I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 237: Episode 48_Money Spirit Bomb (2)

3.

Kim Buja didn’t just stream videos; he watched a lot of them, too.

One might wonder how he had time to browse video channels when he spent all day playing the game, but there were plenty of ways to watch videos even while moving around in-game.

In that sense, overpowered strategies or anything that completely broke the game’s balance were things he absolutely avoided, both in the content he watched and the content he created.

He might personally find it fun.

A game with a broken balance.

A protagonist who revels in that broken balance is exactly what every player dreams of being.

Everything becomes content.

Every step becomes an event, every little thing turns into an interesting incident, and hardship and adversity become optional—something that can be brushed aside and skipped entirely.

That’s why single-player games and games with cheat codes have always been so popular.

Whether in real life or elsewhere, people need a place to blow off all their built-up stress.

Especially in virtual reality, where high immersion lets you live as if you really are that character, a broken balance is great because it lets you feel powerful.

But viewers don’t feel the same way.

At first, they might be intrigued.

A character that becomes infinitely powerful with money.

Vicarious satisfaction from the kind of spending they could never dream of.

Growth achieved through luck they could never hope to have.

Watching someone reach places they never could might motivate them or entertain them.

But that’s all.

Once that brief burst of fun passes and the novelty wears off, their appetite for more can’t tolerate the same pattern over and over.

That’s why, in stories, enemies appear in stages.

That’s why an overwhelmingly powerful enemy doesn’t show up at the very beginning to kill the protagonist and end the story.

Storytelling. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

It’s important to grow stronger while following a proper narrative arc.

In Buja’s case, he had not only completely overcome the difficulty of mechanical control with his talent, but he had also gone a step further, counteracting the broken balance with an extreme penny-pinching mindset.

Viewers marveled at his control, wondering if anyone could possibly beat someone with that level of skill, but in games, items were more important than control.

They went wild for the skill that let him overcome the gap with those pay-to-win whales, and he made a living off that hype.

Nothing had changed after he became a player.

Gold Maker.

A Legendary-class job.

Other players called it a balance-breaking class, yet all he had shown in the early days was pure control.

He filmed the process of overcoming the gear gap and growing stronger through extreme movement, and used that to grow his channel.

It was the same even recently.

His level was still low compared to the rankers.

Compared to the very top rankers, you could say there was more than a twofold difference.

He was creating content on par with the top rankers despite having the level of an average player.

If he kept going like this, he would eventually catch up to Fly, surpass him, and perfectly complete the narrative arc.

However, Buja had decided not to do that.

’Screw the story. My life’s goal is to take it all for myself.’

Up until now, he had been crafting a story that looked good to other people.

He hadn’t planned and structured every last detail exactly the way he wanted, but overall, he had followed that path, people had been satisfied, and his channel had grown immensely because of it.

If he kept doing that, he could probably ride it all the way to the end.

But he chose a different path.

“From now on, you follow my story. Not the other way around.”

In a situation where he was convinced he lacked nothing except the power to beat Fly, he pulled out a style he hadn’t used in years.

The style he had used during that brief prime when life was good, when people went crazy for his gameplay and cheered for him.

My way.

He would write his own story.

Watch if you want. If you don’t, then don’t.

The first step in that was the Gold Mission, and that was why he had spent the points he earned from it without hesitation.

’Breaking the balance and conquering Earth is a way better story.’

Some might find it disgusting, and some might come to hate him.

If people reacted that way to videos and games, how would they react in reality?

That was what he had worried about when he first hid the fact that he had a Legendary class.

He had finally gotten the chance to live the way he wanted after enduring so much hardship and adversity, so that’s what he would do.

He would do whatever he found fun.

Like playing a single-player game without caring what anyone else thought.

Watching him become the Lord of the Ice Castle, people had probably gotten used to it, at least a little.

That was just the kind of person Kim Buja was.

With a player that strong, they had no choice but to accept it.

It was the same reason Fly had been able to operate in a de facto extraterritorial zone.

[Cursed Desert Armor]

▶ Grade: Legendary

▶ Requirement: Point Dungeon VVIP

▶ Level: ★★★★★★★★★

▶ Defense +150

▶ Attack +80

▶ (★★★★★★★) Petrification / Stun / Curse Immunity

▶ Strength +90

▶ Agility +90

▶ Stamina +90

▷ Armor cursed by the desert. When all curses are collected, a hidden effect will be activated.

Armor, helmet, pants, gloves.

He had bought four pieces of armor, each costing 500,000 points, all at a discount.

He had to spend every last point he had, but he didn’t feel even a shred of regret.

They were 9-star items.

Normally, a player would have to be at least level 80 to equip them, but a special perk allowed Point Dungeon VVIPs to wear them regardless of level, so he could put them on right away.

There was no need to even mention the attack and defense stats.

Even with just four pieces of armor equipped, Buja could say it with confidence.

