Chapter 229
Chapter 229
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 229
Chapter Title: 52. The Eulsa Japanese Invasion (1)
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‘Overflow reward……!’
Youngwoo’s eyes widened.
Next, the scores from 2nd to 5th place were announced below the 1st place results, but none of them stood out.
Most of them had scores below 50 points.
[2nd Place] Lewis – Total Score 47/100
-Match analyst.
-Safety-first.
-Keen eyesight.
[3rd Place] Tuende – Total Score 38/100
-Boldness.
-Challenger.
-High accuracy.
[4th Place] Wooheon – Total Score 33/100
-Quick betting.
-Intuition-based.
-Same-type preference.
[5th Place] Stefan – Total Score 29/100
-Lucky.
-Lack of confidence.
-Coin flip.
“W-What… 2nd place is only 47 points?”
“What was 1st place? Isn’t it over 100 points?”
“5th place is just 29 points.”
Most in the waiting room were shocked by the low scores of the top rankers, but to Youngwoo, it wasn’t surprising at all.
‘No way you’d get a high score in a dungeon where you just sit and bet.’
In Youngwoo’s view, there were only two ways to score high here.
One, participate directly as the representative.
Two, storm the arena and rig the match outcomes.
That’s why Youngwoo, the sole survivor among those who entered the arena, was the only one with a high score.
「Rewards will now be distributed according to the confirmed rankings.」
Finally, the highlight of this dungeon—rank-based rewards—was revealed.
Flash!
[1st Place] Youngwoo – Body Codex
[2nd Place] Lewis – Random Narrative Equipment
[3rd Place] Tuende – Random Narrative Equipment
[4th Place] Wooheon – Random Unique Equipment
[5th Place] Stefan – Random Unique Equipment
“…Huh?”
“Body Codex?”
“What’s a codex?”
As expected, everyone’s eyes bulged at the unfamiliar 1st place reward.
There were 14 other survivors here besides Youngwoo, and none had ever laid eyes on a codex reward before.
‘Well, overflow scorers aren’t that common.’
Youngwoo calmly claimed his dungeon reward with a neutral expression.
Shick.
At the same time, silver-white or orange boxes appeared in the laps of those who placed 2nd to 5th.
Of course, for Youngwoo.
「‘Body Codex’ has been added to Jeong Youngwoo07’s data.」
A single system message floated up instead of a box.
The other participants realized the 1st place reward wasn’t a physical item and began crowding around him one by one.
“H-Hey.”
“What’s a codex? Mind if we take a peek?”
“A codex is a codex, but what’s a Body Codex……?”
“We’re all from the same dungeon, right? Let’s share some info.”
Some even pulled out the bizarre common ground of ‘same dungeon survivors.’
“…….”
Watching this, Youngwoo sensed the dungeon was truly reaching its end.
By the book, the portal would open soon, fully closing the dungeon.
That’s why everyone had the guts to boldly approach the 1st place winner with questions.
But the dungeon system hadn’t forgotten. The final rule of this gamble.
「We will now identify the lowest betting scorer.」
“What?”
“…Huh?”
“W-What does that mean?”
The noisy waiting room fell silent in an instant.
Then someone cautiously recalled the problematic rule.
“Didn’t they say that in Phase 2? The lowest scorer… dies.”
It was true, and those near the bottom of the betting scores remembered it crystal clear.
—Additionally, at the end of Phase 5 matches, the participant with the lowest betting score will definitely die.
—If multiple participants tie for the lowest score, up to three will be randomly selected to die.
Lowest score: definite death.
If many tie: up to 3 drawn.
“N-No way.”
“They already killed a bunch in the arena. Why draw more deaths?”
Only two in the room uttered lines filled with despair.
Right on cue, a separate system message appeared only in Youngwoo’s view.
[Dungeon system has accessed part of your data.]
‘Huh? Because they’re screening?’
He’d been a preemptive candidate, but this was still a first.
Receiving separate reports of the dungeon system’s internal activities.
A moment later.
「Screening complete.」
「Two lowest scorers will receive punishment.」
“P-Punishment?”
“These bastards! Punishment my ass, it’s basically…….”
As people murmured, the waiting room ceiling flashed briefly, marking two of the 15 with X symbols overhead.
“Huh?”
“Aaah!”
Sure enough, they were the exact two who’d sighed right after the lowest scorer announcement.
“S-Spare me!”
One of the two now marked for death lunged at Youngwoo, pleading.
