Please Do Your Debauchery After You Die - Chapter 278

Chapter 278: Arena

The arena was a content that reflected many of the complaints from Purge Day.

First of all, Purge Day was too chaotic.

Without a designated area, battles were fought over too wide a range, making it difficult to capture the excitement of the commentary.

With simultaneous battles occurring, it became hard to determine where the most ‘hot’ action was taking place.

The improved arena content was designed to address this issue by introducing the ‘Colosseum’.

Fights would only take place within a limited area of 25x25m.

Now, viewers could grasp all the battle situations at a glance.

This aspect was also a better option for streamers.

If they performed well in battle, they would receive more attention and praise from viewers.

Moreover, unlike the street brawls of Purge Day, the competition format of the arena was intriguing.

Various formats were prepared, including team battles, leader battles, individual competitions, tournaments, no-item matches, and full-item matches.

For this first event, it was announced in advance that it would proceed only with ‘Company Individual Matches’ and ‘Company Team Matches’.

Most importantly, what caught people’s attention was the arena’s betting system.

Two activities historically proven to provide the greatest dopamine.

Violence and gambling.

Now, both could be enjoyed in one place.

Additionally, if the betting system was used wisely, it was possible to earn amounts greater than the arena’s prize money of 20 million Lena.

Of course, one could also lose their entire fortune, but isn’t that the thrill that makes dopamine spike in gambling?

Anyway, Mr. Lena’s Land, through a prior announcement, instructed each company to submit three members for the Company Individual Matches and Company Team Matches, and based on our internal skill evaluations, it was decided that I, Mayo, and Na-roshi would participate.

Indeed, Na-roshi, the talented player of the Minecraft hexagonal.

He had no weaknesses in building, farming, and combat.

The other members also decided to join for support.

Honestly, Eva telling us to continue building Sky Island until today was ridiculous.

Ah! This morning, I secretly pulled a mythical grade item through secret gambling.

It was the Blazerlight Sword.

With the ‘Ignition’ effect, it provided additional damage, and enemies affected by status ailments had their line of sight obscured by flickering flames.

Who pulled it, you ask?

It was a collaboration between me, Mayo, and Han A-yeon.

After watching Lucy’s unbelievable two-run clear yesterday, we gained confidence and boldly challenged it, but I quickly gave up after stacking an unknown energy stack of 17.

Then Mayo, who was watching beside me, mockingly participated.

However, Mayo soon raised his stack to 31 and, like me, had no choice but to bend.

Next to challenge was Han A-yeon, who succeeded after three tries, bringing cheers from the anxious crowd.

Even then, Mayo was joking that he had prepared everything, but he did hear a word of reprimand from me.

In any case, the final results were that I failed 6 times, Mayo 5 times, and Han A-yeon 3 times, totaling 14 times, perhaps?

Almost 50 million Lena was spent, but this was an average amount, so we were quite satisfied.

Two mythical grade items for less than 60 million Lena?

If Mr. Young-jun found out about this, after spending 40 million Lena and not even surpassing 50 stacks, he would be clutching his painful stomach and rolling on the floor.

Other companies would surely cast jealous glances.

Additionally, secret weapons were being steadily prepared.

Time passed, and it was now Sunday at 7:45 PM.

Mr. Lena’s Land [The arena starts in 15 minutes. Those registered on today’s participation list should enter the Colosseum by 10 minutes before.]

It was time to decide the fate of the V-Live Company.

***

The location of the Colosseum was quite far from Seoul, which could be considered the center of Lena World.

So, we had to use the teleporting NPC in the Beginning Village.

Buzzing-!

On regular days, each would be busy working hard in their company zones, but gathering in such large numbers reminded one of a festival atmosphere.

From light greetings asking what everyone had been up to, to sharp words of warning directed at members of other companies in anticipation of today’s arena, to characters like Kkaenam searching for New Girl while trying to mine the virtual red pill, a multitude of individuals were entangled in Lena World’s biggest content.

Watching gracefully from the sky with the Server Master’s powers, Mr. Lena’s Land smiled contentedly.

Mr. Lena’s Land [Before celebrating the emergence of new content, we have recorded the maximum number of server users today. As the Server Master, I would like to thank all the streamers.]

“Oh! There are 73 people connected.”

“In the past, the server would lag with only 60 connections. We’ve really increased a lot.”

Although the number seemed small compared to the large streamer servers that would appear later, at this time, streamer servers were quite rare on Pangea TV.

