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Chapter 72
The 24 game participants entered the teleportation gate in order.
Soon it was Choi Hyun-seok’s turn.
Upon entering the gate, he felt his body being sucked in along with slight dizziness.
‘Have I arrived?’
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.
Choi Hyun-seok slowly looked around his surroundings.
‘This is Inessimot, the Land of Magical Beasts.’
Inessimot.
The place where the most dangerous magical beasts in the continent live.
And it would be the stage for this survival game.
The high-ranking demon officials who came along for the game proceedings stepped forward.
“We will now assign your positions.”
The 24 participants were randomly placed in various locations according to the officials’ guidance.
After a brief movement.
Choi Hyun-seok was left completely alone in the forest.
The first thing he did in this unfamiliar land was to put on his Combat Power Meter and survey his surroundings.
“This place feels… Like the air is sticky.”
“That’s because the magical energy concentration is high. That’s actually why Inessimot has so many dangerous magical beasts – it has the highest concentration of demonic energy on the continent.”
“I see. No wonder even the regular monsters have ridiculous combat power.”
The location where participants compete is at the entrance of Inessimot.
Yet even here, the level of magical beasts was considerable.
Beasts that would rank high in the food chain near the Black Giant Star were mere prey here.
“A survival game in a place like this. This is truly insane.”
A survival game that continues until only one person remains.
The key to this game is survival.
One had to survive attacks from magical beasts while also keeping other participants in check.
“Yeah. The rules are so cruel that you can’t just run away. It’s definitely going to be difficult.”
While survival is the top priority, simply running away isn’t the answer.
This is clearly a competition to select commanders for the Demon King’s Army.
As a group that values power above all else, there were special rules and mechanisms beyond simple survival.
That would be hunting magical beasts.
Participants who catch specific magical beasts pass the game in first place regardless of survival ranking.
For this purpose, participants were given a special item.
Choi Hyun-seok took out a small orb from his chest.
“So this small orb has GPS functionality?”
“The orb has intricate magical formations drawn densely on it. The Demon King’s Army’s magical skills are quite impressive.”
“Hooh… Interesting.”
When Choi Hyun-seok channeled magical energy into the orb, it started glowing brightly.
Soon light shot out and a hologram-like map appeared in the air.
“A hologram map. Am I mistaken or did the genre switch from fantasy to SF?”
“Stop saying useless things and look at the map.”
Following Rachel’s words, he shifted his gaze back to the map.
There were two points on the map.
One was a blue point.
The other was a purple point.
“This blue point here is Hero, and that distant purple one is the boss mob, right?”
“Seems so.”
The blue point on the map was the user’s location, and the purple point was the target magical beast’s location.
It was intuitive and practical.
However, this wasn’t the end of the orb’s functions.
There was one more decisive role for the orb.
“Hero! Other participants’ locations appeared!”
Every hour, the locations of other participants appeared on the map.
This was a measure to prevent people from simply running away and avoiding battles.
Choi Hyun-seok stared intently at the 23 red points appearing on the map.
Although they appeared every hour, since they weren’t shown for very long, he needed to remember them.
Soon all the red points on the map disappeared.
Having roughly grasped the participants’ locations, Choi Hyun-seok put the orb back in his chest.
“Good. I’ve more or less understood the situation.”
While the game proceedings seemed complicated, it was simple when broken down.
First, survive.
Then, deal with other participants.
As a bonus, catch the boss monster if possible.
These were the only three things to remember.
“Well, even though this game officially prohibits killing… It’s better not to expect that rule to be followed.”
“Of course. The participants are the type who ‘accidentally’ crush skulls and whatnot.”
Considering the content of previous games, it was clear they would have to risk their lives this time too.
Although high-ranking demon officials were deployed for proceedings, there would be no direct intervention.
To survive, the only thing they could rely on was their own honed skills.
“Let’s walk around slowly for now. It’s important to understand the surrounding terrain.”
Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel began moving cautiously.
They intended to survey the nearby terrain before properly confronting other participants.
***
“Hero! Behind you!”
Rachel’s shout was heard.
Choi Hyun-seok kicked without even looking back.
Kwajik!
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, his precisely aimed kick struck the magical beast’s head.
The beast with its crushed head collapsed to the ground with a thud.
[Level Up!]
At the cheerful level up alarm, Choi Hyun-seok’s eyes widened.
“Huh? Is it already time to level up?”
Choi Hyun-seok had been hunting relatively weak-looking magical beasts while surveying his surroundings.
Although it wasn’t something he particularly expected, the level increase was still a good development.
“I was worried since levels haven’t been coming easily lately, so this is good.”
“Since it’s come to this, why don’t we hunt in earnest? There are so many magical beasts here, it’s perfect!”
“We need to conserve strength and magical power since we don’t know when other participants might appear.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing – walking around and hunting decent ones we come across.”
“Okay!”
Afterward, Choi Hyun-seok continued surveying the surrounding terrain.
While doing so, he quietly dealt with any magical beasts that were alone.
How much time had passed?
Choi Hyun-seok looked at his status window with a serious expression.
“What’s going on…? I’ve already gained 4 levels?”
Despite not hunting in earnest, he had gained 4 levels in just half a day.
It was an unreasonable growth rate.
After passing level 400, it had been difficult to gain even 1 level per day.
“This is strange. Even hunting all day in the Black Giant Star, I could barely gain one or two levels.”
“That’s right.”
