World's Strongest Survivor-Chapter 64

What's scarier than falling behind.

[Ding! You've obtained 240 reward coins. Kill bonus! An additional 50 coins have been awarded. You've made it to the final 5 for three consecutive rounds. An additional 30 coins have been awarded. You've placed 1st for two consecutive rounds. An additional 30 coins have been awarded. You've earned an achievement for hunting an epic monster. An additional 30 coins have been awarded.]

"That's 380 coins..."

Seowoon was mentally reviewing the items he could pick with his newly acquired coins when Kichan, eyes wide open, suddenly shouted.

"Three hundred?!"

"Huh? They didn't give you that much?"

At Seowoon's casual remark, Kichan looked at him with a flabbergasted expression.

"H-Hyung, how many did you get?!"

"Got 80 more than you."

"Gah!"

As Kichan gaped wide enough to almost unhinge his jaw, Seowoon glanced again at the reward breakdown and nodded.

"Oh, I got 60 coins from three consecutive top-5 finishes and two back-to-back 1st place wins. Then the remaining 20 must be... from kill bonuses."

"Aah... There's a bonus for that too, huh..."

"When I made it to the top 2 twice in a row, I only got 15 coins... Looks like the reward doubles with each consecutive win."

Kichan glanced upward, mentally calculating, and suddenly flinched.

"Th-Then if you place 1st in the next round too... the consecutive win bonus will be 120 coins?!"

"Probably, yeah."

"No way!"

Kichan looked ready to yell "This is a scam!" when Seowoon smiled and said,

"Don't be silly. Think about the probability. Do you think getting 1st place or even top 5 in a survival game with 100, 200, or even 400 participants is easy? If you actually crunch the numbers, the rewards are pretty stingy."

Logically, Kichan understood that. The problem was... his emotions weren't on board.

"As they say, the rich get richer. There's a reason the rich stay rich."

Kichan's complaint made sense, considering how the game only awarded 5 coins for surviving without making it into the reward ranks.

So Seowoon didn't bother arguing further.

"Let's just pick our items."

[Summoning item list.]

Martial Arts Manuals:

Qi Absorption Technique (30 coins), Gale Step (50 coins), Blood Bone Strengthening (80 coins), Killing Demon Sword Style (30 coins), Spear Manual (30 coins), Bone Fist (20 coins), True Serpent Step (25 coins), Instructor's Sword Style (15 coins), Torn Secret Manual (60 coins), Fire-Within Sword Style (20 coins), Hardened Step (10 coins), Ox-Spear Technique (30 coins)

Magic Books:

Flame Burst (65 coins), Earth Wave (10 coins), Flame Bird (55 coins), Prey Guard (15 coins), Air Barrier (10 coins), Earth Strike (30 coins), Earth Will (23 coins), Fire Will (30 coins), Electric Impact (25 coins)

Skill Books:

Eye of the Forest (10 coins), Forest Sense (15 coins), Kaier Barrier (20 coins), Kaier Resonance (30 coins), Kaier Earth (35 coins), Spirit of Kasan (13 coins), Mimicry (25 coins)

Accessories:

Ring of Blessing (30 coins), Ring of Torga (45 coins), Ring of Toka (60 coins), Necklace of Askro (1 coin)

Others:

Tongue of Dokabu (5 coins), Elm Bow (3 coins), Black Kaier Bow (5 coins), Enhanced Black Kaier Bow (*5 coins), Mana Jewelry (1 coin), Area Teleport Scroll (5 coins), Extreme Spirit Pill (20 coins), Assassin's Paralysis Poison (1 coin), Antidote (1 coin), Craig's Sword Manual (*30 coins), Necklace of Askro (1 coin), Desert Stone (1 coin), Damaged Obsidian Breastplate (1 coin), Sky Enhancement Stone (100 coins), Staff of the Abyss (100 coins), Soul Crystal x10 (1 coin), Purification Crystal (1 coin), Kutrapha's Sword Manual (100 coins), Kutrapha's Treasure Map (3 coins), Kutrapha's Secret Book (100 coins), Airboard (30 coins), Throwing Dagger (1 coin), Quiver of Spatial Arrows (15 coins), Magic Scroll x3 (5 coins), Shield Scroll (5 coins), Artisan's Dagger (10 coins), Cloak of Invisibility (70 coins), Red Energy Bead (90 coins), Stone of the Fourth Circle (50 coins), Obsidian Sword (30 coins), Plasma Orb (10 coins), Jerky (1 coin)

Looking over the list, Kichan muttered.

"Spending as much as you earn... A hundred coins for a single staff? I should really save some coins for later..."

As he carefully considered his choices, Seowoon quickly cut in.

"Don't pick anything yet!"

"Huh?"

"Just look for now. There's still the lottery."

"Oh!"

Just then, the notification sound rang out as if it had been waiting.

[Ding ding ding! Final Five players receive lottery spins.]

[You have three spins available.]

Seeing the roulette wheel appear, Kichan started getting excited.

"If I land on the staff, that's an instant 100-coin gain! This is totally busted!"

"Yeah, busted alright. Until you hit something like jerky and want to throw your monitor."

