-Hey, Mr. Lee Dojin. Enough with the jokes already…….
“Oh? Looks like she’s arrived.”
He had tossed the remark out lightly, almost like a joke.
But Dojin had not been joking at all.
‘There are too many Arenas, and only so many civil servants. Realistically, individual Guilds have no choice but to take possession of and manage some Arenas themselves.’
To make matters worse, some civil servants who Awakened had resigned and devoted themselves to making money as Players, leaving the government desperately short on management personnel.
What if the Arena Haewon was heading toward had never even been registered with the Awakening Department—and yet produced enormous amounts of Mana Stones and Gold?
For Hangang Group and Test Guild, finding something like that would be the same as striking a mother lode.
“……There it is.”
After passing through a large parking lot packed tightly with cars—
Haewon, whom Dojin had been following from a distance, stopped in front of an ordinary Arena stadium.
It looked much like the one Dojin had logged into with Hong Jingu’s group that morning.
An abandoned Arena sitting alone in the outskirts because no one bothered visiting it.
There was not a single civil servant in sight to process Players trying to log in.
Only a few pieces of trash rolled around nearby.
“…….”
-……You’re telling me this Arena produces large amounts of Mana Stones and Gold? That can’t be right!
Dojin was not wearing only an earpiece.
A miniature camera disguised as a button had been attached to his outerwear.
Through that camera, Rahi could see the scene before him as well.
“Do you know this Arena, Ms. Rahi?”
-Of course I do. Its rewards are so worthless that even the Awakening Department has it registered as an Arena they practically ignore.
A short silence followed.
Then Rahi’s voice came through his earpiece again.
-Could Ms. Haewon have been tricked? You said the person she was meeting looked shady.
Listening to her, Dojin slowly organized his thoughts.
“There may be some loophole in this Arena’s Quest that makes it useful to criminals…… or the registration itself could be a cover.”
-……What?
“Either way, there may be someone inside the Awakening Department colluding with criminal Players.”
As Dojin walked, he lowered his gaze toward the ground.
Around the entrance of this supposedly abandoned Arena were freshly discarded disposable coffee cups, triangular rice-ball wrappers……and countless footprints.
***
There had been only one thing Dojin worried about when he logged into the Arena.
What if too many Players were already inside and he hit the login limit?
Although the exact conditions differed between Arenas, every Arena imposed restrictions on entering Players.
Only Players below a certain Level could enter, and only up to a certain number.
But that concern turned out to have been completely unnecessary.
“Isn’t this cheating?”
Dojin muttered in disbelief.
Machines could not normally be brought into an Arena.
Devices such as the earpiece and camera Dojin currently carried, which had been manufactured using Mana Stones obtained from Arenas after the Great Upheaval, could technically be brought inside.
But they still would not function.
Which meant Dojin could only talk to himself for now.
“……It’s like a damned bazaar.”
Only Players could enter an Arena.
The same applied to its spectator stands.
And the Player login limit applied to spectators as well.
That was why the people normally sitting in Arena stands were usually low-Level Awakening Department officials uninterested in Player activities or Guild headhunters.
Yet these enormous spectator stands were packed to bursting with Players.
“Step right up! Step right up! What kind of match will we get today?”
“Numbers one through thirteen! Which one’s your pick?”
The voices sounded like street gamblers calling for customers.
“No! I’m telling you, it’ll definitely be a gladiator match this time!”
“No, no. I think it’ll be horse racing. We already got gladiators two rounds ago.”
Dojin heard people whispering as they passed him, debating what today’s match would be.
The atmosphere told him everything he needed to know.
“……I was wondering how they obtained Mana Stones and Gold when the Quest rewards themselves were worthless.”
Then a booming voice echoed throughout the Arena.
Judging from the excited way the announcer spoke, they had even given the Arena their own name for secrecy.
Of course, it was not as though the Players had actually changed its System-designated name.
-Ladies and gentlemen!
-Welcome once again to our !
-Until the day this gathering grows even greater and we can proudly call ourselves the ! Let us all maintain order and preserve confidentiality!
And Dojin had definitely heard that voice somewhere before.
“……Hong Jingu.”
A crooked smile appeared on Dojin’s lips.
There were more people he needed to find now.
“That bastard’s location…….”
Dojin was a Regressor.
The final survivor who had endured the apocalypse.
Naturally, he possessed experience in all kinds of situations.
Even though he was not a Mage Player, he also knew quite a bit about magic Skills.
‘What’s the most efficient way for a Mage Player to use a Skill?’
If someone wanted to amplify their voice, anyone would naturally think of a Wind-type Skill.
