Spent My Lifetime Luck on Enhancement - Chapter 59 (59/196)

Episode 14. Caron Independence: Prelude to Liberation (1)

Face Chronicle Company hoped that users would not take lives lightly. For example, they believed that entering dungeons above one's level to loot monster byproducts should not happen.

Because learning to disregard life in a virtual world was unacceptable.

So they created a lethal death penalty.

One hour and twelve minutes per level.

At level 100, that was a staggering five days unable to connect to the continent of Face!

Users whose characters died were sent to the world of the dead, the . And they would remain there for the duration of the death penalty.

In the , users could not level up, farm items, earn money, or access countless other content. Moreover, since the itself was conceptualized as the "City of the Dead," it was a place with many uncomfortable aspects that made it difficult to enjoy the game.

Then did dying mean one was unconditionally sent to the Netherworld to rot for a long time? That was not entirely the case.

There was a potion that reduced the death penalty, frequently used by the wealthy.

It was the potion .

The palm-sized potion glowing with blue light was priced at about 10,000 gold.

Ted's entire fortune at that time was about 20,000 gold—roughly 200 million won—so it was by no means a small amount.

Users who consumed could reduce their death penalty to approximately one-tenth.

In other words, a user facing fifty days of connection suspension would only face five days!

"Nngh…."

Five days per 100 levels.

Thus, Ted, who had drunk Resurrection at level 400, could reconnect after waiting just two days.

But for Cheon Gyeong-u… even those two days were an ordeal.

Why? Because users who drank could not access even the Netherworld.

"Uwaaaack!"

In other words, Cheon Gyeong-u was completely unable to play the game for two whole days!

'I'm going crazy. Damn it! I thought I could just endure two days….'

Not long ago, the forty days spent with Shamshion in had already been an ordeal for Ted.

No, being forced to play only ten hours a day? To Cheon Gyeong-u, that was no different than being ordered to eat only one meal a day.

Still, it had been fine.

Where else could you eat even one meal a day? Cheon Gyeong-u had endured it. Of course, it had required the patience of an ascetic fasting in meditation.

'Uuuuugh….'

But eating one meal a day and starving completely were torments of a different dimension.

Still, he had somehow endured the first day.

After all, a person could usually endure starving for one day, could they not?

But by the morning of the second day, the situation changed. When he took a leak in the bathroom, it looked like yellow lightning sparks shooting out.

'No, my piss stream is starting to look like a lightning bolt.'

Squeak—

After finishing his business and closing the bathroom door, the sound coming from the door gap sounded like a puppy whining pitifully for food.

Startled, Ted inspected the door, but it was just a door as always.

Following his visual hallucinations, he had now begun to hear auditory hallucinations.

'Uwaaaack!'

And so, the gaming addict spent a grueling two days.

However, those two days were not solely filled with suffering.

As always, for Cheon Gyeong-u, whose life was a game, he spent the two days searching for articles and information related to Face Chronicle.

'Wow, this is insane.'

He didn't even need to search the community for news about Ted.

1. Ted

2. Caron Liberation Declaration Ceremony

3. Pixy

Ted's name was climbing the ranks on every portal site in Korea.

'Guess quite a few died that day.'

Ted grinned.

The had been completely blown apart by the lightning bolt he had fired last. Most of the personnel there had died.

There had been many evacuees, and there must have been users or NPCs who could survive even if a building collapsed. But even accounting for that, there seemed to have been no small number of casualties.

'Are they going to count that as my EXP?'

That was Ted's only curiosity, but…….

The second issue was .

Over these two days, Ted's personal broadcasting station on Rudisa TV had been generating explosive traffic.

Countless netizens had made pilgrimages to the holy site, registering Ted as their preferred streamer.

The scale and speed were much faster than when he had blown up on YouTube before.

In just two days, Ted's subscribers had surpassed 3.5 million!

'Wow….'

Consequently, the pouring in were substantial.

Around 20 million won on the first day.

Nearly 30 million won on the second day.

It was a short video merely one minute long, but that brief video had properly scratched the itchy spot of millions of Caron-affiliated users.

And it gave them hope.

'Nice. This is it! I want to start personal broadcasting again soon.'

Consequently, all kinds of emails were flooding into Cheon Gyeong-woo's account as before. Cheon Gyeong-u ignored them until the count reached 999+, as he wasn't interested.

'How did that turn out?'

Truthfully, the public's gaze toward Ted wasn't of much interest to Cheon Gyeong-u. Money and popularity wouldn't have much impact on Ted's growth.

'Is Caron's liberation proceeding properly? If things go according to my plan, the duration of my ability should increase.'

What he was truly curious about was the changes in Caron!

'Huh…… this is….'

Ted's eyes widened.

The changes in Caron were beginning as he had thought—no, even greater than he had imagined.

