Chapter 178
The Arena (4)
There were a few things I learned through this arena.
For one, I now understood why casinos gave transportation money to people who had gambled away everything.
It was all part of the casino’s scheme.
They had already squeezed plenty out of those people, and the money was meant to encourage them to come back next time.
My situation was even more profitable than that. I didn’t need to prepare a single thing. All I had to do was show people the arena.
The sight of kangaroos fighting each other must have been quite a novelty even by this world’s standards because a sizable crowd had gathered.
Of course, the fact that I was a famous fixed-nick user on the Gallery also played a part.
’I made a lot...’
I checked the Ladder Points I had earned from commission fees alone.
Points had poured in every time I posted the results of a kangaroo fight.
’...Didn’t I?’
Those points alone amounted to a staggering 300,000. I still had this much left even after handing out relief payments to those who had lost everything.
’Not that they’re much use to me, no matter how many I have.’
These points could only be used within the Gallery.
What could I actually do with them?
Nothing.
They were basically a kind of toy. Perhaps that was why even people without fixed nicknames were allowed to trade them.
One might ask whether anyone bought them with real money, but that had been prohibited from the beginning.
If they could be traded for cash, they would lose their value as a purely Gallery-based currency.
’They’re basically decorative.’
Strangely enough, however, the culture surrounding them was highly addictive.
Why were they so addictive when they were difficult to obtain and possessed absolutely no real-world value?
Title: Why Do We Collect Points?
It’s simple. Because they’re fair.
Do you guys know how satisfying it feels to watch your points steadily pile up?
Do you know what it feels like to lose every single point you painstakingly saved because of one impulsive decision?
Do you know what it feels like when the points you fucking swore you’d never collect again keep flickering before your eyes?
This is something money can’t buy. Why can’t you understand that?!
You’re saying they’re worthless? That’s right. In the real world, they’re worthless.
But in the Gallery, they’re everything—and the fairest system there is. Don’t you understand how valuable that makes them?
You don’t? Then give me your points. I’ll help you understand.
└ Why the hell did this bastard structure his argument like this? LOL
└ So his conclusion is just "Give me points." LOL
└ He’s begging so shamelessly that I don’t even know what to say.
└ So, how much did our beggar lose?
└ My entire fortune.
└ What are you doing? Go buy some newspaper to sleep under. Oh, right. You don’t even have the money for newspaper, do you?
└ You fucking bastard!
└ LOLOLOLOLOL
It was because the points could only be earned through pure effort and luck. There was almost no room for real-world circumstances to influence the system.
All these factors combined to make users obsessed with them.
Of course, that also meant the Gallery produced plenty of prospective gambling addicts.
Still, it was far better to ruin yourself in the Gallery than to ruin your life in the real world.
└ Head Admin, release all the points you possess!
└ Open the granaries of the rich!
└ Give us points!
Don’t Abandon the Hero: (Photo of a point balance showing 0) That’s right! Hurry up and demand points from the rich!
└ ??? Why does this bastard have zero points too?
└ Head Admin. Don’t tell me you...
└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: I want to strangle that kangaroo who threw the kung fu kick!
Title: Trading Cash for Points Is Strictly Forbidden!
Don’t Abandon the Hero
If we discover any evidence of cash being traded for points, unless it is a donation, you will be banned immediately!
Let’s all enjoy the Gallery’s pure culture together!
└ Head Admin, didn’t you say you were a member of the clergy?
└ Don’t Abandon the Hero: Yes! I used to be a paladin! Why do you ask?
└ I believe members of the clergy should share their points with their less fortunate neighbors.
└ That’s right, Head Admin. I’d stop you from giving other people cash, but I would gladly accept your points.
└ So the Head Admin was a victim too. LOL
└ It really is a system where everyone is equal. LOL
Even the Head Admin was no exception.
Gambling did not suit someone from the clergy, but this was the Gallery.
As I had said earlier, all that mattered was keeping away from it in the real world.
’And earning points is easy enough.’
According to the Head Admin, they intended to follow the old methods of distributing points.
What were those old methods?
Posts, comments, and upvotes.
You earned one point for every post and every comment you wrote.
You also received one point for every upvote your posts received.
If that was how it worked, points would accumulate quickly. It would be especially easy for me.
Whenever I uploaded a post, it was bombarded with upvotes and easily made it onto the Best Posts board.
Since this was a Gallery that anyone in the world could access, the number of upvotes was staggering.
The arena-related posts alone had already received tens of thousands of upvotes.
└ Wild Grylls: You clearly received quite a lot, didn’t you?
└ Cheonggu Princess: Hehe...
└ Wild Grylls: Good grief...
└ So this is why casinos give people transportation money before sending them home.
