Chapter 185 - TOP 10
The prophet said it.
He said we must catch those who save lives in Round 11 without fail.
If we lose them, we won't be able to surpass Round 15 and we'll die.
'Oh, no. How did I survive?'
Christine quickly started talking about herself.
"Do you know how useful I am? Haha, I can heal if you get hurt and I can also apply buffs that defend against altered states and debuffs..."
"All that is useless to me."
"Eh?"
"I don't need healing because I don't get hurt, and my resistance to altered states is still high. There's no reason to hang around with a priest."
...
Certainly, the priest is an excellent support for survival.
There's nothing as terrifying as emergency care, and as the round progresses, there's nothing as fearsome as altered states and debuffs.
The need for healers is so crucial that even Ryu Min acknowledges it, at least in the late stage.
'Although to a certain extent.'
When you reach level 60, the priest learns the resurrection skill.
Only then does it make sense to bring a healer as insurance.
'But right now, they're useless to me. They're just as much of a burden as the team.'
Christine seems to agree with that fact, as she says nothing and simply lowers her head.
No, reading her thoughts, it seems she wasn't discouraged but rather desperately looking for other options.
This is because of Ryu Min's prophecy that says they must be with Black Scythe.
"Don't worry, Christine. I have no reason to betray you."
Unless he knows how strong the boss is, the priest who can resurrect once more is absolutely necessary.
However, for now, it's necessary to keep a distance with an appropriate excuse.
"This round is a team battle where you can score points by killing the opposing team. You and I are competitors with clearly different areas and races. Do you think we can cooperate in a situation like this? Do you trust me enough?"
"You... saved me."
"Save you twice and you'll already be talking about marriage."
"..."
"Do you really trust me? It's the first time we've met."
Indeed, what Christine trusts is the prophecy.
She clings to Black Scythe because of the assertion that grabbing a companion's rope is crucial for survival.
But after hearing Black Scythe's advice, she changed her mind.
'If it's him, I can trust.'
She only looked at him for a moment, but she understood his situation and his difficulties, and he gave her advice.
He's a man with strength and insight.
Plus, he seems to have a sturdy rope at first glance, why wouldn't she cling to it?
"Yes... I trust you. I trust you."
Sigh, this is madness.'
Looking at Christine, who is somehow trying to cling to him, Ryu Min sighs internally.
'Making the priest be on my side is fine. It's good, but...'
It's not a necessary presence at the moment.
Most rounds can be conquered by Ryu Min alone.
And it's more reassuring to go alone.
'The doubtful Christine now blindly trusts the prophecy.'
Although he also saved her from death, it seems that the main reason was to win her favor with advice in their first encounter.
The problem is that to take advantage of it, he still has to reach Round 15.
"Having said that, we can't cooperate because our areas are different. There's no way we can help each other accumulate points. If you want to help, survive this round and then we'll talk."
"Then, can I follow you in the next round?"
'Persistent. You're persistent.'
Although he grumbled internally, it wasn't hard to understand that clinging was necessary for survival.
"That's right. So, for now, survive this round. Instead of following me, wouldn't it be better for you to accumulate points even from the dead to rank?"
Christine nodded in response to the sensible words.
"Thank you for the advice. Also for saving my life."
"Well, I'm off then."
As if the thanks were enough, Ryu Min turned around and left first.
Leaving behind Christine's pitiful look.
------------
'I finally left her.'
Ryu Min sighed as if he had rid himself of his ex-girlfriend whom he was obsessed with.
He opened the mission progress window to check the points and remaining time.
[Points earned by the Korean team: 733,270]
[Points earned by Lost Yak: 13,240]
[Time remaining until the end of the round: 22:21:59]
Seeing the team's points, he had accumulated around 700,000.
'Close to 700 people, so it could be said we've accumulated at least 1,000 points per person.'
Having earned only 1,000 points in almost two hours was surprising.
'Even if we only complete an ordinary mission for an hour, we could have earned 1,000 points...'
The team's performance was lower than he expected.
'Well, there are still 22 hours left.'
According to what Ryu Min knew, the cutoff line for survival in Round 11 was 13 million.
If each person earned 20,000 points in 24 hours, they could survive.
Of course, Ryu Min wasn't satisfied with just surviving.
'13 million is nothing.'
The goal for this round was to lead both in team performance and individual performance.
He was sure of that.
With only an hour left, the decisive change would begin.
'Until then, I must focus to the fullest on earning points.'
He couldn't afford obstacles like Ma Gyeong-rok or the Black Scythe Society to intervene.
For that, Ryu Min wore the Doppelganger ring.
[Calling the new nickname you want to use.]
[Existing nicknames cannot be used.]
[However, the nickname of a dead person can be used.]
Ryu Min chose a nickname that his acquaintances wouldn't recognize.
'Lost Yak.'
[The nickname 'Black Scythe' will be changed to 'Lost Yak'.]
Not only the nickname, but he also wore the killer's mask and changed his appearance.
'Someone might recognize me if they pass by.'
From the nickname to the appearance.
He became completely Lost Yak.
Now, no one could track him.
They would have to remember Lost Yak's appearance and nickname.
'If they try to track me thinking of Black Scythe, I should appear as non-existent.'
Although he would be treated as if he were dead, he didn't mind.
Simply disorienting those who pursue him would be enough.
'No one will chase me, so should I start seriously earning points?'
He had already planned in his mind which missions to attack and how to efficiently approach them.
