Returner of the Colosseum

Episode

9 . red flag(2)

“What will your nickname be?”

At Aserian’s question, I tilted my head.

“I was just going to do it by name.”

“Hmm…”

Aserian got up from his seat and began to look around me closely.

It felt like being judged.

“What are you doing?”

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think it’s Ahn Woo-jin. If you just hear your nickname, you’d think you were from Moorim or Earth, but your current outfit is a bit…”

How is my outfit now?

I was wearing a black robe over the leather clothing I had previously worn.

“It’s all black from head to toe! On top of that, even the hair color… It’s like a ghost because he’s wearing a white mask in that state. Doesn’t it match your nickname at all?”

“Should I care about that?”

“sure! Players fighting in the arena are also important after all. That way the audience will find it, and that way the contact won’t come in. But only with the whole body wrapped up like this…”

Oh, was it like that?

As I listened to her, something came to mind.

In the first round, I strangely received a lot of nomination offers.

But now that I think about it, it seemed that it was because of the marketability of being a blind spearman who competed with an eyepatch on.

In fact, I was the only blind player in the Colosseum because all parts of the body that were damaged were restored after the game was over.

‘So, in a word, the concept is important, right?’

Thinking like that, I was worried about making a nickname with my first name.

“Hmm… how about going all the way to mysticism?”

“Mysticism?”

“yes. A ghost player who wears a white mask and wears a pitch-black body. It’s mysterious just by looking at it. That’s why the nickname also goes to mysticism.”

mysticism. Mysticism…

I tapped the table with my index finger.

Rather, it seems to be trying to garner more interest by arousing curiosity in the audience…

‘Doesn’t sound bad?’

“Then I’ll do it with Ren.”

“Are you Ren?”

“yes. It’s because the nickname is short, so you won’t be able to guess which system you’re from. It might arouse curiosity.”

“Hmm… that’s good. It’s Ren.”

Aserian nodded as if it wasn’t bad.

That’s how my nickname in the second playthrough became Ren.

The lower league-Blood Knight 176 match is in the next 3 weeks.

The first thing you need to do is raise your stats.

Although I slaughtered the players in the red camp in the dummy match, it was possible because the opponent was weak rather than because I was strong.

Because there is no need to send out high-level personnel to kill the dummy.

But this match is different.

An individual PvP match with as many as 1,000 participants.

Of course, it will only be known on that day whether it will be a survival game where 1,000 people have to survive individually, or whether it will be a game in which individuals participate but divide camps to compete, but at least they won’t give you an easy mission.

‘That’s not to say that idiots don’t come out.’

well, it doesn’t matter

It’s not like I’m participating in a big game like this for a day or two.

It is showing a growth trend that is incomparable to that of the first round.

I was more confident than ever.

i just

Just train and prepare as usual.

[Name: Ahn Woo-jin (Nickname: Ren)] [Affiliation: Team Fighting Spirit]

[League: Lower League]

[Muscle: 20] [Agility: 29] [Stamina: 31]

[Spirit: 88] [Intelligence: 12] [Magic Power: 0]

[Awakening Ability: ＜Super Sense＞ ＜Advanced Living＞ ＜Special Mana Management＞ ＜Advanced Spearmanship＞ ＜Intermediate Swordsmanship＞ ＜Advanced Daggerskill＞ ＜Advanced Throwing＞ ＜Intermediate Boxing Technique＞ ＜Low Treatment＞ ＜Intermediate Archery＞]

[Owned Skills (0/5): None]

[Achievement Perks: None] [Dimension Perks: None] [Race Perks: None]

[Remaining HP: 100%]

The three weeks went by like lightning.

The day has finally come to compete.

“Ahn Woo-jin!”

After meditating in the gym, Aserian, who was sitting on a bench in front of the dorm, called.

“No, aren’t you nervous? You will be competing in a few hours.”

Why can’t you be nervous?

I slept quite a bit last night.

However, I only realized how to ease the tension as much as possible through playing many matches.

So it came out while meditating until now.

“Yes, it is fine.”

“thank god. I heard that the players are very sensitive before the game.”

