Chapter 221

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 221: Unexpectedness (6)

‘Wow, what is this? Does this mean bombardment is possible even inside the dungeon?’

Yeongwoo stared at the coordinates that appeared before him in disbelief.

‘Toma is no ordinary company, that’s for sure. Well, not just anyone can be in the defense industry.’

Anyway, he had learned at least two things from this.

First, Toma’s cosmic stature is on par with that of Dogo.

‘Of course, it’s still unclear which one is higher.’

This would require finding a situation where Dogo can intervene and Toma cannot exert its power.

‘And second, this is indeed an alien planet, and its name is…’

〔II|l||-Lupo-917-005-3102-89〕

‘…Lupo.’

This was likely the location of the casino.

Somewhere in the universe, there was an alien planet.

‘This won’t be the first alien planet I’ve been to. Probably, each dungeon is located in a different place.’

Lupo.

What kind of planet was it, and where was it located?

Yeongwoo felt a Strongest curiosity, but he had more pressing issues to address for now.

That was to check the coordinates of the 2nd arena where the ‘Weakest’ contestant would be sent before they were transported to the arena.

‘To rank first in the betting points, I not only have to predict the game results throughout all five stages correctly, but also secure an unrivaled first place without any ties.’

This was because Yeongwoo was aiming for the catalog, the overachievement reward, not just a simple first place.

Of course, he couldn’t be sure this method would grant him the catalog.

However, he knew from experience that overwhelming play was necessary for an overachievement reward.

‘There are 19 other betting participants besides me. It’s a game that’s hard to win with just ordinary predictions.’

So, to achieve an overwhelming first place in this game…

‘…I have to rig the results.’

With 3 seconds left before the arena transfer, Yeongwoo hurriedly checked the two ends and the center points of the 2nd arena.

〔II|l||-Lupo-917-005-3104-81〕

〔II|l||-Lupo-917-005-3108-23〕

〔II|l||-Lupo-917-005-3113-45〕

At some point, most participants would undoubtedly bet on the ‘weak’ contestant’s death, so Yeongwoo needed to keep the ‘weak’ Dragos alive as long as possible.

That’s why he checked these three points in the 2nd arena to ensure that the European wouldn’t get caught in the laser bombardment range.

“If you want to stay alive longer, don’t fight in the center of the arena.”

When Yeongwoo gave this last piece of advice to Dragos, the latter’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What? What does that…?”

“Try to fight at the 6 o’clock direction. If I can’t determine Dragos’s position, I’ll bombard the 12 o’clock direction.”

Yeongwoo pointed to a decoration in the 2nd arena while saying this.

Fortunately, the decorations at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock were different, so he gave a tip to use them for orientation.

Whether Dragos understood this clearly was uncertain.

Swoosh!

Before he could answer, both of them were transported to the arena.

‘…It’s starting.’

Yeongwoo’s vision turned pure white.

Simultaneously, he felt his body become extremely light for a moment before returning to normal.

When he opened his eyes,

Whoom!

He saw the enormous stone walls of the arena filling his vision.

‘Quite a few doors, huh?’

The first thing Yeongwoo noticed after confirming he had arrived in the arena was the large doors placed two per direction.

‘Eight doors in total… It doesn’t seem like there will be only ten mutants in the final stage.’

As Yeongwoo shuddered at the thought of a dreadful scenario, the dungeon system displayed a new message.

「The representatives have been transported to the arena.」

「All participants must complete their bets within 5 minutes from now.」

This meant the participants had only 5 minutes to gauge each other’s intentions and make their decisions.

‘Well, the first-stage betting will close quickly. The answer is almost certain.’

Flash!

[1] Strongest survives, Weakest survives.

[2] Strongest dies, Weakest survives.

[3] Strongest survives, Weakest dies.

[4] Strongest dies, Weakest dies.

The betting options appeared before Yeongwoo’s eyes.

‘It’ll practically be a landslide for option 1.’

Of course, there would still be some gamblers who would choose option 3 to go against the odds.

‘I do love a good twist, but… going with option 1 is the right move.’

Swipe.

Yeongwoo turned his head to look toward the 2nd arena.

Once inside, the arena walls were much higher than expected, making it impossible to directly see the situation on the other side.

Instead,

Flash!

With the betting initiated, two large screens appeared in the arena’s air.

“Oh…”

The screens displayed the waiting room and the interior of Arena 2.

Representatives could now monitor the current situation comprehensively while proceeding with the game.

‘I thought they wouldn’t give us any information at all, but this is unexpected.’

However, it seemed that only visual information could be obtained through the screens, as no sound came from the other side.

‘Anyway, I’ll go with option 1 for now. I just have to hope Dragos can handle up to a 2v1.’

Then, he would need to observe the difficulty of the second stage.

As soon as he started bombarding the Weakest side, the waiting room would realize that some variable had occurred and continue betting on the survival of the weak.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

‘It would have been easier if it was something I could just force through. This is actually more difficult.’

