Chapter 263 : Free For All Inside the Box Outside of the Box

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‘That little bastard was already level 274 when I was in Egypt. Who knows what level he’s reached now?’

Despite the thought, he was genuinely happy with his Alter Egos’ growth and said to the group, “Aside from Thousand, who’s still unreachable, almost everyone is here.”

Met with silence, he continued, “I don't think there's a need to introduce Tian Long. She’s the one who’s going to help us win this war. But her help will cost us an arm and a leg.”

He ignored some of the chuckles from his brothers and Tian Long’s grimace. “If there’s a specific skill you want, you’ll have to contribute. We’ve got a few weeks left to catch up to the monsters in the other kingdoms. I’m counting on everyone to drop the side quests and do whatever it takes to maximize our progress.”

Understanding Sora’s plan, Twelve stepped forward. “You’re going to start by absorbing the ten lucky ones who got a 1★ skill?”

Sora nodded. “Yeah. Then it’ll be your turn. We’ll review all the skills gained, and I’ll return both your strength and your soul power to you.”

The selected players approached Sora, ready to share their skills and experience.

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One week before the end of the New World Kingdom’s protection period.

Sora stood before all his Alter Egos.

To his left stood Tian Long. To his right, Netsu. On his head, Hiyoko was sitting, eyes full of tears.

“Sora! You can’t accept their stupid proposal!! This is totally dumb! Uncle Seven is mean!! Don’t listen to him!” she shouted, louder and faster with each word.

Sora stayed silent. He couldn’t bring himself to accept Triple-Seven’s “suggestion.” But he couldn’t ignore it either.

Triple-Seven spoke up.

“Hiyoko… I’m Triple-Seven! Uncle Seven is over there — he didn’t suggest anything. That aside, you know I’m right. The next battles are approaching fast. And we can’t keep this many of us around. Right now, Sora can only bring 9 Alter Egos into battle. If we go above that, we’ll get slaughtered.”

Hiyoko shook her head furiously. “No! You still have one week! You can level up like Uncle Thousand and beat up the demons!”

Thousand was surprised to be mentioned and answered, “Just because I reached level 300 doesn’t mean I’m that strong, little bird. Most of it comes from the skills and powers I picked up in Uruk... Without those, I wouldn’t stand a chance against the others.”

Sora looked up at Thousand.

He had reached the maximum level and had grown in both size and muscle. He had also begun a transformation triggered by the change in his [Bloodline] after succeeding in Gilgamesh and Enkidu's trials.

Blood-red tattoos moved freely across his skin, almost alive, and his whole body radiated a terrifying pressure.

Like Dae Stark, the Korean fighter Sora had met in the Ascension Tower, Thousand had become a combatant relying solely on raw physical power.

"Little Hiyoko, our training didn't go exactly as planned... You know that all of us can't be all powerful... The dragon's item is flawed." Triple-Seven tried to reason with Hiyoko.

"What the hell are you saying?! My item is what allowed you pigs to become this strong, and you're complaining that it's not enough? You're the flawed item! Your whole gang of clones are the flawed items." Tian Long who had been observing quietly exploded in anger and was about to stand up stopped herself when she sensed Sora's irritation.

Tired of the conversation, which had been dragging on for nearly ten minutes with no conclusion, Sora cut off the exchange.

“Tian Long, I'm grateful for your help, and so is everyone here. Please bear with my brothers' rude attitude." He gave a look to Triple-Seven who stayed quiet before continuing.

"I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I can’t find a better alternative than your plan, Triple-Seven. But I forbid anyone selected to die permanently.”

Twelve let out a chuckle at Sora’s final line. “Selected? If anyone wants to sacrifice me just to be selected — they’ll have to kill me with their own hands.”

Feeling the rising tension and battle spirit among his brothers, Sora almost couldn’t stop them as they began standing up one after another.

The entire group was seconds away from breaking into a full-blown brawl when Sora said, “We can’t do this here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Turning to Tian Long, he added, "We'll be back."

Sora pulled a cube from his inventory — and disappeared instantly.

Before Tian Long could make sense of what had just happened, Sora, his familiars, and all of his Alter Egos had vanished.

“Where did they all go? That kid does this every time something interesting is about to happen! What kind of item allows him to do that?" She complained, mostly to herself.

