Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: The Streaming (6)
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-Cute lololol, so adorable lololol
-That ID is legendary lololololololol
-Judging by her reaction, that must be her ID, right?
-Ah lololololol, that's hilarious.
The utterly shocking ID was laid bare for hundreds of thousands of viewers to see.
“…Ha-eun.”
Oh-jin looked up at the ID proudly displayed at the very top of the voting board and spoke in a low voice.
“That’s not me.”
Then who is it?
“I-It’s not me, I said!!! If I say it’s not, then it’s not, you bastard!!”
Ha-eun shouted, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
She seemed incredibly embarrassed.
‘Well, yeah.’
Would you even be human if you weren’t embarrassed after an ID like that was exposed in front of hundreds of thousands of people?
“Ahh.”
I looked at her, trembling pitifully with tears welling in her eyes.
‘—This is hilarious!’
A surge of pleasure.
A grin spread across my face as I approached her.
“Slurp?”
“Hic.”
Ha-eun’s body flinched.
“What exactly did you want to slurp so badly?”
“I-I t-told you it’s not me. Th-This big sister has no idea what you’re talking about, okay?”
“Pffthahahaha!! Oh really~? Because I know exactly what it means.”
“Sh-Shut up!!!”
Ah, why is my big sis’s reaction so cute?
“Hmm, lizard woman. Could it be… that the Stigma is consuming you?”
Just then, Liac approached her with a dead serious expression.
Why is he suddenly asking if she’s being consumed by her Stigma?
What is he trying to say?
“…What?”
“Does it not mean you've developed a desire to lick and devour a fellow human whole?”
“……”
“If so, your condition is quite grave. You are an Awakener of the Dragon. Should the Stigma consume your consciousness, your habits will also align with that of your constellation….”
Liac continued his advice with an utterly serious expression.
As he went on, Ha-eun’s cheeks turned as red as an apple.
“Shut up.”
“What! How can you speak so rudely when I am offering such serious counsel!”
“I said, shut up.”
“Hmph! Though our acquaintance has been brief, I, Liac! As a warrior, cannot simply stand by and ignore a comrade’s crisis….”
“Please… please just shut up….”
*Sob.*
Ha-eun crouched on the floor, burying her face between her legs.
She covered her ears as if she could no longer bear the shame.
“Uh, um.”
Even Oh-jin, one of the parties involved, shot Liac a reproachful look.
“This one’s on you.”
“What did I do to deserve this?”
“Not knowing makes you even worse, you punk.”
Things like this always become more agonizing when someone takes them seriously.
-Ah lololol, the humiliation is real lololol
-Wow, so she's already taken lololol
-Must be Thunder Wolf’s girlfriend, right?
-So damn jealous, for real.
-The North Star’s Stigma and a girlfriend… Why is my life like this T-T
-Fire!! Fire!!! He’s an enemy!!
-Stab him to death!!
The viewers who saw Ha-eun’s ID seemed to think she was Oh-jin’s girlfriend.
The chat window began to fill with talk about Oh-jin and Ha-eun, to the point where it no longer felt like JerryKim’s stream.
‘Watching these real-time reactions is pretty fun.’
Oh-jin smirked as he read the chat messages scrolling by too fast to follow.
He didn't consider streaming himself.
But he thought that appearing as a guest wasn’t so bad.
‘Still, it’s about time to wrap this up.’
He had already achieved all his goals.
No, to be precise, he had gained more than he’d aimed for.
‘I’ve clearly proven I’m a 5-Star.’
Over a thousand holy stones and a massive betting payout.
Honestly, with this single broadcast, he had earned more than most grand lottery prize winners.
‘I should use this to pay back some of my debt to the Director.’
He planned to repay her for all the help she’d given him until now.
“Well, since the bet is over, let’s end the broadcast here.”
“Ah.”
JerryKim, who had been lost in disappointment, let out a regretful sound.
Although he had lost a lot to Oh-jin, he had also hit a record number of viewers, so he wanted to keep him around a little longer.
“Don’t go, please stay a little longer….”
Just as he tried to stop Oh-jin, who was packing his things to leave.
“Awororororororor!!!!”
“Awooooooooorl!!!”
“Aworl!!!”
*Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.*
The tunnel shook, and from the other end, a horde of Neglish began to charge toward them.
“A-Are you crazy? How many of them are there?”
JerryKim’s jaw dropped.
The number of Neglish rushing from the other side of the tunnel easily exceeded thirty, even at a rough estimate.
“…Even if we’re leaving, we’ll have to take care of them first.”
Faced with the unusual number, Oh-jin quickly raised his spear.
[My child. Do you require a blessing?]
