【-1 HP】

▶ Used Crystal Orb’s mana to re-hire ‘Shieldbearer Lee Shin.’

* Remaining Health: 99HP

The core of my battlefield was none other than myself—I couldn’t exactly leave me out.

However, reviving the fallen Pandin required some careful consideration.

Maintaining 77 HP—the condition for the Jackpot—demanded prudent choices every single time.

The Swordsman synergy wasn’t strictly necessary.

I had only chosen him for his solid performance during the early build-up phase; he was a perfectly replaceable resource.

First, I checked the newly refreshed shop.

《LV.3 Shop》

Shieldbearer (★) – 1G

Guardian (★) – 1G

Mage (★) – 1G

【-1G】

▶ Spent 1 gold to hire Shieldbearer (★).

*Gold Held: 4G

‘With this…’

I could afford to adjust my plan slightly.

For now, I checked the players’ status through my device.

Four players at Level 4.

The tempo of this battlefield was quite fast. To maintain my win streak, I needed to match that pace.

But I didn’t necessarily have to follow everyone else’s rhythm.

【-2G】

▶ Spent 2 gold to refresh the shop’s listing.

*Gold Held: 3G

It was a risky choice, but sometimes you had to take risks.

《LV.3 Shop》

Plunderer (★) – 1G

Mystic (★) – 1G

Steel Mercenary (★) – 2G

Not a single useful champion appeared in the first refresh.

At a Level 3 shop, the probability of 1-Cost champions appearing was very high.

Since I would automatically reach Level 4 next round, that probability would drop.

So I planned to spend every last coin this round.

My targets were a 1-Cost Shieldbearer or a Swordsman. Getting either one would be a successful outcome.

I boldly invested gold into refreshing the shop.

《LV.3 Shop》

Technician (★) – 1G

Druid (★) – 1G

Shieldbearer (★) – 1G

“There it is.”

Luck had played a part, but by investing boldly when the odds were at their highest, this was the result I could achieve.

When probabilistic elements were involved, maximizing those odds was the player’s role.

With preparation time nearly over, I hastily tapped away at my device.

【-1G】

▶ Spent 1 gold to hire Shieldbearer (★).

【+1G】

▶ Dismissed Swordsman Pandin (★).

【+2G】

▶ Dismissed Robot Assassin Shadow Alpha (★).

【-3G】

▶ Dismissed Shieldbearer ‘Fostik’ and Shieldbearer ‘Derma’ to enhance Shieldbearer ‘Lee Shin.’

*Gold Held: 0G

Flash-!

Light descending from the cave ceiling wrapped warmly around my body.

‘I missed this.’

A smile formed naturally at the fulfillment radiating through my entire body.

Lee Shin (★★)

– Shieldbearer

– Health: 350/350

– Mana: 0/80

– Skill: Solid Exoskeleton (★★): Grants a damage-absorbing shield for 10 seconds. The shield absorbs damage equal to 60% of maximum health.

Compared to the placement exam, the numbers hadn’t changed.

But as for my changed combat capabilities—just how far could I go now?

My heart began to race.

***

Dong- dong- dong-!

At the sound signaling the start of combat, someone in the player command room raised their head.

It was Teiz, a player from the Lotus faction, ranked 384th in faction ranking.

“Haaam-!”

Despite the battle having begun, not a trace of tension showed on his face.

A relaxed demeanor that belied his low faction ranking.

Teiz leisurely examined the status board while filing his nails.

His fingers were covered in jeweled rings.

Teiz muttered to himself.

“Nothing beats a private battlefield when you need to make quick money.”

Every private battlefield came with a certain given.

‘Winner Betting’—the gamble of predicting the battlefield’s victor.

Since it could be linked to match-fixing, participating players couldn’t place winner bets themselves, but there was a roundabout way to get involved.

“Finding someone trustworthy was no easy feat, either.”

It was the method of betting on oneself through a proxy.

Teiz had deliberately joined a low-ranked faction to maximize his payout odds.

He stroked his long goat beard, revealing white teeth.

