[Reward for ranking first in this area: Lowest-tier rare weapon selection ticket!]
[Reward for ranking first in the entire region: Special reward selection box!]
After reading the messages, Park Jin-ho opened his inventory. Inside were two new items: a weapon selection ticket and a reward selection box.
Without hesitation, he selected the weapon ticket. A translucent window shimmered into existence before him.
[You can now choose one of the following rare weapons.]
[Please touch the desired reward.]
1. Serrated purple longsword
2. Chimgando
3. Iron-Tipped Spear
Swords, daggers, and spears. Though countless weapon types existed, these were the only options available in the early stages of the game.
This alone makes it worth it, Park Jin-ho thought. A rare-grade item.
Item grades ranged from normal, rare, epic, and unique, all the way to legendary and godlike. Rare was only the second tier, but considering how difficult such items were to obtain through conventional means, it was a fine reward.
A novice would have likely chosen the sword or the spear. Park Jin-ho, however, didn't even hesitate as his hand moved.
[You have selected the Chimgando.]
The dagger appeared in his inventory as an information window materialized automatically.
-Classification: Weapon
-Usage Restriction: Novice grade or higher
-Description: This is the best dagger a novice can use.
After a glance at the information, Park Jin-ho discarded the goblin dagger he'd been using. It was junk—a measly 3 attack power and no other stats.
Pointless to keep, Park Jin-ho thought. Can't even sell it. It would just waste an inventory slot.
Park Jin-ho’s gaze then fell on the other reward: the special reward selection box, an item only obtainable by achieving first place in the entire region.
It was, by definition, a much better reward than the lowest-tier weapon ticket he had just used. However…
I'll hold off on this for now, Park Jin-ho decided, closing the inventory window without a second thought.
He seemed to have no interest in the items at all. Instead, he opened his status window, allocated his newly acquired stat point to agility, and then turned his attention outward.
Park Jin-ho gazed out over the battlefield, a cacophony of human and goblin screams, and wondered if Jun-ho was holding his own.
Since those who had completed the round were confined to their pillars, his own movements were restricted.
Far in the distance, he spotted the hulking figure of Lee Jun-ho.
Watching the man fight fiercely from behind the front lines put Park Jin-ho's mind at ease.
He'll make it through this one, too.
While he knew Jun-ho was destined to survive not just the first round but all the way to the fifth, the possibility of some unexpected variable always made him uneasy.
Don't you dare die early. I still have a use for you. When you're no longer needed… you're mine to kill.
Though the burning resentment and desire for revenge were long gone, he had no intention of letting Jun-ho live.
"This is going to be a drag," he sighed.
Finishing the quest quickly didn't mean he'd be allowed to return home any sooner.
He had to wait until the round was over.
Surprisingly fair, isn't it? He couldn't help but smile.
If he were sent home immediately, the other participants would be left completely exposed.
Their physical bodies would still be asleep in their beds, defenseless.
There was nothing more dangerous than being targeted during a soul transfer.
If the body on Earth died while the soul was in another dimension, the soul would perish with it.
At that point, no matter how powerful the player, it was all for nothing.
They were utterly helpless.
Whether the players wanted such a risk or not, the system was designed to return them to their world only after the round officially ended.
And so, Park Jin-ho waited.
It's just… boring.
That was the only real problem with finishing first.
"Save me! Aaaargh!"
Even amidst the desperate screams, Park Jin-ho felt only boredom.
He had seen this all before.
The weak perish. The strong survive.
There's no other way. To escape this game of death, you have to compete. You have to endure.
It was a reality that Park Jin-ho, a mere human, could not change.
Park Jin-ho shook his head and, to pass the time, brought up the round's progress window.
Participants: 1,801,029,290
Achievers: 3 / 900,514,645
[Current Area: ESKS45-5]
He checked the quest progress. Including him, only three people in the entire region had finished.
I'm first, but there's already a second and third.
Here, in his designated area, he was still the only one.
"Well, the second and third place finishers must be from other areas," he murmured, a note of self-consolation in his voice.
Still, if he couldn't break into the global top three, it was ultimately meaningless. There were no special rewards beyond third place.
"Everyone gets gold for completing the quest," he muttered to himself. "Nothing special about that."
Suddenly, the number of achievers in his area ticked up from one to two.
Looking around, he saw a man in the distance who had also become trapped in a translucent column, having just slain his hundredth goblin.
They'll start popping up more and more now, he thought.
As he expected, quest achievers began to appear one after another across the battlefield.
Even the third spot in this area has been taken.
The slow, grinding pace of the battle began to accelerate, and the number of goblins started to drop significantly.
Ranking isn't what matters for them, anyway. The important thing is just finding a way to make it into the top half.
He turned his head and saw the giant man now confined within a pillar. It was Lee Jun-ho.
He was hunched over, gasping for breath, a stark contrast to the other achievers who were already relaxing with their backs turned to the fight.
Meanwhile, the intense battle raged on around them.
Screams still echoed across the field, but the initial chaos had subsided.
They're adapting, he thought. Learning that they have to kill to survive.
As a result, the number of goblins decreased noticeably with every passing moment, though they still outnumbered the humans.
But humans had better base stats, and they grew stronger with every kill. The advantage was naturally shifting to the players.
The goblin numbers are dwindling, he mused. It's almost time for the angels to intervene.