Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: First Broadcast
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Crunch-.
A woman staring at the screen while chewing on a hard walnut in her mouth.
Unhyang, a player from the Murim World, muttered while watching the Kit screen.
"They're really idiots, aren't they? Can't even five of them pass this?"
Unhyang let out a sigh as if they were pathetic.
Next to her, Cheongryang, who had also been engrossed in watching Kit, asked.
"Why? Who is it this time?"
"Sangpak. A streamer challenging the 5th floor."
"Sangpak? Is that a Lee Soo-hyuk knockoff? Or a Pak Soo-hyuk knockoff?"
"Dunno. Probably a mix of both."
Crunch-.
She popped another walnut into her mouth and closed the broadcast she had been watching.
"I don't get why they even stream with that kind of skill."
"Streaming isn't just about skill. Don't be so biased. You won't last in this job if you are."
Unhyang and Cheongryang.
The two were employees in the management division of Baehae Entertainment.
High-ranking players and streamers with large subscriber bases wielded influence akin to celebrities.
Maximizing that influence to generate points.
That was Baehae's business.
And one of the things Unhyang and Cheongryang did was contact those streamers.
"They still need the basics, though."
"But your 'basics' aren't everyone's basics, right?"
Cheongryang reached for the walnuts Unhyang was eating.
"Honestly, I still don't get why you're doing this here."
Unhyang.
She was the player from the Murim World who had recently made the biggest splash.
She had reached the 8th floor at breakneck speed and had the talent to go even higher.
But suddenly, Unhyang stopped.
And then one day.
"Hey, you guys hiring more staff by any chance?"
She showed up out of the blue, saying she wanted to work at Cheongryang's entertainment company.
"Why aren't you climbing higher? If you just keep pushing, you could even aim for the normal rankings."
"Not fun."
"Fun? Is this the plight of geniuses?"
"You mocking me?"
"No way."
Cheongryang shrugged and cut the conversation short with a light response.
She knew from experience that pushing further here wouldn't get Unhyang to open up.
'She's the type who climbed just to meet Lee Soo-hyuk once. No wonder she feels empty.'
The reason she stopped climbing, and why she now seemed disinterested in the world.
It all started after Lee Soo-hyuk's death.
It was a shame.
As a longtime friend and fellow player.
The talent Unhyang had shown from the sidelines was too precious to waste drawing a salary for someone else.
"What the hell? This guy."
Unhyang's brow furrowed in displeasure.
Cheongryang asked at the irritated tone.
"Why? Some weirdo?"
"Lee Soo-hyuk cosplayer."
"Again?"
Cheongryang leaned over to look at Unhyang's screen.
A newbie streamer using the name 'Lee Soo-hyuk'.
The broadcast had 0 viewers.
"...What are you doing right now?"
"Why?"
"Why are you watching a 0-viewer stream? Huh?"
Baehae was an entertainment company.
They scouted streamers with large audiences and made money through collaborations.
Yet Unhyang was showing interest in a stream with zero viewers.
"What am I supposed to do when it pops up on my screen?"
"That's because you always watch Lee Soo-hyuk concept streams, so related videos keep showing up."
Cheongryang sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Unaware of Cheongryang's frustration, Unhyang grumbled irritably.
"It's hilarious. I don't get where they get the confidence."
Unhyang was a fan of Lee Soo-hyuk.
Not just any fan—a die-hard one.
As such, she made a point to check every stream related to him, regardless of viewer count.
"Then just don't watch."
"You think I want to?"
"Then who's forcing you?"
Calming her anger, Cheongryang said.
"Listen up. I get how you feel, but personal emotions are a no-go in our job. Especially in streamer scouting."
"Yeah, I know, but..."
Unhyang trailed off.
She continued, staring at the new streamer 'Lee Soo-hyuk' on the Kit screen.
"It's annoying when they wear that mask and get my hopes up. What am I supposed to do?"
They could at least not disappoint if they're gonna do it.
Watching Unhyang mutter to herself, Cheongryang closed her eyes briefly and thought.
'Yeah. Let's think positive.'
There had been cases where cosplayers succeeded, after all.
Before Unhyang joined the company.
There was exactly one player who had impressed her.
"Right. The world has guys like Cha Min-woo too. He started wearing the mask around the 3rd floor, pretty early on."
Unhyang nodded.
