Chapter 2123 – [Dungeon Maker.EXE]

Among the accidents that occurred in the Labyrinth Island Trial, one occurred after the introduction of the ranking system. No, in this case it is not the challengers’ problem, but their government’s problem.

With the introduction of the ranking system, excellent challengers began to become known. Among the numerous challengers, the top 10,000 challengers are good if they are citizens of the country, but what if they are from other countries? Especially in countries where we don’t have a good relationship…

Even if that were not the case, from the company’s perspective, the existence of top challengers was no different from a walking promotional material. In short, it’s like having a sponsor for a famous athlete.

“Governments and companies from around the world are reaching out to challengers in hopes of naturalization, recruitment, or sponsoring them. I’m excited to see more work for headhunters.”

“First, it’s okay to agree because it’s your own choice… But I’m worried that there may be issues of coercion there.”

“Then how about creating a separate organization for challengers? There needs to be at least one organization that works for their rights.”

“That would be good too. Why not make it a government department?”

Although it is still in the early stages of opening, it is a labyrinth island where governments and companies from around the world are fighting over interests, so if the organization representing the rights of challengers is just a group, it will be out of power. Therefore, it would be better to make it a government department and have some authority that cannot be ignored.

Probably, now that I am here and have great authority over Labyrinth Island, they won’t be able to ignore me. I don’t know what will happen later.

But there was talk about it in many places. Although they couldn’t argue openly, they tackled him while subtly putting pressure on him.

“Challengers come from all over the world and are not citizens of any specific country. However, the organization for the rights and interests of challengers is part of the administrative organization of a specific country called Korea…”

I’m not doing this because I don’t trust you. If you look at the United Nations, you couldn’t say much to them when China was a permanent member.

Since Korea cannot do it alone, it must be created as a joint organization of countries around the world, but in the end, it will have no choice but to fall back on the influence of the powerful countries. And it is used politically.

Of course, the ones with strong influence there are Korea where I am, the Heavenly Demon’s Sun and Moon God Kingdom, and the United States and other powerful countries, so we can actually do whatever we want, but I don’t want that.

“You hate the power that everyone else wants, so I’d like to make you president.”

“What moves me is not the president’s power, but the sense of responsibility that the people have trusted and entrusted to me as president…”

“Since you have that level of responsibility, isn’t it okay to abuse your power?”

“It has already been abused due to the bigamy issue.”

In any case, the representative organization of the challengers does not have any good opinions. Even if it sucks, the only way is for each country to become a member and select appropriate representatives like the United Nations.

However, I will leave one warning.

“The Challenger Federation is an organization for the rights and freedom of challengers. It cannot be used by a powerful country for personal purposes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Countries that abuse the power of the Federation for personal purposes will be held accountable. I will personally find them and punish them.”

“… I will be careful.”

Don’t let the Challenger Alliance be a toy for the powers. Got it?

In the future, issues of recruiting and sponsoring challengers at the top of the rankings will probably be handled through the federation. In the future, there may be cases where the federation becomes another vested interest group and puts pressure on individuals, but this is not something to worry about right now.

Well, if you do something like that, I will come out and scold you as well. Fuck it, be fair, be fair. Otherwise, I will leave the position of president of the Challenger Federation to Trial.

That wasn’t the only problem that arose after Labyrinth Island opened. As interest increased, other problems arose, one of which was the problem of strategy information.

As we live in an information society, almost anything can be found through a search. For example, the tutorial layer up to the 10th floor, which even ordinary people can clear with some effort, can be found on some wiki.

“But information on the top target group is not easily distributed.”

“Because there are not many people targeting there, and they will not easily share the information they have gained through their own experience… All information is money.”

It’s simple market logic. I can’t say anything about that because I think, ‘Why should I release the information I worked so hard to obtain for free?’

Of course, as the number of targets in that class increases in the future, related information will also increase, but at least not right away. Not only was there little information on the top target group, but it was being sold at a rather high price.

And the buyers are mainly companies or governments. In order to support the challengers for whom they are sponsors, they purchase information from the target audience at a high price and work hard to raise them to the top of the challenger rankings.