That one remark instantly deflated Kichan's hype.

"Aah..."

"For the record, I got the Necklace of Askro twice."

"Wh-Why would you say something so scary?"

"So you'll spin carefully. Want to go first?"

"Whew. Deep breath... okay."

After nodding and taking a deep breath, Kichan carefully spun the wheel.

[Spinning... Ding! You've obtained the Sky Enhancement Stone. Congratulations.]

"Whoa! Jackpot!!!"

Seowoon's eyebrow twitched at Kichan's ecstatic cheer.

'Some people get a 1-coin necklace on their first try...'

It's not that Seowoon wanted him to fail—just that maybe he'd hoped Kichan would feel the same initial emptiness he once did.

'Why does he suddenly look more handsome right now? Is it just me?'

Watching Kichan rejoice with the enhancement stone in hand, Seowoon narrowed his eyes.

[Spinning... Ding! You've obtained the Desert Stone. Congratulations.]

"Pfft!"

He accidentally let out a snort of laughter.

For some reason, watching Kichan go completely blank at the sight of the Desert Stone felt oddly satisfying.

"You got it for free anyway."

"Sigh... Yeah... But I still have one more shot left."

Quoting a famous movie line to psych himself up again, Kichan spun the wheel one last time, and right as Seowoon tried to hide his amusement—

[Spinning... Ding! You've obtained the Magic Book: Flame Burst. Congratulations.]

"Oooohhh!"

Seeing Kichan gleefully pick up the magical tome that appeared before his eyes, Seowoon curved his lips into a smile.

"Congratulations. You just earned 166 coins for free. Not bad at all."

"Hyung! This is a jackpot, right?"

"It's definitely a jackpot. Try digging in the ground—see if a single coin pops out."

"That's why you've gotta aim for first place no matter what."

With Kichan grinning from ear to ear, Seowoon gave him a pat on the shoulder and stepped up to the spinning wheel, giving it a strong spin.

Whirrrrrr... Ding! You have obtained Ascro's Necklace...

"Aaaargh!!!"

A scream escaped him instinctively.

Three Ascro's Necklaces in a row. Just as Seowoon was about to punch the spinning wheel with a ki-infused fist, Kichan quickly stopped him.

"Hyung! You still have two... two more tries left..."

"Hoo..."

After calming himself down, Seowoon glared at the wheel and gave it another spin.

Whirrrrrr... Ding! You have obtained the Staff of the Abyss. Congratulations.

"Huh?"

"Wow!! Jackpot!!"

Their reactions diverged slightly.

It was definitely a jackpot item worth 100 coins.

The problem? Seowoon was only a 4th-circle mage.

"Hyung... That item..."

Kichan's eyes sparkled as he stared at the golden staff that appeared in front of Seowoon.

Seowoon gave a wry smile and was just about to hand the staff over when Kichan said something surprising.

"How about selling it to me for 80 coins?"

"Huh? You can trade coins?"

"I think you can exchange coins with teammates in the reward lobby in Quad."

As he finished speaking, Kichan waved his hand in the air, and a notification sound rang out.

Ding! Teammate Kang Kichan has given you 80 coins.

"Oh! So this was a thing, huh?"

With that, Seowoon tossed the staff to Kichan, who bowed deeply in thanks.

"Thank you, Hyung!"

"Doesn't matter to me. I could take it or leave it."

He turned his gaze back to the wheel and spun it for the last time.

Whirrrrrr... Ding! You have obtained a Fragmented Secret Tome. Congratulations.

"That's... ambiguous. Is this a sign I'm meant to collect them?"

"You gained about 160 coins' worth too, Hyung. Do you think maybe the coin value of obtainable items is predetermined?"

"Can't be..."

Despite what he said, Seowoon also stared at the now-disappearing wheel with a complicated expression.

"Now we just need to choose our items and we're done."

He currently had 509 coins. With the latest rewards, the coins from selling the staff to Kichan, and what was left from before, the total was more than expected.

"The problem is, I didn't get many good items."

After scrolling through the item list and thinking for a while, Seowoon started making his selections.

You have selected: Gale Steps, Bloodbone Armor, Toka's Ring, Sky Enhancement Stone, Kaire Earth, Kaire Barrier, Damaged Obsidian Breastplate, Soul Crystal (10), Purification Crystal, Extreme Spirit Pill, Mana Jewelry, Reinforced Black Kaire Bow, Desert Stone. You have spent 374 coins. Remaining coins will be saved. Do you wish to finish item selection?

He still had 135 coins left, but there wasn't anything else worth picking.

Kichan had already pointed out all the potentially profitable items.

"You done too?"

"Yeah. Should we wrap this up now?"

"Sure. The moment we step out of here..."

As Seowoon trailed off, Kichan gave him a sly, almost menacing grin.

"I know."

The moment both of them pressed the O button simultaneously, instead of the scene changing, a series of notifications rang out.

Congratulations on the promotion to Fixed Player status. You may now join Match Games.

Fixed Player Function: Friend List has been activated. You can now freely send friend requests and communicate with players from other worlds.

Fixed Player Function: Fixed Quad has been activated. You may now form fixed teams with up to 20 players.

