Can’t Control Be Bought With Money? 39

Chapter 39

As he observed the situation, he soon felt a creeping sense of crisis contrary to his expectations. Watching them approach the matter half-jokingly, half-seriously, a concerning thought crossed his mind.

‘What if someone asks Girmu-nim to take them along when he arrives, even as a joke?’

Then that kind-hearted Girmu-nim might reply, “Shall I?” and readily agree. And that’s not all. If he hears about the selection contest, he might take one of them as his plus-one with the second ticket.

‘That can’t happen.’

He couldn’t let the newbie he’d carefully nurtured fall into the clutches of these shadowy guild members. In that instant, Shin Wooseok found his justification for participating in the selection contest.

[Guild] Hwasan: What if we win his favor with gifts?

[Guild] Baekdu: Hey, Hwasan, tone it down

[Guild] Baekdu: Ever heard of fair and square?

[Guild] Baekdu: I, Kim Baekdu, will win Girmu-nim’s heart with a direct approach

[Guild] Hwasan: Bs, your surname is Yoon

[Guild] Baekdu: Is that important? Seriously, you’re missing the point

Even the Baekdu and Hwasan duo seemed ready to join the competition. Of these, Baekdu’s straightforward approach seemed most dangerous to Shin Wooseok.

[Guild] Sinu: But seriously, how are Baekdu and Hwasan online right now? What about work?

[Guild] Baekdu: Oh~ hahahahaha trying to undermine the competition?

[Guild] Hwasan: Don’t lump us together so casually

[Guild] Baekdu: I said I was taking the day off first, and this guy copied me

[Guild] Hwasan: You’re genuinely sick in the head

[Guild] Shotgun: Can people who already have tickets participate?

[Guild] SaltySalt: Hmm that’s a bit ㅇㅅㅇ;

[Guild] Fxxa: Sinu-nim is out

[Guild] Sinu: Haha

This is getting out of hand with all the chatter. Shin Wooseok knew an effective way to end this pointless conversation immediately.

[Guild] Sinu: If you’re going to use PvP as an excuse to covet Girmu-nim’s ticket

[Guild] Sinu: Just say it in PvP, OK?

[Guild] Sinu: You’re all confident, right?

Setting up a fight with a purpose. What a simple and definitive method. As a rule, veteran players who had conquered every hard content were particularly susceptible to this approach.

Why? Because they were bored. And if there was a reward, real or imagined, it would work twice as well.

[Guild] Fxxa: What a crude and beastly method…

[Guild] Fxxa: I absolutely love it

[Guild] Baekdu: That’s hot hahahaha been a while since I’ve seen blood

[Guild] Shotgun: But doesn’t this mean you’re also participating?

While everyone else welcomed the idea, Shotgun was uncharacteristically hesitant. But there was a way to deal with this—a way to draw in even the rational types who refused to abandon reason.

[Guild] Sinu: Haha scared?

Shin Wooseok pulled out a magic word that could drag even the most peaceful person into a battlefield ruled by survival of the fittest.

[Guild] Shotgun: Hahahahahahahahaha

[Guild] Shotgun: This won’t do haha

[Guild] Shotgun: To.the.battlefield.NOW—

The effect was unmistakable.

‘Valor’s Battlefield’ was a map where PVP was allowed and counted in the official rankings. It was a PVP-optimized space where players could decide and apply several systems for fair PVP before each match. Many preferred it over field PVP for the variety of gameplay it offered.

In other words, it was the perfect venue for the selection contest, which had now transformed into a bloody competition.

[Guild] Fxxa: How will we arrange the brackets?

[Guild] SaltySalt: Oh, I’m not participating ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Shotgun: Huh? You scared? Scared??????

[Guild] SaltySalt: The strongest player in the universe would throw off the balance ㅇㅅㅠ

[Guild] Shotgun: Have you lost it?

[Guild] Baekdu: Seriously, you’re dropping out? Then we’re five, which doesn’t match up

[Guild] SaltySalt: One person gets a bye, right? ㅇㅅㅇ

Upon seeing the word “bye,” everyone in Grace except Shin Wooseok had the same thought: it seemed wasteful to trade a potentially fun PVP match for a free pass.

But they soon reached the same conclusion: while they might not be thrilled about taking it themselves, they couldn’t let someone else get a free ride. The thought process of hardcore content addicts was all too predictable.

[Guild] Shotgun: OK, so how do we decide who gets the bye?

[Guild] Fxxa: Last season’s or this season’s PvP ranking?

[Guild] Baekdu: No, that’s not fair—three of us have jobs, two are unemployed

[Guild] Shotgun: ? Do unemployed people only do PvP?

[Guild] Baekdu: Yes, and your defensiveness clearly marks you as unemployed

[Guild] Fxxa: Job-havers vs. unemployed, what a natural rivalry

[Guild] Baekdu: What the hell is a “job-haver”—;

[Guild] Fxxa: Boss clicks! Super clicks! (=Do we really have to go this far for money? Ptui! This is unbearable)

[Guild] Baekdu: So I’m a rat bastard, great~

[Guild] Sinu: Enough about that, think about the returning player haha

[Guild] Hwasan: Let’s just do a ladder game

[Guild] SaltySalt: Agreed agreed let’s decide with the universal ladder game ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] SaltySalt: Voice code, I’ll set up the ladder!

Those gathered in voice code focused on the screen SaltySalt shared. As soon as he searched for a ladder game on a portal site and entered four “fail” options and one “bye,” everyone rushed to call out numbers.

[SN: 5]

[San: 1]

[Baekdu: 1]

[Fxxa: 3]

[Shotgun: 2]

At a speed rivaling a game of quick wits, someone inevitably lost out and had to choose from the remaining numbers.

