Chapter 226
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 226: Match Fixing (4)
“68 of them? Are these bastards really insane?”
As Yeongwoo raged, blood gushed from all the wounds on his body.
Splash!
His skyrocketing blood pressure momentarily squeezed the blood out of him.
‘This dungeon was impossible to complete from the start. What kind of gamble is this?’
Yeongwoo was seething at the absurd difficulty, but ironically, the ‘gamble’ of this dungeon was properly established.
It was coincidentally represented by two chosen individuals: one was a promotional model for the universal weapon manufacturing company ‘Dogo,’ and the other served the so-called ‘Mara,’ king of the ten thousand demons.
Considering the prowess shown by Mara’s knights so far, the ‘underdog’ Dragos had a very high chance of surviving even the fifth stage.
On the other hand, Yeongwoo thought,
‘With 68 of them, there would hardly be any empty space in the arena. Can we handle this with bombardment?’
Moreover, the laser cannons currently installed in the returnees’ room couldn’t fire indefinitely.
The prisoners… no, Yeongwoo’s friends had to pedal to recharge the energy.
‘At this rate, not only will it be hard to target Dragos, but even surviving will be tough.’
68 mutants.
“……”
Yeongwoo swallowed hard as he looked around the vast arena.
‘Damn, no wonder it was so spacious.’
No matter how you look at it, this difficulty level was absurd.
‘I had a feeling there was something off when it was labeled as a rare grade in the dungeon information.’
[Batum’s Casino]
| Dungeon Grade: Rare
| Difficulty: C
| Recommended Number: 20
This dungeon, ‘Batum’s Casino,’ was the first rare grade he’d seen since the reset.
‘A rare grade with a C difficulty… Even this level is practically impossible to clear without being an irregular.’
As Yeongwoo reflected on what might be a belated realization, the final betting began.
「All participants, please complete your bets within the next 5 minutes.」
[1] Strongest survives, Weakest survives.
[2] Strongest dies, Weakest survives.
[3] Strongest survives, Weakest dies.
[4] Strongest dies, Weakest dies.
The final choice.
‘Most would probably choose option 2. Some gamblers might bet on 1 or 4.’
But Yeongwoo boldly predicted that no one would choose option 3.
With only one betting chance per person, no one would gamble on the option that seemed the least likely.
‘Even if I were a high-stakes gambler, I’d bet on 4 rather than pick 3.’
However, since Yeongwoo himself was the ‘Strongest’ one mentioned in the betting options, choosing 4 was not possible.
‘Damn it, let’s fight this out.’
This would probably be his boldest decision since choosing the golden ratio for the first time.
Yeongwoo decided to kill Mara’s servant.
‘Option 3. Bet on 3……!’
[3] Strongest survives, Weakest dies.
A scenario where he lives, and the other dies.
Yeongwoo completed his bet on option 3, but the results didn’t come out immediately as the other participants were still deliberating.
So, he looked at Dragos in Arena 2 through the broadcast screen.
‘That guy has probably never fought against 68 mutants either.’
As Yeongwoo watched the screen, Dragos also lifted his head.
He, too, was looking at Arena 1 through the broadcast screen.
“…….”
―…….
The two locked eyes indirectly through the broadcast screens.
Then, two of Mara’s knights escorting Dragos also looked at Yeongwoo through the screen.
One of them raised his left hand, extended his thumb, and made a gesture as if cutting his throat.
It was a threatening gesture, learned from Earth somehow.
“That bastard, really?”
Yeongwoo got angry again, but since most of his wounds had healed, no blood gushed out this time.
Those knights were, after all, minions sent by the king of ten thousand demons.
They couldn’t be expected to be courteous.
‘Well, I’m in no position to talk, having bet on 3 myself.’
If they were the followers of a great demon, Yeongwoo was the incarnation of malicious deeds committed with indirect intention.
「All bets for the 5th stage have been completed.」
While Yeongwoo was having a stare-down with the knights through the screen, the 5 minutes given for betting passed, and the results were announced.
| Option 1 – 3 votes
| Option 2 – 10 votes
| Option 3 – 1 vote
| Option 4 – 2 votes
“Ah……!”
