World's Strongest Survivor-Chapter 97

"Getting married?!"

As the environment rapidly changed and filled their view, the team members who had been waiting in the lobby came rushing in.

"Master!"

"Hyung!"

Especially Lyle and JinRyung seemed overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t contain their excitement.

"That was amazing! Seriously cool!"

Shy Lyle was hopping around in excitement, looking so cute that Seowoon roughly tousled his hair.

With wide round eyes, Lyle asked,

"How did you even come up with the idea to make the dragon fight the epic monster?"

Jinryung and the other team members were also curious, and all eyes focused on Seowoon’s mouth.

"I saw the monkey avoiding the Azure Dragon area and thought that if it’s a dragon, it might stand a fair fight against that thing. And I was pissed our squad got wiped out by those damn twins. I just did it with a ’whatever happens, happens’ attitude."

Hearing Seowoon speak so casually, Kichan shook his head.

"Hyung, you’re so calm and strategic during team play, but the moment you’re left alone, you turn reckless. I was watching from the lobby and totally shocked."

Lilingyu chimed in, agreeing with Kichan.

"That play really relied on a lot of luck. If the timing had been even slightly off or luck wasn’t on your side, it would’ve been a disaster."

"That’s true. There were still almost 200 players left, and 8 squads at that. What could I have done alone? Since I was already in the survival zone, I figured I’d at least get some payback."

At that, the corners of Lilingyu’s lips lifted.

Her expression seemed to say: Now that’s the kind of attitude a real man should have.

"It was a play beyond imagination. I can say for certain that no one but Jin Seowoon could have pulled it off. Joining Jin Seowoon’s fixed squad was definitely the right decision."

Even Juriel’s eyes sparkled as she praised him without holding back.

"To be honest, I think you were just hyped up and threw yourself into the chaos."

At Dump’s comment, Limin nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, weren’t you just super pissed and dead-set on getting revenge on the twins?"

Since they had played even one game earlier with Seowoon and shared some meaningful moments, the two felt more comfortable being candid with him.

"There’s a saying where I’m from."

As if about to give a roundabout answer, the team leaned in to listen closely to Seowoon.

"There’s a famous quote: ’Games are meant to piss off your opponent.’"

At that, everyone’s expressions turned a bit awkward.

Seeing their reactions, Seowoon continued with a serious face.

"I’ve got a feeling we’ll be running into those twins a lot more from now on. With guys like them, it’s best to show from the first encounter who’s the real lunatic and take the upper hand."

Everyone, including Juriel, looked surprised at those words.

"You thought that far ahead?"

"Of course. You think I’m as short-sighted as you?"

As he tapped his thick chestplate, Dump raised his eyebrows.

After tossing around a few jokes to lighten the mood, Seowoon changed the subject with a serious face.

"Let’s review the match now."

Seowoon had always believed in not just letting finished games fade away. Reviewing games, pointing out poor decisions or lacking plays, and learning from them was essential for any fixed squad.

After a heated discussion, Seowoon looked to Lilingyu.

"Poisoning the well was seriously a good move. I think we can keep doing that—poisoning food or water supplies and just leaving them behind. We still find jerky often enough when looting boxes."

"That’s a good idea. We could just poison every piece of visible jerky and scatter it everywhere."

Limin also agreed.

"When we get back, we should think of more ways to poison random players."

Depending on how you heard it, Lilingyu’s comment sounded pretty dangerous—yet she smiled as she said it.

As the team finished talking, an announcement sounded.

– Ding! Before rewards, player voting will begin. Please vote for who you think was the MVP of the squad.

– Bbam! With unanimous votes excluding himself, Jin Seowoon has been chosen as the Honorable Player!

The announcement was so expected that it didn’t carry any tension.

– Now, please vote for the Worst Player. Ding! Please vote carefully. If someone receives a unanimous vote, they will be permanently banned from Cloyd Survival. Players receiving the most votes will also get a penalty to their reward coins.

– Ding! A unanimous abstention vote has been cast. Applause for the teamwork of Jin Seowoon’s squad!

With that, the rewards began.

[Ding! You have received 240 reward coins. Kill bonus! An additional 30 coins. You’ve made the final 5 five times in a row. An additional 120 coins. You’ve been the last survivor three times in a row. An additional 120 coins. You’ve earned an achievement for hunting an epic monster. An additional 30 coins. First-ever to defeat the clone of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven in Cloyd. An additional 50 coins. Chosen as Honorable Player: an extra 50 coins.]

"This time, the kill bonus seems a bit low."

Murmuring as he checked the reward list, Seowoon was asked by Kichan:

"How many did you get in total?"

"640."

"Uh... you’re not really in a position to complain about that."

"It’s low considering the 5-survivor and 1-survivor bonuses doubled."

"Wait... doesn’t that mean you’ve got over 1,000 now?"

Seowoon looked at his coin record and nodded.

"1,025. Collected quite a bit."

He spoke flatly, but his teammates’ jaws dropped.

