NewTuber Prep!

We'd been fired up and fully on board—then the moment we started sorting out the details, that heat drained away in an instant.

"Hyung, you do know how to set up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a NewTube channel, right?"

"Obviously not."

"Hyung. What should we do for the YouTube banner?"

"How about something like, The Heavenly Demon Approaches! Clear the Path!?"

"Hyung… I'm guessing you don't have an artifact drone or any other gear for recording your climbs."

"Nope. Don't have any."

I was answering in complete good faith, and yet Yeongjae's face kept getting worse by the second.

"Yeongjae, let's go! Fighting!"

"Ah… yeah. Sure."

I tried to pump him up a little—only for Juhyeok to lean over and address Yeongjae instead.

"Congratulations. You walked into hell of your own free will."

"Should I back out while I still can?"

"Like that guy would ever let you go."

Their conversation was drifting the wrong way entirely, but my own motivation was climbing by the second.

"Just one word from me, and huge crowds are going to come pouring in, right!?"

A Heavenly Demon needed followers—that was simply how it worked. The thought of more than ten million people someday obeying my every command made my heart race.

"First, make another account and hand it over to me."

"Got it!"

"And for the banner… sigh… I'll just find someone myself. I know a skilled designer who already has a crush on hyung's looks alone."

"For real?"

"Yeah. Your face is the kind of visual that sells itself at a glance."

Connections like that, on top of everything else—I clearly needed to start by paying Yeongjae a bonus for pure competence.

"Yeongjae, the second I get home today, I'm sending you that bonus first!"

I'd brought mana stones with me so I could buy beef on the way home, but now I'd have to hit a mana-stone exchange and transfer the money to Yeongjae right away.

"Save the bonus for later. More importantly—what are you doing about gear?"

"W-well… good question?"

"You know artifact-grade recording equipment is expensive, right? From what I saw at Yeongdeungpo, you smash everything around you. You're going to need the good stuff."

"…"

To buy expensive gear I needed money, and to make money I needed artifacts…

"Just… wait a bit. I'll go farm the first floor for a few days if I have to."

"If you can, that would be best, yeah."

I'd originally planned to head straight to the second floor. But going in without even knowing the clear conditions risked wasting a ton of time. So I pivoted—farm the first floor a few more times, collect the rewards, and make some cash.

"I'm going right now!"

"Huh?"

I touched my watch and entered on the spot.

Five minutes later…

"I'm back!"

A fast, easy clear…! The others were so shocked they asked if I'd gone in after putting on a cup of instant noodles.

Of course, there was a reason it had gone that quickly.

It was different from the first time I went in… there was barely anything there.

No troll, and the usual monster count felt way down. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rewards were stingy too.

"I only made two mid-grade mana stones…"

"No, no—that's actually a ridiculous haul?"

"Some people have to stay in the Tower half a day just to scrape together one mid-grade mana stone. Are you joking right now?"

Maybe it was because I'd made a million won in five minutes, but nobody understood how I felt.

On top of that, I'd figured if there was another troll, I might get another Incomplete Elixir… Seeing there wasn't one, it seemed the Tower wasn't quite that generous.

"Hmm. Anyway, if I cash in all the mana stones, I've got about 3.5 million won. Not enough to buy one, right…?"

"Obviously not. Recording artifacts run at least thirty to forty million."

"Eep!"

I'd seriously underestimated it. I never thought it'd be that expensive.

"Aaaah, isn't there someone who would just lend me one…!"

"Renting is a hard no. It's the Tower—you never know what might happen, and most people end up having to pay for the gear. You get hit with rental fees and repair costs. Double the pain."

So borrowing was off the table too! I was sitting there moping when a thought hit me.

"Wait…! I can borrow from the government!"

"Huh? That's possible?"

"Heh heh. Tower secret. Just sit tight and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wait."

I remembered the artifact rental clause written into the contract with the Section Chief. The Association filmed climbs regularly for climber guides, so they almost certainly had recording artifacts available for loan.

"Then the big problem's basically solved."

"So now you just need to bring back footage worth watching."

"That's all?"

"Well, it's not like there's anything else you can do yourself."

"…Fair."

"In the end I'm doing almost everything, so just shoot the video and dump the files on me."

"Got it!"

That wrapped up the conversation with supremely competent Yeongjae. With nothing left to do, I quietly stood and said,

"I should head out."

"Finally. Congrats on the three-week-early discharge."

"Once you rent the artifact, message me! And about the side job too!"

"Got it. Juhyeok—you too, man. Hit me up if anything rough comes up!"

"Yeah, yeah."

That attitude. That dismissive little reply. He had no idea how valuable this body's help truly was.

I said my goodbyes on the way out, then grabbed the clerk I ran into in the hallway and made him subscribe to my channel.