Five gamblers had bet on options 1 and 4.
And the single person who bet on 3 was, as anyone could guess, the ‘Strongest’ one himself.
‘Those who bet on option 2 are probably trying to at least secure the basic rewards.’
In any case, it was a favorable situation for Yeongwoo.
If he managed to make option 3 a reality, there wouldn’t be a tie this time.
「With all bets completed, we will now begin the 5th stage match.」
Finally, as the system displayed the message signaling the start of the 5th stage, the doors on all sides of the arena swung open wide.
Thud, thud, thud!
Soon, mutants began pouring out from inside the doors.
「Kraaaah!」
「Grrrooo!」
‘My god.’
A scene straight out of hell.
The sight of 68 mutants rushing in all at once was truly a depiction of hell.
Among them, there was even:
Whooosh!
a copy of the venomous dragon Im Kwangho, whom Yeongwoo had encountered in Seoul.
‘Im Kwangho……!’
True to its dragon nature, it soared in from beyond the dark outer space, not through a door, gliding in like a massive airplane.
‘This is dangerous.’
68 mutants, including a dragon.
In haste, Yeongwoo drew his sword and slashed wide in front of him, cutting three mutants in half.
Slash!
Then, dozens of mutants on the left, right, and from behind lunged ravenously at him, so Yeongwoo quickly leapt into the air before getting buried under them.
Leap!
「Climber」 – Mutant Pants
【Jump distance increases by three times.】
In an instant, Yeongwoo reached tens of meters above ground, and from below, he saw Golden Trail fighting a lonely battle.
Then,
Bang!
Unable to withstand the sheer numbers, the Golden Trail was finally sucked under the mutants.
Yeongwoo immediately called for an artillery strike.
“Lupo! 917, 005, 3090, 08!”
Instantly,
Whoosh!
Instead of the bright light of the laser cannon, a heavy shadow covered Yeongwoo in midair.
“Ugh!”
The venomous dragon, circling the arena’s sky, had rammed into him.
“You bastard!”
As he plummeted towards the ground, head-butted by the dragon, Yeongwoo felt his heart pounding unusually hard in the extreme danger.
‘W-why is my heart racing like this?’
His heart was pounding strangely enough that he clutched his chest and realized,
“Ah.”
he saw a green hurricane-shaped icon flashing in the corner of his vision.
‘Right. My heart now is.’
「Dragon’s Heart」 – Legendary Heart
He shared the same heart as this venomous dragon that was about to slam him into the ground.
And the effect of not processing this heart into an amulet was…
Crash!
“Ugh!”
Falling to the ground with the furious dragon, Yeongwoo barely managed to regain his grip on Bastard and started stabbing the dragon’s forehead repeatedly.
Stab, stab!
Then he saw the green scales of the dragon writhing in pain suddenly turn white.
Finally, the laser beam shot from the returnees’ room had arrived.
Boom!
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Brightly illuminating the surroundings, the laser struck the center of the arena, wiping out about 20 mutants in the area, including part of the dragon’s long tail lying on the ground.
“……!”
Seeing this, Yeongwoo stabbed the seemingly dead dragon’s head once more and then raised his hand into the air.
Swoosh.
Then,
“Ritual……?”
He called forth the green hurricane icon still flashing in the corner of his vision.
It was the special ritual of the dragon, the Venomous Hurricane.
Then,
Wooooosh!
The air flow around the arena started changing peculiarly, and the surroundings slowly began to turn green.
‘It, it really works?’
Not only was it a visual effect, but it also appeared to be actual venom, as the expressions of the mutants filling the arena began to twist in pain.
And just as pained as the mutants,
―…….
was Dragos, who was being shown on the broadcast screen of Arena 2.
At this point, the only threat to him, Jeong Yeongwoo, kept pulling out strange techniques, making Dragos increasingly anxious.
