Baiting the Silent Wall

The series is known as The Cash-Farming Hero's Capitalist Streaming.

Episode 29 — The Constellations' Game: [Laika]

Lumentis Mine was a far more sprawling field than I'd expected. And the spot I'd mapped out for myself so far sat deep underground—so deep, in fact, that it could only be reached through anything but an ordinary route. It was the kind of coordinate where running into another player hadn't even crossed my mind.

Which meant that suddenly running into a party down here... was a stroke of considerable luck.

As expected, the God of Ssalmuk had not yet abandoned me.

I had no intention of riding this bus indefinitely. The moment I picked up my class main quest, I'd have a conscience and go find my own hunting ground. But I needed to accept the quest first if I wanted to chart a growth path, which was exactly why I was pushing so hard to get there.

Fortunately, the quest guide had just popped up, so my destination was crystal clear.

Thankfully, the location of the Broken Lumentis Statue was a spot I already knew—and it wasn't far from here at all. In other words:

Well, there was one slight source of unease, I'll admit. This party... had a strangely not-quite-normal vibe to it.

"Please... can't you just give me a heads-up before you set anything on fire, Lowell?"

"I did!"

"After the fire was lit—no, after your casting was already finished, is what happened."

"Ah... did I do that? Hehe."

What on earth had that warrior-class hyung-nim been through in life to end up charred pitch-black from head to toe? The one trailing behind him—the female player who looked like the support—was looking pretty haggard herself...

"..."

The only party member with any life left in them was that fire mage, and honestly? That woman looked like the source of every single one of my anxieties. Call it pure instinct.

So then.

Ah, I couldn't possibly do that.

Tap, tap—

If they'd lacked the chops, they never would have made it down to these depths as a three-person party in the first place. Comforted by that thought, I deliberately let my footsteps ring out as I approached and addressed them. Besides, my destination wasn't far.

"Um... pardon the intrusion, but would you happen to have room for one more in the party?"

At once, the gazes of all three party members snapped toward me. They must have already registered my presence a moment ago, because they didn't seem particularly startled to see me appear.

"Ah, hello there."

The charred-black man, who looked to be the oldest of the three, took the lead in answering. "And how, exactly, did you get down here...?"

A polite way of asking what I was doing alone in a place this dangerous, I supposed. I already had my answer prepared.

"I was working on a quest. A simple search mission, so I came alone—but it's turning out harder than I expected. Haha."

It is technically a simple search quest, isn't it?

"Would you be, by chance, a melee dealer?"

Presumably the sword I was carrying had given them that impression. A melee dealer, hm?

Well. Maybe I was. Or maybe I wasn't. Let's decide right now.

"Ah, my class, you mean?"

First, with a split-second side glance, I scanned their party composition. Then, immediately, I drew a shield out with my other hand.

Clank—!

By my judgment, the position with the highest odds of getting me into this party was, without question, tank. Rough count: one warrior, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one fire mage. And the last one was in a support role. A single warrior in that sorry state would have struggled to soak the burst damage of the Lumen Ghosts.

A full 3T shield item I'd been hoarding in my inventory, planning to sell off sooner or later. Looked like I'd have to borrow it for a moment. And with that, my position was decided.

"N-no, I'm a tank."

Whatever the Constellations wanted to scream, that was none of my business.

"Ooooh!!! A real tank?!"

"Hell yes—! Jackpot! Excellent!"

Worked like a charm, naturally.

It's not fraud. It's a form of... social survival technique, if you will.

"Heh heh."

Well, even this sloppy party had one sharp-eyed little rascal in it.

"Then why isn't a knight-class wearing heavy armor?"

That much was within expected parameters. "Ah, I'm a hidden class, actually. Not a knight."

"Kya—!"

"Ooooh! A hidden class! That's rare!"

Most importantly, the other party members had already sailed right past caring—they're kids at heart, these ones. But why was that red woman clapping her hands in delight?

"Still, in... whatever that leather-rag outfit is, I don't think you'll find it easy to soak Lumen Ghost damage?"

