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CHAPTER 174 — START OF ROUND 11
One day before Round 11 began, Ryu Min met Min Juri.
“What is it you said you had to give me?”
“Yeah, this.”
When he held out a slightly large ring box, Min Juri’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s.
“Th-this… what, what is this?”
“Open it.”
With a pounding heart, Min Juri opened the case, and without realizing it, let out a gasp.
A huge five-carat diamond was shining brilliantly.
Thump thump thump thump—
-Wh-what do I say? I’m not mentally ready yet…
Since it was obvious what kind of delusion she was having, Ryu Min quickly drew the line.
“Don’t misunderstand. I got it as a gift from someone I know, but I don’t need it, so I’m giving it to you.”
“You don’t need this?”
“What would a guy do with jewelry? Sell it or use it however you want.”
“How much is it worth?”
“They said the appraised value is 300 million.”
“Th-three hu-hu-hu-hundred million?!”
“It might go for more.”
“……”
Now Min Juri couldn’t even think to close her mouth.
“Wh-why are you giving this to me?”
“I told you. I don’t need it.”
“You can sell it.”
“That’s a hassle. Even if I sell it, to me it’s pocket change.”
“…You know what? Just now, that was annoying.”
“It’s true, though.”
Ma Kyung-rok’s company, which had a market cap of 900 billion, doubled in just eight months.
Naturally, Ryu Min’s investment doubled along with it.
Meaning he effectively held close to 600 billion in assets.
In that situation, what was he supposed to do with 300 million—stick it on whose nose?
“To me, it’s literally candy money. But it won’t be for you, right? It’ll be more useful in the hands of someone who needs it.”
“H-but…”
“With that, help your father, and while you’re at it, do your dutiful-daughter act. Business at the convenience store probably hasn’t been great lately anyway.”
“That’s true, but you don’t have to do this. I don’t want to owe you.”
“Don’t think of it as a debt. Friends help each other. If it really burdens you, just think of it as a gift.”
“Who in the world gives a 300-million gift?”
“They exist. Rich people are all like that.”
“……”
She wouldn’t yield a single word, and she wouldn’t back down either.
Instead, Min Juri found herself thinking hard about what she could possibly say to refuse.
“You just have to say thank you. You don’t need to feel pressured.”
“I really don’t need help like this…”
She said that, but honestly, Min Juri wanted it.
She was working at the convenience store with her father, but sales only kept dropping day by day.
He’d even confessed, with a guilty conscience, that they’d burned through the ten million won Ryu Min had given them as living expenses—and it had gotten so bad they’d had to take out a loan.
Just the other day, she’d been wondering whether she should sell the equipment she was wearing to raise emergency cash.
The truth was, the situation had been desperate, so she couldn’t help being tempted by the jewel.
“Really… I can take it?”
“I’m telling you, yes.”
“Thank you……. But I’m not just taking it. I’m borrowing it. I’ll definitely pay you back, with interest too.”
“Fine. Do that.”
Min Juri held the diamond close to her chest.
Thinking of how grateful she was to Ryu Min.
“Thank you, seriously, seriously. But let’s be clear about this.”
“What?”
“I’m already a dutiful daughter, okay?”
November 1, 00:00:00.
The time to go to the other world was always exact.
On the first of every month, they fell into narcolepsy and collapsed onto their beds.
Their minds were looking around the grasslands of the other world, though.
[Hello! 690 humans? This time, for some reason, you all returned without a single dead person?]
No dead people?
That made sense.
‘Because most of them are Plseba members.’
Out of 690, 489 were remaining members of Plseba.
Plseba members were upright humans chosen after strict character tests, so there were no fights among them.
‘And it looks like the other 201 didn’t fight either.’
Probably thanks to the CPF unit led by Black Scythe; during the entire month of October, no idiots showed up committing crimes.
Seo Arin’s CPF public service ad also seemed to help.
‘If you’re not an idiot, you’d understand. There aren’t even that many people—if you fight like you’re trying to kill each other, you only lose.’
The more murders there were, the more the number of achiever slots shrank.
It was like narrowing the hole you yourself had to squeeze through.
[Then, before I explain Round 11, since there are so few of you, we should proceed with zone integration first, shouldn’t we?]
When the angel fluttered its wings, rrrrr— the ground rumbled as the grassland was recomposed.
Maybe because this was already the fourth zone integration, there was no sign of panic on people’s faces.
They only started panicking once the integration was completely finished.
[Are you flustered because there are more people than before? Of course you are. We integrated all zones worldwide.]
“A-all zones?”
Somehow, the grassland was filled with people stretching on and on without end.
They’d thought it was still done in units of five thousand like before, but the scale had grown larger.
[The zone name is CA-EA001. As I said, we integrated all 190 zones across the world, and the number of participants is exactly 132,126. There are 195 countries in the world, but countries with large populations may be split into multiple zones. Conversely, countries with small populations may be combined with other countries.]
“Well, places with huge populations like India or China would have multiple zones. Not like us, ending with a single zone.”
The Players listening nodded.
Since all countries had gathered, that was why the grassland had so many people.
There were many angels too.
Even the angels floating in the sky explaining looked to be around 190.
They each continued their explanations toward the people of the zone they had been in charge of.