While Mara’s knights were dealing with the mutants, Dragos watched the screen showing Arena 1, where the ‘Strongest’ was.
Suddenly, he saw the Asian man, No. 07, pointing and saying something towards him.
“What’s he saying?”
Of course, the broadcast screen didn’t transmit sound.
So, Dragos could only guess it was some sort of threat, and his guess was soon confirmed.
Wooooooosh!
The sky above Arena 2 turned white.
“Kn… Knights?”
Realizing that the terrifying laser, which had only been striking Arena 1, was now coming to this side, Dragos hastily called for his guards.
The knights, who were slaughtering mutants, stopped and looked up.
「…….」
They were usually silent, but this time the situation seemed different.
“We’ll be fine, right? This time too?”
Seeing the laser cannon descending from above, Dragos asked again, and the knights raised their weapons high.
Swoosh.
Then,
Flash!
A huge golden dome formed around the tips of their raised weapons.
“…Oh.”
In other words, they created a sort of shield.
And almost at the same moment,
Boom!
The planetary bombardment laser from the intergalactic arms company Toma struck down on Dragos and the two knights.
* * *
It’s over.
It’s the end.
The laser bombardment from Toma couldn’t penetrate the shield of the knights sent by Mara or whoever.
“Toma, you pathetic Weakest lings……!”
Yeongwoo raged as he saw Dragos and his party still alive and well on the broadcast screen.
“You idiots!”
Though he cursed Toma, he knew better.
Mara was supposed to be a god-like entity.
The Master of the Void, the one who walks in the shadow of universal law, the King of Ten Thousand Demons…
There was no way a mere arms company could do anything against such a being.
In other words, he had been demanding the impossible from the start.
‘So, after all this hard work, I won’t even get the first-place reward?’
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Yeongwoo swung his Bastard Sword.
Swish!
Two mutants clinging to him were cut in half, and more mutants swarmed in.
The number of mutants left in Arena 1 was about 30.
Thanks to the poison of the Venomous Hurricane, the Weakest er mutants were already half-melted.
Additionally, Yeongwoo’s venomous blood corroded the attackers’ skin, so unless they were mutants from the fourth or fifth day, they weren’t a significant threat to him.
But that wasn’t the issue.
‘At this rate, the three who bet on option 1 will take the points.’
Yeongwoo had bet on option 3, the Strongest survives—the Weakest dies.
Therefore, before all the mutants in this arena were annihilated, he had to find a way to kill Dragos somehow.
‘Is there no way? What cards have I not played yet?’
A critical emergency.
Yeongwoo’s mind raced.
‘I haven’t called my friends yet. But how can my friends handle those knights who even block bombardments…?’
If there’s no need for further bombardment, he could call them in to rack up some contribution points.
For now, it was a card that wouldn’t be much help.
‘Then what do I have left?’
Yeongwoo’s eyes naturally drifted to the sky.
The company, Dogo, which pushed him into the role of the ‘Strongest’ by giving him quests, had been silent for a while now.
“Chairman?”
Yeongwoo called out to the chairman towards the sky.
There was no response, so he looked at the advertisement tattoo on his right upper arm.
“You’re watching, right? Please sponsor me with a weapon or something that can kill that guy. There’s still a lot of advertising fee left, isn’t there?”
The chairman must be watching.
After all, wasn’t this the moment when the weapon from the rival company, Toma, had just been humiliated in front of the entire universe?
A chairman with a Strong competitive spirit wouldn’t miss such a rare scene.
But no matter how much he looked up at the sky, there was no sponsorship of weapons or even the quests that the company used to provide at its convenience.
They insisted he play the role of the Strongest, but when the opponent turned out to be Mara, they clammed up.
“Seriously, do you only act tough based on who you’re up against?”
Fuming with sudden anger, Yeongwoo shouted,
“Chairman, are you scared? Is Dogo just a pathetic company after all…?”
The moment he simultaneously criticized the chairman and the company,
Crack!
The sky over the alien planet Lupo opened, caused by「Dogo」.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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