“Heh- No need to join a ranked faction. As long as the money’s good, that’s all that matters.”

Just look at Hannibal from the Steel Bullets—his high faction ranking only served to needlessly drag down his payout odds.

Not that Hannibal was any competition for Teiz in the first place.

“Nothing beats a 999+-tier private battlefield as a honey pot. No need to go looking for high-rated ones.”

High-rated private battlefields came with commensurate rewards, but even as a Silver-tier player, Teiz couldn’t guarantee victory there.

Battlefields always had elements of exception.

So Teiz deliberately sought out low-level battlefields, earning money through illegal winner betting.

If the Empire’s eyes were watching, it would be impossible—but this was Trivik.

A city whose name was simply too enticing.

“Hm?”

The battle had been underway for quite some time, but only now did Teiz check his opponent’s status, blinking in surprise.

*player 8 / Lv.3 / HP.99 – 2 Win Streak

– No Synergy

*player 6 / Lv.4 / HP.100 – 2 Win Streak

– Druid (2): Received healing and recovery amount increased by 100%

– Gunslinger (2): Armor penetration 35%

“What? It’s round 3 and there’s someone with no synergy?”

Even for a 999+-tier private battlefield, he never expected to find a player this incompetent.

“Arrow of the Blue Sky, was it? One of those guys from over there?”

The other players were ones he had already met or heard about several times.

The participants in 999+-tier private battlefields were the same old faces, and the only newcomers were two from the Arrow of the Blue Sky, ranked 988th in faction ranking.

“Tch- Must’ve been hiding his face behind a mask out of embarrassment.”

The enemy’s forces consisted of a Magitech Mage, a Swordsman, and a shieldbearer.

All three champions were positioned at the very front line of the battlefield.

“Given it’s a Magitech Mage, does it have a Magnetic Field skill?”

With his extensive battlefield experience, Teiz identified the skill just from the Magitech Mage synergy and its positioning.

While 1-Cost champion skills were difficult to predict, 2-Cost champions possessed lineage synergies that limited their variety, making it possible to roughly estimate what skills they had.

Knowing the list of skills champions commonly used was also a virtue for players.

<<Magnetic Field (★)>>

Grants a magnetic field that envelops the body for 8 seconds. When hit, deals 25 magic damage to the attacker.

Just as expected. The enemy mage used the skill, but it wasn’t particularly threatening.

Without defensive items equipped, the Magnetic Field’s performance couldn’t be fully realized.

Yet despite having guessed correctly, Teiz stared at the battlefield with bewildered eyes.

The hand stroking his beard had frozen in place.

Boom-!

A single champion with no synergy and no items was sweeping through the battlefield.

“What… is that?”

Occasionally, there were champions whose combat abilities stood out remarkably even among those of the same cost.

Even comparing only Bronze-tier and Silver-tier battlefields, the average combat stats of champions differed.

It was only natural that as you climbed to higher tiers, the combat capabilities of champions increased as well—which meant the gap between champions of the same cost also widened.

If ‘Blank’ champions with no skills existed, then the opposite must exist as well.

Kkadeudeuk-!

Teiz ground his teeth.

‘Why of all times… now!’

Why did that low probability have to trigger in this battlefield?

“Seeing him use shieldbearer and Magitech synergies, it must be the one from Arrow of the Blue Sky.”

A bastard with infuriatingly good luck.

Especially since such fortune had erupted from the shieldbearer—his roulette synergy.

But if he crumbled easily at this level of variable, the title of Silver tier would be meaningless.

This was a situation he could handle.

Teiz racked his brain for the first time in a while.

“He’ll obviously build his deck around Shield Bearers.”

The fact that he had already made a 2-star shieldbearer suggested his conviction was firm.

Fortunately, the strategies Teiz was most confident in were Gunslinger decks and Brawler decks.

Among them, the Gunslinger deck had a definitive matchup advantage against shieldbearer decks.

“I’ll have to go all-in on Gunslingers this time.”

Since the Gunslinger synergy had also come up in the synergy roulette, he resolved to commit fully to the Gunslinger strategy for this battlefield.

