From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 39: The Battle of Champions Pt. 4

“Ptui ptui ptui ptui!”

Williams had a bewildered expression on his face as he watched Jeong In-Chang spit in succession. “Why…?”

“It looks like he ate something he didn’t want to eat.” Lee Jun-Kyeong shrugged at the confused Williams. The tension had been relieved by Jeong In-Chang’s appearance.

‘It was too close for comfort.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel the sweat running down his back. If Hyeon-Mu hadn’t carried out his orders properly, if things had evolved into a situation where he had to face the ogre mage head-on…

“Whew…”

…there would have been a fierce battle. It would have been terrible if he had suffered an injury too severe to recover from with a potion before the Battle of Champions. Nonetheless, Lee Jun-Kyeong had a smile on his face.

‘I got it.’

The ‘secret of the ogre mage’ was meant to target Heracles’ weakness. It was the only method he could use to fight the giant.

“Ha… My first kiss... My first kiss…”

Of course, Jeong In-Chang had been constantly spitting at the side throughout this time, and he was now beginning to mumble incomprehensibly.

***

“I haven’t even seen heads or tails of him since the first day,” someone snorted.

It was a giant over two meters tall, and the size of his fists was reminiscent of boulders.

Demetrios, the man with the title Heracles, continued, “He must be preparing in his own way. However, I don’t remember hearing about the Underdog entering Asgard. I wonder how that came to happen.”

And arguing against him, George, Odysseus, was also alongside him.

The two were talking in their room.

“Damn. My body aches all over. It’s killing me. Can’t we just enter a gate?”

While Demetrios was complaining disgruntledly, George answered bluntly, “No.”

He continued, “I told you I don’t want my head to hurt anymore because of you, you idiot.”

“What?” Demetrios’s eyes glinted with a hint of anger.

George flinched and continued quickly.“This is a problem you made by disobeying the orders of Olympus and entering the Battle of Champions willfully.”

Demetrios and George both belonged to the Olympus Guild. In many ways, it was similar to Asgard. Just as the Hunter Association in Korea was revealed to be Asgard, the Olympus Guild hid the form of Olympus. Behind the scenes, they were secret organizations behind their respective areas.

"Why is that my fault? Does it make sense to lose a battle that we can win deliberately? I’m a fighter who refuses to acknowledge that sort of absurdity!" Demetrios snorted again.

As George had mentioned earlier, Heracles had disobeyed Olympus' orders. Instead of following the orders to raid a gate in Africa, they had taken the place of a Hero named Theseus, who had been chosen to participate in the Battle of Champions…

“Because of you, Theseus can’t leave his bed for a month.”

…and left him half dead. George was a fellow guild member of Olympus and a close friend of Demetrios. He was basically accompanying Heracles to ensure he couldn’t cause further incidents.

‘If you send that idiot alone, it would end up as a complete ruin.’

Thanks to George, Demetrios was able to arrive at the battle without much conflict.

George responded, “Ha… I’m going to go crazy. The Battle of Champions has to start soon… While you hid Theseus well, someone should be coming from Olympus since you showed up at the party on the first day.”

Someone would come to punish Demetrios for breaking orders, and George for helping him. Normally, that person should have arrived already, but Olympus seemed to be waiting for something. No one had shown up yet.

‘I’m going to die from the stress.’

Consequently, George was the one struggling the most. He was already afraid of what punishment he would undergo with Demetrios.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from whoever comes.” Demetrios chuckled and patted his chest.

“Anyways, the Underdog? I thought that he would have thrown a fist… but I also liked the punk he was with. I’m looking forward to it.

At the same time as Demetrios seemingly talked to himself…

“...!”

…George raised his eyebrows imperceptibly. Demetrios, that bastard, was a monster. He was so powerful that even the higher-ranked members of Olympus wouldn’t recklessly touch him. There weren’t many people that he would acknowledge or even consider an opponent.

‘To think he’s watching the Underdog…’

George had an indecipherable hunch that a major incident was about to happen.

***

"Are you going somewhere again?" asked Jeong In-Chang, who was lying on the hotel bed like a corpse. He was in a horrible state. After clearing the ogre village, his body and mind had reached the limit. In addition, his shocking kiss with Hyeon-Mu had made him even more exhausted. After clearing the gate, he collapsed on the spot, so Lee Jun-Kyeong had to carry him to the hotel.

“Should I come with you?”

When they had arrived, he had barely regained his consciousness.

‘Even though he must be feeling horrible, I’m grateful.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was grateful to see Jeong In-Chang trying to accompany him when he tried to leave the room.

“Thank you, but it’s fine. Your body isn’t even in good condition either…”

“You know who’s responsible for this…” muttered Jeong In-Chang to himself.

"Didn't you get quite a bit of sponsorship thanks to that?"

