< Chapter 163. Using Items Effectively. >
[Ding, ding, ding! The Cloyd Survival Game has ended.] [ Congratulations on being the last one standing! You've earned the right to participate in the next game. You'll receive the ultimate reward as the first to complete this game.]
Just as the barrier trapping Crossino was about to break, the last player hiding near the stationmaster was finally found. The screen suddenly changed and a warning sound was heard.
"I somehow managed to survive." Even Seo-woon, who had extensive gaming experience, couldn't help but feel nervous because this was the first time he'd been targeted by the operator in this game. Luckily, it was a sniper attack that utilized the game's system and environment, so he managed to survive.
"A demon king? I'm sure I'll encounter him again." With that thought, Seo-woon waited for the next reward notification. "Hurry up. Since I'm alone, the reward comes first."
Just as he thought that, the reward started arriving.
[Ding! You've earned 240 reward coins.]
[You've reached the highest number of kills in this game. Kill bonus points! An additional 200 coins will be awarded.]
[You've placed in the top 5 8 times in a row. A maximum of 1,500 coins will be awarded for consecutive prizes.]
[You've placed in the top 1 2 times in a row. 30 coins will be awarded.]
[You've passed the penalty game challenges. You'll receive 100 special Rainbow Coins as a reward.]
[You've broken the record for most kills of all time in the Cloyd Survival Game.]
[The legend of carnage, the unbridled one. You've retained your title.]
"Leftovers from the last game… 1,474, which is 3,444. There are also Rainbow Coins?" Seo-woon's lips twitched when he saw the special coins he'd never seen before. He had a rough idea of what Rainbow Coins were for.
As he gathered his thoughts, the item list appeared. This game had a longer item list than any other game he'd played before. Because he was playing against players with relatively large skill gaps, he had ample leeway in killing and collecting items.
However, the high-level items he desperately needed weren't particularly noteworthy. There were no martial arts skills that could be a clue to unlocking level one hundred, and no items with better performance than the armor he already possessed. Naturally, no weapons superior to Hamit's appeared.
Among the countless items he scanned, the two items that caught Seo-woon's eye the most were the ones that played the biggest role in him finishing first in this game:
Spirit Reinforcement Scroll (100 coins)
Holy Spirit Barrier (1,000 coins)
The Reinforcement Scroll was essentially a single-use item, so even 100 coins seemed like a waste. However, the Holy Spirit Barrier wasn't a single-use item. Well, technically, there was no way to get it back if you used it once and couldn't defeat the enemy, so it was practically the same as a single-use item. With these thoughts in mind, Seo-woon scanned the items he needed to acquire and waited for the lottery.
The familiar notification appeared, and the lottery board appeared. As usual, the lottery board was a most complex spinning wheel.
[Spin around]
Seo-woon spun the wheel without much emotion. He just wanted the Holy Spirit's Barrier to appear, but honestly, he wasn't very interested in coins, so it wouldn't matter to him what it turned out to be.
[Turuuruuru]
It was an item from a warrior whose head he had instantly crushed. It was martial arts armor with excellent durability, which even Hamit said was quite durable.
[Turuuruuruuru]
The narrowly missing item was a reinforcement scroll. I opened the item list and quickly finished selecting the item, then the final notification sounded.
[You selected the Holy Spirit's Barrier. The remaining 2,444 coins will be accumulated. Do you want to finish selecting the item?]
The moment he pressed the Y button, a familiar feeling washed over me, and my vision changed. When I returned to reality, it was almost the same as when he entered the game.
"It's been about 32 days... A little over a day." Several flashes of light flew towards Seo-woon's face, surrounded by darkness.
"..."
"Ha! Jin Seo-woon!"
The tension that had spread around him dissipated, and a few scattered people rushed to his side.
"It's been a day since U disappeared, hasn't it?" The men standing guard around the pillars and tape surrounding the mudflats where monsters emerged in the other world nodded.
"We've been waiting for you to return."
"My teammates…"
"They said it was a real-time game and they knew you were in Wonju, so they didn't come back right away."
"Oh. Can you give me a ride?"
"Ready."
Seo-woon, who had followed the men, left the tidal flat and saw his familiar motorcycle waiting for him. Seo-woon put on his helmet, mounted his motorcycle, nodded to the men, and started the engine.
Seo-woon sped off toward Wonju. As soon as he arrived in Wonju, he ran to a house built alone in the mountains. The three people in the living room opened the front door as soon as they sensed his presence outside and greeted him.
"Seo-woon!"
"Seo-woon!"
"Hyung!"
All three men looked very worried, and as soon as they saw Seo-woon, they rushed over and hugged him. Seo-woon calmed those gathered in the narrow entrance.
"Let's go inside first."
Seo-woon sat down on the living room couch and began to explain the short game in detail. When he got to the punishment rules and the story of the Demon King Crossino, the expressions on the three people's faces froze. When the story ended, there was a short silence. As expected, Ki-chan was the first to break this heavy silence.
"I wonder why you're the one chosen for solo games so often…"
"Probably. Right. Playing three or four games a day must be the reason for this attack."
