Chapter 45: No Eyebrows, No Mercy – Dogry’s Desperate Bet!

“Competition?”

“Yes, against the nemesis of my hair and every strand of fur on my body! I’m using this opportunity to get my revenge.”

“Nemesis? Wasn’t that your own fault? I didn’t do anything to you.”

—[Ox]

—[Honestly, you did it because you were blinded by money.]

—[Yeah.]

Dogry looked at the chat with an incredulous expression.

“Hey, whose side are you guys on? Shouldn’t you be supporting me right now?”

Dogry turned back to look at Exitra.

“So, what do you think? Will you do it?”

“Hmm. Sure. So, what’s the challenge?”

“It’s simple. In ‘Zombie Survival,’ whoever survives until the end wins.”

The rules were straightforward and clear.

The last survivor wins.

“If you don’t survive, you lose.”

Exitra nodded.

“Alright. But what if it’s a draw? If we die in the same stage, or make it together to the final stage?”

“In that case, I’ll take the loss. I’ve played this game a little before.”

—[Info: Dogry has been secretly practicing ‘Zombie Survival’ with the stream off.]

—[Info 2: Dogry plans to pick a completely broken class.]

—[Isn’t this totally unfair?]

The chat grew noisy.

At that moment, one viewer asked Exitra a question.

—[Have you ever played ‘Zombie Survival’ before??]

“I’ve never played it myself, but since we have this collab, I watched some Yutuber videos and strategy guides.”

—[What’s he trying to do against a total beginner…]

—[Tsk tsk, personality points down.]

—[What a personality… sigh…]

—[Does bullying a newbie make you feel good, veteran?!]

The viewers clicked their tongues in mild disapproval.

It was a natural reaction, really.

Dragging in a complete beginner—’what was he even trying to prove?’

It was like Dogry had sold off every last bit of his conscience.

“Hey… I told you already, I’m not going to summon a Machine Gunner, alright? I’m giving myself a handicap.”

The Machine Gunner was a special unit that could be summoned by a military-class character after clearing stage 10.

The difference between having that unit and not having it was significant, so it was indeed a handicap.

“That handicap’s fine with me. So, if I win, what do I get?”

“If you win, the Chairman said he’ll give you 1 million won.”

“The Chairman himself?”

True to his nickname, “Big Spender,” the Chairman’s generosity was indeed on another level.

In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that he was the only one who would casually put up that kind of prize money for a stream mission.

“I see… so if I lose, Dogry gets the 1 million won?”

“That’s right.”

“Then if I win, I get the 1 million won… so what happens to you, Dogry?”

***

Exitra had hit the nail on the head.

The Chairman wouldn’t just give 1 million won without conditions.

If Dogry lost, he must have put something on the line too.

“So, what did you bet this time?”

“Huuh… my eyebrows.”

“What?”

“I’ll shave off my eyebrows and get them tattooed with whatever design the viewers choose.”

Exitra was so baffled he could barely form words.

First it was his hair, then all the fur on his body, and now he was betting his eyebrows and getting them tattooed?

Exitra put on a deliberately serious expression.

“Everyone, pick up your phones right now. To report illegal gambling, call 1336 toll-free… This guy’s got it bad.”

—[That won’t work.]

—[He’s already addicted.]

—[By the way, the eyebrow tattoo design is the bangle-shaped brows from <Wapisoo>. It’s already been decided, lol.]

Flustered by the chat’s reaction, Dogry hurried to move things along.

“Alright, enough of that! We’ve already wasted too much time, so let’s get right to it! The ‘Zombie Survival’ collab starts now! Game—Start!!”

***

Woooong!!

With Dogry’s shout, the game began.

The background changed as the game intro played.

The setting was pitch-dark, with a red moon—an ominous omen—hanging in the sky.

—[Ugh…]

—[Urgh!]

Zombies wandered aimlessly, searching for living survivors.

Above them, countless crows flew through the air.

This place looked like a hopeless land where survival was impossible.

But even in such despair, there was still a glimmer of light…

“This way!”

“That side seems a bit safer…”

“There’s nowhere else to go… We’ll have to fight here until the very end…”

People of all kinds had formed bases to survive, avoiding the zombies.

They were the only hope and light in this despair.

But they couldn’t unite—because their beliefs were different.

“Humans have to get stronger—stronger than the zombies!”

One person sought to enhance the human body with drugs.

“The human body is weak… too weak. We can’t do anything like this… We need a stronger, more certain power.”

Another sought to combine the human body with machines to obtain power beyond humanity.

“This book describes a method to use special magic. With this power, we can fight against the zombies.”

Another had found a special book, aiming to use its power to resist the zombies.

“They’re just mindless zombies… Humans are weak, so we use tools. Make weapons, train, and you can kill zombie scum easily.”

The remaining humans chose to use tools—swords, bows, and guns—to fight.

