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nCertainly, the atmosphere was good until a moment ago because none of the three teams faced a dangerous situation until Round 32.

nHowever, they heard this unexpected voice that said they needed a sacrifice.

nIt was natural that the atmosphere became so cold all of a sudden. The listed disadvantages made it especially hard to bear.

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nMost of those who were here were basically level 1000 or higher.

nSo, even a drop of at least 10 levels was large, not to mention 100 levels.

nMoreover, the title “Useless Man” didn’t look good by any standards.

nSo, nobody opened their mouth until 28 seconds, 27 seconds and 26 seconds passed.

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nAt the arena in Region 52 (Japan).

nThe same thing happened to the members there who were ready to start Round 32.

nMitsuya Guild’s Chairman Ryu Sechi, who confirmed the contents of the voice, opened his mouth without hesitating even for a second, “One healer, come forward!”

nChairman Ryu didn’t think it was very difficult until round 31.

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nSo, he chose a healer as the sacrifice because healers had not done anything yet.

n“…”

n“…”

n“…”

nOf course, nobody refuted the chairman’s instruction because he almost controlled all the guilds in Japan.

nBut some just let out a sigh of relief, and others suddenly darkened their faces.

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nIf a healer got the penalty, he would have no choice but to drop out despite strenuously advancing to Round 31.

nSo, those who were not healers looked at the healers, and those who were healers only checked each other’s expressions because Chairman Ryu Sechi only said one of the healers should step forward instead of singling out any specific person.

nSo, the healers kept their fingers crossed that they would not be chosen.

n“Tut, tut. Hey, you hiding behind the tank in the 3 o’clock direction! I select you as the sacrifice!”

nThe chairman raised his hand and pointed to the healer crouching on one side as if he didn’t like the situation where they were pussyfooting around.

nThen the healer who was pointed out by the chairman opened his mouth.

nBecause of Chairman Ryu Sechi’s nature, he knew that he couldn’t rescue himself from being penalized and falling into hell.

n“Mr. Chairman! I don’t think I’m weaker than the other healers here! And I have always tried my best for the Mitsuya Guild. So please…”

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nThe healer was desperately begging him to change his decision, but he could not finish his words.

nWhen the chairman waved his hand, some guys approached the healer and dragged him like a dog before throwing him at the altar.

nThen there was a loud voice that all 59 men including the chairman could hear.

nYou have given the offering.

n-The 4th anniversary event in Region 52 (Japan) continues.

nAs a result, Japan reached Round 31 with 59 people with one given up as an offering.

nOf course, no one was worried about the healer being offered up because they were not penalized at all.

nOf course, the situation elsewhere was not necessarily the same as in Japan.

nAt the Arena in Region 101 (Papua New Guinea).

n“I’m going to be the sacrifice.”

n“No, I want to be the sacrifice. Surely everyone knows that I am the weakest of the 60 people here. So, it makes sense for me to be the sacrifice.”

n“Hmm… good. I will choose Gusty as the sacrifice. However, I will compensate Gusty for all the disadvantages he receives by being chosen as a sacrifice, and I will actively support him until he regains his original skills. Everyone, express gratitude to Gusty.”

nUnlike Japan, some countries like Papua New Guinea were an exception with some members volunteering to be a sacrifice. However, the number of such countries was extremely small.

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nOf course, there were other situations as well.

nAt the Arena in Region 34 (Mexico).

nSince information could move freely among countries, Mexico could gather lots of useful information just because it was right next to America.

nSo, for this 4th anniversary event, Mexico competed to select the 60 elites more fiercely than any other country and finally selected them at the last minute.

nIronically, Team No. 1, Team No. 2, and Team No. 3 were hostile to each other, but they temporarily joined hands for the event’s rewards.

nIn this situation, it was natural that they were locked in a fierce fight over which team should give the offering. Of course, the argument did not escalate into a three-way fight because they were not stupid.

nBased on the thorough calculation of the gains and losses, Team No. 1 consisting of 30 members and Team No. 2 consisting of 20 members joined together without talking to each other and pressured Team No. 3 which had 10 members to make the offering.

nIn their view, that was the most reasonable solution.

nAs a result, Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 moved swiftly to pressure Team No. 3, but Team No. 3 strongly resisted, thinking they would rather fail as a region rather than offering the sacrifice under their pressure.

