Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Action & Fighter is Murder to Me (1)
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First plan: somehow recall the password.
"……."
The passwords I'd tried first and second were 6824 and 6324, respectively.
I wasn't entirely sure, but since those numbers had come to me instinctively, the real password was probably something similar, right?
'Is everything right except the second digit?'
A quick internet search showed that this door lock's warning reset time was five minutes.
That meant I could try two new passwords every five minutes, and changing just the second digit wasn't all that hard.
Beep-beep-beep.
Beep.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
'Hmm.'
Guess not.
Never been told I had a good memory since school days, so trusting my shaky recollection was apparently a bad call.
"Ah, jeez."
Well, no time to waste—on to the next.
Second plan: somehow succeed at physical reinforcement using mana.
Humans awaken new abilities in dire situations, after all. Even if I hadn't pulled it off yet, maybe this time would be different.
Whoooosh!
An hour passed like that, then two, until I finally faced the cold reality that no such rule existed and stopped manipulating my mana.
'Crap.'
Two plans down the drain in an instant. Now I had to calmly think up the next one.
Head to Forest Guild headquarters and ask for help? Most of their key members were out, and honestly, they weren't in a much better spot than me.
Or claim it's my place and go to the apartment management office? Unless I could prove my connection to Cha Se-ra, I doubted they'd have a good solution.
[Woooong.]
I'd been fussing at the door for so long that Nuri, who had woken up at some point, padded over and let out a tiny mew.
[Mew?]
Sorry, buddy... even if you nudge me like that, I can't get in.
I wasn't doing this because I didn't want to go home, after all.
Just as a vague sense of defeat started sinking in, I suddenly heard the sound of buttons being pressed on the door lock, followed by the unlocking mechanism whirring to life down the hall.
"……?"
Click.
Creeeak.
I startled, grabbed the handle, twisted it, and stepped inside to find Nuri calmly grooming by licking its paws.
What was this? Was this cat a god?
Come to think of it, all the other doors on this floor had lever handles, but Cha Se-ra's was oddly different, which had bugged me before.
Maybe Nuri kept pawing the keypad until they changed the handle.
"……."
I stared at the super-genius cat who'd solved hours of my agonizing in one second, then hurriedly pulled out two salmon-flavored churus and awarded today's MVP.
It wasn't the most dignified solution... but hey, case closed!
#
Click.
Ding-ding-diiiing.
"I'm back... you hold down the fort okay?"
"More or less."
With Nuri perched on my leg as I squeezed out a churu, I glanced at Cha Se-ra, finally home, and tossed her a weary "good job."
"Looks like you two got pretty close."
"Nuri's a super-genius cat."
"...Huh?"
Just roll with it. It was a matter of my honor, so no need for details.
Cha Se-ra had been dungeon crawling and missed it, but the royal guard hierarchy got a reshuffle in her absence.
Nuri at number one, Cha Se-ra at two. She'd originally been first, but lost points for secretly restoring that camera photo.
"Ugh, I was dying out there."
"No one hurt?"
"Not bad. Eun-chan covered us great."
Eun-chan—that had to be Najoo Tangerine's real name, Na Eun-chan.
He'd joined the raid as a temp and apparently blended in well enough for solid contributions. As the one who'd normalized his salary, I felt a swell of pride.
"Whew, time to finally relax."
With Cha Se-ra back, things settled into peaceful routine.
Lazing around playing games together, browsing the Archive, joining her board game nights or pajama parties... before I knew it, time to head home rolled around.
"Wanna sleep together on the last night?"
"……."
As Cha Se-ra started climbing again now that I'd loosened up, I decided on punishment: confiscate her attachment plushie, Nuri.
The next day, I bid a wistful Cha Se-ra goodbye and returned home.
Of course, artifact for bug repelling in hand, per our deal.
'Hmm.'
They said it was handmade with care, but I couldn't help worrying.
Still, once home and I cautiously activated it, I couldn't hold back a gasp at how straightforwardly it worked.
'Whoa...'
Mana waves subtly spreading through the apartment.
This would definitely keep cockroaches from slipping in through neighboring units or outdoor gaps and invading my precious nest.
Thud.
I dove onto my longed-for bed, patted the empty side... then felt a pang realizing Nuri wasn't here.
Just two weeks together, and I'd already grown attached?
Maybe I should get a cat... but impulse buys weren't the way, so I tabled it for now.
Ding!
Hey.
Rain this Saturday? You down?
Sure.
Tell me the time, I'll make it rain then.
By now, side income from Full-time Farmer's crop sales had piled up nicely, padding my bank account.
But even with money, spending options were limited.
Basically just game microtransactions or delivery food—no real outlets.
'...Wanna move.'
Staying at Cha Se-ra's showed me the joys of upper-class living.
My current two-room place wasn't bad for solo living, but tasting that high life left a lingering dissatisfaction.
'Ah, jeez.'
Maybe from all the housing instability before—felt restless, unsettled.
Before my mood affected the weather, I figured some distraction was in order. I booted up the computer and logged into Action & Fighter as usual.
'Hmm.'
No Mint Soboro Bread, no Full-time Farmer online.
Was thinking solo queue when a message popped from Temu Mountain Sword God in my friends list.
Ding!
You there?
Yeah, what's up?
Ugh, read the chat.
I've sent like five this week.
Sry; wasn't home, missed it.
I'd rushed homework at Cha Se-ra's and logged off quick, so I hadn't noticed—but Temu Mountain Sword God had apparently been waiting for me to log in.
So what's the deal?
Buddy streamer doing big Action & Fighter content.
Wanna join?
She specifically wants real rotten water pros, and you're the only one who fits besides me.
Temu rating me that high? Pretty impressive.
Couldn't jump in blindly, though, so I asked for details first.
Ding!
Face or voice cam needed?
Mic nice but optional.
Cool to use smurf instead of main?
Dunno, but if interested I'll connect you—chat it out.
Perfect timing now that I was home, and I'd gold-farmed via similar content before for living expenses—no real objections.
I accepted Temu Mountain Sword God's offer and hopped on a Discord alt to greet the streamer.
Ding!
Hello!
Hello.
Only after greeting did I realize: this was a mega-streamer with 300k followers and a million subs—I'd heard of her.
But who am I? Super-genius star influencer wldks_08.
My account had just broken 700k followers, so Ox was basically a distant junior.
Okay if I explain the concept first?
Ox dove into her planned content, and objectively, it sounded pretty intriguing.
'Hmm.'
All my conditions greenlit, and yeah, passing up a chance to watch would've felt like a waste.
Especially watching fake "vets" LARPing at pro level—my pride wouldn't stand for it.
I was a livelihood gold-farmer knight, a living witness to Action & Fighter history who'd bet my life on the game without a joke.
Thank you! See you then!
Show a glimpse of my greatness to hundreds of thousands, and butcher all the wannabe vets.
'Heh heh.'
Grinning at the mere thought of the fun, I spent the next few days testing what I'd need at my discretion.
And so, the morning of the content stream dawned.