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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Dimension Arena Placement Exam
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"Dimension Arena, enter."
Whoosh!
The moment he confirmed his awakening, Shin-hyeok immediately entered the Dimension Arena.
There, he could see countless people tense with anticipation or frozen in fear.
"The waiting room, huh. I've been here so many times it's boring."
The game start waiting room.
Commonly just called the waiting room, it was where participants gathered before the game began.
Once all participants assembled, the game would start shortly after.
"Placement Exam is always a 100-player battle royale."
The Dimension Arena had various game types, but the Placement Exam was invariably a 100-player battle royale.
Of course, every other participant knew this too, so it wasn't particularly crucial information, but there were no issues regardless.
But soon, wails of despair echoed through the waiting room.
"Ah, damn it! It's Lee Joo-ho!"
"What? Why is Lee Joo-ho in my waiting room of all places..."
"We're screwed. Totally screwed..."
"...Lee Joo-ho's here?"
It was because they'd spotted Lee Joo-ho, the eldest son of the Oseong Guild Master.
Seeing the atmosphere turn like a natural disaster had struck, Shin-hyeok let out a chuckle.
"Just as I thought. Even this is the same."
In the past, Shin-hyeok had been assigned to the same waiting room as Joo-ho.
While Shin-hyeok lingered in the lower ranks, Joo-ho teamed up aggressively with other players to claim first place and get placed in Silver 4.
Unlike the others, Shin-hyeok wasn't surprised by Joo-ho's presence.
But there was one difference from the past.
"Lee Joo-ho's coming this way?"
"What? Why suddenly?"
It was because Joo-ho was heading straight toward Shin-hyeok's location.
Approaching with his entourage of followers, Joo-ho stared at Shin-hyeok.
"You've been up to some funny business."
"What are you talking about?"
"...What am I talking about? Putting your worthless name on a board that should be plastered with mine?"
"Oh, that? Yeah, you're talking about that."
Choi Cheol-ho had kept his promise.
Thanks to him, Shin-hyeok's story dominated TVs, news, newspapers—everywhere—all day on December 31st.
The rebellion of the student called Useless Scrub.
A pearl in the mud.
And so on, with various headlines completely overwhelming the coverage. Even Oseong Group, who tried to respond half-heartedly, couldn't get a word in.
Shin-hyeok shrugged at Joo-ho, who pointed it out specifically.
"It was bound to happen. What's the big deal?"
"Bound... to happen? You, who was predicted Bronze tier for all three years of high school... a Useless Scrub like you dares say you're greater than me?"
"Yep."
"...Kuk! Fine, let's see about that. But can you really pull it off? My friends and I are entering the same game as you."
"We'll see."
Even as Joo-ho casually threatened to team up and sabotage him, Shin-hyeok didn't bat an eye.
Joo-ho stared at him in disbelief for a moment.
"Is that so?"
"...?"
"Anyone who kills this guy in the game gets 10 billion won in cash outside, or items or elixirs of equivalent value!"
"Heh."
The waiting room full of players flinched at Joo-ho's shout, his lips curling into a smirk.
10 billion won.
Money ordinary people couldn't amass in a lifetime.
Money even the well-off wouldn't spend lightly.
With the promise of that much just for taking down Shin-hyeok, the players' gazes shifted.
"Who's that guy?"
"That's him, right? The Useless Scrub from Shinwa High."
"Yeah, the one who knows a ton but can't do anything properly."
"Come to think of it, all the news yesterday was about him..."
"Even if he's from Shinwa Group, he's still trash, huh?"
"Screw the Placement Exam. Just get that guy."
"Me too. Nabbing him flips our lives!"
As players prepping for the exam, almost no students were unaware of Shin-hyeok.
And knowing how weak he was, their eyes gleamed.
Joo-ho smirked as he watched their reactions.
"Have fun being chased by the hyenas during your Placement Exam, Useless Scrub."
Shin-hyeok chuckled softly as Joo-ho and his crew waved dismissively and sauntered off.
"This should be fun."
He didn't care about being targeted by 99 players.
"What was the reward for most kills in the Placement Exam again?"
Because he planned to use this as stepping stone for his path forward.
But his thoughts didn't last long.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The game begins now!
"It's starting."
The Placement Exam, the 100-player battle royale, had just begun.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Swoosh!
With a sensation like teleportation, Shin-hyeok was transported somewhere.
"A house. Starting point, I see."
The 100-player battle royale took place on a massive island.
Players could farm items from houses and buildings scattered around, then use them or find an exit to take them back to reality.
Normally, that made battle royales a place to avoid fights, farm as much as possible, and seek the exit.
But this was the Placement Exam.
Rather than thinking about what to take back, players were ready to pour everything they brought from reality into it.
