***
-Heavily Armored Lizardman vs Liz, fierce battle breaks out!
-Lizardman vs Brillante, a one-strike match!
-Lizardman vs King, overpowering with strength?
Spirit Channel, which had gone quiet for a while, was now releasing videos at steady intervals as if nothing had happened.
As the inflow of viewers gradually increased, each video’s view count had grown from several thousand to as high as ten thousand.
The reactions were not merely hot. A loyal following was beginning to form.
-A theatrical release is desperately needed…….
-I don’t care anymore even if people curse me for watching a paid game ad.
-There are still people talking about ads?
-But they need to tell us what the story is. What are we supposed to do if they just keep showing fights?
-It’s true that it’s fun even if we only watch the fights.
-There was a story?
-I’m going to buy a one-year Hero Ticket package.
-There is definitely a story.
-Would they fight for no reason, then? lol.
-Just shut up and watch, you bastards.
-What the hell are the actors’ names?!
-For real, there’s no actor info at all. Seriously.
“How long are they planning to sell subscription passes at that price?”
“There hasn’t been any notice yet.”
“Really? Even so, the BM is way too strange.”
“It’s not like there are only one or two strange things about this place. I just accept it now.”
Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon answered Manager Go while gulping down his coffee.
Manager Go watched the screen together with him.
“All right, then. If anything else unusual comes up, call me.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Only say yes once. Tomorrow’s the weekend, so leave at six without me telling you.”
“That’s one thing I can do well without you telling me.”
Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon glanced sideways and watched Manager Go disappear.
The moment he saw him slip into the conference room where the air conditioner was blasting, he moved the mouse.
What he hurriedly checked was an email that had arrived for him not long ago.
The sender was “Spirit Channel.” It was something he had not yet reported to anyone.
If he said, “I applied to another company for fun,” would they not look at him as if he were insane? Of course he could not say it.
Besides.
‘What the hell is this even talking about?’
He had only submitted an application, but what arrived was an email titled, “Congratulations, you have been hired by Spirit Channel.”
‘Forget an interview. I didn’t send anything except basic personal information!’
He had not submitted even a common résumé.
All he had written on the application were name, age, origin…… and occupation.
Those four things were everything.
‘And I passed?’
They accepted him just by looking at that?
Was this a joke or what?
Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon had only been baffled, but it was still too early to be surprised. Once he read the contents, it became even more absurd.
-Congratulations. You have been hired by Spirit Channel.
-You are obligated to keep internal information regarding Spirit Channel strictly confidential. Failure to uphold your duty of confidentiality will result in penalty points, and if penalty points exceed a certain level, all authority may be revoked in the worst case.
-We inform you in advance that the moment your authority is revoked, all related information and memories will be collectively recovered.
-You are forbidden from disclosing internal information regarding Spirit Channel and Hero Agency to anyone. Please keep this in mind.
This was why Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon thought it was a joke.
‘A confidentiality pledge is one thing, but are they serious about taking my information and memories? And what is Hero Agency supposed to mean?’
He wondered whether some other metaphor was hidden there, then continued reading the contents below.
-Those accepted in this recruitment will be assigned as “Grade 9 Agents” of the “Hero Guild Reincarnation Management Agency.”
-The income of Reincarnation Management Agency employees is settled differentially by adding up the agents’ performance each time they accept and complete requests.
-Each completed request accumulates promotion points, and on the final day of each year, work performance will be totaled and “points,” equivalent to performance bonuses, will be paid.
-Using points, you may purchase some items from the Hero Shop(limited to general products).
“No, seriously, I have no idea what this means.”
Frustrated, Kim Jun-hyeon looked at the last part.
In fact, the reason he had been staring all day at this email, which he could have simply ignored, was precisely because of this part.
-Your first request has arrived.
-Region: Beta Dimension
-Coordinates: 911-172-561-121
-Contents: Acquire information on the humanities of Beta Dimension by completing the given checklist.
-Compensation: Hero Tickets
-Period: 48 hours
-Apply to participate
Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon moved his mouse cursor over the “Apply to participate” button and hesitated for a moment.
At first, he had only been thinking lightly, ‘Should I click it once?’ but something bothered him.
Something unknown…….
Did people not often use the expression “feels off”?