After choosing option 1 for the first stage betting, Yeongwoo took a deep breath and waited.

[1] Strongest survives, Weakest survives.

On the screen in the air, he saw Dragos Corban from Brașov, Romania, sitting cross-legged, waiting.

‘What’s that? Is that his way of relaxing?’

Well, being a named figure who survived up to this point and made it to the dungeon, he couldn’t be an ordinary… no, he couldn’t be a normal person.

‘For the first stage, there are two mutants… let’s see how this guy fights.’

While Yeongwoo observed the situation in Arena 2 and planned his future betting strategy, the first stage betting closed early.

「First stage betting has been completed.」

[First Stage]

|Option 1 – 17 votes

|Option 3 – 3 votes

‘Three votes for option 3? Are they gambling right from the start?’

It was somewhat expected, but still surprising.

After all, three participants had placed ‘gambling’ votes.

[3] Strongest survives, Weakest dies.

Choosing option 3 meant they were betting that Dragos wouldn’t be able to handle even two mutants.

And the result would soon be revealed.

「All bets are in. The first stage will now begin.」

As the system announced the start of the match, the two doors at the 12 o’clock direction in Arena 1, where Yeongwoo was, swung open with force.

Thud!

Pushing through the massive iron doors, each appearing at least 2 meters thick, emerged a giant fire golem and a heavily armored troll wielding a long spear.

‘These aren’t first-day mutants, clearly.’

They seemed to be at least from the third day or later.

Still, it was better for those formidable creatures to come here than to be sent to the Weakest side.

Grabbing the handle of “Bastard,” attached to his belt, Yeongwoo looked up to check Arena 2’s situation.

There, two mutants were also rushing out ferociously.

‘Huh? One of them looks like it’s from the first or second day, doesn’t it?’

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened as he watched the screen of Arena 2.

One of the mutants charging at Dragos was an orc with bare fists.

The other was a beastman armed with a large shield and lance.

Its physique was similar to Yeongtae’s, who had a gnoll’s body, but this one had the head of a jaguar.

‘With much better equipment than Yeongtae, it’s probably a third or fourth-day mutant.’

In any case, the difficulty level didn’t seem too high.

“Surely he can handle this.”

Feeling relieved that they could pass the first stage safely, Yeongwoo exhaled deeply.

Then,

He planted his front foot firmly on the ground, preparing to draw his sword.

The two mutants had already approached within ten meters.

「Kyaaaah!」

「Grrrr…」

As expected, the arena mutants didn’t seem to have the intelligence to communicate with their opponents, probably due to being replicas.

They also lacked name tags above their heads.

‘This makes it easier without any psychological warfare.’

Yeongwoo thought about causing bleeding to increase his firepower but decided against it as it seemed unnecessary.

Instead,

When he could clearly hear the breathing of the two mutants,

Swoosh!

He drew “Bastard” with force and made a horizontal slash forward.

Slash!

「Preemptive Strike」 – Mutant One-handed Sword

【Increases the power of the first attack by 20%. Reactivates on successful hit】

「Dullahan’s Sword」- Mutant One-Handed Sword

【The length of the sword is proportional to the user’s height.】

As “Bastard,” its blade extending up to 6 meters, drew a crimson arc, the bodies of the two mutants charging at Yeongwoo were sliced cleanly in half, as easily as cutting tofu.

Thud!

Even the armor and weapons of the troll were cut through.

「First stage: Strongest survives, Weakest in progress.」

As soon as the notification that the match in Arena 1 had ended appeared, the participants in the waiting room started murmuring, which was visible through the broadcast screen.

Naturally, no one had expected the fight to end with just a single sword slash.

On the other hand…

“What the…?”

Expecting that the match in Arena 2 would be wrapping up as well, Yeongwoo looked at the screen and gaped.

Dragos was struggling considerably against the bare-fisted orc and the heavily armored beastman.

“Is that even possible? He’s supposed to be a regional named character.”

Yeongwoo watched Dragos fight with a disbelieving expression for a different reason.

The combination he was facing was indeed tough.

While the beastman pressed with a large shield and lance, the orc was cleverly targeting his flanks.

They couldn’t communicate with participants, but they had enough tactics to break their opponents.

‘But no matter how tough they are, he can’t break through that? How did he even think of entering the dungeon with such skills?’

The only way to handle multiple opponents easily was to have overwhelming firepower.

And Yeongwoo believed that a master at the level of entering a five-day dungeon at night wouldn’t struggle against such low-risk mutants.

In other words…

‘Could he be pretending to be the Weakest one?’

Just as Yeongwoo was considering using bombardment in the first stage, he changed his mind and observed Dragos more closely on the screen.

Then, he finally noticed.

Perfect defense that seemed barely holding yet allowed no effective hits.

The high strength level shown when deflecting the lance with his blade.

“…This bastard.”

Goosebumps rose on his arms.

Yeongwoo realized that he wasn’t the only one attempting to rig the match in this arena.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]