"Wow... classic reaction from a coin tycoon."

"Man! What’s the point of having so many coins if there aren’t good items to buy? Stacking coins just means you’ve been playing a lot without leveling up your gear."

"Looked like you did a lot of looting this time. Should be a good haul."

"This time, I’m going to pour everything I’ve saved. There were some items that looked exciting just by their shine."

"Oh, right—the rankings. You must’ve climbed a lot, huh?"

At the mention of "ranking" from Dump, the leaderboard floated up in the center of the lobby.

1. Cheonma (Warrior. From planet Paichen)

.

.

.

132. Jin Seowoon (Warrior. From planet Earth)

Dump, who had been looking for Seowoon’s name, shouted out:

"Whoa! How many ranks did you jump in one game?"

"Ranked 132 already."

Glancing briefly at the board, Seowoon turned his gaze away, seemingly uninterested.

"What meaning does that even have? It just draws attention and invites interference. It’s not particularly helpful for the game. Unless you’re in a fixed squad, it’ll just become a matter of politics based on rank."

The teammates looked surprised at Seowoon’s cynical remark.

"Alright, alright. Let’s move along quickly. We still need to do the draw."

As soon as the word "draw" was mentioned, everyone’s faces lit up with excitement.

For those who made it into the TOP 5, this moment was the one they most looked forward to—the reward draw.

[Ding-ding-ding! A draw ticket has been awarded to the final 5 squads.]

[Player, you may spin the wheel three times.]

As the familiar chime sounded, eight spinning wheels appeared, each one different.

Among them, Seowoon’s wheel noticeably had fewer items compared to the others.

"Looks like you really hit the jackpot in the final looting."

Everyone began to test their luck, spinning their wheels and drawing items.

Seowoon too spun his wheel with confidence.

In truth, he had enough coins now that it didn’t really matter what he got.

[Whirr... ding! You have obtained: Healing Scroll. Congratulations.]

"I said I didn’t care what I got, but getting this still kind of sucks."

His honest thoughts slipped out unintentionally.

[Whirr... ding! You have obtained: Dragon Staff Technique. Congratulations.]

It was the exact item he had intended to give to Kichan.

Without hesitation, he spun the wheel for a third time.

[Whirr... ding! You have obtained: Breath of Nature. Congratulations.]

Looking at the three items with a half-interested expression, Seowoon began shopping for items.

[Celestial Immortal Art – 350 coins.]

Seeing the Celestial Immortal Art at the top of the item list, Seowoon narrowed his eyes.

After watching it quietly for a moment, he began selecting items.

[You have selected: Celestial Immortal Art, Guardian Ring, Sea Enhancement Stone, Broken Mithril Armor, Broken Mithril Helmet, Late Bamboo Wine, Great Sage’s Soulstone, and Torn Secret Manual. You have used a total of 816 coins. Remaining coins will be carried over. Would you like to finalize your item selection?]

After pressing the "OK" button, Seowoon examined the Celestial Immortal Art.

[Celestial Immortal Art – A spiritual technique developed by the Great Sage, based on Taoist arts. Allows the user to manipulate celestial energy (seonki), and with enough of it, enables transformation and clone techniques.]

Celestial energy. Transformation. Cloning.

Those three words alone made the steep price worth it.

He had already been able to transform to some extent using mimicry, and create illusionary clones with Ghostly Step.

But manipulating celestial energy was a whole different story.

"That means I can use celestial power without having to become an immortal."

Having once absorbed Wonyoungshin and tasted celestial energy, Seowoon knew the Celestial Immortal Art was essential for cultivating celestial energy, which was different from inner power.

Then there was the soulstone.

[Great Sage’s Soulstone – Allows limited summoning of the Great Sage’s clone using celestial energy. Collecting all 3 fragments combines them into a complete soulstone, enabling full resurrection of the Great Sage. Caution: The summoned clone may not obey the summoner’s will.]

A single item worth a staggering 400 coins.

There was only one reason Seowoon bought it despite the ridiculous price.

"Maybe I can actually deal damage with this."

Even limited usage of that being could dramatically boost his fighting power.

There were also multiple torn secret manuals, but he only chose one since the rest were duplicates of ones he already had.

Lastly, he selected a few items to resell in the real world and one enhancement stone, which ate through over 800 coins in a flash.

Having spent more coins than anyone else in record time, Seowoon glanced at his teammates, who were still mulling over their choices.

"If anyone’s short on coins, let me know. I’ll lend them interest-free."

At that, Dump perked up and ran over.

"How many do you need?"

"Just six! I only need six more..."

Without even listening to the whole explanation, Seowoon handed over the coins.

He looked around to see if anyone else needed a loan, but no one else came forward.

"Guess the looting wasn’t so great for everyone."

Once everyone had finished choosing their items, Jinryung spoke up.

"See you again in the upcoming guild war."

"Yes, good job everyone in this round."

"See you soon."

Just as the game was about to end, Lilingyu came so close to Seowoon he could feel her breath.

