Chapter 140

CHAPTER 140

"Wow! WOW! Yoonho! You're actually doing it?! Oi, oi! I believed in you!!!"

Lumi shouted from beside him.

Alpaca clenched his fists and leaned forward, ready to cheer.

Wind Sword seemed awkward in this kind of atmosphere and couldn't bring himself to yell, but he looked just as focused.

This is surprisingly tense.

Seojun watched the battle between the floppy, wobbly characters with unexpected interest.

The player characters in Beast Cartel looked like dolls made of clay.

Matching their appearance, their movements were sluggish and absurdly weak, to the point where one wondered if the physics engine was functioning properly.

Yet somehow, the hits still felt satisfying.

Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

[Captain Ha Yoonho's floppy punch!]

[Ah! Has he been grabbed? He has! Player Jappcho is dragging Captain Ha Yoonho toward the grinder at the edge of the map!]

[Only two players remain! And if he can't kill Ha Yoonho here, it's over!]

"No! If we win this round, we take first place! If he loses, we have to play another match!"

Lumi cried nervously.

At the same moment Alpaca's and Wind Sword's eyes widened—

The opponent's yellow blob-like character lost its grip on Yoonho's blue character.

As if gravity were weaker than the moon's, the fallen character bounced across the floor a couple of times.

Boing.

Boing.

Then Yoonho stood up.

And this time, he grabbed the opponent instead.

[Is this a comeback?!]

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Performing what could only be described as a true moonwalk, the character carried his opponent over and stuffed him into the nearby grinder.

A message appeared.

[GAME OVER!]

[Winner: Ha Yoonho!]

[Woooooo! Congratulations! The points from the first game go to Captain Ha Yoonho's team, the first team to secure three victories!]

"..."

"Wow! Yoonho actually did something!"

"He really did!"

"Well..."

Wind Sword started to say something, then stopped.

Seojun could more or less guess what came next.

In fact, anyone who had witnessed the team's atmosphere earlier could.

If Mr. Yoonho hadn't done something, he might've died.

That was the vibe.

The other E-rank players had come hoping to win.

For Ha Yoonho, his life had practically been on the line.

The difference in mindset was what gave him the victory.

At least, that was what Seojun thought.

[Hahaha! Then let's reveal the points!]

[Yes! Captain Ha Yoonho's team receives 500 points!]

These were the same points used during the auction.

The team with the most points remaining at the end of today's events would earn the right to choose their group.

This was how leftover auction points were being used after the draft.

"Five hundred points?!"

Alpaca's eyes widened.

"We have the most now!"

No team had saved enough during the auction to match an extra five hundred points.

• Wow!
• That's a ton lol
• They don't need them after tomorrow anyway, so they're handing them out freely

[Ah, and now we'll prepare for the second game. By the way, the winner of the second game receives 2,000 points!]

[Good luck to everyone until the very end!]

Arin winked at the camera as the advertisements began.

• LMAOOOOOOOO
• Just win Ground Zero and you get to choose your group lol
• What is this school-retreat meta lol
• Tournament staff: "We're putting everything into the final game so people don't stop trying." lol

A strategy where the final challenge made everything accumulated beforehand meaningless was commonly called the school-retreat meta.

Seojun thought the term was surprisingly appropriate.

He smiled.

Not an unhappy smile.

After all, this tournament existed for everyone to have fun.

His teammates weren't upset either.

"Ah, right. This kind of tournament has always been like that."

Everyone nodded in agreement at Lumi's comment.

"The champion has returned!"

The owner of the lobby came back.

He looked extremely proud of himself.

But now that everyone knew about the school-retreat meta, it was hard to get much of a reaction.

"Oh, you're back."

"Good job."

"That was fun to watch."

"Nice work."

The lukewarm responses made Yoonho tilt his head in confusion.

Just as he was about to boast—

"Alright, let's discuss how we're going to handle the next game."

Alpaca cut in.

Yoonho's eyes silently fired questions.

What about my victory?

What about congratulating me?

Didn't I do well this time?

Alpaca ignored all of them.

"Mr. Seojun, you heard the explanation earlier, right?"

The question was directed at him.

After all, Seojun was the only person who had never played the game.

"Yes."

Ground Zero.

