Chapter 177
The Arena (3)
Demons were a race devoted to entertainment.
Whenever they found something entertaining, they would either join in or try it themselves.
They could never tolerate a life of boredom, which had historically caused them to create all manner of trouble.
Fortunately, as entertainment culture developed over time, such incidents became less frequent—though only slightly.
It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that demons had caused most entertainment-related incidents throughout history.
This had even given rise to a culture that regarded "patience" and "self-control" as virtues.
That was how inseparable entertainment was from demons. It was practically the defining trait of their race.
"No way! This is rigged! I’m telling you, it’s rigged!"
Keirin, the princess of Mephisto, was no exception.
If anything, being a princess had caused her to become even more immersed in entertainment.
After all, nothing was more thrilling than secretly indulging in forbidden amusements.
Her support for Chae-U was sincere, but entertainment had ultimately been what started it all.
"Why did it lose? Did Grylls rig the match?"
Keirin’s eyes blazed as she pressed her face toward the Gallery.
Her nose was practically touching the floating Gallery window. That was how intensely she was concentrating.
Thud! Smack! Thud!
A video was playing on the Gallery.
Two kangaroos were exchanging simple yet efficient punches.
Then Kangaroo No. 2 delivered a counterpunch that violently twisted its opponent’s jaw aside.
Kangaroo No. 1 collapsed and failed to rise for quite some time. It had been knocked unconscious.
"...I can see why it lost."
Keirin muttered after reviewing the footage. With such conclusive video evidence, she had nothing to say.
If Grylls had closed the betting without uploading a video, an uproar would undoubtedly have erupted.
But with evidence this clear, there was no room for objection.
└ My points... Where did my points go...?
└ Can someone spare me a few points? I’ve lost all of mine...
└ Beg, and I’ll give you a hundred points, lol.
└ Please spare some points for this poor slum dweller. T_T
└ Me too, brother. T_T
The end of the match produced countless beggars.
Keirin was one of them.
The points she had wagered—Ladder Points—held no real significance to her.
She hadn’t spent real money on the Gallery to obtain them in the first place.
In other words, Ladder Points were effectively worthless.
"But I’m still angry..."
Yet they were also everything.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered if she had wagered only a small amount, but she had bet an enormous number of points.
Keirin had been active on the Gallery for a long time.
She had accumulated a great many points from the moment Ladder Points were introduced until the present day.
After wagering more than half of them, she couldn’t help wanting to cry.
Whew. It was only the first match, so it should be fine.
Keirin collected herself and checked the Gallery.
The place was overrun by wretched souls who had lost all their points.
KingLeor, an infuriating named user whose very presence annoyed her, seemed to have won his wager.
Keirin bristled for a moment before calmly composing herself.
The kangaroo arena wasn’t over yet.
└ KingLeor: Ahhh, lol. What a wonderful first round.
└ How many points did you win?
└ KingLeor: I bet fifty thousand and doubled it to a hundred thousand, lol.
└ Why did you bet so little? You should’ve wagered more, lol.
└ KingLeor: I’ve been saving those since two head managers ago. Don’t start with me.
Title: The next match is starting
Wild Grylls
(Video of kangaroos fighting)
The one on the left is Kangaroo No. 1, and the one on the right is Kangaroo No. 2.
└ I believe in you, Kangaroo No. 1!
└ No. 2 is definitely winning this time. Just look at the difference in size, lol.
└ Did you forget that the larger one lost last time? Fighting is ultimately a contest of patience.
└ Forget gambling. Raise your hand if you’re just enjoying the kangaroo fight, lol.
└ For real, lol. I’m only here for the entertainment.
└ Imagine how great it would be if he could broadcast it live.
└ The Gallery doesn’t have that function?
└ If it did, the head manager would’ve enabled it.
Just as someone had commented, it was unfortunate that live broadcasts weren’t possible.
If they had been, a staggering number of people would surely have gathered to watch.
However, whether because of a limitation inherent to the Gallery or because the head manager had deliberately omitted it, no such function existed.
Still, Grylls knows what he’s doing.
Grylls seemed to understand the problem, as he adjusted the system after only one match.
Instead of closing the betting as soon as the match ended, he uploaded the video and waited five minutes before settling the result.
Anyone who wanted to avoid spoilers merely had to refrain from reading the comments.
Keirin grinned before considering where to place her wager.
Kangaroo No. 1 was slightly larger, but Kangaroo No. 2 didn’t look like an easy opponent either.
The bigger kangaroo lost last time... so the bigger one will win this time.
No one could say what thought process had led her to that conclusion, but Keirin chose Kangaroo No. 1.
She had seen the larger kangaroo lose because it let its guard down earlier, so she believed this match would be different.
However, she had forgotten something.
These creatures weren’t humans. They were animals.
Even humans found it difficult to control themselves when angry, so how could anyone expect a beast to do so?