The kid, still looking vaguely suspicious, pressed on with quiet persistence, but there was nothing problematic to find. Why? Because I was telling nothing but the truth.

"It's kind of a... dodge-and-counter tank style, shall we say."

It was true I wasn't a knight but a hidden class. And since I planned to mostly evade or parry while pulling aggro, calling it an evasion tank wasn't exactly wrong either. Right?

Which means, no, I haven't told a single lie?

Oh? They actually know what a Ghost ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Guardian is. That's genuinely surprising. It's an extremely hard-to-get rare class. The Constellations' knowledge levels really do run the whole gamut, apparently.

For the record, Ghost Guardian is a 3rd advancement hidden class. I'd played it exactly twice... and come to think of it, now that I'd thrown out the dodge-counter tank bit, why not imitate it while I was at it?

Anyway.

"Hmm."

The support kid still wore a dissatisfied frown, but separate from that, things looked set to resolve smoothly. I could tell just from how the soot-black hyung-nim immediately stepped in to mediate.

"To be honest, thanks to Lowell here, we've got a bit of PTSD around hidden classes. That's why she's a little cold about it—don't take it too personally."

"What did I do! Why me!"

"Hmm. Fair point. This is a Lowell problem, not a hidden class problem..."

Oh. So that fire mage was a hidden class? No wonder she was already casting Flame Storm as a mere 1st advancement. Probably one of the fire-branch mage hidden classes, then.

"And hey! Am I the only hidden class here? Novin's a healer too, you know!"

"A healer is... still a bit of a stretch to call a hidden class."

Oho. So this little rascal I'd taken for a plain support was higher-grade talent than I'd thought. In Laika, advancing into the healer line by default required either obtaining a hidden class or waiting until the 2nd advancement. There were a few well-known hidden-class healer routes that made them somewhat common, sure—but they were still vastly harder than the standard advancement paths, and healers of that stripe genuinely got treated like nobility.

And watching her closely, I had a fair guess as to what class she was, too.

"It's quite all right. You'd be foolish not to be careful, letting a total stranger into your party."

With that, my own position got considerably more comfortable, too. Was I really about to tank while receiving actual heals for the first time in ages?

"In that case...!"

"A pleasure working with you, Dave-nim."

"Thank you for having me!"

Right. Given how things had turned out, I'd have to pull at least my own weight and then some. Honestly, my current state was functionally a level 20 with no class—but shortfalls could be covered with good old-fashioned veteran vibes, couldn't they?

In any case, the moment I joined the party, the Constellations who'd been howling fraud nonstop ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shifted to offering a bit of genuine concern.

But I was genuinely confident I could perform at the level of a decent tank or better. I'd run tank all the way through 3rd advancement countless times—did they really think I couldn't manage an impression of one on a level-40s field?

But hyung-nims, haven't we seen this exact routine somewhere before? You did the same thing back when I picked up the staff...

Mages might be tricky, fine—but a walking meat shield? Please.

Isn't tanking just a matter of standing on the front line, blocking what needs blocking and dodging what needs dodging? Keep an eye on the situation, shield the dealer line, and so on...

Having thus placated the Constellations to a reasonable degree, I slipped naturally into the vanguard of the party's marching order. And then, the very next moment—

Truly unforeseen messages began stacking up in front of my eyes, one after another.

Excuse me?

The sudden, uninvited appearance of this Graduated Constellation briefly rebooted my brain. I mean, come on—I'm the wronged party here! I was merely stating facts.

But my panic lasted only a moment. My brain was spinning again in no time. Honestly, the only reason I'd been rattled was that the rampaging Constellation happened to be a Graduated one... Which meant the situation itself might actually have swung in my favor, no?

And so, even here, I instantly caught the scent of money.

Good grief, I told you tanking wasn't anything special.

What do you say to that, Divine Seat-nim? Did that itch?

Wait—it really goes through in one shot like that?

I've never paid off a thousand-nyang debt with a single word, but perhaps extorting a thousand-nyang worth out of a Constellation was within reach.

Still, I figured I'd push my luck a little further.

See? Our Constellations... just need a little gentle scratching, and the money comes pouring out.