Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Room 1 of Thunder
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"Then I can't tell you. This is what happens if you casually think about riding the bus."
The voice of Lee Soo-hyuk came from beyond the screen.
John Tail, who had been watching the stream with keen interest, burst into laughter.
"Pfft! Kuhahaha!"
"T-Team leader?"
The flustered employee turned to look at John Tail.
They had worked together for quite some time, but this was the first time he'd seen him laugh so heartily.
What on earth could be so funny?
After laughing for a good while, John Tail slowly reined in his amusement and spoke.
"Uhha, uhahaha. Ah, sorry. Ha—. This guy's really something."
It wasn't just because it was funny.
It was absurd, ridiculous, and at the same time, exhilarating.
Lee Soo-hyuk didn't need to say those words. Even if the question came via sponsorship, he could've brushed it off vaguely or mixed in some lies.
Something like, "I didn't expect it to turn out this way," or "It can't be helped if they fell short on skill."
Either way, he'd have to take some flak for it. Some would argue that Lee Soo-hyuk bore responsibility for the deaths of the players in the raid party he'd formed.
But Soo-hyuk didn't go that route.
Instead, he did the opposite.
He chose to go on the offensive.
'He's not foolish enough not to know the impact his words would have.'
Though he hadn't seen much of him, John Tail had been impressed by Lee Soo-hyuk several times before.
Not just as a player, but as a streamer too.
'The actions, the response—it's all calculated.'
What incredible guts.
To decide right away, the moment he encountered players trying to bus, to handle it like this.
On a hunch, John Tail called Unhyang.
-Team leader. I'm busy, so I'm hanging up...
"Don't hang up. It's about Lee Soo-hyuk."
Knowing she'd cut the call claiming she was watching the stream, John Tail hurriedly mentioned Soo-hyuk's name.
Even the willful Unhyang wouldn't dare hang up immediately then.
-...What is it?
"Just one question. Did you tell the streamer Lee Soo-hyuk about that community post?"
-Yes. I did.
Unhyang answered without even asking which post.
If he was asking about a community post in relation to this stream, it had to be the one recruiting for the Thunder Cave bus party.
"I see. So, was this planned between you two?"
-Planned? What plan? I don't have time for that. If you're just gonna say useless stuff, I'm hanging up.
Click.
The call ended with those words.
"Her phone manners are a work of art."
She didn't act like a subordinate at all, but by now, he'd gotten used to it.
Anyway.
"So, the streamer came up with this on his own."
John Tail nodded and gazed at Lee Soo-hyuk's screen.
"Then we should put in equal effort."
"Effort, sir?"
"You saved that community post, right?"
"Of course."
"Good job."
Veteran employees always preserved evidence like this. John Tail grinned and stretched his fatigue-stiffened fingers from the all-nighter.
"Alright, let's show them too. That streamer Lee Soo-hyuk has a solid company backing him."
The Othman Kingdom raid party.
After waiting for the door to open, they began tackling the Thunder Cave—and the first thing they encountered was, as expected, a pack of Thunder Wolves.
Woof, woof woof-!
Woof-!
The wolves charged with furious barks.
Paul Lyman started cutting them down alongside his comrades.
The players from the Othman Kingdom side were elites.
All of them handpicked from Blue Zone, proven on the third floor.
But.
"Schneider!"
The one who should have been at the forefront, the one who could've moved first without issue, Schneider hadn't budged an inch.
He merely pierced the necks of the charging Thunder Wolves.
"Are you protesting or something? Because I joined your raid?"
Krunch-!
Paul Lyman swung his massive greatsword, smashing the head of an oncoming Thunder Wolf to pieces.
In any case, he was the new card Blue Zone had inserted to replace Schneider. He might not measure up to Schneider, but he was undoubtedly skilled.
Still, without Schneider's help, casualties in the raid party were inevitable.
"Schneider-!"
Finally, Paul Lyman halted his hunt and strode toward Schneider.
At that moment.
"God, you're annoyingly loud."
Don Chao, who had been hunting Thunder Wolves nearby, spoke irritably.
"If you don't get it, just watch quietly. Don't interfere."
"What? Interfere?"
Paul Lyman's anger now turned toward Don Chao.
"Even defending your ally has its limits—"
"Found it."
"Foun... What?"
Paul Lyman, not grasping Don Chao's meaning, followed his gaze back to Schneider.
What had he found?
As he turned to look, Paul Lyman's eyes widened in shock.
'A javelin?'
Moments ago, Schneider had been standing there dazed, but now he held a javelin, drawing back his arm.
Woof, woof woof-!
A Thunder Wolf charged at Schneider. Even as it barreled toward him at high speed, Schneider didn't blink, maintaining his aim.
And the next instant.
Thwoosh-!
The spear left Schneider's hand and flew.
Boom-!
A hole burst through the Thunder Wolf's body. Yet the spear, undiminished in power, continued straight ahead.
