Chapter 41: Penalty

Chapter 41

—

**1-1** The eyes of the defensive soldier widened more than ever.

Another chance?

“R-Really? Is it true?!”

He even clutched the radio, shouting to confirm that he hadn’t misheard, though there was no way it would respond. Regardless, the voice on the radio continued calmly with the announcement.

“All defensive soldiers listening to me now, please remove your masks. Also, take off the numbers attached to your shoulders.”

Already without his mask, the defensive soldier 1-1 immediately tore the number sticker from his shoulder and discarded it on the ground. The voice on the radio continued.

“From now on, you will join this preliminary round as participants, not as defensive soldiers.”

“Nice!! …Oops.”

He couldn’t help but shout in joy, then quickly covered his mouth and looked around. Fortunately, no one was nearby to hear him.

“At the same time, you will no longer be known as defensive soldiers by your number, but by your real names until the end of the preliminary round.”

He nodded at this.

“Yeah! I always wanted to be called by my real name, Hwang Yuntaek!”

Hwang Yuntaek, who had been unhappy being forced to be called 1-1 due to his affiliation with the defensive soldiers, was finally relieved. Even though it was a forced appearance, he was on the most famous program in South Korea. Shouldn’t he become famous by his real name rather than a number?

—

At that moment, the TV screen quickly broadcast the images of Hwang Yuntaek and the other defensive soldiers. Some were jumping with joy, some collapsed in relief, and others were crying tears of happiness. Hwang Yuntaek’s reaction seemed almost too ordinary.

“They all seem extremely happy.”

At the female PD’s words, Baek Jun, sitting in front of the microphone, smiled slightly. Then, a male PD standing opposite cautiously spoke.

“Uh, you should check the chatroom.”

Baek Jun’s gaze turned to the large monitor displaying the chatroom.

– Oh

– Nice

– It’s good to see everyone happy

– This is a bit…

– Why not just kill them all as usual…

– Where do they get off changing the rules suddenly?

– Honestly, killing them for failing once always seemed a bit harsh~ lol

– They already had a second chance with the losers’ revival round, isn’t that enough?

The chatroom was split evenly between supporters and opponents. Baek Jun spoke nonchalantly.

“This is fine. Weren’t you worried there’d be more opposition earlier?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Don’t worry. It’s better to change things decisively now than face problems later due to a lack of participants.”

As he spoke, Baek Jun picked up a sheet of paper next to the microphone. It listed the current remaining participants in Group A of the first preliminary round.

Participants: 322

Currently surviving participants: 25

Defensive soldiers: 350

Defensive soldiers passing the preliminaries: 166 (100 succeeded in wall defense, 66 passed the losers’ revival round)

Remaining defensive soldiers: 77

“This is the first time so many defensive soldiers have died.”

Usually, over 250 defensive soldiers pass, but this time, the total number of survivors barely reaches that. In the first preliminary round, at least 200 participants must survive to ensure the program runs smoothly until the end of the finals. This means at least 30 of the current 100 or so surviving participants must make it to the end.

“Considering there are still three days left in the preliminaries, even 30 seems tough.”

Baek Jun didn’t give the defensive soldiers two more chances for no reason. There was a reason for the sudden rule change.

“Kim Jinsung, Kang Minhyuk, Fade. Their performances were too overwhelming.”

He hadn’t expected the defensive soldiers’ wall in Zone 5 to be breached so easily, nor the massacre that followed in the losers’ revival round.

“Well, at least we secured a definite superstar in Kim Jinsung.”

A few superstars keep the Colosseum program alive. This has been true since Season 1. The rest are just extras, destined to die within the program. The extras only need to fill the minimum required number for the program to proceed.

“Losing Kang Minhyuk is a bit regrettable, though…”

“Sir, you can continue now.”

The PD’s words brought Baek Jun back from his thoughts. On the monitor, the defensive soldiers, who had been reacting strongly, were beginning to calm down. He leaned into the microphone and resumed the announcement.

“But giving the defensive soldiers two chances is clearly unfair to the participants.”

– Agreed

– Totally agree

– True

– If I were a participant, I’d be furious

The chatroom was filled with vehement agreement.

“For the first time in Colosseum history, we will give a penalty to the defensive soldiers who have received two chances.”

– Oh

– Penalty sounds good

– They survived twice, a penalty is fair

– What kind of penalty?

– Anticipating

“We will reveal that penalty right now.”

—

* * *

**”Penalty? What is it?”**

Hwang Yuntaek’s face was filled with anxiety.

He kept his ear to the radio speaker, waiting to hear what the penalty would be. But no voice came through the radio after that.

“Why is there no sound? Could the battery have died?”

He was about to urgently check the battery when suddenly…

**Boom!**

“Ahhh!”

A sudden explosion to his right sent Hwang Yuntaek diving to the ground in terror. When he looked, the area near the loud noise was completely engulfed in flames. It seemed to be the aftermath of the explosion. The problem was, this was just the beginning.

**Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom!**

“Screams filled the air as more explosions echoed around him. Trees, rocks, and monster parts flew everywhere, and the towering trees that once covered the sky were now engulfed in flames. The beautiful broadleaf forest was turning into a hellscape in an instant.

– All players remaining in the forest, please pay attention.

The explosions had subsided when the voice came through the radio again.

– We have activated all the flame bombs that were pre-installed by the production team. You can see that various parts of the forest are now burning.

Hwang Yuntaek stood up and looked around the forest. Indeed, every area where the explosions had been heard was now ablaze.

– The wildfire is expected to cover the entire forest by this evening at the latest.

“These crazy bastards…!”

– However, the production team has taken measures to ensure that the southern mountain, where the helicopter will arrive in three days, will not catch fire.

Hwang Yuntaek immediately turned his head towards the mountain. Unlike the other parts of the forest that were on fire, the southern mountain remained untouched.

[To all participants, if you don’t want to burn or suffocate from the smoke, move to the mountain ridge by the end of today.]

“What?!”

Hwang Yuntaek looked incredulous.

“How am I supposed to get there by today?!”

Even if he ran all day without doing anything else, he might not make it. And now he had to navigate through the wildfire, monsters, and other participants’ threats to get there by today?

**Thud!**

“Ah!”

A heavy sound from nearby startled Hwang Yuntaek again. A tree that had caught fire from the explosion had fallen towards him, burning completely.

“I need to go! Staying here is not an option!”

Hwang Yuntaek started running towards the mountain. He didn’t know if he would make it by today, but running towards the mountain was the only option he had.

—

[Everyone, can you see this? The entire island where the preliminaries are taking place is on fire!]

[Wow… I can’t believe they would burn down an entire island. Colosseum Survival never ceases to amaze me.]

[It’s a program that always surprises even the commentators who have been with it since Season 1! The program with the world’s greatest scale and spectacle! That is Colosseum!]

The commentators were excited, and the chatroom was equally heated.

– Wow

– Amazing

– What a scale!

– They’re really burning down an entire island?

– As expected from King Jun…! As expected from King Godseum…!

– The GOAT

The viewers were in awe and reverence at the unprecedented scale of the wildfire. The negative opinions about the rule change from earlier had completely disappeared. Even the staff in the monitoring room, who had known about it in advance, were impressed.

“I can’t believe they actually did it…”

“The boss is really something. He never spares any money for the program.”

“No wonder it always breaks viewership records.”

The staff glanced at Baek Jun, who was sitting behind them, focusing on the monitor without any change in expression. To some of the staff, Baek Jun looked particularly impressive today.

[By the way, the defensive participants have received their penalty properly. Most of them probably don’t have any food right now.]

[Oh, that’s right! Defensive soldiers usually get their meals at the defense base!]

Indeed, the defensive soldiers had been eating all their meals at the dining hall inside the wall. So, most of the former defensive participants were now without any food or basic supplies.

[Some are running through the forest almost empty-handed, without even a bag!]

[It’s impossible to run at full speed all day. Didn’t they wander the forest on an empty stomach since last night? They will definitely get tired before evening.]

[Meanwhile, the original participants are in a better position! Oh, at this moment, Kim Jinsung is taking something out of his large bag!]

The caster’s voice rose sharply as the TV screen showed Kim Jinsung rummaging through his bag.

[Fireproof suit! It’s a fireproof suit! Yes, the bag from the supply box contained a fireproof suit!]

—

“Good.”

After putting on the fireproof suit and wearing the gas mask perfectly, Kim Jinsung slung the bag over his shoulder again. Now, at least he wouldn’t die from smoke inhalation before reaching the mountain ridge.

“Still, I need to be careful. I don’t know when a falling tree might crush me.”

As he spoke, he heard the sound of a burning tree falling behind him.

“Since everything around is burning, it’s hard to use the ‘Shadow Hiding Skill’. I need to be even more cautious.”

Kim Jinsung ran towards the mountain, more focused and vigilant than ever.

“But how will the other participants without fireproof suits survive?”

In this environment, it wasn’t only the former defensive participants who were penalized. This was too harsh for the remaining participants who didn’t have the bag from the supply box.

“Everyone will probably try to escape to places with the fewest trees…”

In this dense forest, was there really a place without trees? Then he remembered one place.

“The valley!”

Kim Jinsung recalled the scene from two days ago, where Kang Minhyuk and other participants had fought over a supply box that fell into the valley. He remembered the valley being quite wide. If he stood in the middle, he could avoid the flames and smoke from the burning trees on both sides.

“Then a lot of people will head towards the valley…”

And where there are many people, there are many traits and skills for Kim Jinsung to absorb.

—

Kim Jinsung’s prediction was spot on.

“Damn it…”

Hwang Yuntaek couldn’t help but grimace as he reached the valley.

“Why is everyone coming here?!”

It seemed everyone had the same thought. The entire valley was crowded with participants who had rushed there to escape the smoke.