Chapter 52
Chapter 52: Legal Gambling
The mountain summit where he had last logged out.
It had been completely empty before, yet now it was swarming with people.
Mu-yeong shielded his eyes from the sun with his palm and scanned his surroundings.
"Everyone seems to have come looking for the White Snake."
"It's the first boss to be discovered, so that's probably why. There's a set respawn time, but since no one knows when it is, they're trying to wait it out indefinitely."
"Then our next target, the Stone Golem—does that mean we can't catch it either?"
"Ah, he's actually a Special Boss. He appears following a quest, so he shows up based on one party, so you don't have to worry about a steal."
Good.
Mu-yeong breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out a Talisman he had tucked in his pocket.
The thing the Village Chief had given him as a reward, said to be a symbol of good fortune.
He might not have minded if it were purely a personal item, but the fact that it was said to have been passed down through the family for generations nagged at him.
Surely it must have some use somewhere……
—But the shape of this Talisman is really unusual lol
—For real, there's something like hieroglyphs on the surface too
—Isn't it something that opens a door or something?
—For real, you see it in movies lol, like the last piece of a puzzle
—That actually sounds plausible?
—This isn't some sci-fi thing, what lol
It certainly did have an unusual shape.
That was because patterns were drawn on it that were hard to see as simply carved stone—patterns that seemed to follow a rule, yet also seemed not to.
But no matter how hard he stared at it, he could not make out any meaning.
"I'm sure a use will come up someday. For now, getting a new weapon comes first."
Mu-yeong tucked the Talisman back into his chest pocket and glanced at his empty side.
His starting sword, which had been destroyed after its durability ran out.
Now he understood why they said to obtain good weapons and equipment in Monster World.
No matter how powerful one's martial arts or how abundant one's internal energy, it was useless if it broke.
And to do that, I need to level up again.
A relationship where everything was intertwined.
The phrase "Golden Balance" resonated with him more deeply than ever.
"What's the fastest way to get a weapon from here right now?"
—Village blacksmith
—You can also buy one from a merchant
—But it's a Beginner Village so nothing good is sold there
—Yeah, just move on to the next area and buy one there
['LandlordLife' has donated 100,000 Won.]
—You don't need to buy a weapon!!! There's a quest that gives one for free!!
"For free? There's a quest like that?"
"Aah, I think that's what they're talking about? Normally when you hit Level 10, there's a starter support item you get for free."
"Really?"
"Yes! But it's not here—you have to go to the next village. And there…… who was it again? Ah, right! If you talk to the Training Officer, you can get the weapon of your choice."
"I won't say no to free. Let's go right away."
A short while later.
Coming down from the mountain, Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin witnessed a bizarre sight.
"Village Chief! Hurry! Give us! The quest!"
"Village Chief! Hurry! Give us! The quest!"
"Village Chief! Hurry! Give us! The quest!"
Users staging a collective sit-in in front of the Village Chief's house.
They had even laid out mats on the ground and were waving their clenched fists in unison to the chant.
There were also those trying to win his favour with fruit or money, even without joining the sit-in.
"I personally dug these herbs from the back mountain. You're getting to the age where you should be taking care of your health, Village Chief."
"These are fruits only in season right now. I soaked them in the stream myself, so they're nice and cold."
"Ah, no. I'm fine. Really, I'm fine!"
"Please don't be like that……. Ah, by the way, my username is StrawberryGhost."
"Mine is FlyingPig. Please remember me!"
—lolololol
—lmaooo
—Those guys are still at it lol
—Seriously persistent lol
—Like that's gonna make him give a quest lol
—For real, if I were the Village Chief I wouldn't give it just out of spite lol
"……What in the world is going on that they're doing this?"
['SnakeHunter' has donated 10,000 Won.]
—So on the night you beat the boss, something flew off from the mountain summit. Everyone thinks it's a new boss or a chain quest, so that's why they're doing this.