After that I cashed in the mana stones and headed home.

"Heh heh—mana stone prices went up. 3.75 million!"

The rate was fifty thousand higher than usual, so I bought 2+ grade Korean beef for the occasion.

"Eat this first, then call the Section Chief and settle the rental and the side-job permit. That should do it, right?"

Things were going so smoothly it was almost worrying.

"This is all because I've lived a good life."

Thanks to that, I'd made money—and the Korean beef I grilled for the first time in ages melted in my mouth.

"Expensive meat really does taste like cheese!"

I demolished the meat in no time, cleaned up after myself, and sat back down.

"Whew. Getting nervous!"

For some reason, calling Section Chief Lee Gicheol always made me tense. Maybe because he was the perfect image of the impressive adult I'd looked up to as a kid?

Rrring—

A plain default ringtone, as if it had been modeled after his businesslike personality. When it stopped, the Section Chief picked up.

"Yes, Section Chief!"

"Yes—what can I do for you?"

"Ah, I wanted to rent an artifact, so I was calling about that."

"Ah—yes. What kind of artifact do you need?"

I explained my situation in order and asked to borrow a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recording artifact.

"Hmm. So you've ultimately chosen hard-mode climbing…!"

"Honestly, the first floor was far easier than I expected!"

"Hearing that puts my mind at ease."

"Yes—so I need to film, and I was wondering if I could borrow the gear?"

"Of course we can rent it to you. And, as you described, we can handle the side-job permit for your junior as well."

"Huh? It's really possible?"

"Yes. A request from someone at your level is quite reasonable… Other people simply call it pocket money, and then the tax side becomes a problem."

"Really?"

"Yes. Quite a lot—no, a great many cases. Climbers especially tend to have sudden windfalls of wealth, so it happens easily…"

Come to think of it, if I hadn't signed a proper contract, I might have handed out money the same careless way and run into trouble myself.

"Then, if I may—for Association data collection, would it be all right to ask about the hard mode you've experienced?"

"Yes, ask me anything!"

"I'd like to know the specific difficulty of first-floor hard mode as you personally felt it."

"Hmm. Difficulty-wise it's still the first floor, but a serious pressure came crashing in. It was more anticlimactic than I expected, but thanks to the troll I still had a pretty fun climb!"

"Hmm… a troll, you say…?"

"Yes!"

"A troll from the first floor already… That's something I haven't heard from any other hard-mode climbers…"

Apparently it was new information. I'd drawn it out by rampaging through the forest, but explaining that would be awkward. Since the troll had been there, I'd just keep my mouth shut.

"Hmm. It seems hard-mode climbers will need even more special caution…"

Muttering in a grave voice, the Section Chief went quiet for a moment amid the clatter of a keyboard—then his voice returned before long.

"My apologies. Climber—it was urgent information that needed to be passed on, and I vanished without a word."

"Ah, no, you're working… So, when would the artifact rental be available?"

"If you come to the center tomorrow, you should be able to pick it up right away. And I'll file the side-job permit with the agency and process it immediately."

"As expected of the Section Chief!"

"And I'll help you out as well by subscribing."

"…!!! Thank you!"

I'd oddly been too shy to ask—and he'd offered on his own. Everything really was falling into place.

"Ah, and why not ask the other hard-mode climbers as well?"

"Huh? Other climbers? How…?"

"Hmm? Have you not opened the community yet?"

"Community?"

There was something like that?

"According to the other hard-mode climbers, after clearing hard mode a community window appears in the upper-right of the status window…?"

I checked my status window at the Section Chief's words—and sure enough, a community window had appeared at the top.

"Oh! So there was something like that? I must've been lost in thought and missed the message window."

"Haha. They climbed hard mode ahead of you, so they'll be seniors who can help you in many ways. They're all good people—if you ask them to subscribe, they should help without much trouble."

"Yes, thank you so much!"

"Then I'll leave it there. Take care of yourself on your climbs."

"Yes—you too, Section Chief!"

Before hanging up, I asked him once more to subscribe and to recommend the channel around him, then ended the call.

I immediately relayed the news to Yeongjae.

Once he heard the news, he said he needed a bit of prep time himself—at least three days.

I finished the chat, tossed my phone onto the bed, and stretched out.

"Now I've done everything I needed to!"

Work finished. Free time from here on.

I immediately opened the community I'd been curious about.

"A nickname, huh…"

No matter what game you played, picking a nickname was always hard. I just went with something safe—my class, Heavenly Demon.

The moment I entered it, a window appeared that felt less like a community and more like a group chat.

"Hmm. True to the name, it's just… faithfully being a community."

I'd half expected people hiding behind anonymity to start stirring up chaos—but with so few members, the vibe was closer to a school class group chat. Which meant it was packed with mostly useless chatter.