[I will now deliver the verdict.
The defendant, Movgun, as the owner of multiple dungeons, was required to accept duels from challengers seeking to claim ownership. However, he continuously evaded duels using his mount, ‘Phoenix.’
The number of reported incidents alone amounts to a staggering ten times.
Therefore, the court sentences the defendant Movgun to a fine equivalent to ten times the dungeon entrance fee 2.5 million WK.
Additionally, the mount ‘Phoenix,’ which was used to evade duels, will be confiscated for two days.
Furthermore, ownership of the four dungeons under the defendant’s name will be permanently revoked as of this moment.
That concludes this trial.]
Bang, bang, bang.
As soon as the sound of Crkemang’s wooden gavel one of the founding members and the presiding judge echoed through the courtroom, Movgun shouted in outrage.
[Unacceptable!! This is absolutely unacceptable! This is a conspiracy by those trying to ruin me! A conspiracy! You all just couldn’t stand seeing me make money, could you?! Let me gooo!]
[Now, now, Mr. Movgun, please come this way. You’ll have to remain in custody until the fine is paid.]
[Kraaaah!!]
— LOOOOOL
— Movgun’s been on fire all year with his streams
— He was kinda washed up after quitting pro gaming, but lately, he’s been killing it
The trial wrapped up in about an hour.
And in the meantime, I successfully finished setting up my surprise.
I had been scrambling to insert video clips and configure triggers while anxiously watching the trial, worried it would end before I was done.
Fortunately, I managed to complete everything just in time, mere moments before the verdict was delivered.
— Alright, back to dungeon building
— What kind of monsters can you summon?
— Let’s see, let’s see
The viewers who had been watching the trial were now eager for me to resume construction.
Of course, I had to continue.
Not that they knew I had already completed the most crucial part.
“I was just about to get started again. Let me adjust the screen.”
Players infiltrating the Demon King’s castle would have to clear four levels in total.
The first floor was a monster army defense line directly connected to the entrance. Since it was just a mob area, there was no need to summon any special monsters here.
The second floor was a massive labyrinth filled with countless traps.
Then came the third and fourth floors where I had full control over monster placement.
The fourth floor was the surprise section I had been working so hard on. It was the banquet hall, located directly beneath the audience chamber where I resided. So, I wasn’t going to touch it for now.
Right now, I needed to focus on the third floor.
It was a continuous combat zone consisting of four large interconnected rooms.
“Huh, looks like I can sort monsters by price. Let’s see…”
Each room had a maximum monster cost of 10.
Stronger monsters consumed more cost, meaning that if I chose an expensive one, I could only place a single monster in that room.
Think of it like that famous card game, Stone Duel.
— Wait, you can summon a Void Dragon?! LOL
— What the hell?! LOLOL
— Damn, that thing’s expensive though
— It costs 500K WK, but should we place one anyway?
— Just throw in four 10-cost monsters and call it a day
— The problem is… you’re broke LMAO
As the chat pointed out, even if I wanted to deploy strong monsters, I didn’t have the funds.
Over five days of grinding, plus selling enhancement stones yesterday, I had earned a total of 3 million WK after deducting transaction fees.
But I had spent 1.6 million WK distributing rewards to people.
Gave 1 million WK to my team.
And the 300K WK I lent to Rupko still hadn’t been repaid.
So, my remaining balance was a mere 100K WK.
With 10-cost monsters starting at 300K WK, summoning one wasn’t even an option.
“I guess I’ll have to go hunting again today…”
— NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
— KRAAAAAAH
— NOT MORE HUNTING
— PLEASE STOP LOOTING US
— AFTER ALL THAT WORK, YOU’RE GOING TO GRIND AGAIN?!
Honestly, I was thinking of borrowing some money…
Everyone must have had a serious grudge against hunting.
“The complaints are way too loud, so we’ll go with renting for now. I’ll contact the boss first.”
— Whew
— Phew…
— What a relief
When working as the Demon King, removing the armor immediately brings you outside the dungeon.
As I unequipped my gear, an unexpected person was waiting at the dungeon entrance.
A nickname I saw every day, but we only exchanged money before going our separate ways.
To be precise, I avoided him because I didn’t want to get involved.
It was Moogun.
Just today, he was sentenced to prison in court.
But somehow, he already paid the fine and got out of the detention center.
Everyone was busy preparing for tomorrow’s dungeon raid,
but since Moogun had now become an officially recognized criminal on the server,
he seemed to have nothing else to do.
[Mister Jia, are you graduating from the dungeon now?]
“It turned out that way. Since I became the Demon King.”
[Damn, from Skeleton Famine to Demon King Famine… Just for today, I’m jealous.]
I did feel bad for him, but at the same time, I found it satisfying.
With nothing else to say, I was about to head to town, but once again, Moogun expertly blocked my path.
[Wait. Just a moment. I came to make you a new proposal.]
And then, an unexpected offer came out of Moogun’s mouth.
[Please appoint me as an officer in the Demon King’s army. I will use this Scarlet Flower Sword to wipe out anyone who tries to harm you, my Demon King.]
“…Did I mishear something?”
[Please, Demon King. I will give you my absolute loyalty.]
When someone is truly desperate, no matter how much they try to hide it, it shows.
I caught on immediately.
Moogun, who always acted superior to our boss, was now showing a thoroughly submissive attitude.
And I, of all people, had always wanted to put him in his place.
I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“Is it even possible to become an officer?
Wouldn’t that require Wicker’s approval?”
