229. Eunha, Can You Tell Me What NewTube You're Watching?
229. Eunha, Can You Tell Me What NewTube You're Watching?
***
Magic in every hue—blood-red, blue, jet-black—kept being cast, embroidering the space in vivid colors,
SKREEEEEK!
With one head severed and only two remaining, the Cerberus rampaged through the temple as if surrendering itself to slaughter instinct, endlessly chasing its opponent.
The silver-haired woman dodged or deflected that riot of magic and the Cerberus's relentless charges.
When the Cerberus's massive claws tore toward her as if to rip her apart, she evaded the attacks like an acrobat,
and when magic of every kind surged at her as if possessed of will, the moonlight-laden Crescent-Moon Weight traced mysterious arcs, dispelling the spells or twisting their very trajectories with uncanny paths.
Serin's movements—acrobatics bordering on illusion, skill at its absolute extreme—were all being broadcast live in real time.
Beautiful yet violent, destructive beyond measure, as if every impossible thing had been gathered into one scene, the climactic battle was more than enough to seize the viewers' attention.
Viewers: 46,681.
As proof, the viewer count did not lie.
Glancing at the viewer count, Eunha didn't know why she felt satisfied by the high number.
Serin's appearance on the broadcast was satisfying too, and for some reason the viewer count and reactions made her feel oddly proud.
"Strange."
Was it because Serin was the first person she'd ever felt was the same kind as herself?
Even though I wasn't the one streaming and it had nothing directly to do with me, watching Serin's stream do better and better—
Just watching made Eunha feel good.
Little by little, as she watched Serin, Eunha was coming to realize that this was what it felt like to want someone to succeed.
BOOOOM!
The Cerberus's leg slammed into the temple floor, kicking up a massive cloud of dust, and for a moment it looked on the broadcast as though Serin had been caught squarely.
[Whoa, this is brutal]
[At this point, is that Arch Lich the monster, or is Rin the monster?]
[It's only been a few minutes and I'm already out of breath just watching]
[The Cerberus is seriously disgusting]
[Could pro players solo like Rin in there?]
[You think that's possible? lololol]
[Pros aren't about killing monsters in the first place. They're pros because they're good at the Arena, so why do you keep trying to compare?]
[Honestly, I get why watching Rin makes you want to compare her to pros]
[Jeanne d'Arc could probably do it though?]
[Am I the only one who finds the Cerberus's severed head grotesque? Even with the mosaic... I seriously can't watch]
But in the chat where all these opinions flew back and forth, no one thought Serin had actually been hit—and Eunha was no different.
FWOOOOSH!
Through the dust cloud, several dazzling shafts of moonlight shot upward, announcing Serin's continued presence, and the pure-white Crescent-Moon Weight traced a path like light itself, mercilessly severing the Cerberus's right head.
SLASH!
As another of the Cerberus's heads floated through the air, a massive fountain of blood erupted once more from the severed stump.
"...Serin is surprisingly cruel."
Watching the broadcast with interest, Eunha unconsciously let out a laugh at the gruesome sight.
Truly, there was no mercy in her hands.
There were people who said that when it came to monsters, they could harm them without a second thought, hunt them down like slaughtering livestock. But surprisingly many people couldn't actually do it.
In reality, like the scene on screen now, with blood spraying out and the eerily severed cross-sections of monsters—even though they were definitely mosaicked over—plenty of people still couldn't bear to watch.
Monsters that didn't instantly dissolve into light motes even after a critical hit to a vital point made the brutality all the more intense.
The prime example: the Cerberus, which only died when all three heads were severed.
With two heads now cut off, its appearance was hideous and grotesque beyond words.
Even though it was a sight that would make an ordinary person's brow furrow on its own, Serin watched the scene calmly without so much as batting an eye.
SKREEEEEK!
As the Cerberus, both left and right heads severed, thrashed in agony, flailing as if to butcher everything in the space indiscriminately, Serin coolly assessed the situation.
Suddenly, a massive light exploded from the Arch Lich's staff, and dozens of beams shot out from it, surrounding Serin on all sides.
Even Magic Missile, a basic spell, became threatening enough when multi-casting was combined with the Arch Lich's precise control.
Immediately after, amid the barrage of countless light beams firing one after another, the moonlight-laden Crescent-Moon Weight began madly embroidering every direction as well.
—Moon-Demon Dance.
The moonlight Crescent-Moon Weight, weaving through every direction, met each surging beam as if it had a will of its own, canceling them all out.
'Another new skill...?'
Watching Serin, Eunha wondered just how many skills she had already used.
Just since entering this temple, the number of skills she'd shown was at least ten, conservatively.
Moreover, in a situation like the one just now, Eunha had expected her to rely only on skills she'd already used, but instead Serin kept revealing new ones—it was utterly alien.
