On the screen, the man left alone looked back at the battlefield. It was a battlefield without a ceiling. The ce, which was filled with marble and ornate carpets, had turned into ruins. The hundreds of pirs supporting the sky had shattered into dust, and the grandiose organ had long be a pile of firewood.
“...”
Overgeared King Grid...
Emotions crossed his wounded face as he looked at every corner of the empty battlefield. It was a strange expression like he wouldugh or cry right away. He felt the joy of winning the battle and regret over the contents of the battle, as well as a thrill. A wide variety of emotions crossed his ck eyes. There was a depth in his sunken eyes that caused a sensation among the public.
There were exmations from all over the stands. Grid was only 30 years old this year. He was a young man who hadn’t hidden his feelings when he first appeared in the world. In just four years, he stood alone after this show. The world held its breath.
“...Daejin Motors,” Grid finally dered.
The hot chests of the people watching him cooled down.
-What did he just say?Does he mean to promote apany?
-...The second Comet Group.
-I’m tired.
There was a reason why Grid was the ‘No. 1 model desired by advertisers’ for four years running despite closing down his advertising activities. It was because he couldpletely capture the advertising industry.
***
The meeting of the Daejin Group employees was turned upside down. Reports were pouring in. It was reported that Daejin Motors upied the top of the real-time search terms on portal sites of the six continents of Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Australia. The entire world was showing interest in Daejin Motors and the Daejin Group.
Of course, it didn’t matter if it was overwhelmingly negative interest. The noise marketing wasn’t for nothing. It was meaningful that the brand was known all around the world.
“Yes!” The president of Daejin Motors got up and cheered while the presidents of other affiliatedpanies watched him with envy. The excited president of Daejin Motors shouted at Chairman Lee Jinmyung, “As expected of Grid! As your prospective grandson-inw, it is normal for him to do extraordinary things. Still, how did he manage to promote it at such a perfect time...?!”
This was a state of excitement. It was apetition watched by billions of people, and theirpany was promoted at a time when the audience rating was the highest. They enjoyed a publicity effect that couldn’t be bought even if they paid a million dors.
Unexpectedly, Chairman Lee Jinmyung was calm. After all, he knew that he had to be careful when a big opportunity arrived. He leaned back in the chair and thought intently before saying to the head of the group’s public rtions team, “Don’t release the promotional articles.”
“Huh? U-Understood."
Right now, the world’s attention was focused on Grid, so it was a perfect opportunity to promote themselves. Grid had refused to be models of globalpanies. Once word spread that he chose Daejin Group, the effect would be an astronomical promotional effect.
Lee Jinmyung had also agreed only to suddenly change his mind. The head of the PR team was very confused, but he didn’t dare ask for the reason as he got on his phone. The Daejin Motors president asked on behalf of everyone, “It is difficult for me to understand your keen insight. Is it okay to ask what you are nning?”
“I’m going to trust Grid. The words from his mouth are worth more than one thousand articles.”
Chairman Lee Jinmyung realized that Grid wasn’t an inexperienced person.He was a talent who managed to ascend in a new society called Satisfy. The chairman thought Grid was a dragon who had been born in Kaechon under the god of luck, but that wasn’t it at all.
Grid had once described himself as stupid, but it was a terrible humility. Chairman Lee Jinmyung felt certain of it.
‘Grid is a genius.’
They could take advantage of this situation dramatically. Looking back, the timing of the proposed deal over Yura was very subtle.
‘Those deep eyes...’
This was a saying that couldn’t be used easily in reality. It was a phrase that would appear in novels. In fact, Chairman Lee Jinmyung had met countless people over the past 70 years, but he had never met anyone with deep eyes. However, the Grid on the screen had deep eyes at the age of 30. The ascension of the dragon wasn’t over yet. Chairman Lee Jinmyung noticed that Grid would reach a much higher level.
‘Maybe he is dreaming of an emperor...’
Duguen!Duguen!
Chairman Lee Jinmyung’s old heart was beating quickly. He felt a desire to be Grid’s wings. It wasn’t just because Grid was his granddaughter’s (prospective) husband. He was also attracted to the great individual named Grid.
***
The atmosphere of the awards ceremony for the Demon King Subjugation was like a funeral. The Demon King Subjugation event had ended. The yers had won five gold, silver, and bronze medals. They were rewards for the sess of the four heavenly kings raid and their contribution in the battle against the Demon King. It was the ‘minimum’ reward guaranteed in the Demon King Subjugation. If they had seeded in the event, three more medals would’ve been added and more yers would’ve been on the podium. It was disappointing for the yers.
Of course, not everyone felt that way. In the four heavenly kings and Demon King raid, Jishuka achieved the first contribution and won two gold medals. Thanks to her performance, Brazil was ranked ninth overall, so the Brazilians were in a festive mood.
Canada took second in the overall rankings thanks to Chris, who won one gold medal and one silver medal. The United States secured first in the overall rankings due to the activities of Kraugel and Zibal, and the atmosphere became heated up.
On the other hand, the people of China were overwhelmed with anger after losing their second ce ranking and falling to fourth ce. The Chinese participants hadn’t won a single medal, so their ranking result was the opposite of Korea’s, whose participants had won one gold medal. South Korea jumped from sixth to third ce.
“We didn’t even get in the top three this year? The continent’s weather has plummeted.”
“Dammit... We were pushed by South Korea...”
“There is no need to me anyone. The yers were pushed by the S.A Group, not because of their abilities. In the first ce, does it make sense for a South Korean yer to y the role of the Demon King? Thepetition itself wasn’t fair. Our China is the true third.”