In fact, having 60 or 70 people wasn’t easy at all.

It’s not a one or two-day content but a server running for nearly half a year.

Anyway, everyone was in a celebratory mood over the high connection rate.

Not just Mr. Lena’s Land, but everyone present was currently part of Lena World, sharing in its rise and fall.

Thus, they shared joy and gradually moved to the Colosseum using the teleport NPC.

“Wow! Awesome.”

“It’s grand. The lake is beautiful. They must have worked hard building this.”

A magnificent stone building exuding an aura of elegance.

Its towering figure in the center of a vast lake blended beautifully with nature.

Seeing the extensive mountain ranges and dense forests that spread behind as a backdrop only deepened that feeling.

It seemed that the Colosseum was placed this far away to find such splendid natural surroundings for construction.

Reflecting on it, there was indeed an ironic part.

Before returning, this Colosseum was called ‘Gamjaro-seum’, an architectural entity of the Bully Gamja Company.

However, when Mi○t fell, the construction of the Colosseum transitioned to the Lena Government, leaving the company as a mere ghost.

The company didn’t even participate in the arena and merely came here as spectators.

‘In a way, are they the biggest victims of a twisted history?’

In truth, that would only reflect a slight difference in timing. The disintegration of the Bully Gamja Company was inevitable.

Even in the original history, Mi○t couldn’t avoid disappearing.

Mr. Lena’s Land [The athletes have a separate waiting room, so please move there following the sign. The audience seating is on the first floor, and those with casino VIP tickets can enter the NPC at the entrance to go up to the second floor VIP seats.]

“Wait? Only those with casino VIP tickets can go to the second floor?”

“Wow! This is discriminatory. Open the second floor for free!”

Some streamers protested, but Mr. Lena’s Land, who was obsessed with the precious currency, ignored them.

Casino VIP tickets served as entrance passes for high-stakes gambling on the second floor, costing 1 million Lena.

In essence, it was an item that almost no one would buy unless they were serious gamblers genuinely enjoying the casino.

“Ahem! Yes, this is right. Someone like me belongs in the VIP seats.”

A few streamers strolled to the second floor with an air of superiority, while others grumbled that they would have to buy casino VIP tickets and headed to the first floor.

Although we passed over such trivial issues for now, I knew that these emotions would eventually erupt.

‘In truth, Mr. Lena’s Land has accumulated a lot of karma over the years. Beyond just rumors, many incidents related to the recovery of currency within the server were involved.’

The taxes that had to be paid weekly had stealthily doubled recently, which shared a similar sentiment.

Moreover, something big was coming soon.

Specifically, the imposition of land tax surpassing the head tax.

In fact, the current head tax was not burdensome if one paid a bit of attention, but the land tax envisioned by Mr. Lena’s Land and the Lena Government was of an entirely different level.

If our company was paying around 1.4 million Lena weekly, the land tax, though paid once, could be as little as 5 million Lena to as high as over 20 million.

Wait, I just realized there are multiple homeowners?

Such policies of Mr. Lena’s Land would soon face strong opposition.

Everyone was already struggling to earn money to afford mythical grade items, and now they were being asked to pay such immense amounts?

Among the enraged streamers, many performed destructive acts on their own homes adjacent to Seoul and promptly relocated to remote areas.

In response to the streamers’ pushback and the fierce reaction from the community, Mr. Lena’s Land had to drastically reduce the land tax just a day later.

‘This was the event that provoked the most significant outrage since Mr. Lena’s Land opened the server. And it was the first time he faced a setback.’

In fact, while Lena World had gained tremendous popularity, Mr. Lena’s Land had been wielding unprecedented power.

Though he still showed some consideration for big company streamers, he looked down on most of the mid-tier streamers and even mocked those lacking in stature.

Thus, he had quietly accumulated karma.

However, whenever these issues surfaced in the community, the Server Guardians of Lena World actively controlled public opinion.

As long as Mr. Lena’s Land remained resilient, Lena World would flow steadily.

But for the first time, dissent over the land tax issue had risen to the surface.

Furthermore, having modified his policy in just one day diminished Mr. Lena’s Land’s reputation as the Server Master.

From now on, the community would not merely side with Mr. Lena’s Land.

‘We are about to witness the genuine face of Icarus’ Land.’

Anyway, that was a matter for the future.

Let’s focus on the immediate problem at hand.

In the player waiting room, I quietly discussed today’s strategy with Mayo and Na-roshi to review our plan once more.

It was time for the showdown.