Chapter 51
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Colosseum Survival
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Event day.
Jeong Hoon waited in the village square to participate in the event.
The square was packed with countless users.
They were all level 80 or higher but hadn't completed their second job change, just like Jeong Hoon, gathered to join the event.
"Hey, did you see the event? It's a colosseum. A colosseum!"
"Yeah. This is our chance. I'm definitely making top ranks and getting a rare job."
"Who do you think will crack the top 20?"
When the event was announced, a massive colosseum had appeared prominently.
That's right.
The event involved throwing users into the giant colosseum for a survival battle, with rankings displayed.
It would run for a total of 15 rounds, advancing to higher rounds by meeting the conditions, ultimately determining final rankings.
The first-place winner would instantly receive a unique-grade job, second through twentieth place would get epic-grade jobs, and twenty-first through two hundredth would get rare-grade jobs.
"Isn't the reward kinda stingy for an event?"
"Yeah... but there must be at least ten thousand participants."
Even limited to users level 80 and above without second job changes, New World was a game that captivated the global population.
Even restricting it to Korea, there were surely tens of thousands joining the event.
It would be a fierce battle.
"Damn, there's a level 100."
"That one's 107."
Achieving a high-grade job change was like reaching for the stars.
As a result, plenty of users lingered at level 80 for months without changing jobs.
And since they kept leveling without interruption, level 100 users were occasionally visible.
"Whoa, a lower martial artist?"
"Yeah. Level 101."
Naturally, Jeong Hoon, who had surpassed level 100, was a spectacle too.
A lower martial artistfirst classat level 101.
Of course, compared to other jobs, there was hardly any wariness.
"Easy win."
"Yeah. Lower martial artists barely have any combat skills, right?"
The poor reputation of martial artists played a big role.
Even though Jeong Hoon had made a flashy mark as the anonymous martial artist, that was an exceptional case.
User opinions remained harsh.
'Talk all you want.'
Jeong Hoon casually turned his attention away from them.
After all, he would claim first place in this colosseum.
Having a legendary job didn't mean he could skip the second change for free.
It was easier than for others, but he still had to complete the quest, gain the instructor's recognition, and advance.
Even excelling in the job change quest offered no benefits toward a higher-grade job.
But the event was different.
Rewards based on ranking applied to Jeong Hoon too.
Taking first would provide a clue to advancing to a higher-grade job.
That alone was reason enough to participate.
WhisperMinzi - Hoon: Ah... They say spectators aren't allowed.
At that moment, a whisper came from Yeo Min-ji.
'No spectators.'
Unlike other events, this colosseum had no spectator access.
Yeo Min-ji's plan to watch went up in smoke.
WhisperHoon - Minzi: Is that so?
Jeong Hoon, already knowing the future, replied innocently.
WhisperMinzi - Hoon: It's so unfair... I even prepared a gift!
WhisperHoon - Minzi: Just send it by mail.
WhisperMinzi - Hoon: That defeats the purpose...
WhisperHoon - Minzi: It's about to start. I'll end the whispers here.
Jeong Hoon closed the whispers.
In a moment, the event NPC will spawn.
A system announcement appeared in the New World-wide chat.
Visible only to users who signed up for the event.
Soon after, an NPC spawned in the center of the square.
A panda NPC hanging from bamboo, munching on shoots.
NPC Info
-Nickname: Lingling
-Level: 700
-Job: Event NPC
"Whoa... NPC level 700."
"Crazy... The global rank 1 just hit 543, right?"
The world level 1 was James Marcus, who had recently reached 543.
The gap between him and the NPC was a whopping 157 levels.
Users were speechless at the massive difference.
"Users joining the event, talk to me. By the way, latecomers get sent to the high-difficulty colosseum."
Lingling spat out the words while munching shoots.
"Hup! Gotta talk quick."
"Me first! Outta the way!"
Users rushed to talk to Lingling one by one and vanished on the spot.
Teleported to the event colosseum.
Once most had gone, Jeong Hoon approached as a latecomer.
"Hm? Hold up a sec."
But Lingling, who had been fast-passing others, suddenly stopped Jeong Hoon.
"Something wrong?"
"Yeah. You're off-spec."
Lingling saw through Jeong Hoon's job at a glance.
Colosseum first place: unique-grade job change.
Jeong Hoon was already legendary, one grade higher.
No need to participate for a job change.
"Does that mean I can't join? Even though I meet the conditions?"
"Nah, that's not it. I stopped you to say you'll get a different reward instead."