An FPS battle royale game.

Battle royale games gathered participants into one location and forced them to fight until only one player—or one team—remained.

It was the perfect genre for a large group competition like this.

"Ah, right! We got 500 points, but if we win this, we get 2,000!"

After reading the chat and understanding the situation, Yoonho muttered to himself.

Once he understood the reason for the lack of celebration, his frustration vanished and he joined the discussion.

"Since Mr. Seojun knows the game too, let's play it safe."

A battle royale only cared about one thing:

Being the last survivor.

There were many paths to that result.

The most famous strategies were the Camping Meta, the Gandhi Meta, and the Lu Bu Meta.

The Camping Meta involved hiding in one place and dealing only with enemies who came to you.

The Gandhi Meta was similar, avoiding fights whenever possible and pursuing nonviolence.

The Lu Bu Meta was the exact opposite—actively seeking combat.

There were many others too:

The Real Estate Agent Meta, where players secured valuable buildings early.

The Prayer Meta, where players simply relied on luck.

And countless others.

Most were more for entertainment than serious competition.

Yoonho continued.

"There are only twenty-four players, right? Even on a small map, there should be plenty of loot for everyone."

"So I think we should play it safe. Fully gear up, avoid early fights, and engage once the player count drops."

"By then, Mr. Seojun might have gotten used to the game and started flying around."

In other words:

Avoid early combat.

"And if we get lucky and find an airdrop, we give everything to Mr. Seojun."

Everyone nodded again.

"Do you trust me that much?"

Seojun asked with a meaningful smile.

"Yes."

"There aren't any Ground Zero specialist streamers here, so you're basically our only hope."

I see.

"Though honestly, we don't absolutely have to win. Getting to choose who we face in the group stage would be nice, but it's not a massive advantage."

They were trying to ease the pressure on him.

But Seojun had never felt pressured in the first place.

If we're doing it, we should win.

His first time playing the game?

That was fine.

Unless the controls were completely bizarre, games were fundamentally the same.

And the method for winning was always the same.

"Then how about we use both the Gandhi Meta and the Lu Bu Meta?"

"...What?"

• Lololol, he's about to do something crazy again.
• Wait, those two strategies can coexist?
• He's saying insane things again.

Seojun launched Ground Zero.

A tournament invitation immediately appeared.

A list of twenty-four participants filled the interface before him.

There were four players per team, making twenty-four competitors total.

Even the smallest map normally hosted sixty-four players.

There were special thirty-two-player event maps, but regardless, this match had significantly fewer participants than a normal game.

[Alright! Let's begin!]

As the game started, the official broadcast Seojun had been watching cut off.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself inside a massive, dimly lit warehouse.

Or rather—

A plane.

The entire structure trembled as deafening engine noise echoed through the walls.

Right. They said this was a plane. We jump into the map from here and then the fighting begins.

Twenty-four players sat in rows along the walls according to their teams.

Some wore bizarre helmets.

One player was covered entirely in pink.

And even more shocking—

One streamer was wearing nothing but underwear.

Even if it was just an avatar, it was still based on his scanned body.

That took confidence.

I should be careful of that guy.

There was an old saying in martial arts:

Beware women, children, and the elderly.

Gaming had a similar saying.

Beware players wearing only underwear.

Because they were either complete beginners...

Or terrifying experts with nothing left to prove.

Since Seojun himself was dressed in ordinary pants and a jacket, the odds were high that the underwear guy belonged to the latter category.

"Mr. Seojun! The plane door is about to open. Get ready to drop! First we need to check the map. Once the door opens we'll be able to see the minimap, so we'll look at the map and the situation first—"

Lumi was explaining when a loud metallic crash rang out.

CLANG!

BZZZZZT!

The plane door slowly opened.

The more experienced players recognized the map before even seeing the terrain below.

The color of the sky alone was enough.

"It's the Great Desert!"

"Are you kidding me? Only twenty-four players and they chose the biggest map?!"

"Check the minimap!"

Chaos erupted.

Meanwhile Seojun's team remained calm.

Their plan had always been to watch where everyone else went and then head somewhere quiet.

The Gandhi Meta.

"Let's check first."

Normally, experienced players had no reason to panic.

