Puppy Bat, Forced Abstinence, and Live Stream Frenzy
html, body { margin:0; padding:0; } Rookie: Baek Jaesung 40
"Oppa! That thing keeps following us!"
Jisu pointed at the bat that looked like a demon mascot. The creature, mostly made up of huge eyes, was indeed trailing after us like a puppy, just as she said.
It was one of the ones I'd given a donut to earlier. The others had all flown off somewhere else, but this one stuck around and followed us.
It was so damn cute, and there wasn't a hint of hostility toward us, so I was torn on whether to even call it a monster.
This world had all sorts of dungeons, each packed with even more varied monsters. Strictly speaking, not every monster was aggressive. There were a few non-hostile ones, though rare as hell. Of course, I'd never heard of one that followed people around so eagerly.
"I wanna take it with us and raise it!"
Jisu whined in that needy voice of hers. No matter how cute it was, letting her guard down like that in front of a monster... Well, who was I to talk after feeding it donuts?
Right now, it didn't seem like much of a threat. If we ignored it, it'd probably wander off on its own.
We skirted around the frozen lake. The massive tentacle monster in there had been a real pain in the ass for us too. We'd neutralized it somehow, but not killed it outright.
Instead of fighting that beast, we leisurely watched penguins waddling across the icy ground as we moved on.
Kim Seon-uk's party had bounced back quick from their teammate's death. But the leader himself still had that gloomy look on his face. As party head, the responsibility hit him harder.
Same for me. If one of my girls died? I'd probably lose my shit completely. That's why I'd prepped stuff like the Life Vessel as a backup.
Passing through monster-free zones was mentally relaxing, but kinda boring too. I glanced around casually.
Our formation had me toward the rear. Only Rina was behind me covering the tail. Sujin was right beside me.
This calls for some hand play.
I reached out to tease Sujin. Groping her ass always made time fly.
←Forced Quest→
●Stop the Groping!
↳No sexual acts of any kind, including intercourse, until exiting the Level House.
※Failing to clear this forced quest will incur a penalty.
Suddenly, a new quest popped up. Not just any quest—a forced one. It straight-up said failing it meant a penalty.
I checked the quest details and couldn't hold back my rage.
No sexual acts? Are you fucking kidding me? Is the Unix Cube trying to teach me a lesson?
This quest came out of nowhere, leaving me pissed and baffled. Fine, no sex—but "any sexual acts" probably included simple ass-grabbing. Kisses or pecks off-limits too?
The restriction only lasted until we left the Level House, but it was still pure torture for me. Part of me wanted to ignore it outright.
Penalty for failure... No idea how bad, but I don't wanna risk it.
I thought it through coldly. Pleasure in the dungeon versus an unknown penalty—I had to choose wisely.
Weighing unclear pros and cons was pure agony, a real mental torment. In the end, I chose endurance.
Once we're out of this dungeon, I'll fuck them like animals.
"Jaesung, your eyes just got kinda scary."
"Huh? Must be your imagination."
Sujin nailed my sharpened vibe like a ghost. She'd been with me plenty, so it made sense. Her perceptiveness was adorable, making it even harder to hold back. This quest was way more painful than I'd thought.
If the reward sucks, you're fucked.
I ground my teeth internally and pressed on.
It'd been ages since the Hunter Association called an executive meeting this often. Hoseok rushed to prep. Sure, he was the Dungeon Research Department chief, but really, he was just a situation board for the bigwigs. Tons to prepare for a meeting like this.
"What the hell is this now!?"
One exec spoke in disbelief. The perk of video calls? No spit flying your way. In person, Hoseok would've been drowned in their yelling.
"We're investigating the situation."
"Investigate my ass! The dungeon raid's being live-streamed right now! Does that make any sense!?"
Hoseok nodded despite himself. It made zero sense.
"Real-time viewers at 100 million... World Cup viewership was what, again? And it's age-restricted."
"Ha! Isn't this exposing all the Association's dirty laundry to the world? Chief Kim! Can't we get YouTube to take it down?"
"We reached out, but no response."
Obvious reason: Why would YouTube ditch content smashing 100 million live viewers?
The internet was in total chaos. Not just Korea—the whole world.
"That Taepyeong Ilbo or whatever—the one live-streaming the paper—tell them to pull it!"
"Every news outlet and broadcaster's already relaying it live. No point."
"Damn it! How the hell did this happen?"
It started with videos appearing around the Level House. They showed dungeon hunters exploring inside.
Hoseok had no clue how. Couldn't even guess.
"We're tracking the parties via the streams for now."
"How many parties are still alive?"
"Four confirmed so far, including Baek Jaesung's—average rank 9."
"A 9-rank party raiding Level House?"
"Yes. Recommended by Team Leader Kim Minyoung. Says his real skill rivals 7-rank. Backed by Director Kim Geon-yong."
"Ugh... If Kim the director vouches..."
The exec backed off quick.
Baek Jaesung's party showed first. Then others, including Han Seungjin's, popped up later.
"Party leader! Check out this bat! It's begging for food from us!"
"Hey! Be careful! It's a monster! Could turn any second!"
"Whoa. Never seen a monster this tame. This dungeon's wild."
The footage had super free angles. Analysis showed it was filmed via some monster—the cute bats they were calling.
News and broadcasters were filming the screens around the dungeon and streaming live online. Global sensation.
Hunter raid vids weren't rare on YouTube. Association had tons for training or promo.
But those were edited. Dull compared to this raw, live global feed.
"No legal way to block the streams? Use Association authority if needed!"
Raw dungeon raids going worldwide? Bad news. Dungeons were hellholes; raids got ugly—stuff that'd make civilians cringe. Tarnished hunter image big time.
"Don't get emotional. Controlling info now? Public backlash against us is obvious."
Execs debated hotly. Hoseok sighed thinly. What bugged him most: How were inside vids streaming out?
Dungeon comms were impossible. Or near enough.
Mana waves around dungeons wrecked most human tech. Rare monster parts needed to bypass. Association had few dungeon comms devices.
Inside vids reaching out means some comm link. Could make bank if we play it right...
Meeting thoughts scattered everywhere. No real progress. Meanwhile, YouTube viewers kept climbing.
Hoseok eyed the live YouTube stream on one monitor. Baek Jaesung's was top. Chat exploding.
"Jeez, end times. Immersion's off the charts though. Turn this into a business..."
Ideas swirled in Hoseok's head.
We finally reached a new door. Boring trek. Yeonji up front opened it.
"Hope the exit just pops out with a 'bam!' here."
No dice. Not the starting room. Another dense forest greeted us.
"First time seeing this?"
Yeonji crossed cautiously. We followed into the new room. Massive trees we'd never seen IRL towered everywhere, forming a majestic woods.
"What is this?"
Rina tilted her head. Not your average forest. We quickly pinned the weird vibe.
"It's like! We shrunk into giant country. Gulliver style."
Jisu nailed it. Everything was huge.
Trees were at least several armspans thick base minimum. Flowers and grass double real-world size easy.
"Look at that!"
Jang Hana pointed skyward. No joke—a dragonfly helicopter-sized floated by.
Dragonfly in English. Size-wise, you'd buy it as a dragon.
"Real giant country?"
Yeonji cocked her head.
"Feels like dinosaurs gonna show."
We nodded. Like time-slipping to dino era.
Sudden heavy footsteps. Elephant-stomping clear.
Glancing right, we spotted a monster pack trampling brush toward us. Not quite dinos.
"Chickens!? Covered in feathers?"
African elephant-sized, but feathered bird, not reptilian skin. Birds from dinos? Fitting look.
It quadruped-walked at us. Thumping steps screamed hostility.