chapter_0077

77 – I Just Wanted to Borrow Money

77 – I Just Wanted to Borrow Money

A few minutes later, a server-wide announcement went out.

– [Server] To the north of Wicker Town, the Demon King’s Castle buried in snow reveals itself with the revival of the Demon King.

– [Server] The master of the Demon King’s Castle was the Skeleton Knight Magia!

– [All] Wicker: Sorry, there was a typo just now;; My apologies

– [Server] The master of the Demon King’s Castle was the Skeleton Knight Majiya!

–
[All] [Corrupt Businessman] Movgun: lolol

–
[All] [Corrupt Businessman] Movgun: I see everyone likes my nickname

–
[All] [Foreign Worker] Rain: Did that bastard not understand the meaning of fun?

–
[All] [Sashimi] Momo: Rain, I told you to speak nicely

–
[All] [Landowner] Ronze: Brother, you should be preparing for your trial

–
[All] [Corrupt Businessman] Movgun: I only conducted legitimate business, this is unfair

– [Server] Due to a powerful barrier, the Demon King’s Castle cannot be attacked immediately.

– [Server] Entry will be possible from tomorrow, Saturday the 16th, at 10 PM when the barrier disappears.

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiUURUV0pKT29CU2lwR1FuYWpzLzlSbQ

–
[All] [Credit Defaulter] Rupko: Tomorrow, Rupko’s attack team will be first

–
[All] [Credit Defaulter] Rupko: No cutting in line

–
[All] [Credit Defaulter] Rupko: I’ll defeat that Demon King and go to heaven

–
[All] [Demon King] Majiya: Just pay back your debts

–
[All] [Clang Clang] Serena: lololol

–
[All] [Credit Defaulter] Rupko: Once I beat up the Demon King and earn 1 million won, it’ll be over yyaa

Just like when the hidden job of Skeleton Knight was revealed before.

Not long after the announcement went out, the official Parallel channel once again began a dramatic influx of viewers.

[ (🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 – Parallel Situation Room Day 8 ] 👪33,328

The viewers who had all been wiped out by 5 consecutive 12-hour hunting sessions came flooding back in droves, filling the chat so quickly it was scrolling.

There were so many people that they had to turn on follower-only chat mode, which was usually kept off.

— Greetings to the Demon King

— Is this person a hidden job hunting specialist?

— The armor looks killer lolol

— Looks awesome and cool

— With the full set on, he looks twice as big as normal people?

— Looks J-strong, seems like he could beat everyone up.

— 0.02% is lolol such luck lolol

— This server is just laughing at Parallel with these probabilities

:: Anonymous donor donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: But isn’t the picture kind of funny? The person who was handing out housing subsidies to the whole server turns out to be the Demon King? lol ::

— This is the cliché of the Demon King actually being a good guy lol

—

— Yeah, the hero gets fed up and becomes the Demon King lol

— Oh that’s what it was

— When do we get to see the Demon King?

I wonder if the 10,000 increase from the hidden Skeleton Knight job is because more people have moved into the server.

The starting number was 20 people, and over 80 more have moved in.

In that time, 1.6 million WK in housing subsidies were given out, so maybe people who remembered the name from that came to watch.

If this had happened to the members, it would have been a jackpot.

Damn, it’s such a shame.

But remember.

Lapiz Potion is really the best.

Lapiz Potion is really the best.

No matter how many people there are, my job is done if I just improve the image of the controversial Lapiz Bread.

For now, with about half a day left until I take on the Demon King duties, I took off the Demon King armor and went straight to find Dora the alchemist.

[Huh. You want to turn all of this into Serena Potion?]

“Yes. All of it.”

[But this is crazy. Where did you get so much bread? 12,000 is a bit scary…?]

Since Lapiz Bread could be synthesized into potions, it started to form its own value in the server.

When made into potions, they could be sold for a decent price, so even newbies could quickly build up initial capital after getting some donations when entering the server, allowing them to mingle with the existing people.

— Whoa lol

— 1500 Serena lol

— Wouldn’t be enough even if you ate them until the server ends lol

— Wouldn’t this sell for a few hundred thousand? lol

But I’m not selling.

Lapiz Potion is a truly precious friend to the Demon King.

I’ll have to drink them all in front of people.

Anyway, as I was about to head back after collecting all 1,500 completed potions.

Dora stopped me and gave me a dimensional box containing gifts.

[This is a 2-second Invincibility Potion. This is a 2-second Invisibility Potion. This is a 10-second Berserk Potion. I put in a few of each since you might need them as the Demon King.]

She shouldn’t be helping the Demon King originally.

It seems she was able to unlock higher-level potions as she gained alchemist experience from making potions.

But she said she’d give me a few, yet there are 100 of each.

