CH 64

Thud…!

Raptor collapsed, and the most valuable item in his inventory—Soul Separation Device—rolled on the snowy ground, which was drenched with his blood.

Roll…

“No hard feelings. I had to get rid of you because you’ll get in my way… that’s all there is to it,” Siegfried muttered while staring down at Raptor’s lifeless body.

Victory?

Siegfried wasn’t interested in that. He would have given up on winning the tournament without any hesitation if the other Adventurers managed to take Raptor down.

A message popped up in front of him.

[Alert: One player remaining!]

[Alert: The winner of the 1st World’s Greatest Survival Tournament is the Adventurer, Siegfried!]

And that was how Siegfried obtained the title—King of Survival.

***

On the other hand, Raptor’s screen turned gray, and a gray screen in any game indicated one’s demise.

[Alert: Your character has died!]

A message popped up on the gray screen.

[Jiyeon: ?]

[Gym is my life: ;;;;;]

[Eio1121: Is this for real…?]

[K Park Chang-Min T: ???]

[S1novel: ;;]

[b-_-V: This is crazy…]

The hundreds of thousands of people watching Raptor’s livestream doubted their eyes.

Raptor had died to a Level 50 player. Moreover, he died to a bunch of basic attacks.

Nobody had expected such a tragic twist of events, but no one was as shocked as Raptor himself.

“Ah…”

That was the only word that came out of Raptor’s mouth.

[Alert: The streamer has stopped their live stream.]

The viewers' screen turned black as Raptor ‘rage-quitted’ his livestream.

“I… lost…? I lost to a bastard like that…?” Raptor muttered while sitting in his VR capsule. He stared blankly and continued muttering, “He overpowered me purely with his control…?”

He didn’t want to admit it, but he instinctively knew that the Level 50 low-level player that went by the name Siegfried was a better player than him.

“Eaaaaauaaaaaak!” Raptor suddenly let out an outburst, and his next action was a pattern commonly found in upset gamers.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Raptor took a chair and started to smash his VR capsule with it.

“Aaaaack! Grauauuaah! Aaaaaah!”

He felt like he would not be able to endure the fury boiling inside of him if he didn’t vent it out by smashing the things around him. After all, the tower he had built brick by brick had just come crashing down.

***

Siegfried won against a two-digit Ranker, but he wasn’t in a celebratory mood.

‘I would have died if Raptor had some mana left…’ 

Siegfried was well aware that the only reason he managed to win was due to the fact that Raptor was in an exhausted, worn-out state.

However, Siegfried didn’t use any of his skills, even though he could have ended the battle much earlier because…

‘He was pretty good. It would have been fun if we could have had a match of control while he’s in a good condition.’ 

Siegfried’s instincts as a gamer wanted to have a match of skills against a ranker like Raptor. Of course, there was no way he could fight Raptor from now on since the latter’s character had just been rendered basically unplayable.

Anyway, Siegfried was still satisfied since he was able to remove a potential threat.

“Now…” he expectantly muttered while walking toward the item Raptor had dropped.

[Alert: You have obtained ‘Soul Separation Device’!]

The item which would allow a user to obtain a second class was now in Siegfried’s hands.

“This item alone is worth an entire building in Gangnam…” he muttered and clicked his tongue in disbelief while looking at the small necklace that was apparently worth over ten billion won.

“Should I use this or should I…”

While Siegfried was stuck in a happy dilemma, a gigantic airship suddenly cast a shadow over him.

Shwoooong…!

Thud…!

The airship landed a few distances away from Siegfried.

“All forces! Attention!”

A group of elite soldiers instantly mobilized and formed two parallel lines.

Flutter!

A group of servants came down from the airship and unrolled a red carpet over the bloody snowfield.

A middle-aged man came down from the airship and stepped on the carpet. He walked toward Siegfried and said, “I, Baron Neighdelberg, am here as the envoy of His Majesty the Emperor of the great Marchioni Empire, Stuttgart von Posteriore.”

“Ah, yes. My name is Siegfried.”

“Firstly, I sincerely congratulate you for winning the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament.”

“Thank you very much...”

“I shall now recite His Majesty, the Emperor’s imperial edict to you. Kneel.”

Siegfried quickly got down on one knee.

“I, Stuttgart von Posteriore, the Emperor of the Marchioni Empire…” Baron Neighdelberg proceeded to read the emperor’s imperial edict.

There was nothing special about it. The edict only congratulated Siegfried and asked him to continue to work hard for the empire.

“In lieu of this, I hereby grant Adventurer Siegfried the authority to rule over the Proatine Province, and Adventurer Siegfried shall now therefore become…”

Then, Siegfried’s name suddenly changed.

[Alert: Your nickname has changed from ‘Siegfried’ to ‘Siegfried van Proa’!]

A suffix signified a person’s nobility and lineage on the Nürburg Continent.

Von meant a person was of imperial royalty lineage.

Van meant a person was of royal lineage.

D’ meant a person was of a noble lineage and they were at least a marquis or higher.

De meant a person was of a normal noble lineage.[1]

Siegfried’s name was given the suffix ‘van’ since he was the victor of the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament, and he was awarded territory and the title of ‘King’ by His Majesty the Emperor. The surname suddenly added to his nickname ‘Proa’ was derived from the name of his territory ‘Proatine.’

In short, it could be understood that Siegfried’s new name, ‘Siegfried van Proa’ basically meant ‘Siegfried from Proatine’.

Baron Neighdelberg continued. “…King Proa of Proatine. King Proa will be exempted from paying taxes for the next three years and shall use my grace to bolster the military forces and administrative capacity of Proatine to protect it from foreign invaders. And the Kingdom of Proatine shall be considered as an independent and autonomous country—It will not be treated as a subject of the empire.”