"Wait a minute! So we…" Ki-chan trailed off, pacing between the two women. Seo-woon nodded and began to speak. "I think so. So, how many games did the three of you reject?"
Ki-chan rolled his eyes for a moment, thinking back, before answering first. "I think I played a little less than 30 games."
"I think I played a little more than 40."
"I'm pretty much the same as Ling-wei."
Seo-woon sighed and relaxed his expression in response to the three people's answers.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think I've played more than 90 games."
"So, is 100 games the limit?" Seo-woon nodded at Ki-chan's question. "Probably. So it's best not to exceed 80 games. After that, you need to think carefully about which games you'll participate in."
"Wait a minute. There's a difference in the number of games each of us plays."
"Right. So it would be best to use the team member who plays the most games as a standard." Juriell turned serious at those words. "You clearly said that the game time ratio is 30 to 1, right? There might be a connection between the gradual reflection of real-world time into the game, the current changes, and the operator's hostility towards you."
Seo-woon nodded at Juriell's words. "I don't know what the correlation is, but the changes in World, the sharing of game time or space with real-world dimensions, and the operators' hostility towards Nana and Cheonma are definitely connected."
"Cheonma?" In response to Ki-chan's question, Seo-woon looked at him and explained. "It all started with that ridiculous rule about hunting ordinary people. Back then, Cheonma was designated as an epic monster. In other words, the operators thought he was interfering with their intended gameplay."
"Ah!" Seo-woon understood, having experienced the same thing in LA. "What in the world do the operators want players to kill ordinary people in their own world, for goodness' sake?" Seo-woon nodded at Liling-wei's question. "We don't know yet."
From the start, it was impossible to understand why an entity powerful enough to create a Cloyd survival game requiring omnipotent abilities would create such a game and gather people to play it. It wasn't easy to guess what he was planning.
"And as you may have noticed from the story, there could be more than one omnipotent operator." Ki-chan and Li Lingwei widened their eyes at his words. Only Juriell nodded. "It's contradictory to release the seal on the Demon King's existence and then create items that can defeat him."
Seo-woon smiled and nodded at his words. "Does that mean there's an operator who has a positive attitude toward my brother, right?"
"That's not certain either. If that were the case, it would have been more efficient to prevent them from doing something so stupid in the first place." Juriell, lost in thought for a moment, looked at Seo-woon with bright eyes. "Whatever their intentions, one thing's for sure. They're hesitant to interfere beyond the rules of the game."
"True. We don't know what their intentions are or why they're doing this, but one thing's for sure. Whoever interferes with their plans won't interfere in a way that violates the rules of the game. Maybe they can't."
After discussing the operator and the game's future for a long time, they finally ended their conversation without reaching a conclusion.
"Then get some rest. I'll come back tomorrow."
"Are you going up?"
"I'll make sure you get back safely. My little brother has been worrying a lot lately, and they grumble a lot when I'm late." With that, Ki-chan headed outside, and Seo-woon followed to see him off. Seeing Seo-woon right behind him, Ki-chan stopped in front of the front door and turned to whisper to him.
"Please get some rest. You're tired, don't overexert yourself."
***Bang!***
Ki-chan got kicked in the butt by Seo-woon, and he was thrown a few meters outside the front door, rolling on the ground.
***Bang!***
He looked at the slamming door, smiled, and got to his feet. "Ouch. I almost broke my back, didn't I?" He looked at the leather bag on the floor and bowed his head. "Give it to your sister. You bastard."
Ki-chan looked inside the leather pouch and smiled. Ki-chan threw himself down the mountain, rubbing his waist.
The next day, the three of them woke up early in the morning, washed up, and left the house.
"Please let me know in advance when you're going to visit Mom and Dad." Seo-woon smiled at Juriell's whimpering. "True. It's not very polite to visit them looking like this because we're training." The two women were dressed in state-of-the-art workout clothes that didn't quite fit the word "ratty," yet they said it so casually.
"It's not nice to be so strict with the family." Seo-woon replied and naturally got into Juriell's car. When they got out of the car in Songdo, Seo-woon's senses detected the presence of agents near his parents' house. His mother, who had been alerted earlier, was pacing the front yard when he saw Juriell's car and opened the front door to greet the three of them warmly.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm just getting some fresh air. Come in."
Seo-woon followed her mother into the house and saw the dining table once again laden with food.
"Seo-woon's dad! Seo-woon's here. Get out quick!" His mother shouted and quickly went into the kitchen. "Wait a minute. I'll just heat up the food and soup."
"Let me help!"
"Me too!" Juriell and Liling followed his mother into the kitchen, and Seo-woon sat at the table with his father, who had arrived late.
"The newspapers and news are talking about an accident on the tidal flats in Daebu every day." After briefly explaining the situation to his father, who had brought up the subject, his father frowned deeply and looked at Seo-woon with concern.
He didn't say anything, but just by looking at his father's face, Seo-woon could understand his feelings. In these perilous times, what parent wouldn't worry about a child deeply involved in such a situation?
"Don't worry. Your son isn't that weak."
"What are you saying? He'll know what to do." Despite his words, his father's emotions were clearly visible on his face. Soon, hot soup and food were placed on the table, and the three people in the kitchen sat down.