With each potion costing a few thousand WK, the total approaches 1 million WK.

“This is too much. You might get kicked out of town for helping the Demon King at this rate.”

[Hehe. What does it matter? If I get kicked out, I can just join under the Demon King.]

I insisted she didn’t have to give me all of it, but in the end I couldn’t resist Dora’s persuasion and accepted everything.

As expected, the persuasive power of a big sister virtual YouTuber is different.

She gently leads people with her sweet voice, which is why her hatchling fans all melt the moment they turn off their fool mode.

Anyway, after receiving an armful of potions like that, I returned to the Demon King’s Castle and began full-scale dungeon renovations.

Having inherited the system permissions, I could edit the internal space as if I were an operator for that moment.

I could create mazes, design the outer walls as I pleased, and even insert short videos.

After completion, the staff would review and test the dungeon.

So I need to finish by 6 PM when the server shuts down today.

Still, with about 4 hours left, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

I have some ideas of my own too.

If there’s one thing I’m concerned about though…

[ (🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 – Parallel Situation Room Day 8 ] 👪31,044

I want to do some surprises.

But with so many people watching, they’ll find out everything about how I’m making the dungeon.

If I shrink my screen and only show other screens, I’ll get cursed at for “hiding”.

Considering how I almost lost public support by overly promoting before, I can’t completely hide the screen by making it too small.

Is there any way to thin out the viewers a bit?

Fortunately, my worries didn’t last long.

– [Server] A trial for the economic criminal ‘Movgun’ on charges of violating ‘anti-monopoly laws’ will be held at the courthouse shortly.

– [Server] We ask that the residents of Wicker Town please take the time to participate as members of the jury.

I didn’t know because I was always too focused on watching Parallel’s broadcasts to pay attention to overall issues.

Looking into it, it seems Movgun had done a lot of likeable acts (in the internet broadcasting world, likeable often means the same as unlikeable) in the meantime and incurred public outrage.

Originally, dungeon owners weren’t supposed to avoid duels requested by those wanting to take over dungeon ownership, but Movgun happened to have a 3-star flying mount, the Phoenix.

The person challenging has to right-click to request a duel, but Movgun kept flying away, so frustrated people requested a trial.

It seems they’re genuinely angry and picking a fight, but it’s all WWE and one of the server’s major events.

The reason there’s a courthouse in the first place is to pass judgments on these ambiguous crimes and create broadcasting angles.

— Oh right, this was today

— Ah that’s right lol

— Oh I need to watch this

— What, it’s already the 15th?

— Let’s go watch the economic criminal trialllll

Naturally, as viewers’ attention was focused, I seized the opportunity and said:

“I’m curious about the trial too, how about we watch it together and then work on the dungeon?”

— Oh sounds good

— Nice broadcast lol

— Demon King ㅠㅠㅠ

— See you later

— The trial comes first lol

— How can you skip a big server event

It seems the Boss and all our members were heading to the courtroom, so I put up the Boss’s screen from the judge’s perspective, and split the other members’ views into 4 from the jury seats.

Meanwhile, I secretly turned off my own screen.

Why?

Because I plan to make the dungeon while watching the broadcast instead of going in person.

I’ll quickly make the secret room I want to surprise people with while the trial is going on, and pretend to make other rooms when the trial ends.

[I will now deliver the verdict.

The defendant Movgun, as a dungeon owner, should not have avoided duels with those seeking to take over dungeon rights, yet he continuously avoided duels using his mount ‘Phoenix’. The reported number of incidents alone amounts to 10 times.

Therefore, I sentence the defendant Movgun to a fine of 2.5 million WK, equivalent to 100 dungeon entry fees, ten times that amount. At the same time, I order the confiscation of the mount ‘Phoenix’ that was abused for escape for 2 days.

The four dungeons owned by the defendant Movgun will also have their ownership completely revoked as of this moment.

This concludes the trial.]

Bang, bang, bang.

As soon as the wooden gavel of KraeMang, the #1 starting member acting as judge, rang out, Movgun shouted as if wronged.

[Unacceptable!! This is unacceptable! This is a conspiracy by forces trying to frame me! A conspiracy! Were you that upset that I was making money! Let me gooo!]

[Now, now, Mr. Movgun come this way. You’ll have to stay in the holding cell until you pay the fine.]

[Arghhhh.]

— lolololololololol

— Movgun’s broadcasting sense is going crazy all year lol

— He wasn’t that great the year he quit being a pro gamer, but he’s really flying these days lol

The trial ended in about an hour.

In that time, I also succeeded in neatly preparing my surprise.

I moved very busily, inserting videos and setting triggers while anxiously wondering when the trial would end, but fortunately the setup finished just before the trial ended, by a hair’s breadth.

— Alright, let’s go back to dungeon construction

— But what monsters can you summon?

