The Re-Clear Stream

"Hold on—what did you just say?"

Earth was going to be destroyed?

Don't tell me Slimming was… into some kind of cult?

Just look around. Couples enjoying their dates. Students studying together. Aunties chatting and laughing away. Everyday life, peaceful as could be.

And this world was supposed to end?

Not even a baby would buy a lie that big.

"Come on, Slimming. The world looks this peaceful—how is Earth supposed to get destroyed?"

I said it lightly, half-joking, but Slimming's expression only darkened further.

"I didn't believe it either. But…"

She hesitated a moment, then pressed on.

"My friend Sophia can see the future. Something about the Eye of God. And she saw it. Exactly five years from now, the monsters we've only ever seen inside the Tower pour out into the world, and everyone dies screaming. The absolute worst bad ending imaginable."

"What does that have to do with the Tower?"

"Ha…"

Slimming let out a sigh heavy with feeling, then started explaining everything, piece by piece.

"Listen carefully. The monsters come from the Tower. So what do you think we have to do?"

"Protect the non-awakened?"

"No! You're so dense…. Why can't you understand a simple sentence?"

I'd only given a perfectly reasonable answer, and Slimming was scolding me for reasons I couldn't begin to parse.

Me—the guy with the sharpest instincts around.

Five full minutes later, after I'd sat through her entire lecture, Slimming finally cut to the point.

"We have to clear the Tower."

"People are already clearing it steadily, though…?"

"Are you trying to make me angry again? That's not what I mean. We have to climb all the way to the top."

I had a whole fresh round of questions lined up about why the top of the Tower was so important—

If I ask, she'll just explode again, won't she?

Yeah. Didn't need a crystal ball for that one.

In the end, all I could do was agree with her.

"R-right! Of course! As expected of Slimming—so knowledgeable!"

"…Excuse me? Do you actually understand what I'm saying? Because your face says otherwise."

"W-what are you talking about? I understood everything."

I weathered a brief storm of suspicious looks, but my legendary acting skills got me through.

"Haa… Fine. Good that you understand. Which means, Eastern Gunslinger, you're going to have to climb the Tower for real."

"Hold it right there."

I turned toward the source of the voice.

Eun Hayoon was glaring at Slimming across the table, one hand slapped flat against the wood, fury written all over her face.

"Why does Jinwoo have to do it? Hypothetically speaking, Slimming, you could just clear the Tower up to the hundredth floor yourself."

"Hayoon, have you watched Eastern Gunslinger's streams?"

"Of course! I've already watched them more than ten times—I mean, about twice."

At Hayoon's answer, Slimming flashed a sly little smile.

"More than ten times? Impressive~. Then you must have seen that scene too, right?"

"W-what scene…?"

Without a word, Slimming pulled up a clip. She'd clearly saved it in advance.

On the screen, my head wasn't pointed at the Iron Golem at all—it was tilted toward empty air.

The exact moment I'd checked the notification that my Avid had gotten stronger.

Slimming paused the playback right before the Iron Golem went down.

Of all the places to stop, she chose the highlight. Even for Slimming, that was unforgivable.

"AAAAAH! Why would you cut it off at the highlight?!"

"Because that's not what matters right now."

With that, Slimming leaned in toward me.

Then she whispered, so quietly only I could hear.

"Jinwoo… you're a Hunter who keeps getting stronger, aren't you?"

Viewers had shrugged it off as me being some kind of lunatic. But Slimming, in that single fleeting moment, had seen through it.

That I was a Hunter who grew steadily—unlike anyone else.

The second she finished whispering, she snapped right back to her usual self.

"Which is why Eastern Gunslinger will just have to keep climbing the Tower~"

"Jinwoo, did she mess with you?!"

"N-no, it's not like that…"

"What did you say to our Jinwoo?"

"Nothing at all~"

Slimming checked her phone, then shot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up from her seat in a hurry.

"I've got a stream in a few hours, so I'd better get going. It was fun meeting you both—good luck on your date? Byebye~"

Hayoon lunged to grab her, but Slimming was already out of the café before Hayoon even made it out of her chair.