└ People like that should be banned from entering. LOL;;
Title: These Relief Payments Sure Are Sweet
Cheonggu Princess
Could you possibly give me some more...?
└ Wild Grylls: ??? No. How long has it even been since I gave you those? How did you lose them again already?
└ Cheonggu Princess: I told myself I’d try just one more time, but...
Hmm.
Maybe I should stop posting about the arena.
So many people were losing everything that even I was starting to feel sorry for them.
It might be better to wait until the Head Admin had properly implemented the new policies before posting any more.
Otherwise, I could keep distributing relief payments to maintain the circulation of points.
As I considered that, I looked over at the arena. The kangaroos were still engaged in a bloody struggle.
"Sniff."
"Wonmo, does it still hurt?"
"Sniff. Kyuu..."
Wonmo burst into tears again and continued clinging to my leg.
He seemed to have recovered somewhat, but huge tears still rolled down his cheeks.
How could he possibly be this adorable?
I stroked Wonmo’s head.
"Wooooaaaah!"
In the meantime, the kangaroos’ bloody struggle came to an end. I posted the entire fight on the Gallery.
My post turned into a gathering place for get-rich-quick gamblers and people who had lost everything, but I decided not to care.
Regardless of who won or lost, it occurred to me that I should at least figure out how the arena worked.
’The kangaroos are one thing, but what exactly are those animals doing here?’
The kangaroos fought over females. The winner got whichever female he wanted.
But that only explained the kangaroos. I had no idea what the other animals were doing here.
Bears, raccoons, deer, and more.
I wondered if they had come to watch, just like me.
’Can’t even animals resist a little entertainment?’
They weren’t ordinary animals, either. They were animals from the Forest of Four Seasons—creatures with exceptionally high intelligence.
There was even a story about dolphins, said to possess the intelligence of children, enjoying drugs.
Not actual narcotics, of course. According to the rumor, dolphins used pufferfish poison to experience hallucinogenic effects.
’But from the bear’s perspective, aren’t all of them prey?’
This truly was a bewildering place.
A place that treated common sense as worthless.
What was even funnier was that the kangaroos brought food to those animals.
It looked as if they were providing VIPs with various services.
’I should look around some more.’
I decided to stop the live commentary for now and explore the arena.
As soon as I posted that, people threw a fit, telling me I couldn’t stop and demanding that I resume the commentary immediately. But it couldn’t be helped.
I needed to determine how this arena was structured and what effect it had on the forest.
Most importantly, I needed to ensure it wouldn’t negatively affect my shelter.
"Hey. Hey, snap out of it. We’re moving now."
"Watching that."
"You can watch it later. We need to figure out where we are first."
"Hmm... Fine."
I moved on with Kkobong, who had become completely absorbed in watching the kangaroos fight.
They said the two most entertaining things in the world were watching a fire from across the river and watching a fight.
Kkobong had fought countless times to survive, but this was probably his first experience with fighting as pure entertainment, so he seemed completely captivated.
’Could the same be true for the other animals?’
Perhaps the animals in the VIP section were also watching because they had never experienced entertainment like this before.
Unlike the kangaroos, they were all different species, so perhaps they had been separated to prevent any unexpected incidents.
If that was true, Kkobong and I should be able to go over there too.
"Wonmo, don’t you think it’s about time you let go?"
"Kyuuu..."
Instead of making Wonmo release my leg, I picked him up and carried him.
Perhaps his first defeat(?) had left him traumatized because he wrapped his arms tightly around me the moment I picked him up.
I patted Wonmo’s back as I headed toward the other animals.
"Kurung?"
None of the kangaroos tried to stop me along the way, allowing me to reach the area easily.
The moment I arrived, a massive black bear stared at me with an expression that seemed to ask what I wanted.
The other animals reacted the same way. Their gazes were anything but friendly.
I couldn’t tell whether it was because of Kkobong or Speedy clinging to my back.
Still, they didn’t seem intent on rejecting us outright. They were probably just wary because unfamiliar faces had appeared.
"Prrr."
"...Huh? Don’t tell me you’re..."
What was more, the deer was one I knew well.
One might say that all deer looked the same, but creatures powerful enough to be considered leaders tended to possess their own distinctive traits.
"The campfire? You’re the one I gave that campfire to, aren’t you?"
"Prrrr."
"It is you."
It had happened during the bitter winter when even the river had frozen solid.
I had gone down to the river to deal with something and encountered this deer.
It was a mighty creature that had knocked out a bull shark leaping from the river with one terrifying back kick.
I had no idea why it was here in the kangaroos’ cave.
’Is this place really some kind of gathering plaza?’
I didn’t know how the kangaroos had advertised it or why these animals had decided to come.
