Chapter 10. A Huge Donation Received on the 4th Day of Streaming
Chapter 10. A Huge Donation Received on the 4th Day of Streaming
[Wow... so our Hero's basically a damn corporation now]
[Such a generous donation, I'm shivering]
[And it's apparently Anonymous lol]
People were stunned by the sudden 3-million-won donation.
A streamer on day four receiving that kind of massive sum—even I was surprised.
But the nickname hidden behind Anonymous was 'Nova Group'.
If you're South Korean, no—anyone in the world would've heard that company name at least once.
It was a company with such terrifying financial power that even if you pooled the funds of all five major guilds in Korea, they wouldn't match even one of Nova's subsidiaries.
Some even joke that South Korea was a parasite living off Nova.
'Hmm... a company like that donated 3 million won...'
I glanced at the chat, and everyone was curious about what I'd decide.
On top of that, the artifact had pulled in even more viewers than usual.
[This bastard's trying to grab the cash and run, right?]
[Don't slander our righteous Hero]
[Righteous?]
[But isn't an artifact like that criminally undervalued at just 300?]
"Hmm... you donated anonymously because you didn't want your identity revealed, correct?"
After a brief pause, they conveyed their intent not through chat, but through a donation.
Because if they typed in chat, their nickname would be visible.
[ Anonymous has donated 3,000,000 Watts! ]
- Yes, that's right. Unfortunately, even manager messages and private messages show up on the stream, so we were a bit reluctant.
Meaning they wanted it visible to me, but not exposed to regular viewers.
In just two messages, they had donated 6 million won.
Let's prod them a little more.
"Hmm... Thank you for the donation. But I'm not some idiot—I know exactly how valuable this artifact is. And you're offering just 6 million?"
[Dude's seriously milking their pockets dry]
[He said 'just 600' lmao]
[If it's not too much trouble, buy me just one Melona]
[ Anonymous has donated 3,000,000 Watts! ]
- Then how much should we give you? We'd like to at least take a look.
"If it's just looking, it's not difficult..."
My ambiguous attitude must be driving the guy on the other side of the screen crazy.
What price should I name so they'll say I named a good price...
To harness the power of collective intelligence, I casually glanced at the chat.
[100 billion, go go]
[You gotta call at least 1 billion lol]
[Isn't 100 million enough? It's just looking]
[100 million, are you insane lol that artifact is worth way more]
Decision made.
1 billion for just 'looking.'
"If you shoot 1 billion, I'll at least grant you a 'meeting.'"
After quietly waiting, even after five minutes, no further donation came in.
Did they also think 1 billion was too expensive just for a meeting?
[1 billion just to meet?]
[What are you, some stock guru grandpa?]
[That grandpa at least eats with you;;]
While I was talking nonsense with the viewers like that, I saw an amount I'd never seen before in my entire internet streaming life.
[ Anonymous has donated 1,000,000,000 Watts! ]
- I apologize. Donations have a limit, so I was delayed sorting that out.
[Wow they really shot it... Are they some major corp or what?]
[Can a major corporation throw money around like that?]
[Isn't she just a seriously loaded gold spoon?]
[I mean, isn't there a donation limit in the first place?]
"Ah, shit... Since I already said it, I'll at least give them the meeting."
Maybe my agreement seemed like a positive gesture, because other parties also started donating as well.
[ Anonymous has donated 3,000,000 Watts! ]
- We could give not just 1 billion, but 10 billion.
"No, that won't do."
[But it's 10 billion?]
[???]
"I already made a promise with that person. If they wanted it that badly, they should've shot right away instead of testing the waters."
The early bird catches the worm, after all.
Of course, if you try to swallow that worm, your mouth might tear.
---
As the artifact shown on stream became a hot topic, a small community channel was created under my name.
[ Author: Throwing My Resignation Letter ]
[ Title: Who the hell is the person who donated today? ]
[ Content: (Donation animation with sound effect) What kind of person donates straight away like that? ]
└ Probably just a major corporation?
└ America or China, maybe? They could totally do it.
└ If it was them, it would be 100 million dollars, not 100 million won lol
└ 100 million dollars was over 100 billion won, you crazy bastard lol
└ Is this bastard playing Monopoly or what?
└ But from what Hero said, even just meeting costs 1 billion?
└ Right, if they want to examine it further, they'll probably have to pay extra.
