The Ice Potion Bucket Challenge
RPG Mode!
Raise Dave!
Your Majesty!
They say to catch a tiger, you must enter its den, do they not?
Dave has done it.
He boarded the very ship to ensure Bahu could not escape!
Support the King.
Finish off the rebel!
Show the Emperor's majesty!
Reward? [Territory Increase: Port]
I know. Even if you try to stop me, I'll do it anyway.
Dave's eyes were resolute, yet tinged with sorrow.
They were not the eyes of a man trapped in a snare, but of someone who had stood there from the beginning, prepared for whatever came.
“Strategic mana potions… thirty of them. Three million won from the third-floor terrace, Mr. Kim Hwang-je. One hundred seventy million won! Any further bids?”
All eyes turned to Kim Hwang-je.
He leaned against the terrace railing, tapping his fingers restlessly.
The hunters flinched at every movement of those fingers.
After his earlier display of strength, even the smallest gesture made them tense.
‘…Is he threatening us right now?’
‘Why go so far over a single potion?’
Everyone looked up at him with puzzled expressions.
“If there are no further bids, sold!”
They had no idea where this potion race was about to lead.
“Next up, thirty boxes of master-crafted red health potions. Starting bid is sixty million won, rising by three hundred thousand each time!”
“One hundred million.”
Kim Hwang-je raised his hand again.
“One hundred million from the third-floor terrace, Mr. Kim Hwang-je!”
At this point, the guilds began to murmur.
“Is he planning to drive the price up?”
“There's still plenty of stock. Why start bidding so early?”
“This much we can match. One hundred thirty million.”
“First floor, Gray Eater Guild. One hundred thirty million!”
“Two hundred million.”
Kim Hwang-je raised the stakes further.
“Two hundred million from the third-floor terrace, Mr. Kim Hwang-je! Any further bids…? Sold!”
Thud, thud, thud!
With the auctioneer's cheerful gavel, the potions were delivered to the third-floor terrace.
The murmuring grew louder.
But Kim Hwang-je paid no attention to the other hunters.
His eyes were fixed anxiously on the battle unfolding before him.
He held a bundle of potions in his hands and paused to think.
When would be the right moment to give them?
“This next item carries the workshop's sense of humor. It's a vitality potion made alongside healing potions—the [Tiger's Vigor Tonic]!”
Another item came up for auction.
Without even glancing at it, Kim Hwang-je held up two fingers.
A gesture meaning two hundred million.
“The third-floor terrace…! Mr. Kim Hwang-je! Two hundred million again!”
No one else bid, so it sold without resistance.
Kim Hwang-je turned to Seo Jun-seo.
“Do you have a bucket for the potions?”
“Pardon?”
“Never mind. This will do.”
Kim Hwang-je began pouring the potions into an ice bucket meant for chilling champagne.
Since it would be difficult to drink them mid-battle, he planned to simply pour them over their heads.
What should he call this?
The Ice Potion Bucket Challenge?
“Wait… look at that.”
At that moment, the participants from the Warrior Alliance on the third floor stared at Kim Hwang-je.
Those on the same floor could see clearly what was hidden from the hall below.
Kim Hwang-je was pouring the potions he had just bought into another bucket.
Several such buckets stood around him.
They whispered in shock.
“It's a provocation. He's dumping the auctioned goods into champagne buckets right now!”
“Why on earth? Is he trying to sabotage our raid?”
“A terrifying scheme. And he's not even hiding it—he's doing it right in front of us!”
Whatever they thought,
Kim Hwang-je hummed as he poured identical potions into multiple buckets and stirred them.
Done.
All he had to do was pour them at the right moment.
Clang!
Dave's sword, charging like lightning, aimed for Bahu.
Bahu kicked his spear into the air, caught it, and blocked the strike.
Boom!
Yet with a single exchange, Bahu was sent flying, smashing through a mast before crashing down.
“Gah! He really is a monster!”
“Admiral!”
The admiral's knights rushed in to block Dave head-on.
But with a few swings of his sword, three heads flew.
