Martial Arts Returnee's Game Broadcast-Chapter 385: Pay to Win

1.

Most players followed a simple rule:

Quest NPCs stay in place.They can’t be recruited as party members.

But...

"Why can’t I?"

Murim warriors didn’t care about those rules.

If something wasn’t possible, they’d make it possible.

"You’ll keep your word, right?"

"Of course, of course! As long as you grant my request, I’ll take over as the village chief, so feel free to leave town whenever you want. You’ve seen my skills."

"Heh. It’s been a while since I’ve been in seclusion. My body’s been itching for action."

Watching the village chief single-handedly wipe out invading monsters, Ujiwoo had a thought—

What if I recruited him as a disciple?

And against all odds—it worked.

"Not to complain, but being a village chief really sucks."

"Why?"

"Young brats treat me like an item delivery service, demanding rewards with no respect. And in the middle of the night, weaklings come crying because they got wrecked by monsters."

"Hahaha! That’s hilarious."

"Right? Well, it’s your problem now."

"......."

Maybe he should’ve found a different disciple.

But after a brief moment of regret, Ujiwoo faced reality.

Unlike my competitors, my martial arts are still lacking.

If he wanted to gain Arena points and boost his stats, he needed a powerful NPC—

Even if it meant dealing with the village chief’s job in his absence.

How hard could it be?

[‘A Guide from the Village Chief’ – A player is requesting assistance. Respond quickly.]

[Someone is waiting to receive their quest reward. Delay will result in a reputation loss.]

[The village is under attack! Log in within 1 minute to defend it.]

It wasn’t difficult—

But it was non-stop chaos.

"Why are there so many damn beginners?!"

With Haenam Sect and the Top Ten Guilds flooding Gladiator Growth,

ordinary players started pouring in out of curiosity.

At first, Ujiwoo had felt like a genius for recruiting a hidden NPC.

Less than a week later—he was drowning in work.

"Village Chief! Can you please stop grinding the Arena and come back?!"

"What are you talking about? I promised to farm points for you during our contract."

"Ten thousand beginners are joining every day. I am literally about to die of overwork."

"Ah—ahh—bad connection. I’ll call you back later."

"Hello? HELLO?! YOU BASTARD!"

There was always a reason why veteran players didn’t do things like this.

It took collapsing from exhaustion for Ujiwoo to finally understand why village chiefs didn’t just up and leave town.

2.

Pay to Win.

Spending money to win.

For most players, it was a hated concept.

But for those who played with money instead of skill, the perspective was different.

"I’m just paying for my time.""Not everyone has hours to grind."

Why work hard, when you can just buy your way up?

That mentality flooded Gladiator Growth.

"I don’t see the appeal. Why do men even enjoy this?"

The leader of Asan Guild, Yoon Asan,

wasn’t particularly interested in the game itself—

But she was very interested in revenge.

After being forced to fire her vice guild leader to cover up the Gate incident,

this was her perfect chance to get payback.

And the result?

A constant, never-ending flood of item notifications.

[Stored 100 Rabbit’s Feet in inventory.]

[Title acquired: Rabbit’s Foot Collector!]

[+1 Luck.]

[Stored 100 different types of Bear Pelts.]

[Title acquired: Bear Pelt Enthusiast!]

[+1 HP.]

[Stored 10 Dungeon Boss Emblems.]

[Title acquired: Dungeon Boss Slayer!]

[+1% Damage to Boss Monsters.]

[......]

[...]

Using money to speedrun title achievements.

Most of these items were rare field drops or Arena rewards.

But for Yoon Asan—

she just bought them all.

Asan Guild’s business empire—worth over 320 billion won—made sure of that.

"Pull every last cent you can."

"The financial authorities won’t let this slide."

"Since when do we care about a government that barely holds itself together? Now stop wasting my time."

"...Understood."

"Cancel Yoon Eun-ho’s world tour. Cancel all active idol projects. We’re not playing around anymore."

