Chapter 181: Jump Emperor (3)

Because it’s a game.

In this era, many things are forgiven with just that one sentence.

‘Because it’s a game.’

With that one phrase, any unrealistic thing is forgiven. Just as there is ‘poetic license’ in poetry, games are similar.

If it’s fun, most things are forgiven.

But no matter how much…

“This is ridiculous! Why is there a dragon living in the snowy mountain?”

– Hahaha

– Snow Mountain Dragon Lair Theory

– Haha, but it’s really funny. Where does this trap activate?

– Seriously lol, this game isn’t just a simple jump game?

– Info) The genre classification of includes .

– Come to think of it, the protagonist’s physical abilities are fantasy-like too.

– Hahaha, what happens if you get hit by the trap?

– I saw a video of the world number 1 getting pushed back when hit by a trap.

An oiled floor, crows, etc.

I could understand those things well enough.

But flying traps were really hard to understand.

An unexpected challenge met in an unexpected place.

Even if this were the PC version instead of the VR version, it would have been frustrating.

Of course, the traps didn’t fly without any warning.

The moment you jumped and landed on the ground, you could hear a very faint ‘squeak’.

If you jumped right as you heard that sound, you could avoid the trap.

Easier said than done.

But detecting that faint sound while concentrating on jumping required tremendous effort.

Annoyed, I dodged the five shurikens flying at me from a distance.

Earlier, I avoided them by lying down, but now it was impossible to lie down.

To counter players lying down, the shurikens flew irregularly.

In other words, the only way to avoid them was to jump on the spot.

There was also a trick where you could jump right after landing, but doing that increased the chances of making unconscious mistakes.

One way or another, I couldn’t deny that it was frustrating.

Still, I managed to clear stage 6 and reached stage 7.

‘RecordVillain’ has donated 1,000 won!

[Congratulations on being in first place! The million won prize isn’t far off!!]

It seemed like I was starting to get ahead of the world’s number 1.

It was a remarkable achievement considering I started about four hours later than others.

But I couldn’t afford to be careless.

From what I felt in stage 6, as I progressed through the stages, there were more sections where I could fall.

In other words, the moment I let my guard down, I could fall into hell.

It was clear that the developers put a lot of effort into designing the map.

Everything was designed to mess with the player.

Since the PC version, they had been making games like this, and it seemed they had become masters in this field.

Jump games like these had been loved on Twipod for a long time.

And this .

In terms of difficulty, this was probably the pinnacle.

“What is this now?”

[How do you feel being the first in the world to reach this point? Are you satisfied with your gameplay so far? Our development team will listen to your feedback.]

The cheesy narration started again.

[This place is a training ground that pushes your mental limits. After clearing this game, what will be left for you? Won’t the sweet fruit of achievement be waiting for you?]

The annoyance from the narration was reaching its peak. This game was irritating in many ways.

[The sky stairs with strong winds. How many people will be able to overcome this place? The final stage awaits you at the end of these stairs.]

“Crazy bastards.”

The difficulty was now so ridiculous that I could only laugh in disbelief.

As the narration said, a strong wind suddenly started to blow.

Just to be sure, I jumped lightly, and my body swayed with the wind.

In other words, I now had to account for the wind as well.

I’m not some walking supercomputer.

They were starting to demand the impossible.

Since this information was being revealed to the world for the first time, heated discussions began among the viewers.

– We have to admit the developers put their all into this.

– They combined all the horrible elements from previous jump games.

– Combine, combine.

– Wow… how are you supposed to clear this? It’s daunting.

– The developers are on fire.

– WTF

– FOG FOG

Looking at the chat, many foreigners were also tuning in.

It seemed the challenge from the developers had considerable appeal on foreign Twipod as well.

I heard that Sharaut was also inspired and trying the challenge, and he was currently on stage 6.

There was even a broadcasting room providing updates on each streamer’s progress, giving an idea of the enthusiasm.

It wasn’t just a festival for Koreans but a global festival.

‘WorldJumpAssociation’ has donated 10,000 won!

[He is a god. He is fucking god.]

Lately, there had been a lot of donations with Korean followed by English like that.

It was because the donation voice’s English pronunciation was very crisp.

I glanced at the chat window briefly, took a deep breath, and shook my head.

The viciousness of this stage lay in the fact that the wind direction changed every 10 seconds.

Moreover, there were sections that couldn’t be crossed without using the wind. I could feel it.

They really made this in the most annoying way possible.

But it didn’t matter.

In some movie, they said that the wind was not to be calculated but to be overcome.

“Let’s see who dies today, you trashy developers.”

Resolving myself, I lightly jumped in place.

6.

“Hey, are you watching this player’s broadcast?”

“Of course. He’s really crazy.”

Nick, the lead developer of , couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration while watching a Korean gamer’s playthrough.

Their creation, .

It was their company’s magnum opus, created by consolidating all the know-how they had accumulated in this field.

It was so comprehensive that they couldn’t think of developing another game for a while, having used every cliché in the book.

