The Civil Servant Who Concealed Their True Strength Turns Out to be a Master of Possession - Chapter 275
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Civil Servant Who Hides His Strength Is Exceptionally Good at Possession – Episode 275
“The stocks I bought this time went up 500 percent. I made a fortune!”
“I heard the Chrysler Building is being built new.”
“Did you see the new skirt at the department store? It was so pretty!”
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The old Subway rumbles deafeningly as it races forward, yet ‘those things’ continue their endless conversation.
About stocks, about the building that will be constructed, about newly released fashion.
And—
In the newspaper they read, a man with a mustache wearing a bowler hat is drawn. It’s an advertisement for his new film.
I sit among them, and right now….
‘I’m heading to an audition!’
Good heavens.
Congratulations! Your profession is ‘Actor’.
From now on, the story of 【The More Money, The Better!】 will proceed.
In 【The More Money, The Better!】, each player collects coins, and rankings are determined by the number of coins.
The bottom 50% of rankings are eliminated.
Damn it.
What kind of Dungeon is this again.
Eliminated? What does that even mean?
That was the moment I thought that.
Currently organizing bottom 50% rankings….
A strange window appeared.
I looked around.
Those things sitting nearby… with grotesque faces.
Women and men—or rather, things presumed to be such—wearing formal suits or skirts befitting 1920s New York.
But their heads were not human faces.
Where a head should be above their shoulders, banknotes were attached instead.
On the head of the man boasting about stocks were several hundred-dollar bills, on the head of the woman boasting about fashion were fewer hundred-dollar bills, and on the head of the Newspaper Boy was just a single coin.
And soon—
Clack. Clack.
The interior of the Subway darkens.
And when the lights came back on—
The boy with a head made of coins lay sprawled like a deflated balloon, as if an invisible blade had passed through and severed it.
So that’s… ‘elimination’.
I shut my eyes tight.
And when I opened them again, the boy’s corpse had been neatly cleaned away.
Check your coins displayed at the top.
Soon a coin-shaped icon appeared.
Press the coin to confirm your ranking.
And when I pressed it, a Player number appeared along with an amount.
Numbers appeared above the heads of the other people as well.
They were all zeros.
Player 135: Coins 0
In this capitalist world, opportunity’s door stands open to everyone!
With effort, anyone can become wealthy.
Ah, this is the kind of nonsense villains spout in movies and dramas.
And naturally, the wealthy are rewarded for their efforts.
Therefore, the top three ranked players receive 10 times, 5 times, and 2 times their current coins respectively.
Ha. A system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?
What kind of insane Dungeon is this! This is absolutely ridiculous!
If the rewards for first, second, and third place are that generous, then the ladder of social mobility itself shrinks.
Damn it.
Ten days remain until the next settlement! Please all create an entertaining ‘story’ for us!
Why does this system have such an obsession with ‘stories’….
‘…!’
Could it be.
Is the villain of this EX-rank Dungeon the system itself?
Which means….
‘There’s no clear way to dismantle it!’
Damn it.
That was when it happened.
The subway came to a stop.
Times Square Station
I instinctively realized I had to get off here.
And as I exited the station and climbed the stairs, the rankings began to shift.
…?
They’re changing this fast?
1st Player 1: 100 Coins (NEW!)
2nd Player 180: 90 Coins (NEW!)
And even…
1st Player 180: 200 Coins (NEW!)
The changes were incredibly rapid.
What the hell is Player 180 doing.
* * *
I soon arrived at a film production company on Broadway.
Fortunately, thanks to the ‘audition notice’ in my hand, I was able to find this place.
Ensemble Audition
-Broadville Building, 42nd Street, Broadway
-2:00 PM
It looked like a scrap cut from a newspaper.
And for reference, my appearance was—
“Hey, Blondie! Here for the audition?”
I was apparently being perceived as blonde.
“You’re quite pretty.”
And apparently I was beautiful, too.
I offered an awkward smile to the fedora-wearing man who was whistling at me.
Sigh. 1920s New York wasn’t all that different.
With that thought, I gazed at the building belonging to the company called Broadville.
‘It looks like a warehouse.’
Well, back in the day, they apparently filmed movies in warehouse-like places like this.
The problem was that all sorts of women had gathered in front of this building, lined up in a queue.
And my number was—
“43. Good luck, pretty.”
Number 43.
Didn’t they say they were only hiring five people?
Sigh.
If each person had different roles, how was this supposed to be a fair capitalist system?
Acting wasn’t exactly a profession where you could make decent money, was it?
The very possibility of becoming a star actor was slim!
Besides, I couldn’t act at all….
‘Wait.’
I stared at the photograph of a mustachioed man posted at the entrance of the production company building.
Now that I thought about it, this era was when silent films thrived alongside talkies.
And Westerns and action films were popular.
Which meant….
“Oh my, look! The president of Broadville is here!”
That was when it happened.
An antique automobile that I’d only ever seen in old films pulled through the iron gate of the film production company Broadville.
Though the interior wasn’t clearly visible, a man wearing a fedora and smoking a cigar likely sat inside.
Soon, a production company employee approached the driver’s side to open the door.
In the meantime, the women lined up at the entrance hurried toward the antique automobile.
Of course, it was an antique from my perspective, but in this era it would be considered a cutting-edge vehicle.
An extraordinarily expensive one at that.
The man who descended from the old car turned his head to regard the actresses lined up in a row—myself included.
A pristine cream-colored sleeveless suit draped an attractive face.
A cigar was literally clenched between his lips.
And in that moment, I saw text floating above the man’s head.
Player 181
…?
The man approached the actors who had come for the audition and began calling out numbers.
“Number 5, Number 3, Number 12, Number 30, Number 41….”
The women’s eyes sparkled.
Meanwhile, the women whose numbers weren’t called fled in tears.
“I came all the way here from the South!”
And soon the man stood before me.
“Number 43.”
I met the man’s gaze.
Player 181. The production company staff member called him this.
“Mr. Smith. Shall we begin the audition?”
“Yes, let’s proceed.”
The man called Smith replied.
But to me, he didn’t look like Smith.
He looked like Kwon Ik-seong.
And beneath Kwon Ik-seong’s Player 181 designation, there was this description.
Film Production Company President
Ah, this inequitable world!
Must I feel social inequality even after entering a Dungeon!
I will absolutely dismantle this class-based society!
But my resolve shattered almost immediately.
The moment I entered the audition hall and saw the countless cameras and lights.
My heart began racing far too quickly.
‘I’m finished….’
I had forgotten that I suffered from camera anxiety.
I watched the women before me singing and dancing with exaggerated voices.
Some of them performed quite competently.
Though it was somewhat overdone.
And soon it was my turn.
“Number 43!”
I creaked forward toward the camera.
“What will you show us?”
There was only one method left to me.
I forced out a strained smile and spoke.
“I will demonstrate Oriental martial arts!”
To become an action actor.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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