nSoon, a fight between the combined forces of the two teams and Team No. 3 broke out.

nOf course, the final outcome of the fight was a foregone conclusion.

nHowever, the problem was they should offer the sacrifice within 30 seconds.

nSo, the captain of Team No. 3 shouted out loud, “Hold out unconditionally! Hold out for 30 seconds! We can’t let these bastards get all the credit!”

n“Yes, Captain!”

n“Sure!”

nIf they had been given even 10 seconds more, the operation of Team No. 1 and Team No. 2 might have been successful. But 30 seconds was quite short.

nSo, while they were engaged in fierce fighting, they all heard the same message.

nYou have not offered a sacrifice on the altar within 30 seconds.

n-Region 34 (Mexico) has failed in Round 32.

n-Everyone has been kicked out of Ludon’s arena.

n“Son of a bitch!”

n“Bastard!”

n“We would have made it with just one sacrifice, you idiots! You bastards are so selfish!”

n“Then why didn’t your team make the sacrifice?”

n“Right. If you were so impatient, you should have made the offering! Why are you blaming us when you didn’t make the sacrifice?”

nWhen they got the shocking message, the 60 Mexican users pointed their fingers at each other and poured out all sorts of swear words.

nArena in Region 53 (Korea).

n“…”

n“…”

n“…”

nThey were now only 15 seconds left.

nI thought there would appear somebody who was willing to be a sacrifice for the region because I had seen people making a holy sacrifice or a strong determination sometimes.

nAnd the sacrifice was usually made by the leader who would get a greater reward for his sacrifice later.

nI thought about it for a moment, but I didn’t come forward because the current situation was not an apt cause for such a sacrifice. In other words, this was not such a dramatic situation where one had to make the decision right before a pile of enormous treasures at the last minute.

nIf anybody here suffered losses, rather than gaining any reward, it would be the worst situation they would encounter after going through all kinds of hardship and trials.

nTo be honest, the three Korean teams didn’t go through any big difficulties until Round 32.

nTo be honest, even if I had not done anything, stuck in one corner of the tower, they would have easily advanced into Round 32. In other words, it was not easy to expect such a dramatic scene. Moreover, even if there was a chance for such a dramatic scene, I would not volunteer for it. Anyway, I made such a judgment and looked around.

nProbably, it would have been easy to solve this matter if the teams had been one whole organization instead of five separate organizations: Mirae, Myoongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu.

nBut the fact that six forces, including the powerful four non-guild members, were here made them try to figure out each others’ intentions.

nThe moment someone stepped out and singled out somebody else, he would be blamed as a heartless guy.

nOf course, that man might make excuses, citing a majority rule.

nBut the system gave them only 30 seconds to decide as if it already read their minds.

n30 seconds was not enough for them to reach a consensus through discussion.

nAt that moment Daesung Chairman Kim, who first insisted on fighting using the rotation system, opened his mouth.

n“Round 32 is Myongjin & Mirae’s turn! You have to make the offering among yourselves! Come out right now!”

nRight after he said that, the other teams immediately chimed in.

n“That’s right!”

n“We have decided to fight on a rotation basis, and Round 32 is Myongjin & Mirae’s turn. So, you have to make the offering.”

n“That’s not fair! The rotation is simply the order of us hunting the monsters, and this offering now is a task given to all 60 members. Why are you trying to dump it on us?”

nChairman Kim’s remarks brought about a fierce resistance.

nOf course, I myself had no intention of blaming him because he made them open up the conversation about it first. Actually, even I was trapped into the thinking that ‘it’s ok as long as the offering does not affect me.”

nAs the name Myongjin & Mirae Alliance suggested, my family members were also a potential target of the offering. So, ‘as long as the offering does not affect me’ included my family members as well.

nI checked the remaining time. Only 7 seconds remained.

nOf course, I didn’t want to step forward. I just wanted to stay put.

nI didn’t want to play a bad or good role, but I moved because it would bring about more losses if nobody came forward.

nThe target of the offering? Of course, it was Daeyu.

nAnyway, the reason I approached Daeyu first was because Daeyu would most likely be my enemy later on.

nAt that moment, some people from the Myongjin and Mirae Alliance moved quickly toward the altar.

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