But Hong Jingu was an Earth-Attribute Player.
That meant either Hong Jingu possessed a Wind-Attribute magic Item—or there was a Wind-Attribute Mage Player somewhere nearby.
And……
‘If you want to activate a magic Skill or Item across both the field and spectator stands inside an Arena?’
The most efficient location would naturally be the very center.
But at a glance, the Arena field at the center of the stadium was empty.
Which meant—
“…….”
Dojin sharply turned his head.
In the spectator stands, where an ordinary stadium might have had a broadcast booth—stood a tent they had set up themselves.
***
“Yo.”
“Y-Yes, Boss!”
Hong Jingu snapped into a rigid posture.
The Wind-Attribute Mage Player beside him, who had been acting cocky until he ended up covered in bruises, did the same.
Their attitude was completely different from when Dojin had first encountered them.
-Hah? What hatchling crawled in here?
-Tsk, tsk…… Listen, young man. Around here, humility is the secret to a long and healthy life.
-Want us to teach you?
-……Hey, Hong Jingu? What’s wrong with you?
What followed after that was almost identical to what had happened with Hong Jingu.
The people passing nearby glanced over and whispered among themselves as they watched.
But not a single person stepped in to help the man being beaten.
Their gazes toward Dojin merely became far more cautious.
-Who’s that young guy? Never seen him before…….
-Those clothes…… They were definitely made from material Items. My eyes don’t lie…….
-What organization is he from? China? Southeast Asia?
-I heard he’s from somewhere in Russia…….
Thanks to that, Dojin became certain.
‘There’s another rule governing this Arena.’
Strength.
A rule created by humans themselves.
Coldly recognizing the situation, Dojin slowly spoke.
“I’m looking for someone right now…… You two can help me, right?”
“Just say the word, Boss!”
Somehow, Dojin had become a mysterious executive from an overseas criminal organization who had entered Korea.
But he decided to make maximum use of the absurd misunderstanding.
***
“……What exactly are you telling me to do?”
Haewon bit her lip.
“Hey, Haewon, quit pretending you don’t know! If we hit it big here, we’re rich!”
Here.
In other words, the gambling den run by criminal Players.
This Arena originally had a proper name.
But Haewon could not even remember it.
Calling it the gambling den was enough.
And this gambling den was filled with Players like Haewon.
Some desperately needed money.
Some had been pushed into it by vicious threats.
Some had been deceived.
For all kinds of reasons, countless Players who had fallen from the light into the shadows ended up here.
They became toys for this gambling den.
Subjects people placed bets on.
And what did they receive in exchange?
A pittance.
All the real rewards went to whoever won the bets.
‘Seriously, what kind of Arena has a different Quest every time you hear about it……?’
Seo Haewon might have been young, but she was still a Player.
Ever since Awakening in her second year of middle school and immediately being driven into Arenas, she had experienced all kinds of Quests.
She had also picked up plenty of information here and there.
Even to someone like Haewon, this Arena felt ominous.
Generally speaking, an Arena’s Quest type was fixed.
For example, the F-Grade Arena Dojin first logged into after his regression always issued target-destruction Quests.
When Dojin entered it, the targets happened to be discs.
That had been a repeated reality and rule ever since the Great Upheaval.
But this gambling den—the Arena criminals referred to in their slang as the ‘Gambling Kingdom’—was different.
‘Every Player who logged out gave a different account.’
Sometimes the same Quest repeated.
But even that happened irregularly.
Because of that, Players challenging its Quests could never properly prepare.
As a result, this gambling den had one of the highest Quest failure rates of any Arena.
‘Sure, you don’t die or get hurt if you fail, but so what?! This place just works you to death without paying you anything!’
Haewon ground her teeth as she glared at the person opposite her.
But the other person merely shouted even more aggressively.
The sheer shamelessness of it was almost impressive.
“Haewon, you’ve cleared all kinds of Arenas already, right? Then you’ll do fine here too!”
……It might have been slightly less disgusting if he actually believed what he was saying.
But from the way his eyes had been darting around ever since earlier, he practically seemed to be screaming, ‘I didn’t have a choice either!’
Haewon’s head was already beginning to ache.
That was when—
-The Quest announcement will begin shortly! All participants, please make your way down to the field!
-Now, now! The moment you’ve been waiting for! What will today’s Quest be?
-There are three candidates for today’s Quest! Horse racing, gladiator combat, and chariot racing!
-At long last, the moment has arrived…… Who will it be?
-Who will claim today’s Quest betting pool?
-And the Quest candidate currently carrying the highest odds is……!
The voice seethed with human greed.