Chapter 97: The Voting Rank War (1)

The first vote has ended.

Vote is being tallied.

Tally complete.

Current final ranking is revealed.

The top three positions were locked in without any movement. It seemed the early ranking influence had carried over directly. In a situation where anything could happen, people hesitated to vote for those with lower rankings. As a result, most votes aligned closely with the official rankings, though a few stood out for their differences.

Park Jin-hwan was one of them.

Vote Rank 6: Rank 99 Park Jin-hwan (Healer)

While a significant drop from his initial fourth place, he still secured sixth. Compared to his official ranking, this was overwhelmingly high.

Why did that happen? I tried contacting him again, but the guy just said he couldn’t reach him. He claimed he had simply stayed quietly inside the shelter.

“Everyone, the first vote has concluded. I imagine you’re all wondering why this vote was held?”

Planetary Administrator 999 finally seemed ready to explain the purpose of the vote.

“This is not a simple popularity poll. It is a matter of vital importance that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will decide the fate of your nations.”

This vote?

Seven people were being selected. Yet it was claimed this would determine the fate of the nations. It was hard to accept.

“The seven chosen will climb the Death Tower in each nation. If any nation fails to clear the tower, an ‘Apocalypse’ will occur.”

Apocalypse?

The word “Apocalypse” that Planetary Administrator 999 had mentioned. It had been linked to the appearance of the Death Knight as a harbinger. Was this the same “Apocalypse”?

Was the process unfolding right now connected to the ‘Fruit’ I carried?

While I pondered this, Planetary Administrator 999 continued speaking.

“If I explain it this way, everyone will probably vote according to rankings. Let me add a few things.”

If clearing the Death Tower was required, it was only natural that those with higher rankings would have an advantage. People would naturally vote for high-ranking individuals regardless of whether the broadcast was live.

Planetary Administrator 999 continued as if to prevent that.

“The Death Tower consists of seven floors. Each floor has a special requirement that has nothing to do with raw strength. The first floor is the Wisdom Floor, the second is the Cooking Floor, the third is the Sacrifice Floor, the fourth is the Temptation Floor, the fifth is the Secrets Floor, the sixth is the Martial Prowess Floor, and the seventh is the Falsehood Floor. To clear each floor, you must satisfy a unique condition. Therefore, you can showcase your own abilities to match each stage.”

This sounds incredibly troublesome.

Just listening to Planetary Administrator 999 made my head spin. We were supposed to clear all seven floors and ascend.

Would rising in the vote ranking actually be bad? That was what I had initially thought.

Perhaps rising in the vote ranking could even be disadvantageous. After all, if selected, one would feel immense responsibility and be forced to clear the Death Tower. Knowing that failure would bring an Apocalypse, how many people would willingly risk their lives to clear a tower they might not even survive?

Of course, some might dream of becoming heroes, but most people would not want that. Even if the floors were not simple strength tests but special stages, those without the right abilities would simply fail. In that case, votes would naturally concentrate on the high-ranking rankers.

“The remaining rankers who are not chosen will be moved to a special location. A place where an Apocalypse occurs, regardless of the Death Tower. I wonder if anyone will survive there. The minimum monster level in the Apocalypse zone is 100.”

What?!

Monster level 100. An absurd number. Considering the Death Knight was only level 80, even monsters without stars attached would be almost as strong. If I fell into that Apocalypse zone… surviving would be nearly impossible.

They’re basically saying I have to enter the top ranking or die? Either I become a hero who saves people from the Apocalypse or I simply perish. Of course, people would try to climb the rankings.

Thanks to my high ranking at the start, I had been in a good position.

Thank goodness for Jin-hwan.

I had no idea why, but Jin-hwan had received a lot of votes in the first poll. If he had received fewer votes from the beginning, the low-ranking Jin-hwan would have been at a disadvantage.

“Well then, please watch the broadcasts of the rankers carefully and vote enthusiastically!”

With those words, Planetary Administrator 999’s messages disappeared.

“I need to head back for now.”

I had come looking for Jin-hwan, but he was nowhere to be seen. There were still many things I needed to investigate about the monsters I had seen, so I returned to where Mi-seong and Kang-mi were.

“Opp a. Did you see the vote results?”

“Yeah. This vote seems to have more meaning than I thought.”

Both Mi-seong and Kang-mi were still discussing the vote. Both had voted, but they hadn’t realized how significant it was, so they were quite surprised.

“Opp a must get into the top ranking. Got it?”

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

Mi-seong looked worried that I might not make it into the top ranking. That was understandable. If I didn’t, I would die anyway.

“No, looking at Opp a’s personality, I’m worried you won’t do anything from now on.”

“Huh? Why? What should I do?”

“Of course! Everyone else is probably going to go crazy from now on!”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Mi-seong suddenly got excited at my words. I had thought that even without showing anything special on camera, my ranking would protect me, but that wasn’t what Mi-seong thought.

And it turned out to be true.

From the second broadcast onward, the voices of the rankers were also broadcasted. The rankers who could speak used their flashy words and actions to steal the hearts of the viewers.

Rankers who appealed to sympathy by claiming they had five children below them. Rankers who used their beauty to steal the hearts of men. Rankers who made people laugh with funny lines. People were trying various methods to climb the rankings.

In contrast, I did nothing at all. Well, to be honest, I hadn’t done nothing. I had simply gone around gathering information. It was essentially the same as doing nothing.

While the broadcast was on, since I wasn’t hunting monsters or doing anything to appeal to viewers, the number of people watching my video was not very high. And the result was made clear by the vote.

Vote Rank 6: Rank 2 Kim Min-sung (Predator)

Sixth place. In just one day, I had dropped to sixth. I thought the power of my current ranking and White Dragon’s contribution had been significant. While I was busy gathering information without saying much, White Dragon flew around noisily, and the two of us bickered. That must have increased the number of viewers watching.

If that hadn’t happened, I might have already been pushed outside the top seven.

Is Jin-hwan in fifth?

He had actually improved his ranking from last time. I checked the bulletin board for why Jin-hwan had done so well on the first day. It was written that thanks to Elena, he had received tremendous support from the men and climbed up.

On the second day, perhaps because he was the only healer among the rankers, he had broadcast himself healing injured people with Elena. It had been very popular. Of course, guesses on the bulletin board ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that a healer would be needed on the Sacrifice Floor among the seven tasks had also helped.

Will I really not make it into the top seven? Everyone seemed to be desperately trying to climb the rankings. Of course, if I fell outside the top seven in the vote, I would essentially die. I had no choice but to do my best.

I also felt I couldn’t just stay still if I wanted to enter the top seven, so I quickly checked the bulletin board.

The post had received overwhelming recommendations and views.

People were looking for those with the appropriate abilities and sharing them, then watching the broadcasts and voting. That was why the advantage given by the current rankings was not that great. Simply having a high ranking did not guarantee entry into the top rankings.

Other rankers had also begun promoting themselves by connecting their jobs to the floors after seeing the post.

I need to do something too.

Among the things listed, the most suitable for me, the Gourmet Predator.

Second. The Cooking Floor.

It seemed good to appeal to people through monster cooking. When the next day’s broadcast began, as soon as the camera appeared, I bowed and started.