The on the community was filled with countless posts swearing revenge and expressing rage toward Pixy.

Regardless of profession, inclination, gender, or religion, they had all united under one purpose.

To the extent that there were even cases where guards and criminals joined hands!

'This…… is pretty cool.'

In just two days, quite a lot of people had risen with clenched fists.

Their purpose was only one.

Caron's independence.

Ding-a-ling—

'He's here.'

Right then. It wasn't a voice chat to Ted's account, but a direct call to Ted's phone.

Ted, hearing the ringtone after a long time, accepted the call as if he had been waiting.

"Yeah, hyung. Long time no see."

—Gyeong-u.

The one who called was Ted's older brother and the master of the guild , Cheon Si-u.

'Right. It should be about now.'

Cheon Gyeong-u knew Cheon Si-u's situation.

Cheon Si-u and fighting a siege battle at the final territory to protect the Caron royal family.

However, had no room to spare. Though they had formed a powerful force, since the enemy was even stronger, they were in a situation where they could only focus on defense.

Under such circumstances, it would have been strange if Cheon Si-u didn't seek out Ted, who had become a hot issue.

—You've been well?

"Yeah. What's up."

—What's up, he says, playing dumb. You've become quite the big star now.

"A star is…… so what."

—Let's meet first. I have a lot to talk about. Should I come to where you're living alone? Or, I think you can probably play again now, can you come to ?

Cheon Si-u's voice carried a sense of urgency.

Perhaps to him, Cheon Gyeong-u was like a lifeline fallen from the sky.

"Yeah. I'll come to Count Roble's Territory."

This was an opportunity not just for Cheon Si-u, but for Cheon Gyeong-u as well.

For Caron's liberation and independence.

And for Ted's sub-quest!

* * *

The first things Ted saw upon connecting to the game were numerous status windows.

….

Starting with the level-up windows, as expected.

—Do not be discovered. Pixy Kingdom security guards will roam to capture you. An has been issued from the Pixy Kingdom!

A status window informing Ted of his predicament.

—Max HP bonus: 10%

—All stats bonus: +3%

'There was a title like this?'

An ultra-special title he had never even heard of!

'No, all stats increased by 3%…… what kind of title is this?'

To Ted's memory, the title mentioned in —the most broken title in Face Chronicle—only added 2% to all stats.

Yet the title that Ted had just obtained added a whopping 3% to all stats.

With an additional 10% max HP on top of that!

'I knew was broken, but I never thought I'd get something even more broken…… this is truly the best title.'

The items dropped due to the death penalty were nothing special. Perhaps because the system had judged users killed in the building's destruction as enemies, the experience he had lost had risen far beyond that amount.

'Hmm…… can I really be this lucky?'

A slight, truly slight sense of unease washed over him.

Because this whole affair, from planning to execution, had been near perfect.

'Think positive. It's thanks to +19. It's all possible because I have a +19 containing all my lifelong luck.'

Ted forced his thoughts in a different direction.

The place where the dead Ted revived was , which he had registered beforehand as a .

Thus, the revived Ted was currently standing in Count Sauron's Territory.

Using a thief's Stealth, Ted moved covertly, avoiding people's gazes.

'First, I need to find Tisai and old man Sibori.'

He headed to the underground of the tavern —that is, the den of thief NPCs.

"Oh, if it isn't Lord Ted, the Hero of Caron!"

"Lord Ted! Welcome!"

The thief NPCs welcomed Ted enthusiastically.

It seemed rumors had spread far and wide during this time, as they were already calling him a hero.

However, Tisai was nowhere among them.

"Where's Tisai?"

"What? Wasn't Brother Tisai with you, Lord Ted?"

"Ah, no. He said he would stop by somewhere for a moment. I guess it's not here."

Ted hurriedly changed his words.

Because if Ted admitted he didn't know where Tisai was, the shock to the thief NPCs would be considerable.

'Hasn't he arrived yet?'

With an uneasy heart, Ted wandered around Count Sauron's Territory.

But he could not find Sibori or Tisai anywhere within the territory.

'Hmm…… I'm sure they escaped well. Since they have the crown, coming here might actually be a foolish decision.'

Ted shook off his worries.

Calculating logically, there was no way Tisai and Sibori had been captured. There was nothing online about high-level NPCs being caught by security in where the had been located, nor about any pursuits within a territory.

'They must be hiding somewhere……'

If searching yielded nothing, there was no reason to concern himself further.

That was the extent of Ted's worry.

'Then for now, I head north.'

Ted began sketching his second picture….

If the first picture had been a that made all NPCs and users of the Caron Kingdom rise up.

Then from now on, the second picture he would draw was full-fledged .

To name it, it would be the .

'Let's go to Count Roble's Territory.'

To where his older brother and the master of Caron Walker, Cheon Si-u, was waiting.

Ted left Sauron Territory and headed toward .