Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: A Peculiar Summon
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He should have been the one getting schooled, yet seven of them had been crushed by a single player?
And their opponent wasn't even a famous ranker, just some user they'd never seen before?
A video that strayed so far from the channel's theme couldn't possibly get a good reaction.
Jeras, who had established a decent footing on YouTube, couldn't have been unaware of that.
Besides, it was unlikely a user with his personality would want to upload a video of himself losing in the first place.
“That’s true.”
Arthur nodded.
Of course, if he knew his opponent was Lee Shin, he might have uploaded it despite everything, but Jeras didn't know who Lee Shin was.
So it was safe to assume this video would never see the light of day.
“Let’s go.”
Having finished checking the dropped items, Lee Shin quickly started walking.
A player's body remained for five minutes after a PK (a convenience for Necromancer users), so it would be troublesome if any soldiers saw them now.
There was also a personal reason.
Malice Crystal (Summoning Item)
A medium for summoning a familiar, imbued with a vast amount of malice.
• Use to obtain a random summon.
The Malice Crystal was a special reward for achieving the highest notoriety on the server.
Honestly, even Lee Shin couldn't guess what would come out of it, so he wanted to hatch it somewhere deserted, just in case.
‘I should find an empty hunting ground.’
Fortunately, the Eteun Kingdom was full of such places.
Lee Shin opened his map, searched for a nearby deserted hunting ground, and changed direction.
Just then, Arthur, who had seemed lost in thought for a while, asked a question.
“By the way, why don't you stream?”
Lee Shin turned his head.
He wondered what this was all about so suddenly.
“Seeing Jeras just made me think of it. I think you'd do really well if you streamed.”
“…”
“If you're worried about the players you killed in the past coming after you, you could just record your gameplay and upload the videos later. As long as you edit out the risky parts, it should be fine, right?”
Lee Shin nodded.
In fact, this was something he had seriously considered a long time ago.
“Really?”
“Yeah, but I can’t.”
“...? Why not?”
Streaming.
Of course, he had thought about it.
Just by being on the rankings, one could expect a certain level of recognition and income…
There was no way a high-ranker like Lee Shin hadn't considered it.
‘I have to work, too.’
Lee Shin's family was wealthy.
His mother, Jeong Hui-seon, and his older sister, Lee Si-eun, were both high-earners, ranking in the top 10% in South Korea.
His father was a fairly successful businessman who owned a factory in Vietnam.
But that had little to do with Lee Shin's future.
Ever since he was young, Jeong Hui-seon had drawn a clear line, telling him not to even think about living off his parents' money later on.
‘You need to fend for yourself.’
‘…’
‘College student. My financial support ends there. After that, you're on your own. Oh, if you're thinking of going to graduate school, I can extend it a bit…’
‘I'll be independent.’
It was a restriction she had put in place, hoping her son, who had a mental illness, would live as a normal member of society.
Thanks to this restriction, Lee Shin was able to keep up with his studies while gaming and had thought about various plans for his future.
Game streaming was one of them.
Because he was good at it, and he enjoyed it.
He was more than confident that he would succeed.
But there was one concern.
The worry of ‘Will gaming still be fun if it becomes a job?’
For a person like Lee Shin, this was a very important dilemma.
‘…’
Gaming was the only space where Lee Shin could freely release the stress he received from the real world.
A place where he didn't have to read the room.
Where he didn't have to act.
A space where he could do whatever he wanted.
But what would happen when he dragged the extremely realistic problem of 'work' into such a place?
Would he really be able to see that work through to the end?
Or could he be sure that his absolute sanctuary wouldn't be compromised?
Lee Shin couldn't be certain.
‘…’
That was why.
Why Lee Shin had only thought about it and never put it into practice.
But after hearing Lee Shin's story, Arthur replied as if he didn't see the problem.
“The problem is that it's a job?”
“Yeah.”
“I... don't think you have to think of it as a job, though? If you just play like you always do, people will watch.”
“...?”
Not that they *might* watch, but that they *will*.
Hearing the certainty in his tone, Lee Shin turned his head and asked.
“How do you know that?”
But Arthur's following words were quite persuasive.
“I'm proof, aren't I?”
“…!”
Now that he mentioned it, it was true.
No matter how badly Lee Shin treated him, wasn't Arthur still sticking around and following him?
Arthur was living proof.
Seeing the expression on Lee Shin's face change in real time, Arthur continued.
“If you do decide to stream, your content would probably be PK, right?”
Those words snapped Lee Shin out of his thoughts, and he asked.
“Is that even allowed?”
“It is.”
“?”
‘It is?’
“People will hate it, though.”
Lee Shin sounded skeptical, but Arthur genuinely thought it would be fine.
“I don't think so. There aren't as many people who hate you as you think.”
Back in Avala Online 1, even after killing so many players, Lee Shin had both fans and haters because he rarely ever touched anyone besides rankers.
It wasn't because Lee Shin was considerate of beginners, but rather because he didn't find it much fun to fight players who weren't in his weight class…
In any case, those who had been directly harmed by Lee Shin were mostly limited to top-tier players.
“It only seems like a lot of people hate you because the rankers who stream do, but regular players don't really care.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. Besides, people who don't follow the community probably don't even know who Lee Shin is.”
