Chapter 52

One hundred million won is a huge sum of money—enough to buy either a detached house with its own yard in rural areas or a two-bedroom apartment in Seoul. It could also purchase magic tools rated at least D rank or elixirs ranked C or higher for those looking to upgrade their abilities. For an average office worker, it would be unattainable even after working tirelessly for a whole year.

However, things were different in Revenge. Characters who spent less than one hundred million won on microtransactions were simply called “non-paying” players, implying they hadn’t spent any real money at all.

Of course, there’s no practical difference.

That’s just how people viewed them. As Revenge was fundamentally a war-based game, PvP battles inherently favored those with superior resources. Unfortunately, true non-paying users couldn’t participate effectively in these wars, leading to this inevitable divide.

Let’s see… The amount spent is…

If one paid between ten to fifty million won, they would have decent combat power. This level allowed players to participate in mid-level content beyond simple hunting, such as group battles and raids. At this stage, Players wielded Hero characters with Hero equipment but hadn’t yet reached rank nine, and their collections remained largely incomplete.

Spending over fifty million but less than one hundred million won enabled entry into top-tier guilds—war guilds that either captured or defended castles. Essentially, these individuals served as meat shields on the front lines.

Total spending exceeding one billion but remaining under five billion won positioned someone as a mid-rank member within war guilds. They would possess legendary classes and acquire legendary skills at this point.

At this point, enhancing collections and gatekeepers would be more beneficial for increasing combat power, so players focus on completing their collections.

Once they reach around seventy billion won spent, most characters have completed their setups and move on to hunting grounds like labyrinths, towers, and other top-tier locations. They become key combatants who lead groups during raids.

And with close to one hundred billion won invested, a player could become the guild master of an average guild. If they also diligently nurtured their guild, they might even secure a starting position within a prestigious guild. Such individuals possess numerous legendary classes, skills, pets, and gatekeepers. With over 80 percent completion of their collection, they’d be powerful enough to strut their stuff anywhere.

Then…the next level is known as the hardcore whale.

These players spend over ten billion won, effectively completing almost all available paid features in Revenge.

Naturally, as the castle lord, he possessed dozens of legendary classes. His collection was over 90% complete, and his gatekeepers’ levels matched those of his characters.

The strength in Revenge differed significantly from conventional games. In most games, there is some degree of fairness among users, regardless of their skill level. Even if someone were a highly experienced player, it would be impossible for them to defeat ten or a hundred opponents simultaneously in a fair one-on-one matchup!

However, Revenge defied this norm. A group of inferior players swarming against a whale often failed to inflict even a scratch on them. To counter such whales, enemies needed equally formidable combatants. These elite users were known as “whale” players or commonly referred to as “bosses.”

“But…even these whale users couldn’t obtain Mythical items.”

Nemesis’s policy for Mythical rank was essentially ‘extreme elitism’. Unlike Legendary rank, which could be obtained with tens of millions of won (a reasonable amount?), acquiring Mythical rank had numerous prerequisites that made it unattainable for most Players.

Firstly, synthesis didn’t work for Mythical ranks. The process of combining four lower-ranked classes to obtain a higher rank wasn’t applicable to Mythical class. To be precise, there were conditions attached.

‘One must become the castle lord through flower points.’

This explained why only eight individuals previously held Mythical rank. With the Phantom Dragon’s lair at Center Point yet unconquered, there could only be eight Mythical-class players! Furthermore, even if one acquired a Mythical class this way, it would automatically deactivate if they lost their status as castle lord during siege warfare.

Even though Mythical skills and equipment remain, they share the transcendent attribute inherent to all Mythical classes. Without reaching Transcendence Rank, their effects would be significantly diminished.

It was truly a terrifying system. This explained why castle lords risked everything to defend their castles after suffering initial losses, as well as why challengers relentlessly pursued them despite repeated failures.

However…there’s another way to obtain a Mythical class.

By using High-Rank Class Summoning Rights, one could bypass all those conditions with just a single draw from the summoning pool.

The issue lay in the price: an expected cost of ten billion won. To put it into perspective, accumulating that much currency in Revenge would make someone a top-tier player, likely a guild master with nearly completed collections across various aspects of the game.

However, if one could obtain it with just one spin of the gacha wheel, none of those conditions would matter.

This game is insane.

Summoning cards were divided into three types: class summon, gatekeeper summon, and pet summon. However, this referred not to their categories but rather their rarity levels.

The first type was low-tier summoning cards, which could be acquired through push notifications, guild exchanges, event stores, etc. These cards yielded only Common (90%), High (9%), and Rare (1%) ranks.

Next were normal summoning cards. They cost 100 diamonds (approximately $10) each from the exchange and offered Common (90%), High (9%), Rare (0.9%), and Hero (0.1%) ranks.

Finally, there were the coveted high-tier summoning cards.

A premium summon card cost one thousand diamonds (one hundred thousand won).

That’s insane.

It was enough to buy a package of an AAA game with all its downloadable content included. And that amount could only get you one single summoning card… It truly made no sense.

To make matters worse, there wasn’t even a higher chance of getting better-ranked cards compared to regular ones. The probability breakdown for the different ranks remained at Common (90 percent), High (9 percent), Rare (0.9 percent), Hero (0.09 percent), Legendary (0.009 percent), and Mythical (0.001 percent). The only difference was the addition of Legendary- and Mythical-rank minions to the pool.

One attempt would set him back one hundred thousand won, but his chances were one in a hundred thousand. Statistically speaking, it would take ten billion won just to acquire such a rank, making it nearly impossible to aim for a Mythical-rank minion using high-class summoning cards.

‘Some players were surprised by the appearance of ordinary grade cards when they bought one or two out of curiosity.’

