The queue popped, and I, as always, picked the same loadout. After selecting my gear and waiting a moment, my surroundings shifted. When I saw the map, I frowned.
"All right, let's start looting immediately."
I said it out loud but clicked my tongue in thought. Not that I had complaints about the viewers—this was purely about pride. The map wasn't to my liking. Towering trees surrounded me, so tall their tops were lost in the canopy.
"Wow, how did we get the jungle?"
"Can this guy survive?"
"Finding items in the jungle must be insanely hard, right?"
"Better a city map, honestly."
Jungle. That was the map I'd been assigned. Its vicious reputation was well-known, so naturally, the viewers had already started commenting.
"Wonder how many ran off this time?"
"Maybe at least half didn't even try?"
"Right."
"It's the jungle, of course some will quit."
They were predicting deserters even before the match began. I knew there would be some as well. The viewers guessed that more than half would drop out, and they were correct.
[Survivors: 48]
Only forty-eight remained. Over half had quit. Honestly, I'd guessed the thirties, so I was a bit impressed the viewers were closer.
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I win!"
KimchiMandu was already sure he'd won as soon as the map appeared. He didn't care about deserters at all. Seeing that reignited my own competitive fire.
"All right, let's move and loot."
"Heading for the buildings?"
"Probably safer to just loot nearby."
"Since he's taking this seriously, he'll pick the safe route."
"Too bad we can't see some intense fights in the buildings."
The jungle didn't lack buildings, but there were very few. People flocked there for guaranteed items, creating inevitable fights and raising my chances of dying.
'No need to take that risk.'
Unless someone was paying me, there was no reason to rush into buildings. Looting outside was enough, so I had no reason to risk it.
'First, I need to scout the surroundings thoroughly.'
I combed the area and found three items.
[Healing Potion]
Restores 10% of max HP over 5 seconds.
Consumed upon use.
Two of the three items were the most common healing potions. Not bad—having no potion at a critical moment would be disastrous, so common didn't mean disappointing.
'What's the last one?'
I hadn't checked its info yet, only that it was a necklace. With visibility blocked by the jungle, staying in the open wasn't smart. I retreated to a cave I'd chosen as a temporary base to inspect the item.
[Stealth Necklace]
Grants the skill "Stealth."
Cooldown and effects are like standard skills.
Stealth. A skill you can unlock by equipping a dagger-type weapon. It's a purchasable weapon, tricky to control, and rarely used. At least, that's what I knew.
"Wow, stealth in the jungle?"
"This can't be stopped."
"Stealth in the jungle is OP."
"Could maybe get first with this."
The viewers reacted positively, and KimchiMandu in the VIP seat cheered loudly.
"Luck-based garbage game!"
"How did they even spawn a stealth item in the jungle?"
"This isn't fair…"
In under a minute, three chat messages popped up. Clearly, the VIP was ecstatic.
'What does Stealth even do?'
Curious why people were reacting so strongly, especially the VIP, I immediately checked the skill.
[Stealth]
Completely erases presence and appearance while active.
Cannot be targeted while active.
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: 5 minutes
One minute active, five-minute cooldown. It erased all traces and prevented targeting—essentially invincible. Of course, normal attacks and non-targeted skills could still hit, but the effect alone was already absurdly strong.
'Now I get why the VIP went nuts.'
With an invincibility-style survival item in hand, my chances of winning had increased.
"This is ridiculously strong."
I equipped the necklace and exited the cave. Staying there would be nice, but I couldn't.
[The arena is shrinking.]
The play area started to shrink. The cave was outside the current bounds. It was disappointing, but I had to move.
"All right, heading out."
"Die in the storm!"
"Haha, the VIP really enjoys this, huh?"
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"
"VIP excited for a kill lol"
"Why does the VIP look pitiful?"
I skimmed the chat and moved inside the shrinking zone. I didn't encounter any players.
"Lucky."
I said casually, making the VIP laugh.
