Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 49: The G.O.A.T

Chapter 49: The G.O.A.T

Around him, the bitter winds swept through as colossal golems forged of frost rose from the snow. A forest of bitter frost erupted; the army of knight-shaped elementals surrounded the lone Outlander.

[—Blessing of Cetus—]

Upon his back, the symbol of a whale took shape as he stood his ground. Each of the frozen elementals towered above him, wielding blades meant to crush giants in one blow.

Jae-Seong calmly brought his palms together as the ground rumbled with the match of the ice giants. As they drew closer, he pointed his hand up—

"Rise."

The surface quaked as a low hum crescendoed, vibrating the air—the call of a whale. It erupted from beneath, phasing through the soil; an ethereal whale, parting its maw vast enough to swallow mountains.

Like a sea of dazzling stars across the great blue, the astral whale rose, carrying with it the golems. Jae-Seong stood in the center of it, watching as it ascended with its ice-cold breakfast.

The creature born of the depths swam into the sky, emitting its call as the air trembled. Within its maw, the frost was swallowed.

As it reached the clouds, the whale shrank, growing smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a drop of rain. All that it swallowed were left to the void of its stomach, vanishing alongside it.

Jae-Seong expelled his breath as exhaustion began to show itself on his body.

"This is getting tiring. Back and forth, back and forth...How exhausting."

The tiresome spiels were followed by a yawn as Quintus rose himself upon a pillar of ice, sitting lazily on its peak.

["—I’ve never backed down. Not once in my life."]

—

[2018, World Boxing Middleweight Championship]

"Phew..."

Sitting in the locker room, hearing the muffled crowd past the walls, he sat with a wet rag resting on his head.

"Jae! Are you ready...?"

The chipper question brought him to lift his head, looking at the youthful, young woman standing in front of him. She wore the black-and-red jersey of his training camp "LEGEND GYM", holding out a cold water bottle.

"Sis...Yeah, I’m pumped," Jae-Seong responded, accepting the bottle as he squirted it into his mouth.

["Binna, my sister and manager. She’s been with me every step of the way, even when I was just a newbie who didn’t know how to throw a punch."]

The brunette girl puffed her cheeks in a pout, taking the water away, "You don’t sound pumped! C’mon—this is your twentieth title defense! If you win this..."

"I break the record for most title defenses in middleweight history. I’ll be the undisputed "Greatest of All Time." Jae-Seong said, breathing out as he sat up.

"So...show some spirit!" Binna clapped her hands together.

"Right," Jae-Seong said, wearing a faint smile.

["I couldn’t tell her. She was so excited for me to earn that status, yet—it couldn’t happen. I couldn’t win. It’s not that I didn’t believe I could beat my opponent.

The mafia had other plans. If I didn’t take the fall..."]

The walkout through the tunnel felt different; though he walked out to the upbeat song, cheered on by the tens of thousands of spectators in the audience—

He knew the reality of the situation.

"C’mon, Jae! Loosen up!" His coach said, slapping him on the back.

He nodded, walking towards the ring as the hands of those in the audience waved. On the way, he tapped some of the hands, keeping his eyes forward as the colorful lights shined down.

The ring was always his territory; the one place above all others he ruled. Tonight, it felt fake. As he slipped past the ropes, standing in his corner, the announcer boomed into the microphone—

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE UNDISPUTED MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, 78-0...JAE-SEONG..."THE MAN WITH STARS IN HIS FIST!"

As if the announcer spoke the name of a prophet, the crowd erupted into cheers. Across from him, the challenger to the title entered the ring with much less applause.

"AND THE CHALLENGER! 102-0..."THE RIPPER", IVAN VOLKOV!" The announcer shouted, pointing towards the man opposing the champion.

With a body covered in tattoos and scars, bald even down to the eyebrows, the man stood there like a robot, simply pounding his gloves together.

["A completely fabricated fighter. It’s entirely a sham. Every fight he’s been in, the other side has been paid to fall. An artificial champion, at least that’s what the underground wants."]

As he leaned against the corner, his coach massaged his shoulders before slapping them to warm him up.

