The Cash-Farming Hero's Capitalist Streaming — Episode 7: The Constellations' Game [Laika]

While I'd been frozen stiff for just a moment, my viewer count had plummeted from nine all the way down to five.

The one saving grace was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that the first Constellation to arrive, the one called Wandering Goblin, had kept me anchored to my senses.

Thanks to them, I was able to pick the conversation back up with the Constellations.

Two more viewers left while we were talking, though…

Not that there was much I could do about it.

It stung, watching what felt like potential donors walk right out the door… but I had no idea yet what the Constellations even liked, what they wanted. Instinctively, I felt that trying too hard to please them would only backfire.

So I decided to simply be grateful to the Wandering Goblin for striking up conversation, and get back to what I'd been doing.

Heading for the Shadow Canyon to hunt wolves, that is.

That was when a Constellation with a peculiar username — one who hadn't said a single word until now — abruptly cut in.

And the very next moment, I found myself wide-eyed all over again.

Holy crap. Thirty LP?

At this rate, my teeth are going to rot out…

Hoo, hoo, hoo.

Having earned 400,000 won the moment I'd connected, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my heartbeat was accelerating something fierce.

But there was no time to space out.

I couldn't have the Constellations taking offense.

I needed to answer the question, and fast.

The Constellation's next words followed.

Of course I'd heard of it.

Hmm.

Honestly, "heard of it" doesn't even begin to cover it.

That thing was one of my favorite monsters in this entire early-game field, after all.

With low probability it occasionally dropped Tier 2 gear, and if your luck was truly exceptional, it could yield up to Tier 3 equipment — I must have killed it more times than I could count.

It was on today's must-hunt list too, as a matter of fact.

So I answered without giving it much thought…

I truly had no idea the conversation was about to flow in this direction.

And so, when the next system message appeared…

I was so overjoyed I nearly threw a somersault in midair.

One hundred LP? Is this for real…?

Faced with this staggering sum of money(?) I'd never seen before, I didn't even consider playing coy.

They were offering to hand me a cool one million won outright, for crying out loud.

If I hesitated and the Constellation changed their mind, that would be a colossal loss, wouldn't it?

The Moon Shadow Wolf was a Level 15 Epic monster.

In other words, it was plenty strong.

But still — despite what that Constellation had said, this place was nothing more than a humble wolf zone.

Meaning the probability of me failing this mission converged on zero.

Well, they'd only set up a mission like this because they didn't know I was a hardcore veteran…

'Even so… is the Moon Shadow Wolf really that bad?'

Frankly, even if you weren't a beta tester, couldn't you take down a Level 15 Epic monster by hook or by crook?

Kiting it into other field mobs, say…

Then again.

With my current gear, if you assumed I was an ordinary Level 9 newbie, it would certainly be difficult.

Thinking back to my first playthrough, I know I would have struggled hard back then.

So that's what they wanted to see, presumably — me flailing through it, barely scraping out a win.

I was mulling all this over when hooks upon hooks began flooding into the chat window.

And this despite having only two viewers besides the Constellation who'd issued the mission.

Uh…

Don't tell me the Moon Shadow Wolf isn't the same white-furred thing I know?

But no matter how I turned it over in my head, it had to be the same creature.

Even the level information matched perfectly — and it was an Epic monster, no less.

Within the world of Laika, no two Epic monsters share the same name.

Excuse me.

It's right there in the mission info, helpfully spelled out — Level 15 Epic monster…?

By every indication, that does seem to be the friend I know…?

"Uh…… hmmm……."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I genuinely could not figure out what had gotten into them.

It seemed like I could just walk over and beat the thing to death.

I had no idea what the fault even was, but if fault exists, it's obviously mine, right, sir?

Now, how about you toss some more money my way?

Truly, the three souls remaining in this room seemed to be Constellations who knew their stuff.

In that case, as a streamer… I had no choice but to live up to their expectations, didn't I?

Just as that Profligate 2nd Imperial Throne character ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had said, the Shadow Canyon was a hunting ground worthy of the name "wolf zone."

Nine-tenths or more of the monsters inhabiting this field were beast-type wolf monsters.

And the most commonly encountered among them were Level 13 wolves by the name of Gray Wolves.

So my original plan had been to grind these Gray Wolves as much as possible and reach Level 12 first.

From Level 13 onward, I could no longer benefit from the Giant Slayer title when hunting them, so I'd intended to squeeze out maximum efficiency until then.

But now, the situation had changed.

The most important thing for me right now was to locate the Moon Shadow Wolf as quickly as possible.

Even wandering around at a leisurely pace, it was a creature I'd expect to run into within the hour — but I absolutely could not rule out the possibility of catastrophically bad luck.

Why, you ask?

Because under no circumstances could I afford to squander my precious 100 LP, that's why.

Heh heh.

