The only words that came out were: “This is insane.”
I never imagined someone would actually pull such a reckless stunt.
“Wellโฆ I guess it couldnโt be helpedโฆ”
And just like that, Mihuku was eliminated.
But Dogry wasnโt as interested in Mihukuโhe was more curious about someone else.
“Butโฆ howโs Exitra doing? I heard he got Cyborg randomlyโฆ”
[C??]
โ [Ah, thatโs right.]
โ [Exitra seems to be doing pretty well, though?]
“Isnโt Cyborg a bit harder to control? Unlike other classes, Cyborgs donโt have much free will, so you have to give them orders one by oneโฆ”
At first, since zombies were simple, commands like “attack” and “defend” could manage the situation.
But as the game went on, zombie AI got smarter.
“After Stage 5, zombies start getting stronger.”
โ [Yeah.]
โ [Now the real game begins.]
[Tutorialโs over~]
From that point onward, it was the real deal.
Since players couldnโt summon any more units until Stage 10, they had to preserve the units summoned in Stage 1 for as long as possible.
That meant carefully controlling and micro-managing every move.
Other classesโ units had a certain level of free willโtheyโd dodge or retreat if they were in danger.
But Cyborgs were different.
If the player didnโt give them an order, they basically wouldnโt move at all.
Every action had to be commanded.
That was undeniably exhausting.
“Honestly, I was kind of tempted to pick Cyborg too. At first itโs fine, you know? But later on, giving commands for everythingโmy head almost exploded.”
Dogry was discussing Cyborgs with the viewers.
But then, he felt something odd.
‘Dรฉjร vu?’
‘Had he said something like this before?’
“Huh? Wait, didnโt I say these exact words somewhere else?”
‘Wait, I think I heard this before tooโฆ’
‘Hmmโฆ where was it? Pretty recent, thoughโฆ?’
The viewers also felt like theyโd heard it before.
Then one viewer finally remembered.
[Thatโs it! During โHeir of a Fallen House,โ when Exitra chose Spirit Mageโฆ this exact same talk came up!
[Spirit Mageโฆ]
[Summoning spirits and giving them orders one by oneโฆ]
The realization was shocking.
Normally, with 10,000 people in chat, things were noisy and chaotic.
But now, not a single message came through.
Silence.
Everyone had reached the same sudden, chilling realization.
“Now that you mention itโฆ isnโt Cyborg basically the same as Spirit Mage?!”
- True.
- Yeah, I thought of that tooโฆ
- Spirit Mageโฆ brainpower monsterโฆ
A shiver of excitement ran through the crowd.
Thinking about it, Cyborg and Spirit Mage did share some similarities.
The details differed, but the core principle was the same.
In other words, Exitra, who had shown overwhelming skill as a Spirit Mage, could also unleash something incredible as a Cyborg.
“This isโฆ”
Dogryโs once relaxed expression turned serious.
“Iโd better start taking this seriouslyโฆ”
To protect his pride, Dogry steeled himself.
And just as expected, Exitra showed something amazing.
- Whoa, this is even possible?
- Unrealโฆ
- How did he get to Stage 10 without losing a single unit??
- All 100 are still alive?!
Normally, by the time you reached Stage 10, your units would be reduced to less than half.
As the stages progressed, zombies increased in both numbers and strength.
With their AI improving as well, it was almost impossible to avoid casualties no matter how careful the play.
But Exitra had somehow brought all 100 original units to Stage 10, untouched.
It was unbelievable.
- How the hell did he do that?
- I canโt wrap my head around thisโฆ
- With Cyborgs??
- Pfft, come on! This is Ex-hyung weโre talking about!
“It is a little tiring, though.”
Exitra rubbed his forehead lightly as he spoke.
But truthfully, he was still comfortable.
Anyone else would have complained of a headache, but Exitra had his Multitasking skill.
By combining that with his knowledge from before regression, he could play smoothly.
โI donโt need to issue every command one by one. If I use team settings, it gets way easier.โ
Controlling 100 units individually was tough, no matter how skilled you were.
So Exitra grouped them into squads of 10, controlling them in teams.
It was a neat trick.
At present, not many people knew this method, but before his regression, it had been a widely used strategy.
[1 minute until Stage 10 begins.]
[Warning, warning!! A powerful presence has been detected.]
[Survivors, prepare to face a powerful enemy.]
Stage 10 was starting.
Stage 10 was when special zombies first appeared, and caution was required.
If he remembered correctly, Stage 10โs special zombie was the Assassin Zombieโฆ
A very dangerous one.
It crawled on all fours across the ground, then pounced on targets with incredible speed.
Using its sharp claws, it would shred its victims apart.
Its AI was advanced enough to not only move across the ground, but also climb buildings.
Extreme caution was needed.
- Stage 10โฆ dun dun dun!
- This partโs really toughโฆ
- Can Cyborgs handle it?
- Exitra, be careful. When special zombies spawn, thereโs also a chance that a Giant Zombie appears.
- Oh, right, that thingโs terrifying.
The Giant Zombie.
A mutated zombie with a massive, muscular body.
To put it simply, it was pure brute force.
It had extremely high defense and health, along with fast movement speedโtaking it down was never easy.
And with its massive strength, even a single hit could be fatal.
- That thing even throws rocks!
- Yeah.
- Total bruteโฆ
- Ughโฆ I actually died to that thing onceโฆ
- Haha, mine picked me up and tossed me into the sky like a ragdoll.
The viewers were sharing their horror stories.
“Hmm, but isnโt it fine? The Giant Zombie has a really low spawn rate, right?”
- True.
