Alexander did not like browsing the internet or watching TV. He had already set his goals and would rather put the time he spent on these activities into helping him reach his goal of reaching a higher place in Athenae. But even Alexander knew about Captain Rice, the hottest issue in the Infinite Battlefield.

As one of Athenae’s top figures, Alexander often talked with the other rankers, who told him about Captain Rice.

Alexander fully understood how a never-ending stream of match requests came the man’s way.

From what he had heard, Captain Rice matches were set at Level 300~400 on average. This was probably because the average level of Athenae players was around Level 320. Finding a game would be easy since there were so many players at that level. Based on what the others told him, Captain Rice would increase the levels of his matches by 50~150 immediately if he could not find a match.

Alexander was the only person who achieved 200 consecutive victories in the Infinite Battlefield. And right now, it seemed like his opponent had broken that record.

The moment Alexander approved of the match, a bright light flashed, and Captain Rice appeared in front of him. The man was as tall as Alexander, and his eyes were only visible through the black mask that covered his face.

***

Everything was a coincidence. Minhyuk had been spinning for a random match when the notification that he could fight a match with Alexander popped up.

When Minhyuk appeared, he saw Alexander with a crossbow fastened on his forearm, a spear hanging on his back, a sword in his hand, and a dagger tied to his waist.

For Alexander, who had won 500 consecutive matches, there should have been no more challengers coming to find him. But the rewards were highly ridiculous. If Minhyuk won this battle against Alexander, he could quickly obtain God-grade ingredients for himself.

Minhyuk’s heart trembled in nervousness. But there was also a tiny bit of delight present there.

Right now, Alexander and Minhyuk were standing on equal ground.

Of course, Alexander’s Weapon Master’s skills were extremely overpowered. But Minhyuk’s Food God skills, which were transformed into assassin skills, were also highly overpowered. To put it simply, the two would fight a battle of abilities.

Minhyuk looked at Alexander calmly as he listened to the notification. Everything was currently being recorded. Why? Because Carron had told him to make it a habit to record everything whenever he connected to Athenae.

–

Even though Minhyuk fought in countless battlefields here as Captain Rice, he still had not revealed the entirety of his powers. As mentioned before, many of his skills had been transformed into the skills of an assassin, which was also why no one had guessed it was him.

While he stared at Alexander, the man immediately made a move.

Alexander waved his hands, and small bolts shot out from the crossbow fastened to one of his arms toward Minhyuk.

Minhyuk was left in shock.

There were two decisive reasons players ignored the crossbow even though it could continuously shoot bolts. The first reason was because it had low accuracy, and the second was that it could only deal 60%~70% damage compared to the bow and arrow.

But Alexander’s crossbow was different. Its bolts flew precisely toward Minhyuk’s neck.

The worst part? It continuously fired bolts that attacked Minhyuk’s vital points.

The Weapon Master was the master of all weapons. He could handle any weapon. This time, a rope stretched out of Alexander’s hands and shot toward Minhyuk. But Minhyuk moved fast. He quickly avoided the ropes aiming for his ankles.

“Shadow Steps.”

Minhyuk, who used the assassin version of Like the Wind, left only an afterimage as he disappeared in a flash. But just like a ghost, Alexander appeared falling in the sky above him.

“Weapon Attack.”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened when he saw a gigantic axe with several daggers swinging down at his head. That was not all. There were also several bolts flying alongside them.

Minhyuk had heard of Alexander’s reputation as the Weapon Master. But this was his first time actually fighting him.

Minhyuk thought, moving to block the axe, which would cause him the greatest damage.

A loud sound rang loudly as Minhyuk deflected the axe away. He let a sword attack his flanks, which allowed him to roll to the side and avoid most of the attacks that came his way.

Alexander watched the man in awe.

This was the first time he had seen a player reduce the damage caused by Weapon Explosion to such a low level.

Alexander thought. However, he was unsure if he could do it as easily as the man before him.

The Food God’s biggest advantage was his cooking buffs. After being transformed into an assassin’s skill, its power was reduced by half. In exchange, it could be activated right away without using any ingredients or cooking.

Immediately after that, Minhyuk used his greatest secret skill.

The Dual Sword Technique was modified to fit an assassin. Now, he did not need to wield two daggers. Minhyuk only needed to swing one dagger, and it would display twice its speed and effects. The fact that the dagger’s speed could double for an assassin, who could already move and swing his dagger at a breakneck pace, was already unusual. And it was not only that. Even Minhyuk’s speed had significantly increased.

Minhyuk kicked the ground and shot forward.