I think you are more nervous?

Aserian was restless all day from morning.

As if he were playing the game himself.

Tring!

[Lower League-Blood Knight 176 7 matches are over.]

[The 8th game will start in a while, so please prepare.]

Just in time, the system informed us that the match would soon begin.

I looked at the time and it was already 10pm.

Now that our match was over, only the co-main event and the main event remained.

Each match is unconditionally one hour long.

It doesn’t matter how long the game itself takes.

Whether it takes 24 hours or 48 hours, it only takes an hour for the audience.

I don’t know how that is possible.

I only played the game, because I never actually watched it.

Woo woo woo-

After a while, with the flow of mana, a round circle with a white background appeared in the clearing.

A warp gate to enter the arena.

“How are you feeling?”

“…?”

As soon as the warp gate was created, Aserian asked.

Her eyes were full of confidence.

There was not even a quiver in his voice.

what?

Is this the person whose hands and feet went in the same direction because he was nervous just a moment ago?

“Not bad.

“Go and prove it. That you are the main character on this stage.”

She came over with her arms open and patted me.

It seemed like he was trying to instill confidence in me somehow.

I was already overflowing with confidence, but I didn’t bother to show it.

food.

It’s not a bad feeling.

“I’m coming.”

I fluttered my black robe and entered the gate.

Tring!

[Recovers all statuses to 100%.]

When I passed through the gate, I saw trees towering densely.

The terrain is mountainous. There is quite a slope, and the season is full of green light, probably summer.

Clouds hang over the top of the mountain. I mean it’s pretty high.

The branches of the trees are tangled in a mess, probably because no one walks on it. It is an area where traces are easy to leave.

no one around Seeing that even though there were more than 1,000 participants, there was no sign of crowd, it seemed that the size of the map was quite large.

Outside the mountain area, the vast sea spreads out. It seems to be made up of islands. It seemed impossible to go outside the map.

The sun hung high in the sky, but the shade of the trees made the surroundings dark.

Looking at the dark clouds in the distance, it might rain soon.

Tring!

[Game: Let’s start the 8th game of the lower league-Blood Knight 176.]

[Type: Individual Survival (Personal PvP)]

[Game Name: Battle of the Red Flag]

[Map: Volcanic Island of Nablus (middle)]

[Audience number: 20,274]

It’s a personal survival…

The key is survival conditions.

Whatever the conditions, Nablus will be drenched in blood.

Tring!

[Victory condition: The person who owns the red flag at the end of the match]

[Touching the red flag will automatically leave a mark above your head.]

[If you defeat the owner of the red flag, the mark of the red flag will automatically move.]

[Current number of survivors: 1,000]

[There are bonus point conditions.]

[The bonus increases the more players you kill!]

[The longer you hold the red flag, the higher the bonus!]

[Kill Count Status – None]

[Players with Red Flags ― None]

[Time remaining until the end of the match: 12:00:00]

[If no one captures the red flag until 30 minutes have passed since the start of the game, it will be given to one player at random.]

[The match starts in 3 seconds.]

There were quite a few rules.

The type was a treasure scramble.

‘Phew, I’m alive.’

[The match starts in 2 seconds.]

Sometimes there were extreme missions to kill each other until a few survived without a time limit.

Such a match is called a player crushing match, and the survival rate drops sharply to the 1% level.

It was mainly a mission that came out in a league where the level of players was low, such as a lower league.

[The match starts in 1 second.]

Compared to that, Red Flag War is not a difficult mission.

It is only necessary to occupy the flag at the final moment when the game is over.

Even if you don’t win the flag, it’s okay.

Even though you won’t get many points by winning the match, if you survive, you can aim for the next match.

[Start the match!]

The status window announced the start of the match.

My weapon today is a bow.

It was the best weapon in such a wide and concealed terrain.

‘You follow luck.’

There was no particular reason to start with a bow rather than a spear.

Because with any weapon, you need to use it in real combat.

Within a month, archery increased tremendously. So much so that you can shoot from any position.

I wonder if it has reached a level where I can protect my body.

Otherwise, no matter how low the league was, bringing a bow would not have existed.

