Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: No More Free Rides
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Creak, grunt-.
Grunt-.
Bale and his companions, who had been struggling against dozens of Thunder Wolves, wore baffled expressions at the unfolding situation.
The Thunder Wolves had turned into docile puppies. The ferocious beasts had all flattened themselves to the ground at Lee Soo-hyuk's single command.
Just like dogs devoted to their master.
"S-Soo-hyuk-nim. What is th......"
"Let's go."
"Pardon?"
Lee Soo-hyuk ignored him as if he had no intention of explaining, issuing a command to the Thunder Wolves.
"Go."
Woof-!
Woof woof woof-!
At his words, the seated Thunder Wolves rose and barked in response.
The pack of Thunder Wolves followed behind Lee Soo-hyuk.
Bale and his companions stared at Soo-hyuk and the wolves' retreating backs, murmuring to themselves.
"What the hell just happened......?"
"Why are the wolves......"
"Somehow it feels like we're the ones getting dragged along?"
Dozens of Thunder Wolves were a force that even all of them combined couldn't hunt.
Yet Soo-hyuk had tamed them in an instant.
"Can we even keep up with this?"
Initially, they'd planned to hitch a ride on Lee Soo-hyuk, snag some rewards and performance points from the Thunder Cave, and call it a day.
But since when had it started?
The nagging doubt that even that might not be so easy.
'Damon's dead, and the Thunder Wolves are under Lee Soo-hyuk now.'
Nothing was going according to plan.
Maybe even...
[Streamers are all the same. They have to suck up to leeches like us for their image.]
...his own prediction.
Bale's unease grew.
'So, what's next?'
Step-.
As they followed Lee Soo-hyuk, trembling with formless anxiety...
"Hey, pups."
Halt-.
Lee Soo-hyuk, surrounded by the Thunder Wolves as he walked, suddenly stopped and spoke.
"Howl. Loud."
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Flustered, Bale's eyes went wide.
Howl? Here?
In the middle of the Thunder Cave?
But it was too late to protest.
Awoooo-!
Awooooooo-!
The Thunder Wolves howled in unison. Their cries filled the cave, rattling ears everywhere.
"This crazy bastard-!"
"Soo-hyuk-nim! What the......"
A few quick-witted players seemed to grasp the ripple effect of the Thunder Wolves' howls.
Cold sweat dripped down Bale's back.
"It's just my method."
"Your method?"
"Drive hunt."
Crackle, crackle-.
Kyaaararara-!
Grraa-!
Monsters of all kinds with yellow fur emerged. Bear-like beasts, yellow-scaled snakes slithering along the walls, even rock golems.
How many were there?
Dozens were already in sight. Factoring in those behind, it had to be well over a hundred.
"This isn't a drive hunt—it's suicide!"
The monsters in the Thunder Cave were no ordinary foes.
Even the Thunder Wolves Soo-hyuk now commanded were tough enough that two or three average third-floor players had to gang up just to take one down.
"The Thunder Wolves will handle it somehow. Don't worry about me."
"Wh-what about us?"
To the panicked Bale's question, Soo-hyuk grinned beneath his mask.
"Didn't I say? You're just companions."
At that moment.
Bale finally realized.
"Not comrades. Don't expect that much from me."
Soo-hyuk had been steering toward this very situation from the start.
"Survive on your own."
John Tail wore a peculiar expression at the chaos on screen.
Well over a hundred Thunder Cave monsters.
They were tangled up with Lee Soo-hyuk, the Thunder Wolves, and the roughly ten players trailing behind, creating utter pandemonium.
"Is this... okay?"
The staffer handling monitoring in Cheongryang's absence asked. She'd rushed to report the moment things escalated. After hearing the rundown and checking the footage, John Tail's face was unreadable.
"Team leader?"
"No okay, no not-okay."
Players swept up in the monster wave.
As if there was nothing more to see, John Tail looked away from the screen.
"It's all down to how the streamer handles it."
"But this is basically......"
"Yeah. He'll catch some hate."
Soo-hyuk had used the Thunder Wolves' howling to lure the monsters. As a result, his raid party was in peril.
Textbook teamkill. Straight-up trolling.
Under normal circumstances.
"But the situation's a bit unique, no?"
