[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 511: Racetrack (1)

"A… racetrack?"

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened as he checked the dungeon tooltip.

“Is it… really a racetrack?”

It definitely said "racetrack," but he couldn’t forget that this was a dungeon.

Back in Batum's casino, gambling had indeed taken place—but by tossing the participants directly into a coliseum.

‘So this dungeon is bound to run on some equally messed-up logic.’

Still, the fact that the dungeon's name blatantly included "racetrack" meant there would be some form of racing.

[Poso Racetrack]

| Dungeon Grade: Heroic

| Difficulty: A

| Required Players: 6

| Recommended Players: 12

*Mounts are allowed in this dungeon.

"Mounts allowed, huh… They weren’t allowed in the other dungeons.”

Just that special clause alone gave away a crucial clue.

In this dungeon, the participants would likely be racing on their own mounts.

‘So does that mean I’ll have to enter with Negwig?’

Yeongwoo turned his head toward Negwig, the iron horse from space.

The black steel beast met his gaze.

-Kwiik.

"You any good at running? I have a feeling the jockeys here aren’t going to be human."

At Yeongwoo’s question, Negwig reared its upper body into the air and swung its front legs.

-Kwiiiiiik......!

Whether that meant "Of course!" or "Don't be reckless!" wasn’t exactly clear.

But as Negwig raised its body, Yeongwoo caught a glint from the Dogo emblem engraved on its torso.

That might not be a literal signal from the company telling him to enter the race, but at the very least, it gave Yeongwoo a solid reason to feel confident.

“Yeah. If it’s a Dogo product, it’s got to be top-notch—even in space.”

Negwig.

An iron horse of unranked grade.

Today might be the day he finally discovered what its true rank was.

“I’m counting on you. No—on you, and our company.”

With his decision made, Yeongwoo reached out to touch the dungeon tooltip.

But instead of a portal, a holographic menu appeared.

Fwoosh!

「Please select a betting amount.」

"Betting? So it is a gambling race."

「Your betting amount will determine your racing opponents. Choose wisely.」

Three preset amounts were then displayed:

[50 million Karma]

[100 million Karma]

[300 million Karma]

"Huh… that's quite a range."

According to the system, your betting amount decided who you’d be racing against.

Most likely, you'd be matched with others who bet the same amount.

In other words—

‘If someone’s willing to drop 300 million Karma on a single race... they’re not just anybody.’

Then what were the odds like?

Yeongwoo waited for the next screen, but only the betting amounts were still displayed.

“Guess I need to enter the dungeon to find out the rest.”

Which only meant that the 300 million tier was likely filled with even more monstrous opponents.

After all, who would bet that much without even knowing the rules—unless they had absurd confidence in their mount?

‘Well, I do have that much confidence.’

Even if he ended up losing all 300 million Karma, it wouldn’t hurt him too badly.

But what made him feel a bit uneasy was—

‘Are we only racing? For some reason, I really doubt that.’

Yeongwoo glanced back at the statue of the mounted archer that had risen along with the dungeon tooltip.

If it’s a racetrack, then why is the rider holding a bow?

‘Wait… is this one of those races where you shoot your opponents while riding…?’

Conveniently enough, Yeongwoo had both the martial skills and weapons necessary for such a blood-racing hybrid.

「Call of God」 - Epic Archery

【If you have enough faith, you can even reach the gods with your arrows.】

「White Fire」 - Epic Bow

【Sensory perception applies to arrow power.】

【Power increases with arrow distance.】

◇ Dogo: Covert Arrows

◇ Dogo: Special ability damage

Epic archery skills.

A specially-modified Dogo bow.

‘So really, there’s no reason not to bet 300 million.’

The moment Yeongwoo selected the highest tier, the Karma was immediately deducted from his balance.

Fwoooosh!

All the holograms vanished, and in their place appeared a massive portal.

All that was left was to step inside.

“Well, let’s see what this is all about.”

