Broadcast Day 5 - Dragon's FLEX (Part 2)
Viewers seemed to be stirring a bit, but I figured it wasn't anything major and just moved on.
"Then next..."
"Truly persistent children, aren't you?"
What was there even to explain? I let out a deep sigh and said,
"It's nothing much, children. I simply agreed to grant a single, simple request—that's all."
Give them the slightest opening, and these kids will bite, tear, taste, and devour it all. Even for me, things like world conquest or humanity's extinction aren't simple to handle. I have my own struggles too, you know.
...Not that I can't do it.
"And I've already granted Lee Hyun's request."
"That's not for me to say—ask him yourself later."
"Gahhhh!!"
Lee Hyun was running for his life.
"What the hell is this!!"
The world's number one hunter, shining at the top of the rankings.
...Well, truth be told, the hunter's own abilities ranked in the lower mid-tier among S-rank hunters. His awakened power was just a simple physical enhancement—nothing more.
Normally, he'd have lived out his days as an extra C-rank in some raid party, or maybe a pack mule at best.
But his relentless effort and a stroke of luck had propelled him here.
> Wahahahahaha lmao run faster, Lee Hyun!
Yeah, that white-winged lizard runt laughing his scales off right beside him now. His one and only partner, who contracted with him, lent him power, and fought alongside him.
"Stop laughing!!!"
...And a brother closer than blood, whom he wanted to kill right now.
Lee Hyun ground his teeth and leaped forward.
Boom!
And right on his heels came a massive furball crashing down.
A gigantic clump of fluffy golden fur. It looked so soft at a glance, you might want to dive in and hug it tight.
Lee Hyun had thought the same when he first saw it.
But...
Snap!
One side of the furball split open, and...
Chirrp!
Dozens of insect legs and thick antennae burst out, changing everything.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dozens of those massive furball bugs. Curling their deceptively plush bodies into balls, they rolled and bounced after Lee Hyun in a grotesque parade, twisting his face in horror.
"Kyaaahhh!!"
With a scream like a camel lost in the Sahara dunes, Lee Hyun surged across the golden plains at superhuman speed.
And beside him, the white-winged dragon, timing him, chimed in.
> Oho. Three minutes already? Run faster or you'll get their steamy hug~
"Fuck! You're dead after this!!"
> Kekekeke!!!
Staring at the white-winged dragon wagging his tail and cackling, Lee Hyun started harboring murderous intent.
Someday, he'd doodle all over every single one of those boasted scales...
But midway through the thought, Lee Hyun felt a pang of sorrow.
'What the hell do I have to prove...'
Thanks to the white-winged dragon's power, he'd reached S-rank—but it was really all his partner's power.
Why did he train so hard? Not to rely solely on his partner's strength, but to stand by his side on his own power, right?
Lately, though, Lee Hyun had felt it: his solo training had hit a wall. No new paths to growth came to mind.
So when the Apocalypse Dragon made his offer, Lee Hyun didn't hesitate to ask for help—not to borrow draconic power to grow stronger, but to grow strong on his own.
'I'm an idiot.'
Looking back now, maybe just borrowing the dragon's power would've been better.
Having heard the request, the Apocalypse Dragon praised him in a proud tone and brought him into her gate.
Then she started "training" him with monsters inside that matched him one-for-one in ferocity.
Or rather, less training and more...
What do you even call this?
> Nice. Five minutes! Done!
Thud!
Flop!
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
At the white-winged dragon's call, the bug swarm and Lee Hyun stopped simultaneously.
As the giant golden furball public bugs(?) rolled away into the distance, the white-winged dragon sidled up to Lee Hyun with a grin.
> Hey. You alive?
"...Shut up."
He'd become the monsters' plaything, it seemed. Tears welled in Lee Hyun's eyes as he thought that.
...Even so, his body was steadily getting tougher.
'Fuck...'
The curse he swallowed hung in the air.
After a quick check on that human Lee Hyun, I refocused on the broadcast.
Having taken a whole week off, things had piled up a bit. Time was ample, but I couldn't squander it.
"Next up: I've finally gotten myself a manager."
The viewers congratulated me. Not sure if it's that big a deal, but I accepted it graciously.
"Yes, you'd be curious about that."
I held up the business card I'd received yesterday in front of the camera.
Viewers wondering if I'd joined a company. I shook my head at their comments.
"I didn't join an agency."
After getting my resident registration card yesterday, Kim Dusik, the Hunter Association president, brought someone over, saying he had an introduction.
A middle-aged man sharply dressed in a black suit. The president of Yangji Management—the very business card I held now.
"He made me an offer. To join his agency."
Honestly, it was a bit impressive. Despite trembling in fear, driven purely by greed for more money, he pitched it to me.
That raw human greed made me chuckle a little.
I pondered it briefly. No matter how much I studied, a non-human like me couldn't master every broadcasting detail alone.
Why not hire experts who knew the ropes?
"Other streamers hire managers and editors as staff, don't they? I thought an agency could help with the parts I don't know well."
But there were downsides. Joining an agency meant I couldn't run my stream entirely on my terms.
"Especially since you'd need to make money from streaming—there'd definitely be restrictions."
Exactly. As the viewers said, I had no intention of making money from the stream.
What would I even do with human money? Plus, "money" ties everything up in broadcasting. Even tiny things get blocked by "copyright" or whatever.
Content I wanted? Interfered with if it doesn't make money.
So joining an agency felt like more loss than gain. Sure, they'd handle the minutiae, but I could just hire humans personally for that.
"So at first, I planned to decline."
Then a thought struck me.
"Don't humans build companies... ultimately to make 'money'?"
And agencies? They handle streamers'琐事, take a cut as payment, and profit, right?
So if I guaranteed the agency's "revenue," couldn't I keep my freedom?
"Yes. I simply hired the entire Yangji Management company."
I handed over gold and employed the whole company as my "manager." They handle stream management, editing, and all the琐事 in exchange for a fixed amount of gold.
Hiring a human or a company—big difference? Not really.
"So let me introduce: my first manager."
For some reason, the chat flooded with "lol" for a while.
...What's so funny?