— Let’s see

Viewers who finished watching the trial started raising their voices saying we should start construction.

Of course we should.

I finished the important parts long ago, but.

“I was just about to start again. Let me adjust the screen first.”

Users infiltrating the Demon King’s Castle must break through a total of four layers.

The monster defense line on the 1st floor connected directly to the entrance (there’s no need to hire monsters separately here as it’s a mob section).

After passing through the 2nd floor’s great labyrinth composed of complex mazes and numerous traps.

Finally the 3rd and 4th floors.

Spaces where I can directly place monsters appear.

The 4th floor is the surprise space I was working hard on until just now, a banquet hall right below the audience chamber where I stay, so I won’t touch it now.

The place to work on now is the 3rd floor.

It’s a continuous combat zone with four large rooms connected in succession.

“There’s an option to sort monsters by price. Let’s see…”

The maximum cost of monsters that can be hired is 10 per room.

Expensive monsters are strong but take up a lot of cost.

You can only place one in a room.

It’s roughly like thinking of the famous card game Stone Duel.

— What, you can even summon Void Dragon lol

— What lol

— But wow it’s J-expensive

— It’s 500,000 won, but should we place it for now?

— Can’t we just place four 10-cost monsters?

— The problem is there’s no money lol

However, even if I wanted to place strong ones first, I didn’t have money as the viewers said.

I earned a total of 3 million won in 5 days of hunting and selling enhancement stones yesterday, excluding fees.

Of that, 1.6 million was given out to people.

I gave 1 million to the kids.

And I haven’t gotten back the 300,000 I lent to Rupko yet.

So I only have 100,000 left.

10-cost monsters start from at least 300,000 WK, so summoning was impossible.

“I guess I’ll have to go hunting again today…”

— Nononononono

— Arghhhh

— No more hunting please

— Please stop farming

— You’re going hunting again?! After all that?!!

I was actually thinking of borrowing money.

But everyone seems to really hold a grudge against hunting.

“Since there’s so much opposition, I’ll try borrowing first. I’ll contact the Boss first.”

— Phew

— Pheww…

— Thank goodness

When I take off the armor after working as the Demon King, I immediately come out of the dungeon.

After removing the equipment, an unexpected person was waiting at the dungeon entrance.

It was a familiar nickname I see every day, but we just exchanged money and went our separate ways.

More precisely, it was Movgun, who I avoided because I didn’t want to get involved.

He received a prison sentence at today’s trial.

It seems he already paid the fine and got out of the holding cell.

While everyone else is busy preparing for tomorrow’s dungeon raid, Movgun, who became the server’s official ex-convict, seemed to have nothing to do right away.

[Ms. Jia. Have you graduated from dungeons now?]

“That’s how it turned out. Because I became the Demon King.”

[Beyond Skeleton Jia to Demon King Jia… I’m envious just for today.]

I feel sorry for him, but also a bit pleased at the same time.

I had nothing more to say and was about to head to town, but Movgun blocked my path again perfectly.

[Wait. Just a moment. I came to make a new proposal.]

Then an unexpected proposal came out of Movgun’s mouth.

[Please make me a Demon King Army executive. I’ll sweep away anyone who tries to harm the Demon King with this Red Flower Sword.]

“…Did I hear that wrong?”

[Please, Demon King. I’ll devote my full loyalty.]

A truly desperate person can’t hide it no matter how hard they try, so I noticed right away.

Movgun, who always tried to be treated as a superior by our Boss, was taking a thoroughly humble attitude.

Wouldn’t I always want to get back at Movgun?

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Is it possible to become an executive? I think we need to get Wicker’s permission for that.”

[I already got permission. You see the economic criminal title, right? As an ex-convict, I can join the Demon King’s army. They said I could be placed in that room on the 3rd floor if I register.]

The moment he lost his dungeons and had his mount confiscated, Movgun could have lost all purpose.

But he wasn’t just a YouTuber with 1.8 million subscribers solely from his former pro gamer title.

It seems he came up with the idea to join under me and take on the role of the server’s axis of evil.

Just in case, when I tried registering, he could be placed in a room for free at 0 cost along with other monsters.

To think it was possible to place people who got criminal records from server trials on the 3rd floor rooms like this.

I wonder how far the freedom of the Wicker server goes.

But it would be a shame to just accept him.

I happen to need money too, so why not charge a membership fee?

People say he earned an enormous amount just from dungeon entry fees, so he probably has quite a bit left even after paying the fine.

“Then pay the membership fee. We have a membership system.”

— lolololololololol

— Seriouslylolololololol

— Membership fee to be a Demon King Army executive lolololol

— This is J-ridiculous lolol

— Ah I see you need money lolololol

It was an absurd proposal, but Movgun unexpectedly accepted readily.