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s retort wasn’t a lie either. Jeong In-Chang had been beaten for dozens of hours by the ogres’ cheerful rhythm, and his Sponsor, <The Prince on a White Horse>, had not spared its sponsorship.

It was over the top.

‘To think that he was given physical resistance…’

Tolerance and resistance skills were rare, to the extent that Lee Jun-Kyeong was envious of Jeong In-Chang for receiving such high-quality support from <The Prince on a White Horse>.

‘Looks like it's throwing everything it has on him.’

The Prince on a White Horse was not a high-ranking Sponsor. Most likely, the other Hunters who had been sponsored by The Prince on a White Horse had had their sponsorship ceased for a long time.

‘Why don’t you sponsor me when you have a high rank?’

However, there was no response. He was very envious of the sponsorship Jeong In-Chang’s Sponsor provided, which was very different from that of <The Sky of the Apocalypse>. The other man had not only gained physical resistance. Instead, Jeong In-Chang had also gotten an increase in overall ability, and, in particular, the growth in physical strength had caught his eye.

“I did get a lot of sponsorship, didn’t I…” Jeong In-Chang replied.

Lee Jun-Kyeong joked, “Then, should we do it again?”

“...!”

Jeong In-Chang attempted to get up suddenly, but then collapsed all over the bed once again.

“Just look at yourself. You can’t even lift one hand properly, can you? Rest. I will go by myself,” Lee Jun-Kyeong consoled.

Jeong In-Chang replied, “Alright, if anything goes wrong, you have to contact me right away.”

“Noted.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled at him and attempted to leave the room.

However…

“Well…”

It bothered him that Jeong In-Chang wasn’t even able to lift a hand.

In the end…

“NO!”

Jeong In-Chang’s screams echoed in the hotel hallway, and Lee Jun-Kyeong departed the room, leaving Hyeon-Mu as a caretaker.

***

Lee Jun-Kyeong was taking a nighttime stroll through the streets of London. As if he was looking for something, he strolled around the surroundings.

“...”

People began to stare at him as he hovered around the area. They were focusing on him for a different reason.

“Look at him.”

“Is he a model?”

He was tall and had a beautiful appearance, captivating those around him. His appearance had changed when he returned to the past, and he had become a foreign beauty even by western standards. They innocently admired his appearance and sent favorable glances.

However…

“Why is there an Asian guy here?”

“To think he’s wandering around at night, does he think this place is a safe place he can trust?”

Not everyone looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong favorably. There were a few negative gazes as if they seemed to dislike Asians altogether.

Finally…

"It's a Hunter."

"Hunter."

"Damn it. It's hard to find a Hunter in this part of town. Come on, let's get out of here."

Seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong's outfit and demeanor, they had intuited that he was a Hunter and quickly fled.

‘That’s right.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong remembered something as well while looking at their reactions. He had heard about it before.

‘They said that Hunters didn’t have a great image in Europe, right?’

Despite the efforts of the Associations around the world to elevate the image of Hunters, it was rumored that the public sentiment toward the Hunters still fell short despite their efforts in Europe.

The reason for that was…

‘Olympus.’

It was because of the organization that dominated Europe. They were completely separate from the European Union Association that was created by the European Union and had no ties to the European Union Association at all. Instead, the European Union Association was wary of taking action around Olympus, which was active in Europe.

Olympus moved by their own rules, not the laws of the European Union Association, and their rules didn’t include punishment for issues like violence against ordinary people. Therefore, the image of Hunters in Europe had fallen short compared to that in other countries.

“Hey, Asian.”

“Who do you think you are to walk around nonchalantly in London at this hour?”

“Do you think you’re all that just because you’re a Hunter?”

“It doesn’t look like you have a weapon either. Why would a Hunter even come to this neighborhood, anyway? He probably isn’t one.”

Alongside the perception of Hunters, the perception of Asians had also worsened, developing into severe racism towards Asians.

The reason for that was…

‘Olympus.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong turned his head to look at them.

“...”

“The fuck are you staring at?”

“Do you not know English?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong finally responded, “Why are you acting like this?”

“He speaks good English for an Asian, eh?”

“At least he has one thing he knows how to do,” they said.

“Do you need money?” Lee Jun-Kyeong asked as he didn’t want to get involved in a troublesome issue.

“Who are you asking as if we are beggars?”

“All you have to do is sit still until we’ve beaten you enough to feel better. Okay?”

As if they wanted to show that they didn’t need any money, they frowned even more and surrounded him. There weren’t many people around because it was an alleyway, but there were still some people who could see what was going on.

‘Seems you’re indifferent.’

All they did was overlook the situation and leave. The perception of both Hunters and Asians had been falling to the bottom in Europe due to Olympus.

“If it wasn’t for that bastard Zeus…”

“Know you’re getting beat because of that bastard.”