Especially from stage 7 to stage 8, which everyone collaborated on, the difficulty was demonic, almost satanic, in Nick’s eyes.

Ever-changing winds.

The still-present oiled floors.

And the traps.

They had confidently set a 10 million won challenge, convinced that no one could clear it easily.

But watching the video of this one player, Nick had to rethink his stance.

The world was vast.

And there were many monsters.

This Korean streamer, Shia, broadcasting in front of him, was crazier than any streamer he had ever seen.

“Is this the same Shia from ?”

“It should be. We saw him at the Twipod Global Party last time, remember?”

“Why are there so many monsters in Korea? The current second place… is it Cerberus?”

“He’s Shia’s close friend. Both are from and very talented.”

Although Korean gamers started the game relatively late, they began to chase the world rankings fiercely, eventually surpassing other regions after seven hours.

“Even so, our game is number one on Korean Twipod, right?”

“It seems to be the same in other regions too. Nick, do you think this Shia guy will clear the game?”

“…Hmm, not sure.”

Shia, on screen, had crossed the hellish stage 7 and finally entered the final chapter, .

Stage 8, .

It was a stage that Nick had mostly designed himself, confident that no one could easily clear it.

As the final stage, it included all the traps that had appeared so far, and it was imbued with the biggest element that classified as a genre.

As Nick watched the monitor with a lingering smile, his fellow developers around him made comments.

“I think he’s going to win.”

“He’s a monster. Didn’t you see? He reacted to the traps in less than a second, even when encountering them for the first time.”

“Guys, I know. It’s just… I’m curious how he’ll get through Snow Mountain.”

What Nick had prepared for .

It was the ultimate device that would send players back to stage 6 the moment they touched it.

.

It was something covered in snow, difficult to spot unless one had an exceptional eye, appearing to players as a small hill.

The moment a player’s body touched the reverse scale, the dragon would awaken, sending the player flying and causing them to fall for a long time.

That fall would continue endlessly until they reached stage 6.

However, Nick’s expectation that Shia would stumble at least once was soon proven wrong.

[What is this? It looks like it will ruin my life if I touch it.]

“What?”

“What’s going on? Translate that line right now!”

The streamer Shia on the screen had paused in front of that Nick had meticulously prepared, inspecting it as if he had noticed something.

Nick furrowed his brows and sighed as he finally understood Shia’s words through the translator.

“His senses are beast-like. Isn’t he supposed to be letting his guard down by stage 8? Does that streamer even know what it means to let his guard down?”

“Exactly.”

“What do we do?”

“Holy fuck.”

“No, it’s not over yet.”

Nick grinned and nodded.

He realized Shia was a perceptive player.

But when he faced the final device Nick had prepared, even the adept Shia would inevitably succumb.

Nick smiled and continued to watch Shia’s broadcast.

It wasn’t over.

Not yet, at least, it was too soon to say it was over.

7.

-Wow… but how did he distinguish that?

-Since we don’t know what happens if you touch it, let’s touch it ourselves!

-lol, but really, listening to Shia, that device does look incredibly dangerous

-The developers lol, they even set up booby traps, they’re really going all out! Going all out!

-They clearly have a mindset of not wanting to give out money

-But honestly, if I were the developers, I’d probably resent Shia lol, isn’t he exposing all the tricks we worked so hard on?

-Just light, just god.

-Breaking News) Nyang Gae almost returned to the first village but went back to stage 5

-lolololololololol

“They’re having a hard time too. Hey, Huh Soo, he’s really a blunderer, isn’t he? How does he keep failing at something this easy?”

I glanced at the chat window and smiled lightly.

Now I had some leeway.

I had become resistant to traps and oiled floors, and I skillfully avoided the ‘unusual snow piles’ the developers seemed to have prepared ambitiously.

My progress in the final stage, , was about 60% complete.

At this rate, I felt like I might become the first player to clear it within 20 minutes.

To ensure no player could pass easily, the final chapter included periodic snowstorms that restricted visibility.

However, this was not a significant issue.

The penalty was so minor now that it felt almost cute, and I continued to progress upward without difficulty.

I wondered, what would the ending of this game be like?

What kind of grand ending had they prepared to justify such a torturous journey?

I was genuinely looking forward to it.

“Alright, not much left now.”

As the fierce snowstorm temporarily subsided,

I could finally see the summit of the mountain, which could be called the final destination.

Seeing that, I felt a surge of energy.

A long journey of five hours.

Despite the five-hour duration, my progress was the fastest in the world, a testament to the game’s hellish difficulty.

With my eyes fixed on the final destination, I diligently climbed upward.

“Alright, almost there…”

Kwooooh!

…Did it sound like a beast was crying?

Five seconds after the strange roar echoed,

An unbelievable sight unfolded in the sky.

Giant chunks of ice, as big as houses, were flying towards me.

And there were countless of them.

[By invading the sacred land, you have awakened the sleeping dragons. Can you finish your long journey?]

[The breath of an enraged dragon descends upon you.]

Kroaaaar!

The Snow Mountain dragons roared.

Damn it! Shit.