Escape the First (Part 2): Goddess Points Are Crucial
Goddess Points were a big deal. The reason I'd been acting like some sex-crazed maniac was because I could get stronger through sex, and the origin of that power lay in a cheat enabled by Goddess Points.
A divine blessing from the goddess that worked in a form similar to sex magic. According to one otaku hero who devoured isekai stories—we called him the 'Sage' among us—it was something like the 'one-time reincarnation cheat voucher.' If you could get them, you had to prioritize them over everything else.
If I hadn't had Shin Yu-hee as a party member, and if I couldn't grow stronger through sex, I would've just summoned any five randos—Helma be damned—and butchered them without a second thought.
Until now, I'd had some leeway. Before I killed Helma, the average wins for reserve heroes in the arena hovered around zero. Even counting all twenty of them, they hadn't cracked ten wins total. Excluding me and Shin Yu-hee, the other eighteen had barely scraped together two.
Choi Yu-jin was the only one pulling off normal victories, and Park Chang-su... well, he'd probably licked Helma's pussy or whatever to scrape by. But now that Helma was dead, things had changed.
'The average is already at two wins.'
Wins were piling up like crazy. I'd snuck off to find Grimwald to renew our room contract and fish for info, and that's when he dropped that intel on me.
"The ones who got captured with you are racking up wins fast. Not sure if that's good or bad for you, but you should know. Here—table of wins I tracked up to an hour ago."
"Thanks for the info. How much?"
"Free, of course. Look at all the cash you've made me."
"Nothing's more expensive than free."
"But valuable, right?"
"Of course."
Most were at one or two wins. No one had hit five yet, but the reserve heroes were steadily picking off foes they could actually kill. Whether it was masochists who figured dying was better than suffering under Helma any longer, or Helma's underlings who were easy pickings without her backing them—they were targeting sure kills.
Even Choi Yu-jin had notched three wins already.
"Were they all this strong from the start? Or are they aggressively calling in proxies? They don't even have many Exchange Vouchers."
"If you use the system right, killing's a breeze. Even in Red Light Green Light, you can just shove someone and watch 'em die. Right?"
"So, in a death game like this, they're fighting with killer intent and offing people. The ones who aren't those 'kill-me-please' types you mentioned."
"Exactly."
After leaving the room with Shin Yu-hee and heading to Arena 13, I scanned the win chart Grimwald had given me.
"Choi Yu-jin three wins, Kim Chae-rin two, Yoon Ga-ram two, Park Myung-jin two, Kim Ki-hwan two..."
"Kim Ki-hwan?"
"The knight dude."
"Ah, figures."
"They've all caught on. Once the newbie protection ends, they could be next on the menu."
"And what tipped them off...?"
"Park Chang-su."
Who would Choi Yu-jin or Kim Chae-rin—folks trapped in that brothel—want to kill first after Helma croaked? Park Chang-su. But when they tried to nominate him, they couldn't. There was still time left on the clock.
And that realization hit them: nominations could come their way too.
'They'd been targets from the start, really.'
With Helma's backing gone, anyone like Kim Chae-rin—tied down by brothel debts—would've been safe even after protection ended. Out of fear of Helma. But now Helma was toast, the brothel was trashed, and everyone was nominating left and right to escape...
"Who do you think the locals here will nominate? Folks they at least know? Or these fresh-faced college nerds who just turned legal and never saw a fight in their lives?"
"Ruthless."
It was obvious who'd get picked. Kill before getting killed. Classic death game logic. With their time-limited invincibility shield against nominations, reserve heroes started hunting down anyone weaker.
"Sunbae. Did you tip them off? Or are they just instinctively moving now?"
"The answer to that's... with the guy over there."
Arena 13. Amid the crowd, there were about six familiar faces.
"Ah! Oppa..."
Choi Yu-jin waved enthusiastically when she spotted me, but her face froze when she saw Shin Yu-hee at my side.
"...Hey, Yu-hee?"
"Yes. Hello."
Shin Yu-hee bowed politely. She wasn't clinging to my arm or anything—just standing there beside me. But that alone had Choi Yu-jin biting her lower lip like she'd been scratched.
She could sense Shin Yu-hee's composure. No need to fawn in front of other girls.
"What's everyone gathered here for?"
