The Item Shop

Five teams remained.

Six, if you counted the one that would climb back through the losers' revival match.

Yeon-woo stroked his chin as he studied the lavishly decorated doors of the Item Shop.

When the production team laid out their plans, they must have figured almost nobody would still be standing by this point.

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They would have expected one or both members of most teams to be out already — and even the survivors to be hanging on by a thread of remaining lives.

That's why they limited the revival match to a single team leader.

But things had not gone the way the producers expected.

Judging by the kill logs that had come in so far, only two teams still had all three members alive: Korea and Japan. Italy, Israel, and Germany each had two survivors left.

Put another way, everyone was in far better shape than the production team had anticipated.

And the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fact that the surviving teams had come through relatively unscathed had a great deal to do with Yeon-woo and his teammates. A credit to some, a grievance to others — but either way, their Lü Bu-style rampage, cutting down every opponent they encountered while tearing across the island, had accelerated the survival of the five teams the producers had envisioned for the true finals far ahead of schedule.

We've already taken out six teams ourselves.

It had been five originally, then six once Brazil was added today. Six out of twenty teams total. Nearly a third of the field, eliminated by them alone.

And in direct proportion, the remaining ammunition Yeon-woo and his teammates carried had dwindled at an alarming rate. Having fought more battles than anyone still alive, they had almost certainly burned through more rounds than any other team.

Yeon-woo organized his thoughts as he looked at the sign before him.

Which is why our top priority is ammunition.

No one had gone inside yet. Besides Yeon-woo, two others had been prowling the hotel's first floor and discovered the Item Shop entrance the same way he had.

Japan's specialist and Israel's team leader.

No one else was in sight.

Most of them are probably back in their rooms by now, taking showers.

Kim Su-hyeok and Park Jung-hyeon had been soaked through by the rain as well, so they had headed straight upstairs. The cast members who had "clocked out" via helicopter had all crowded in front of the elevators at once, and there simply weren't enough cars to take everyone up together. Yeon-woo and the two beside him had stepped aside rather than cram into a sweat-reeking elevator, waiting for the next round.

Having stumbled onto the Item Shop ahead of everyone else by pure chance, it seemed wise to press the advantage — but he still had no clear sense of how to go about it.

First things first. I need as much information as I can get on how this shop operates and what it's selling.

And the most effective way to gather information was always the same: ask directly.

Yeon-woo brushed past the hesitant pair and approached the guard stationed at the entrance.

"Excuse me. I'd like to use the Item Shop. Are there any rules I should know before going in?"

The guard nodded and spoke.

"Entry to the Item Shop requires a one-point admission fee. Inside, you'll find a wide variety of items for sale. You can exchange your current equipment for different gear, and there are also items that apply penalties to your opponents."

Yeon-woo nodded and asked again.

"Is it possible to see the item list in advance?"

The guard shook his head.

"The catalog is only available inside, and you can only browse items you can afford with your current points."

In other words, someone holding five points couldn't even see what was listed at ten.

Which means I have the biggest information advantage — I hold the most points.

Yeon-woo nodded and asked one more question.

"Can points be transferred between players?"

"No."

The blunt refusal drew a faint smile from Yeon-woo.

If transfers are impossible, then the person with the most points is guaranteed to be me.

Water dripped steadily from his rain-soaked flight carrier. Without hesitation, Yeon-woo walked to the doors of the Item Shop. His wet combat boots squeaked against the marble floor of the hotel lobby.

"I'll enter."

The guard nodded, pulled out a tablet PC, and tapped at the screen.

With a heavy creak, the thick doors — ornate with golden ornamentation — swung open to either side.

And Yeon-woo stepped inside.

Having showered and changed into loungewear, Kim Su-hyeok and Park Jung-hyeon were finally catching their breath after a full day of grueling filming in the rain.

"Whew. Tougher than I expected."

"Honestly, I wrote it off as just a TV show — but the physical drain is enormous."

Kim Su-hyeok nodded at Park Jung-hyeon's words, pulled a bottle of water from the hotel minibar, drank, and smacked his lips. The dark beer in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fridge was looking especially tempting today.

"Maybe just one can before we sleep. Body temperature's dropped pretty hard — one can wouldn't hurt."

"Hmm. We're turning in early anyway, so one can shouldn't mess with our condition. Might even help us sleep better."

They were seriously debating whether to crack open a single beer each when the smartwatch on the table vibrated.

"What is it?"

"I'll check."

Park Jung-hyeon picked up the smartwatch and opened the incoming message.

"Hmm?"

Park Jung-hyeon tilted his head at the message, and Kim Su-hyeok asked,

"What does it say?"

"Our team leader just went into the Item Shop."

