Chapter 106
Flash!
When I opened my eyes with the flash of light, a small path appeared.
[This is the location for ‘Theme 2’.]
[Please wait a moment.]
[Calculating rewards.]
The survivors who had already arrived were gathered there, murmuring amongst themselves.
“What in the world happened? The Toxin Mist? Why did it appear only to stay fixed in the center?”
The question on most of the hunters’ minds was the same.
“Is the difficulty really supposed to be this easy…?”
“Didn’t someone say they saw a hunter jump into the middle of the Toxin Mist earlier?”
“Who?”
“Some guy, Chris Larsen. According to him, the Toxin Mist stopped after that.”
“Really…?”
Murmur, murmur!
The sounds of people’s conversations drilled right into my ears.
I scratched my head.
‘That was me.’
It was for some reason embarrassing.
Well, I should probably start getting used to this, right?
Once I become a ranker, this will be a daily occurrence.
I chuckled to myself.
It hadn’t happened yet, but I could feel it wasn’t far off.
If I can just finish this trial safely, my name and title will surely be engraved on the world ranking board in the United States, right?
“Hoo.”
I felt somewhat at ease.
The Five Stars of Seoul had sent me here, even using up their recommendation rights.
What would I have done if I returned with poor results?
Honestly, I had felt a lot of pressure, but now it felt like a bit of that burden had been lifted.
At least in here, I was the GOAT.
Greatest Of All Time. Because I believed I had the best record ever.
“Yo! Hoon!”
“You’re alive!”
As I was lost in thought while waiting for the rewards to be calculated.
Olena, James, and Capu approached me.
“We were worried since there was no news after you moved to the center, but you’re alive.”
A look of relief was etched on the face of Olena, who was from Ukraine.
James and Capu must have had a hard time during the remaining period, as traces of fatigue were smeared all over their bodies.
‘Still, they’re pretty good.’
Especially James and Olena, who had argued at the beginning.
Even without me, the two of them had stuck together until the end and survived.
‘It means they each made a wise decision, rather than asserting their own pride.’
They weren’t the only welcome faces.
Shhh!
A familiar-looking Chinese man holding a spear appeared next to me.
“Huh?”
My eyes widened.
The disciple of the world’s 10th-ranked Spear King, and the wielder of the Pear Blossom Spear.
It was Judgement Spear, Zhang Wei.
“Skeleton King.”
He, too, saw me and nodded his head.
“As expected, I knew you would survive. Is this the new location for Theme 2?”
He frowned as he looked around.
“It reeks of a foul stench. It’s crawling with murderers. Skeleton King, my apologies. Before we greet each other, I must first pass judgment on those bastards…”
He was a man who prioritized judgment over the trial.
Just as a thick killing intent was about to pour out of Zhang Wei’s body.
“Keuk!”
[Please wait a moment.]
[Calculating rewards.]
He screamed and clutched his head.
“Keuh, does this mean not yet?”
“That’s right.”
Olena came up beside him.
She opened her mouth with a look that said she had a rough idea of what was happening.
“Earlier, that guy named Chris Larsen got into a fight with some other hunter, but they both just grabbed their heads and couldn’t do anything. It was a whole mess for a little while because of that.”
“Is there some kind of combat restriction?”
When I asked, she nodded.
“I think so. The message to wait a moment also appeared back then.”
“Hmm.”
Well.
If I were Delilah, I probably would have taken some measures as well.
There was no telling what might have happened between people in Theme 1, where murder was possible.
If fights broke out before Theme 2 even began, the meaning of the trial would be tarnished.
[Tiring!]
It was then.
[Reward calculation is complete.]
[Rewards will be distributed differentially based on contribution.]
“Complete?”
Someone shouted in excitement.
“Are the rewards finally coming out?”
“Contribution? There was something like that? Are they talking about Trial Points?”
“Are you an idiot? Trial Points are for use in the shop.”
[An announcement to all participants.]
As the messages continued.
“……”
All the participants shut their mouths and looked up at the sky.
The curiosity about the message was far more intense than the desire to speak!
[Calculating contribution.]
[Number of survivors: 41]
[The system will now rank all 41 people.]
“Wooooah!”
The hunters cheered.
What their rank was, and who had performed the best in this group.
Wasn’t this a topic that always made a hunter’s blood boil!
“Yeah, who is it!”
“Who’s number one?”
Even Chris Larsen, who was far away.
Even Judgement Spear, who was clutching his head.
Olena, James, and Capu.
At least for this moment, they all set everything aside and focused on the message.
“Hurry! Hurry! Show us!”
“Hmph, with my performance, I should at least be in the top 10, right?”
As if the dungeon was answering their curiosity.
Paaaat!
An intense rainbow-colored light burst forth in the sky.
At the same time.
[Here are the contribution results.]
[Values below the decimal point will be rounded up.]
[1st Place – 99%]
[2nd Place – 2%]
[3rd Place – 1%]
[4th Place – 1%]
[5th Place – 1%]
…….
[38th Place – 1%]
[39th Place – 1%]
[40th Place – 1%]
[41st Place – 1%]
The results that decorated every participant’s vision were deformed.
An absurd gap that made it look as if the 1st place winner had monopolized everything!
“……”
The hunters fell silent.
It was so abnormal.
And the numbers were so cleanly divided.
No one could open their mouths.
Some even rubbed their eyes, as if to look again.
“What is this?”
“Everyone else is 1%? Only 1st place is 99%? What is this… absurd result?”
Voices of doubt erupted from all over.
“This is ridiculous! Do you know how we survived in Theme 1!”
Olena, too, shouted from beside me, looking dumbfounded.
James and Capu were also shaking their heads.