“This in itself is okay. With the creation of a special facility called the Labyrinth, I am creating new value. Rather, it is okay if the challengers who have worked hard to reach the top target level do not have such merits.”

“Creative Economy!!!!”

“This is a true labyrinth facility created to create new value. However, the problem is using methods other than money.”

Methods such as trading are not the only ways to obtain information. On the contrary, there was some trash that got mixed up as large sums of money were exchanged.

Since the labyrinth is still in the early stages of opening, there is no significant difference between the challengers who have reached the top level and those who have just cleared the tutorial. Of course, it is certain that a person with special abilities who has learned martial arts or magic for over 10 years is better than an ordinary person who has just received a spirit and cleared the tutorial, but in the end, the violence of numbers works.

There weren’t any gangsters who would seek out top target challengers without sponsors or allies, beat them up, and steal valuable information or equipment through threats. Rather, because it was a labyrinth with an atmosphere where one could use one’s strength to one’s heart’s content, there were some bastards who were swept up in that trend.

“They deserve the death penalty.”

“Is that okay? It’s not just one or two people, so even if they don’t have any backs, they will speak out because of human rights.”

“If we don’t pay attention to such severe punishment, it will continue to be atrocious in the future. This is better than a soft punishment.”

And then they catch all those bastards and execute them as a group. I wanted to make a fuss about public executions like in the Middle Ages, but I held back because I thought it would make more noise than Zion was worried about.

Those guys who did that shit for money only prayed when it was time for them to die. Even though it was already too late.

“I, I am an American citizen!!!! If you execute me, America will not stand still!!!!!”

“Please save me!!! Please, please forgive me just once!!!!!”

“Money!!! I’ll give you any amount of money…!!!!”

“Fuck you.”

Since they are so numerous, it is difficult to torture them to death. So kill it all at once.

Because of the American citizen who was caught in the middle, he was tackled in the U.S. For that as well. Since we are allies, we tend to make some concessions and cooperate to share opinions, but…

“There are concerns that you may have acted too hastily in this case. If you are a U.S. Citizen, you should leave the punishment up to us…”

“Oh, so you were going to execute him?”

“…”

Since I have been president for 20 years, it seems like there is a manual for negotiating with me in the United States as well. Although I was respectful, I spoke openly and crookedly, so the American ambassador broke into a cold sweat and his attitude changed.

Instead of whining, be gentle and polite. At the very least, I think I decided that even if I said something disappointing about this agenda, I would not be able to get any concessions and would only incur hostility.

“No. I just hope that if something like this happens in the future, you will discuss it with us separately.”

“I will watch and judge. For your information, the Labyrinth Island Trials are part of Korean territory, but the laws are also governed separately. This is a place for the growth and development of challengers, so interfering with their strategy is more of a crime than anything else. Each state has its own laws. I think it will be easy to understand since you are another American.”

“I understand. From now on, we will also follow the Labyrinth Law.”

“Think of it as a double-edged sword. It is helpful to the United States, but if it is violated, it is equally useless.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

As news spread that criminals targeting the top challengers had been executed, the number of bastards decreased. Of course, I’m looking for an opportunity, but I won’t let it happen.

If you even try to go there, I’ll kick you out of Labyrinth Island and ban you from entering for life. Even if you think about growth and other benefits, it must be so frustrating to not be able to enter Labyrinth Island, which is like a gold mine, right?

Oh, I will be marked as Gaia Records through Eve, so even if I try to change my identity and get plastic surgery, it won’t work. No matter how much you can fool people by changing appearances and records, you cannot fool the Earth.

Just when the solution was roughly resolved, and I was about to have some time to spare, another problem arose.

“Do these bastards have the trait of being quiet if they are quiet even for a day?”

“At least this time it’s a problem related to challengers.”

“I don’t know if it’s fortunate or not…”

As time passed, the challengers progressed through the labyrinth beyond the 14th floor to the 15th floor. It may be difficult to judge whether the progress was fast or slow, but at least by the standards we thought, the pace was quite fast.

Anyway, the problem lay in the characteristics of the 15th floor of the labyrinth. What is the environment like on the 15th floor?…

[The 15th floor labyrinth is an integrated server.]

