The Profound World of Bombs

Come to think of it, even if the rankers were suffering, it wasn't Lee Da-bi's concern. They weren't even members of the Power Warrior Guild!

"So, they're depressed like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that because the broadcast is boring."

"Right?"

Since they had gone out of their way to start a stream only to spend it mining, it made sense that people were angry. This wasn't what the viewers were expecting! Of course, even now, several times the usual crowd had gathered just on the strength of Tae-hyun's name, but most of the reactions were insults.

"Wouldn't it be fun if I 'accidentally' threw a bomb at them?"

A reckless ad-lib from a rookie streamer! Tae-hyun pulled out and threw a fake bomb, the kind he had frequently used when dealing with the Guild Alliance.

"Aaaaargh!"

The rankers freaked out and threw themselves in all directions. A fake bomb with an incredibly realistic ticking sound!

"What?! What is it?!"

"A-are you doing this because we weren't focusing?"

"...Exactly. I was trying to test you."

"We were working hard! Look!"

"What kind of extreme..."

The rankers shuddered. Articles and media outlets were always buzzing with the question, "Why is Team KL so strong?" It was a strength whose cause was truly incomprehensible! While other gaming teams took separate time to play scrims and prepare for tournaments, Team KL constantly rushed through dangerous quests as if throwing their lives away. It was a method that made no sense no matter how much anyone thought about it! Journalists and commentators had racked their brains and reached a single conclusion:

Back then, the rankers had read those articles and thought, Come on, shouldn't they still train separately? But experiencing it today, they felt they finally understood.

Those Team KL lunatics were doing this kind of stuff?

No wonder they're so strong...!

The tension of having to prepare for a party member throwing a bomb while clearing a dungeon! Was this tension the source of their strength...?! Of course not.

"Ah. A bomb."

"Aaaaargh!"

"My hand slipped again."

"Gyaaaaargh!"

"Here comes another bomb."

"We won't fall for it this time! It's a fake—"

BOOM!

"Aaaargh!"

How many years of engineering experience did Tae-hyun have? Mixing fake bombs and real bombs was already an art form for him. There was no way the rankers could withstand such subtle psychological warfare. The profound world of bombs, where if you thought it was fake, it was real, and even if you thought it was real, it was still real!

"Why on earth are you doing this?!"

"Yeah! What did we do wrong?! If you're doing this because we cursed at you and called you a demon, we apologize!"

"...Did you guys curse at me and call me a demon?"

"...Ah, oops."

"I-I didn't do it. He did!"

The rankers quickly shifted the blame. We're innocent! Having rolled around so harshly in the Demon Realm, they couldn't help but talk behind Tae-hyun's back. Shouting "Kim Tae-hyun, you bastard! I hope you live a long, prosperous life!" right before freezing to death was a secret they all had to hide.

Tae-hyun looked at the rankers and said:

"I only did it to make your broadcast more entertaining..."

"...What?"

"Pardon?"

"I must have misheard just now, right?"

The rankers doubted their ears.

No, just hunt normally!

You're someone who's entertaining even if you just do quests normally!

Why was he trying to manufacture entertainment in such a bizarre way!

"Was it not fun?"

"Of course it wasn't fun!"

The rankers flared up, but in reality, the viewers' reactions were the exact opposite.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Ignoring the countless reactions flooding the chat, the rankers spoke firmly. "It's not fun! This isn't what a broadcast is! The true entertainment of a stream lies in quests and dungeon raids!"

"Really? I guess I did something unnecessary..."

Tae-hyun felt disappointed. He had tried to help in his own way!

Fearing they would be found out, the rankers hurriedly changed the subject.

"Kim Tae-hyun. If you want to help us, there's a much better way!"

"What is it?"

"Clearing a high-difficulty mine dungeon!"

"Isn't that... a bit too plain?"

At Tae-hyun's words, the rankers were left speechless.

When have you ever cleared a dungeon in a plain way, you lunatic...?!

I've watched all your videos from Pan-On 1, you know?

If that's plain, then every dungeon-clearing party in the world should just retire!

He was the person furthest from the word "plain" in the entire world!

"Senior, don't you need to gather ore anyway, without needing to be considerate of those people?"

"Ah. Come to think of it, you're right. Why should I be considerate of guys who called me a demon?"

"......"

"......"

A thorough grudge! The rankers wept inwardly. We really couldn't help it back then...!

"I do agree with clearing a high-difficulty mine dungeon, though."

Tae-hyun agreed with the rankers' suggestion. In any case, the amount of ore he needed to gather now wasn't something that could be obtained by stripping just one or two mines.

The deeper one went into high-difficulty mines, the more ore there was! There was a reason high-level miners sought out high-difficulty mines.

"But high-difficulty mines don't just roll around. I want to repair the castle as quickly as possible and move it to the kingdom. I don't want to drag this out."

Finding such mines was a chore in itself. Except for a few already famous ones, they would all be hidden...