It was exactly that. A chill ran down his spine, and his finger stopped cold.
“Ah, whatever. I don’t know.”
After hesitating for a long while, Assistant Manager Kim Jun-hyeon boldly pressed the Apply to participate button.
It was nothing more than clicking a mouse, but the change that followed was something he could not even have imagined.
***
“Right.”
Min-jun looked at his body wrapped tightly in bandages and nodded.
Beside him sat Canaria, who had been explaining the entire situation until now while fidgeting with her hands. She looked somehow restless.
“Sorry.”
Canaria, who usually wore a slightly sullen face, was different today.
Her drooping eyes and shoulders looked pitiful, like a puppy drenched in rain.
‘So that’s what happened.’
There was nothing to say except that they had been unlucky.
Just when they had been diligently draining the orcs’ strength by giving them poor food and disturbing their sleep, the duty schedule had become tangled and caused a problem.
Taking advantage of that gap, General Doturan had found the unguarded orc cage strange and approached, and that had led to the current result.
That was her explanation.
“You don’t need to be sorry.”
Min-jun waved his hand.
“The problem is that general bastard, whether his name is Acorn or Doturan. Let’s just call it bad luck. Plans never go the way you think, after all.”
Min-jun clicked his tongue bitterly.
“And…… this match might have been better than two perfectly healthy orcs.”
Yes.
In any case, he could not say that the current match, where one of the two had survived, was the “worst.”
If there really had been two lively orcs, there was no telling what the result would have been.
Losing a talent like Brillante hurt badly, but…….
‘One wrong move and both of us could’ve died.’
Min-jun shuddered as he looked at his own state, wrapped up in bandages.
The surprising part was that even this was much better than before.
From what he heard, his condition before treatment had been truly serious.
His entire body had been full of deep and shallow wounds, and there had even been a hole in the middle of his abdomen where a sword had gone in and come out. Canaria said they had struggled for a long while just to close the wounds and stop the bleeding.
‘If not for the Hero Candidate’s level-up correction, I would’ve been done.’
This really had to be seen as him barely holding onto his life through the superhuman recovery ability unique to Hero Candidates.
As his level rose, his adaptability to wounds had noticeably improved too.
‘What would it have been like without even this?’
Even Min-jun, who had received cheats and corrections as a Hero Candidate, was in this state. What must it have been like for ordinary gladiators over the past ten years?
‘There was a reason no one saw the end in ten years. Who could win something like this ten times? They should say something that makes sense.’
They said even cases of passing the third match like Min-jun were extremely rare, so there was no need to keep saying how absurd and rotten an idea this “Victory Festival” was. His mouth would only hurt.
“When can I go outside?”
Min-jun looked at Canaria.
“Hm?”
“They said they’d send me outside. They said they’d give me money and all that, but I’ve already spent a whole day in a sickbed. I’m starting to get restless.”
“……You’re going outside?”
“Obviously.”
“Really?”
“I said I am.”
Canaria swept back the hair by her ear and briefly closed and opened her eyes.
“Ah.”
From that expression, Min-jun understood why he was still here.
“As expected, you were the one keeping me here all this time.”
As if she had no intention of hiding it, she nodded.
“Going outside itself is possible right now as long as I report it, but…….”
“Then hurry and report it so we can go out. How long are you going to keep me lying in a sickbed?”
“Still, your condition isn’t very good.”
“No, I don’t think staying longer will make me better.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go out after recovering a little more? There probably won’t be a hospital outside.”
“Ah, I’m telling you I’m fine. My body feels so stiff I can’t stand it, so let me out. Hurry.”
“……Okay.”
Even after nodding that way, Canaria fidgeted for a moment, then soon rose from her seat and went outside.
‘Is there something?’
How much time had passed?
The one who came to see Min-jun was Canaria.
And someone completely unexpected.
“Hm. That insolent gladiator from back then somehow managed to pass the third match.”
A large, oily man.
The root cause who had ruined the third match.
It was General Doturan.
‘That bastard…….’
Min-jun’s eyes twitched as he saw where Doturan’s hand was placed.
The bastard’s hand was on Canaria’s shoulder.
It even looked natural, as if that were where it was supposed to be.
‘What kind of dogshit is that old man doing right now…….’
It seemed this was the reason Canaria had hesitated to report a moment ago.
