The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 341: The Four Heavenly Kings (1)

After finishing his match against Drok, Kai headed straight to the training room without even enjoying the afterglow of victory. He intended to keep swinging his sword so that his body would memorize the sensation before it faded.

He soon saw a man in a neat suit standing at the entrance of the training room.

He looks like he’s going to talk to me.

That prediction was accurate. The man blocked his way when Kai tried to enter the room.

“Banish, sir. I’ve been waiting for you. Could you spare a moment of your time?”

Kai quietly stared at the man who spoke with a smiling face, then said, “If it’s a guild recruitment offer, I’ll pass.”

He had already received scout offers like this more than once or twice.

Although hunting and quests were the main content of MID Online, the Duel Arena also had a huge market. Banish, as the rising super rookie there, naturally attracted the attention of even large guilds. Those who dreamed of a second Limitless guild offered all kinds of sweet deals to recruit him, but of course, he refused all of them outright.

Even if you guys offered ten times those conditions, I still wouldn’t join.

Compared to his own wealth and fame, those offers were nothing but a drop in the ocean.

And yet, they really never stop.

By now, it had passed beyond bothersome to the point of being annoying. In fact, one of the reasons Kai stayed holed up in the training room was to avoid the persistent guild scouts.

“So, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Ah, there’s been a misunderstanding... I’m actually not that kind of person.”

The man in the suit pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Kai.

Receiving the card with a suspicious glance, Kai read the unexpected information written on it.

[Duel Arena Administrator, Radin]

“A Duel Arena administrator...?”

They were all NPCs who managed everything related to the Duel Arena.

“Yes. Pardon the late introduction.”

“Why would a Duel Arena administrator be looking for me?”

Realizing the man wasn’t a guild scout, Kai’s tone became noticeably softer.

Noticing this, Radin also smiled broadly and responded, “Allow me to escort you to a place more suited for conversation.”

Radin snapped his fingers to create a portal, and stepped into it.

Following him through the portal, Kai found himself in a spacious room reminiscent of a luxury hotel suite.

“Please, have a seat.”

As Kai sat down on a plush sofa, Radin said, “I’ll get straight to the point. After an internal discussion among the administrators, it was decided that we could offer you slightly greater privileges.”

“Greater privileges?” Kai blinked.

In the Duel Arena, rank points were everything when it came to proving oneself. As one’s rank points increased, the quality of the waiting rooms, accommodations, and training rooms also improved. Even the food they ate became more luxurious. Although not stated outright, the system implicitly encouraged players to raise their rank points by fostering envy among them. Thus, this felt all the more sudden.

I already got an upgrade when I passed 1,000 points, didn’t I?

As far as Kai knew, treatment drastically improved at every 1,000 point milestone.

First were the players between 1 and 1,000 points, who made up 90% of the total. No matter how skilled they were, they could never shake off the rookie label. Of course, the basic treatment wasn’t bad. They were given three meals a day and a place to sleep, but sharing a room with dozens of strangers wasn’t exactly comfortable.

However, that hardship ended the moment they crossed into the world above 1,000 points. Spectators who came to watch PvP matches weren’t interested in clumsy rookies flailing about; they wanted high-quality battles.

In other words, the arena’s main revenue came from players with over 1,000 rank points. Hence, they received a set fight money reward every time they fought. This was why some players turned their backs on hunting and staked everything on the arena, as just maintaining over 1,000 points could bring in about three to four million won per month.

After thinking briefly, Kai replied, “There must be some mistake. I’ve just barely reached 1,500 rank points, and I already received a benefits upgrade after passing 1,000.”

At those words, Radin smiled kindly. “You’re very modest. Of course, we’re also aware of that. When I said greater privileges, I was referring to the benefits above even that.”

“Benefits above that...?”

“Our administrators are confident that you will become a player with at least 2,000 points. After all, you were the first player in the history of the arena to reach 1,500 points in just five days. This was an incredible achievement. Even the Undefeated Empress took a week to reach 1,500 points.”

“So you're saying you’ll give me the benefits that 2,000 point players enjoy right now?”

“That’s correct.” Radin gave a mysterious smile.

That smile only made Kai even more confused. “I don’t quite understand. What benefit does the arena gain by giving me these advantages?”

“The biggest benefit is promotional value. A rookie has achieved something even the Undefeated Empress couldn’t. Everyone will want to come to the arena and spend money... To get straight to the point, we will actively promote you.”

“Wait a moment. What you’re saying is...”

They were blatantly putting him against the Undefeated Empress. In other words, creating a rivalry with Katherine.

Radin didn’t deny it either. “Banish, the arena is ultimately show entertainment. We only make money when spectators come. Naturally, the fighters’ prize money also comes from the spectators. So, we constantly think about ways to attract more audience members.”

“And the result of that thinking is me?”

“Yes.”

Kai pondered for a moment. “What changes if the benefits are increased?”

“First, this room.” Radin spread his arms wide as he spoke, “You are currently using a two-person room, correct? Of course, since you don’t actually sleep at the arena, it doesn’t seem to matter much. Regardless, we will offer you this room. You may use it alone.”

“Hm.”

That was far from enough. Honestly, if he wanted to rest properly, he could just return to his estate mansion even if it would be a hassle.

“Next is your meals. A top-class chef will prepare the food you want at every mealtime.”

“And?”

“The training room. You’ll be provided a private training room where you won’t need to worry about anyone’s gaze. You’ll be able to train freely without any interference.”

This definitely piqued Kai’s interest. Even during training, he had often felt stinging gazes that broke his concentration.

