The air inside the gym froze like ice. A chilling and heavy silence that made my skin crawl settled in.
It felt as if a sub-zero climate where even breath would freeze had arrived.
That was how bold and chillingly cruel Yoon Ji-ho's move was.
While everyone was frozen as if a sub-zero world had arrived, I alone maintained my usual heart rate.
'He said the prize money he got from the 1st round was 600 million. He probably cashed out 100 million, a part of the prize money, through a dealer.'
In the drama as well, he secured 100 million in cash from somewhere and brought it to the gym at this time.
I remembered that right after the 1st round, he secured a large amount of cash by proposing a deal to the dealer who was guiding him to the shopping mall.
There were about 100 players staying in the gym.
If he collected 10 million won per head, he could rake in a profit of 1 billion won on the spot.
If he invested 100 million and recovered 1 billion, it was a very profitable business.
In the drama, Yoon Ji-ho earned 1 billion at this time, and combined with his balance of 500 million, he held an incredibly advantageous position with a total of 1.5 billion.
Even if he returned to society immediately, he could profit 750 million, but the Yoon Ji-ho in the drama showed the resourcefulness of securing a large number of followers by scattering the money he had to create a large-scale crew.
'At this rate, it's too advantageous for Yoon Ji-ho. I won't let it flow as he intends.'
I stepped off my share of the mat and approached the platform.
"Hey, Blue Mushroom. Go play with fire somewhere else."
As I spoke, I pulled the lining of my pants pockets outward and spread my palms wide while extending both arms to the left and right.
It was a gesture to emphasize that I did not 'possess' even a single cent of the money Yoon Ji-ho had scattered.
Yoon Ji-ho tilted his head crookedly and pulled banknotes out of his pocket.
"You shouldn't make fun of people's traits."
The object Yoon Ji-ho pulled out was a shuriken made using a large amount of banknotes as material.
It was an object that applied the paper shurikens often made during paper folding as a child.
It was a familiar shape like paper folding play, but death dwelt within it.
"How would you feel if someone burned you black and called you a barbecue?"
I became conscious of the small blood bags I had placed inside my sleeves.
So that I could react to the money shuriken at any time.
When I felt certain that my concentration had become sharp, I opened my tightly closed mouth.
"I'm saying this for your sake. Besides, it's no fun earning money through pranks in a place that isn't the main game, is it?"
"Wow~ Wooooow~ Is this that thing? A messenger of justice or something. You look cool, man."
"Don't misunderstand. I'm just annoyed that my precious sleeping time is being reduced because of your pocket money hustle."
"Oh! He's annoyed~. If you're so bothered, then come at me. Why are you just standing there? I said come to me."
The ability to explode currency. It was certainly a powerful 1st-rank ability.
In fact, considering its endless ways of application and intuitive destructive power, it was safe to say there was no room for disagreement regarding its selection as a 1st-rank ability.
Flicking coins to use them like bullets, or attaching banknotes to specific locations to detonate them remotely, or even using the currency others possessed as his own weapon.
The most frightening thing was that he could explode them even if it wasn't Korean money.
Foreign banknotes with much higher value than a 50,000 won bill, or even ancient coins with unique shapes that were difficult to recognize as currency.
It was difficult to guarantee a win in a one-versus-many match against Yoon Ji-ho, so the possibility of safely winning in a one-on-one fight was slim.
However, there was always a strategy for any ability depending on the time and place.
I tossed a heavy remark to Yoon Ji-ho, who was provoking me with annoying movements.
"Before you keep flapping your mouth, check who's over there first."
The place I pointed to was near the side door of the gym located on the exact opposite side of the platform.
In the dark place located on the boundary between light and darkness, a silhouette with a slender body line was moving busily.
A copper mask and a white gown.
It was a clear indicator that she was the doctor who handled treatment at the medical facility.
In contrast to the serious atmosphere, the doctor was busy picking up the banknotes on the floor in a frivolous manner.
"What kind of stroke of luck is this? Finders keepers, I guess. Wow, it's a bonus, a bonus~."
The stiff and haughty feeling she gave off when we first met was nowhere to be found, and only the feeling of a scatterbrain excited by money remained.
She had rarely appeared in the drama, and I thought she was a fundamentally cool character because she was haughty whenever she was caught on screen.
I didn't know she would be such a multifaceted person who also had an aspect of being obsessed with money.
'She has an unexpectedly cute side. I didn't know.'
Leaving aside the unexpected side the doctor was showing, it was undeniable that the doctor's existence was a threat to Yoon Ji-ho.
I spoke with a voice loud enough to resonate throughout the entire gym.
"Yoon Ji-ho, do whatever you want, whether you explode the currency using your ability or not. But you'll have to use your ability very precisely. Because the moment the doctor gets hurt, you'll also meet your game over, so be careful."
A single-target attack ability that could target only one person could clearly determine the presence or absence of intent to attack.
However, in the case of a range attack ability like Yoon Ji-ho's that could attack many at once, it was an ability exercised under the premise that one harbored the intent to attack an unspecified multitude in the first place.
In other words, even if Yoon Ji-ho had no intention of harming the doctor, it was certain that the nanomachines inside Yoon Ji-ho's body would run wild on their own the moment the doctor was hurt.
A small number of players who understood my shout flocked around the doctor.