['Nam Gung-ok' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—I saw it live too. It was quite a magnificent laser.
['CheeseKingBap' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—There was even an earthquake apparently? lol
To summarize in one sentence: the people who had witnessed the Extreme Annihilation Strike had mistaken it for a boss's appearance.
That was how one could see it.
"……"
Mu-yeong, the one responsible, quietly averted his gaze from the Village Chief who was surrounded by people trying to curry his favour.
Then he turned his body in the opposite direction.
"I know nothing of this."
"……Me neither."
The two sole witnesses disappeared in an instant.
.
.
.
.
Trudge. Trudge.
Following behind Yu Ye-rin for a short while.
A narrow trail running along the mountain appeared again.
Mu-yeong looked upward and asked.
"How much further until the next village from here?"
"Hmm, about fifteen minutes? It's right past this mountain."
"Then let's pick up the pace."
Just as he was about to kick off the ground and surge forward, a blue window appeared before Mu-yeong's eyes.
[Emergency Quest Triggered!—Orc Vagrants]
—A group of Orcs is blocking the mountain path. The only way to survive them is total annihilation or death. The choice is yours. Defeat Orc Vagrants (0/10)
"Oh! A Sudden Quest? It pops up every now and then when things get slow…… What would you like to do? You can ignore it, or you can kill them all."
"We're going that way anyway—let's kill them all."
Setting aside the Sudden Quest itself, what he was most curious about was the monster known as an Orc.
What would it look like? What kind of attacks would it use?
His anticipation was shattered the moment he laid eyes on the ferocious humanoid monsters.
Green skin, tusks jutting out from its mouth, a height and build that clearly surpassed two metres.
Mu-yeong was momentarily stunned by their appearance, which exceeded all imagination.
"Not a single normal-looking thing among the monsters here."
"Well…… I suppose that's what makes them monsters?"
"A wise answer to a foolish question."
He smirked and glanced at the chat window.
—Those guys are really pitiful lol
—For real, how do you appear in front of Mu-yeong of all people?
—Just whoosh and they'll all be dead
—10 of them, you think it'll be done in thirty seconds?
—Thirty seconds my ass lol, ten seconds.
—Yu Ye-rin's with him so I'll say fifteen seconds lol
Not a single shred of tension from the viewers.
They were only debating how many seconds it would take to kill all the Orcs.
A problem born entirely from Mu-yeong being too strong.
There is a good way to straighten out the atmosphere, which was at risk of going slack.
"Let's open up a bet. Time limit is twenty seconds—whether I can kill all of them barehanded or not."
He had learned a thing or two from watching many streams over the past while.
Nothing gets viewers absorbed quite like this.
The response was immediate.
—Casino's OPEN lolololol
—Come on, put your money in lol
—Finally a place to spend these points lol
—This has to be a safe bet, right? lol
—Honestly twenty seconds is a bit generous lol
—But barehanded, two seconds per Orc—is that even doable? lol
—If you're confident, go short lol
[Orc 20-second clear possible—103,000 POINTS VS Over 20 seconds—21,640 POINTS]
The first bet ever held on Mu-yeong's stream.
Now that the points—which had been nothing but scraps of data—finally held meaning, gamblers flooded in from all directions and scraped together every last point from the bottom of the barrel.
—The contrarians already have their heads smashed in, yeah? lol
—Use your head and think about it lol
—Short-sellers are about to get hit like a punch machine lol
—Even so, twenty seconds is a bit much lol
—Yeah if this reverse bet lands it's minimum 5x lol
[Orc 20-second clear possible—234,000 POINTS VS Over 20 seconds—91,640 POINTS]
—Someone's putting in 90,000 points lol
—What a way to throw away trash lol
—Just looking at it makes me feel full lol
—Tonight's late-night snack is right here lol
The soul-wagering bets came to a prosperous close.
Satisfied with the chat regenerating at a much faster pace, Mu-yeong immediately rolled up his sleeves.