If the approver was this kind of person, of course she would not even want to face him.
“By the way, General. For someone of such high status, why are you teasing the lieutenant?”
“Teasing? It seems you were stabbed a few times and injured your head. I, Doturan, am not some beast who teases his subordinates.”
“In that case, please take that lump of flesh off the lieutenant’s shoulder, Beast General.”
“You dare!”
General Doturan erupted in anger, veins bulging. Min-jun did not break his momentum and met him with sharp eyes.
“A lowly thing cannot lower his eyes!”
“If the general’s palm lowers first, then I may consider it.”
“You bastard!”
General Doturan looked ready to raise his hand and strike Min-jun at any moment.
“General.”
Canaria, unable to keep watching, quietly slipped between the two.
“Please calm yourself, General Doturan. This man has crossed the third trial and received an imperial edict directly from His Majesty. I understand your feelings, but please restrain yourself.”
“Lieutenant. You see such rudeness before your eyes, and yet you take his side? Or does the lieutenant truly think I teased you?”
“That is not the case, General.”
Canaria denied it while managing her expression as much as possible.
“If you strike the gladiator over a trivial matter, the matter will immediately reach His Majesty’s ears, General.”
“That is…….”
“What will you do if, because of that, talk begins among the eunuchs? I believe your position will become difficult as well, General.”
“……Ahem.”
At Canaria’s specific warning, General Doturan cleared his throat and lowered his hand.
She knew well what lay inside him, who despised the eunuchs.
“I am only enduring this especially because of Lieutenant Canaria, so know that!”
“If you raise your hand, you should hit something. How can a general’s vessel be so small, General Doturan?”
“This lowly gladiator is still flapping his mouth…… It seems you truly do not know your place just because you luckily passed the third stage!”
“You should know your place, General.”
“Wh-What?”
“At your age, with that face, how dare you place your hands so freely on a young lady like the lieutenant? You should be ashamed, General.”
“I told you to watch your mouth!”
“General!”
Canaria stopped the general once again and also sent a look of reproach toward Min-jun.
In truth, this was Min-jun’s childish behavior.
Although he knew her position made things difficult, he could not suppress the anger boiling inside him.
“Kak, ptoo!”
Doturan spat grandly onto the floor and threw the pouch he had been clutching in front of Min-jun.
Inside were one wooden tablet that might have been an identity pass or something similar, and around thirty silver coins.
“Take it and get out. The next match is in ten days, so please do not run away and be sure to return on time.”
“You didn’t pocket a few coins, did you?”
“You…… Yes, talk all you want, lowly bastard! The day you die is not far away. I will absolutely attend the next match as well!”
Saying that, General Doturan turned sharply enough for his cape to flutter.
“If you wish to run away because you fear the match, I will not stop you. The moment you are caught, your limbs will be torn apart for the crime of disobeying an imperial command, and you will be hung from a pole as crow feed. Heh heh.”
With those words, Doturan disappeared.
“What a crazy bastard. Acting like he’s something because he’s a general.”
“He’ll hear you.”
“Let him hear!”
Min-jun rose with difficulty, even with his wounds not yet healed.
When Canaria stood up with him, Min-jun carefully whispered into her ear this time.
“If that bastard really looks like he’s crossing the line, kill him. Don’t hesitate.”
“……Okay.”
“You don’t need to sacrifice that much for this request, not to the point you have to endure abuse like that. Got it?”
“Okay, I understand.”
Canaria nodded, but Min-jun did not feel reassured.
“……You really understood, right?”
“Yeah.”
Seeing her merely nod, Min-jun felt as if his stomach would turn inside out.
“This is driving me crazy.”
How should he put it? It felt like leaving a child near the water.
All the more so because Min-jun had once stabbed her in the back and stolen first place.
‘She’s exactly the type to get caught by a scammer.’
That was Canaria, Yu A-yeong, inside Min-jun.
Where on earth had a living national treasure like her remained in the twenty-first century……?
‘Well, she probably understood.’
Roughly judging it that way, Min-jun collected the coin pouch and headed toward the door.
“Let me out now. Outside the arena.”
“Okay.”
Canaria wordlessly took the lead.
For Min-jun, it was the first time since coming here that he took a step toward the outside of the arena.