An Awakened's physical ability and a non-Awakened's weren't even in the same league.

More like a cat versus a tiger, maybe.

I did my best to console Hayoon, whose shoulders were trembling with pure rage.

"Hayoon, it's oka—"

"…I'm becoming a Hunter. That fox-faced bitch."

"What about your athletic caree—"

"I'm done with it! What's the point of any of it if you're not there?!"

Whatever had gotten under her skin, a few days later the news really did drop an article announcing Eun Hayoon's retirement.

That same evening, after our chance encounter with Slimming, a follow request landed on my private SNS account. How she even found it was a mystery.

I had to hand it to her—it was impressive.

I'd named the account something only a firearms enthusiast would use, and the profile picture was just a photo of my usual rifle. Nobody was supposed to find it.

Leaving her hanging felt wrong, so I reluctantly accepted the follow.

Mutual follows were the law of the land, after all.

The second I accepted, a message from Slimming popped up.

Of course.

She'd known it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me when she hit follow. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠No question.

"Okay, that one's tempting."

Every streamer's income was tied directly to donations.

Which was exactly why everyone scrambled so hard to get them.

Myself included.

After parting ways with Hayoon, I got home and tuned into Slimming's stream.

Her exact rank was unlisted, but she'd clearly cleared Unique Difficulty Floor 1 as well.

At least C-Rank or B-Rank, probably.

I loosened up with a light stretch, then pulled Night Blossom down off the wall and put it on.

Even if the mask automatically equipped the moment you entered the Tower, wearing it myself first settled my nerves.

I opened the system window to start the re-clear—and froze.

"Why—why is it gone?!"

Stream, Shop, and Community were all still there.

But the Tower icon that used to sit right next to Community had vanished without a trace.

Thoroughly rattled, I messaged Slimming at once.

"I will re-clear Floor 1."

The moment I declared the re-clear, the familiar system window appeared, just as Slimming had said.

"Yes."

My vision ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blacked out. A single blink later, I was inside the Tower.

I touched my face—the mask was on, no question.

I typed out a stream title on the spot.

I hit the go-live button, and viewers poured in just as thick as last time.

"Everyone, please calm down. Seems like you all still don't have enough faith in me…. Should I just call off today's clear after all?"

Public opinion thoroughly seized.

"Heh. Well, I can't exactly cancel a clear over one single person, can I? Just like the title says—we're re-clearing."

Right on cue, a donation rolled in.

"AvidChina, thank you for the thousand Coins. I'll clear it right away. This is going to be over in the blink of an eye, so if you've got anything to say, say it now. The second I break the record, I'm ending the stream."

The moment they heard I'd end the stream the second the re-clear was done, the chat—which already ran at hundreds of messages a minute on a normal day—caught fire like never before.

"No girlfriend. I'm just a pretty ordinary-looking guy. Age-wise, I just turned twenty. And as for 'bro can I have one ice cream'… are you that desperate for your little brother's money?"

They clearly had a lot of questions about me.

Personal trivia was flooding in way harder than anything Hunter-related.

I'd been chatting with the viewers for a while when a donation from a familiar username hit.

"Ahaha! Slimming, thank you for the donation. Alright, for real this time—I'm clearing it. Everyone, keep your eyes open. This is going to be a legendary, historic moment."

As the whole chat held its breath, waiting to see what score I'd pull this time—

"I will re-clear."

The moment the declaration left my mouth, a system window appeared.

A C-Rank monster—nothing different from last time.

I poured every last drop of mana into my Avid.

Current mana: 150.

One shot. One hit packing damage equivalent to 1,500 mana.

The golem appeared, and I pulled the trigger the instant it did.

Shorter clear time meant a better score, after all.

The recoil was monstrous—nowhere near last time's. It threw my entire body backward.

The chat was right.

The golem had entered the stage and exited in the same breath.

Last clear, at least the golem's stubby legs had been left behind. This time the power was so overwhelming that nothing remained—not a scrap. Completely erased.

The shock only lasted a second.

Then the blue system window bloomed open once more.