Only Judgement Spear was looking at me with a peculiar expression.
“……”
I avoided Judgement Spear’s gaze.
It didn’t specify the name of the 1st place winner, but.
That expression of his, as if he had a hunch, was somehow burdensome.
Murmur, murmur!
A few minutes passed as everyone was in a commotion.
[Your contribution is 99%, for a total of 1st place.]
[Please choose your reward.]
“The reward…”
Someone muttered.
“The rewards have arrived.”
“A Rank A Gift Box? What’s this?”
“Mine says Rank B? But it says if I lower the probability to 30%, it’ll upgrade it to Rank S. At 1%, it becomes Rank SS? The SS rank actually exists?”
“What kind of reward is this? Everyone got a box, right? It’s not just me, is it?”
“Is it because I’m not first place? The rewards feel a little stingy…”
I, too, moved to a corner and checked the message.
[The appropriate reward for you is the ‘Rank SS Gift Box’.]
[The gift box will present you with the item you need most, according to its rank.]
A gift box?
I tilted my head.
It gives me the item I need?
Is that even possible?
[If you choose the appropriate reward, the acquisition probability is 100%.]
[However, you can consume probability to acquire a reward up to 2 ranks higher.]
[Please consider carefully and make your choice.]
[Acquire with 100% probability – Rank SS Gift Box]
[Acquire with 30% probability – Rank SSS Gift Box]
[Acquire with 1% probability – ??? Rank Gift Box]
[If you fail to acquire a higher-rank reward, you will not be able to obtain any reward.]
“Crazy…”
I swore without realizing it.
There was more than one surprising thing.
It was surprising that the system would subjectively determine the item I needed, but.
‘Rank SS?’
In fact, that rank itself was the most surprising.
Until now, I thought the highest rank that could appear in the world was S.
But there was a Rank SS?
And above that, Rank SSS?
‘There’s no way the Five Stars of Seoul didn’t know about this.’
They were also people who had participated in Delilah’s trial.
So they must have seen the reward list.
Then it was one of two things.
Either the rankers knew but weren’t telling the public.
Or, they really didn’t know.
‘It’s probably the former.’
Until now, I had been a mere Rank E hunter.
I had barely hit Rank A before participating in the trial, but.
‘To a ranker, I’m still a scrub.’
There was a limit to the information I could obtain.
The world… was truly vast.
The world was like an onion.
The more you peel, the more new layers you find.
And, the more you peel, the more it makes your eyes water.
[Please consider carefully and make your choice.]
[Acquire with 100% probability – Rank SS Gift Box]
[Acquire with 30% probability – Rank SSS Gift Box]
[Acquire with 1% probability – ??? Rank Gift Box]
‘Hmm.’
I kept staring at the rewards, contemplating.
Even Rank SS was incredible, but if you didn’t covet Rank SSS, you weren’t a hunter.
Besides, ??? Rank?
As humans are creatures of curiosity, I was curious about that as well.
‘However.’
The probability was too low.
What if I foolishly chose a higher rank and received no reward at all?
There was nothing more unfair than that.
The certain Rank SS, or should I bet on it? Life is all or nothing!
‘But wait a minute?’
At that moment, Floa’s voice suddenly came to mind.
– The themes that Lady Delilah originally created, you see. After you clear them, you can get rewards according to your preference at the next location? I think it raises the reward probability there… Crazy, this is so ridiculous…
– Ah, whatever. It’s complicated. You’ll find out in a bit anyway, so let’s skip that. My judgment is… hmm, I want to tell you to just go for it. You don’t have anywhere else to spend those leftover points, do you?
“Ah.”
I let out a sigh.
Was this what she was talking about?
The identity of the scroll I bought from the VIP!
[Item: Reward Probability Amplification Scroll]
[Rank: S]
[Type: Scroll]
[Description: A scroll that increases the plausibility of obtaining a reward by an amount equal to 1,000,000 ‘Trial Points’.]
[Effect 1: Makes the acquisition probability of the target reward 100%.]
A scroll that raised the acquisition probability of any reward to 100%.
“This is insane…”
Only then did I realize how much of a cheat the VIP shop was.
Why it was made unavailable for purchase with 1,000,000 Trial Points.
Why it was worth that much.
Goosebumps spread all over my body.
My arms broke out in gooseflesh.
That gooseflesh was definitely mixed with thrill and joy.
‘Definitely! I have to use it, no matter what!’
Rank SSS?
No, it has to be the question marks.
Raising 1% to 100% is much better than raising 30% to 100%, isn’t it!
Tremble, tremble.
My hands were now shaking.
It was my first time even seeing Rank SSS.
But a rank above that?
Will it really be okay?
Isn’t this a scam?
If it’s not a scam, then.
What is Delilah’s identity that makes something like this possible?
All sorts of stray thoughts cluttered my mind.
That’s how surreal this moment was for me.
‘Still.’
I have to choose.
Hesitating because I’m scared when I have the chance?
I haven’t lived my life like that until now.
Besides, didn’t the elder say it!
When it comes to luck, I’m a genius, or even more than that.
Gulp!
Swallowing once, I finally pointed my finger at the very bottom of the message.
‘I will acquire the ??? Rank Gift Box with 1% probability.’
At the same time.
Riiip!
I tore the golden scroll in my hand.
[Using ‘Reward Probability Amplification Scroll’ (Rank S).]
[The acquisition probability for any reward will be set to 100%.]
The light that flowed from the scroll wrapped around my body twice, and.
[Selecting the reward.]
[Congratulations!]
[★☆Awe To the Some☆★]
[You have acquired the ‘??? Rank Gift Box’.]
In my two hands.
A box emitting a mystical light appeared.