[Baekdu: Ah—;]

[Baekdu: What’s left?]

[SN: 4]

[SaltySalt: Go go]

With everyone assigned a number, SaltySalt immediately clicked to view the results. Of course, with the added effort of checking each result one by one.

[Shotgun: What’s taking so long]

[Fxxa: We’re in a hurry, just click the bye result]

[SaltySalt: Hahahahaha I don’t wanna ㅇㅅㅇ~]

[Baekdu: Ugh, classic Korean sadism]

[Fxxa: Kick him]

[SaltySalt: That would be boring ㅇㅅㅇ]

Despite the outcry, SaltySalt’s cursor didn’t move. Those who had been complaining soon turned their attention to the result of ladder #1.

[Baekdu: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha Hwasan failed]

[Baekdu: I knew you’d get eliminated right away~]

Baekdu, who had chosen the same number 1 as Hwasan but was forced to take number 4 instead, made no attempt to hide his joy. Someone then turned on their mic and spoke in a flat voice.

—This isn’t right. Let’s do it again.

[Fxxa: Startled me]

[Shotgun: A sudden auditory attack?]

[Baekdu: Noise pollution much? Turn off your mic, Hwasan]

[SaltySalt: ㅋㅅㅋ]

[SN: Next]

—I’m telling you this is wrong. We should have clicked the bye result first. Let’s redo it.

But no one paid any attention to Hwasan’s opinion.

[SaltySalt: Going in order is boring too, so let’s check number 5 next ㅇㅅㅇ]

[Shotgun: Oh, opening the big fun as the second reveal]

Shin Wooseok watched the fate of his chosen ladder with his hands clasped behind his head. He didn’t care whether he got a bye or failed. After all, winning was all that mattered. Though getting a bye would save him some trouble…

“Oh.”

As if in response to his thoughts, the result “bye” appeared before his eyes. Surely this was the world pushing him to protect Girmu’s ticket.

[SaltySalt: Huh?]

[Hwasan: I told you we should redo it]

[Fxxa: This? Like this?]

[Shotgun: ??????]

[Baekdu: Come to think of it, redoing might not be a bad idea? Hahahaha]

Nonsense. Shin Wooseok turned on his mic and drove the final nail into the coffin for those denying reality.

“Yeah. Good luck.”

After leaving the voice code room and switching screens to return to SOG, he was immediately followed by protesters.

[Guild] Shotgun: Ri

[Guild] Hwasan: gg

[Guild] Baekdu: ed

[Guild] Fxxa: ing

[Guild] Sinu: Haha you picked the numbers yourselves, why the fuss?

[Guild] Sinu: I can’t be responsible for your bad luck

[Guild] Sinu: Accept defeat gracefully instead of dragging this out

Judging that Sinu would be difficult to target, they turned their attention to SaltySalt instead.

[Guild] Shotgun: SaltySalt, what’s up?

[Guild] SaltySalt: ㅇㅅㅇ? Me?

[Guild] Baekdu: Friend or foe? Make up your mind

[Guild] SaltySalt: But ㅇㅅㅇ;;;;;;; how would I have known?

[Guild] Hwasan: Salt, your title as Sinu’s nemesis is crying

[Guild] Fxxa: Haha Sicheon hahahahaha right, those days existed

[Guild] SaltySalt: Ugh, picking on just me ㅇㅅ”ㅇ

[Guild] SaltySalt: Let’s just hurry up and fight -ㅅ-

After another brief commotion, the final bracket was established.

[Guild] SaltySalt: Fxxa vs Baekdu

[Guild] SaltySalt: Hwasan vs Shotgun

[Guild] SaltySalt: Winners face each other, then the winner fights Sinu

[Guild] Shotgun: Wow, so someone has to fight three matches?

[Guild] SaltySalt: Yep ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild] Shotgun: That bye really is a free meal

The beneficiary of the free meal, Shin Wooseok, let out a short yawn. He thought the PVP between Fxxa and Baekdu might be quite entertaining.

[Guild] Baekdu: Three matches means serious buff costs, save a salary man’s life

[Guild] Hwasan: I still have some left from last time that I forgot to use during the *field boss

[Guild] Baekdu: Shouldn’t that count as embezzlement of guild property?

[Guild] Hwasan: ㅇ

[Guild] Hwasan: Buffed damage = my unbuffed damage

[Guild] Hwasan: Seems like your damage is what’s being embezzled

[Guild] Baekdu: You talk so much crap

At this rate, would they even start today? Shin Wooseok’s gaze alternated between the clock and the voice code message he had exchanged with Girmu. The last message had arrived 50 minutes ago.

‘He’ll probably log on soon.’

He wanted to finish this messy selection contest before Girmu connected if possible.

[Guild] Fxxa: How many minutes per match?

[Guild] Sinu: Let’s keep it short at 3 minutes

[Guild] Hwasan: Yep, quick game approved

[Guild] Baekdu: Then I’ll be preparing my burst and it’ll be over

[Guild] Hwasan: Not my problem?

[Guild] Baekdu: Augh

Shin Wooseok’s thoughts aligned with Hwasan’s. However, there were two job classes that required building a certain number of stacks before properly using their skills.

[Guild] Fxxa: How about we set 10 minutes for ranking reflection, but cut it at 5 minutes and decide by score?

[Guild] Sinu: OK

[Guild] Hwasan: Let’s randomize the map, it’s one-on-one so it doesn’t matter which

[Guild] Shotgun: Agreed

Just start already, whatever works. Did his wish get through? Fxxa and Baekdu left the waiting room first and moved to the battlefield.

[Guild] Fxxa: Room 5

Shin Wooseok found Room 5 in the ‘Valor’s Battlefield’ list and requested to spectate.

*field boss: Field Boss.