With that, John Tail spun his kit to show a screen he'd pulled up.
A Players community post: Lee Soo-hyuk Streamer's bus party recruitment.
"They wanna ride the bus. Not just suspicion—hard evidence. Their skills aren't even close to tackling the Thunder Cave."
No sooner had he spoken than another player bit the dust.
Reading the post, John Tail scoffed.
"Buses pick up just anyone? Right?"
"Will public opinion see it that way?"
"Not everyone, but still......"
John Tail nodded as he watched Soo-hyuk ruthlessly cull the bus hopefuls.
"It's a fair constant."
"Constant? Taking them along is safer, even if annoying."
"If it's just this once, maybe."
Just this once.
John Tail emphasized. Only then did the monitoring staffer realize her thinking had been too shortsighted.
"Ah......"
"Right. Who wouldn't swarm a free bus? Let 'em ride once, and next time it'll be an ant horde."
A streamer's image is their lifeblood. That's why leeches always try to exploit it.
This case was no different.
Lee Soo-hyuk's a streamer. Gotta protect the image.
People without the desperation or skills for the raid showed up to mooch scraps.
"So Lee Soo-hyuk Streamer made it clear to everyone."
To those types.
And to the hordes of future Bales out there.
"Don't even dream of busing."
"...You're right."
The monitoring staffer had no choice but to nod.
This was Soo-hyuk's best play. As a player and as a streamer.
The problem was precisely because he was a streamer.
"What do you mean 'down to the streamer' though? Sounds like he handled it perfectly."
"Sometimes there is no right answer. That's our job."
Cryptic reply.
Feeling his explanation lacking, John Tail elaborated.
"In the end, streamers face backlash no matter what—big or small. Handle it or not."
"Either way?"
"Yeah. Think you could take it? A situation like this."
She was at a loss for words.
Endure it? The question carried layers.
Baehae Entertainment, Management Division Team Leader.
John Tail's experience with countless streamers' rises and falls.
"I've seen tons. Streamers who retire under hate. Ones who fake it till they lose their edge from fear."
That was what he meant by "down to the streamer."
"We get it. They're innocent, had no choice. We're closer than the viewers."
"Tough......"
"Yeah. Tough. So streamers need more than broadcast skills."
"Like what?"
"Mental fortitude. Resilience. Endure the unfair, the hate—sometimes conquer it."
John Tail's gaze returned to the broadcast screen.
Lee Soo-hyuk, hunt complete.
Watching him, John Tail wondered aloud.
"I wonder if Lee Soo-hyuk Streamer has that kind of mental."
+ Strength +1
+ Vitality +1
+ Concentration +1
Always a mood-lifter.
But he couldn't just bask in it.
Grraaa-!
A yellow-furred bear charged with jaws wide. Drool dripping, it barreled toward him. Soo-hyuk thrust out his hand.
Crackle-!
Lightning burst from his fingertips. The bear's head exploded as it lunged, and he whirled toward the final monster.
Ssss-.
Splatter-!
The snake creeping silently overhead along the wall split clean in two.
"Huuu-."
Finally exhaling long, he scanned the surroundings.
The bus riders were wiped, even his loyal Thunder Wolves—all gone. He stood alone.
Half the viewers hadn't trusted Soo-hyuk, half had. Even setting aside the cave's difficulty, the sheer monster numbers made skepticism fair.
'Gonna need a breather.'
To shake off the dead weight, he'd pulled a reckless stunt.
No issues moving now, but plenty of road ahead to clear the Thunder Cave.
This was barely the entrance.
Swipe-.
Glancing back at the empty space, he said.
"Now it's proper soloing, right?"
His mission: Solo clear the Thunder Cave.
Bale and the ten players had botched it from the jump.
But Damon coveted the Thunder Trace Soo-hyuk nabbed, and he'd ditched the players as planned anyway.
'Solo' condition met.
Spot on.
The wolves alone would've overwhelmed Bale and crew.
Had Soo-hyuk skipped the alpha there, it'd have wrapped quicker.
But he didn't.
Because.
"Then I couldn't have shown 'em."
Had to make the lesson here.
"Don't even think about busing carelessly—or this happens."
Soo-hyuk went for the direct confrontation.
To the critics, the haters burning with rage.
Come at me if you dare.