'Amplification.'
Zzzzz-
Channeling electricity through his body, he doubled his movement speed.
Zap-!
In a flash of light, Ryu Min disappeared.
--------------------
"Ugh, this is really exhausting."
So far, the round lasted a maximum of 10 hours.
It was a long enough time to endure physiological phenomena like sleep and hunger.
However, enduring the 24 hours of round 11 was also an exhausting task.
"How many hours left?"
"4 hours."
"Wow... Still 4 hours left?"
"I'm really starving."
"I'm so tired, I'm going crazy."
Jo Yong-ho's mercenaries knew what it was like to be on the brink of death.
Having run around for about 20 hours to earn points, they were exhausted.
"Why is our stamina low even after passing level 45?"
"Yes, we are supernatural beings transcending humans."
"Do you know, right?"
Even the supernaturals who broke walls and dodged bullets couldn't deal with hunger and sleep.
Being physical creatures, it was a natural phenomenon, but it was also true that they had forgotten the strength of players by surrendering to it.
"Brother, can't we rest for a bit? We'll die if we keep going like this."
"Yes, can't we close our eyes for just 30 minutes?"
In the face of the mercenaries' complaints, Jo Yong-ho shouted as if telling them to stop talking nonsense.
"Are you tired when survival is at stake? Do you think you can sleep here in the other world while your real body is already asleep? I could lead you to an eternal sleep if you keep this up."
"Still, people need to sleep, don't they?"
"Hold on for 4 more hours. Not much left. We must do our best until the end to survive and have the team survive as well."
"Haven't we made enough effort already?"
"Each of us earned at least 20,000 points on average, didn't we?"
Jo Yong-ho and his team earned 20,000 points per person in 20 hours thanks to not stopping on missions.
It was a figure that was definitely considered large, but they still couldn't be at ease.
"There's no benchmark to compare. We don't know if we've earned a lot or a little."
"I think we should be in first place. We really gave it our all."
"Yes, we worked tirelessly. Wouldn't it be strange not to rank first?"
"We don't know that. So, we must keep moving."
Although his comrades sighed at those words, Jo Yong-ho sincerely believed they would be in the middle rank with this amount of effort.
Because they had tried.
Thirty mercenaries, including him, had earned points relentlessly.
"Although it would be nice to know at least our intermediate grades..."
It was at that moment.
Just as the 4-hour time limit was about to expire, a message appeared.
"4 hours left until the end of the current round."
"At this moment, we will reveal the rankings and the TOP 10 in this area."
<Points Calculation Results by Area>
1st place. C3-ECHNA003 China (28,031,020 points)
2nd place. C3-EBRA004 Brazil (27,712,410 points)
3rd place. C3-EMXA003 Mexico (27,444,030 points)
4th place. C3-EINDA001 India (26,991,150 points)
5th place. C3-ECHNA005 China (26,896,020 points)
...
...
10th place. C3-EJPNA002 Japan (25,558,180 points)
It was surprising that China had two teams in the TOP 10, but what was even more surprising was this:
"Your team (C3-ESKA001 Korea) has 11,219,170 points and ranks 92 out of 190 areas in total."
"What?"
"Are we only at rank 92?"
To survive, they had to be within the top 95 places.
If they made a mistake, they could fall behind in the ranking and wouldn't reach the cutoff line.
"Does this make sense? Have we worked so hard for this?"
The team was disappointed to see that the team's points were lower than expected.
"Why do China and Japan, our neighboring countries, have such high rankings?"
"The number of members per team is similar, 700 people per team, right?"
"Darn it, surely other teams have been killing left and right. That's what's giving them more points."
"It's true. Just look at China, which is in first place. They have already accumulated 28 million points, which means each one has earned 40,000 points."
"They're probably killing every person they encounter, instead of completing missions and passing by."
The mercenaries felt disheartened at the thought that their efforts so far might have been in vain.
"Guys, we can still survive. Let's keep pushing a little more. We can be expelled if we don't."
Jo Yong-ho tried to motivate the excited teams, saying they had no choice but to strive.
"If we don't earn more points, our comrades and even Black Scythe could die."
With that threat in mind, Jo Yong-ho and the mercenaries set out to earn more points.
They couldn't waste time if they wanted to make one last effort before time ran out.
-----------
"It's a bit ambiguous."
Ryu Min murmured dissatisfiedly at the recently emerged Korean team's ranking.
"Even if we did well, we would be at the beginner level. I wonder what would have happened if I wasn't here."
Despite being one of the elite teams in Korea with the best players, the Korean team's score was surprisingly low.
"It wasn't that low at first. We were in the middle."
However, since Ryu Min prevented the killings of Ma Gyeong-rok and Joo Sung-taek, the team's points plummeted.
"I know it's bitter, but there's no other choice. If we don't commit murders, our ranking will drop."
Doing legitimate missions would only give them a small amount of points.
The angels probably wanted to see humans killing each other to earn points.
But it wasn't necessary to rely solely on killings to earn points.
With the final twist still pending, there was another opportunity: the "game of chance."
"And the only way to win in that game of chance is with Clairvoyance."
An hour before the end, a message appeared in front of Ryu Min.
The moment had come.
[Until the end of the current round, 1 hour left.]
[A 'casino' will be opened as a special event.]
[In the casino, you can multiply your points up to 200 times.]
[Please note that the location of the casino is confidential.]
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