At the same time, a huge cannon appeared right in front of Alexander and fired at him. However, Minhyuk simply twisted his body to avoid the attack. Of course, he would not let the opportunity slip by. Hundreds of daggers appeared around his body.

The Sword of Tempest changed into daggers, which moved to protect Minhyuk and attack his opponents. Seeing this scene, Alexander tried to raise his crossbow and shoot.

“Shadow Steps.”

With a whisper, Minhyuk quickly arrived in front of Alexander.

“...”The two made eye contact. The hundreds of daggers surrounding Minhyuk pointed at Alexander while he displayed a short and straightforward dagger technique.

Minhyuk caught the dagger he threw in the air and held it in reverse, the sharp side of its blade aiming for Alexander’s neck.

He immediately swung his dagger and targeted Alexander’s bottom half, abdomen, and flanks. Alexander tried to escape quickly, but Minhyuk held on to his wrists.

“...!”

Minhyuk dragged Alexander back with all his might as he cast the

“Gnawing Assassination.”

The dagger in Minhyuk’s hands moved in a flash of light and stabbed Alexander’s body more than sixty times in a row.

Alexander was dumbfounded when he realized he could not avoid or stop the attack. However, Alexander stood at the top, too. He raised his other hand and grabbed Minhyuk’s wrist.

“...?”

“Weapon Explosion.”

The spear on Alexander’s back pulled itself out and shot toward Minhyuk.

Of course, that was just the beginning. Dozens of weapons, like daggers, spears, maces, swords, dragon cannon artillery shells, arrows, and many more, jumped out of Alexander’s body and shot toward Minhyuk.

Like the spear, everything blew up and exploded in just one second.

If Minhyuk had the Sword of Carnage, then Alexander had the Weapon Explosion. The best part about Alexander’s skill was that it did not cause damage to the skill user.

Alexander took advantage of the opportunity presented to him right after the explosions ended. He swiftly summoned a sword while calculating the situation swiftly. He thought,

Then, he swung his sword at Minhyuk’s neck.

When Alexander was confident of his victory, the dagger in Minhyuk’s hand changed into a sword.

As mentioned before, players could freely change the weapon they wielded inside the Infinite Battlefield. However, if they chose to change their weapon into something other than the weapon they used, its effects would not increase. This is why most players viewed this negatively and would opt not to change their weapons.

Alexander’s sword was blocked.

“...!”

Captain Rice’s sword, which did not even lag behind his dagger, moved swiftly and clashed repeatedly with Alexander’s sword.

Alexander’s eyes grew wider and wider as they continued to fight. In the end, he said, “You…!”

“...Sorry.”

Alexander was no fool. There was only one player in Athenae capable of displaying this level of swordsmanship. Some might say that Minhyuk was only strong because he was the Food God, the Battle God, and the Beyond the Heavens’ Emperor. However, the true rankers knew full well that he was truly the best of the best.

Alexander and Minhyuk quickly pulled away from each other.

After realizing who his opponent was, Alexander quickly checked his condition.

Each of the attacks that Alexander had landed could be considered fatal. However, between the two, the one who received more damage was Alexander. Why? Because the amount of damage that Minhyuk could deal was beyond anyone’s imagination.

Alexander had also practiced various martial arts in reality. From what he had heard, Korea's MUSAT was a close combat technique that applied Krav Maga’s core. This meant that it was highly murderous and lethal, even more so because the one using the technique was Minhyuk

After realizing that his opponent was Minhyuk, Alexander decided to go all out. He knew he would never win against this opponent if he tried to hide and save something.

In one breath, Alexander’s Sword Mastery reached Level 27. Now, his sword could deal huge damage and have a speed that would put pressure on Minhyuk. But even so, his odds were still unknown.

And the most troublesome part? He did not know when or how the skills would strike him since they had been transformed into an assassin’s skill.

The two flashed a smile as they looked at each other. Alexander said, “This is fun.”

“Yeah. You’re right, Alexander. You’re powerful.”

The two were of the same mind, thinking it was fun to fight a battle filled with nerve-wracking tension. Indeed, there would always be this inexplicable thrill whenever two unrivaled beings in Athenae fought and clashed.

While the two kept each other in check, a series of notifications rang in their ears.

Alexander and Minhyuk looked at each other. They both understood the rules of the event. The number of their challengers would increase in this manner.

The two looked at each other once again before giving their approval. And just like the notification said, the broadcast immediately started.

Joy Co. Ltd. was not stupid. They knew how to attract most viewers to their broadcast. When the Infinite Battles’ broadcast started, they transmitted the video of Alexander and Captain Rice, the rapidly emerging powerhouse of the Infinite Battlefield, side by side. Because of that, their viewership ratings soared to the skies.