’If Fly pisses me off, I can probably just shoulder-check him to start a fight.’

Fly was probably decked out in Legendary items as well, but there was no way he had farmed enough to wear 9-star Legendary gear like this.

At that level, getting even a single Legendary item appropriate for your level was a miracle.

And where would you even find a set with a set bonus on top of that?

He had four pieces.

▷ The ’Curse of the Desert’ set effect is activated.

1. On attack, there is an 11% chance to inflict (★★★★★★★) Petrification.

2. On attack, there is a 22% chance to inflict (★★★★★★) Curse.

3. On attack, there is a 33% chance to inflict (★★★★★) Stun.

4. Once every 24 hours, you can use the skill ’Petrify.’

→ When you use ’Petrify,’ you ignore all effects for up to 10 seconds.

On top of that, the set effect was absurd.

“...I really am going to be playing this game solo.”

If asked whether this set was effective in high-level dungeons, he wasn’t sure he could give a clear answer.

In 8-star and 9-star dungeons, most elite-tier monsters and above had status effect immunities.

In PvP, however, he could say it with certainty.

“Anyone can come at me.”

An opponent would need immunity to at least level 5 status effects.

To fight as if the Curse of the Desert set effect didn’t exist, they would need level 6 immunity or higher, and to feel truly safe, they would need level 7 immunity.

The problem was that none of that was a penalty for Buja.

It was just a passive.

Beyond that, he always had excellent invincibility and shield skills waiting in the wings for duels.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

’Is it even possible for me to die now?’

His confidence swelled.

The Sand Castle.

Once a place full of fear, a dungeon that made you wonder if you really had to go in there, now looked like a new home. Another house.

“Let’s go.”

The days of watching other people’s reactions and hiding his strength to maintain balance were over.

Not that he had ever really tried that hard, but he was no longer going to slow his growth or hold back his power for the sake of fairness.

* * *

Fly had already entered the Sand Castle.

The moment he and his guild members stepped into the massive Sand Castle, which now covered the entire Sahara Desert, nearby players recorded the whole thing.

There was nothing surprising about it.

Just like with the Ice Castle, Fly used magic to ignore status effects, and over a hundred guild members walked in without any hindrance.

Buja had expected that.

He had only been curious whether it would work again this time.

After they went in, when the next Sand Castle opened—

As players waited to go hunting, a familiar face appeared.

“Huh? It’s Kim Buja!”

“Kim Buja? Is he alone?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to go in with Fly?”

His unexpected appearance created a sense of disconnect, compounding the strangeness of him not showing up with Fly earlier.

’Why did he come alone?’

’Did they have a falling-out?’

’Is he trying to go in now?’

Curious players filmed him from every angle.

A few even walked up to ask him directly.

“You’re Kim Buja, right?”

Many people approached, but the one who spoke was a player who could speak Korean.

Buja sat down in a decent spot and nodded.

“Are you going into the Sand Castle?”

“When it opens, yeah.”

His straightforward answer drew murmurs of admiration.

“Are you joining up with Fly?”

“We thought there was bad blood between you two.”

’So he is going to join Fly on the next entry!’

’Are they going to recreate the Ice Castle run?’

Along with envy, anticipation began to build.

“We’re looking forward to seeing you do well again. The way you teamed up with Fly to take down the boss last time was really impressive.”

“Thank you.”

Buja gladly met their expectations.

In a different way.

“But that’s not what’s happening this time.”

“Sorry?”

“This time, it’s a competition.”

THOOOOM!

As the Sand Castle rose up again, he started walking.

For other players, this was the time to step back.

The moment when the grand, towering structure rose, and monsters began to pour out, was when everyone felt fear and let out a weary sigh.

Yet at that very moment, he moved boldly forward toward the Sand Castle.

Just like with the Ice Castle, a fierce wind began to blow.

A sandstorm.

Sand whipped through the air so thickly that he could barely see, showing off the Sand Castle’s majesty.

But his steps did not stop.

His posture remained straight and unshaken.

The Cursed Desert armor set showed its true power in the desert.

He had bought it for this exact purpose, and it delivered.

The sandstorm gradually parted around him.

It was a small area, but it was enough.

He reached the front of the castle.

A castle made of sand.

It looked like it would collapse if he kicked it, but he knew it would not.

He headed for the main gate.

There was no need to break it down.

Swish!

As he approached the entrance, the sandstorm grew several times stronger.

Yet it still could not stop him.

[You are immune to status effects.]

[You are entering the Sand Castle.]

Two-million-point gear.

The items he had prepared solely for the Sand Castle did their job, allowing their master to walk comfortably into his destination.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the sandstorm vanished as if it had never been there.

A cloudless sky.

The view of the Sand Castle’s interior spread out before him.

And in the distance, a pyramid that pierced the sky.

The true heart of the Sand Castle unfolded before his eyes.

* * *