“Do not engage him recklessly!”
Bahu had fought alongside Dave on the battlefield for many years.
He knew all too well how powerful the man was.
“Fire the nets!”
Bahu leapt to another ship and fled.
Dave's path was blocked by Bahu's elite knights.
The strategy for facing a superhuman was simple.
Wheel tactics.
Ships converged from all sides, lowering ladders onto the flagship.
As if planned from the start, a chaotic melee erupted on deck.
“Your Majesty, I have allied myself with a mighty Demon King. Demon King Izkaya is on my side!”
“I shall pretend I never heard that!”
Shaking Dave's resolve mid-battle was nearly impossible.
Bahu gave the order.
“All forces! Slay that foolish dreamer!”
“Royal Guard! Cut down the traitors!”
Dave shouted in return.
Dave himself was a monster, but the Royal Guard he had personally trained were no pushovers either.
“The King has no reinforcements! No mages, no priests. That is all he has! Overwhelm him! Exhaust him! Force him to use the Holy Sword as much as possible!”
Bahu urged his troops loudly.
“Uwooooooo!”
Bahu's soldiers charged across the deck toward Dave.
The groaning planks splintered from every direction, sending splinters flying.
Through the thick sea fog and fishy stench, blades flashed and fell toward Dave.
But to Dave, everything was crystal clear.
He unleashed his mana all at once, creating a spherical shockwave that exploded outward.
Boom!
The deck of the upper level shattered.
Wooden spikes erupted like waves, stabbing into the soldiers' abdomens.
“Guhhh!”
The Royal Guard used similar tactics.
They detonated the mana within their bodies, blasting enemy soldiers into the sea.
“Bahu! What are you afraid of? You said you would bear the burden for the people! Come to me! Break me!”
A thunderous lion's roar erupted.
Even the roar alone sent Bahu's charging subordinates flying in all directions.
Dave was not a man—he was a typhoon.
The admiral's flagship creaked under the typhoon's fury.
“Nubo and Iblee, fire the cannons!”
“B-but Admiral! Where are we supposed to shoot?”
“At the flagship's stern! Blast the entire deck apart!”
“Whaaat?!”
Dave stood on the admiral's warship.
They were being ordered to fire on him?
No army fought like this.
But to Bahu, who had fought Dave on the battlefield for so long, it was only natural.
The cannons of two warships aimed at Dave.
Boom! Boom!
“…You truly know me too well.”
Dave sliced the incoming cannonballs in half.
Boom!
But fighting while cutting down cannonballs was no easy task.
Dave cut down several enemies with one swing, then had no choice but to slice the falling shells at the last moment.
Clang!
“Hup!”
The hand gripping his sword tore open, blood flowing.
Even for a man like him, blocking a barrage of cannon fire was never simple.
Many of the Royal Guard were already wounded, blood streaming from their bodies.
Noticing the blood dripping from Dave's grip, Bahu swung his spear and rallied his men.
“Look! His strength is not infinite either. Now, charge! Wear down his mana!”
Suddenly, a massive scroll appeared above Dave's head.
“Wh-what is that?”
Bahu swallowed hard as he stared at the enormous magical scroll.
He had never seen magic like this in his life!
Brilliant light burst from the scroll in all directions, and a gentle wind scattered the sea fog.
“Supplies from His Imperial Majesty!”
“Long live His Imperial Majesty!”
The Royal Guard praised Kim Hwang-je.
Their condition was far worse than Dave's.
“Is there no spatial transfer suppression?”
“We are casting it!”
The mage beside Bahu stared at the rippling magic circle in disbelief.
A large-scale spatial transfer suppression spell was definitely active!
Yet the scroll remained there as if nothing had happened.
“Then what the hell is that?”
Suddenly, the scroll sprayed potions like a shower.
Red potions, blue potions, and all sorts of others rained down over Dave and the Royal Guard.
Every kind of potion touched their skin, displaying a rainbow of colors.
They looked as if they had been smeared head to toe with multicolored cream.
“Wait, what is that?”