"How do you two like Korean food?" The two women nodded enthusiastically at their mother's cautious question. "You should still eat the home-cooked meals you're used to. You won't find that kind of food here, will you?"
"No, there are very similar dishes and I like Korean food better," Juriell smiled as she said this. In response, Lilingwei smiled awkwardly, her expression strained, and praised his mother's cooking. "Your mother's cooking is the best."
After the short meal, Seo-woon led his parents into the living room and began. "I came to tell you something."
"What are you going to give us?"
"You don't need anything else. Use it yourself." The two, who had lived frugally all their lives, were now living in abundance and had nothing more to ask for.
"Just in case." With that, Seowoon pulled out a few items from his pocket. The couple, who had seen this happen several times before, looked at the items that appeared out of thin air and took them from Seo-woon. Four rings, two bracelets, and a necklace.
"What are these?" The items Seowoon had prepared were actually the ones he had separated from the items he had acquired in LA. He wondered if it would be a waste to just keep them, but after recent events, he decided they should at least have some items for self-defense.
If their parents could use the player system, he could give them good martial arts and magic skills, but it would be too much for their elderly parents to learn everything on their own. That's why he chose these accessories. He'd carefully selected items that weren't too flashy but still had good design.
"First, Dad, put on this ring and that ring. Put on this gold bracelet and gold necklace."
Dad, who had never worn a wedding ring in his life, felt very uncomfortable with the rings suddenly appearing on his fingers. The heavy items on his wrists and neck were not only strange but also uncomfortable.
"Mom, you can wear the rest." The two reluctantly put the items on as Seo-woon instructed.
"Now, step outside for a moment." Seo-woon led the confused duo to the front yard and began with a smile. "Both of you repeat with me. Barrier!"
Seo-woon shouted energetically.
"Ba... barrier?"
"'Barrier,' not 'bar'." Correcting his father's pronunciation, his mother was so surprised that she took a step back. It was a natural reaction when a barrier suddenly appeared in front of them. The barrier gradually became transparent and then disappeared completely, and his mother touched it in admiration.
"The necklaces you wear are items that can summon this barrier up to 30 times a day."
***Bang! Bang!***
Seo-woon hit the barrier in front of his mother. It was a barrier with suitable resistance to physical strength and magic.
"Barrier." His father also belatedly said the keyword, unable to hide his surprise at the barrier that appeared in front of her.
"And next are the items in your arms. Dad, first reach out your hand and say 'Ice Arrow.'"
"Ice…"
"No! Reach your arm towards Juriell over there."
"Ice Arrow."
***Shukakang!***
In an instant, the two ice arrows formed from his father's hands were blocked and shattered by Juriell's barrier. However, his father was startled by the white coldness spreading around and took a step back.
"What's this…" Seeing his father staring at his hands in surprise, Seo-woon smiled awkwardly. "To defend yourself. If you encounter a situation where you have no other choice, feel free to use it."
"Are your hands okay?" His mother quickly checked his father's hands and looked at Seo-woon with a surprised expression.
"You try it too, Mother. Just say 'fire arrow.' Make sure to extend the arm wearing the bracelet in the direction you want the arrow to go. Don't mess with it."
His mother looked at her arm for a moment and frowned worriedly. "Don't worry."
"Fire arrow."
***Woop! Woop!***
As expected, two fire arrows hit Juriell's barrier and disappeared, and his mother looked at her hands in surprise. With a sudden surge of mana, the men in black suits jumped over the fence of his parents' house, feeling both cold and heat. Seo-woon waved his hand as if to say everything is fine. Those who saw this breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their seats.
"The barrier can be used when you're being attacked. You can use it 30 times a day. The arrow spell you just used can also be used 30 times a day, and you can use it to attack your opponent whenever you feel threatened."
Unlike his mother, who was still confused and unable to adjust, his father nodded and asked Seowoon. "So, what do these rings do?"
Seo-woon smiled and answered. "They're rings that increase strength and agility. Your strength and reflexes should be much higher than ordinary people." Both rings had dual options that increased strength by 20 and agility by 15.
While they were ordinary rings commonly worn by mid-level players, they were far from ordinary when worn by ordinary people.
With a total strength of 40 and agility of 30, the stats were already far beyond ordinary people. Seo-woon's father bowed his head at his son's words, lifted a bench in the front yard, and was surprised. When the bench he was trying to lift lifted slightly in the air, his father was surprised and grabbed the armrests of the bench, lifting the long bench horizontally.
"Seo-woon, Dad!"
"Ha. That's incredible. You try it." Hearing her husband's words, Seo-woon's mother held the bench with a skeptical expression. "Will this work?" He was surprised to see how easily the bench he was holding onto, half-believing, lifted off the ground and let go.
***Bang!***
When Seo-woon first started the game, his strength level was only 10. Since a physically fit soldier who had just been discharged from the military had a strength level of 10, it was only natural that he could lift four times that weight.
"I hope you never have to use it, but just in case, I've prepared it for you to defend yourself. With guards around, it should be enough to handle any situation." Seo-woon's words made the two nod in agreement, but they couldn't take their eyes off the accessories.