Flight paths were fixed on each map.

The moment you identified the map, you could already estimate most of the important information.

But this wasn't a normal match.

The tournament organizers could have changed anything.

And sure enough—

"What?! Why is the storm already active?!"

"Wow. People are going to slaughter each other."

"If we'd jumped immediately and headed toward the safe zone normally, we would've died to storm damage. Damn."

The storm.

An essential battle royale mechanic.

Seojun carefully studied the circle displayed on the minimap.

"If you're outside this circle, your health continuously decreases, right?"

"That's right. And it keeps shrinking over time, limiting the safe area."

To avoid the storm, players were forced into the circle.

And as a result, players scattered across the map naturally ended up fighting each other.

"But if the circle doesn't even cover half the map..."

The implication was obvious.

Stay nearby from the very beginning.

"Yep. Tournament organizer nonsense."

• Hardcore mode lol
• Did you think they wanted to watch streamers peacefully full-loot before fighting? lol
• True lol

"What do we do?"

Alpaca asked whether they should reconsider their strategy.

Seojun answered without hesitation.

"Let's stick with the plan."

A huge map?

Even better.

The transport plane entered the safe zone.

One by one, players began jumping.

Among them was the Challenger jungler, Dokkaebi.

We're taking Camp.

WHOOOOSH!

His stomach dropped as freefall began.

While adjusting his speed, he scanned the surroundings.

The first was necessary because excessive speed prevented parachute deployment.

The second was to count how many competitors were contesting Camp.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

"...Huh?"

He counted again.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

What?

The number didn't change.

That made no sense.

The count didn't include himself.

Meaning—

Including him, nine people were heading toward the same location.

How could there be nine players going to one drop spot in a game with four-person squads?

• Wait, isn't that Jin Seojun?
• The loud guy from the start?
• He was the loudest person during today's auction too lol
• That's one expensive 995-point body

After checking the chat and identifying each player properly, Dokkaebi finally understood.

Jin Seojun.

The biggest mystery of the auction.

Three captains had practically gone all-in trying to acquire him.

Looks like he jumped wrong.

At that point, Dokkaebi didn't think much of it.

I'll grab Camp quickly and head underground...

SHOOOOOO!

Then something shot past him vertically.

Extremely fast.

His eyes widened.

He isn't controlling his speed? Then he'll...

The object that had passed him was Seojun.

And his acceleration was absurd.

As expected—

The parachute never deployed.

BOOM!!!

Seojun crashed onto the rooftop of a building.

First among all nine players.

Wow... and he still twisted his body at the last second and landed properly.

Dokkaebi couldn't help admiring it as he deployed his own parachute.

• Absolute giga-chad lol
• Bro jumped solo and did a naked dive lol
• His health is basically gone. Let's go kill him.

"If you go after him, it's dangerous."

There was a reason people didn't do what Seojun had done.

The advantage was obvious.

You landed before everyone else and could loot first.

But the drawback was just as obvious.

Fall damage.

A game mechanic where falling from sufficient height damaged your health.

• He's one hit away from death. How can you resist?
• Just run over and poke him once.
• Obvious clueless newbie. Time to teach him the pain of battle royales.

"With health that low, he'll probably die soon even without me."

Still descending slowly under his parachute, Dokkaebi aimed for a nearby building.

A quick glance revealed something fortunate.

A pistol had spawned on the rooftop where Seojun landed.

Ah, that's where I wanted to go.

Suppressing his disappointment, Dokkaebi watched.

At first, Seojun scratched his head as if confused.

Then he chatted with his viewers for a moment.

Shrugged.

And walked over to the pistol.

The weapon entered his inventory.

Should I put some distance between us?

Then—

Their eyes met.

Seojun smiled.

And casually threw the pistol away.

...What?

Dokkaebi couldn't process what he'd just seen.

But Seojun's next action was even more ridiculous.

He's raising both hands? That's... a boxing stance? Is he challenging me?

• Dokkaebi, he's inviting you to a fistfight lol
• Bro is one punch from death and threw away the pistol too lol
• LOL Dokkaebi was practically a semi-pro boxer in real life
• One thing's certain, he's a real man

Wow...

There's no way I can ignore that.

Dokkaebi changed the direction of his parachute.