chsdbacks Chapter 38: The Pledge Ends, Joy Turns to Sorrow
Chapter 38: The Pledge Ends, Joy Turns to Sorrow
"Hehehe, we won! I heard the announcement! Park Il-shin's virtue value is a whopping 101! That's incredible! He's my eternal idol!"
"Our cultivation level, Yin materials, and hunting cultivation level have all increased! Thank you, great Lord Park Il-shin, for making an immortal contribution to our Soul Town Village!"
"Wait a minute, something's not right. Why did I suddenly feel my strength diminish and I feel a bit weak? Was it just my imagination?"
"Wait! Calm down! Didn't we just say that Lord Park's virtue score was only 25 points? How come the winner with 101 virtue points on the announcement doesn't have our war zone listed in front of their name, but... Kyushu? And the winner's name isn't Park Il-shin either!"
"Holy crap, I heard that right! That ruthless guy with 101 points of bad karma isn't Lord Park Il-shin, it's a monster from Kyushu named 'Fang Han'! We didn't win!"
"Damn it! Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could the weaklings of Kyushu have so much good karma? It must be a bug in the will of the underworld! We protest, we must protest!"
"Damn it, my cultivation has indeed decreased by a year! No wonder I felt weak just now, and almost got killed by that Yin creature!"
"Ah, no! All the cultivation I've worked so hard to achieve has been reduced by a year! Now I only have two years' worth left! Damn people of Kyushu, why did this happen?"
Soon, as more and more people confirmed the truth, almost everyone began to wail in despair within the Ghostly Path. Curses and cries mingled together.
At the same time, in the Soul Town Village No. 13 of Naihe Road in the Netherworld War Zone of Kyushu, in the once desolate Ghost Whispering Path, as if everyone had made an appointment in advance, these extremely cunning "old schemers" suddenly flooded into this public group at the same time.
Based on Park Il-shin's limited understanding, the only way to quickly find a large number of elite vengeful spirits was to rely on other contracted servants to act as informants and laborers. This meant Fang Han simply didn't have enough time. He was unaware that there was such a thing as a "Leader's Underworld Certificate."
Therefore, even if Park Il-shin had calculated all the possible merit points Fang Han could gain from hunting the leader, the conclusion was that it could never exceed one hundred points. It was precisely because of this that he was absolutely certain that there was a bug in this betting game.
However, this guy, blinded by defeat, was completely unaware that Fang Han had single-handedly and overwhelmingly swept through the entire third wave. This included every leader and the vast horde of vengeful spirits they ruled. Therefore, the merit points of those elite vengeful spirits were all his alone.
Just as the will of the underworld announced the winner and distributed the rewards for the bets, Park Il-shin took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and finally reappeared in the group to try to stabilize morale.
"Gentlemen, please calm down and listen to me! Our great Korean nation will not be defeated so easily!"
"This must be a problem with the statistics of the Netherworld's will."
"Think about it yourselves. Even if Fang Han from Kyushu did indeed have incredible luck and became incredibly powerful, defeating all the leaders, by the highest standards, his Yin Virtue Points would only amount to a maximum of around eighty points. How did he acquire over a hundred points of Yin Virtue Points out of thin air? This is completely illogical! This is absolutely a bug!"
"Therefore, I have a great suggestion. I heard some of you mentioned that you were lucky enough to get a Yin Virtue Betting Token when opening a Nether Iron-grade Soul Shrine. If possible, we can definitely bet against those despicable people from Kyushu again. This time, we won't bet on Yin Virtue Points; we'll bet on raw strength, on combat, and fight a true Netherworld Nation War against the Thirteenth Soul Town Village on the Road of Helplessness. Let's go all out, betting everything that's left of our Soul Town Village. Anyway, we've already lost once, our cultivation and resources have diminished, and at least 90% of people won't pass this novice assessment. Since we're going to be eliminated anyway, let's go all in and bet big this time, winning back all the glory and resources we've lost. Please, everyone, trust me one more time!"
At this moment, Park Il-shin seemed to have been greatly stimulated, and frantically made a very terrible, almost crazy suggestion in the chat group.
"Alright, let's risk it all! Since we're all going to die anyway, I'm willing to take out my treasured pledge and put it against that Soul-Suppressing Village No. 13 on the Road of Helplessness one last time!"
"I second that! Initiate a second round of interrogation, reclaim the glory that belongs to our great Koreans, and make those despicable Kyushu people pay a heavy price!"
"Jiuzhou is just a bunch of cunning weaklings. Their victory this time was purely by sheer luck, like stepping in dog poop or stumbling upon a bug! I second the proposal to start a second round of betting and win back everything that belongs to us!"
Soon, in the Ghostly Path of Village 322, many Koreans who had lost their minds and were blinded by greed agreed with Park Il-shin's crazy suggestion.