“No. It’s not that serious. Just give me some support.”
[Hmph! You can count on me!]
Vega, also sensing the gravity of the situation, zipped through the air, generating lightning.
‘First, the front line.’
He swung his spear wide at the one charging the fastest.
“Awororor!!!”
A Neglish at the head of the pack screamed and tumbled to the ground.
[Kneel!]
*Crackle-crackle-crackle!!*
A bolt of lightning shot out by Vega bound the feet of the two following behind.
With their leader down, the charging Neglish tangled with each other and rolled on the ground.
“Hmph!”
There was no time to relax just because he had broken their charge.
There were at least thirty Neglish.
He had to block the attacks that would immediately follow.
‘Here they come.’
One of them leaped over the tangled mess of Neglish and charged forward.
Its violent muscles rippled menacingly—
“Awororororor!!!”
—and it ran straight past Oh-jin, heading for the rear.
“Huh?”
It wasn’t heading for JerryKim and Ha-eun, who were providing support from the back.
The Neglish were madly rushing toward the tunnel entrance.
“Huh? What the?”
JerryKim also looked around with a bewildered expression.
“Oh-jin, this is.”
“Yeah.”
Something had seemed strange about their behavior from the moment he saw them.
“They weren’t trying to attack us.”
—They were running away.
From something unknown.
-Kuuuuuuuwooooong!!!
The entire tunnel trembled.
As if something unimaginably huge was rampaging.
A massive roar echoed from the far end of the tunnel.
-Kudung!! K-g-g-g-gung!!
“M-Mr. Oh-jin! The w-wall!”
From the recent impact, the wall leading toward the tunnel entrance crumbled.
“It’s fine! There’s a gap over there!”
Ha-eun, who had taken off her blindfold to survey the collapsed passage, shouted.
Just as she said, there was a gap barely large enough for one person to squeeze through.
“I-I don’t know what that was, but let’s hurry and escape through there, Mr. Oh-jin!”
JerryKim urgently looked back at Oh-jin.
“Just a moment.”
“In a situation like this, what are you…!”
“Someone’s coming.”
“Pardon?”
From the direction the Neglish had come, this time, people began to run out.
There were about twenty of them.
They appeared to be a party of Awakeners who had been hunting deep inside the tunnel.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“H-Help meeee!!”
“Why, why is a monster like that inside this gate!!”
They were running toward the entrance, their faces pale with terror.
“Th-The entrance is blocked!!”
“Damn it!! An-Another exit! Find another exit!!”
A man with a bushy beard looked around with an anxious expression.
“W-What’s in there?”
“Huh?”
When JerryKim approached and asked, the man scowled.
“Dammit! You think we’d know?”
He continued irritably.
“H-Hydra! It’s a Hydra! There’s a Hydra in there!”
The answer came from another direction.
It was a woman who had been running and screaming loud enough to burst eardrums.
“…A Hydra?”
Ha-eun’s expression twisted violently.
Hydra.
A powerful monster classified as a ‘boss’ even among 7-Star beasts.
Its very appearance in this gate, which was predominantly filled with 5-Star monsters, was nothing short of a catastrophe.
“Here! There’s a gap here!”
Someone discovered the opening Ha-eun had found and shouted with a voice full of joy.
“What?”
“Q-Quickly! We have to go quickly!”
The Awakeners swarmed toward the gap.
But the passage was so narrow it was a struggle for even one person to pass.
With over twenty people rushing in like starving ghouls, no one could get through.
-Kuuung! Kung!!
While the chaos continued.
The tunnel shook, and from its depths, a gigantic monster revealed itself.
“H-Hiiik!!”
“A Hydra!! It’s the Hydra!!!”
*Rumble! Kudung!*
The Hydra emerged, shattering the tunnel walls.
An overwhelming size, nearly twenty meters tall.
Green scales covered its entire body, and nine heads writhed menacingly.
It exuded a level of pressure that was on a completely different dimension from some steroid-pumped fishman.
‘Why is a Hydra here?’
Oh-jin frowned, looking up at the Hydra.
It was common for elite or boss-type monsters to appear in gates, but this case was different.
‘Hydras and fishmen have no connection whatsoever.’
An Elite Neglish or a Neglish King.
If something like that had appeared, he would have understood, but a Hydra was just too random.
‘Besides, Hydras aren’t even marine creatures.’
Why on earth would a Hydra crawl out of a gate inhabited by fishmen?
“Oh-jin! What are you doing!”
Ha-eun’s shout broke his train of thought.
Just as she said.
This was no time to be leisurely pondering why a Hydra had shown up here.
“Aaaah!”