"Please, someone kill this guy;;"
Perfect response. I smiled and began looting nearby items. What I needed most now was mobility gear.
'With stealth, I just need movement items.'
Otherwise, I'd get level cores for a speed skill. While looting, I found four items.
First item, healing potion.
Second item, healing potion.
'Well, they're common anyway.'
Two consecutive healing potions were a bit surprising, but I still had two more items to check.
"I still have two items left."
I checked the last two:
Third item, healing potion.
Fourth item, healing potion.
"Crazy!"
All four looted items were healing potions. Battle Hill was really messing with me. Even the VIP seemed sad.
"This is fair!"
"Stealth item spawned, so they should balance with some potions!"
"As expected from Battle Hill admins."
The chat was lively with sympathy.
"Even the VIP is sad, thank you."
"?"
"???"
"VIP's sad lol"
"Fantastic interpretation."
The viewers laughed or joked. Naturally, the VIP…
"?"
"What nonsense is this?"
Of course, it was a joke. I chuckled and continued moving. In the surrounding area, only healing potions were found.
'I need to start looking for other items.'
Six healing potions total. For a long game, this gave me a significant advantage—combined with stealth, I was optimized for survival.
The problem, however, was my weapon. The spear wasn't ideal for long-range fights; it was better for quick strikes and retreats. Even with good looting, the weapon made me uneasy.
"I'll keep looting as much as I can."
At this point, first place wasn't guaranteed. Fortunately, there were still more than expected survivors.
[Survivors: 21]
Only twenty-one left. The already small number had halved again. Some were deserters, but some were killed.
'They probably died near the buildings.'
Otherwise, kills in the vast jungle were unlikely. I checked the positions of nearby buildings—three in total.
"I'll avoid the buildings for now."
I didn't know the opponents' loot status, but considering mine, there was no reason to seek them out. I moved while avoiding buildings, which delighted the VIP.
"Let's go to a building."
"Scared?"
"Don't run!"
The VIP seemed thrilled by my building avoidance.
"As per the VIP's request, I won't even glance at the buildings."
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"
"VIP is dying from frustration lol"
"Poor VIP…"
"The streamer interprets VIP wishes literally, always."
The viewers were happy, and that was enough. But then, the VIP took drastic action.
['KimchiMandu' donated 1,000 won!]
[Mission: Loot the nearest building—50,000 won]
They were using money to adjust my route. I paused and thought.
'What should I do?'
Survive and get first place, and I'd earn over 500,000 won. But the immediate 50,000 was tempting. The viewers started nudging me.
"Oh? The streamer is thinking."
"Throw away 50k?"
"This guy's gutsy."
"Giving up that?"
No enemies encountered yet, so the viewers were slightly bored. Then the VIP stirred again.
"Scared?"
One word. But it hit my nerves. Other chats were bearable, but KimchiMandu and I were in a pride battle. That one word got to me.
"All right, I'll head to the building."
I said it and moved to the nearest building. I started fast but slowed near it to minimize noise.
'Is this… a guard post?'
It resembled a military outpost. No players in sight.
"Already looted?"
"Money wasted?"
"VIP's gonna cry?"
"Sent him with money to get kills, but no one there lol"
The chat was rowdy, but I stayed cautious. Over 550,000 won was on the line. I carefully climbed the post and saw… two dead players.
"Love shot?"
"Crazy!"
"Thought it was looted, but they died from a love shot?"
"Legendary lol"
Judging by the lack of other bodies, these two had cleaned up the area, then killed each other with a love shot.
"This… this… the VIP gave me a huge gift? How kind…"
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"
"Became a gift by accident"
"Insane luck"
"Low chance of love shot, poor VIP"
The viewers laughed, and the VIP who gifted it looked happy.
"No way!"
"Why die to a love shot there?"
"Why me! That's unfair!"
I left the gleeful VIP behind and reached for the corpses—or tried to.
'Something's off.'