Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: 51. Match Fixing (6)
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Great powers.
In the world after the Reset, what could great powers even mean?
Truth be told, no one had really pondered that question in depth until now.
Because the early stages of the Reset had thrown all of humanity worldwide into a brutal survival trial.
On the first day of the Reset, the vast majority of people moved solely for their own survival—or at most, their family's.
This didn't change much on the second day.
Then came the third day of the Reset.
Though there were slight differences by nation, regional identities finally began to emerge.
Just as in Korea, where residents rallied around or submitted to their respective First Swords, similar things happened across the globe.
And on the fourth day.
From then on, powerhouses representing each region formed alliances.
The reason was simple: there was too much to lose in blind fights.
The mere fact that an opponent had survived to day four said a lot, so even the most confident in their own abilities hesitated to pick a fight.
Especially in places like Europe, surrounded by other countries on all sides, these "alliances" sometimes formed as early as days two or three.
Having "outsiders" right next door meant regional and national identities arose almost simultaneously.
The scope of "allies" expanded from family and local residents to fellow countrymen.
But even so, the concept of "great powers" still couldn't exist.
No powerhouse had a clear grasp of the situation in a country on the opposite side of the globe.
Up to day four, only a tiny fraction entered night dungeons, and even those who did rarely encountered foreigners inside.
Finally, day five.
By now, the twenty top experts from around the world—not just holding named spots but also gaining dungeon experience—gathered here.
In this gambling den of Batum, the day-five night dungeon.
‘…Twenty entrants. Coincidentally, every race is represented. This place is basically a world expo.’
And from that perspective.
‘Damn.’
Tuende Musa01, the nightmare of Limpofo, rubbed his still-clicking jaw nonstop since getting hit by Easterner07 earlier.
This might be the firepower of a great power, the first he'd encountered since the Reset.
And if it really was...
‘My pride's bruised, but I got off cheap.’
Tuende let out a sigh—not of relief, but close enough.
In the post-Reset world, mistakes usually led to death.
So normally, Tuende should already be among the dead.
After all, he'd challenged that monster who'd cleared five stages.
“…My God.”
“…….”
“Is... is all that... for real?”
Everyone in the waiting room was glued to the bizarre scene unfolding in Arena 1.
The guy from South Korea, Jeong Yeong-woo07, had now summoned mutants to smash up copies of the arena.
“Calling in reinforcements a top-rank trend now?”
“Fuck… how many more freaks like that are out there?”
“At least two out of the twenty here… so no less than 10%.”
“No way. That many?”
As expected, they were all discussing the arena situation, wondering just how many more like him existed.
They'd each thought themselves top-rankers, but the shock of realizing they weren't at all was reason one.
And.
“With land grabs starting tomorrow, now we're mixing with freaks like that…?”
“At least we learned not to mess with Korea or Romania.”
The threat from intuition—that countries holding "freaks like that" would become great powers—was reason two.
Before, the tangible "world" had been limited to tense standoffs with two or three neighboring countries across borders.
But today, here, they finally experienced the world on a global level.
The silver lining, if any.
“Romania? Eh. I have a feeling Dragosh might not make it out alive today.”
As someone noted, Romania's Dragosh had a high chance of not emerging from Arena 2.
He was still struggling against the remaining mutant copies.
“Weakling death—that guy's bet, right?”
“Now that you mention it. He'll kill him somehow.”
Everyone knew the Easterner who'd seized all eyes was the sole bet on weakling death.
The guy who'd beaten and chased off even Mara’s knights—couldn't he kill one lone human left in the arena?
As everyone predicted Dragosh's death, the last mutant in Arena 1 finally collapsed.
* * *
Boom!
As the massive bull charging through the arena crashed to the ground, Young-tae smashed its head with his fist and shouted.
「Done! This guy's the last!」
Kim Young-heum, the general who'd been scanning for any more charging mutants, wrinkled his nose.
「Is that right? Music to my ears.」
Then he coughed harshly, bristling all his fur.
The aftermath of the virulent storm Young-woo had unleashed had shredded not just their skin but their bronchi too, including Kim Young-heum and his three friends.
“Sorry. I didn’t realize it would affect our allies too...”
Young-woo bowed his head in apology.
He'd deactivated the storm right after his friends entered screaming, but it was too late.
「Still, we racked up a ton of points this time.」
Even now, CEO Kim Tae-jun spat an optimistic line.
He was suffering too, leaning on the arena wall, breathing laboriously.
「Only problem is no early quit button.」
General Kim grumbled, glaring at the sky.