Cha Min-woo.
He had appeared about ten years ago and was the fastest to climb the tower recently.
Rumors said he had already contacted Blue Eyes after ascending at an unprecedented pace.
Unhyang acknowledged his skill too.
But still.
"Lee Soo-hyuk is the best, though. No rubbing shoulders with him."
Nothing compared to Lee Soo-hyuk, after all.
With that, Unhyang dove back into the stream.
Viewers: 1.
She was Soo-hyuk's first viewer.
Thick, stifling air. Torches flickering from cracks in the ceiling and walls.
Soo-hyuk, summoned into the vast cave, took a deep breath inside his mask at the familiar scent.
The Starting Dungeon.
The first trial of the 2nd floor involved hunting monsters inside the dungeon and escaping.
As the starting point for lower floors, the trial itself was straightforward.
'Here we go.'
A normal person might tense up at the trial starting.
But Soo-hyuk's tension wasn't from the trial.
A mere 2nd floor trial.
He had no worries about failing here.
The source of his tension was.
His first broadcast ever.
Starting the Players channel broadcast right as the trial began meant no viewers yet.
He couldn't expect a full house on the first try. No one wants to watch a total newbie just starting out.
That's why Soo-hyuk wore this mask.
'Let's move for now.'
Soo-hyuk's feet began to move.
A damp, silent dungeon.
One might even doubt if there were monsters here.
Step, step-.
He slowly advanced, securing his field of view.
The only sound was his footsteps.
In the dimly lit cave, visibility was limited, sharpening other senses.
This poor visibility was why the 2nd floor trial was done in teams.
'It should be about time for one to...'
!
Soo-hyuk's eyes snapped wide open.
Text appeared in the bottom corner of his view.
Viewers had jumped to 4 somehow.
As expected.
Using Lee Soo-hyuk as his concept was a good choice.
"2nd floor."
'Guess lower floors don't stream much.'
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen newbie players below the 3rd floor on broadcasts.
Even if skills were low, most were intermediate players above the 4th floor.
Starting a stream right from the 2nd floor was rare.
Another viewer joined.
5 viewers.
Not many people, but the chat was lively.
The chat window, now blooming with talk of Lee Soo-hyuk while Soo-hyuk himself faded into the background.
'What is this.'
This was unexpected.
He'd only meant to draw viewers with the concept.
'My fans...?'
A bit flustered.
Watching the chat light up with talk of himself felt oddly embarrassing.
Up until 20 years ago, Soo-hyuk had focused solely on climbing, never interacting with fans.
"Yes. First challenge."
First challenge on the 2nd floor.
The fact that he was a perfect newbie fresh out of the tutorial piqued the viewers' interest.
Of course, some were genuinely concerned for Soo-hyuk.
"Pardon? With what?"
Stab-.
Thrusting the sword in his hand upward pierced the eye of the monster diving from above.
It was a fist-sized single eye belonging to a monster called the One-eyed Bat.
"Yeah, they pop out like that."
The chat exploded at the sudden event.
Soo-hyuk shook the skewered One-eyed Bat off his sword onto the ground and checked the chat.
Tips poured in.
Soo-hyuk nodded while scanning the chat.
But he couldn't follow them blindly.
"Gotta watch out for Land Eels too, not just One-eyed Bats."
Land Eel.
A flat fish lying on the cave floor, fish-like but crawling on land.
"Land Eels have less presence than One-eyed Bats. They usually stay flat on the ground waiting for prey."
Soo-hyuk's viewers were mostly players themselves.
All had passed the 2nd floor trial and climbed higher.
So they knew the strategies well.
Of course.
None of them had soloed the trial like Soo-hyuk.
"MoneyIsGood. Thanks for the advice, but no can do. I'm challenging solo."
The chat heated up at the revelation of solo.
It was warranted.
The 2nd floor trial was for 5-man parties.
One hand doing five hands' work wasn't just five times harder.
In fact, fewer than five players had ever soloed it, making it notoriously brutal.
MoneyIsGood's concern, who had advised teaming up.
Soo-hyuk swung his sword while replying.
"Gonna give it a shot at least."
Slash-.
"Thanks for the concern."
The neck of the Land Eel that had been lying flat on the ground, waiting for Soo-hyuk, was severed.
Question marks flooded the chat again.
Viewers had grown to 6.