“D-Don’t push!!”
“Just get in already!!”
He glanced back at the chaotic entrance.
“Looks like there’s no escaping this.”
No.
Even if he could escape, he had no intention of doing so.
‘They say boss-level monsters drop the highest quality holy stones.’
And since it appeared inside this gate, there was a possibility it held not one, but two holy stones.
‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’
*Grin.*
A bright smile spread across Oh-jin’s face.
*Thump-thump.*
His heart pulsed, and an exhilarating thrill ran down his spine.
“Oh-jin, you… you’re planning to fight, aren’t you?”
“Can’t let a good opportunity like this slip away, can I?”
“Haaah. You’re going to be the death of me.”
Despite her sigh, Ha-eun was also lightly warming up.
“Well, whatever. Let’s do this, dammit. It’d be pretty lame to run from some freak with nine heads, right?”
Ha-eun grinned fiercely and conjured flames.
‘This one, when you get down to it, she worries about me a lot, but she loves to fight.’
Well.
If she feared fighting, she never would have reached 7-Star.
It’s wise to flee if you determine an enemy is beyond your capabilities, but if it’s a fight you can win, there’s no reason to back down.
‘And a Hydra isn’t an opponent I can’t handle.’
If anyone else heard him, they’d question what kind of nonsense a 5-Star was spouting against a boss-level 7-Star monster.
But he himself had proven time and again that it was no nonsense at all.
‘However.’
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes.
Even if it was a manageable opponent, he couldn't afford to be careless.
Moreover, this was a gate where a strange phenomenon of holy stones doubling occurred.
‘It’d be nice to have some bait.’
There was nothing better than bait to test whether something was dangerous or not.
As he was lost in that thought,
“E-Everyone, please calm down!! At this rate, no one will get out!!”
JerryKim’s urgent shout to the people could be heard.
“Huh…? Th-That person looks familiar?”
“Isn’t that JerryKim?”
“That streamer?”
The gazes of the people trying to escape through the narrow opening shifted to JerryKim.
The man with the bushy beard strode up to him.
“You! You’re that famous streamer, right?”
“Ah, yes. Th-That’s me.”
“Then you go and buy us some time!”
“Pardon?”
JerryKim asked back, dumbfounded.
He was busy trying to escape himself, and they wanted him to buy time?
“You’re from Sagittarius, aren’t you?! You’re the strongest one here, so hurry up and buy us some time!!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Nonsense? Did you just call it nonsense?”
The man’s expression twisted viciously.
His gaze shifted to the orb floating behind JerryKim.
“Everyone! This streamer here says to hell with everyone else’s lives!!”
“When did I…!”
“You all heard him, right? He’s selfishly trying to save his own skin, telling us to get out of the way and stop blocking the entrance!”
The man shouted in a booming voice, pushing JerryKim by the shoulder.
“You son of a…”
JerryKim, about to let loose a string of curses, froze.
If he had turned off the stream, it would be one thing.
But he couldn’t curse and fight with the man while hundreds of thousands of viewers were watching.
“If you’re a public figure, shouldn’t you be looking out for others? Huh? Did I say something wrong?”
“Keuk.”
The man, as if aware of his predicament, relentlessly hammered on the fact that he was a ‘public figure’.
“Huh? Isn’t that Thunder Wolf over there?”
“Thunder Wolf is here too?”
During the argument, the attention turned to Oh-jin.
“What? Thunder Wolf is that guy the Association has been pushing so hard lately, right?”
The man’s eyes lit up as if he’d found good prey.
“Well, well! We’ve got two famous people gathered here!! Oh my! Please, save the lives of us weak and pathetic worms!”
He shouted, pushing Oh-jin and JerryKim toward the Hydra.
“That’s right!!”
“You two have to help us!!”
“You’re famous, aren’t you!!”
The other people joined in, shouting as well.
“Ha.”
A dry laugh escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
He couldn't understand the connection between being famous and having to help.
But it was true that the public, as they said, held so-called ‘public figures’ to a uniquely harsh moral standard.
You’re famous, so you must sacrifice.
You’re famous, so you must be a role model.
I can do it.
But you can’t.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, you son of a bitch.”
Oh-jin turned to the man and smirked.
“I choose you.”
“…What?”
He whispered, his voice low enough for only the man to hear, and lightly flicked his finger, hidden from the camera’s view.
-Crackle!
A faint strand of lightning, almost invisible to the eye, traveled up the man’s ankle and deep inside his pants.
And then.
“What does that mean— Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
The man’s eyes shot wide open as he let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Kerrrrrrrrrrrrk?”
Nine pairs of eyes turned toward the man.