Prank!? Prank!! 1
Do you know what a prank is?
Everyone knows it as a practical joke or a hidden camera setup.
In the West, it is commonly called a prank—an act of tricking someone or orchestrating a specific atmosphere to corner the victim, only to surprise them later by revealing it was all a setup.
Hidden cameras used for crimes, voyeurism, or sexual harassment are obviously criminal acts that would get someone arrested. However, pure pranking has established itself as a subculture thanks to the popularization of cameras and video platforms.
Of course, alongside the harmless fun, there are many malicious pranks that cross the line. From the victim's perspective, it can go beyond absurdity and provoke genuine rage. Yet, it possesses the primal characteristic of making the onlookers double over with laughter.
In the West, prank series capitalizing on coulrophobia—dressing up as clowns in the dead of night to terrify people—were highly popular for a time.
Naturally, to chase more sensational views, some went beyond mere clowns to wear grotesque, horrific makeup. Some even filmed videos of clowns wielding real knives or weapons, laughing maniacally while chasing people. Eventually, one channel owner who repeatedly pushed the envelope with extreme pranks was shot and killed by a citizen carrying a firearm.
Regardless, on "Switch," the global giant of video and streaming platforms, many pranksters still existed. The crucial rule, however, was that one must never cross the line.
Whenever catastrophic events like the Great Rift occurred, leaving countless injured or dead, the social atmosphere grew heavy. Consequently, prank streamers and that entire culture would vanish for a time.
It was only after the heroic exploits of S-grade hunters, centered around Yeon Seo, stabilized society and brought back peace that pranks and joke culture began to thrive once more.
It might be an overinterpretation, but "pranking" was ultimately a luxury permitted only by peace.
People laughing, chatting, and clutching their bellies at primitive jokes was proof of how stable the world had become.
And in the year 2088, there was a channel called "Prank & Joy."
"Hey there, Prank & Joy! Welcome in."
Streamers who rose and fell by pranks still existed, but the Prank & Joy channel reigned supreme among them.
Prank & Joy was a channel run by Choi Hyung-min, a B-grade shape-shifting hunter, and his crew. Every clip they uploaded was popular enough to rank in the top 30 on Switch.
While primitive humor could certainly be polarizing, that very raw appeal made them highly popular with the masses, earning them astronomical amounts of money.
Moreover, while they were notorious for pulling sudden pranks and malicious jokes on ordinary civilians and random passersby, the real reason Prank & Joy achieved such massive popularity was their pranks targeting hunters.
During the early days of the Great Rift, awakened individuals and hunters—who fell into the category of "non-humans" rather than ordinary people—were viewed by the public as idols or beings beyond the heavens.
However, the hunter prank channel showed that hunters were ultimately human just like the viewers, bringing laughter. In the beginning, it served a positive function by narrowing the distance between hunters and ordinary citizens, reminding everyone that hunters existed to protect humanity.
In fact, rumor had it that about forty years ago, there was a video of the living legend Yeon Seo getting pranked. However, finding that footage now was considered nearly impossible, rendering it a sort of urban legend.
Honestly, if you have the skills, hunters are the absolute best targets to prank.
Choi Hyung-min's motivation for starting his broadcast in the first place was searching for that rumored video of Yeon Seo getting pranked.
Back then, Hyung-min couldn't find the footage even in the dark corners of the deep web. He figured if he couldn't find it, why not just pull the pranks himself? That thought led him to film his very first prank video.
And he did it targeting hunters.
Hunters possessed bodies far sturdier than ordinary humans, but they startled just the same when subjected to jokes and pranks.
Pranks that would be considered "crossing the line" by normal standards could be framed as trivial when pulled on a hunter.
Hyung-min was exceptionally cunning. He selectively targeted hunters who were lower rank than him or those who found it awkward to express anger, pulling "boundary-crossing pranks" on them.
Even if a target got angry, thinking a prank was genuinely dangerous, Prank & Joy was already a massive corporate-level channel averaging hundreds of thousands of viewers.
While many criticized him, there were just as many who defended the pranks.
Even if the target got angry, the chat would react like...
Such reactions dominated the chat.
At least high-ranking hunters or those who could stand up to Hyung-min would voice their anger. Low-ranking hunters from F to C-grade, or small-time hunter streamers with fewer than 10,000 average viewers, couldn't even dare to get mad.
No matter how much the distance with ordinary people had closed, a hunter was still a hunter. An awakened was an awakened. A returnee was a returnee.
Ultimately, the viewers were ordinary citizens. From their perspective, no matter how severe a prank a hunter endured, they didn't take it seriously.
"Alright, who are we going to bury today?"
Bury.
He spoke as if he were a mobster about to murder someone and encase them in concrete, but to put it simply, it was slang used between the viewers of Prank & Joy and the host, Choi Hyung-min, meaning to pull a prank.
To pull a prank on a hunter, absolute conditions had to be met.
First and foremost, the prankster needed enough skill to clean up the aftermath and ensure no one got killed or injured.