Then, another set of messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have obtained the title ‘King of Survival’!]

[Alert: You have obtained the title ‘Ruler of Proatine’!]

[Alert: You have obtained the title ‘King’!]

A series of titles that did not suit a Level 50 player popped up one after another.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty,” Baron Neighdelberg said after reading out the emperor’s edict. He didn’t forget to address Siegfried properly.

It was only right for Neighdelberg, who was only a baron of the empire, to respectfully address Siegfried. After all, the latter was no longer just Adventurer Siegfried. He was now Siegfried van Proa—the ruler and king of the Proatine Province.

Of course, a baron of the empire was still considered to be more powerful than most kings considering the Marchioni Empire’s influence and power.

“Oh, and…” Baron Neighdelberg approached Siegfried and whispered into his ears, “This is only my opinion, but I think it will be better for your Majesty to refrain from sharing with anyone else regarding the fortune that allowed you to win the tournament. This is to ensure that His Majesty the Emperor’s prestige will be maintained and nobody will question the fairness of the tournament…”

“Ah, yes. Of course,” Siegfried immediately replied with a small nod while thinking, ‘So they knew it all along…’

The tournament organizers were actually aware that Siegfried had crashed-landed on the island before the tournament even started just like what Cheon Woo-Jin had said, and they were also willing to overlook the matter. As such, Siegfried was left with no choice but to agree to zip his mouth regarding his unintended cheating. And it wasn’t that difficult for him to agree to it since he had no intentions of boasting about it in the first place.

“You have made a wise decision, Your Majesty,” Baron Neighdelberg said.

“Not at all,” Siegfried replied.

“Here is His Majesty the Emperor’s gift to you, Your Majesty,” Baron Neighdelberg said as he motioned to the soldiers.

The soldiers carried a huge chest over and placed it in front of Siegfried.

Siegfried opened the chest and found that it was filled to the brim with all sorts of valuable jewels and gold. On top of the piles of jewels and gold was a vial of the ‘Elixir of Proof,’ which was the only thing that could nullify the Aura of Self-Destruction’s effects.

***

Three days after the 1st World’s Greatest Survival Tournament…

“Hooo…” Seung-Gu wiped the sweat off of his forehead with a towel.

The first thing he did right after getting eliminated from the World’s Greatest Survival Tournament was to go to a manpower office and apply for a job at a construction site. He carried bricks and shoveled sand for the whole day to earn money for his mother’s surgery.

Ziiing!

On the third day of his work, he received a call.

“What?” Seung-Gu exclaimed in surprise as he doubted his ears. He decided to ask again just to make sure, “My mother can get the bone marrow transplant operation?!”

— Yes.

“B-But… how?!”

— An anonymous donor has made a donation, and your mother is now eligible for the surgery.

“Who? Who would give such a big donation…”

— I’m afraid that I won’t be able to divulge that detail since it was an anonymous donation.

“But is this for real? I’m not dreaming, right?”

— Yes, it is true.

“Really?”

— Anyway, why don’t you come to the hospital first? There are a few documents that you will have to sign regarding the surgery.

“I’m on the way!” Seung-Gu exclaimed as he threw his shovel away.

***

At an upscale bar in Cheongdam-dong…

Tae-Sung was drinking whiskey with Cheon Woo-Jin.

Search bit.ly/3iBfjkV for the original.

“What? Are you feeling guilty?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“Why would I?” Tae-Sung grumbled in response.

“You did that because you felt guilty for winning the tournament, right?” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a grin.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Tae-Sung replied with a scoff, and then he added, “I wouldn’t have thrust my spear into Raptor’s abdomen if I felt guilty about it.”

“Still… that kind of a donation to help someone in need…” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered before continuing, “But he’s still a stranger. I mean, his situation is quite unfortunate, but three hundred million won is not exactly a small figure.”

“His will to survive looked cool,” Tae-Sung replied with a shrug. He then smiled and said, “And he’s a good son.”

“Well, he is indeed a good son.”

“I earned quite a lot this time as well, and someone once told me that I have to spend as much as I have earned to be able to earn more.”

“That’s true…”

“Anyway, thanks for the information. It would have been more difficult for me to fight the Genesis Guild if a Dual Class Raptor were to join them.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“But… What the hell are you? What is your role in the game…?” Tae-Sung asked.

“I strive for peace and prosperity on the continent,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied with a mischievous smirk.

“You sound like a Miss Universe participant…” Tae-Sung grumbled.

“But it’s true?”

“Cut the crap and just tell me honestly. Are you some secret agent working behind the scenes to destroy the world…”

“You got the wrong person.”[2]

“Hey, don’t be like that and just tell me, will you? You’re so secretive…” Tae-Sung grumbled.

“I told you to ask me once you hit Level 200, right? Why are you so curious when you are just a low-level newbie? Why so curious when you won’t be able to do anything anyway—Huh? Hey, where are you going? Are you upset by any chance?” Cheon Woo-Jin hurriedly asked when Tae-Sung got up and prepared to walk away.

“I’m not,” Tae-Sung replied.

“Then where are you going…?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

Tae-Sung looked at him and smirked before saying, “I’m going to level up.”

***

That morning, deep within a cave located on an uninhabited island at the southern edge of the Nürburg Continent.

“So that’s Herbert’s life’s work…” Siegfried muttered.

1. Some of you, especially from Europe or into medieval history, would point out that these are not proper titles. It will be easier if you just think that this is how it works in the Nürburg Continent ;) ☜

2. Author uses you came to the wrong address, which is a playful way of telling someone they are wrong in Korean, but it does not sound good in English. ☜