The name that came out of the mouth of the delinquents was the reason why. It was because the Guild Master of Olympus, Zeus, was Korean. Furthermore, as the Guild Master of Olympus, he had ignored the Association’s request to raid a gate that had appeared in a British city. As a result, an innumerable number of British citizens were sacrificed.

A few British citizens–no, Europeans, had begun to see Asians as their enemy. These delinquents seemed to be of the same kind,

“Whew…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong eventually rolled up his sleeves in response to their genuine threats of violence.

‘It would have been great if they had caught onto the fact I was actually a Hunter…’

***

“I… it's here.”

“Is it okay if we leave now?”

"Yeah, I think."

"Can I go now?"

He was surrounded by bruised faces that looked almost like raccoons. They were the delinquents that had the argument with Lee Jun-Kyeong before. Their faces were all pale, and as if they were terrified, their bodies were trembling like leaves.

“You may.”

They immediately all turned around and were about to run away.

“Wait.”

However, they began to shake as if they had received a summons from the grim reaper and couldn’t even turn their heads when they heard Lee Jun-Kyeong’s call. Naturally, they didn’t make any sudden movements suggesting that they were trying to run away because they had already gotten that lesson engraved into them earlier.

Lee Jun-Kyeong said one final thing, “I hate Zeus, too. Not all Asians, and especially Koreans, are like him. Don’t hate us all too much.”

“Okay…?”

He sternly asked, “What are you doing? Answer properly!”

“Yes, sir!”

They paused for a moment as if they had been stunned by Lee Jun-Kyeong’s words, but soon turned their heads to respond and left.

"Whew…"

Although they wouldn’t have attacked him if he had just revealed that he was a Hunter, he still beat them up instead of trying to persuade them. Lee Jun-Kyeong usually didn’t want to use violence in the name of fairness, but he did so here for a particular reason.

‘It would be nice if those people at least wouldn’t touch other Asians.’

It was the whip and the carrot. It was out of fear that they might repeat the same actions against the innocent. When comparing violence and persuasion, the former worked much better in most situations.

‘I don’t have to worry about it, right?’

Another thing was that, unlike with the Northern Army Guild, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t have to worry all that much about any incidents that may occur because of them. Back then, he had just been a Hunter.

‘Odin will handle it.’

Although he hadn’t yet joined Asgard, he was still in a position where Odin was interested in him. The other man would deal with any trouble, so he didn’t have to worry too much about it.

‘There’s nothing wrong with causing a more estranged relationship with the European side anyway.’

Well, it wasn’t a bad thing for Lee Jun-Kyeong for Odin to get into more conflicts with other factions either. But, of course, the European Association would never go against Jang Hyo-Jin.

“Is this it?”

Lee Jun-Kyeong mused over his thoughts before looking at the door. He didn’t know London’s layout and was left with no choice but to continue to wander until he had been given directions by those who had wanted to argue with him.

He had entered another alley, and there were dozens of doors lined up within the length of the alley. It looked like it could be a place where wizards in movies could have been located. The place Lee Jun-Kyeong was looking for was on Alchemy Street.

‘Mana… It should be the place with the strongest mana.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly relaxed his energy, focusing on finding the place emitting the strongest mana. His perception led him to an incredibly ugly door.

“Come in!”

Scarily enough, the gentle voice of a girl was heard even before the sound of his knock could reverberate. This street was a special place that could only be found in England. It was an alley where the Hunter-turned-alchemists were located. But, of course, it wasn’t an ordinary place.

The people here were those who had committed crimes or were living in hiding for some reason or another. They weren’t under the control of the Association, and therefore, they could barely get along with the citizens of London.

Squeak.

Lee Jun-Kyeong opened the door and entered.

“Pardon me.”

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by an amazing sight. It was a room that was much larger than it looked from the outside. As he was looking around the place in surprise, someone greeted him in a lively manner.

“Welcome to Yu-Jin’s Telephone Booth!”

‘Yu-Jin?’

For some reason, it was a Korean name, and as he turned, a single girl caught his eye. She was the one with the highest mana in the area.

“Park Yu-Jin…?”

Surprisingly, it was someone he knew as well.

1. This is a Korean saying; I shifted to an English one. There are a lot of idioms in Korean that involve noses, and this one is saying that I haven’t even seen the tip of his nose.

2. The term mugwort field in Korea is synonymous with ruins and, rarely, graveyards, as if a field is full of mugwort, it will completely overtake it and not allow for any other plants to grow. However, it’s quite weak to compete at the beginning, which means it is difficult for it to grow in most places. Therefore, it most often grows in ruins or gravesites.

3. Note that he still looks like the same person, just better. This isn’t an isekai story where he entered a new body and a new appearance.

4. This is referencing Diagon Alley in Harry Potter.

5. reference to TARDIS from Dr. Who