The Fisherman's Advantage
The feeling I had while playing Epic Legend was that, ultimately, it was nothing more than a body without internal energy wielding a new weapon called a gun. The shape of the game itself was no different from the things I had already experienced.
It was not the story of when I was being hunted by enemies in the past. There is a vast difference between dozens or hundreds of martial artists chasing after me alone to kill me and the current sixty survivors frantically struggling to stay alive.
What I wanted to talk about was the training carried out in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Have you ever heard the word solitude? It is like a kind of sorcery where venomous creatures are pitted against one another, and the one that survives until the end possesses the strongest poison. Change the words slightly and it becomes survival of the fittest. Yes. It is a word the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult cheers for and worships with fervor.
The cult used this method to select candidates for learning the divine arts. They would gather countless children in one place, force them to kill each other, and choose the strongest among them. I had gone through it myself several times and watched others do it countless more. From that experience I realized that in this kind of solitude, the most important thing is the fisherman’s advantage. It does not matter if you crush them all with pure personal strength, but it is far easier and more comfortable to make your enemies fight one another while you watch and enjoy the show from behind.
“They’re all fighting well.”
There was a reason I deliberately brought up the word solitude. The one who survived this fight would be the strongest among that trash, would they not? Dealing with those nobodies one by one was merely annoying and not the least bit enjoyable, so I planned to treat only the final survivor as a worthy strong opponent.
“Demon? Call me an efficient person.”
“Hmm? Is that so?”
“It has become bothersome.”
I had planned to watch the low-level brats below slaughter one another and then finish things off nicely, but now it seemed I had to kill them all myself. It was not a difficult task, yet I had chosen the easier path because one existed. How regrettable.
Let me see. I had already killed thirteen people on my way here, so if I killed everyone currently in this area I would reach exactly twenty kills.
After finishing my calculations I pulled a grenade from my chest pocket and tossed it into the middle of the fray.
“Before I go in, let me ask one thing. If I kill more people, will I receive more points?”
Then from now on I would simply have to slit the throat of everyone I encountered.
“I’ve heard that dozens of times already, and it’s even written right there on the broadcast window, so why do you keep asking me?! Aaaaaack?!”
Enri had been replying to the donor who was clearly trying to rile her up when a sudden gunshot made her scream. Enemy. It was an enemy. Calm down. Multiple gunshots were ringing out. It was hard to be sure, but they were probably fighting among themselves. Her position had not yet been discovered, so there was no need to go outside. For now she would wait until the gunfire stopped.
Enri took a deep breath and gripped the gun in her hands tightly. Ugh. Why did Ara suddenly declare she would reach gold before her? As broadcast content it was not bad. Seeing how much aggro it was pulling, it had clearly become a hot topic everywhere. Whether she won or Ara won, the video would still be entertaining. But she should have at least given her a heads-up!
If she had been given time to prepare herself mentally, she could have steeled herself for the roasting even if she lost! Of course the donations would roll in nicely, but her teeth would rot from the sweetness faster than they would shatter from people mocking her!
“It’s 5,350 points. I have 150 points left until gold.”
In truth, if she could simply reach gold before Ara there would be no problem at all. No matter how the match began, Enri could proudly claim to be the only streamer who had ever beaten Ara. Moreover, after countless efforts she would receive a flood of donations on the grounds that she had defeated Ara. Her MyTube angles would be perfect. The viewers’ cheers and the chance to tease Ara in person later were just bonuses.
Looking at the conditions, the one who should easily win this bet—no, the one who had to win—was Enri. While Ara earned 5,500 points, Enri only needed 150. Even if Ara took first place every game by slaughtering dozens of people, it would still take her at least three hours. Enri simply had to reach gold within that time.
It was an unfair condition from the start. If someone who did not know the situation were to place a bet, anyone would wager on Enri. Yet Enri could not imagine a scene in which she won. That was both doubt in her own skill and absolute certainty in Ara’s.
Ara would undoubtedly take first place every game by defeating dozens of players. There was no way the people in the lower ranks could withstand her monstrous physical ability. On the other hand, Enri earning 150 points in three hours was far from guaranteed. If earning 150 points were as easy as it sounded, why had Enri still not reached gold?
She had knocked on gold’s door countless times only to fall back down again and again. Would this time really be any different from the rest?
While she was lost in thought the gunfire suddenly stopped. Had the battle outside ended? Even though the commotion had ceased, Enri did not rush outside. How many times had she leaped out after only listening to the sounds, convinced it was safe, only to have her head blown off? Even if her learning ability was relatively poor, Enri was still human. After countless failures, experience naturally seeped into her bones.
The number of survivors had dropped by two. No footsteps. No sounds of looting. No breathing. There was no one outside. They must have taken everything and left. The zone would shrink soon, so she would move carefully to another location.
Thud.
Just as Enri was about to move, she saw the flashbang that had landed at her feet and stared at it blankly. She was not ignorant of the fact that she should turn her head, but her reaction speed was not fast enough to respond to a variable that had appeared while she was certain of her safety.
Her vision turned pure white. The sound of running footsteps and gunshots followed, and Enri could only watch her character’s death screen.
Aaaah. Aaaaaaaaah. There were only ten players left. Only ten! If just two more had died the points would have risen so much more! Then she would have only needed 100 points instead of 150! Surely her score had not gone down? She had not killed anyone, but she had still made it into the final ten. It would not have risen much, but it could not have gone negative. Right? Please say it’s true.
Praying inwardly, Enri opened the settlement window and let out a sigh of relief when she saw she had gained fourteen points. At least that was something.
“If you want to watch that, go to the next room!”
In the end, even winning a single game would be enough to reach gold. There was no problem at all.
“By the way, how many points does Ara have right now?”
“Deal! I have to do it even if I can’t eat!”
There was no time to rest. She had to queue as fast as possible and earn points. The most important thing was staying calm. She did not necessarily need first place. Play safely. The goal would be to finish in the top ten every game and stack points. She had the advantage. All she had to do was hold the line.
“Alright, let’s jump into the next game right away! And viewers who have alternate accounts! Go to Hwaryong’s stream and snipe her right now! If you manage to kill her even once it’ll be something you can brag about for the rest of your life!”
“I taste bad! I die to anyone and everyone! So please don’t snipe me!”
Absolutely. She would never lose! If she lost this, she would never touch an FPS again!