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When all his brothers appeared around him in the [Box outside of the Box], he spoke up, “Everyone, limit your consumption during the fight to 10,000 [Soul Pearls]. If we use more, we’ll end up broke. To save some time and energy, I’ll ask you two questions.”

Some alter egos looked disappointed by the new rule, while others seemed indifferent. Still, they all listened closely to Sora’s questions.

“Who wishes to withdraw?”

Hearing that, a number of alter egos stepped back from the competition and stood behind Sora.

Among them were alter egos specialized in research or Soul Power collection, who hadn’t yet discovered supreme skills or fused any skills with Tian Long.

Surprisingly, Newtons was one of the first to give up. Sora looked at him with disbelief. “Are you serious?”

Newtons chuckled. “I’m not really into fighting. I’ll leave that to the others.”

Sora shook his head.

‘This little genius is one of the strongest here, and he prefers not to fight... There’s only one reason he’d do that.’

Understanding Newtons’ real intention, he nodded to his younger brother and sent him a mental message, “Thank you, Newtons. I owe you one.”

Newtons laughed, realizing his secret was no longer one, and scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed.

Turning to the seven hundred alter egos who still wanted to fight, Sora asked his second question.

“Does anyone here want to nominate someone for the nine alter egos who will join the upcoming battles? Anyone with over a hundred supporters will be selected automatically.”

Twelve understood Sora’s intent and immediately replied, “You can take One Hundred-One.”

Seeing the nods and the wave of raised hands, Sora smiled. “One Hundred-One, come stand next to me.”

That alter ego didn’t wait—he appeared behind Sora and closed his eyes, beginning to meditate in silence.

“Triple-Seven,” Twelve said next, mentioning a name that struck fear into the remaining alter egos.

When over five hundred hands went up, Triple-Seven looked disappointed and slowly walked over to Sora.

“You guys are no fun...” he grumbled loudly, but he understood his brothers’ choice. His ability to turn enemies into gold wasn’t exactly subtle.

“Shade.” Twelve named a third, and once again, the person mentioned was instantly selected.

“Thousand.” The muscle-bound alter ego took his place behind Sora.

“Thirty-Two.” The shyest alter ego looked uncomfortable being the center of attention and vanished from the sky. Triple-Seven patted his shoulder once he joined the elite lineup.

After that, Twelve stopped speaking. No more names were called, and most of the alter egos seemed satisfied.

Only five players had clearly stood out during their training time. The rest would have to fight for their spot.

Sora spoke again, “There are over seven hundred of you, and four spots left. Don’t gang up on the strong ones, and don’t form teams. Don't pull your punches. The last four standing will be chosen.”

The alter egos floating in the cubic space drifted apart, positioning themselves strategically based on each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Once everyone was ready, Sora addressed the floating orb in front of him.

“Start a challenge for my guests in the sky. Free-for-all, non-lethal, four winners. No touching the cube walls or the floor. Time limit: one hour.”

Once the command was issued, the orb emitted beams of light that wrapped around each participant.

After a few seconds, a countdown appeared in the sky.

As Sora stood there, eager to see the results of the battle, he felt several couches materialize behind him. Turning around, he saw Newtons already lounging, popcorn in one hand, sunglasses on his face.

Sora went to sit beside his younger brother and sighed. “This is how you use your [Soul Power]? To make couches and popcorn? Watching them fight is that entertaining to you?”

Newtons chuckled. “It’s not every day you get a show like this! And it didn’t even cost a pearl to make all this, so don’t be stingy. Want some popcorn?”

Sora ignored the offer and pointed to his brother’s glasses. “What are those? You used that much energy just for a pair of glasses?”

Newtons smiled at Sora’s curious look and handed them over.

“You have good eyes! This cost me a thousand [Soul Pearls] to make. See for yourself.”

Sora put the glasses on and was surprised to see text appear around each person he looked at.

“Try looking at the ones up there.”

His gaze landed on Twelve.

[Target: Twelve]
Status: Second Leader
Threat Level: C+
[No Supreme Skill, No 2★ skill]
Comment: Natural coordinator. Combat ability is below average, but has high synergy with other alter egos. High EQ. High sense of self-sacrifice.
Winning Odds: Top 100 – 7% | Top 10 – 0.25% | Top 4 – 0.01%

‘What the hell?’ Sora was shocked by the highlighted text.

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The Throne's 'flaw' will be explained soon.