Since they weren't the ones being targeted, there were quite a few players who didn't care what Lee Shin did.
In fact, some even liked him for taking down rankers who monopolized hunting grounds or charged high taxes.
Arthur had initially been one of them.
Of course, things got a bit extreme later on…
Anyway.
“As long as you pick your targets well, it'll be fine.”
It's not about whether to kill, but who to kill.
He hadn't paid much attention to the community so he didn't know, but listening to Arthur, it made sense.
“…Hmm.”
The proposal suddenly felt realistic, and Lee Shin's thoughts deepened.
Most of the reasons for his initial reluctance had disappeared.
In that case…
‘…Should I give it a try?’
* * *
Once it started, Lee Shin's contemplation continued until they reached their destination.
But he couldn't come to a conclusion right away and decided to set it aside for now.
It wasn't something he had to decide immediately anyway, so he planned to think about it seriously after logging off.
Lee Shin looked around.
His efforts in coming this far had paid off; there was no one around.
The perfect place to hatch something suspicious!
Lee Shin took out the Malice Crystal.
[Would you like to hatch the Malice Crystal?]
[The summoned familiar will be random.]
“Yes.”
As Lee Shin accepted, the black orb shattered into small fragments and disappeared.
At the same time, a black aura swirled around Lee Shin.
‘Oh…?’
A sight not seen in a typical familiar summoning.
Expectation filled Lee Shin's eyes.
He wondered what could possibly be coming out to cause such a commotion.
Fwoooosh.
Soon, the swirling black aura gathered in front of Lee Shin.
‘Is it done?’
Tiring.
[Familiar Summoning Complete.]
[You have acquired a familiar. Please check the familiar's information.]
As the thick smoke in front of him dissipated, the form of the summoned familiar came into view.
However…
Wiggle, wiggle.
“....??”
“....?”
A familiar with a very strange appearance!
It was supposed to be a familiar, yet a single squishy-looking thorn was sprouting from the ground.
Lee Shin's eyes narrowed.
‘What is this?’
Honestly, he had an uneasy feeling that he'd drawn a dud, but…
Lee Shin suppressed his bewilderment as best he could and searched his memories.
But since this was the first time he'd ever seen a familiar of this shape, it was meaningless.
“What is that?”
“…I don't know either, you punk.”
Lee Shin answered Arthur's question irritably and examined the familiar's information.
The Forgotten God's Ninety-Ninth Leg
A creature without a will of its own. It moves according to its master's will.
• Grade: D (Growth Type)
• Unique Skills 'Devour' and 'Harden' available.
• Most of its skills and body are currently deactivated. They can be activated by growing the familiar.
“…”
It was difficult to judge it at a glance.
Lee Shin stared intently at the message for a long while before starting to organize the given information piece by piece.
First, the name and characteristics.
[The Forgotten God's Ninety-Ninth Leg]
‘An evil god.’
Its appearance suggested as much, and besides, the summoning medium was called the Malice Crystal. It was obvious.
It seemed to be the type that would gradually reveal other body parts as the familiar grew.
It was a type of familiar he had never seen before, but the name was quite intuitive, so he could deduce this much.
The problem was that it was an evil god… but Lee Shin didn't particularly care.
Ever since he was forcibly class-changed to Salseong, he had already crossed a river of no return.
His notoriety had already surpassed one million; one familiar related to an evil god wouldn't cause any more problems.
‘As long as it performs well, that's all that matters.’
Having summarily dismissed the evil god issue, Lee Shin checked the skills next.
Devour (Passive)
• Grows by absorbing a portion of the master's acquired experience and gold. The amount of resources absorbed increases as its grade rises.
Harden
• Hardens its body.
‘The skills are ordinary.’
One was a parasitic passive commonly found on growth-type familiars.
The other was a very simple active skill that hardened its body.
The skills were so simple that he couldn't quite grasp how he was supposed to use them.
Lee Shin immediately moved on to the next description.
The familiar's most unusual feature.
[A creature without a will of its own. It moves according to its master's will.]
“…”
A familiar with no will of its own.
Of course, since it was a growth type, it might develop one as it grew… but for now, it was hard to even consider it a familiar.
It was more like a remote-controlled weapon.
‘How does it move?’
Lee Shin stared at the tentacle swaying gently in the air. Then, he mentally commanded it to move.
The most common method one would think of.
But…
“…”
“…”
“…”
“What are you doing…?”
But the tentacle didn't budge!
‘Is this not it?’
Lee Shin immediately changed his method.
According to the description, the tentacle moved according to its master's will.
So, maybe it wasn't about shouting commands, but about imagining a concrete image?
This was an actual method that existed.
Mage users often used their skills this way when casting large-scale phenomenon magic.
‘Let's try it.’
Having thought of a method, Lee Shin immediately put it into practice.
Lee Shin closed his eyes and pictured an image as concretely as possible.
An image of it attacking the tree behind Arthur at maximum speed.
……
Swiiiiiish!!!
The moment he thought it, the tentacle instantly expanded and shot forward!
“…Hic!?”
Before Arthur could even react, the tentacle grazed past his ear.
And it continued to extend all the way…
BOOM…!!!!
And shattered the tree behind Arthur to pieces.