The grotesque sight made the soldiers recoil in fear.
To make matters worse, the Royal Guards' eyes changed because of the [Tiger's Vigor Tonic].
“New strength is surging!”
“Tiger's energy!”
The Royal Guard shouted loudly.
All mana has been restored!
Moreover, an immense mana aura erupted from Dave's entire body.
“Now then, shall we begin again?”
“This is cheating!”
Bahu stepped forward with a hardened expression.
He could not lose in such an absurd manner!
Just then, a subordinate shouted.
“Admiral! Spirit trees!”
“What? What do you mean, trees in the middle of the sea!”
Bahu was an experienced man, but this sight was beyond imagination.
“Kiaaaaaak!”
“Kyaaaaaaaak!”
The eerie cries of the trees echoed from below the deck.
Black trees rose from the blue sea and began climbing onto the deck.
It was a sight straight out of a horror film.
Trees were literally swimming across the sea.
“Aaaagh!”
A soldier impaled by a branch screamed and collapsed.
As if on signal, trees from all directions pressed down on the soldiers.
The trees, dripping sticky, salty seawater, leapt onto the ships.
Bahu felt dizzy.
“No! Why the hell are tree-type monsters crawling up from the sea! Is this the Emperor's doing too!”
Bahu felt truly wronged.
If it had been an octopus or something, he could have at least admired it, but trees?
“Hahaha!”
Dave pounded the deck and laughed.
“Behold, Royal Guard. This is the majesty of His Imperial Majesty! He makes trees grow from the sea! Fight with all your strength!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Royal Guard, practically bathing in overflowing potions, swept through the soldiers.
That was not all.
The potions rained down like a storm, rapidly healing the spirit trees' wounds as well.
Whenever a Royal Guard was wounded, crimson potions immediately poured from the sky.
Of course, it healed both the guards and the surrounding soldiers,
but the soldiers were no match for the Royal Guard.
Dave needed no explanation.
“That's it!”
This was the power of spending money!
The stronger you became the more cash you threw in!
Kim Hwang-je watched through [World Observation] and nodded in satisfaction.
He poured flame resistance potions into a new ice tray and stirred.
“Ohoho, now then, shall we apply some flame resistance potions…”
Immediately afterward, the potions were Bestowed.
Resistance potions rained down over the Royal Guard and spirit trees, who were about to be hit by fireballs.
Thud!
“Agh!”
The fireballs only burned Bahu's unfortunate subordinates fighting nearby before dying out.
Kim Hwang-je kept watching the status window and raised his hand to buy even more potions.
No matter the price, he bought them all.
Some items went over five hundred million, even reaching a billion, but Kim Hwang-je never stopped purchasing for a single moment.
The Warrior Alliance and guilds watched this ridiculous war of money in disbelief.
The rumor spread, and eventually even the hunters on the first floor realized that Kim Hwang-je was buying potions only to throw them away.
“That guy is getting rid of all the supplies.”
“Does that mean he's already secured his own?”
“Then his goal must be to eliminate the second-half raid supplies…”
“Exactly! This is a kind of stock manipulation tactic! He can't be doing it alone. Now is the time to buy everything!”
Many hunters misunderstood Kim Hwang-je's intentions.
The price of potions began to skyrocket.
The first to sense something was wrong was when Kim Hwang-je, while stirring mana potions, bid three billion won.
“Seo Jun-seo?”
“Yes, sir.”
“…Why is the one I bought earlier for a hundred million now worth three billion?”
“You raised the price yourself, sir.”
What the hell.
Kim Hwang-je rubbed his eyes and looked at the signs below, which kept climbing.
It had just broken past 3.2 billion.
The guilds were desperately trying to secure second-half raid supplies.
“Will you purchase at 3.3 billion?”
“No thanks. What kind of prices are these?”
Even though Kim Hwang-je had withdrawn, people continued buying potions frantically.
Kim Hwang-je was confident that the items he had already purchased were more than enough.
The third-floor terrace had already turned into a potion warehouse.
Perhaps thanks to the explosive support.
