Chapter 174 - Round 11 Begins
A day before the start of round 11, Ryu Min encountered Min Juri.
"What do you have to tell me?"
"Yes, this."
When he pulled out a slightly large ring box, Min Juri's eyes widened like a rabbit's.
"W-what's this?"
"Open it."
With nervous excitement, Min Juri opened the box and involuntarily sighed at the sight of a shiny 5-carat diamond.
Heartbeat after heartbeat after heartbeat after heartbeat!
-What, what should I respond? I'm still not emotionally prepared.
Seeing clearly that she was fantasizing, Ryu Min quickly drew a line.
"Don't misunderstand. I got it from acquaintances and don't need it, so I'm giving it to you."
"You don't need it?"
"Would a man wear jewelry? Sell it or use it however you want."
"How much is it worth?"
"They say its value is 300 million."
"3, 3, 3... million?"
"It could be more."
"..."
Juri couldn't close her mouth anymore.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"I told you. I don't need it."
"You can sell it."
"It's bothersome. Even if I sell it, it's just a small amount for me."
"Do you know? Didn't you have bad luck a moment ago?"
"That's the truth."
Ma Gyeong-rok's company, which had a market capitalization of 900 billion, doubled in just 8 months.
Naturally, Ryu Min's investment also doubled.
He practically had a fortune close to 600 billion.
In that case, why bother about 300 million?
"For me, it's literally a small amount. But for you, who need it, it will be more useful."
"B-bu-but..."
"You don't have to worry. Just thank and that's it. It's not a burden."
"Who gives away something worth 300 million?"
"They exist. The rich do that."
"..."
She didn't say a word or step back.
Instead, Min Juri, instead of rejecting, found herself thinking about what to say.
"Just say thank you. There's no need to worry."
"I really don't need this help..."
Even though she said that, sincerely, Juri considered it.
Although she worked at the convenience store with her father, sales were decreasing day by day.
She even confessed to her father that she completely spent the 10 million won she received from Ryu Min and now found herself in a situation where she had to ask for a loan.
Just two days ago, she was considering selling her equipment to get quick money.
Given the desperate situation, she couldn't resist the allure of the jewel.
"Really... can I take it?"
"Yes."
"Thank you... but I'm not just taking it. I'm borrowing it. I'll definitely pay it back with interest."
"Yes, do so."
Min Juri took the diamond into her arms.
Grateful to Ryu Min.
"Really, thank you. But let's make this clear."
"What?"
"By nature, I'm an obedient daughter, aren't I?"
--------------
November 1st, 00:00:00.
The moment to enter the other world was always precise.
Every 1st of every month, he fell deeply into the bed syndrome, collapsing on the bed.
The mind wanders in the plains of the beyond, but...
["Hello to all 690 humans! What's going on this time that everyone returned without anyone dying?"]
No one died?
It's understandable.
"Mainly because they are members of Pseva."
Out of 690, 489 are members who stayed in Pseva.
Pseva members were upright people selected after rigorous personality tests, so they didn't fight amongst themselves.
"But it seems like the other 201 didn't fight either."
Perhaps thanks to the performance of the CPF detachment led by Black Scythe, there were no fools committing crimes throughout the whole month of October.
Seo Arin's CPF public service announcements also seemed to be helpful.
"If you're not stupid, you'll understand. With so few people, fighting only leads to losses."
Killing reduces an individual's TO achievement.
It's like closing the holes one can pass through.
["So, before explaining Round 11, shouldn't we consolidate the areas since there are few participants?"]
The angel flapped its wings, the meadow rearranged as the earth trembled.
This time, as if it were the fourth consolidation of areas, there were no signs of surprise on people's faces.
However, they were only surprised when the total consolidation ended.
["Are you surprised that there are more people? It's understandable. We've consolidated all the areas worldwide."]
"All the areas?"
Somehow, the meadow was endlessly filled with people.
I thought we would advance in groups of 5,000 as before, but the scale became even larger.
["The name of the area is CA-EA001. As I said, we've consolidated the 190 areas worldwide, and there are exactly 132,126 participants. Although there are 195 countries, countries with larger populations have multiple separate areas. On the other hand, countries with fewer populations are merged with other countries."]
"I guess places with high populations like India or China have multiple separate areas. Not like in Korea, where it's a single area."
The players nodded as they listened to the explanation.
The reason there were so many people in the meadow was that all countries had joined.
There were many angels too.
There were at least 190 angels floating in the sky explaining.
Each of them continued explaining to the people from the areas they supervised.
["We will continue to advance in a single area in the future, so get used to it. So, should we reveal the missions of Round 11?"]
◀ ROUND 11 ▶
<MAIN MISSION>
└Accumulate points in the fantasy world for 24 hours.
<SECONDARY MISSIONS>
└???? Various
[Consolidated Area CA-EA001]
└Participation areas: 190
└Achievement areas: 0/95
"Eh? What's this?"