“But the greatest benefit is... the right to choose.”

“The right to choose?”

“Yes. As you know, opponents in rank matches are usually selected at random. However, players who surpass 2,000 points can designate their opponents.”

“Oh?” Kai’s eyes gleamed.

In other words, he could choose opponents from whom he wanted to learn.

“You can designate an opponent within 500 points above or below your own score.”

After contemplating for a moment, Kai slowly nodded. “There really are no strings attached to the arena, are there?”

“Yes. All we ask is permission to promote you.”

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

Kai and Radin exchanged a firm handshake.

***

“This definitely is nice. This is why people need to succeed.”

The private training rooms offered only to the players in the 2,000 point range, of which there were only four in the arena, were certainly impressive. Not only were they equipped with the latest facilities, but despite being for individual use, they were even larger than the communal training rooms.

Kai sat down in the center of the training area. Then he closed his eyes and engaged in image training, reviewing his battle against Drok.

“Whew.”

Once the image training ended, he played back footage of his own matches. The situations he felt during actual matches and the ones he observed from a third-person perspective like now were completely different.

“Ah, so the arrow came faster than usual back then because he had already started preparing when raising his shield.”

“The technique mixing Phantom Sword and Plum Blossom Sword... Although I’m just eyeballing it since I don’t have a dedicated skill, it’s pretty effective.”

“Tsk. In that moment, I should have used a heavy greatsword, not a flashy quicksword, to break through the guard in one strike. If I had, Drok wouldn’t have been able to fire his crossbow so recklessly.”

He watched the footage, took notes. Then he memorized it, stood up, and grabbed his sword. In that state, he swung the sword, consciously applying the new techniques he had learned, and continued training like that, forgetting time was passing.

[Skill Proficiency in Advanced Swordsmanship of the Dawn has greatly increased.]

[Your shoulder joint has become slightly more flexible. You can now swing the sword more smoothly.]

It was truly a period of explosive growth.

***

Currently, the status of the world’s top eight guilds was no different from that of dandelions. At a glance, they looked quite large, but they were like bubbles that could deflate with just a puff of air. In fact, although they were still called the world’s top eight guilds, many players considered them relics of the past that had lost their significance.

In fact, back when the Black Bee guild collapsed, this wasn’t how things were perceived because the existence of Cheonhwa had wonderfully filled the gap. However, starting with the collapse of the Titan guild, the top ten guilds began to falter.

Many guilds tried to fill Titan’s spot, but none of them were able to show clear results or achievements. Instead, they only ended up competing against each other and cutting themselves down.

Eventually, one spot among the world’s top ten guilds remained vacant, and they began to be called the world’s top nine guilds.

At the crossroads of regaining their former glory or falling endlessly, the Nihonichi guild self-destructed. Constantly doubted for their lack of clear achievements since the era of the top ten guilds, they recklessly attempted the Zatan raid and suffered a crushing defeat. The name of Nihonichi fell into the dirt, and recovery became impossible.

The public had already concluded that they no longer belonged among the world’s top guilds, and as a result, people started referring to them as the world’s top eight guilds, excluding Nihonichi.

It was from that time people would say “the world's top eight guilds” but they wouldn't attach much significance to the phrase.

-They’re called the world’s top eight guilds, but if they run into Kai, they’ll probably all get wiped out.

└ I’m a newbie so I don’t know well, but surely a guild can't lose to just one person, right?

└ Well, ta-da. There’s no such thing as absolute. Black Bee and Titan, both former top ten guilds, were torn apart by Kai alone.

People valued Kai higher than the world’s top eight guilds. Yet even among them, there was one guild that continued to reign as a source of fear for players. It was the guild that had quietly operated since the days of the world’s top ten, the mysterious guild, Crimson Dawn.

Little was known about Crimson Dawn as they preferred having only a few elite members. Other than the fact that they had twenty-one members, all other information was kept secret. And there was only one reason why such a guild had maintained a spot among the top ten.

-If you commission Crimson Dawn, the target dies. Even if the target is the #1 ranked player.

To this day, Crimson Dawn’s assassination request failure rate remained at 0%. In fact, several players who had once been ranked number one were killed by them. In a way, they were the benefactors who had helped Yoo Ha-Rin ascend to first place.

To such people, a new request arrived for them.

“Vice president, you've been thinking about it for two weeks already. They’re starting to get impatient, and we need to make a decision. How long are we going to just wait for the president? He’s been off the grid for four months. Like always, it’ll probably be six months before we hear from him again.”

The one called the vice president just stared silently at the message window. Though thousands of requests piled up in his inbox, there was only one request he had been contemplating over for the past two weeks.

Client: Goliath and Sting

Request: Infinite assassination of Kai, #1 ranked player

Reward: 50,000 gold per kill

Difficulty: Unmeasurable

The vice president closed his eyes and deliberated. Naturally, the reason for his hesitation was money. 1 gold was equivalent to 100,000 won. 10 gold meant 1 million won. 100 gold meant 10 million won. And 50,000 gold meant 5 billion won.

He had spent two weeks thinking about this massive commission he hadn’t seen in a long time.

If only the president were here... Damn it.

The president, who had a severe case of wanderlust, would sometimes disappear without a word, completely cutting off contact.

Taking on Kai without the president’s power...

As he continued to contemplate, he suddenly stood up from his seat, threw on his cloak, and said, “Let’s take it.”

“Okay! So how many of the guys should we call?”

To that question, the vice president muttered without hesitation, “Call all of them.”

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