After these people and zombies appeared, the background went completely dark.

From within the darkness came a voice like metal scraping.

—[If you want to live, get stronger. And kill.]

The ‘Zombie Survival’ collab had officially begun.

***

Once the game started, everyone was teleported to different locations.

Exitra found himself in a dark space.

“Is this where we choose our class?”

—[Yes, that’s right.]

—[Eh-ha~]

—[Came straight to your stream~]

The number of viewers increased.

Now they no longer had to watch through Dogry’s stream—they could watch directly.

“Welcome~”

[Ooh~ Viewers are going up.]

The viewer count had surpassed 5,000.

‘Was it because this was a collab stream?’

Even viewers from other channels were coming in just to watch Exitra’s broadcast.

“Alright, alright, let’s get the game started right away. First, which class should I pick?”

The six classes each had clear strengths and weaknesses.

And since the balance wasn’t perfectly tuned yet, the class choice could completely change the playstyle and difficulty.

—[In ‘Zombie Survival,’ archers are obviously the best. You can attack from a distance, and later, when you summon special units, it’s insanely good.]

—[No, no, no—enhanced humans are easier to play at first. They have low attack power, but high defense, HP, and fast HP regeneration, so they’re surprisingly easy to manage.]

—[Still, I think soldiers are the best.]

The viewers were going back and forth debating which class was best.

Once chosen, the class couldn’t be changed.

And since this wasn’t a solo game, restarting wasn’t an option either.

The first choice was important.

“What should I pick…”

Exitra paused for a moment, thinking.

He honestly didn’t care which one he chose.

Why?

Because he had already watched every strategy guide.

No matter what he picked, he was confident he could make it work.

—[At times like this, you have to go, ‘Now, what should I pick? Guess and see~ Ding dong dang~!’]

—[And don’t forget the ‘Professor Know-It-All’ bit.]

—[Old men… please stop…]

—[But honestly, that’s the truth in this situation lol.]

Exitra found himself tempted by that suggestion.

It wasn’t a bad idea.

“Then maybe I should try…”

[GotchaMan has donated 1,000 won.]

<If you choose random, I’ll donate 50,000 won!?>

“Huh?”

—[Ohhh?]

—[Random??]

—[Ah, right. Random is an option too, isn’t it?]

“Random, huh…”

There was no need to pick a class manually.

He could choose random and leave it up to fate.

[Ding~]

[Would you like to leave the choice to me? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to get you the worst possible class.]

But there was a problem—this so-called god was biased.

If a god existed, it should treat all beings fairly.

This one did not.

Because the “god” was actually the viewers themselves.

—[If it were me, I’d take the deal for 50,000 won!]

—[Yeah, and if you get lucky, you might pull a great class.]

—[True.]

The viewers seemed to love the idea.

Exitra gave a small nod, as if he had no choice.

‘Well, whatever.’

He didn’t mind what class he got.

There was only one he wanted to avoid—Cyborg.

Too much micromanaging, too much hassle.

‘If I have to get something, let it be Mage. That would be doable.’

“Alright, I’ll pick random.”

—[Ooooh!]

—[What’s it going to be…]

—[Exciting…]

—[Only God knows the result!!]

With everyone’s attention focused on him, Exitra selected random.

—[You have chosen random.]

—[Your class has been decided.]

—[You have chosen Cyborg.]

—[Ohhh! Cyborg!]

—[Nnnngh~~]

—[Boss~ Nice shot~!!!]

—[lololololol]

—[Where does the misfortune of this unlucky streamer even end…?]

—[Yes yes~ God, I knew I could trust you!]

Exitra furrowed his brows.

He had gotten the one class he’d hoped to avoid.

[Ding~]

— [I did it!]

‘What have you done…!’

— [Cyborg is seriously annoying lol.]

— [Cyborgs can only move within range of a comms device, and if it’s destroyed, they self-destruct on the spot.]

— [Yeah, and the comms device sends out a special signal that draws zombie aggro, so they break it first…]

“Haa, Cyborg, huh…”

Cyborg wasn’t actually that bad.

Right now, people thought it was weak because no one knew how to play it properly, but before his regression, Cyborg had been considered an “OP class.”

It had been nerfed multiple times because of that.

[GotchaMan has donated 50,000 won.]

<Hehe, nice.>

“Well, let’s give it a shot.”

Cyborg did have many weaknesses.

But Exitra knew exactly how to turn those weaknesses into strengths.

—[This is going to be an instant escape speedrun!!]

—[Crunch crunch! Perfect to watch with popcorn!]

—[Lalalala~~~ hooray~]

—[Can he even win this bet?? Even soldier might not be enough right now…]

—[A beginner as Cyborg… this is…]

***

The moment Exitra’s class was chosen, the game began.

“This place…”

The dark screen faded away, and he found himself sitting in what looked like an operations command room.

“My appearance… has changed?”