And Hyung-min's ability was a B-grade shape-shifting type.
It was a versatile ability that allowed him to transform his body into the shape of any monster he knew, and even mimic their abilities to some extent.
Normally, his skills would have allowed him to promote to A-grade long ago. However, rather than seeking evaluation as a hunter, he focused on his life as a streamer, developing new prank content and dedicating himself to broadcasting, putting off the A-grade promotion exam.
Why bother promoting when becoming an A-grade means getting drafted for dangerous mandatory missions? It's much sweeter and easier to use this ability to grow the Prank & Joy channel and milk donations from the viewers.
The premise of the hunter prank videos was simple.
Hyung-min would visit popular dungeons where hunters could easily be found.
Then, he would transform into an A-grade or S-grade monster that shouldn't exist in that dungeon to terrify the hunters.
Though officially B-grade, Hyung-min's actual combat ability was already A-grade. Combined with various props, special effects, and audio, hunters seeing him for the first time naturally panicked.
A monster that shouldn't be there, a monster that spelled doom just by looking at it.
In the past, he had once disguised himself as an A-grade monster and ambushed a C-grade female hunter fresh out of the academy who was solo-hunting in a dungeon. The legendary video of her bursting into tears and fainting was still famous.
Naturally, some criticized him for crossing the line, but his fandom had long since grown massive. Drowning out the voices of criticism with support was all too easy.
What if things got too serious?
It was simple.
He would just pivot into apology mode.
"It was a misunderstanding. To me, it was just a joke, a hidden camera prank, but I bow my head in apology to anyone who was hurt by it."
Just by offering a seemingly sincere apology, public opinion would shift.
Before Hyung-min even had to do anything major, the viewers and public opinion would start saying,
"He apologized, so let's let it go,"
or
"He bowed his head to a small-time streamer, what more do you want?"
In the end, the giant streamer Hyung-min would often be framed as the victim, while the target who reacted seriously became the villain.
Of course, if you play with fire, you eventually get burned.
Hyung-min wasn't stupid, and he hadn't maintained his massive channel for this long by luck.
If he felt a prank had gone too far, he would broadcast wholesome, lighthearted content for a while, testing the waters while keeping a low profile.
Then, he would deliver the raw, primitive humor that drove his viewers wild.
While Hyung-min used to transform into monsters and scare people alone in the early days of his channel, now that he was a major streamer, he operated with an entire crew.
He had three staff members who had awakened C-grade illusion abilities, and another B-grade shape-shifting hunter who served as his manager and assistant director. In addition, he hired various awakened individuals from hunter academies for each broadcast to pull off even more elaborate and meticulous pranks.
With the help of numerous production assistants and his manager, Hyung-min, a shape-shifter barely scratching the threshold of A-grade, could pull off pranks that made it look like a real S-grade monster had descended.
The most entertaining reaction was definitely from Cheon A-young, wasn't it?
At the time, Cheon A-young, who was broadcasting in a B-grade dungeon, was so startled that she screamed and threw her protectors. Honestly, it was only fine because Hyung-min possessed A-grade durability. If any other staff member had been in his place, it wouldn't have been surprising if someone had died or been seriously injured.
That episode recorded the most spectacular and massive view count among all the videos Hyung-min had made over the years.
It didn't stop at just transforming into a monster to scare a hunter; the seasoned A-grade hunter Cheon A-young and the monster-disguised Hyung-min engaged in a flashy battle, treating the viewers' eyes and ears.
The viewers think I'm B-grade, but my actual skills are basically A-grade anyway...
Fighting someone of similar strength was always the most desperate, intense, and entertaining spectacle.
The video combining the prank and the battle between the A-grade Cheon A-young and Hyung-min, disguised as a monster of comparable strength, was a magnificent sight even to Hyung-min's own eyes.
Well, by the time he finally canceled the transformation and shouted, "It's a prank! Haha!" he had about three cracked ribs and a broken collarbone. Still, Cheon A-young's utterly dumbfounded face at that moment was so wildly popular that it was still used as a clip today.
Of course, Cheon A-young was absolutely furious, but money could solve most problems.
Thanks to that legendary video, which succeeded as a prank and even captured a flashy battle scene, Hyung-min earned far more than the compensation he paid to Cheon A-young.
"Hmm, we've arrived, but nothing really comes to mind..."
The place Hyung-min and his staff visited was the Water-Moon Plains, a popular B-grade dungeon.
The Water-Moon Plains was a flat grassland where reeds taller than a person swayed in the wind.
Though there were occasional swamps or ponds, the terrain was generally flat, allowing hunters to conserve their stamina. The monsters here were mostly low-grade, ranging from F to C-grade, but many of them dropped Greden ore, which sold for a high price due to high demand in the hunter market.
Greden ore was the hardest material when processed with 2088 technology, used in various fields including buildings and weapons.
Thus, the Water-Moon Plains was the optimal place for hunters who needed money or low-grade hunters looking to train.