└ Did you see Hero's face when he was dealing? I got ripped off by someone like that in high school, damn
"Son, you did something huge again, huh?"
It didn't faze me anymore.
More precisely, it seemed like Mother had simply given up.
"Shall I tell you which company it is?"
My mother, who was eating, gently set down her spoon and looked at me.
"Heh, if you want to know, Mom needs to donate too."
Mother's eyelid twitched faintly.
She waved her hand and was about to speak, but Laila, who was beside her, spoke first.
"Mother, it was a company called Nova."
"Nova...?"
"What? What kind of company is it?"
Mother's reaction was unusual.
Not in a negative way, but rather a positive one.
Hearing the name Nova, she seemed relieved and picked up her spoon again.
"As a guild master, I hear industry news here and there. I've heard that Nova Group is transparent with its funds, has never been involved in tax evasion, and above all, cherishes and takes care of its employees."
Oh... that's new information.
Normally, big corporations like that evade taxes, make people disappear, and conduct biological experiments in secret labs—isn't that the cliché?
I thought maybe Mom just doesn't know, but she's the head of one of the five major guilds, so the quality of her information would be different.
After that, I looked into Nova Group some more.
On the surface, it was definitely a company that contributed a lot to society.
"Oh, and the chairman was a hunter too?"
He'd lived as a hunter and then suddenly announced his retirement.
Then he succeeded his father, originally the head of a major corporation, and grew it into the current company.
"This was possible in just five years? He's an impressive fellow..."
"Hero, they say Nova is coming to pick you up tomorrow?"
---
"Nice to meet you. I am honored to escort you today, Hero."
"Yeah..."
It was uncomfortable having a man who looked to be in his fifties be that excessively polite.
We followed his guidance and got into the car.
"By any chance, do we need to keep today's meeting a secret?"
"That is not required, but... why do you ask?"
"No, it's good content for the stream."
"...You don't need to hide it, but please try to avoid any leaks."
[ World's Strongest Hero : Doing a short stream and leaving. ]
[I thought I'd die from waiting, you bastard!!]
[What? Where are you going?]
[Did this bastard buy a car as soon as he made money? Looks fucking nice]
"I'm heading somewhere with the person who gave that huge donation yesterday."
[???]
[Is it okay to stream this?]
"It's fine. They said as long as nothing sensitive leaks, it's okay."
[Umm... so why did you start streaming?]
[So basically you can't say anything, right?]
"To show you something amazing."
Saying that, I grabbed the earring on my ear.
Then I opened the car window and threw it off the bridge as we passed over a large overpass.
[??? Are you actually insane?]
[What? Did someone issue a mission to throw an earring for 10 billion?]
[LOLOLOLOL dopamine overdose]
"I have a plan. Everyone, see you later."
With that, I immediately ended the stream.
And the eyes of the man escorting me beside me were trembling violently.
He looked like he had many questions but couldn't ask.
"I have my reasons. Don't worry."
He nodded, pretending to be calm, but his eyes were still shaking violently.
Thus we arrived at a research lab belonging to Nova Group.
"We were contacted in advance. Nice to meet you. I'm the head of this facility."
"Yeah, just call me Hero."
"Th-that object...?"
At the head's question, the man who brought me here gulped and began explaining everything.
Following the man, the head's eyes also shook violently.
"Watch carefully."
I stretched my hand into the air, and the earring appeared in my palm, transforming into a jet-black club.
"Wha, what...? You definitely threw it off the bridge earlier...!"
At the absurd act, the head's eyes widened as if they might pop out, and the man who had witnessed everything had a kaleidoscope of expressions.
"Do you know why I specifically showed you this?"
"Wh-why is that?"
I placed my hand on the head's shoulder and grinned.
He flinched at my smile and took a step back.
"So you won't get any funny ideas."
"I, I would never think of such a thing...!"
I patted his still tense shoulder.
Geez, and you're the head, being this timid...
"I'll give you three days. Use it however you like. As you saw, I'll come collect it without fail in three days."
"A-are you really okay just leaving it like that?"
"You said you wouldn't get any funny ideas, didn't you?"
I shrugged and turned to head out.
Even so, I waved to the head.
Then, in a very quiet voice, just loud enough for him to hear, I said:
"Well, if you can pull off any funny business, go ahead and try..."