He’d already paid—what was the point in hesitating now?

Yeongwoo stepped forward without delay.

Swoosh.

Negwig, seemingly aware it had to participate too, followed him of its own accord into the portal.

And just like that, Yeongwoo and Negwig took their first step toward the unknown racetrack.

Shhhhhhk!

In the blink of an eye, they passed through the portal and arrived beneath a massive arch structure.

“This is… the racetrack?”

The first thing that caught Yeongwoo’s eye was a giant stone arch that appeared to mark the entrance.

At its center, some kind of strange script was writhing—clearly a transcendent language.

「Poso's Racetrack」

‘A transcendent script? Who the hell is Poso?’

As Yeongwoo stared up at the arch and its mysterious inscription, someone emerged from within the racetrack.

Step. Step.

-Are you a participant?

The being had blue skin, a single eye, and long fangs.

It carried a stone tablet resting on one arm—it was a one-eyed goblin.

“Yes… I just bet 300 million.”

-Three hundred million?

The goblin scanned Yeongwoo up and down with its large eye, then tilted its head curiously.

Yeongwoo was about to mirror the gesture—

FWOOSH!

Suddenly, the space behind him split wide open and formed a portal, from which a massive palanquin covered in gold burst out.

“What the—?”

Startled, Yeongwoo quickly stepped to the side.

One of the four hulking figures carrying the palanquin addressed the goblin.

-The third prince of the Sidal Royal Family, Prince Diorn, has arrived.

Prince Diorn of the Sidal Royal Family.

At that, both Yeongwoo and the goblin turned their eyes to the man seated atop the palanquin.

-…….

He looked every bit the pampered heir of a wealthy noble house.

His frame was thin, but he wore a gaudy suit of armor that seemed far too ornate for his body.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

His skin had a rosy hue, almost like he was drunk, but it seemed to be a trait of his species—since the massive palanquin-bearers had the same pinkish skin tone.

Compared to humans, their skeletons were clearly larger—especially the jaws—but this Prince Diorn didn’t look strong at all.

‘He looks like he’s frail… and he came to race?’

And then, following behind the palanquin, a beast in dazzling armor growled as it crawled out.

-…Grrrr.

It was a wolf, its entire body covered in pitch-black fur.

That must be the “horse” Prince Diorn had brought with him.

“A racehorse… really?”

Yeongwoo muttered without realizing, while the goblin hurriedly scanned the tablet with his single eye.

— Ah! Confirmed, Your Highness! We’ll guide you to the 300-million seat.

Then he waved his hand in the air and summoned a small tag.

On it was written the number “03-8.”

“03-8… is that the participant number?”

It likely meant number 8 in the 300-million bracket.

After handing the tag to one of the palanquin bearers, the prince slightly tilted his chin, looking down at Yeongwoo, the goblin, and Negwig from his seat.

Then, without a word, he turned his head back.

That was his way of saying: let’s go.

The palanquin bearers all stepped forward at once and shouted:

— The procession begins!

Thud, thoom.

Their massive bodies made heavy footfalls as they passed under the arch of the racetrack. The black wolf following the palanquin gave Yeongwoo and Negwig a sharp glare with its yellow eyes before slowly moving ahead.

“What the hell is this place?”

Yeongwoo07, Earth hick.

As he stood there with his mouth agape, stunned by the unexpected sight, the goblin traced the tablet with a finger and asked:

— 300 million, you said? May I have your name?

“Uh… It should say Jeong Yeongwoo07.”

— Jeong Yeongwoo… Ah, here it is.

After finding Yeongwoo’s name on the tablet, the goblin, for some reason, didn’t immediately issue the tag. Instead, he glanced at Yeongwoo and Negwig.

“Is there a problem?”

— Perhaps you selected the wrong betting tier? I’ve never heard of a family called Renaissance.

“Oh.”

Yeongwoo finally understood why the goblin had looked puzzled earlier.