Hearing Tae-hyun's words, the rankers smiled confidently.

"We knew you'd say that, so we came prepared!"

"Here! Look at this map!"

A list of prime, high-difficulty mine dungeons they had meticulously gathered from various sources!

"Let's make a pilgrimage from here to here, in order!"

"Hehehe... We'll make up for the losses we suffered at the World Tree through this opportunity...!"

Madness gleamed in the rankers' eyes. One big hit...! We'll pay it all back in one big hit!

"Hey. This area is completely on the Auston Kingdom side."

"Doesn't matter!"

"Isn't this place controlled by the Midas Guild?"

"That doesn't matter either!"

"...Weren't you close with the Guild Alliance?"

"That also doesn't matter!"

Many of the rankers were actually on friendly terms with the Guild Alliance or the Midas Guild. Normally, someone like Tae-hyun, who stood at odds and clashed with large guilds, was the anomaly; ordinary rankers maintained amicable relations to some extent. There was no benefit in fighting each other!

But now, things were different.

If we can just clear all the mine dungeons here, we'll more than recover what we lost at the World Tree.

We suffered in the Demon Realm, but the experience point rewards were massive.

An uncleared dungeon completion bonus plus the rewards dropping from the mines. This was enough to ignore any scowls from the Guild Alliance or the Midas Guild.

Tae-hyun found this fascinating.

Rankers usually hate drawing lines and making enemies...

True. That's right.

Rather than worrying about the aftermath, their resolve to clear the dungeon right now was burning fiercely!

"Alright. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠We're going with this list!"

"...!!!"

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

Tae-hyun asked, curious.

"Are the viewers happy now?"

"O-Of course!"

They said they were going, but they couldn't leave immediately. Tae-hyun was someone who thoroughly scraped even low-difficulty mines clean. Even the rankers could only marvel at his skill in discovering and stripping away ore veins that players hadn't found yet.

Whoa, how does he find all of those?

Did Kim Tae-hyun level up his mining skill too? What a lunatic...

Once Tae-hyun left, the miner players who came here would undoubtedly be shocked. The number of ore veins in an ordinary mine had multiplied several times over.

"Kim Tae-hyun. Isn't it about time we get going?"

The rankers asked subtly as they carried the ores on their backs. They wanted to clear the dungeon as quickly as possible.

The broadcast's reaction was also on the verge of exploding! Of course, Tae-hyun didn't even pretend to hear and replied:

"Rice only cooks when it has boiled enough. Does rushing raw grains make them cooked?"

"No... at this point, we've completely stripped this place clean! Barely anything is coming out over there! You can hear the dull thuds of the pickaxes hitting empty rock!"

"Then you guys can go ahead first."

"Ugh...!"

The rankers hesitated. Of course, they weren't rookies. They could have gone ahead and cleared it themselves. But...

With people already causing a fuss, what would happen if they left Tae-hyun behind and went on their own? The chat would go wild! A massive exodus of viewers!

And for high-difficulty dungeons, I'm a bit worried about going with just these guys.

Can they actually do well?

The so-called 'World Tree Rankers' secretly looked down on one another. Those idiots who ruined themselves by getting obsessed with the World Tree! Since they all seemed to have a screw loose, it was questionable whether they could clear a high-difficulty dungeon by themselves.

High-difficulty mines were, in the end, uncleared dungeons whose lower floors remained unconquered. It meant even other well-coordinated ranker raid parties had failed to clear them...

Kim Tae-hyun was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠absolutely necessary!

"Ugh... we'll wait..."

"Carve to your heart's content. We'll wait."

"I told you, rushing only makes it slower. An ore vein must be properly carved to the very end. How can you stop halfway?"

Tae-hyun was practically channeling the spirit of the Old Man Who Crafted Clubs, pursuing the absolute limit of mining. Memories of Pan-On 1 were flooding back! The memories of scraping together every single mine material with utmost care!

"Whew. Shall we call it a day here...?"

"!!!"

The rankers, who had been diligently carrying the loads, had their eyes light up. Really??? For real???

"No. I shouldn't give up. I need to do a bit more."

"Kieeeeeeek!"

"Kweeeeeeeek!"

Hearing the rankers' bizarre shrieks, the Archisus Chimeras stared in surprise. Those adventurers... are they actually the same species as us?

The workstations were buzzing with activity. Tae-hyun had to fight back the tears welling up in his eyes. The Underground Alliance Goblins, who did nothing but give and give every single time! This was why he couldn't possibly hate them. Goblins who gave so much and yet only said, "Your Majesty, we still have plenty left." If you're going to love someone, love them like a Goblin!

Thanks to them, I got a forge for free.

The Valley had the Demon's Forge, and the Capital had the Angel's Forge, but having one more was always a good thing. The more forges, the better. And this was even a Spirit's Forge!

True. I should start using it soon.

Once they started rushing the dungeon raids, he would be frantically busy, so it was better to use it now before leaving.