There was one source of concern, though.

“Tch- Hardcore Assassin, huh. That deck is always a pain in the ass.”

A deck that had been appearing frequently in private battlefields lately.

It possessed solid value even without specific item combination formulas, making it the most troublesome deck when running a Gunslinger build.

Teiz looked at the battlefield status board.

The situation was tinged with the color of defeat.

Even so, admiration escaped him involuntarily.

He had never seen a 1-Cost Shieldbearer fight that well.

Even with champion enhancement taken into account.

‘Hit the jackpot. Lucky bastard.’

This round ended in defeat.

But Teiz wore a confident grin.

Two item combination formulas sitting on his device.

Seeing them, a satisfied smile was inevitable.

“Well, a shieldbearer deck works out nicely.”

Teiz’s primary strategy was the ‘Anti-tank Gunslinger’—a deck designed to hard-counter tanks.

And he had the item combination formulas to match.

The arrival of the Gunslinger meta this year had driven up the price of anti-tank item combination formulas.

But by hustling through private battlefields and paying a premium on top of his existing formulas, he had finally completed his strategy.

The core item of the Anti-tank Gunslinger deck.

【Giant Slayer】

– Steel Greatsword + Composite Bow

– Attack Power +20, Attack Speed +20

– Against enemies with 300+ max HP, skill and attack damage increased by 50%

A tier 3 core item. Just looking at the Giant Slayer’s combination formula was enough to fill him up without even eating.

“Heh- To think I could buy the Giant Slayer this cheap. The Trivik black market really is the best.”

A tier 3 item appearing on the black market was exceedingly rare.

One tier 4 item combination formula and two tier 5 item combination formulas he already possessed, plus a substantial portion of his savings—that was what it took to barely acquire this formula.

Not knowing the Giant Slayer’s origin was its sole flaw.

Without the black market, he could never have obtained a tier 3 item combination formula at this price.

He felt rewarded for all the effort spent gaining access to the black market.

The ‘Curse’s Death Rattle’ item combination formula he already possessed also had performance well-suited for the Anti-tank Gunslinger deck.

【Curse’s Death Rattle】

– Cloak of Resistance + Troll’s Belt

– Health +50, Magic Resistance +20

– When the champion equipped with Curse’s Death Rattle dies, it fires a terrible scream at the killer. Those exposed to the scream have their defense and magic resistance reduced by 20% and are silenced for 15 seconds.

“This is the last 999+-tier private battlefield.”

Possessing a tier 3 item combination formula meant he now had some competitive edge even at the Silver tier.

He had joined the Paradise Private battlefield because it featured the roulette rules he personally enjoyed, but it was time to start dipping his toes into higher-rated battlefields.

Moreover, according to his informant, there was a possibility that an Adjudicator might come here.

He had obtained information that an Adjudicator’s family had been spotted in Trivik.

Of course, the likelihood of crossing paths with an Adjudicator was extremely slim, but as long as the probability wasn’t zero, he had to lie low for the time being.

Teiz had no powerful backing, yet he had survived for a long time while breaking the law—thanks entirely to his crisis-detection instincts.

It was a good time to observe the situation and focus on the ranked matches he had been postponing, or the Garos Private battlefield being held this time.

But the thought of participating in the Garos Private battlefield never once crossed Teiz’s mind.

“What was Garos thinking, hosting a private battlefield? Putting an augmentation body up as the prize?”

The Garos that Teiz knew was by no means that generous.

Though unverified, the rumor that Garos was the owner of Trivik’s black market was already an open secret.

Moreover, the timing was remarkably suspicious.

Rumors about ruins circulating in the northern region had drawn more outside players to Trivik than ever before.

“I should slip away to Artemis for a while. I’ll run ranked matches and keep an eye on the situation.”

Knowing when to strike and retreat was the key to long-term survival.

Having obtained the Giant Slayer he had been after, he had no further business in Trivik.

“Should be fine, right?”

But a trace of unease still lingered in one corner of his mind.

After all, to make one final score, Teiz had bet the bulk of his accumulated fortune on his own victory.