Chapter 223

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 223: Match Fixing (1)

Second stage, four mutant clones.

This too was not a difficulty for Yeongwoo.

But what about Dragos?

‘No matter how cunning you are, your acting ends here.’

Dragos had already shown signs of struggle in the first stage.

If he managed to survive the second stage as well, everyone would undoubtedly notice, regardless of how hard he fought.

They would realize that Dragos had been pretending to be weak all along.

‘Four mutants mean it’s twice as difficult as the first stage. This isn’t something you can overcome just by fighting hard.’

Of course, Dragos might have achieved his goal just by the fact that twelve votes were cast predicting his death.

BOOM!

Soon, a door opened in each of the four directions of the arena where Yeongwoo stood, and mutants burst out.

「Graaaah!」

「Wooooooo…!」

‘Whoa, their momentum is incredible.’

Yeongwoo felt a chill as he watched the mutants charging at him from all directions.

Even though he no longer had a human heart, his mind still thought like a human.

He realized that this situation would be a nightmare for an ordinary person.

Especially since this was an arena on an alien planet.

Dying here meant he couldn’t even return to the soil of his homeland.

‘I’m not particularly attached to Earth, but if I have to die, I’d prefer to die on my planet.’

Of course, he had no intention of dying here.

Tap!

As Yeongwoo assumed his drawing stance again and firmly planted his foot, the participants in the waiting room all focused their attention.

They wanted to see if this ‘Strongest one’ could deal with the mutants in a single strike this time as well.

If he started to show signs of struggling, they might consider betting on his death in the fourth or fifth stage.

And Yeongwoo himself…

‘Oh, wait.’

He hesitated just as he was about to slash the mutants that had gotten close.

‘Shouldn’t I at least pretend a little? The more confused my competitors are, the more advantageous it is for me, right?’

So Yeongwoo decided to…

Swoosh!

Instead of slashing through all the mutants like he did in the first stage, he decided to barely miss the ones on his sides and rear.

He wanted to imply that in situations where enemies approached from all directions, he couldn’t help but have some openings.

‘But everyone knows I have strong firepower, so I should allow the first hit and then quickly deal with the rest.’

While Yeongwoo was thinking this through, his sword, already slashed through two of the second-stage mutants cleanly.

Then…

Thud!

A powerful impact hit Yeongwoo’s waist.

“…Ugh!”

While he was slashing forward, an ogre that had approached from behind swung its hammer.

「……?」

Even as a mutant clone, the ogre seemed to show a ‘puzzled’ expression as it looked at its hammer.

It found it strange that its target didn’t flinch even after a direct hit.

And that was the last expression the ogre made.

Swoosh!

From bottom to top.

Yeongwoo vertically slashed with his sword, which extended to 6 meters, splitting the 4-meter-tall ogre in half.

Then…

「Kyaaa!」

A lizardman charged from the side, swinging its round shield at Yeongwoo’s left shoulder.

BOOM!

A powerful shockwave occurred, pushing one of Yeongwoo’s feet a few inches back.

“You’re quite strong too.”

This lizardman must be at least a fourth-day mutant.

Thump!

As Yeongwoo grabbed the bottom of the shield touching his shoulder with his left hand, the lizardman’s eyes widened.

「……!」

Because…

Crack!

From where Yeongwoo gripped the bottom of the shield, purple cracks spread like spider webs.

“……?”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened too, as this was unexpected.

‘No way.’

Yeongwoo’s brain quickly recalled the effects of his equipment.

Then he identified the likely cause.

「Heresy」 – Unique Gauntlet

【15% of attack power is converted to energy damage.】

‘Just 15% converted to energy damage can have this kind of effect…?’

As Yeongwoo finished this thought and slammed the shield in his hand onto the ground, the half with the cracks shattered into tiny pieces like candy.

Crash!

‘…This isn’t good.’

Realizing things had gone wrong, Yeongwoo looked up at the screen in the air.

As expected, he saw the bewildered faces of the participants in the waiting room.

They had realized that the ‘Strongest one’ possessed far more overwhelming power than they had thought.

“……”

Yeongwoo quickly slashed the shieldless lizardman and then turned his gaze to the broadcast screen of the second arena.

As expected, Dragos, who was pretending to be weak, came into view.

‘That’s some really convincing acting.’

It was hard to tell if he was genuinely fighting for his life or just putting on a show.

The clones in the second arena included a Ratman, a Black Goblin, a Steel Golem, and a beast-type Manticore.

This meant Dragos had to withstand a variety of attack types.

Especially the Manticore, which looked like a fifth-day mutant, with its front claws and scorpion tail attacks, seemed impossible for anyone in the waiting room to last more than three rounds against.

‘Yet he’s handling all of that.’

Someone who had struggled against just two lower-level mutants in the first stage was now fighting on equal footing with four mutants, including a Manticore…?

It was obvious to anyone that he had been hiding his strength.

But the issue was,

‘Is the skill he’s showing now really just an act? I can’t be sure.’

Yeongwoo watched Dragos, who was already covered in wounds.

Some of the injuries were deep enough to make one wonder if he really got them on purpose for the sake of acting.

‘If he inflicted those wounds on himself just to look weak… he’s not an ordinary person.’

But if these injuries were not an act and Dragos was reaching his limit…

‘Then I should use my bombardment now. Otherwise, he might die from a major attack or from excessive bleeding.’

Yeongwoo looked around the waiting room again.