"I'll say this in advance—I'll be going at full power."
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.
.
.
Three years since the Great Unification had taken place.
By now, internet streaming had become one of the quite familiar cultural phenomena even among martial artists.
Compared to the early days, when they hadn't known how to turn on a computer and were constantly smashing monitors, it was a tremendous leap forward.
So what do they watch when they come to the streaming platform?
[The Sword Art Lecture of Yu Ji-gang, One of the One Hundred Greatest Masters Under Heaven]
[What is the Dao?]
[Amitabha, Awaken to the Spirit of Bodhidharma!]
Naturally, streams by martial arts masters.
To think that masters—whom one had only heard of by rumour and might see once in a lifetime—were spread out everywhere like this.
It was an environment no different from paradise for those who pursued martial arts.
Of course there were those who watched other content, but most were like this.
That was no exception for Hwang Il-chung, Commander of the Heavenly Demon Blood Sword Unit.
"Kuhahaha! This is exactly why I watch Mu-yeong's stream! Absolutely magnificent!"
He cheered, chugging soju straight from the bottle.
Hwang Il-chung knocked back half the bottle in one go and wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
The reason this man—a top-tier expert ranked within the top twenty of the Demonic Sect and Commander of the Heavenly Demon Blood Sword Unit, regarded as the greatest combat unit—watched Mu-yeong's stream?
Pow! Thud! Crack! Boom!
—The breathless massacre has begun lolololol
—Orcs getting their heads caved in one by one lol
—One shot one kill, insane lol
—Weapons? Why would he need those lol
—For real, his body itself is a killing machine lol
Because it was exhilarating.
Recklessly bold yet never once delivering a disappointing result.
For this man who pursued only strength and unleashed Heavy Sword techniques, it was the greatest pleasure.
"Where on earth did someone like this come from? If he'd been under me, I'd have given him the Vice-Commander position without a second thought!"
Gulp. Gulp.
Hwang Il-chung drained an entire bottle of soju.
When he looked back at the screen, all ten of the Orc pack were dead.
Without exception, each had a large hole punched somewhere in its body, as if struck by a bomb.
Simultaneously, a notification popped up announcing the end of the betting.
[Orc 20-second clear possible—287,000 POINTS WINS]
—13 seconds lol
—Who told you to go short on Mu-yeong? lol
—Only ever bet long lol
—Honestly a rock<<< that guy probably has a higher return rate??? lol
—That guy? You call a rock your friend???
Hwang Il-chung slapped his knee.
"Kuhahaha! I knew it would turn out this way. They saw all that martial prowess and still put points on over twenty seconds? Those are the ones with their heads truly blown open!"
Having been a dedicated viewer of Mu-yeong's stream for some time, he had bet his entire fortune—and the result was exceedingly sweet.
[17,820 Points acquired!]
In high spirits, Hwang Il-chung went straight to make a donation.
He boldly moved to press the top-up amount, then hesitated.
"Wait, if I subtract what I owe the Sect this month, my spare change isn't much……"
Stealing glances around him, he began erasing the zeros one by one.
He'd had soju, so just a little more.
No wait, he'd bought snacks too, so just a little more?
Thinking of tomorrow, just a tiny bit more……?
The Heavenly Demon.
U Ho-beop, Left and Right Guardians.
Seven Elders.
The various Unit Leaders responsible for each unit.
Even Hwang Il-chung, who had nothing to be ashamed of except before the upper brass, could only shrink infinitely small in the face of money.
"Well, I'll donate a lot next time. For now, just enough to keep it as a hobby……"
Squeezing his eyes shut, he pressed donate on the amount he had topped up.
['Sword Wraith Hwang Il-chung' has donated 3,000 Won.]
—Short-sellers getting their heads blown off lol Points taste so sweet, mwahaha
Hwang Il-chung was, among martial artists, exceptionally quick to adapt to the modern world.