[From now on, we will continue in a single zone, so understand it that way. Now then, shall we reveal the Round 11 quest?]
◀ ROUND 11 ▶ <MAIN QUEST>
└Accumulate points for 24 hours in a fantasy world <SUB QUESTS>
└???? multiple
[INTEGRATED ZONE CA-EA001]
└Participating zones : 190
└Achieving zones : 0/95
“Huh? What is this?”
“Participating zones? Achieving zones?”
“Not participants and achievers?”
As Players murmured at the quest window that differed from usual, the angel explained.
[In the previous round, you filled the number of sub quests in the fantasy world, correct? This is a mission in a similar context. The difference is that it is a team battle where the team that accumulates the most points wins.]
“Team battle…?”
[That is correct. Unlike the previous round, which was based on individual results, this time you will proceed as one team per zone.]
“Per zone…?”
“But the zones were just integrated.”
[Of course, I mean the zones from before integration. It differs slightly by zone, but you can think of it as parties of roughly 700 people. They are not real parties that share experience, but teams that share only victory and defeat. A community of fate, you might say?]
“Ah…”
As if they understood, the Players nodded.
[The quest is simple. Move around the fantasy world and do sub quests to accumulate points. The points you accumulate individually are added to your team’s points, and the team with the most points wins.]
“Ah…”
“It really is a team battle…”
“You get points individually, but you win together.”
“Then even if you don’t earn many points, you could still survive?”
[That is correct. Even if someone loafs around without earning points, as long as their team ranks high, that person also passes. From the team with the most points, ranks 1 through 95 will pass.]
“Ahh, so that’s why it said participating zones and achieving zones, not participants and achievers.”
The Korean Players looked at each other.
Now, they were no longer rivals they had to eliminate, but a team sharing the same boat.
[Even if you are a team, you do not receive rewards together. The rank rewards you receive at the results tally are based on individual performance.]
“So there’s individual performance too.”
“But if you can’t get into the top three, you won’t get any reward anyway, right?”
“Yeah.”
[Now that you have been integrated into one zone, rewards from this round onward have been strengthened a bit. If you want to place in the rankings, you will have to work hard.]
Despite the angel’s words, people wore indifferent faces.
They didn’t even hope for rank rewards only three people could receive.
It was enough just to earn as many points as possible and survive.
[Since zones have been integrated, we must reduce the Zone Representative to one as well. Based on individual performance, I will appoint the Player who takes first place in points as the Integrated Zone Representative.]
“First place in individual performance?”
“Then we have to give up on Zone Representative.”
No one said it out loud, but everyone thought it.
That Black Scythe might take first place again.
[You must work hard to survive, but there is another reason you must earn points. If you survive this round, a Special Shop will open where you can use the points each of you earned.]
“Special Shop?”
[There, you can use the points earned this time to use and purchase special buffs or items. Points are, in other words, the currency of the Special Shop.]
At the words that points could be used as currency, motivation appeared on Players’ faces where it hadn’t existed before.
“Whatever it is, getting lots of points is the most important thing.”
“At this point, everyone, let’s do our best. We’re going to do quests like crazy and stack points!”
The Korean Players steeled their resolve and looked at the other Players.
There were many foreign Players they hadn’t seen before.
Since people usually didn’t customize to the point of changing race, it was possible to distinguish Players from other countries.
‘This round is basically a kind of international competition for points.’
So everyone seemed motivated, but there was something the angel still hadn’t said.
Another way to obtain points.
[There are many ways to obtain points. During the 24-hour time limit, if you clear sub quests scattered around regions like last round, you will receive points based on difficulty. If you hunt field monsters, you will receive points along with experience.]
“Simple enough.”
“Like last time, we just have to grind sub quests like crazy.”
People spoke confidently with grins, but the moment they heard the angel’s next words, silence fell as if it were a lie.
[Ah, and you also receive points if you kill another Player.]
“…….”
[I will not tell you how many. Kill and find out for yourselves. It’s more than you think, you know? Hohohohot.]
The angel smiled brightly, but no one could laugh along.
-You get points for killing people?
-Then if you kill someone on the same side…?
-No. If you kill your own team, it’s a loss. You’re losing a worker who could earn points.
-If you’re going to kill, you should kill humans from other countries.
As those thoughts transmitted one after another, Ryu Min sighed and slowly shook his head.
‘It went exactly as the angels intended. They’ll see each other as enemies and fight.’
The rule that you gain points by killing people wasn’t there for nothing.
It was a rule meant to make humans wary of each other and kill each other.
‘After splitting them by country like this, in Round 12 they’ll give them a quest that forces cooperation across countries.’
Whoever designed it had a truly rotten taste.
Clicking his tongue internally, Ryu Min looked at the Players.
As if nothing had happened, they broke the silence and started chanting “Fighting!” again.
“At this point, everyone, let’s do our best while doing sub quests!”
“If we move in a group, there’s nothing to fear!”
“That’s right. Our country has Rank 1, Black Scythe!”
“Stacking points won’t be hard! Let’s all survive together!”
They rallied—only for a moment.
[Then, since the explanation is over, I will send you to the fantasy world immediately. Ah, and for reference, the starting location is random.]
“R-random?”
[It would be no fun if everyone started in the same place.]
Realizing they would have no choice but to scatter, everyone fell silent.