As a result, almost nobody obtained Mythical grades with high-class cards. It was simply too inefficient.

‘What is scary is that it isn’t completely impossible.’

However, those who spent so much money were already whale users dominating the flower market, so the number of Mythical Players remained at eight. After all, this was still just a game. Even for someone incredibly wealthy, 10 to 20 billion won wasn’t insignificant. If there were tangible real-life benefits like I received, people might be willing to spend 100 trillion instead of merely 100 billion, but reality dictated otherwise.

A game character reaching transcendent levels wouldn’t change anything in reality. It would just be admired within the game and that’s it.

“That’s why no additional Mythical Players have emerged.”

In other words, until now.

[The twelfth Mythical has been born here.]

Alex: Wow. Are the castle lords going too crazy? The expected value was 100 billion won, but they keep drawing?

SexyKing: Wow. They have so much money. I’m really envious.

Alex: And those hyungs…I envy Nemesis the most. How much did he earn by selling data fragments…

-The starlight falls, splitting the mountain apart.

-One day, become a beam of light ascending to the sky.

“What is this?”

I was puzzled by the different style of text and scrutinized the chat window. Indeed, there was an answer:

ReLock: Wow, isn’t it the Meteoric Dragon? This is really crazy. Instead of synthesis, he directly spent 10 billion won for a pet?

Kalspanic: Ah. I have to go see this. Which city is it? Ah, Thunder Mountain. It exists!

“Meteoric Dragon?”

The name sounded like something from a history book, so I searched on a fan site.

[Meteoric Dragon (Mythical)]

A meteor struck a mountain and became a dragon after a thousand years, ascending to heaven.

This mysterious transcendent species possesses powerful combat abilities and the power to increase their master’s luck.

It can collect drop items regardless of distance.

[Transcendent Species]

[Flash Breath]

[Favor of Stars - Luck (Mythical)]

“Good… I guess?”

The Mythical Star Dragon. It was obviously good since it was both mythical and a dragon, but I couldn’t feel its impact. There was only one unique attribute of the myth level, while the other two options were active skills.

“It doesn’t seem to be a riding pet… A buff pet with this size?”

I confirmed the detailed description with curiosity.

[Transcendent Species]

All stats increase by one step (but not exceeding 999).

Highest correction for all skill usage.

Resistance against all attacks from lower ranks increases by one step.

Ignore more than half of all defenses from lower ranks.

“This is similar to Transcendent Realm.”

Below that, I checked the other skills in order.

[Flash Breath]

Extreme flash damage to all beings within sight.

[Favor of Stars – Luck (Mythical)]

Luck +500. (However, it won’t exceed 999).

The effects were very simple. It was so simple that my brain seemed to become simpler.

“What is ‘all beings within sight’…? Moreover, Luck +500.”

Luck was the only stat where bonus points couldn’t be invested. It affected all probability-based abilities such as critical hits, parries, blocks, etc. Above all else, it was famous for increasing drop rates.

“To think this exists. Where did the balance go…?”

However, when I thought about it again, Revenge wasn’t originally a balanced game. Unlike ordinary games where everyone played on equal footing, Revenge operated differently. In some ways, it could be considered overly realistic.

In some ways, it could be seen as too realistic.

“Boss! Boss! I heard something?” Changsik approached me while I was praying and started talking loudly.

“There is chaos in Revenge. People are spending hundreds of billions! Isn’t that the game you play?”

“Wah. There are so many rich people in this world. Still, no matter how much money they have, why would they spend several billion won? If I had that money, I could do anything.”

The storm caused by obtaining the Mythical class didn’t easily subside.

[Have you ever heard about the Mythical class? Recently, in Nemesis Soft’s MMORPG ‘Revenge’…]

This incident made it onto the news:

[Ah, shut up! Get lost! Do you think I’m one of those bosses who gives out mythical jobs? Where do I have this money?!]

Celebrities mentioned it on variety shows:

[The monetization is excessive. In the first place, charging 10 billion won for a single data fragment…]

It became a topic for late-night debates.

In various ways, it was a huge issue. However, I ignored all that and went to work at Wongnyeo Chulgang Steel Company. I worked at Star Knight and manned the counter at the convenience store. Before long, it was December.

“You’ve worked hard this month.”

“Please check your account.”

The salary had been paid. Adding the fees from the stunts performed every weekend, my bank balance exceeded several thousand dollars.

“Good. This amount of money should be enough to breathe.”

After finishing the stunt, I returned to my one-room apartment and took a shower in the bathroom. Then as I was about to log on…

“Oh.” Suddenly, I remembered the refugees in Ardenia.

“Now that I think about it, the price of teleportation scrolls must’ve dropped significantly by now? There is nobody left… Yes, previously it was 10 diamonds for 10 scrolls but now it has crossed over 100 diamonds.”

I sat down again and opened the exchange. Then I checked the lowest price: 640 diamonds.

”…?”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand the situation and stared blankly at the exchange.

“No, what does this mean… 640 diamonds for 10 scrolls?”

The teleportation scroll that was once priced at 100 won had become 6,400 won after one month. Even considering it as an illusion when it was worth 100 dia, the price had increased by more than six times. Compared to the initial price, it had increased sixty-four times.

”…What? Why? No, this isn’t stocks so why is the price rising?”

I stared at the exchange for quite some time before being possessed and putting my 8,000 teleportation scrolls up on the exchange for 600 dia each.

Ding-dong!

They were sold within one minute.

”…?”

When I checked the exchange receipt tab, there were 480,000 dia. It was equivalent to 48 million won.

“What?”

For a moment, I was stunned.

“What?”

I couldn’t understand it.

“No, what is this?” Again and again, there were questions. However…

The exchange didn’t answer.