Everyone is Young Except for Me Chapter 272

I checked the ringing phone and my eyes widened. It was because the person calling me was very unexpected.

-Joseph

Why was this person calling? I immediately answered the call. There was no reason to avoid it. “It's me.”

-It has been a while, Elder. I'm watching the competition well.

“What are you saying? What is it? You are calling me.”

-Is anyone around you who can hear?

I looked at Lim Changyong and nodded for him to go on the stage first. Lim Changyong understood quickly and led the group to the stage first. Once the surroundings became quiet, I went back to the waiting room and closed the door. Silence descended in the waiting room. “I'm fine now. Tell me.”

I could hear Joseph breathing loudly over the phone.  Joseph took a deep breath and opened his mouth carefully, like he had made a commitment.

-It doesn't make any sense.

“It is unusual? What do you mean?”

-That...

Joseph's tone was so low and serious that my eyes became sober.

“Tell me.”

-Not long ago, a mail arrived in Jaeseong hyung's name. It is like he expected it to happen so he made it arrive a year later.

“Are you referring to Dr. Kang Jaeseong?”

-Yes. The thing my hyung sent me was coordinates.

Coordinates? I didn't know why coordinates were sent all of a sudden. Joseph continued like he knew my doubts.

-The enclosed letter reads: You'll be busy with the game so let me give you a brief summary. It says 'If you want to know all the secrets, come here'. By the way...

“What else is it?”

-The coordinates aren't used in our country.

I kept listening to Joseph and waited for his words to continue.

-They are coordinates used by Arkstar.

“......!”

-The coordinates listed are clearly game coordinates. Based on that, I got a map and checked it.

Joseph gulped and spat out in a quiet voice.

“It is the huge sea in the middle of the continent.”

* * *

At Joseph's office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul...

“Then I'll see you in the game. I wish you a good fight.”

Cigarette smoke scattered with the slight exhale as Joseph hung up the phone. The phone call lasted for a minute. It was around the time that the cigarette he was smoking ran out. Joseph sucked in the last of the cigarette and reluctantly crushed it in the ashtray.

“Hooo.”

As if it was his end, he blew smoke from his nose and mouth and drew a picture in the air. The smoke tangled together like clouds, representing his mind. Joseph felt more complicated as he looked at the letter on his desk.

“Jaeseong hyung-nim, what on earth happened? What is the truth you want to tell me?”

His brother-in-law who was in a coma, Kang Jaeseong, had always been an upright and honest person. Such a man wrote down coordinates in a letter that seemed to have been scribbled in a hurry. It was as he guessed and his brother-in-law had been in an urgent situation. Joseph thought that perhaps this was the reason why he was unconscious now.

'What is the truth...?'

Joseph stood up from his seat with a sigh. No matter what, the important thing was that he was now stepping closer to the truth his brother-in-law wanted to reveal. Joseph sat on the sofa and turned on the TV with a remote control on the desk.

-Wahhhh!

On TV, Choi Chuntaek waved his hand and responded to the cheers of the audience.

“In any case, he is a great old man.”

Joseph shook his head slightly. He thought this person was unusual from the first meeting, but he never dreamt the old man would become such a world-class person. There was such high spirit and courage. How could such decisiveness and strength be seen in an elderly man approaching his 70s?

Joseph watched the video of the match and was frightened by Choi Chuntaek's amazing control.

'Maybe it really is...'

He didn't say it on the phone just now, but the letter had a request from Kang Jaeseong. He said that Joseph had to come with the one who had been chosen by the seven stars. Additionally, that person had the key to solving the disaster that would one day come. The identity of the disaster was unknown, but Choi Chuntaek was very important to Joseph.

-This is a confrontation between South Korea and Brazil. Who will win?

-As we have seen last time, Brazil is no match for Choi Chuntaek. This was proven in the Flag Battle on the first day.

-That's right. As long as he is present, South Korea will be a stronger team than any other country in this year's World Competition. Isn't his appearance really imposing?

-Haha. That's correct. I think so as well.

Eventually, all the players entered the capsule and the screen was switched to reflect the view of the stadium. Suddenly, it zoomed in on Choi Chuntaek's appearance. As the commentators said, he was imposing.

“Have strength.”

Joseph bit the shrimp biscuit on the table and opened the beer can he previously placed on it. The beer bubbles spilled out and overflowed.  Joseph's forehead furrowed as he looked at his wet hands. “Aish, my pants are wet.”

* * *

I connected and saw my teammates doing rock paper scissors to see who would go out first. I stood next to Park Muyeol and watched them.

“What was the phone call that took so long?”

“It was something. I'll explain later.”

“Bah. Whatever,” Park Muyeol replied bluntly and reached out. He was beckoning for something. I thought I knew what it was and couldn't help laughing.

Park Muyeol urged me, “Hey, give me a cigarette. I've run out.”

“In any case.”

I shook my head and placed a cigarette in his hand. I had two more packs left anyway. By the way, why was I smoking when I was supposed to be quitting smoking.

“Sigh. I am addicted to smoking.”

“What? Haven't I seen you do it more than once or twice?”