"Oh, Chae-rin's going for her third win right now. Opponent's... one of the guys from the brothel."
"Hm?"
Pshook!
A woman in the arena thrust her spear through the guy's heart. Not just stabbing—she pinned him to the wall, immobilizing him completely.
"Unexpected. Thought she'd pick some easy, untouched pushover. Did she really win fair and square?"
"They're getting used to killing now. And those were the weak brothel errand boys who threw punches back there."
"Beating grown men ain't easy."
"Thanks to you, oppa. You showed 'em: just kill to win."
...Had my influence accidentally sparked their arena guts? Unintended ripple effects were a pain, but I wasn't gonna make an issue of it.
"I see. They're doing well. Smooth sailing to escape."
"Oppa. On that note... we talked it over among ourselves."
Choi Yu-jin gestured to Kim Chae-rin on the arena and the other women eyeing us.
"Ki-hwan ajusshi and the others—we formed the 'Chekhov Alliance.'"
"Chekhov Alliance?"
"Yeah. No matter what happens next, we'll cooperate with each other as much as we can."
"......"
"W-we could still betray and kill each other, sure... but having allies we can side with? Better to help when we can, right?"
"Sure, it'd be nice. But cluster too tight, and you'll piss people off."
They'd learn once they got out. We'd suffered endlessly here, but to outsiders, we were just survivors from some loser's bracket revival match. Like the side-eye you get after barely passing a near-fail with professor mercy—P/F retake saving your enrollment.
"Ah, Si-woo oppa!"
The woman from the arena charged over, spear in hand.
"I-I won! Three wins!"
"Good. Congrats."
"Uh..."
"Chae-rin-ah. Over here."
Kim Chae-rin looked like she wanted to say more as she rushed up, but Choi Yu-jin yanked her back to their group.
"Seemed like she had words for you. Or not?"
"Why bother...? No need to care."
Shin Yu-hee sounded utterly indifferent, her gaze fixed elsewhere.
"Looks like they're on guard against us over there."
That cluster wasn't reserve heroes—it was guys dressed like nobles.
"The Noble Union, right? Not real nobles."
"Guys LARPing as nobles 'cause they've got Exchange Vouchers overflowing."
"Must be strong, huh? Lots of vouchers means..."
"They didn't farm hundreds just grinding mobs. Some are Helma-tier strong."
"Sunbae."
Shin Yu-hee pulled out her survival log.
"Those guys over there—they just watched while Helma stuffed women into the brothel, right?"
"Yeah."
"Prime customers too? Y'know, like in movies—dudes dropping millions to buy girls."
"Pretty much."
The so-called top-spender clients.
"Brothel madam never touched 'em physically 'cause they were cash cows, yeah?"
"...So then."
Shuffle.
Shin Yu-hee yanked out thick stacks of Exchange Vouchers from her log.
"Grab a good weapon with these, nominate one of 'em, and kill before I hit five wins—too nosy?"
Nearly 300 vouchers easy. Obviously, they were all mine.
"Fucking hell..."
But Choi Yu-jin and the girls, spotting the stacks from afar, gulped and glared at Shin Yu-hee. If they thought it was hers, it'd sting with the gap. If mine? Her managing my shit would spark envy anyway.
-Si-woo-ya. Back on Earth, if you've got a girl you love? Just show face around her friends to save face. One older hero noona told me that.
-To really flex... hand over your card or wallet. Girl holding the purse strings on her man? That's game over among women.
-So just hand it over for real, noona?
-...You nuts, Si-woo? I won't let my Si-woo get played by those bitches. Fuck. If I was ten years younger, I'd manage it myself.
Learned a ton. Women's weird psychology—the latter hits harder.
"Do whatever."
Just flashing those stacks, and the reserve heroes' stares at Shin Yu-hee screamed gap. Girls, anyway. The guys...
"Whoa..."
"Fuck. We're screwed."
Not quite jealousy—more like something else.
"Alright then... I'll do what feels right?"
"Go wild. I'll clean up."
"Nominating."
Shin Yu-hee waved at the weary referee of Arena 13.
"...Who do you nominate?"
"That guy there."
Some nameless Noble Union schmuck.
"Been eyeing my tits. I'll kill him before my fifth win and bounce."
Sacrifice, jackpot.