"Different reward?"
"Yeah. But you still gotta take first."
Lingling's condition was first place.
Claiming it would yield a comparable alternative reward.
"Got it. Sounds good."
"Good luck then."
Jeong Hoon agreed, and his body teleported to the colosseum.
Earth Korea management team.
Before starting the event, they launched the program to check the colosseum.
No permission to execute the program.
But unlike usual, it wouldn't run.
"No execution permission?"
The staff looked puzzled and went to Oh Jin-su, who was equally baffled.
First time in management that the monitoring program failed to launch.
"Looks like HQ blocked it."
"You think it's because we always monitor the same user...?"
"Nah."
From the situation, other Earth branches seemed the same.
Meaning HQ was strictly handling this event themselves.
Why such tight security?
"That user joined, right?"
The newbie who always caused explosions.
With second job change looming, surely participating.
"Probably."
Quiet for now, but once his feats surfaced, it would spark a syndrome.
But with security this tight, the time wasn't ripe yet.
Colosseum arena.
Unlike standard colosseums, this was a cutting-edge arena.
Unusual structures and high-tech gear floating in the air.
Definitely Earth HQ's handiwork.
'I'll get that rare grade no matter what!'
Level 98.
Hong Jin-su, still stuck as a lower warriorfirst classsteeled his resolve inwardly.
From level 80, he'd endured solely for a rare-grade job, but failed the quests every time.
'Prove you are a descendant of the great warrior.'
To meet the instructor NPC's demands, he had to clear 10 dungeons in the beginner zone, but the conditions were brutally tight.
Some required clearing with a two-man party in under two hours, and mini-dungeons solo in under 1.5 hours.
Most emphasized clear time.
To hit it, he had to calculate paths for shortest clears.
AOE damage jobs managed fine, but melee like warriors were at a huge disadvantage.
Still, reaching 98, he'd cleared 8 of 10 over eight grueling months.
The last two? No hope in sight.
No matter how much he researched, no solution.
So Hong Jin-su was desperate.
'I have to get it here.'
Within 200th place.
That would secure the rare-grade change.
Warriors could jump to epic in third or fourth changes once rare was broken, so he had to seize it.
'That martial artist must be in a similar spot.'
Hong Jin-su's gaze shifted right.
A martial artist spawned about 20 meters away.
Level 101 lower martial artist.
Only 3 levels above his 98, but experience near 100 ballooned insanely.
Surely stuck longer than him.
Honestly, martial artists had it worse than warriors.
So maybe?
Hong Jin-su felt a kinship with the martial artist.
'Should avoid touching him if possible.'
Welcome to the First Colosseum.
200 users assigned to each colosseum.
Advance to higher rounds through each round.
Only 200 can enter the Final Colosseum.
Enter the final, and rare-grade job guaranteed.
As expected, no easy difficulty.
Round 1 begins.
Entering combat mode now.
Round 1 ends when 40 deaths occur.
40 dropouts in round 1.
Hong Jin-su quickly raised his shield, scanning around.
Then, two users charged the level 101 martial artist.
Early 90s warriors, like him.
'Oh no...'
Even at 101, a subpar martial artist couldn't handle a gank.
Hong Jin-su was sure the first dropout would be the level 101 martial artist.
But.
"Gahk!"
"Wh-what!"
The ones flying back were the warriors, not the martial artist.
Even in 2v1.
"Huh...?"
Hong Jin-su's pupils widened as he watched.
The two warriors charged right as the round started.
Jeong Hoon had anticipated it.
They'd eyed him like prey since spawning.
No need to worry, though.
Their blatant approach and clumsy sword swings screamed amateur.
Zero skill, just skill-spamming brute force.
Pre-regression newbie days, those types were annoying, but now? Yawn-worthy.
He dodged their strikes effortlessly with footwork, then smashed vitals with Myeongwang Fist Technique First Star, ending them instantly.
The elixir boosted itfiercely lethal.
"Whoa... what?"
"Crazy, retreat!"
Like the prior warriors, they'd picked Jeong Hoon as easy prey.
But seeing the two corpses, they reconsidered, halting and switching targets elsewhere.
Thanks to that, Jeong Hoon survived round 1 after just two kills.
Round 1 ended.
160 users remaining.
Next round begins.
No break time.
Survive as long as possible.
Round 2 ends at 50 survivors.
Round 2: survival again.
But differentsurvive monsters.
Lv.120 White Fang
Countless Lv.120 White Fangs spawned, flooding the colosseum.