Chapter 34

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 34

Chapter Title: Missing Mint Soboro Bread (4)

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'Hmm.'

Mint Soboro Bread, this guy... he looks way more like a social butterfly than I expected.

My detection ability wasn't exactly the same as a human's field of vision, but that didn't diminish his good looks one bit.

'Tastes bad...'

I'd been excited to finally see what Mint Soboro Bread looked like, given how he'd kept up that mysterious vibe, but he was so different from what I'd imagined that I felt a bit of instinctive repulsion.

With a face and body this stylish, he'd been playing the loner gamer cosplay on the channel, deceiving everyone? Deception on top of deception?

This was pretty outrageous behavior, to say the least.

Poof.

I considered pranking him a little with a dark cloud serval, but decided against it since it might actually scare him.

He looked pretty exhausted, so rescue came first. I could punish him for the deception later.

Kaboom!

Rumble rumble─!

I blasted through the crystal golems blocking the path in one shot and kept tearing apart the dungeon in search of the boss room.

Once I gave him a hint through the serval, Mint Soboro Bread started following slowly behind, and soon enough, we found the entrance to the boss room.

No prep needed, so should I just head in?

Thud.

Screeech.

'......'

Waiting for us in the depths of the dungeon, along with the dark clouds and Mint Soboro Bread, was a colossal golem with massive crystals embedded in its body.

Crackle.

Crackle crackle.

With some kind of magnetic field flowing over its body, its lightning resistance was clearly much stronger than the previous crystal golems.

But I was a super genius weathermancer. No mere rock could challenge my divine power.

I sent three servals forward, firing off bolts of lightning. The golem shrieked grotesquely and hurriedly backed away.

"Grk, gk, gk─"

Oh, it's holding up?

It looked weaker than Skilla no matter how I sliced it, but matchups really were no joke.

Still, with its impact sites charred black and it backing up in intimidation, it wasn't completely unscathed.

'Hmm.'

The outcome was clear, but as the great pharaoh, I couldn't deny a mere creature a taste of mercy.

Since it was born into the world with grand ambitions, shouldn't it at least unleash its ultimate move before heading to the afterlife without regrets?

I had the dark cloud serval strike a taunting pose, and the golem glanced around before covering itself in glowing runes, starting some kind of technique.

Bzzzzt!

"Grk, rk!"

The luminous golem, now wrapped entirely in mystical crystals like a pupa.

It stared proudly at the dark clouds as if this were its ultimate defense form, but my reaction was ice cold, of course.

'...Disqualified.'

I gave it one last chance to show off, and it pulls out this outdated, boring trick?

You have no value in surviving.

Luminous crystal golem, sentence: execution.

Kaboom!

Rumble rumble─!

Crackle!

Krummmble─!!

At the great pharaoh's will, the five dark cloud servals unleashed their full-powered lightning barrage, continuing relentlessly until the golem's form vanished.

Crack.

Crumble crumble.

In the end, the golem, having lost all its crystal glow and scorched to cinders, crumbled into faded dust.

Mint Soboro Bread peeked out from his hiding spot as the escape portal appeared, and I created a dark cloud puppy, gesturing for him to wait.

After a few trial and error attempts, I shaped the dark cloud into letters and showed it to Mint Soboro Bread.

He nodded to show he understood, then suddenly bowed deeply to the dark cloud puppy.

I wonder what his reaction will be when he learns the truth later. I couldn't help but chuckle in anticipation.

"Pfft."

Yeah, yeah, hurry up and get out there to post your survival update on the channel.

I parted the dark clouds myself to clear the path, and Mint Soboro Bread grinned brightly, sprinting toward the portal like a track star crossing the finish line.

It was the moment when one pitiful channel user, stranded for a week, finally escaped the dungeon and saw the light of day again.

Ji-hoon successfully escaped the dungeon, transformed his hands into mineral form to climb the moss-covered walls, and was rescued by the arriving hunters.

While receiving treatment at the hospital, he checked the channel posts and realized how much effort everyone, including Thief Crab, had put into saving him. He expressed his gratitude to them all.

'So, was the owner of those dark clouds another channel user?'

Circumstantially, that made sense.

Indeed, their movements had been faster than anyone else's, clearing the entire situation before the rescue team arrived and vanishing without a trace.

Honestly, he wasn't certain. He never imagined there'd be a hunter that powerful among the channel users.

But he had suspicions.

Staring at the private message window for a long time, Ji-hoon finally fixed his gaze on the sender: High School Dropout Middle Schooler.

'......'

Mint Soboro Bread was pretty quick on the uptake. And his memory was sharp—he hadn't forgotten a single one of High School Dropout Middle Schooler's rambling posts on the channel.

'It... does make sense.'

The mysterious hunter who cleared a mid-level dungeon in a flash without revealing themselves to save Ji-hoon.

If they were utilizing their abilities to the fullest, even High School Dropout Middle Schooler's boastful claims, dismissed as nonsense by everyone, could very well be real.

"......"

But the owner of the dark clouds didn't want their identity revealed. So Ji-hoon had no need to pursue the thought further.

If he was deliberately hiding himself, then when the truth came out someday, it would inevitably become a huge topic.

'Hmm.'

To prepare for that, Ji-hoon needed to get his own preparations in order ahead of time.

Confirming that Paering Flower—the former head mod and founder of Yi-rin Shin Channel—was online, Ji-hoon sent him a chicken gift icon and started asking about a plan he had in mind.

Through this incident, I realized two new things.

First, trying to 'create' phenomena while ignoring natural flows demanded massive mana. Second, I could do way more than I thought.

'Hmm.'

Frankly, if I poured out mana as blatantly as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time, I could clear dungeons across the country from my bed with a snap.

No matter how I thought about it, there was no downside. How could this not be the power of a great heavenly deity?

Now, the moment my identity was revealed, America and China would tremble, Japan would be shocked, and the Korean government would obsess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over me, trying to build me a love nest.

'Not sure...'

No matter how much I pondered, I didn't want to become that kind of superstar. Should I demand conditions and defect to another country?

But after building rapport with Hwanung over time, I'd grown attached to Korea without realizing it, and I personally had a huge aversion to living overseas.

Considering my father wrecked our family with that kind of stunt, it was only natural.

'Hmm.'

Five months left on my studio lease, divine sword notification date unknown.

I could hole up at Cha Se-ra's place if I wanted, but the moment the world noticed my absence, investigations would start immediately.

'Who knows my identity right now?'

Cha Se-ra knows almost all of it, and Temu Mountain Sword God doesn't know I'm a super genius weathermancer.

Ha Joo-on is basically my servant, so no issue there, and Mint Soboro Bread is definitely keeping the dungeon events secret.

'Come to think of it, maybe one more...'

Channel user Thief Crab. This concept-obsessed guy seemed awfully suspicious.

With the ability to 'observe' Missing Mint Soboro Bread's movements, why wouldn't I be a target?

This jerk even posted last time about wanting to observe me or something.

'Suspicious...'

Even if the secret comes out eventually, I'd rather hold my own job reveal showcase than have someone else expose me.

Resolved to dig into his background, I cautiously sent Thief Crab a private message.