"…Where is that?"

The other teams in the hotel had received the same message.

"Hey, Marciano. Looks like this Item Shop thing is already open?"

"Where is it? How did the Korean team already know and get in first?"

Without even drying their hair, everyone scrambled into loungewear and raced downstairs to the hotel's first floor.

Meanwhile, inside the Item Shop, Yeon-woo was studying a monitor mounted on the wall.

One side of the shop displayed a time-series graph tracking changes in the "Championship Probability as Assessed by the 16-Member External Evaluation Panel."

Hmm. We were at thirty-four percent when today's combat started. After the penalty card scattered us, it dropped all the way to eight.

Japan, by contrast, had only slipped from twenty-six to twenty-four percent, while Italy — who had done nothing at all — climbed into first place.

Which means the team that hit us with the penalty card was Japan.

They had spent one of their cards, so a modest dip made sense.

Still — from thirty-four percent down to eight. Cut to a quarter.

The external experts had clearly judged that Yeon-woo and his teammates, scattered by the penalty card, had almost no chance of surviving. Over the following hour the number had kept falling, bottoming out at four percent.

They figured I'd get eliminated during the cornfield fight.

Then, after taking out the Brazilian team and reuniting all three of them, the championship probability had surged back to thirty percent.

Penalty cards…

They were genuinely troublesome. The Item Shop sold them too, the guard had said — and whoever bought one would almost certainly use it on Yeon-woo's team, now sitting in first place again at thirty percent. That much was obvious.

Incidentally, the interior design is pure Greek mythology.

Yeon-woo scratched his cheek as he looked around. The thought had already crossed his mind at the ornate entrance. The visual was reminiscent of the Gates of Paradise that the Italian sculptor Ghiberti had crafted for Florence in the fifteenth century. Whether the interior reflected the personal tastes of Blue Whale Gate's art director, he couldn't say — but between the marble statues and the soft ambient lighting, the whole place struck him as unnecessarily grandiose.

This is exactly the American approach Europeans always sneer at.

Throw money at it until it's as grand, impressive, and luxurious as possible. In a word: too much.

But this was being produced for a global market, so maybe audiences would appreciate the visual spectacle.

Yeon-woo walked down the magnificent corridor at a measured pace. Still in his combat gear, he cut a rather striking figure for the cameras.

At the end of the hallway sat a lone tablet PC.

"What kind of mismatch is this…"

Given how elaborately everything had been decorated, he had half-expected a witch caressing a crystal ball. Shaking his head, Yeon-woo checked the tablet.

"Hrmm…"

Yeon-woo frowned and pressed his temple.

I was hoping to pick something fast and go take a shower…

The production team had poured a whole bucket of mischief into the item list. The menu offered nothing but cryptic names — no descriptions whatsoever. He had expected something simple: Life Recovery Ticket, Penalty Card, Extra Ammo Resupply. Instead, they had embedded a miniature deduction game.

Everything's based on Greek mythology, for starters.

Pandora's Box (4p) was immediately, intuitively clear. In the myth, Pandora's opened box had unleashed every manner of misfortune, disease, and suffering — so it was obviously a penalty card.

Which means you pick without knowing what the penalty does. A random draw.

Vulcan's Forge (8p) translated, in their terms, to Hephaestus's smithy.

So a special ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weapons acquisition ticket?

The only player who could afford it was Italy-B. He held nine points total, so even after paying the one-point admission fee, he could still buy it.

Which means there might be another player with a special weapon besides Kim Su-hyeok.

And that player would be from Italy — already considered a formidable rival.

As for the rest…

Ambrosia and Nectar were originally a set menu, like a burger and a cola. Ambrosia was the food of the Olympian gods; Nectar was their drink.

Nectar is two points, so probably a Life Recovery Ticket. Then Ambrosia would be…

The effect was uncertain. It might even be an item that could resurrect an eliminated teammate. But for Yeon-woo — who had no eliminated teammates and plenty of remaining life recovery options — both were unnecessary.

That left Aegis (10p) and Hermes' Chest (1p).

Aegis — the ultimate shield.

America was particularly fond of that name. The air defense combat and weapons control system operated by the U.S. military was called the Aegis system, and the warships that carried it were Aegis ships.

Not that a shield would stop bullets.

That would be a balance-breaker — a so-called "game-breaking item." So what else could the strongest shield in the game possibly block?

Only one answer came to Yeon-woo's mind.

It blocks penalty cards.

Having finished his deduction, Yeon-woo spent all ten of his points and selected Aegis (10p).

As for the remaining option, Hermes' Chest (1p) — that was almost certainly an ammo resupply ticket. He could have Kim Su-hyeok bulk-buy those.