“But why did leveling up suddenly become faster?”
“Well, I’m not exactly sure either, but I think it’s because you’ve gotten stronger, hero.”
“Getting stronger made leveling up faster? Isn’t it usually the opposite?”
The idea of leveling up faster because you’ve gotten stronger.
It was a statement that didn’t make sense.
While it’s true that you get stronger as your level increases, naturally the next level up becomes even more difficult.
Although Choi Hyun-seok initially gained 20 or 30 levels in a day, now it wasn’t easy to gain even one level per day.
In response to Choi Hyun-seok’s question, Rachel added further explanation.
“Hero, you haven’t had proper time to hunt for a while. You’ve only been doing personal training.”
“That’s true.”
“So while your level stayed the same, you got stronger. What do you think happens then?”
“Ah! I think I get it.”
What happens when you keep getting stronger while your level remains fixed?
The answer is simple.
“Does it become relatively easier to level up?”
“Correct! Especially since there are many strong magical beasts here, it’s not strange that leveling up becomes extremely fast.”
Rachel’s explanation made sense.
Recently, Choi Hyun-seok had been focusing on personal training rather than hunting.
In other words, he had gotten stronger independently of leveling up.
Thanks to that, he gained higher stats compared to his level.
He also grew stronger by learning Fighting Techniques and various abilities.
In this situation, coming to Inessimot where there are many strong magical beasts naturally made leveling up faster.
“So to sum up, this is the best situation for leveling up right now?”
“That’s right. Though I’m not sure how long it will last…”
“Alright. Shall we pick up the pace a bit?”
“You said you’d be careful earlier.”
“Still, since it’s come to this, it would be beneficial to gain even one more level before fighting the participants.”
Choi Hyun-seok decided to take hunting more seriously.
While the purpose of this competition was survival, it was good to get stronger if possible.
Of course, he couldn’t forget to manage his condition since other participants could rush in at any time.
Just as Choi Hyun-seok was organizing his thoughts.
Growwwwwl-!
A massive roar came from somewhere.
It was a roar filled with enough power to make one’s flesh tingle just from hearing it.
Choi Hyun-seok and Rachel were startled and looked around.
“Hero! It must be a boss mob. When did it get so close?”
“Let’s move that way for now. Nothing good will come from encountering it.”
Checking the map, there was a purple dot not too far away.
Choi Hyun-seok planned to move in the opposite direction of the purple dot.
There was no reason to face a strong magical beast unnecessarily.
The goal was to endure as much as possible and make it into the top 10.
Trying to do anything more would be arrogance and recklessness.
Just as Choi Hyun-seok was about to take a step.
Suddenly Rachel made a fuss.
“Hero hero hero!”
“What?”
“The red dot! It’s almost here!?”
Red dot.
That means another participant.
Choi Hyun-seok urgently checked the map.
An hour must have passed already, as other participants’ positions were marked with red spots.
“Here’s the blue dot, and behind it, the red…”
The blue dot indicating his position.
Behind it, a red dot was quickly approaching.
It seemed they had been spotted by another participant.
“We’re in trouble! Prepare for battle!”
Choi Hyun-seok shouted.
At the same time, a burst of demonic energy swept in.
Kwaaang!
The demonic energy exploded, raising a thick cloud of dust.
Through the dust, a familiar voice was heard.
“Finally found you! Human! This time let’s settle things once and for all!”
The goat-like demon
Holgot.
As usual, he stroked his beard while firing demonic energy.
***
Demon King’s Army 3rd Corps’ Direct Regiment Commander. High-ranking demon
Roiger.
Among the regiment commanders, he possessed considerable power and had a sharp mind.
Thanks to that, he received Hemis’s favor and was appointed as the chief supervisor for conducting this competition.
‘How boring’
In truth, Roiger had no particular interest in this competition.
His only interest was becoming stronger and climbing to a higher position.
Roiger found this moment extremely boring.
If it weren’t for Hemis’s order, he would never have accepted this role.
“To think I’ve become a watchdog…”
Roiger was in front of the Space Transfer Gate in Inessimot.
He had to spend the remaining time stuck here without moving.
This was because this gate was the only passage connected to the Black Giant Star.
Though unlikely, if the gate were to be destroyed, it would cause quite a troublesome situation.
“Yet there’s no one who would come to this land of magical beasts.”
Roiger and the demons were standing by purely as a precaution.
In reality, no one would come to the middle of the magical beast territory.
That’s why this time was even more boring.
Having to stand by even though nothing was happening.
However, Roiger’s prediction was broken not long after.
Roiger narrowed his eyes and watched the front.
‘What’s this?’
A group of figures was rapidly approaching.
All wearing deeply pulled-down hoods, their numbers were around 50.
Judging by their builds, they were humans.
‘I can’t sense any magical power.’
The speed of those approaching was quite fast.
It must be a group composed entirely of knights.
And quite skilled knights at that.
Yet no magical power could be sensed from them.
If so, there was only one answer.
‘Items that conceal magical power… We’ve been completely fooled. Did information leak out?’
A group of humans wearing items that conceal magical power, approaching the gate.
Their objective was obvious.
It must be to destroy the gate and kill all the participants here.
It was already too late to inform the Black Giant Star.
The humans who had already approached drew their weapons and began swinging.
Roiger sighed while drawing up demonic energy.
“Hah, I don’t want to die pathetically in a place like this…”
He had a feeling.
That perhaps today he might meet his fate along with this gate.
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