He saw that, like him, the 18 other participants were also watching the second arena with confused expressions.

It meant that everyone was caught up in Dragos’s deception and couldn’t figure things out.

‘Damn. It’s a bit wasteful to use bombardment now.’

Once he started using bombardment, the game’s control would immediately shift to Yeongwoo.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

However,

‘It will become much harder to push out the betting competitors. Everyone will bet all-in on number one.’

There was also the option of using bombardment to kill the weakling around the fourth or fifth stage… but there were still 18 people in the waiting room.

‘Some of them will see through my move and bet on number three at the last minute. Then today’s extra reward is out of the question.’

This was entirely possible.

There had already been three people who took gambles in the first stage.

It was important not to forget that everyone in the waiting room was a strong person in their own country.

There was no one to underestimate in today’s dungeon.

[Stage 2]

| Number 1 – 8 votes

| Number 3 – 12 votes

Currently, 8 people had bet on the survival of the Weakest, while 12 had bet on their death.

‘…Let’s wait a bit longer. Maybe the people who bet on the Weakest’s survival will intervene in the arena.’

This was another gamble, but Yeongwoo’s bet soon paid off.

Flash!

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in the waiting room, and two human-sized figures appeared in the second arena.

Unable to watch any longer, two people who bet on number one chose to enter the arena.

“Oh…!”

As Yeongwoo exclaimed, the two warriors who had moved into the arena drew their swords side by side.

『Swordmaster, Bristol』

『Nashville Protector』

‘England and the United States.’

Seeing the strong reinforcements, Yeongwoo quickly turned to read Dragos’s expression.

And then.

“……!”

For a moment, he saw a look of relief pass across Dragos’s face.

‘Was that guy… not acting this time?’

Of course, it could still be a highly calculated expression, but could he really perform such a delicate act while dealing with the attacks of four mutants?

In any case, the Swordmaster Bristol and the Nashville Protector, who had entered the arena to save their bets, were rushing towards the mutants.

And with that,

‘What’s that now.’

The atmosphere in the waiting room’s broadcast screen changed ominously.

Some of the participants started discussing amongst themselves, then drew their swords and held them up into the air.

It was as if they were voting by majority.

Seeing this, Yeongwoo immediately realized.

‘…Crazy. They’re voting on whether to intervene.’

However, it wasn’t the people who bet on number one, but the people who bet on number three who were voting to intervene.

‘Well, there are a lot more people who bet on the weakling’s death.’

[Stage 2]

| Number 1 – 8 votes

| Number 3 – 12 votes

At a glance, the difference in the number of people who bet on one and three was four, but that wasn’t actually the case.

That count included the votes of the Strongest and weak representatives who were directly in the arena.

So, if you excluded the two fixed votes in the arena, the actual betting situation was:

| Number 1 – 6 votes

| Number 3 – 12 votes

‘Twice as many people voted for the weakling’s death.’

In other words, there were twice as many people wanting Dragos to die as there were people wanting to save him.

‘This… is bad.’

As Yeongwoo reached this conclusion, the waiting room broadcast screen brightened again.

The number three bettors who had voted to intervene really proceeded with the arena transfer.

The number of people who newly entered the second arena was:

Flash, flash, flash!

‘…Four.’

So, would it be a four-on-three battle soon?

Strictly speaking, no.

All the mutants in the second arena were still alive.

Though one mutant was on the brink of death thanks to Bristol and Nashville’s entry, there were still three mutants remaining.

So now, what the Weakest side had to deal with was:

‘Three mutants and four named humans. Seven to three.’

Swoosh.

Yeongwoo, who had been sitting and watching the screen, stood up without realizing it.

He felt like he had to use the bombardment.

‘If I shoot at the center, I can clear most of them.’

〔II|l||-Lupo-917-005-3113-45〕

Yeongwoo quickly recalled the coordinates for the bombardment point.

If he delayed the decision too long, it would be useless, so he needed to hurry.

If he fired after the fight began, both the new interveners and Dragos would die.

‘Things are already getting complicated.’

But it was unavoidable.

Yeongwoo closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and shouted loudly while looking at the second arena’s broadcast screen.

“General! Transmitting coordinates! Lupo! 917! 005! 31…!”

Then.

“…What?”

He stopped, seeing something on the screen.

“What, what is this?”

In the second arena.

Dragos, who had been bleeding profusely and watching the four new interveners, suddenly fell to his knees.

Then.

“What’s this guy doing?”

Everyone in the dungeon, including Yeongwoo, saw him clasp his hands and start praying to the sky.

Seeing this, the Swordmaster Bristol, who had come to help him, shouted with a red face.

Apparently, Bristol thought Dragos had lost his mind.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo.

“To our Lord in the universe, please have mercy on me…”

Yeongwoo read Dragos’s lips through the screen and realized something.

‘Why can I read that?’

No matter how unified languages had become, reading lips was a different story altogether.

But Yeongwoo didn’t have time to delve into this mystery.

Ting!

A clear sound rang out from somewhere above the arena.

Swoosh!

A beam of white light shot down towards the second arena.

“……!”

Yeongwoo quickly turned his gaze back to the broadcast screen.

Then he saw Dragos, arms spread wide, looking up at the sky.

—「Mara」……!

This time, an otherworldly language clearly transcended the screen.

‘What has this guy summoned?’

Regardless, Yeongwoo had to admit it.

Dragos’s prayer had been answered.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]