"That's right! It's safe if you're near the doctor! If the doctor is hurt, Yoon Ji-ho dies!"
"Yoon Ji-ho must also value his own life, so he won't be able to use his ability!"
"D-Doctor! Excuse us! Please stay with us for a moment!"
There was no way the players would know why the doctor was staying inside the gym.
However, it was certain that they could avoid death by explosion if they were around the doctor.
When a few players clustered as if surrounding the doctor, the remaining players also understood the situation late and gathered around the doctor.
"Everyone gathered around the doctor!"
"Doctor! Over here! Doctor! Me too, please!"
The doctor was initially out of her mind picking up the banknotes scattered on the floor.
"Hehe, how much is all of this? Two, four, six, eight...."
While she bent her waist and swept up the banknotes with both hands, a bright smile spread across her face.
But that smile hardened in an instant.
Along with the voices pouring from all directions, people swarmed in.
The doctor blinked her eyes while holding an armful of banknotes to her chest.
"Eh? Eheh? Why... why is everyone coming here? My money... my mooney!"
When people swarmed as if to wrap around her, the doctor was flustered.
"Ah, don't push! Here! My banknotes... no, no! It got stepped on by your foot and torn!"
"Doctor! We're safe if we're with you!"
"What do I care! Get out of the way! Hey, what's going on! You said I just had to stay quiet and then leave!"
The doctor's voice became increasingly sharp, and she retreated while previously clutching the pile of banknotes in her arms.
But the people did not give her room to retreat.
In that way, a human school of fish with the doctor as the focal point was completed.
Yoon Ji-ho made an ugly expression on purpose after seeing the group of players who had become one lump.
As if he were trying to act cool by pretending he wasn't angry at all.
"Wow, looking at you guys reminds me of that. A school of anchovies moving together in the ocean, that thing."
He treated himself as a predator and the players as mere anchovies.
Packaging himself as the one at the top of the food chain until the end was the only thing Yoon Ji-ho could do right now.
I bitingly shot back at Yoon Ji-ho's words.
"How does it feel to have blown 100 million against that school of anchovies?"
Yoon Ji-ho's eyebrows twitched.
Because of his pride, he was smiling on the outside, but his insides must have been twisted as much as they could be.
A change occurred in his perception of all players other than himself as mere nobodies.
As proof of that, Yoon Ji-ho asked for my name.
"You, what's your name?"
I, whose name had never even been revealed in the drama, was receiving the spotlight of revealing my name to the main villain, even if it was limited to the early part.
The thought that the DNA of a protagonist was indeed inside me made a sense of exaltation bubble up.
It wouldn't do for a protagonist to shrink back and show a pathetic appearance.
I exuded leisure while striking a pose by placing my lightly clenched right hand on my waist.
"Lee Ju-seong."
Yoon Ji-ho walked toward the side door leading out of the gym without exercising his ability at all.
It was an admission that last night's riot had failed.
Whether losing 100 million in cold cash was quite frustrating, he shot a word at me while slightly turning his head just before opening the side door and going out.
"You better hope you don't run into me in the main game. Forget the money, I'm going to kill you first."
Despite the fierce threat, my attitude remained unchanged.
I was still composed, still confident, and still brazen.
"Make your wishes to a falling star. Not that it'll ever come true."
When Yoon Ji-ho left the gym, the dense crowd gradually loosened.
As the population density decreased, the doctor, who had been trapped in the crowd all of a sudden, rushed out.
The doctor, perhaps feeling wronged for being subjected to something terrible (?), hopped around and rebuked me.
"Hey! Lee Ju-seong! This isn't what we talked about! Give me more overtime pay!"
She was the doctor who had tried to maintain a haughty image toward the players.
However, it seemed that the mask of the heart had been stripped away amidst the harshness, making her unable to maintain the character she had planned.
The doctor's true appearance worked in my favor.
Thanks to the doctor, who was inherently expressive with her emotions, the fact that I saw through Yoon Ji-ho's scheme and deployed the doctor in advance to break it became known to the players.
And that I did so even while spending my own personal funds.
At this moment, my abilities activated one after another.
[Na Dae-ho perceives you as an ally.]
[Copied Na Dae-ho's ability.]
[Na Dae-ho no longer perceives you as an ally. The copied ability has been deleted.]
[Im Guk-yeol perceives you as an ally.]
[Copied Im Guk-yeol's ability.]
[Im Guk-yeol no longer perceives you as an ally. The copied ability has been deleted.]
[Bang Su-hyeok perceives you as an ally.]
[Copied Bang Su-hyeok's ability.]
[Bang Su-hyeok no longer perceives you as an ally. The copied ability has been deleted.]
News arrived that a hundred or so people momentarily perceived me as a dependable ally, then quickly came to their senses and changed their minds, saying that I was also someone to be wary of.
In practical terms, there was not a single ability I copied.
Instead, I gained a benefit that could not dare be converted into money.
I waited calmly until the alarms ended and then put strength into the corners of my mouth.
To ensure I never openly laughed.
'Perfect. I've figured out the abilities of every single player in the gym.'
The benefit did not stop at finding out the abilities of other players.
The financial gain was also quite large.
I earned money that at least exceeded the cost spent on calling the doctor and still left a surplus.
I reached out to the complaining doctor, snatched her arm, and said while pulling her toward the door leading outside.
"Let's talk for a second, just the two of us."