The money she had already spent was more than the price of a luxury car.

Items that cost tens of thousands of won per second were stacking endlessly.

Every pay-to-win achievement was being unlocked instantly.

"Purchase limit? Secretary, remove it."

"Even you have a limit?"

"First time I’ve seen it. Apparently, I hit the cap at 10 billion won. Fix it."

Even her secretary was shaken.

If someone wasted 1 or 10 billion won in a game, people might call it reckless—

But burning through the value of an entire corporate building was insanity.

And the scariest part?

That was just her first round of spending.

"While we wait, I’ll hit the Arena."

"Actually, the Arena is a bit..."

"What? You’re telling me, after spending 10 billion won, I can’t win?"

"It’s just... the Arena is full of strange NPCs lately... it’s a bit... chaotic."

"Fine. Then get me disciples. Round up every NPC on this list."

Her subordinates rushed to find the strongest NPCs nearby.

Every elite NPC mentioned on the forums was gathered in one place.

They were not amused.

"Are you seriously making us compete?"

"I find this insulting. Even if disciple contracts have turned into sponsorship deals, gathering multiple candidates at once is disgraceful."

Yoon Asan cut off their complaints immediately.

"There’s a misunderstanding."

"I’m taking all of you as disciples."

"...All of us?"

"That’s over twenty people."

"Are you even aware of our worth?"

"Chief Ma, show them."

Her secretary’s team pulled up their inventory logs—

The sheer quantity of items exceeded what even inventory expansions could handle.

[Affinity with Robert, Vice-Captain of the Azure Dragon Knights, has reached 50.]

[Robert is satisfied with the contract conditions.]

[Robert has become your disciple.]

[Affinity with Wiznahal, Royal Court Mage, has reached 50.]

[Wiznahal is satisfied with the contract conditions.]

[Wiznahal has become [N O V E L I G H T] your disciple.]

[......]

[...]

Twenty elite NPCs—recruited instantly.

"Enter the Arena. The first one to reach the required score will receive a Unique weapon rental."

"Wait... That’s the legendary Screaming Sword! It’s worth 55 million gold!"

"Incredible... A staff made from thousand-year-old wood..."

Affinity, contracts, motivation.

Everything could be bought.

If she couldn’t buy it?

That just meant she hadn’t spent enough money.

And the results were immediate.

Her disciples spread out into different regions and leagues, earning massive Arena points.

[Disciple Robert has achieved 10 consecutive wins in the Eiffel Region Gold League Arena.]

[Disciple Wiznahal has defeated the Elite Ogre Abandoned by Um Gil-dong in the Cheongheo Region Gold League Arena.]

And while her automatic Arena farming ran in the background,

her accounts—now freed from purchase limits—

poured even more money into the game.

"What about the spirit contract?"

"Doctor Johan II just sent word. He’s obtained a new Spirit Contract standard from the King of Light Spirits. He’s willing to proceed if you teleport to his coordinates."

[Teleport Scroll - Owned: 10]

[Using Teleport Scroll to specified coordinates.]

Asan Guild would be the first to claim the Demon King of Beasts.

And with it—

they would begin their war against Ha Eung Eung.

3.

[Congratulations!]

[SR-grade Light Spirit That Shines Even in the Deepest Jungles has appeared!]

Th𝓮 most uptodate nov𝑒ls are publish𝒆d on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

Kekeke. For a lowly creature, you have some sense.

I like your offering.

I shall grant you the honor of learning my name.

While Yoon Asan was dealing with garbage-tier gacha rates,

somewhere else in Gladiator Growth, a lucky player had struck gold on their first summon—

recruiting a fully evolved Light Spirit.

"Hah? Acting all high and mighty even though you're just a lowly bug? ♡ You better speak respectfully to your master! ♡"

The viewer who had summoned it?

None other than "The Guy Who Loves Apologies",

a longtime viewer of Ha Eung Eung’s stream,

who had jumped in during a massive viewer participation event.