Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Jump Game (2)
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'They're giving us irregular rest times, which makes it even more exhausting. It'd be better to do 100 intense jumps at a steady pace.'
Dokgo Hyun's Stamina stat was among the top five of everyone gathered here, so he wasn't truly worn out.
Still, he could feel fatigue accumulating bit by bit in one corner of his body, like grains of sand piling up in an hourglass.
"Heh heh. Your voices are getting quieter and quieter."
The supervisor said with a mocking sneer.
"You know that if your voices get too soft, I can rule it a total failure for everyone, right? Do it properly yourselves."
At that moment, an unexpected voice rang out.
"Yes!!!"
A resounding female voice boomed through the air.
"Ah."
"That lady over there."
It was the middle-aged woman who had earned the 'Master' title on stage.
She was shouting loudly for everyone.
"I'm the owner of the D-grade transfer manifestation skill [Evangelist of Happiness]!"
The greeting master lady cried out.
The [Evangelist of Happiness] skill produced a loud, positive voice that induced a small sense of happiness in listeners.
It helped with persuasion or rallying allies, boosted lung capacity for shouting, and offered minor overall improvements to vital capacity.
It came with sundry minor effects but had virtually no direct combat ability, making it a common D-grade buff skill.
"If you're all tired, you can keep your voices low! I'll shout loud for us!!"
"Oho. Player Hong Youngja's made a bold resolution."
The TV-headed supervisor sneered.
"Alright then, let's get back to it. Ready!!"
Beep!!
"Seventy-six!!"
Hong Youngja really belted it out.
Even though the exhausted players muttered softly, the overall volume didn't drop noticeably.
Beep!!
"Seventy-seven!!"
Beep!!
"Seventy-eight!!"
Beep!!
"Seventy-nine!!"
The players grew more energized as they went.
Hong Youngja's voice skill carried a faint happiness buff, and in this utterly hopeless situation, that tiny spark of hope felt enormous.
The TV-headed supervisor blew the whistle at a steady tempo without suddenly changing the pace, as if he'd turned unusually kind.
...Before they knew it, the count reached 96.
"Huff, huff."
"I thought it was impossible..."
"We can do it."
"Everyone, let's keep going!!"
Only one person had died since Hong Youngja stepped up.
Around the 80th jump, an elderly man had hit his limit.
Refusing to become dead weight, he'd quietly retreated to the farthest corner of the gym and ended his own life.
Another old man, who seemed to be his friend, tried to stop him, but it was no use.
The man who'd resolved to die passed alone in the corner.
Even the TV-headed supervisor silently paid his respects.
After that, the survivors gritted their teeth and endured even more desperately.
Beep!!
"Ninety-seven!!"
Beep!!
"Ninety-eight!!!"
Beep!!
"Ninety-nine!!"
One more to go.
Half the group glanced nervously left and right, tense with anticipation, while the other half wore ecstatic expressions as they prepared to jump.
Beep!!
Everyone jumped at once.
Some clenched their teeth; others clamped their hands over their mouths.
'No shouting on the last one!!!'
Shouting the final call would be total failure.
Everyone kept their mouths shut.
Perfect victory...
...Almost.
Because exactly one person shouted.
"One hundred!!"
It was Hong Youngja, of all people.
Everyone who landed turned to stare at her.
Only then did she realize.
"Ah? Huh? Wha?! Oh no! What do we do?!"
Had she been so focused on shouting louder than anyone that she'd made the most basic mistake?
Flash!
A laser pierced her forehead.
Thud!
Hong Youngja collapsed, dead.
"Ah, no way!"
"Of all people, that nice lady..."
"So heartbreaking."
"Sniff... She shouted the slogans so loud for us... Sob."
Quite a few sighed and felt grief.
But there were even more cold-hearted ones.
Dokgo Hyun especially.
'Why hasn't the clear message popped up...? Don't tell me!'
A few level-headed people reached the same conclusion as Dokgo Hyun at the same time.
"What?!"
"How is this fair?!"
"Why do we all have to start over!!"
A few protested, but it was pointless.
"Check the mission window again. It says that shouting '100' isn't just a penalty—it's total failure. In other words."
The TV-headed man chuckled.
"The penalty for total failure is, 'The one who shouts 100 dies. The rest restart from 1.'"
Despair-filled sighs.
Despair-laden screams.
Anger-tinged protests.
Chaos boiled over in the gym.
But the TV-headed man ignored it all.
"4 minutes 30 seconds until rest ends. Rest quietly."
"Arrrghhh!!"
One male player couldn't contain his rage and charged onto the stage.
"You damn TV freak! Die!!"
Clank!
His right arm transformed into a heavy hammer.
It was the E-grade body mutation skill [Right Arm Hammer].
An E-grade skill with no special powers, low growth potential, and limited versatility, but if it landed properly at close range, few things were scarier.
But.
Thwack!
The TV-headed man caught the hammer effortlessly with one hand.