[I’ll pay any amount. How much do you need? 1 million? 2 million?]

“No. Did you really earn that much money?”

[You gave me close to 150,000 every day, so that’s 750,000 right there. And dungeon entry fees averaged 25,000, with nearly 300 uses.]

He deserved to be called an economic criminal, as his nickname showed after the trial.

He was really raking in money all by himself.

I earned 3.75 million before fees by hunting 12 hours every day.

But he earned 8.25 million just from owning dungeons?

What a highway robber.

“No wonder you were dragged to court. You should have shared the wealth like Ronze.”

[But. What can I do if I like money? Liking money is a crime! Yeah!]

“Yeah, yeah. Good for you.”

I clicked my tongue and registered Movgun as an executive, and Movgun’s title changed once again from economic criminal.

– [Demon King Army Executive] Movgun

“I’ll only charge 2 million won for the membership fee.”

[Here it is.]

“This is a joining gift.”

I received the 2 million won check and handed over two items I had drawn from the gacha earlier to Mugeon.

It’s fine to temporarily put Mugeon under my feet.

I don’t want to look like I’m unnecessarily indebted to someone I don’t like.

[Special Skin Set Selection Ticket x1]

[[3-Star Guaranteed] Random Mount Exchange Ticket x1]

“Use those to dress up like the Demon King’s Army and draw a new mount.”

As soon as he received them, Mugeon prostrated himself on the ground and raised his voice.

[Your Majesty!!!!]

“You’re too loud.”

[I’m sorry! Demon King!!]

— Wow, great Jia

— Oh right, I forgot about those items lololol

— Damn, those would sell for almost 2 million WK ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— In the end, they exchanged for the same price ㅋㅋ

And since we’re fighting together, we should split the money too.

No matter how much I dislike Mugeon, I can’t become the same as him who was punished for violating antitrust laws.

“You know, I charge an entrance fee for each person I recruit to the party? That’s 100,000 WK. When you recruit someone, I’ll give you that entrance fee as is.”

[No. If you give away that much, what’s left for you? You’re always handing out disaster relief funds…]

“My luck turned around because of all that giving, and now I’m the Demon King.”

[… Oh, was that it? I should have shared more while I could.]

“You’re regretting it quite early.”

[Sob sob sob.]

Users can enter the Demon King’s Castle in parties of up to 16 people.

The money I earn is the number of party members blocked multiplied by 100,000 WK (entrance fee).

Each party is given 30 minutes of attack time, and the Demon King’s side is given 30 minutes of preparation time after defense….

Assuming I face parties with an average of 8 members all day.

If I win against all 12 parties that attack during the 12-hour server operation time, I earn a maximum of 9.6 million won.

So I can afford to distribute based on how many people Mugeon handles.

In a way, it’s like paying a salary based on performance, so his achievement level should increase too.

[I pledge my loyalty! From today on, I will consider any attack on the Demon King as an attack on myself.]

“No, you don’t need to go that far—”

[Kuhahaha!!]

Whether he liked that proposal.

Or he just wanted to create a broadcast angle.

From then on, Mugeon started going wild.

Of course, he began acting like a Demon King Army Executive with an awkwardly exaggerated tone.

He even started mouthing off in the chat window.

–
[All] [Demon King Army Executive] Movgun: I will punish everyone who put me in prison

–
[All] [Demon King Army Executive] Movgun: In place of the Demon King, I shall sweep you all away!

–
[All] [Credit Delinquent] Ryukko: What’s wrong with that guy

–
[All] [Credit Delinquent] Ryukko: Dementia?

Maybe it was because Mugeon went around picking fights here and there on the server for the rest of the day….

The next day.

[(🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 – Parallel Situation Room Day 9] 👪51,435

The broadcast title said Day 9 of the Situation Room and my screen was split into 6 parts, but.

The viewer count was strange.

It seemed like all the Wicker Town users had gathered.

I was stunned by the number 50,000 reached just 15 minutes after starting the broadcast.

Then my phone went ziiing.

It was the Boss.

[Boss: Jia!!]

[Boss: Let’s adjust the split screen right now]

[Boss: It’s urgent]

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

This is my award acceptance afterword.

I’ll be a bit serious today.

First of all, thank you.

I won the Excellence Award in the contest.

It’s all thanks to you readers.

I’ve attempted several writing contests before.

Sometimes I even tried switching to BTS.

But in the end, I won an award like this as a TS demon, with a TS work.

I didn’t mention it separately, but there were many times I wanted to give up.

And many times I held on because of your support and steady comments.

Because I endured and persevered, I’m achieving another dream like this.

This Excellence Award was created together with reader PIA1747014585384.

I love you.

The serious part ends here.

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Majiya maji kawaii Majiya maji tenshi !!!!!!!!!!