"No?! No! What—what are you doing?! What the hell is that bastard doing?!"
The larger kangaroo became distracted and lost the match. Keirin clutched her head and screamed.
Kangaroo No. 1 had clearly held the advantage until just before the match ended. Keirin had watched it and felt certain of victory.
"You crazy bastard! Your opponent isn’t in the audience! What the hell are you doing?!"
Then Kangaroo No. 1 abruptly dropkicked a kangaroo in the audience.
In the end, Kangaroo No. 1 began brawling with the spectator and was dragged out of the arena.
It was an indisputable disqualification. To Keirin, the incident was so absurd that she nearly fainted.
└ Lmaoooo! Now they’re attacking the audience too.
└ Aren’t these bastards actually humans? Lol.
└ Who cares whether they’re human? My fucking points...
└ Hey, honestly, we should declare this match void. Agreed?
└ Wild Grylls: Agreed, my ass. That bastard was disqualified.
└ Now that’s the fair and honorable Grylls! Unlike certain shitty referees.
└ Technically, Grylls is only another spectator, lol.
└ Didn’t something like that happen in Mephisto too?
└ The flying kick into the audience incident? Who did that again?
└ An elf caused it. A demon in the audience insulted the elf’s parents, so the elf immediately launched a flying kick at him, lol.
└ Didn’t that become a diplomatic incident?
└ It happened before the current queen ascended the throne, so they managed to smooth it over. The elven competitor was suspended for a year.
└ Didn’t that single incident change everyone’s perception of elves?
└ Yeah. Elves used to have a quiet and gentle image, but after that kick, everyone realized they were just people like the rest of us, lol.
Considering all this, Keirin was fortunate.
Ladder Points were a currency exclusive to the Gallery that couldn’t even be bought with real money.
If she had wagered actual money, she might have become a gambling addict.
└ KingLeor: Where did my points go? I think some thieving bastards stole them.
└ Buuurp~
└ Thanks for the meal~
They were even discussing an incident that had gone down in sporting history.
In any case, Keirin had lost her points once again.
She had even topped up her wager in hopes of recovering what she had lost, only to lose everything.
...So this is why gambling is terrifying.
You lost money?
Then you simply had to put in more money and win back your original stake!
It was effectively no different from pouring water into a bottomless vessel.
Judging by his comments, KingLeor seemed to have lost his points as well. Keirin chuckled before collapsing onto her bed.
She could accept the first loss, but being struck by such outrageous misfortune in the second round left her feeling utterly helpless.
She would never go near this gambling pool again.
That was what she resolved.
...Just one more round.
The resolution lasted approximately five seconds.
Still lying on her bed, she checked the next match.
This time, she would definitely recover her losses.
She had merely been unlucky until now.
Title: Exhibition Match Starting
Wild Grylls
(Photo of Wonmo facing a baby kangaroo)
(Video of the kangaroo spectators applauding instead of cheering)
(Video of Wonmo and the baby kangaroo tussling)
One of the kangaroos came over and asked if it could take Wonmo with it.
I asked Wonmo for permission, and when he agreed, we followed the kangaroo into the arena.
His opponent was a baby kangaroo, lol. It climbed right out of its mother’s pouch.
└ Heavenly Demon: They are both adorable. If possible, I would like Wonmo to win.
└ SwordMaster: What if one of them gets seriously hurt?
└ Wild Grylls: (Photo of a kangaroo acting as referee) There’s even a referee, so I think they’ll be fine.
└ Why do they have a referee? Lol.
└ I guess the children’s match is even more important, lol.
└ It’s probably because youngsters have difficulty controlling their strength.
An exhibition match was being held during the intermission.
Keirin briefly lamented that there was no betting before focusing on the match.
Wonmo was an extremely popular animal on the Gallery. It would hardly be an exaggeration to call him its mascot.
And he was about to fight?
No Gallery user could possibly ignore that.
Keirin also hoped Wonmo would win and eagerly awaited the result.
Title: Match Result
Wild Grylls
(Video of the referee urgently separating them)
(Video of Wonmo running over while bawling)
(Video of Wonmo clinging to my trouser leg and crying)
Wonmo lost.
He couldn’t do anything once the other kangaroo put him in a grappling hold, lol.
I need to comfort Wonmo now, so I won’t be taking questions.
└ Heavenly Demon: He has suffered a bitter defeat. It shall become the driving force behind his growth.
└ SwordMaster: He’s so adorable running over in tears. Please comfort him properly.
└ Who bullied our Wonmo?!
└ How does he actually cry "Bwaaah" like that? Lol.
└ Wonmo warms my heart every time I see him, lol.
└ Grylls killed that little guy’s mother, though.
└ Gasp...
└ Lmaoooo.
└ I’d forgotten about that;; Grylls was the bad guy all along.
The exhibition match ended with Wonmo’s defeat. It was slightly disappointing.
Keirin left a message of encouragement in the comments and returned to the previous page.
