Chapter 48: When Flags Become Reality

The only words that came out were: “This is insane.”

I never imagined someone would actually pull such a reckless stunt.

“Well… I guess it couldn’t be helped…”

And just like that, Mihuku was eliminated.

But Dogry wasn’t as interested in Mihuku—he was more curious about someone else.

“But… how’s Exitra doing? I heard he got Cyborg randomly…”

[C??]

— [Ah, that’s right.]

— [Exitra seems to be doing pretty well, though?]

“Isn’t Cyborg a bit harder to control? Unlike other classes, Cyborgs don’t have much free will, so you have to give them orders one by one…”

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.”

— [Yeah.]

— [Now the real game begins.]

[Tutorial’s over~]

From that point onward, it was the real deal.

Since players couldn’t 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 classes’ units had a certain level of free will—they’d dodge or retreat if they were in danger.

But Cyborgs were different.

If the player didn’t give them an order, they basically wouldn’t 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 it’s fine, you know? But later on, giving commands for everything—my head almost exploded.”

Dogry was discussing Cyborgs with the viewers.

But then, he felt something odd.

‘Déjà vu?’

‘Had he said something like this before?’

“Huh? Wait, didn’t I say these exact words somewhere else?”

‘Wait, I think I heard this before too…’

‘Hmm… where was it? Pretty recent, though…?’

The viewers also felt like they’d heard it before.

Then one viewer finally remembered.

[That’s it! During ‘Heir of a Fallen House,’ when Exitra chose Spirit Mage… this exact same talk came up!

[Spirit Mage…]

[Summoning spirits and giving them orders one by one…]

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 it… isn’t Cyborg basically the same as Spirit Mage?!”

• True.
• Yeah, I thought of that too…
• Spirit Mage… brainpower monster…

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 is…”

Dogry’s once relaxed expression turned serious.

“I’d better start taking this seriously…”

To protect his pride, Dogry steeled himself.

And just as expected, Exitra showed something amazing.

• Whoa, this is even possible?
• Unreal…
• 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 can’t wrap my head around this…
• With Cyborgs??
• Pfft, come on! This is Ex-hyung we’re 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.

‘I don’t need to issue every command one by one. If I use team settings, it gets way easier.’

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 10’s special zombie was the Assassin Zombie…

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 10… dun dun dun!
• This part’s really tough…
• Can Cyborgs handle it?
• Exitra, be careful. When special zombies spawn, there’s also a chance that a Giant Zombie appears.
• Oh, right, that thing’s 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 speed—taking it down was never easy.

And with its massive strength, even a single hit could be fatal.

• That thing even throws rocks!
• Yeah.
• Total brute…
• Ugh… I actually died to that thing once…
• Haha, mine picked me up and tossed me into the sky like a ragdoll.

The viewers were sharing their horror stories.

“Hmm, but isn’t it fine? The Giant Zombie has a really low spawn rate, right?”

• True.
• You can’t 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, huh…]

[We’ve got the number one unlucky streamer right here…]

“No, come on, everyone. I’m 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]

“Ugh…”

Outnumbered, he was pushed back by sheer numbers.

“Fine.”

Exitra straightened his chest proudly.

“As long as I don’t run into a Giant Zombie, everything’s fine, right? There’s no way I’ll meet one.”

The reason he sounded so confident was simple.

‘The probability is low.’

The Giant Zombie wasn’t 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 21—it appeared with 100% certainty.

‘No way it’ll happen to me, right??’

Ding~

[The God of Streaming blesses you.]

When Chronos’ message appeared, Exitra froze with a dumbfounded expression.

Then his face grew slightly serious.

‘Wait… is there really a god of streaming?’

If anyone else had said that, he would’ve laughed it off. But this was Chronos.

And Chronos was an actual god.

If he said it, then it wasn’t a joke.

There were gods of all kinds out there, so who was to say there wasn’t a god of streaming too?

“Don’t tell me… it’s 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]

“Ugh…”

A twinge of unease crept in.

And then, finally, a minute later, the result appeared.

Thud… thud… thud!

The ground shook violently.

It was the familiar sound of something massive making its entrance.

[Waaaaaaah!!!!!]

[Ex-hyung! Of course! That’s 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!

Exitra’s misfortune had arrived.

A Giant Zombie—of all things!

What he thought was impossible had become reality.

But Exitra’s misfortune was someone else’s happiness.

That someone was none other than the viewers—and Dogry.

“What? You’re saying a Giant Zombie spawned in Exitra’s base?”

[OO]

[Is that for real? lol]

[It’s true lol]

“I’m going to check it out right now.”

About 4,000 of Dogry’s viewers left his stream to watch Exitra’s disaster unfold.

Normally, a drop like that would make any other streamer nervous, but Dogry wasn’t 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 I’ll actually get to keep my eyebrows this time!”

[Ugh, lame…]

[How are you supposed to kill that thing with just a Cyborg…]

[Honestly, that’s impossible…]

“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 this…]

[We had hours of eyebrow-shaving discussions, and now this… sigh…]

The viewers couldn’t hide their disappointment.

They had wanted to see Dogry suffer, not Exitra.

But they still held onto hope.

[Exitra… please, just make that bastard—uh, I mean, Dogry—lose 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~~~]

[Should’ve 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>

“Sigh…”

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~ You’re the lucky one with a Giant Zombie right now~]

“Ugh…”

[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 Exitra’s 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.