"Serin, should I call you truly iron-nerved, or is your confidence just absolutely overwhelming?"
She murmured in admiration, yet found it even harder to read Serin's actions and thoughts.
Normally, if skill proficiency was low, people avoided using those skills in high-level hunting grounds.
Because if, by some chance, the skill's direction or timing went off due to low proficiency, the risk was far too great.
And yet, as if she didn't care about the situation at all, Serin used new skills and applied them with uncanny precision at exactly the right moments.
'Can this really be chalked up to talent alone?'
Even Eunha suddenly found herself thinking that.
THUD!
The Cerberus, which had been rampaging as if in a frenzy, suddenly widened the distance and adjusted its head toward Serin as if taking aim.
Grrrrr...!
From its now-single remaining mouth, immense heat poured out, and then it opened its massive jaws wide and unleashed a great burst of black flame.
—Hellfire.
FWOOOOSH!
The temple, already scorched to ruin by the ongoing battle, was little different from a wasteland, but when the black, flickering flames swept through the cavity once, the result was sheer devastation.
Pillars and obstacles melted; the already gouged floor bubbled and boiled like lava.
As the Hellfire's heat expanded its range and reached toward Serin, she immediately launched herself into the air.
From that position, she thrust the Crescent-Moon Weight downward, and a single white trajectory shot into the center of the hellfire-drenched space.
Knock, knock!
Eunha, who had been drinking in the screen with interest, reluctantly parted her lips at the sudden knock.
"...Who is it?"
She still had personal time left, so she wondered who it could be.
—Ah, it's me, Seola! I was just wondering if you had a moment to talk. I just wanted to chat.
"Is it urgent?"
When Eunha answered coldly, Seola on the other side of the door flustered.
—Ah, it's not... urgent. You know that streamer named Rin you did a collab with last week? I wanted to talk about her.
At Seola's sudden mention of Serin, Eunha's brow furrowed faintly.
She didn't know why Serin's name was suddenly coming out of Seola's mouth.
Slide.
Eunha muted the sound completely and placed the tablet face-down on the blanket, as if covering the screen.
"...Come in."
She wanted to keep watching the broadcast, but if it was about Serin, she couldn't not listen.
Click.
Seola slowly entered Eunha's private room and looked at her with a slightly surprised expression.
"Did I interrupt your break?"
Noticing Eunha's cold expression, Seola carefully parted her lips. Eunha wanted to just nod, but instead she spoke in her usual indifferent voice.
"A little. So, Seola, you said you had something to say about this person called Rin—what is it?"
As she spoke, she glanced at a chair placed to one side of the room.
Understanding that she was being told to sit, Seola settled into the chair as she had before.
Even as she sat, she watched Eunha's mood and continued.
"Ah, well, it's nothing much, but you appeared on that streamer Rin's broadcast last week, right? After that, I looked up the broadcast you were on. As I watched, I thought it was fun... so I was wondering if you, Eunha, were watching Rin's stream right now too."
Seola smiled awkwardly the whole time she spoke, and at the end she held out the tablet she'd brought. On its screen, Rin's stream was playing.
After confirming that, Eunha slowly opened her mouth with the same indifferent expression.
"Sorry, but I don't watch every broadcast either."
Eunha could see through Seola's intentions.
She probably wanted to watch the stream together, but Eunha didn't particularly want that.
Watching Serin might come across strangely, and she thought watching the stream alone would be far more comfortable.
"Ah, ah. R-really? I thought since you appeared on the broadcast, you'd naturally be watching Rin's stream. So I thought it might be fun to watch together... that's why I came. I guess I disturbed your break for nothing."
As if she hadn't expected Eunha's answer at all, Seola awkwardly apologized, her face flushing red.
Slide.
Seola immediately rose to her feet, lost in thought behind her reddened face.
'Idiot, idiot... There's no way someone like Eunha would like internet broadcasts.'
She was embarrassed that she'd tried to use the streamer Rin as an excuse to close the distance with her.
"Um... I'll get going then."
"Yeah."
Eunha answered coldly, and Seola barely managed to suppress the sigh that almost escaped her.
No matter how much she'd tried to close the distance, without any will from Eunha herself, there was no sign of progress at all.
As she was about to leave, Seola happened to glance at Eunha and noticed the tablet lying beside her.
The tablet was face-down, so she couldn't see the screen, but the colorful light shining through the thin blanket made it clear the tablet was definitely on.
"Were you watching a video too?"
Seola asked curiously, her eyes on the tablet, and Eunha's lips twitched for a moment.
"...Yeah. I was watching NewTube."
When she answered calmly, Seola looked intrigued.
Eunha wasn't the type to show interest in anything unless it was related to Another World, yet here she was watching NewTube.
"Eunha, could you tell me what NewTube video you're watching?"
Seola asked with a bright, curious smile,
"..."
and Eunha was momentarily at a loss for words.