As a promotion reward, the rank of your Spatial Ring has increased.

As soon as the notifications ended, their vision began to brighten.

Thank you for your hard work. Good luck in your next game. The items you acquired can be withdrawn from your subspace.

Just as that final message rang out, the real world came into view—and Jongsun and Chilsang charged at them, shouting curses.

"You bastard—!"

"I'll kill you, you son of a—!"

As they lunged, Seowoon suddenly stepped back, causing the three—no, four—on the other side to pause, sensing something was off.

"Shouldn't you be checking something before you start yelling?"

Seowoon held up two secret tomes in his hands.

The books disintegrated into dust and blew away in the wind.

Jongsun, Chilsang, and Daljin swallowed hard.

Kichan also pulled out the golden staff and a magic tome, turning them to dust simultaneously.

"Here's a question. Who here has the right to be mad? The ones who survived and got promoted to Fixed Players? Or the ones who fell behind and got eliminated?"

Jongsun's group exchanged glances—and suddenly turned to run.

But they didn't get far.

Thwack!

Boom!

Seowoon dodged Jongsun's sword slash and slammed a fist into his chest. He then extended his form to block Chilsang, who was carrying a heavy shield.

Kichan also intercepted Daljin with movements far swifter than before and shattered his golem with magic.

"Th-this is reality! This isn't Cloyd! If you kill someone, the consequences will be..."

Screeeeech!

Before Chilsang, terrified, could even finish his sentence, Seowoon's hand twisted in an unnatural direction and ripped apart Chilsang's shield.

With an unbearable screeching sound, the shield tore apart violently, and Chilsang collapsed in shock.

"Aaaaaargh!"

Daljin's scream echoed into the night sky as lightning surged from the golden staff, electrocuting him and plunging the atmosphere into deeper dread.

"No!!! Please!!!!!"

Daljin, writhing in pain from Kichan's electricity burning away the ring engraved on his heart, pleaded desperately. But Kichan didn't even flinch as he burned the magic circle ring in Daljin's heart.

Daljin, convulsing and trembling, finally stilled. White foam bubbled from his lips.

Crunch!

As Seowoon gently stepped on the leg of the pale-faced Chilsang, who had collapsed watching the scene unfold, his sturdy shin shattered instantly.

"Aaagh!"

Ignoring the man who clutched his broken leg and rolled in pain, Seowoon walked past him and approached Jongcheon, who lay collapsed clutching his chest.

"Th-this isn't necessary..."

"It wouldn't be, if bastards like you didn't make it necessary."

Whiiiing!

A sword lying on the ground suddenly flew toward Seowoon's neck, but he caught it effortlessly between two fingers. The sword let out a sorrowful hum.

Clang!

With a flick of his fingers, the tip of the blade snapped off and fell to the floor.

"You know," Seowoon said, "when I returned after the first game ended, I didn't choose a martial path. All the power I built up in Cloyd vanished, and when I came back to Earth, I felt such emptiness I almost cried."

At those words, Jongcheon's face turned ghostly pale.

"D-don't do this. Please..."

Crack!

Before he could finish, Seowoon's foot struck Jongcheon's dantian.

"Ah..."

More than the pain, the sensation of his inner energy dispersing overwhelmed Jongcheon.

Seowoon, emotionless, watched as one man lay unconscious from a lightning strike to the heart, and the other sobbed helplessly from his destroyed energy core. Then he turned back to Chilsang.

Still clinging to his leg and screaming, Chilsang tried to crawl away from Seowoon as he approached.

"Your tanky skill set doesn't have a real off switch, so I left you alone. Don't misunderstand. I thought about breaking every bone in your body and snapping your spine, but external wounds like that... you'd probably just heal with a scroll. So here's what I'll promise instead.

If anything happens to my parents—even a minor scrape in a car accident—I'll return it to your families a thousand times over. If they slip on ice in the winter and get hurt, I'll shatter your family's bones. Think about that very carefully."

With eyes full of terror, Chilsang nodded furiously.

"Good. Then it'd be best if you never see my face again."

With that, Seowoon ended the warning and walked with Kichan toward the wrecked Hanbusa motorcycle.

"Wow... It's really busted. Will it still start?"

Vroooom!

The engine roared to life, defiantly denying its mangled appearance.

"Where's the license plate?"

"Took it off, just in case. Didn't want to deal with being tracked."

"Smart move."

Seowoon climbed onto the back, and the Haabusa, carrying both men, disappeared from the devastated arena with a guttural exhaust note.

Clutching his shin, Chilsang pulled out a phone with a cracked screen from his pocket and made a call.

"G-get an ambulance... It's urgent. Don't track them! Don't chase them or even think about it! Just shut up and send an ambulance, you bastard!!"

They had been utterly defeated before a fixed player.

The fury was immense—but he had never imagined anything worse than this could happen.

Losing your abilities.

They had destroyed the dantian of a martial artist, and the magic circle ring of a mage.

He got off with just a broken bone—but the once-bright futures of the three of them were now over.

"How did it come to this..."

[T/L: Read extra Chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]

IF you want to buy the rest of the Chapters in one go , then i can give you discount. Enjoy reading.