Clearly, these guys have come to believe, deep down, Park Il-shin's "bug theory," that Kyushu's victory was purely due to sheer luck and stumbling upon a loophole. They desperately need a chance to turn the tide.
Meanwhile, in the joyous ghostly underworld village of No. 13, Naihe Road in Kyushu, someone was completely dumbfounded when they saw the crazy and reckless remarks of these Koreans through the interconnected paths.
"Holy crap??? Are these damn Koreans' brains rotten with resentment? Their mothers' already been humiliated once, and they still dare to do it a second time? Where did they get so many escorts? Did they buy them from the wholesale market?"
"Good grief, isn't this a complete case of 'what the hell'? Come on, you Korean idiots, I'll unilaterally accept your pledges! I just happen to have nowhere to use that pledge warrant I found in the box earlier."
"Good grief, isn't this a complete case of 'what the hell'? Come on, you Korean idiots, I'll unilaterally accept your pledges! I just happen to have nowhere to use that pledge warrant I found in the box earlier."
"Actually, I was planning to wait until this wave of vengeful spirits' attack on the city was over, and everyone could catch their breath, before finding some ignorant village to give them a little shock to the entire land. But now that these Koreans are so unethical and insist on rushing to their deaths, then I can't blame them. Alright, brothers, I won't pretend anymore. Actually, I recently managed to open a pairing token in a box by sheer luck."
"Holy crap! Are you sure you're not kidding us? It really exists?"
At the same time that everyone was discussing frantically and in high spirits, an unprecedented announcement from the Underworld, filled with an aura of iron-bloodedness and murderous intent, once again resounded over the two Soul-Suppressing Villages that had formed a deadly feud.
......
Meanwhile, in the Netherworld War Zone of South Korea, outside the No. 322 Soul Town Village.
As soon as the confrontation began, after those ferocious beasts, radiating terrifying resentment, were summoned by the will of the underworld, the remaining villagers inexplicably became excited, as if they saw a glimmer of hope for a comeback.
"Damn it, is this the strongest evil entity we've encountered during the beginner phase, as mentioned in the announcement? It looks pretty fierce. Can we really take it down?"
"What's there to be afraid of! The great Lord Park Il-shin is the one who led us through the second round of bosses. These are just a few ferocious beasts; Lord Park can handle them with ease."
"That's right! Lord Park Il-shin has been cultivating for almost twenty years, and he also possesses a fourth-realm ferocious-level contracted Yin artifact. With all of us working hard to help him, taking down these few things is no problem at all."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's fight our way out! Don't let those weaklings from Kyushu who only know how to use underhanded tricks get there first."
"Don't worry, the Will of the Underworld definitely won't have any bugs this time. Our great Korean nation will surely win."
In the village, a group of Koreans pointed and gestured at the terrifying, hill-like creatures outside the nearly vanishing protective barrier. They seemed completely unconcerned, as if victory was already in their grasp.
As for Park Il-shin and the others, they were somewhat bewildered as they looked at the several enormous, malevolent creatures whose resentment was even more ferocious than that of the second leader. They had a vague feeling that something was amiss.
"Lord Park Il-shin, why do I feel like these evil creatures... are much stronger than the second wave of leaders we barely managed to suppress? Could it be that the strongest monster in the beginner phase mentioned in the announcement is at the level of the third wave of leaders?"
"The third wave of leaders? Seriously?! Are you out of your mind? How could anyone possibly have defeated the third wave of leaders? Even Lord Park Il-shin just led us through the second round!"
"Exactly! Lord Park Il-shin possessed a fourth-realm, ferocious-level contracted artifact, and with so many of us fighting desperately, we barely made it through the second round. The third batch? No one could possibly surpass our great Korean people!"
"In my opinion, this is a second-tier ferocious beast, only a bit more frightening in appearance. Lord Park Il-shin, lead us to victory against these things and win this battle! Let those weaklings from Kyushu see that we Koreans are the most superior race in the world, the only hope for the future of this blue planet's underworld!"
Everyone around Park Il-shin turned their fervent gazes toward him, their faces full of anticipation.
Perhaps it was the flattery of those around him that made him a little arrogant and lose his bearings. In a moment of impulsiveness, Park Il-shin completely forgot his earlier unease and became excited on the spot.
"Excellent! You truly deserve to be the strongest warriors in my country! You are all worthy to follow me and witness glory!"
"Today, I, Park Il-shin, will lead all of you to crush those weaklings from Kyushu and win this betting match!"
"Go! Everyone, follow me and fight our way out of Zhenhun Village! Let's wipe out those few reckless monsters!"
He raised his arm and strode ahead towards the outside of the protective barrier.
"Park Il-shin is invincible! Long live Korea!"
"Park Il-shin is invincible! Long live Korea!"
"Park Il-shin is invincible! Long live Korea!"
Behind me came the deafening, fanatical shouts of the brainwashed Koreans.