At the thick scent of salesmanship wafting off the Constellations, I couldn't keep the grin off my face no matter how I tried.

In other words — I was absolutely bursting with motivation.

"Could anyone kindly tell me where the Moon Shadow Wolf tends to spawn?"

With no other players visible nearby, I just asked the Constellations out loud.

The ones in my room looked a little off, sure — but they were still Constellations, weren't they?

Surely there were things they knew better than I did?

And whatever the Constellations found so delightful, they started snickering and chiming in one by one.

Regrettably, none of it was actually helpful.

"Hold on, big bros, I'm being serious here — why do you keep laughing?"

Incidentally, at some point my term of address for the Constellations had become "big bros."

Whoever has the money is the big bro. That's just how it works.

These people casually tossed around tens of LP at a time, so naturally they were far wealthier than I was.

And it seemed the Constellations were rather taken with the honorific as well.

The one who kept calling me "this fellow" was a Constellation bearing the title Count Grape.

He was also the only one of the three Constellations remaining in my room who hadn't sponsored anything yet.

And the very one who'd declared he'd give me the next mission, no less.

So extracting a mission fee from him too by the end of today — call it my own personal side quest.

Listening to these people talk, something felt off to me.

At first, because of the grandiose label of "Constellation," I'd assumed they were some kind of divine beings…

But judging purely by their speech patterns, they were no different from the ordinary Earth-player types you'd find anywhere on the Awakened forums.

Which was why, apparently, opinions among players remained divided on the true identity of the Constellations.

Still, there was one thing everyone agreed on: the Constellations knew this game extremely well.

Though I'd been finding that rather hard to accept, so far.

'Well, it's been less than an hour since I started streaming.'

I was still mulling that over as I pressed onward when a wolf came snuffling toward me, creeping closer step by step.

Hmm.

Up until now I'd dodged combat whenever I reasonably could, but it seemed fighting this time was the wiser call.

If I wanted to run without engaging here, I'd have to veer off completely in another direction — and that would cost me even more time to reach my destination.

Grrrrrrowl—!

The moment I squared into a combat stance toward the low-growling wolf, the Constellations posted chat messages, one apiece, as if intrigued.

Shooting a sidelong glance at their messages, I drew out my beloved steel shovel.

Ding—!

And apparently… my weapon of choice was an absolute hit with the Constellations.

I wondered — did the world of the Constellations have comedians as a profession too?

I briefly entertained that idle thought as I readjusted my grip on the iron shovel.

This was my first time showing them how I fought, so I couldn't help feeling a touch nervous.

I couldn't afford to disappoint my generous money patrons…

Awoooooo—!

And so, with a warrior's resolve, I launched into a ferocious bout of shoveling at the charging wolf.

Thud-thud—

I lightly deflected the lunging wolf's attack and, in the same motion, raked the sharp edge of the iron shovel diagonally up across its belly.

Shraaack—!!

Then I leapt into the air…

And drove the shovel straight down into the spine of the creature, still floundering in its pain.

Crrrack—

Accompanied by a deeply unpleasant sound, its spine snapped.

Whiiiine—

An entirely expected outcome.

I hadn't just jabbed at it — I'd planted the shovel as if driving it into the earth, pouring my full body weight down through both legs.

But it was too soon to relax.

If I got careless and took a bite for my troubles, it would cost me a hefty chunk of my precious vitality.

Vitality I needed to conserve for the Moon Shadow Wolf.

With that in mind, I drove my fist straight into the staggering beast's abdomen.

WHAM—!

This was no ordinary punch.

Then what was it, you ask?

What we in the trade call a liver shot — the kind that turns your mind to mush.

By now, the poor creature probably couldn't even manage a breath.

So all that remained was to finish it off cleanly.

Crunch!

And just like that, in the blink of an eye, the battle was over.

Beftting a Level 13 monster, the experience was delightfully rich.

Even at Level 9, with a steeply inflated requirement, this single fight filled nearly six percent of my bar.

If I picked off four or five more along the way, I might even reach Level 10 before facing the Moon Shadow Wolf.

Hmm.

Should I stop dodging wolves wholesale, in the interest of saving time?

I was pondering that as I looted the dropped items when…

A chat message flashed before my eyes with an oddly familiar ring to it.

The exact same message, down to the last character — yet somehow it carried a different weight this time.

But whatever reactions the Constellations were having, I had my hands full.

Streaming was streaming — first things first, a man's got to do his job, right?

The base drop had yielded nothing but a single small fang, but harvesting reliably provided me with the Gray Wolf's hide.

And that hide was worth a full 1 LP a piece!

I could hardly leave a bundle of cash lying in the street and just walk away, could I?

And yet the Constellations' reactions to watching me ply my trade were… a little strange.

Whew.

I needed to issue a formal correction to my evaluation of the Constellations.

It seemed these amateurish Constellation characters… knew precious little about Laika after all.