Just as I was standing there dumbfounded by this completely incomprehensible situation, I noticed something on the ground that I hadn’t been able to see from a distance.
’What... is this?’
There weren’t just plants resembling medicinal herbs.
There was also a honeycomb, perhaps brought by the bear. It was dripping with honey.
The honey wasn’t an ordinary yellow, either. It glittered as though someone had sprinkled gold dust over it.
The honey alone looked incredibly valuable, but the other items seemed no less impressive.
Title: What Is This?
Wild Grylls
(Photo of various animals gathered together)
(Photo of honey, medicinal herbs, and ginseng lying on the ground)
(Video of honey glowing golden)
I went to a place that looked like a VIP section, and all of this was lying on the ground.
The honey is one thing, but does anyone recognize the other herbs?
└ Heavenly Demon: Golden honey, you say? It appears they may have brought a honeycomb belonging to a King Bee.
└ Wild Grylls: A King Bee? Is that like the king of all bees?
└ Heavenly Demon: Ordinary bees serve a queen. Yet there exists a king who rules over even those queens. That is the King Bee.
└ Wild Grylls: It sounds like an incredibly rare insect.
└ Heavenly Demon: Rare does not begin to describe it. Not only is finding one difficult, but one must risk one’s life to harvest its hive.
└ All-Father: You must be referring to the King Bee. It is an insect that commands not merely a legion, but an entire army.
└ Wild Grylls: An army?
└ All-Father: Yes. I have heard that even its hive is the size of a small village—assuming that truly is a King Bee’s honeycomb.
└ It was brought by a bear, of all things, so that makes it pretty believable, doesn’t it?
└ Try asking it. You can have Kkobong interpret for you.
└ That aside, what are the other things? They all look like insanely expensive medicinal herbs.
└ All-Father: It appears so. Even from the photograph alone, I can identify Sun Herb, Snow Ginseng, belladonna, and several others. Every one of them would cause an uproar if it appeared on the market.
└ Why did they leave all of that on the ground? Are they planning to mix it together like bibimbap?
└ You’d get sick if you ate all that like bibimbap;;
└ Forget getting sick. Your body would probably just explode.
One thing was certain.
I shouldn’t touch any of it.
The moment I did, I might receive more than just a few hostile glares. I might lose an arm.
So I decided to watch for now and see what they intended to do with it.
"Pwoooooo!!!"
It seemed another match had ended. I looked toward the area where the fights were being held.
As expected of the VIP section, it offered an excellent view of the arena(?).
"Growl."
I was watching the match when the bear, which had remained seated all this time, slowly rose to its feet.
I wondered why and turned to look, only to be greeted by an unexpected sight.
The bear was striding straight toward the center of the arena.
As I stared and stammered in confusion, the other animals slowly began moving as well.
’Is it over already?’
Otherwise, there was no reason for them to leave.
Questions began multiplying in my mind.
"Pwoo. Pwooo."
"H-Huh? D-Don’t push me."
To make matters even stranger, a kangaroo that had appeared from who knew where began pushing me from behind.
It tried to shove me all the way into the center of the arena, but I barely managed to dodge it.
I soon found myself back among the spectators, bewildered and unable to understand what was happening.
"Groooooar!!!"
"Prrr."
The bear and deer, which had only been watching from the VIP section until now, collided with each other.
The deer thrust forward with its viciously pointed antlers, while the bear grabbed them and began wrestling against the deer’s strength.
It was an impromptu exhibition match.
No—perhaps this was actually the main event.
Thud!
"Gruhk?!"
Whatever the case, the deer won.
Its antlered headbutt struck the bear squarely in the solar plexus, knocking it out cold.
But the next match was even more surprising.
Instead of another fight between the bear and deer, it was a raccoon against a kangaroo.
"Keeeng!!"
The kangaroo won.
The difference in their weight classes was simply too great.
After that, various animals fought one another, gradually separating into winners and losers.
The most conspicuous detail was the list of participants. The same competitors fought in multiple matches.
Unlike before, only exceptionally powerful kangaroos participated as well.
More time passed...
Crack!
"Guegh!"
The deer’s back kick struck a kangaroo directly in the jaw.
Overwhelmed by the fearsome force, the kangaroo’s tongue lolled out as it fell unconscious.
The deer was the final victor.
"Pwoooooo!"
"Wooooaaaah!"
The kangaroos cheered enthusiastically, while the defeated competitors’ companions reluctantly accepted the outcome.
Then the deer, basking in the glory of victory...
"Nom, nom, nom."
...
"Munch, munch."
It freely devoured the honey and medicinal herbs—the spoils awarded to the victor.
Upon seeing that, I finally realized the truth.
’This really was an arena?’
It wasn’t merely a figure of speech.
This was an arena in the truest sense of the word.