"Remember what you’ve practiced!" The retired boxer instructed him.

Jae-Seong silently nodded, drowning out the noise as he readied himself.

"BEGIN!"

The moment the match was set, he put his hands up, meeting his opponent halfway. All of the lights, the cheers, the supporting words of his corner–all of it was muffled. He kept his hands up, not throwing a single punch, instead placing himself on the receiving end of his opponent’s flurry.

’It’s like slow-mo. I could bob-and-weave through every one of these blows, but...I can’t, not if I want to live,’ he thought, wincing as the glove struck his gut.

Still, he had to make it look at least somewhat real, throwing a punch here and there, though nothing with any knockout power behind it. As he threw a right jab, missing entirely and being countered with a hit he saw coming, it twisted his heart.

"Jae! Don’t let him hit you like that!" The coach shouted from behind.

"Keep your hands up!" Binna yelled.

Knowing the hopes his corner had for him, it hurt even more as he had to stand there and let the man with the fake record relentlessly bash him. In hopes of letting it end quickly, he let his hands down just as an uppercut was delivered to his chin.

Letting himself be openly hit by such a strike didn’t leave him to fake his fall as he dropped down.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT!" The referee counted, gesturing each finger in the dazed man’s face.

As he laid there, listening to the muffled cries of his corner, staring blankly at the referee, he only hoped for it to end right there.

["It’s the biggest upset in history if I lose here. All of my wins, none of it matters in the face of a loss like this–that’s the legacy of Jae-Seong. If I take the fall, I’ll be the greatest loser of all time."]

"SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!--"

["Fuck that.

A fire burned in his heart as he forced himself to his feet with a slight wobble, listening to the crowd erupt in support.

"Can you continue?!" The referee asked, grabbing his arms.

All he gave was a quiet nod, looking right past the official as he stared at the challenger. There was a look of confusion in Ivan’s eyes; the facade of a grizzled fighter left. He abandoned all thoughts except winning, closing the distance quickly as he got within Ivan’s personal space–

There was no chance for the faker to raise his gloves before Jae-Seong started delivering his counter. A single strike to the gut had "The Ripper" spitting out, nearly keeling over already.

Ivan gasped, whispering to him, "The fuck are you doing?! Do you know what they’ll do to you–nrk!"

The words of the faker were silenced by a quick jab to the mouth by the defending champion, who paid no mind to what was said.

["It’s not just my dream. Binna, Coach–they’ve dedicated themselves to being with me on this journey. It’s not just my legacy, so I can’t throw it away–not when I’m at the finish line."]

After just a few punches, Ivan was already bruised and battered, wobbling like a newborn calf. It almost felt like a joke to Jae-Seong, seeing just what the true level the faker was at–hardly a professional.

"Go, Jae!"

"Serve it to him!"

With the words of his corner pushing him, he stepped forward, ducking down right as a desperate haymaker was thrown by the challenger. He held nothing back, throwing his fist forward with everything he had.

["If this is my final fight, let’s end it with a bang."]

As his glove made contact with Ivan’s chin, the challenger’s body went limp, dropping to the canvas without any resistance.

The crowd erupted as everyone from his corner rushed into the ring, holding his hand up in victory. He soaked it all in, looking up as confetti rained down, feeling the utter admiration the world had for him.

["I became the G.O.A.T–the Greatest of All Time. Well, the very next day, the mob had something to say about my stunt. That’s how my first life came to an end, and I ended up in Gaia. Still, nothing has changed–when it comes to losing, I’m not very good at it."]

–

Against the endless winter, the lone Outlander moved hastily as colossal blades of ice dropped down upon him.

"Give up already, would you?" Quintus yawned, laying down on the frost pillar. "You’re wasting your effort."

"Man, do you ever shut up!?" Jae-Seong shouted in return, flexing his body as massive icicles homed in him.

[—Blessing of Hercules—]

With a clap of his hands, he shattered the incoming frost, sending a harsh gust in all directions.

’I have to blow away all of this snow and kill him, all in the same attack. It’s like trying to kill ten birds with one stone. Luckily, I’m a boulder,’ he planned.