Its target: the smallest wolf in the pack.
Splat-!
The spear pierced the wolf's head precisely.
Woof...?
Grrr...
That was when the rampaging Thunder Wolf pack's reaction changed.
The wolves, frenzied by the scent of blood, grew confused and milled about in panic.
And soon.
"Good boy?"
At Schneider's command, they obeyed.
"Sit."
Grrrrr...
Whine, whimper-.
The situation resolved in an instant.
As if accustomed to this, Schneider's teammates lowered their weapons and prepared for what came next.
On the other hand.
Paul Lyman and the new team members looked utterly bewildered.
"What in the..."
As the stunned Paul Lyman stared blankly at the flattened Thunder Wolves on the ground.
"I've devoted ten years to this Thunder Cave."
Schneider approached and spoke to him.
"You know nothing about the Thunder Cave. Not you, nor the guild's higher-ups."
Step-.
As he passed slowly by, Schneider met his eyes.
"If possible, I recommend turning back. Better to preserve the confidence you've built up so painstakingly than to shatter it with half-baked skills."
Swish-.
With those words, Schneider brushed past him.
He gazed toward the depths of the Thunder Cave, a place as familiar as home.
'Not much longer now.'
Innumerable challenges, countless in number.
Today was the day.
To see the end.
'It should be there, right?'
The depths of the Thunder Cave.
Imagining that end he hadn't yet reached, Schneider's eyes gleamed.
'Lee Soo-hyuk.'
Soo-hyuk took a short break until his condition recovered.
All he could do in the meantime was chat with viewers.
He'd grown quite accustomed to bantering with viewers now. Most were trivial, pointless topics, but they'd become surprisingly fun.
"A girlfriend you're in touch with? Hmm... My manager?"
"Does your face look like Pak Soo-hyuk's? What does that guy even look like?"
"...Manager. Please ban, no, kick that guy out."
Time flew by with these light conversations.
Sponsorships popped up occasionally too, so it didn't feel like wasted time.
On the contrary.
'Feels like chatting brings in more sponsorships.'
The amounts weren't huge, but they came frequently. From as little as 10 points to a few hundred—small sponsorships kept rolling in.
Of course, the viewer count hadn't grown further.
8,000 viewers.
Not a small number. But still far from hitting 10,000 again.
'To break 10,000 again, I need to keep pushing the raid.'
Fifty minutes wasn't short.
His condition and stamina had fully recovered. This was more than enough.
As Soo-hyuk rose and began moving again, the chat atmosphere, which had been casual talk, shifted.
-Going now?
-Finally departing
-Let's raid like beasts~
Step, step-.
Soo-hyuk's footsteps echoed through the cave.
There were no more annoying interlopers. He continued the raid, hunting the monsters that kept appearing.
Crackle-!
Kaboom-!
He unleashed lightning and activated his demon sword.
The numbers increased, and deeper in, the monsters grew stronger.
'I heard it was tough, but...'
After hunting a few more waves, Soo-hyuk understood why the Thunder Cave had such a notorious reputation.
'Why is something like this on the third floor?'
No matter how he thought about it, this wasn't a dungeon suited for third-floor hunting. Schneider was just such an outlier; without him, no one would've even attempted it.
This dungeon was abnormal.
And that only piqued his interest more.
'Next is this, he said.'
As he spoke less and hunted on, venturing deeper into the cave.
Finally, he spotted it in the distance—what he'd been seeking.
'Is that it?'
Not far off, the next stage of the cave came into view.
A door.
A fairly large, heavy-looking stone door. Unadorned, merely demarcating the dungeon's midpoint.
"The first stage of the Thunder Cave raid is hunting. Nothing special. Just take down the Thunder Wolves and whatever monsters you encounter."
As promised.
Up to now, the Thunder Cave's difficulty aside, the method itself was straightforward.
The type not much different from typical dungeons.
The change in approach began right beyond that door.
"I got there pretty quick too. Took about three years. Then I faced that door."
"The door?"
"Yeah. And that's when I realized. That's where the real Thunder Cave begins."
Soo-hyuk approached the door and reached out.
Creak-.
It was heavy, but not enough to stump a third-floor player.
Soo-hyuk pushed the door forward and stepped inside.
"What you need from there is exactly one person. Well, since you're soloing anyway, it doesn't matter."
The door opened, revealing the interior.
Much brighter than the path behind. The space beyond the door was so well-lit, like a room with electric lights, that it hardly resembled a cave.
As he took in the message, Soo-hyuk shifted his gaze to the walls.
Just as he'd heard.
Countless murals adorned them.
"It took me over five years to get through there."
Looking at the murals, Soo-hyuk recalled Schneider's words.
"I wonder how long it'll take you."
Wriggle-.
The drawings began to move as if alive.
At that moment.
Step-.
Soo-hyuk, who had been slowly surveying the room interior, fully stepped inside.