[I already got permission. See the ‘Economic Offender’ title?
Since I’m a convict, I’m allowed to join the Demon King’s army.
If I register, I might even get assigned to one of the rooms on the third floor.]
After losing his dungeon and having his mount confiscated,
Moogun might have completely run out of things to do.
But he hadn’t become a 1.8-million-subscriber YouTuber
just because he used to be a pro gamer.
He had quickly come up with an idea to join me and roleplay as the villain of the server.
Just in case, I tried registering him.
Turns out, I could assign him to a room with the other monsters for free.
So the server really allowed convicted players
to be placed in the third-floor rooms like this?
Just how much freedom did Wicker’s server have?
But simply letting him in for free felt like a waste.
I needed money anyway, so why not charge a membership fee?
People said he had made a ridiculous amount of money
just from dungeon entrance fees,
so even after paying the fine, he should still have plenty left.
“Then pay the membership fee. We’re a members-only organization.”
— LOLLLLLLL
— What the hell lmaoooo
— Charging a membership fee to be a Demon King’s officer? LOOOOL
— This is so ridiculous lmao
— Oh, you need money, huh? Hahahaha
It was an absurd demand,
but surprisingly, Moogun accepted it without hesitation.
[I’ll pay any amount. How much do you want? 1 million? 2 million?]
“…Wait, you made that much money?”
[Mister Jia, you paid me nearly 150k every day, so that alone was 750k. The dungeon entrance fee averaged 25k, and people used it almost 300 times.]
No wonder he got the ‘Economic Offender’ title after his trial.
He had been raking in money all by himself.
Even after grinding for 12 hours a day, my earnings before deductions were 3.75 million.
But just by owning the dungeon, he made 8.25 million?
What a damn thief.
“No wonder you got dragged to court. You should’ve shared your wealth like Ronze did.”
[But… what can I do? Money is just too good. Is it a crime to love money? Huh?!]
“Yeah, yeah. You’re so great.”
As I clicked my tongue and registered Movgun as an officer, his title as an economic criminal changed once again.
– [Demon King’s Army Officer] Movgun
“I’ll only charge you 2 million won as a membership fee.”
[Here it is.]
“This is your welcome gift.”
I took the 2-million-won check and handed Movgun two items I had pulled earlier from the gacha.
I didn’t mind temporarily keeping Movgun under my feet.
But I didn’t like the idea of being in debt to someone I disliked.
– [Special Skin Set Selection Ticket x1]
– [[Guaranteed 3-Star] Random Mount Exchange Ticket x1]
“Use that to dress up like the Demon King’s Army and get yourself a new mount.”
The moment he received them, Movgun threw himself flat on the floor and shouted at the top of his lungs.
[I OBEY!!!!]
“You’re too loud.”
[My apologies! Demon King!!]
— Wow, it’s Jia.
— Oh yeah, that thing exists lol
— Damn, if you sell that, it’s worth almost 2 million WK lol
— In the end, it was an equal exchange lol
Since we were fighting together, we had to split the money too.
No matter how much I disliked Movgun, I couldn’t let myself become like him—a monopolist punished for violating antitrust laws.
“I charge an entry fee of 100,000 WK per person for each party that enters. So if you take someone down, I’ll give you their entry fee directly.”
[Wait. If you just hand it out like that, what’s left for you? You’re always throwing around disaster relief funds….]
“That generosity led to me becoming the Demon King, didn’t it?”
[… Oh, was that how it worked? Maybe I should’ve shared more too.]
“You’re having regrets quite early in life.”
[Sniff… sob… sniff.]
Players could enter the Demon King’s castle in parties of up to 16.
The number of party members multiplied by 100,000 WK (the entry fee) was the money I earned.
Each party had 30 minutes to clear the castle, and my side had 30 minutes to reset after each battle.
Assuming I faced an average party of 8 players at a time,
if I won against all 12 parties that invaded during the server’s 12-hour operation time,
I could earn a maximum of 9.6 million won per day.
So it was only fair to distribute earnings based on Movgun’s contributions.
In a way, it was like a performance-based salary, which could boost his motivation too.
[Loyalty! From today on, any attack against the Demon King shall be considered an attack against me!]
“No, you really don’t need to go that far—”
[Kuhahaha!!]
I wasn’t sure if he just liked the proposal…
Or if he just wanted to put on a show for the stream.
Either way, from that moment on, Movgun went absolutely berserk.
Not only did he start playing the role of a Demon King’s Army officer with ridiculously bad acting,
but he also began stirring up trouble in the chat.
– [Global] [Demon King’s Army Officer] Movgun: I shall punish everyone who threw me into prison.
– [Global] [Demon King’s Army Officer] Movgun: I will wipe you all out in the name of the Demon King!
– [Global] [Credit Delinquent] Rocco: Bro, what’s wrong with you?
– [Global] [Credit Delinquent] Rocco: You got dementia or something?
I didn’t know if it was because Movgun had been running around the server picking fights all day…
The next day.
[ (🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 – Parallel Raid Control Room, Day 9 ] 👪51,435
The broadcast title said “Raid Control Room, Day 9,” and my screen was split into six sections. But the viewership numbers were off.
It felt like every single floating viewer in Wicker Town had gathered here.
I was stunned, staring blankly at the 50,000 viewers that had tuned in within just 15 minutes of starting the stream…when my phone suddenly buzzed.
It was the boss.
[Boss-nim: Jia!!]
[Boss-nim: Adjust the split screens immediately]
[Boss-nim: It’s urgent]
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