The doubts and anger of the Chinese were reasonable. Demon King Grid had killed China’s rising star, Mei Xiao, at the beginning of the battle.
A press conference was held amidst this turmoil. It was a press conference for Yoon Sangmin, the executive director of the S.A Group and a member of the National Competition’smittee. He sat facing nearly one thousand reporters alone and picked up the microphone without the slightest bit of tension.
A reporter from CMM, thergest US news channel, asked the first question, “Many people are feeling doubts and haveints about giving special benefits to Grid, who yed the role of the Demon King. There is a consensus that the S.A Group is favorable to Korean yers because they are a Koreanpany. How is the S.A Group nning to put theirints to rest?”
“We can’t ept theints. We didn’t give any preferential treatment to Grid."
“Huh?”
“We have adopted the Demon King Subjugation as a regr event. It will be held every year in the future and the role of the Demon King will be assigned to a qualified top ranker, just like it was done with Grid this year. There is a use that says a yer who has been the Demon King once can’t do it again. Thus, this is a rification of the misunderstanding that the Demon King Subjugation event was prepared only for Grid.”
“Do you mean next year’s Demon King can get the same rewards as Grid this year?”
“Of course. If they achieve the same results, they will get the same reward. We have determined that the Demon King Subjugation event is suitable for the purpose of ‘apetition that joins yers together’ and will guarantee many rewards for both yers and the Demon King. We hope that all yers will enjoy it. The National Competition is a festival that promotes harmony in the world.”
“Will they receive the same stats correction?”
“Stats correction?”
“The stats correction Grid received when he took on the role of the Demon King. In fact, most people’s doubts andints were about the stats, rather than the rewards. It is the unanimous reaction from people that an excessive stats correction was the cause of the 1-against-400 victory. Next year’s Demon King will have the same correction effect as Grid’s Demon King, and people willin once again. The Demon King Subjugation will be a festival for the few people ‘lucky’ enough to be the Demon King.”
“Haha, that’s funny but you’re mistaken. The correction effect that we gave to the Demon King is the minimum qualification to be called a boss monster—health.”
“...?” The CMM reporter was confused because of the unimaginable answer. While he was trying to interpret the question correctly, other media reporters quickly spoke up.“Does that mean you didn’t give any benefits other than health?”
“That’s right. The Demon King gains 500,000 health every 10 minutes until the gates guarded by the fourth Demon King are broken through. That is the basic rule for a ‘raid’, and it is an inevitable benefit.”
“If it is 500,000 health per 10 minutes and the total progress of the raid on the four heavenly kings was one hour and 38 minutes, does that mean Grid had a total of 4.5 million health?”
“Oh, Grid only received 200,000 health per 10 minutes.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say 500,000?”
“That’s the basic rule. Next year, the yer who bes the Demon King will get an additional 500,000 health every 10 minutes.”
“No, then why is Grid different with 200,000 health...?”
“Grid’s subordinates who acted as the four heavenly kings were too strong. We were forced to put constraints on Grid.”
“...?”
He was so strong that constraints were ced on him...? If the Demon King Subjugation was to be adopted as a regr event and held steadily every year... It meant that Grid alone had fought in a disadvantageous mannerpared to the yers who would be Demon King in the future. They thought Grid had received preferential treatment, but it was reverse discrimination.
In this sizzling atmosphere, Yoon Sangmin released data rted to the Demon King Subjugation. Grid had only received 200,000 health every 10 minutes. The surprising thing was that the Grid on the screen didn’tin at all. He had been silent throughout the four heavenly kings raid and hadn’t shown any response to the penalty. It was a clear attitude.
He wouldn’t be the supreme yer if he couldn’t tolerate this much. In fact, he would be ashamed if he didn’t sacrifice this much. Grid seemed to endure it with his spirit.
“...” The press conference was silent. The people around the world watching the press conference were also quiet. All of them were impressed by Grid’s attitude. The one who broke the silence was a Japanese reporter. As soon as he had Director Yoon Sangmin’s permission, he carefully asked a question, “You said that the identity of the four heavenly kings are Grid’s subordinates... Are you referring to NPCs owned by Grid?”
“Correct.”
“Did they receive the S.A Group’s support?”
“Yes, it is stated in the application form for future ‘Demon Kings’ that the four heavenly kings must be the yer’s NPCs or pets. They have to use their own power to truly be the Demon King.”
“What correction effect did you give to the four heavenly kings?”
“It is like the Demon King. We gave them extra health to make it a raid. However, the exact correction figure will vary ording to the level of the four heavenly kings. Thus, I can’t tell you the exact amount.”
“The other stats?”
“There is nothing. For reference, the four heavenly kings this year didn’t receive any health correction.”
“...Huh?”
Grid and the four heavenly kings—the monsters that killed 100 rankers each had been in their genuine states...? It meant the NPCs owned by Grid were stronger than the 400 rankers. Moreover, wasn’t Grid a king? He wouldn’t only have four NPCs.
‘How much power does Grid have?’
‘Perhaps he can fight the empire?’
Yoon Sangmin’s press conference was meant to quell the confusion, but it ended up causing greater confusion. The reporters’ minds were filled with Grid. Yoon Sangmin’s press conference wasn’t over yet, but the reporters’ gazes kept shifting toward the clock. They were waiting for Grid to enter the venue after Director Yoon Sangmin.
However, time flowed too slowly. Not long after the reporters felt like this...
Yoon Sangmin rose from his seat. Then a handsome Asian man entered the conference. “I am Grid.”
The reporters’ anticipation was heightened because of his determined expression which made him seem like he had something important to say.