"Wha, ugh!"
"Pathetic."
The TV-headed man squeezed.
Crack!!
The [Right Arm Hammer] shattered.
"Argh!"
"There was no rule against climbing the stage, so I'll let this slide. But not again."
Whoosh.
He tossed the man off the stage.
Then activated his supervisor authority.
"By supervisor authority, from now on, anyone who climbs the stage without permission dies."
"Now 4 minutes left."
Right after the TV-headed man's declaration.
"Um, could I come up for a sec to borrow the mic?"
Kim Minkyung, owner of the [Mother of Parasites] skill.
She asked the TV-headed man for permission to come up.
"Haha! You've got guts. Special permission granted."
Kim Minkyung and her bodyguards swarmed onto the stage.
Everyone focused as the fairly beautiful Kim Minkyung spoke.
"Straight to the point. I have a solution."
Murmurs spread...
"A solution?"
"What's that?"
Kim Minkyung smiled.
"My ability is [Neural Parasite], implanting parasites in people's brains to control them."
She bluntly revealed her skill, leaving everyone stunned.
"I get the revulsion from 'parasite.' But most of my bodyguards here are infected with parasites I made. Why do you think they accepted them willingly?"
Kim Minkyung grinned.
"Because the benefits far outweigh it. Just getting infected drastically reduces mistakes—since they obey my commands. Once the parasite fully takes root in the hypothalamus? It optimally manages your body, greatly reducing pain too."
Kim Minkyung looked around as if to say, need more explanation?
Indeed, her subordinate bodyguards looked far less strained than the others.
A firmly rooted hypothalamic parasite controlled the brain's secretion and autonomic nervous systems.
This allowed full control over hunger, emotions, body temperature, and sleep needs—not total immunity to intense pain, but a huge help in tough situations.
"Hmm."
"What to do..."
"I'm not confident... Maybe infect myself with a parasite."
An extreme choice they'd never consider normally.
But people had died in droves.
And now they had to endure jump hell all over again.
"M-me."
"Me too. Give me one of those parasites."
Two people hesitantly approached Kim Minkyung.
She smiled and plucked two hairs.
Pluck!
Slither!
The thin hairs transformed into parasites.
The players watched intently.
"Stay still. It'll sting."
Stab! Stab!
The two parasites burrowed into flesh.
"Oh, forgot to mention—parasite infection has about a 10% failure rate."
"What?!"
"10% is fine, right? Deep breaths now."
"Ugh, ack."
Thud! Thud!
Shockingly, both rejected the parasites.
"Th-those guys!"
"You said 10% failure!"
"Why are they both dying?!"
"Eek?!"
The onlookers recoiled in horror, and even Kim Minkyung looked troubled.
"Ah, maybe because I've used my skill a lot today? Sorry. Normally it's around 10%, but on tiring days, it goes up a bit."
Kim Minkyung brazenly claimed innocence.
"Argh, it hurts so much!"
"K-kill me..."
The failed infectees writhed.
'They look miserable. Should I step in and kill them? Oh, right, violence ban.'
The moment Dokgo Hyun thought that.
"Move."
A young man from afar stepped forward first.
He wielded a massive two-handed greatsword, swinging it lightly like a fan with one hand.
Whoosh!!
Sword ki—or some sharp, unknown force—surged out.
Slash!!
It neatly severed the failed players' necks.
"Kyaa!"
"C-crazy! What the hell!!"
The sword wielder was a young man with blond-dyed hair that suited him well.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Kim Minkyung demanded.
The man answered.
"I'm Lee Hyunjun."
He said, tossing his sword into his inventory window.
'An artifact. A damn good one.'
Dokgo Hyun observed from afar.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd as players kept their distance, and Lee Hyunjun spoke irritably amid the stares.
"What we need isn't parasites—it's mental fortitude. Weaklings, step up. Instead of letting you die in agony like that, I'll end you myself."
"S-supervisor!"
Kim Minkyung hysterically called to the TV-headed man.
"Hm? A question?"
"M-murder! He committed murder—is that okay?!"
"Ah, yes. Killing is normally banned during Jump Game. But those failed infections were doomed anyway, right? He just sped it up."
"No, murder is still murder...!"
"By that logic, Player Kim Minkyung, you'd be punished too. Violence and murder are banned, yet you performed a parasite procedure with a 10% death risk. And it failed."
"Tch."
Kim Minkyung glanced around.
Views of Lee Hyunjun weren't great, but hers were worse.
If he was the brutal killer, she was the one who'd led to it.
In the end, Kim Minkyung shut her mouth, glared alternately at the TV-headed man and Lee Hyunjun, and retreated.
"Heh heh. Since it's come to this, want to hear an interesting fact?"
The TV-headed man said.
"Zones H-1 through H-50 are collectively classified as 'H Zone A Block.' And that man, Player Lee Hyunjun, is the strongest in A Block of H Zone."