The 300-million tier was clearly reserved for royalty or scions of wealthy noble houses.

But here was someone from an unknown house, showing up with no attendants, dragging just a single horse.

‘No wonder he was suspicious. He thought I bought the wrong ticket.’

The Renaissance family wasn’t known across the galaxy—yet—so Yeongwoo couldn’t really blame him.

“Is participation limited to famous houses?”

— Oh no, nothing like that. Shall I guide you to your spot? Once a tag is issued, refunds are not allowed.

The goblin had actually been trying to be considerate to the clueless outsider.

But while Yeongwoo was indeed a hick… he was also crazy.

“I’m curious to see how fast these princes really are. Give me the spot.”

Grabbing Negwig’s reins, Yeongwoo declared this boldly.

The goblin stared blankly for a moment, then waved his hand through the air again.

Whoosh!

[03-7]

Yeongwoo’s tag number was 03-7.

Coincidentally, it matched the identifier he’d received after the reset.

“Number 7. On my planet, that’s a lucky number.”

Yeongwoo snatched the tag from the goblin’s hand, and in that moment, the arch ahead of them briefly flashed.

It must have meant a new participant had been registered.

The goblin then pointed toward the large plaza beyond the arch and explained:

— Once you enter with that tag, directional markers will appear. Follow them to find seat 03-7.

“Thanks.”

— Best of luck, Jeong Yeongwoo07.

With that, the goblin averted his gaze from Yeongwoo, who confidently strode toward the massive stone arch.

Clack, clack.

The plaza ahead, likely where the racehorses and their riders waited, was paved with dark gray stone tiles.

Across this open area, square spaces were painted at regular intervals in green, yellow, and red.

From what Yeongwoo could tell, these were waiting areas divided by payment tiers.

He assumed this because each space had signs that looked similar to the tag numbers.

‘01-4… That’s probably lane 4 in the 100-million tier. It’s yellow.’

Meanwhile, the green spaces had signs beginning with 005, likely indicating the 50-million tier.

So that meant the 300-million tier was probably in the red zone.

Beeeeeep!

As soon as he fully passed through the arch, a red guiding line shot out from Yeongwoo’s tag.

‘That must be pointing me to my spot.’

Following the glowing line, Yeongwoo walked forward.

As he went, the surrounding seating areas became increasingly red.

After a bit more walking…

‘That bastard’s over there.’

He spotted the black wolf from earlier, crouched atop red-tinted ground.

Beside it stood a white tent adorned in golden decorations.

‘So… tents are allowed, huh.’

Clearly, this wasn’t Prince Diorn’s first race.

As Yeongwoo kept watching, one of the palanquin bearers from before emerged from the tent and placed a massive trophy at the edge of their area.

He couldn’t get close enough to inspect it, but it was likely a trophy from a previous race.

‘Anyway, the numbers only go up to 8 so far. Where’s everyone else?’

Most of the area was marked as 300 million, yet most seats were empty.

Maybe they intentionally spaced the top-tier racers out to avoid crowding.

‘So where’s my seat? It keeps telling me to go further.’

Since the guiding line still pointed forward, Yeongwoo took another step in that direction—

VROOOOOM…!

Suddenly, a very familiar sound echoed from afar.

It sounded like—

‘Wait, no way.’

An engine revving.

Yeongwoo turned instinctively toward the noise.

“You heard that too, right?”

— Squeak.

Negwig nodded once in agreement.

They walked about three more minutes toward the source of the strange engine sound.

“…Oh.”

A large gray tent came into view in the distance.

“Looks like a veteran setup over there too.”

And next to it, a white metallic object.

“…What?”

Yeongwoo froze in place at the sight of it.

Clack.

As if waiting for him, the metallic object let out the same loud engine sound.

VROOOOOM…!

“No way… Why is that here?”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened.

The mysterious white metal object was none other than an Audi—

Specifically, the Audi convertible he had once gifted to the major shareholders of Dogo.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]