- You canโt meet it even if you want to.
- Yeah.
- Super rare, you need ridiculously bad luck to encounter one.
[Info] One streamer even tried 20 runs just to find one, and never saw it once.
In other words, meeting the Giant Zombie meant you were seriously unlucky.
Why was it, though?
[Unlucky, huhโฆ]
[Weโve got the number one unlucky streamer right hereโฆ]
“No, come on, everyone. Iโm not that unlucky.”
Exitra protested, trying to defend himself.
But his resistance was meaningless.
[Ah~ yeah~ 4,000 people already agreed, you know?]
[No room for argument, right??]
[Ex-hyung, this is honestly a checkmate move lol]
“Ughโฆ”
Outnumbered, he was pushed back by sheer numbers.
“Fine.”
Exitra straightened his chest proudly.
“As long as I donโt run into a Giant Zombie, everythingโs fine, right? Thereโs no way Iโll meet one.”
The reason he sounded so confident was simple.
โThe probability is low.โ
The Giant Zombie wasnโt something you could just encounter by wanting to.
The chance of it appearing was extremely low.
Before his regression, a streamer who loved analyzing things once calculated the odds of a Giant Zombie appearing.
The probability was only 5%.
Of course, that chance rose with higher stages.
5% at Stage 10, 20% at Stage 20, and at Stage 21โit appeared with 100% certainty.
โNo way itโll happen to me, right??โ
Ding~
[The God of Streaming blesses you.]
When Chronosโ message appeared, Exitra froze with a dumbfounded expression.
Then his face grew slightly serious.
โWaitโฆ is there really a god of streaming?โ
If anyone else had said that, he wouldโve laughed it off. But this was Chronos.
And Chronos was an actual god.
If he said it, then it wasnโt a joke.
There were gods of all kinds out there, so who was to say there wasnโt a god of streaming too?
“Donโt tell meโฆ itโs really going to happen?”
[Ahhh? Did he just say that..?]
[He set up the flag.]
[You should already know the power of flags firsthand!!]
[Did you forget the Giant Black Mountain Goat in Molgahub? lol]
“Ughโฆ”
A twinge of unease crept in.
And then, finally, a minute later, the result appeared.
Thudโฆ thudโฆ thud!
The ground shook violently.
It was the familiar sound of something massive making its entrance.
[Waaaaaaah!!!!!]
[Ex-hyung! Of course! Thatโs just like you!]
[We knew it, damn it!!]
[Ah, seeing this here is a blessing!!]
[Look how fast that flag got cashed in lol insane lol]
[Groooooarrr!!]
At the entrance of his base, a hulking zombie let out a monstrous roar.
The Giant Zombie had appeared.
The God of Streaming was real!
Exitraโs misfortune had arrived.
A Giant Zombieโof all things!
What he thought was impossible had become reality.
But Exitraโs misfortune was someone elseโs happiness.
That someone was none other than the viewersโand Dogry.
“What? Youโre saying a Giant Zombie spawned in Exitraโs base?”
[OO]
[Is that for real? lol]
[Itโs true lol]
“Iโm going to check it out right now.”
About 4,000 of Dogryโs viewers left his stream to watch Exitraโs disaster unfold.
Normally, a drop like that would make any other streamer nervous, but Dogry wasnโt bothered in the slightest.
“Hell yeah! Woohoo! A Giant Zombie!!”
Dogry was overjoyed.
It was all because of a bet he had made with Exitra.
“Everyone! I think Iโll actually get to keep my eyebrows this time!”
[Ugh, lameโฆ]
[How are you supposed to kill that thing with just a Cyborgโฆ]
[Honestly, thatโs impossibleโฆ]
“Nice.”
Taking down a Giant Zombie with a Cyborg was an incredibly difficult task.
The Giant Zombie was a catastrophe incarnate.
Its rampages were on another level.
A skilled player might be able to bring it down somehow, but Exitra was a beginner.
And he was trying to use a hard-to-control Cyborg.
There was no way he could defeat it.
Which meant the winner of the bet was clear.
“I won! Hahaha, my losing streak is finally over!!”
[Tch.]
[Ahh, so it ends like thisโฆ]
[We had hours of eyebrow-shaving discussions, and now thisโฆ sighโฆ]
The viewers couldnโt hide their disappointment.
They had wanted to see Dogry suffer, not Exitra.
But they still held onto hope.
[Exitraโฆ please, just make that bastardโuh, I mean, Dogryโlose his eyebrows!!!]
They still believed in Exitra.
Ding~
[Major Event.]
Exitra was speechless.
The Giant Zombie had really appeared.
The absurdity of the situation was beyond words.
[Flag~~~]
[Shouldโve watched your mouth lololol]
[That statement lololol]
[User 28WeeksLater has donated 50,000 won.]
<Ah, you made me burst out laughing lol this is pure gold lol>
“Sighโฆ”
Exitra let out a long breath.
He stared at the enormous red dot flashing on the map.
It was the Giant Zombie.
“Am I the only one who got this?”
[OO]
[Yeah lol everyone else just got Assassin Zombies]
[Only you, Exitra~ Youโre the lucky one with a Giant Zombie right now~]
“Ughโฆ”
[Unlucky Streamer!]
[You never fail to deliver!]
[Ex-hyung~ we believed in you~]
It was a title he wanted to deny with all his heart.
But there was no way to deny it now.
[Info) Dogry is absolutely ecstatic right now.]
[Ahhh~ but what about the bet? Does this mean Exitraโs going to be the second one eliminated??]
[Time for a glorious early elimination!!!]
Exitra was now on the verge of following Mihuku as the next dropout.