“Uh…”

[Unlike other floors that can only be conquered individually or as a party, the 15th floor is a place where you can go on repeated hunts and quests. Therefore, you will be able to encounter other challengers in the same tier.]

“I guess the problem arose then?”

[The cause occurred during the mid-boss hunt for that layer. While one party was hunting the monster, another party broke in and stole the reward for subjugation.]

“Ha.”

[That was the cause of the dispute, which escalated into a fight. This is an incident where a death occurred during a fight like that.]

“Wow…”

Of course, the deceased is not a deceased person because Eve’s resuscitation insurance is in effect. The deceased in that incident have already been revived and are outside the labyrinth.

But the pain and memories of death remain. Also, in the event of death, one week’s restriction on entering the labyrinth and resuscitation costs are also the responsibility of the person.

If the situation were like this, would you just stay outside? At this point, regardless of who was at fault first, we have crossed over into a deep valley by killing and killing.

[Some people said that because there is resuscitation insurance, even if you die, you will be revived.]

“It’s a problem when I go to the integrated server… Wow, how can I solve this?”

[Is it set to prohibit disputes between challengers inside the labyrinth? Then we can’t harm each other, and we can’t kill each other.]

“No, that’s not a fundamental solution. And you can also take actions such as bringing monsters from the labyrinth and killing them indirectly.”

[Oh, that could be so.]

“And I have something to think about personally.”

Killing people is definitely a bad thing. Why do I have self-loathing in the first place? Isn’t it because you don’t feel guilty about killing so many people?

Even if resuscitation is possible under normal circumstances, murder is punished as murder. However, the purpose of the Labyrinth Trial was to train transcendents… And the conflict between people was also an element of growth and trials.

It’s not for nothing that the Jade Emperor trains transcendentalists in the martial arts world. As people fight, more and more people reach the level of transcendence. Rather, such human emotions and disputes can become a good driving force for good growth.

Why do I often see that when I watch martial arts movies? ‘I’m going to become stronger to get revenge on that bastard!!!!’ I learned martial arts and became an expert. It’s good to think roughly like that.

“It’s too vague an issue to just leave alone, but it’s also too vague to regulate.”

“It’s Gyeruk. Ah, I suddenly wanted to eat dakgalbi.”

“Real chicken ribs and chicken ribs as a dish are different… Well, that’s okay.”

When I was wondering what to do, Lulu surprisingly gave me a good idea. Saying a line I saw in a movie somewhere, I propose a compromise rather than neglect or regulation.

“What was it, ‘Are you that good at fighting? Follow me to the rooftop’? It was in a movie line.”

“A cruel story with no words? Uh, why is that?”

“In the end, people fight. So why not create a place where you can fight comfortably instead of a labyrinth?”

“Uh…PVP content? But people dying? If you do something wrong like that, you can end up turning people’s lives into entertainment.”

If you build something like an arena, you can make it a spectacle to see people dying, just like the Colosseum in Rome. That also lowers the value of life.

Ah, it reminds me of the Aiol civilization I judged before. Those guys there also kidnapped people from Earth and started fighting in the arena. It really sucked. So, that kind of behavior cannot be tolerated on the planet I live on.

“Then, even in PVP, why not just set death as the worst case scenario and ask the parties to fight with something of equivalent value that is acceptable to them?”

“For example?”

“Expulsion of the opponent from the labyrinth island, or deprivation of the right to revive, etc.?”

“Oh…”

The deprivation of the right to resuscitation was practically the same as saying ‘clear it if you want’ in the labyrinth, but at least the parties involved in a duel where death could occur cannot understand each other if the stakes are not that high. If you tell the other person to just hold back when they want to kill you, it will only end up causing resentment.

It is a good method that neither completely prevents conflict between challengers nor puts people’s lives at risk. Instead, I should tell the dueling parties not to bet money or anything like that. Then things will start going strange again.

“What are the audiences betting on?”

“Well, let’s allow it on a limited basis. If we leave it alone, it looks like illegal gambling sites will emerge.”

Even if my name is the worst, I am a lesser evil than the worst, so a duel arena has been created where challengers can fight for their rights and values.

… Of course, because of that, problems started pouring in again.