Recently, I started trying to quit smoking. It was possible to smoke in this world because smoking was absolutely harmless to the body here. Of course, it was inevitable that my stats would decrease.

[Your stats will fall slightly for 10 minutes.]

[Your current nicotine level is 10%.]

My nicotine level has already risen like this. It was a lot.

“I won—!”

There was cheer in the group once the winner had decided. It was Eun Jeonghyeok who raised his hand high.

"I will go straight away!"

Park Muyeol and I nodded and sent him out. Eun Jeonghyeok disappeared and appeared in the stadium. His opponent was Aido, a melee damage dealer who used two axes, and was famous for being cruel in Brazil. It was someone the coach had previously given an explanation about in the waiting room.

“Huhuhu. I'll chop you up finely—!”

Aido's confident voice crossed the stadium to the place where we were sitting. Park Muyeol clicked his tongue as he looked at Aido.

“Tsk tsk.”

His words were omitted, but I understood what he meant. If we were asked about who had the greatest potential in training, we would definitely answer that it was Eun Jeonghyeok.

Beeeeep!

[The game has begun.]

Eun Jeonghyeok quickly disappeared. It was the unique stealth possessed by the archer of light that refracted all the light of the body and caused him to disappear. Eun Jeonghyeok shot an arrow toward Aido that gave the effect of blindness. There was a flash in front of Aido's eyes. It was as if the entire stadium was swallowed up by a flash bomb.

“Keuk.”

Aido sat down for a moment and shook his head. Eun Jeonghyeok immediately circled to Aido's left and fired an arrow.

Dududududu!

“These petty tricks...!”

Aido swung his axe widely. He struck some and dodged some. The flexible and agile movements were worthy of being the Brazilian representative. However, Eun Jeonghyeok's control and his creative ideas had already surpassed Aido a long time ago.

Dududududu!

Arrows of light poured toward Aido's head. It was the arrows that had been fired into the sky since firing the blinding arrow.

“When...!”

It happened the moment that Aido tried to use Whirlwind, a charge-based skill... 

Five arrows were placed on Eun Jeonghyeok's bow and were fired simultaneously. It was a skill developed by Eun Jeonghyeok when he saw Leslie's spiral shot.

The name:

“Spiral Arrow.”

The five arrows flew in a curve and pierced Aido's arms and thighs. The last remaining arrow pierced his neck like a meteor. It was an arrow resembling starlight.

“Kuock!”

Aido grabbed his neck and stared at Eun Jeonghyeok.

“I won—!”

“Now, the next person! Quickly, quickly!”

“I will get revenge next.”

“Now, rock paper scissors—!”

The group had already decided on the next player.

* * *

[The user 'Silvas' has been defeated.]

[Decide on the next player in one minute.]

The Brazilian captain, Carlos, gritted his teeth. It was already three consecutive defeats. He wondered what to do if Choi Chuntaek or Park Muyeol appeared from the beginning. Fortunately, South Korea had adopted the strategy of saving them in the beginning. As mentioned in the interview earlier, now it wasn't just two people. The other team members had trained hard and become strong.

They were visibly determined to get revenge on Brazil. If Brazil lost here again, it would be four consecutive losses. It was a PvP event where six victories were needed. It could be difficult to recover if he waited any longer. Carlos made a decision after thinking about it. “...I will go out.”

No one could refuse Carlos. Carlos' popularity in Brazil was sky-high. It was a tacit agreement in the team that his words were law.

[The user 'Carlos' will compete.]

Carlos' body disappeared and appeared in the huge stadium. The triumphant 'Lim Sara' had already disappeared and the player would be replaced. Who would be next? Carlos took a deep breath and grabbed what he had received from the PCC boss. It was a very small arrow.

[Arrow of Time]

[Rating: Partial relics

Partial Star Relic: 12-24

-Time Slow [Passive]

-Speed Star [First-grade magic engineering]]

“......”

An item called Arrow of Time. It was an artificial star piece that the PCC, located in the Parta Principality, disassembled and reassembled into a weapon. The shaft was made up of thin and elaborate machines that were the speciality of the Parta Principality.

Carlos pressed the button at the end of the arrow. The Arrow of Time floated to his right. The attack power might be weak but Carlos was currently trusting in the passive skill called 'Time Slow' attached to the item. It was a tremendous skill that made time flow slowly for the target touched by the arrow. It reduced cognitive ability which included movement speed and attack speed.

'If this could be mine...'

Carlos gulped. 

At the time, Carlos had ignored the power and had a brief spar with the PCC boss who told him to test it out. The result was a disastrous defeat. He couldn't do anything to escape the bondage of time. He said he would give it to Carlos if Carlos won this match. Additionally the boss promised he would help Carlos establish himself in the Parta Principality and even make physical modifications.

A Beast Master's animal senses and the magical engineering body modifications. In addition, if these things were combined with the artificial Star Piece then he would become the number one person in Arkstar that no one could surpass.

Just then, he saw someone appear across from him.

[The user 'Jackson' will compete.]

I told him, “It has been a while, puppy.”

Carlos frowned in the shape of a werewolf. His forehead where the fork spoon had hit still seemed to be throbbing.

(Submission End Date: 15th November)

Chapter end