"Participation areas? Achievement areas?"
"Aren't those participants and achievers?"
As the players murmured at the unusual mission screen, the angel explained.
[Did you fulfill the number of secondary missions in the fantasy world in the last round? This time, it's a similar mission. The difference is that it's a team battle where the team that accumulates the most points wins.]
"A team battle...?"
[Yes, that's correct. Unlike the last round, which was based on individual performance, this time, it will be conducted with teams formed by areas.]
"By areas...?"
"The areas have just been integrated."
[Of course, we're talking about the areas before integration. Although each area is a little different, you can imagine that we form teams of around 700 people each. It's not a true team that shares experience, they only share victories and defeats. Could we call it a community of fate?]
"Ah...."
The players nodded as if they understood.
[The mission is simple. Traverse the fantasy world, complete secondary missions, and accumulate points. The accumulated personal points are added to the team's points, and the team that accumulates the most points is the winner.]
"Ah...."
"It really is a team battle..."
"We earn points individually, but victory is a collective effort."
"So, even if you don't accumulate many points, do you have a chance to survive?"
[Yes, that's how it is. If someone doesn't accumulate points but the team is in a prominent position, that person also passes. The teams that accumulate the most points will pass from first place to 95th place.]
"Ah, so that's why instead of participants and achievements, it's written as participant areas and achievement areas."
The Korean players glanced at each other.
Now they were a team sharing a boat instead of competitors who had to defeat each other.
[Although they have become a team, they will not receive rewards together. The rewards for ranking are based on individual performance.]
"There's a separate individual performance."
"Anyway, if you don't place in the top three, you don't get rewards?"
"Exactly."
[Since the areas have been integrated, the rewards have been strengthened a bit for this round. Everyone will have to strive to be among the best.]
Even with the angel's words, people showed indifferent faces.
They didn't expect much beyond the rewards that only three people receive.
Simply surviving by accumulating as many points as possible was enough.
[Since the areas have been integrated, we must also reduce the area representative to just one. The player who has obtained the most points based on individual performance will be selected as the integrated area representative.]
"The first place in individual performance?"
"Then, the area representative would have to resign."
Although no one said it aloud, everyone thought it silently.
They didn't know if Black Scythe would get first place again this time.
[To survive, you will have to strive to the fullest, but there is also another reason to accumulate points. If you survive this round, a special shop will open where you can use and buy special items and upgrades with the points you have obtained.]
"A special shop?"
[There you can use the points obtained this time as currency and buy special upgrades and items. Points will be the currency of the special shop.]
When they heard that they could use points as currency, the players showed a determination they didn't have before.
"Regardless of what it is, accumulating many points is the most important thing."
"Now that we're in this, let's give it our all! Let's complete missions like crazy to accumulate points!"
The Korean players motivated each other as they looked at the other players.
There were many foreign players they hadn't seen before, as they usually didn't customize their appearance by changing races.
'This round is like a kind of national showdown with a points competition between countries.'
Therefore, everyone seemed enthusiastic, but there was still a fact that the angels hadn't revealed.
It was another method to earn points.
"The methods to earn points are varied. For a limited time of 24 hours, by completing secondary missions scattered throughout the region, points are awarded according to the difficulty. Points are also obtained by defeating monsters in the field, along with experience."
"It's easy."
"Let's complete as many secondary missions as last time."
The people who spoke confidently and smiling suddenly fell silent when they heard the angel's next words.
"Ah, and you will also get points by killing other players."
"...."
"I won't tell you how many points you'll get. Check it out for yourselves by killing someone. Will it be more than you think? Haha."
Although the angel smiled radiantly, no one could join in his laughter.
-Points for killing someone?
-So, killing someone from the same team...?
-No. Killing someone from the same team would be detrimental. They would lose a worker who would give them points.
-If you want to kill someone, you'll have to kill humans from other countries.
As people's thoughts were transmitted, Ryu Min sighed and shook his head excitedly.
"So this is how the angel wanted it. They see us as enemies and will make us fight each other."
The rule that points are earned by killing people wasn't arbitrary. It was a rule designed to make humans distrust and kill each other.
"Separating us by countries like this and giving us cooperative missions between countries in round 12."
No matter who designed it, it was truly malicious.
Ryu Min looked at the players in silence.
As if saying "When did this happen?", he broke the silence and again cheered everyone on.
"Now that things are like this, let's do secondary missions together."
"There's nothing to fear if we're together."
"Yes, in our country, there's Black Scythe, who ranks first."
"Accumulating points isn't that difficult. Let's survive together!"
Although everyone was cheered up, it was only for a moment.
"So, since the explanation is over, I'll send you straight to the fantasy world. Oh, by the way, the starting place is random."
"Random?"
"Everyone will start in different places so it won't be boring."
When they realized they couldn't start in the same place, everyone fell silent, dispersing in all directions.
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