Dave became the anvil and the spirit trees the hammer, and Bahu the Admiral's fleet could no longer pressure Dave.
Even Dave and the Royal Guard stood calmly atop the burning flagship.
Bahu had retreated to the adjacent ship and was watching the scene.
How many resistance potions had they consumed to not even flinch from fire?
Bahu slumped down.
“Listen well, Bahu. Surrender. Otherwise, I will use the Great Annihilating Flame Sword.”
“…So the pressure has lifted.”
It was true.
Using such a technique required gathering considerable power, but Bahu's army could not even approach Dave now.
Dave nodded.
“I ask this with the intention of sparing even your subordinates.”
“My subordinates?”
“Their only sin was having no choice but to follow you. When they come to my castle, they will see that the world is changing. A new wind is blowing!”
“I see… To think you would still hold such thoughts until the very end…”
It was not something he had failed to consider.
He had planned to pressure Dave into not using that technique and finish him with wheel tactics…
Where had this perfectly good plan gone so wrong?
How on earth was the Emperor breaking through the spatial suppression spell to provide support from such a distance?
Could it be… the Demon King among Demon Kings?
Then everything made sense.
Did “Emperor” mean Great Demon Emperor?
“If you had come just one week earlier instead of foolishly going to the Demon King, you would have held hope.”
“Where in this ruined world is there such hope! I can never believe it! You even keep a Demon King as an ally!”
“Enough. It is like preaching to deaf ears. Is there anyone among you who wishes to surrender!”
Dave shouted loudly.
But Bahu's subordinates felt the same.
They had witnessed the Demon King's overwhelming power and authority.
They were all exhausted.
They would rather die than oppose that army.
Dave nodded.
“I see. It is already irreversible. Heroes, thank you for inspiring us all this time.”
Dave performed a knight's salute.
Then he opened a bunch of blue potions and swallowed them all at once.
Flash!
The light blazing from his Holy Sword shone as powerfully as if the sun itself had risen.
The sea fog was pushed back as radiance and wind burst outward from the sword.
The man standing with his back to the sunset held the sun in his blade.
“Come forth, Great Annihilation of the Three Thousand Worlds! Great Annihilating Flame Sword!”
A technique worth a staggering eleven trillion won in real-world value!
The moment Dave brought his sword down from above onto the flagship, the blade seemed to stretch and pierce through the ship, striking the seabed below.
Immediately, the earth split in all directions, and a deep tremor triggered an earthquake.
Rumble!
The sea churned and overturned.
Ships collided and shattered against each other.
Magma erupted from the splitting earth, even piercing through the sea.
Pillars of lava wrapped in white steam surrounded the fleet from all sides.
The sea entwined with the lava pillars boiled furiously, spewing lava mist everywhere.
A storm of acid and glass shards created by the mixing of lava and seawater engulfed the fleet.
Watching the falling glass storm, Bahu muttered.
“…Would things have been different if I had come just one week earlier…?”
Those were Bahu's final words.
Only the burning flagship at the very center remained safe.
Dave's eyes sank deeply.
“Farewell, comrade.”
“That's it!”
Kim Hwang-je rejoiced as he watched Bahu sink beneath the sea.
But when he came to his senses and looked around, the entire terrace was covered in gold.
“…Seo Jun-seo, this gold…”
“Yes, sir. It suddenly poured out beside you.”
Seo Jun-seo was wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.
He had even hung curtains around the terrace.
The gold coins were shining so brightly that they could no longer be hidden.
Kim Hwang-je's mouth fell open.
What kind of world was this, where you got rewards for killing rebels?
Reward!
Your Majesty!
You have successfully completed Raise Dave.
As a reward, we present the final map!
Use it well!
?
Reward ? Port Dominion!
📍 The kingdom has grown another step!
🎁 Sinal Port belongs to the kingdom once more!
Reward ? Treasure Map 3/3
The treasure maps merge into one…!
Oil Slime Cave discovered!
Port and oil!
Kim Hwang-je's eyes gleamed.