‘Let’s go hunting around the outskirts slowly.’

Locating the red flag can be done with about 4 hours left.

That way, no matter how wide the map was, I was confident that I could find where the red flag was.

Even if you know in advance anyway, it is meaningless because the owner of the flag will continue to change.

The capture of the flag is delayed as long as possible.

From the moment I hold the flag, 999 players will rush to kill me alone.

So carrying a flag from the beginning is like committing suicide.

‘Let’s do it when we have an hour left.’

Then you can create trap zones in advance, so you can survive even if the remaining players try to attack you.

We walked slowly down the mountain from the middle of the mountain towards the beginning.

After moving for a while, I heard someone jump up.

Quietly took out an arrow and put it on the protest.

pud de de de deuk-

And they protested vigorously.

I couldn’t see it yet, but I could feel where it was.

After a while, I saw a player running up the mountainside holding a huge sword.

I was not found because I was hiding in the tangled bushes beforehand.

The wind blows softly

Not enough to obstruct the arrow’s path.

The player holding the greatsword was running in a steady rhythm.

Calculate the time the arrow takes to reach.

After predicting the distance the guy will move in the meantime.

ping!

shoot

hooked! dump.

Tring!

[You have killed player ‘Romac’.]

[Your HP is recovered by 1% with ＜Recovery of Blood＞ ability.]

My nickname was Romac.

A red mist formed from the corpse of a player named Romac and was absorbed by me.

It seemed to be the healing effect of the blood contained in the white mask.

He probably died without even knowing what he had done.

The reason why archers are scary is because they snipe by surprise from a long distance.

If you don’t know that the arrow is flying, you will be pierced through the forehead without even screaming like that guy who just died.

‘You’re using a bow for this taste.’

The more you use it, the more attractive the weapon called the bow becomes.

Fighting with a sword or spear is basically a direct confrontation with the opponent, so it consumes a lot of stamina.

But with a bow, as long as you can spot the enemy in advance, it’s over just by hanging an arrow on a string and shooting it accurately from a long distance.

It is a very effective weapon.

‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it right. It’s okay if you don’t give me distance.’

I approached the corpse of the dead player, Romac, and searched in his arms.

Unfortunately, there were no items that I could buy or sell or use.

I continued to go out to the outskirts and hunted the players I saw every time.

Tring!

[You have killed player ‘Ask’.]

[You have killed player ‘Muk-gwan-chae’.]

[You have killed player ‘Lunes’.]

[Your HP is recovered by 1% with ＜Recovery of Blood＞ ability.]

[Current number of survivors: 942]

[Status of kills]

[1st. ‘Ren’ 4 kills]

[2nd place. 3 kills of ‘Tishion’]

[3rd place. ‘Red Spider’ 3 kills]

[4th place. ‘Renova’ ·······.]

[Players with Red Flags ― None]

[Time remaining until end of game: 11:32:17]

[If no one captures the red flag until 30 minutes have passed since the start of the game, it will be given to one player at random.]

It was almost 30 minutes after the match started.

‘I’m number one in kills…’

I haven’t moved much, but I’ve already done 4 kills.

Not a single player among them noticed that I was shooting arrows.

I think today is the most comfortable day out of all the matches I’ve played so far.

visor! visor! visor!

When I went down to the beginning of the mountain, I saw two players with swords facing each other.

The guys point their swords at each other, unaware that the secret hand of death is reaching out to them.

He took two arrows from his quiver, put one on the ground, and put the other on the string.

pood deuk-

The protest was pulled tight and made a pleasant sound.

Hold your breath and suppress the tremors of your body.

and······.

Tring!

[The owner of the red flag has not been determined even after 30 minutes.]

[A ‘mark’ is given to one player at random.]

[Red Flag Possession Player ― ‘Ren’]

For a moment, I stared blankly at the status window, forgetting to shoot the arrow.

Right now… out of nearly a thousand players, did I get caught?

I looked up and saw a red marker fluttering above my head.

and.

“It’s a mark!”

Two players with swords facing each other started running toward me.

‘f*ck.’