Then he spotted the feed from Arena 2, still in combat, and asked Young-woo.
「What’s the plan for that guy?」
“Oh.”
Young-woo looked up at the feed too.
Dragosh appeared to have brushed death three or four times already.
His skills were impressive, as shown in stages one and two, but not enough for twenty mutants.
‘Leave him be, and he'll die on his own.’
Young-woo pondered briefly.
First place monopoly in this dungeon was locked.
The only issue left.
‘Kill Dragosh with the laser, or let the dungeon do it.’
The former would net a pile of evil karma and a few Romanian titles.
Plus a fraudster brand, spreading Jeong Yeong-woo07's infamy to Romania.
The latter.
‘No extras gained, but no variables either. Clean cleanup...’
But Young-woo didn't get to choose.
“Huh?”
「Huh?」
「Hey, Young-woo! That guy's dying!」
Before Young-woo decided, before his friends could fire the laser, Dragosh died.
“Damn, he croaked in the meantime.”
Young-woo watched Dragosh's corpse get shoved around by mutants, face conflicted.
‘Maybe he wasn't fated to die by my hand anyway.’
This actually eased his mind.
Continents would clash starting this morning—no need for extra brands.
And if some massive world war erupted post-Pangaea, he'd get sick of foreign titles.
「Stage 5: Strong survive. Weak die.」
「Stage 5 complete.」
The gambling den's final match ended, and light shone brightly under Young-woo's feet.
“Oh? Finally returning?”
And with that.
「…Huh?」
「Uh, Young-woo?」
「Shit, no way.」
Light blazed white under his three friends' feet too.
Trying to eject all outsiders from the arena had included the three who'd come from the returnee room.
「This okay?」
As General Kim Young-heum asked, feet now blindingly white.
Flash!
All four from Arena 1 teleported to the waiting room.
Pop, pop, pop!
Still in their massive mutant silhouettes.
「One participant acquires 1 betting point.」
The stage-five betting results followed, but no one in the waiting room cared.
“Huh… hah?”
“W-what the hell is this?”
Everyone recoiled in shock at the three sudden mutants.
Especially since all knew these were Jeong Yeong-woo07's reinforcements from stage five—no one dared draw a blade.
A blatant show of force.
Not that Young-woo intended it.
「Heh heh, one swing of my paw and half this room's dead. So everyone stay put.」
Even Young-tae, thrilled by the attention after so long, grinned wickedly.
“…….”
Anyway, the fourteen powerhouses left with valuable experience.
If they ever fought Jeong Yeong-woo07, they'd glimpsed exactly what they'd face.
「Grrr……!」
General Kim Young-heum scowled extra fierce, thinking some might threaten national defense later.
Then finally.
Fwaaa...
Summon time up, the three friends' bodies faded into the air.
Quitting time.
“You all worked hard. See you again.”
Young-woo waved goodbye; General Kim Young-heum twitched his silver whiskers, eyeing him.
「See you. Looking forward to whatever freak show next time.」
Then.
Pop!
Gone without a trace.
“Th-they're gone?”
“How the hell does he summon mutants like that?”
With the uninvited guests vanished, participants finally spoke up.
Young-woo ignored the disguised questions, staring at the system text in his vision.
[Jeong Yeong-woo07]
|Betting Score: 5
|Current Rank: 1st
‘Finally.’
The solo first he'd craved.
‘Now just settlement. Key is excess rewards.’
Eyes gleaming with anticipation, the usual dungeon info and completion popped up.
Ping!
[Batum's Gambling Den]
|Dungeon Grade: Rare
|Difficulty: C
|Recommended: 20
「Dungeon complete.」
「Survivors: 15.」
‘Twenty in, fifteen out.’
Five dead total.
That matched a full typical dungeon wipe.
Other participants knew it too, sighing in relief, chests heaving.
「Calculating individual scores for rewards.」
“Now it's really over.”
“Worst dungeon ever.”
“Gotta filter out ones with high recommended numbers from now on.”
Tension easing, chatter rose.
Top-fivers would get rewards soon; even non-rankers survived this madhouse—what more could they want?
Of course, what everyone wondered most was.
“First place… probably that guy.”
“All bets valid, right?”
“How many points does that make?”
The top contender Jeong Yeong-woo07's total.
Most here had never seen the max 100 filled.
But the soon-revealed score gave everyone yet another new experience.
[1st] Young-woo – Total 147/100
-Group Beating.
-Fraud Gambling.
-Property Damage.