked like those of raging demons.

"Yura…"

"Hiccup!"

Yura was about to ask someone to cover her eyes, but at that moment, Jaehyuk suddenly hiccupped.

And then—

A sudden announcement echoed.

[A new elimination has occurred.]

[A new elimination has occurred.]

[A new elimination has occurred.]

[A new elimination has occurred.]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

'!!'

Four people had been eliminated in an instant.

[Remaining Tokens: 15]

With that, only 15 tokens were left.

If three more teams were eliminated, the match would be over.

"Who… who was it?! All of a sudden!"

"They knocked out four teams at once?!"

Everyone was just as shocked.

And then, another layer of chaos was added.

Boom!

A giant’s fist slammed into the ground.

The earth rippled like waves.

As dirt splashed up like a spray of water, clumps of soil rained down from above.

Stumble!

Jaehyuk lost his balance for a moment.

"!!"

Fortunately, he quickly steadied himself.

"Jaehyuk! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but… ugh, I almost got eliminated because of that!"

"Hey, be careful! If you drop Eunho, you're out immediately!"

"S-Sorry!"

Jaehyuk bowed his head in silent agreement to the security guard’s warning.

Then, something caught my eye.

'!!'

Found it.

"Yura, do you want to play with Jaehyuk for a bit?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, now."

I let Yura down from my back and held her in my arms.

The moment I entrusted Yura to Jaehyuk, I would break free from the Hide-and-Seek skill.

Unlike the composed Yura, Jaehyuk panicked.

"A-Are you sure about this, hyung?!"

"It’s fine."

"Kid, what are you planning?!"

It was time for the final sprint.

"Using one mission reward to enhance acceleration."

[Upgrading Acceleration Skill with 1 Mission Point.]

[Acceleration Skill Level Up! (Lv.6 → Lv.7)]

30 seconds turned into 35 seconds.

"Don't tell me you're going to use that skill?!"

"Hyung! You know you have to move with us, right? If you touch the ground, you're out…!"

Their worries were justified.

[All riders must wear the ‘Token of Victory' around their necks. If the token is lost or their body touches the ground, they will be immediately eliminated.]

If my body touched the ground, I would be out.

That was why they were worried—because they thought I couldn't move without them.

But—

"I just have to make sure I don't touch the ground."

"What? But we can't keep up with your speed…!"

"There are plenty of other 'horses' around."

Strictly speaking, other 'teams' had mounts too.

"What do you mean…?"

Jaehyuk looked confused, while the security officer gaped in shock.

"Don't tell me… you're planning to step on other people?!"

Anyway—

"Acceleration!"

Let’s finish this in 35 seconds.

* * *

Tsk.

Iraqi representative Ahmed Jamal clicked his tongue.

'Idiots.'

What was the point of ganging up on the frontrunner just to drag them down?

Alliances and whatnot wouldn’t last long anyway.

He needed to focus on tangible benefits.

'Gotta rack up as many points as possible in this match.'

As long as he didn’t touch the ground and kept stealing medals, he would be fine.

This mission was practically designed for him.

Because he—

Flap—!

Had no intention of coming down from this 'Flying Carpet.'

'This is divine providence!'

For Ahmed, staying off the ground wasn’t a challenge—it was harder for him to actually fall.

He ate, slept, and even did more… personal things on this carpet.

Even if he tossed and turned in his sleep, the carpet wrapped around him protectively.

'No way I’m getting stuck in that awful dormitory.'

Reaffirming his resolve, Ahmed guided the carpet downward.

"That one's next! Descend slowly!"

He hovered close to the ground.

Tap! Flap—!

Then shot up again.

Waving his newly stolen golden prize, he shouted—

"I'm taking this—!"

"…?!"

Flap—

"You bastard!"

The enraged white man, seeing the exposed neck, spewed curses toward the sky.

But by then, Ahmed’s body had already floated up.

The announcement declaring his elimination had also played.

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

But then.

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining tokens: 15 ]

‘Huh?’

He had only taken one, so how had four players been eliminated?

Were there others like him?

‘No way… Did I take down three at once…? That can't be, right?’

Nah, no way.

Fueled by an ominous feeling, he accelerated the speed of his flying carpet.

Swoosh— Thud!

He swiftly descended and grabbed the next target’s medal.

"……!"

The man, eyes wide like a startled rabbit, flailed his arms.

"You bastard! Give it back!"

But it was pointless.

He maintained a height where no matter how hard they jumped, they couldn’t reach him.

"If you want it back, come and chase me!"

Feeling a rush of exhilaration, he threw out a final taunt as he took off.

"Take i—"

Swoosh—!

"—t and go!"

The wind howled through the gap between moments.

And then—

‘……?!’

The medal he had just stolen…

‘……Huh?’

Was gone.

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ A new player has been eliminated. ]

[ Remaining tokens: 12 ]

And as the repeated announcements rang out—

[ Match over! ]

[ Counting will now begin! ]

* * *

‘Got it.’

Thirty-five seconds—such a short time.

On top of that, everyone had hidden their medals in their clothing, making them hard to find.

‘That was close.’

With only five seconds left, I had been desperately searching for the last one.

It was sheer luck that I spotted an arm peeking out from the edge of a flying carpet.

"Who the hell! You sneaky little—!"

It had definitely been a medal stolen from someone else.

But seeing them act like it was their own that had been taken was amusing.

"Who are you calling a sneaky rat?! You bastard!"

"I-I'm not!"

"You totally stole it! Fuck, aren’t you coming down?!"

While sending an apologetic yet grateful look toward the flying carpet guy—

[ Round 2 victory! ]

[ Mission reward: 1 point granted. ]

"Eunho!"

"Oppa!"

As soon as the match ended, my waiting teammates rushed into the arena.

They must have been watching anxiously.

"Wow, damn! The way you snatched them was totally like a grand thief, a master thief!"

"What the hell?! Calling a decent young man a thief?!"

"Ack! Why’d you hit me?! ……Hey! I was complimenting him!"

[ ROK Zone has acquired a total of 7 tokens! ]

[ 70 training points have been awarded! ]

[ An additional 10% (7p) has been distributed to participating members. ]

"Wow… You alone got 7 out of 11? Is this for real?"

"It wasn’t just me. Everyone worked so hard."

"Still! Man, you gotta admit, you’re insanely strong. Aren’t we basically the undisputed number one now?"

I shook my head at Yeojin’s excitement, but I couldn't deny the last part.

70 points.

A single match had created a huge gap.

On top of that—

[ Congratulations! ]

[ Player 'Lee Eunho' has received an additional 10p for the First Elimination bonus. ]

The First Elimination bonus.

[ Congratulations! ]

[ Player 'Lee Eunho' has received an additional 10p for the Most Eliminations bonus. ]

The Most Eliminations bonus.

‘Eliminations… It sounds like I killed some kind of monster.’

Just as I was about to be swept up in an inexplicable bitterness and relief at having survived—

[ Congratulations! ]

[ ROK Zone is currently ranked 1st in the mid-game standings. ]

"Mid-game standings?"

"They have those?"

The system delivered yet another message of congratulations.

[ Mid-game rewards are being distributed! ]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]