Then, from her robes, she pulled out a small red pouch and handed it to him.

Her cheeks were flushed with an odd excitement as she offered it, and Seowoon took it without thinking much.

Just then, Limin and Jinryung shouted.

"That’s—!"

"You shouldn’t—!"

[Thank you for playing. Best of luck in your next game. Your obtained items can be retrieved from your inventory.]

Before their panicked voices could finish, the system message popped up and the scene changed.

"Huh?"

Seowoon looked at the red pouch in his hand and tilted his head.

kichan spoke up.

"What’s that? Why were those two so panicked about it?"

"Beats me? I just assumed it was some new poison."

-Ding! You’ve been invited to a chat by Limin.

-Ding! You’ve been invited to a chat by Jinryung.

Despite having a fixed squad group chat, the fact that they created a separate chat made Seowoon realize it had something to do with the pouch.

After inviting both of them and kichan into the newly created chatroom, they spoke urgently.

-Master! Did you even know what that item was before accepting it?!

-Like you know. You didn’t know either, right?

-I just assumed it was a new poison. Is it some kind of special item or something?

Seowoon’s comment was followed by the sound of the two sighing heavily.

-You idiot! At the very least, ask what something is before accepting it!

-Master, he’s right this time. That was reckless of you.

As they both scolded him, Seowoon’s curiosity only deepened.

kichan also grew more curious, watching the two beat around the bush.

-So, what is it exactly?

-That’s... it’s a Marriage Pouch.

Just as Seowoon was about to ask what that meant, Limin explained instead of Jinryung.

-The Marriage Pouch is a custom in certain martial arts regions. Since many martial artists are strong-willed and dislike arranged marriages, matchmaking isn’t common. So instead, when one chooses their partner, they offer this pouch. Accepting the pouch means accepting the proposal.

"What?!!!"

Seowoon was so shocked that he collapsed onto the floor.

"Inside a marriage pouch, people usually put very precious gifts or cherished items and carry them around... In that region, most female warriors find their partners through these marriage pouches. They even prefer this method of marriage over traditional ones."

"How was I supposed to know that?! This doesn’t count. It’s invalid! It’s invalid!"

Ding! Lilingwi has invited you to a chat.

"Ah! What do I do?! She’s messaged me!"

"Bro, just pretend you’re asleep or something..."

"Say something that makes sense!"

Seowoon’s panic transcended dimensions and was felt by both Limin and Jinryung.

"Disciple! Regain your composure! Even if you’re dragged off by a tiger, if you stay calm..."

"She’s scarier than any tiger! Seowoon! Pretend you’re dead..."

Amidst the chaos and panic, the two said the same thing at once:

"Disciple! No matter what, don’t say you’re giving the marriage pouch back."

"Seowoon! No matter what, don’t return it saying you didn’t know!"

"Then what am I supposed to do..."

Seowoon couldn’t finish his sentence. Just asking was terrifying.

"Returning a received marriage pouch is a grave insult. A woman who gets rejected like that is considered deeply flawed, and it’s hard for her to remarry."

"Especially since it’s not just anyone’s pouch—it’s Jingokdok’s! If you reject her after accepting that, well... you’ve seen her, right? Something terrifying will happen. She might even take revenge across dimensions..."

Seowoon couldn’t pull himself together from the sudden turn of events.

In a state of despair, he accepted the chat request from Lilingwi.

"Ah, glad you made it back to reality okay?"

"Uh? Uh..."

"Did you accept that red pouch I gave you knowing what it was?"

Her clear, sharp voice pierced straight into his chest.

"W-well..."

"Let me guess, you didn’t really know and just took it, right? By now, those two must’ve filled you in."

Seeing her speak as though she had been watching the whole time, Seowoon answered honestly.

"Yeah."

"Don’t feel pressured. I just gave it to you because I want you as my groom."

’How is that something you say to not make someone feel pressured?!’

That’s what Seowoon thought, but he kept his mouth shut and swallowed his words.

"Just keep that in mind for now. I’ll contact you again once things are settled here."

Lilingwi has left the chat.

Seowoon replayed her words in his head over and over, feeling like he’d just heard something world-shaking. His face turned pale.

"Hyung? Are you okay? What did she say? Did she say she’s going to kill you?"

"N-no. I’m not sure what she meant, but she said she’ll ’settle things and contact me again?’"

Still looking dazed, Seowoon explained, and the three of them calmly began analyzing her intentions.

"Maybe... she meant asking her parents for permission?" freewёbnoνel-com

"Disciple. I think she means to formally arrange a matchmaking."

"No, no. There’s an entire dimension between us! How could I possibly marry her?! That’s just an impossible marriage!"

"Ah!!!"

At that moment, kichan clapped his hands and let out an exclamation.

Everyone—Seowoon nearby, and the other two across dimensions—turned their focus on him.

Stammering, kichan said:

"Now that I think about it... Just a thought, but... that noona. She completed the main quest, didn’t she?!"

!!!

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[T/L: Read extra Chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]