Instinctively clinging to the strongest person here—the one the dungeon system rated highest.
Thud thud!
The man actually reached his feet and grabbed at his legs, leaving Youngwoo too stunned to shake him off, his face showing bewilderment.
“I… I can’t persuade the dungeon for you. Sorry.”
The apology was half-hearted, but the inability to sway the dungeon was 100% true.
There probably weren’t many beings in this universe who could alter or ignore dungeon rules.
“…Ah!”
The man clutching Youngwoo’s leg spotted something, his face twisting in terror.
Then.
Shaaa!
He vanished like steam from Youngwoo’s feet.
“Huh?”
“Eek!”
“W-What just happened?”
No laser or anything—just marked, then poof, gone like smoke. Everyone recoiled in shock.
Entering the dungeon was consent in itself.
Consent to such one-sided deaths if the situation arose.
“I-I wanna leave. When does this end?”
“Yeah, isn’t it over now? Let us out!”
The shock turned to terror, everyone plastering themselves against the walls, screaming to be released.
Soon after.
「Dungeon closure in 10 seconds.」
「Please exit via the portals, participants.」
The long-awaited dungeon closure notice appeared.
“Q-Quick……!”
Dungeons usually ended with survivors reconciling or forming future alliances, but this one was pure shock and horror.
Everyone bolted in panic to their assigned portals.
Flash, pop!
Amid it all, Youngwoo thought.
‘…Survived unscathed again today.’
He scratched his chin, grateful he didn’t have to explain the codex.
‘Out of 20, only 13 survived.’
Mortality rate: 35%.
One hell of a dungeon.
「6」
「5」
With the closure countdown ticking, Youngwoo hurried toward his portal.
* * *
3:42 AM.
Escaping the insane gambling den, Youngwoo rode Negeug straight toward Gangnam.
The reason? Sleep.
‘Gotta hurry. Might squeeze in three hours if I’m lucky.’
Having barely slept the past two days, securing sleep was laughably his top priority right now.
But with Pangea starting at 8 AM, he had at most three hours to crash.
‘Chased by sleep, chased by taxes… What kind of life is this?’
Do people know?
That Jeong Youngwoo07—Korea’s strongest, nay, East Asia’s top contender—lives scraping for sleep time like this.
Kwang! Kwang!
Listening to Negeug’s footfalls, Youngwoo opened the Body Codex from today’s dungeon.
Flash!
「The Body Codex can store all types of bodies. Once registered, you can use their functions without wearing them directly.」
‘Insane… A Body Codex. Still can’t get used to it.’
Before, codex tooltips never creeped him out, but seeing it as the ‘body’ version hit different.
‘So later, I could collect extra arms—attach two to my body, register two in the codex?’
Entertaining the grotesque idea, Youngwoo shifted to the next tooltip.
「Each codex has unique collection effects. Exceeding certain completion thresholds grants astonishing blessings or skills.」
‘Hmm.’
What could the Body Codex’s collection effect be?
‘Bodies’—hard to imagine.
The positive note, though.
*1 point remaining until Phase 1 collection effect unlock.
‘Huh?’
The Body Codex’s collection unit was 5.
Unlike other codices unlocking every 10, this one did so at 5, 10, 15, etc.
And Youngwoo’s current body collection status:
[Body Codex]
〔4〕
‘Four. Just one more to go.’
Of course, the codex system wouldn’t shrink the unit just for user convenience.
‘Means body gear is that rare, right?’
Indeed, among gear acquired so far, body types were far rarer.
‘Then Myth codex might not be 10-unit either?’
Youngwoo’s mind raced again.
‘But not 2-unit. That’d have a pre-notice like the Body Codex.’
Still, probably not 5 like this.
Body gear was rare, but myths were on another level.
Most likely unit, then.
‘…3?’
Plausible.
‘The Myth Codex includes not just Myth gear, but mythical beings too…….’
Like the Chairman, for instance.
Dangerous thought, but killing the Chairman would fill one slot in the Myth Codex.
‘Anyway, take down one more myth, and I’ll know the unit size for effects.’
As Youngwoo pondered the codex, the golden goblin in the back pointed a tiny finger forward.
-Kieek!
Finally, the Parnass Hotel silhouette entered Youngwoo’s and his alien retainer’s views.
“Ah, time for a proper long sleep.”
Sweet home.
Youngwoo urged Negeug faster toward his rare deep slumber.