And thrown alone into that, Shin-hyeok even had to deal with hyenas eyeing the bounty on his head.
The whole world was his enemy, in a manner of speaking.
"One bandage, one healing potion, and a bow? Not bad."
But for the one at the center of this insane situation, Shin-hyeok was remarkably calm.
He casually farmed the items in the house, then immediately scouted the surroundings.
Rustle—
'One on the left.'
At the sound, Shin-hyeok nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, and released.
Twang—thunk!
"Gah!"
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
Choi Shin-hyeok → Kim Geon
And that was it.
Shin-hyeok approached the fallen player, who let out a death rattle, and smoothly looted his items.
"Healing potion and a sword? I already have a sword, so no need."
Items brought from reality couldn't be taken back upon death—only farmed items could.
There were games where you could steal reality items too, but not in the 100-player battle royale.
After looting, he casually dropped the unneeded sword on the ground and moved on lightly.
"Starting with the bow is good."
With 99 enemies, the way for Shin-hyeok was to methodically take them out one by one.
The bow was perfect for that, so he gripped the supply bow and slipped into the forest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Four players traversed a sparsely populated forest.
Without even basic stealth or cover, they hurried toward a specific spot in the woods.
The reason was simple.
"He's really here, right?"
"Yeah, I checked Choi Shin-hyeok's position with the location tracker."
"But we're really splitting 10 billion, right?"
"Exactly. Even divided by four, that's 2.5 billion each! We're rich!"
Location tracker.
A consumable item that rarely appeared, revealing a specific player's position.
It sold for a high price in reality, but right now, they were blinded by the 10 billion bounty.
That's when it happened.
"Something's over there!"
"Quiet and move in!"
Spotting something hidden in the woods, they got excited.
Noisy, but their movements were swift.
Having grinded for years to become players, it was only natural.
In an instant, they surrounded the hidden object.
"Charge!"
The player who found the location tracker—the group leader—shouted.
At his call, the other three rushed in, swinging their weapons.
Slash!
"Got him!"
The leader grinned widely at his comrade's heavy feedback.
Twang—thunk!
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
Choi Shin-hyeok → Lee Do-hyun
An arrow struck the leader's head.
"...Do-hyun!"
"W-where'd that come from?"
"We got him! Killing us won't change that!"
They shouted in panic at the sudden ambush.
But nothing changed.
"...Wait, check the kill log. It's Choi Shin-hyeok! He shot us!"
"T-then this is?"
"Damn it, a dummy!"
The ambusher was none other than their target, Shin-hyeok.
Dummy.
Another rare item, like the location tracker.
Its effect was simple: create a doll identical to the user.
They'd taken down the dummy.
From the moment their ambush failed and they were counter-ambushed, their fate was sealed.
Twang twang—thud thud!
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
Choi Shin-hyeok → Baek Geon-woo
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
Choi Shin-hyeok → Mun Kyung-sik
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥
Choi Shin-hyeok → Han Hyeong-seok
Three arrows pierced three heads without a millimeter of error.
Perfect archery.
The status window reacted accordingly.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Skill: Archery [C]
"C... Not bad."
Archery [C].
On a rank scale, it was archery effective around Silver level.
But considering how a knife in a housewife's hand versus a swordsman's could be lethal, it deserved at least one rank higher evaluation.
Especially now that acquiring the skill added archery bonuses.
After checking his new skill and looting the corpses, Shin-hyeok melted back into the forest.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Vrrr—
The magnetic field shrank.
The field encompassing the entire island contracted, forcing surviving players inward.
Shin-hyeok couldn't escape it either.
Zzt—crackle—
He couldn't eliminate everyone with ambushes alone, so in the unavoidable fights, he took a wound or two.
'My physical stats are too low. That's the real pain.'
His mind outpacing his body.
Amid such stray thoughts, he bandaged his wounds, downed a healing potion.
"Now the real battles begin."
As he prepared to evade the field, Shin-hyeok pondered the upcoming situation.
He had assassinated or ambushed over 30 players solo.
He was tired, but with all their farmed items now his, it was secondary.
From now on, proper battles would start.
No more easy ambushes or finishing weakened foes.
Yet Shin-hyeok's face remained serene.
"Doesn't matter. I can just increase my allies."
To anyone else, him seeking allies in an empty area might seem mad, but Shin-hyeok saw it differently.
"Rise."
The corpses.
The ones he'd killed so far.
At his command, mana flowed in, resurrecting them as skeletons.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Skill: Necromancy [C]
Necromancy, commanding the dead.
It was now etched into Shin-hyeok's skill list.
Exactly 32 skeletons advanced toward the island's center alongside him.
Time to end the Placement Exam.