According to Grylls, it was now intermission, and the kangaroos were dispersing.
She therefore decided to give up and walk away cleanly.
My points...
That didn’t change the fact that losing them still felt unbearably wasteful.
Keirin sighed and began browsing the Gallery.
She had already completed all her duties as a princess long ago.
No one could criticize her for lazing around now.
So Crown Prince Arnold is ascending the throne...
The Messiah Empire’s succession ceremony had recently become a major topic of discussion on the Gallery.
As a princess of Mephisto, she couldn’t simply overlook it.
Although Mephisto and the Messiah Empire were far apart, that didn’t mean she could ignore such an event.
This is what makes the Gallery so useful.
News that the ruler of a foreign nation was changing was extremely important.
Ordinarily, a considerable amount of time would have passed before they could even begin to detect the signs.
Thanks to the Gallery, however, she could obtain information in real time.
Moreover, the succession ceremony itself had been arranged in great haste.
Being able to respond quickly was therefore extremely important.
The problem is that we don’t know what the elves are doing...
The elves were also highly active on the Gallery. Among them were named users who adopted peculiar personas.
They all had one thing in common: not one of them was remotely normal.
While demons tended to fool around like idiots, elves were characterized by displays of collective madness.
The fact that they’re so quiet makes them even more suspicious.
Since the elves’ movements remained unclear, Mephisto had intensified its intelligence operations.
However, the complete lack of useful information only made the situation more suspicious.
Keirin searched the Gallery for any information she could exploit.
She found little of value. Most of the elven posts consisted of mindless praise.
Keirin clicked her tongue and moved back a page.
The previous page was filled with posts about the kangaroo arena.
Apparently, the intermission had ended and the matches had resumed.
A broad smile spread across her face as she opened Grylls’s post.
Title: Long Live the Elven Queen!
(Photo of the Elven Queen)
Worship the Elven Queen! Make Alvenheim great again!
└ How long are those knife-ears going to keep this bullshit up?
└ Forever, probably.
Title: The Match Is Starting
Wild Grylls
(Photo of two kangaroos facing each other)
The match is starting.
└ All right, let’s go~
└ I’m definitely winning this time, lol.
└ How much did you lose?
└ Ten thousand points. I’d been saving them since three head managers ago, fuck.
└ You wagered a lot, lol.
└ How much did you bet?
└ A hundred thousand points, lol.
└ This bastard is completely insane, lmao.
Keirin immediately placed another wager, driven by the single-minded determination to win this time.
Less than five minutes later, that determination turned to despair.
She watched the kangaroo she had backed being pummeled on the ground and muttered,
"I’m done. Damn it."
It was the moment a new form of entertainment emerged on the Gallery.
"...After just one more round."
And as an added bonus, it had already created an addict.
Just as Keirin was about to wager her points like a lost soul—
└ It’s completely fair! There’s no risk of match-fixing!
└ Exactly. Who could possibly rig this? The kangaroos are fighting among themselves.
└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: But too many people are losing all their points! Everything is best enjoyed in moderation!
└ Boo! You old fossil!
└ Head manager, please don’t take this away from us...
└ The Gallery has been nothing but boring political posts lately...
Apparently displeased by how overheated the betting had become, the head manager moved to intervene.
I haven’t even recovered my losses yet!
Keirin panicked and joined the others in trying to persuade the head manager.
The betting pool couldn’t be closed before she broke even.
Fortunately, the head manager seemed willing to listen, perhaps because she knew the matches themselves were fair.
└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: This won’t do! I knew we shouldn’t have opened a betting pool!
└ No! Why?! Why can’t we have one?!
└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Even though they’re only Ladder Points, too many people are becoming addicted! Two hundred thousand points disappeared in only thirty minutes!
└ It’s fair, though! There’s no danger of match-fixing!
└ Exactly. Who would rig something like this? The kangaroos are the ones fighting!
└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: All right! But I’ll impose a wagering limit for the time being! No one will be allowed to bet more than a fixed amount! The Ladder Point system hasn’t even been officially reactivated yet!
└ Yeah. This is better than shutting it down entirely.
└ Thank you, head manager.
The head manager thus imposed a limit on the stakes.
Keirin thought about all the points she had already lost.
It’s a shame, but...
As long as this form of entertainment survived, she supposed that was enough.
Grateful for the compromise, Keirin watched the next match.
"No! What the hell is wrong with you this time?!"
And she was utterly annihilated yet again.
Keirin stared blankly at the zero displayed beside her point balance before writing a comment.
└ Thank you, thank you, thank you.
└ Praise Grylls!
"Wow! Thank you!"
Keirin praised Grylls with complete sincerity.
***
Meanwhile, Grylls, who had been watching all of this unfold, said—
"They’re going to wager everything eventually anyway... I’m the only one who profits. So this is why they say the casino owner is always the winner."
I now understood exactly how a casino owner felt.