"Guys, it looks like we don't have any suitable prey today, huh?"
"Oh, come on, no way."
In reality, Choi Hyung-min was blacklisted among hunters.
Not a criminal blacklist, of course.
To low-grade hunters or rookies who had just entered the field, Hyung-min was an absolute nuisance. His pranks could drain their energy or ruin their entire day's harvest in the dungeon.
As a result, low-grade hunters had formed a culture of sharing information among themselves to quickly stop their raids and head back whenever Hyung-min appeared.
Of course, those who shared such information were a very small group based on personal networks, so many hunters were still immortalized and ridiculed on the Prank & Joy channel.
The lack of people in the Water-Moon Plains today was purely a coincidence.
"Man, I finally got the ability to transform into a new S-grade monster, but it's a letdown if there's no one to prank..."
"Classified."
"I trust you. But I trust money more."
Satisfied now?
"Oh my, thank you so much, OmarungOmarung!"
"Do you guys know what a Dragon Tooth Warrior is?"
"Dragon Tooth Warriors are B-grade on average, but even they have ranks. They can grow, and they have intelligence. In fact, among the Dragon Tooth Warriors, there are those who train, evolve, and grow to reach S-grade!"
Crack!
As Choi Hyung-min cracked his arm, flames erupted and his arm began to transform.
It was the arm of the S-grade Dragon Tooth Warrior he had just mentioned.
Red dragon scales clung to his arm like armor. The arm, which had grown five times larger than his original one, looked as if it possessed massive, heavy power.
"That's just a teaser. If someone actually shows up to be pranked, I'll show you the whole thing..."
At that moment, Hyung-min shut his mouth upon seeing the text from his manager.
If someone was there, that was perfect.
What he wanted to show today wasn't who he was pranking, but what kind of monster he was transforming into.
Ultimately, the viewers loved flashy things. Even if it was a prank, if the monster Hyung-min transformed into was flashy and realistic, the viewers would love it.
Great. Who was it?
Hyung-min immediately held his breath and hid himself among the reeds.
Just as the message said, a small plume of smoke was rising in the distance, as if someone was camping.
Because the moon was exceptionally bright in the night sky over the Water-Moon Plains, the fire and smoke were clearly visible, almost like a beacon saying, "I'm here."
"Alright. Target acquired. Let's have some fun with the poor hunter over there tonight. Don't worry. I'll keep it within bounds, of course."
Confirming that the viewers' reactions were peaking, Hyung-min immediately transformed his entire body.
Crimson scales and spikes erupted all over his body, and his human face shifted into the massive head of a dragon.
His eyes flickered with burning fire. The oppressive and overwhelming aura made it look as if a real S-grade Dragon Tooth Warrior had descended, not Choi Hyung-min.
Wow, that Dragon Tooth Warrior looks sick...
Oppa, let me lick those abs just once...
Of course, it's not just my power...
Three illusionists, two shape-shifters, and various other hunters and awakened individuals had lent their abilities to make him look like a real S-grade Dragon Tooth Warrior.
Hyung-min had even consumed buff potions to temporarily boost his abilities, doing his absolute best to act like a real S-grade monster.
Great.
The viewers' reactions were ecstatic.
The viewer count had surpassed 80,000.
If he pulled off the prank like this, today's broadcast would be a massive success, and he would be able to milk donations from countless viewers.
Alright. Here we go.
"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!"
"Huh? What was that sound?"
Letting out a roar like a dragon's bellow, Hyung-min immediately rushed toward the unfortunate "prank target."
"Hmm?"
Hearing the ground-shaking sound, Hyung-min felt confident that all his preparations were perfect and that this prank would be a resounding success.
That was, until the "prank target," who had their back turned, spun around...
"..."
"...?"
At that moment, feeling as if time had stopped, Hyung-min sensed something was off.
What was this? By now, the target should have panicked and screamed, and he should have maintained a thrilling chase to keep the broadcast going...?
And the moment the silver hair hidden in the moonlight was revealed, Hyung-min felt something ominous.
In a split second, as if time had accelerated, Hyung-min's hunter instincts screamed that his life was in mortal danger.
Slurp...
She was licking her lips.
Her large breasts and beautiful appearance were striking.
Any man would naturally look at a beautiful woman.
But what if that woman was unfurling monstrous tentacles like a blooming flower?
It was beautiful, yet terrifying.
No, the terror far surpassed any sense of awe.
The tentacles alone were grotesque and terrifying, but what kind of emotion would you feel if that woman's eyes turned blood-red and she began to lick her lips at you?
At that point, it wasn't fear or confusion anymore...
Ah, I'm screwed.
That was the only thought that came to mind.
"You look... delicioussssss!!!!!!"
Snap! Snap, snap, snap!!!
The moment the tentacles unfurling from the silver-haired woman's body snapped their teeth together, Hyung-min knew instinctively.
He was screwed. Not just regular screwed.
He was absolutely, utterly screwed.