Chapter 158. You're Going There?
Chapter 158. You're Going There?
"Of course, as of now, only our Nova equipment is compatible..."
He'd shown them this incredible technology, only to say it worked exclusively with his own company's gear.
A ripple of mild disappointment passed among the streamers.
Then Director Park Hyun-tae, as if he had anticipated that reaction, smiled and continued.
"This technology will naturally be provided to all of you."
He raised one hand slightly and folded down his fingers one by one.
"The chip, the software, even the equipment—all of it will be lent to you free of charge."
In an instant, the banquet hall erupted in cheers.
"Wooooooah!!!"
"Nova is the best!!!"
"This is the power of a Korean corporation!!!"
Applause and cheers burst from all around, and some of the streamers even raised both hands in genuine admiration.
"Haha... it may not be quite as good as the Hypernova Vision used by Song Hoon right next to me, but..."
Laughter spread through the hall.
The streamers cheerfully took his modesty in stride.
"And by incorporating yet another technology..."
Director Park Hyun-tae's presentation wrapped up, and he stepped down from the platform.
He had simply introduced a single piece of tech, but the atmosphere was already halfway to euphoria.
In particular, the streamers who had been sensitive about revealing their faces had an entirely new gleam in their eyes.
"Whoa, with that... we wouldn't have to wear masks and hats all the time..."
"I never realized, since I'm always just streaming from my room..."
"Has technology really come this far already?"
After him, several more speakers took the stage.
One was a representative from the food industry who explained a meal kit designed with optimal calories and nutritional balance.
Another was the head of a sports brand.
They presented a colorful array of items: camping equipment, survival kits, ultralight tents, and clothing.
"This is pretty impressive too."
"So all of this stuff is basically sponsored?"
"Wow... a small-time streamer like me gets sponsorship like this?"
Of course, none of it had the on-site impact of Nova Group's announcement, but they were equally earnest in their presentations.
With their prepared slides and eloquence, they fully captured the streamers' attention.
The chat window floating on one side of the screen also showed cheerful reactions.
[Ah fuck, I tried to buy it right away but the site is getting hammered]
[Fuck, I'm clicking like crazy and I still can't get in!!!]
[Please, sell it to the rest of us too...]
I looked on contentedly and then picked up the microphone again.
"And now... I believe this is what you've all been waiting for most of all..."
Before I could even finish speaking, the streamers were already shifting in their seats.
There was no way the association president would just introduce some high-ranking government official here.
'To be fair, there really were some ministers and such who reached out to me...'
[Finally?]
[Ohhh?]
[Two S-ranks?]
"You're all correct in your expectations."
"Max and Emir Hunter!"
"That's right. These are the friends who, together with Laila and me, will be responsible for your safety."
The doors of the banquet hall opened wide, and two men entered.
Hulking physiques, rippling muscular frames, and a hearty smile just like always.
Max appeared, looking as if his suit was about to burst at the seams.
Emir followed quietly behind.
He was clad in combat gear that looked like a black uniform, his stride perfectly composed.
He came onto the stage with two sharp spears strapped to his back.
They strode up onto the platform and stood calmly beside Laila and me.
The streamers instinctively turned their smartphones this way.
[I never thought I'd live to see this lineup lololol]
[Two Unknowns and two S-ranks?]
[And on a random internet stream instead of the news?]
Another wave of cheers for the two of them exploded.
"Wah-hahahaha!!!"
True to his showman personality, Max's laughter resounded through the banquet hall.
He spread his arms wide, and befitting the symbol of an American S-rank Hunter, his presence alone dominated the room.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Max, an S-rank Hunter from the United States!"
After him came Emir's introduction.
He finished his brief introduction with a simple bow of his head.
[Max-ham is just so likeable]
[I seriously wouldn't be able to meet his eyes if I ran into him on the street lololol]
"Now, there's one thing left for us to do."
At my words, the streamers grew quiet.
There was a slight tension in the air.
Just when they thought the real briefing was about to begin.
"That is... we need to come up with the actual content. What we're going to do once we're there..."
"?"
"...?"
"Huh...?"
Quizzical looked spread among the streamers.
In the silence, a few people glanced sideways at one another.
"Haha, well, I haven't really thought of the content yet."
I said it brazenly, right to their faces.
"After all, everyone here has way more streaming experience than I do... and this moment right now is already part of the content, isn't it?"
[??? : Spit out some ideas, you bastards lol]
[??? : We've done everything else, you guys do this part]
[Can't tell you right now << Wait, was that really because they hadn't decided anything?]
At my shameless and clueless attitude, the streamers just laughed.
That was when two hands slowly rose at the same time.
"Oh!?"
I let out a chuckle when I saw who the owners of those hands were.
"As expected of our veterans, leading by example, I see."
The owners of those hands, Nudungji and Lucia, glanced at each other.
In that moment of mutual hesitation, Nudungji stealthily lowered her hand.
"Um... how about we split into teams? If the teams are too big it'll be hard to manage... so maybe just two big teams."
I folded my arms, nodded, and looked at Lucia with interest.
"Earlier, there was the Hero and the Demon King, right? So, not you, the other Hero."
"Yes."
"Put those two as the team leaders for each team, and the rest... well, you can balance them out based on stuff like stream subscribers and career experience."
I saw people in the audience nodding their heads.
My eyes sparkled as well, as if an amusing picture was taking shape in my mind.
"Ohh... and then?"
Lucia paused for a moment, then suddenly flailed both arms limply.
"Dunno~ I didn't think that far ahead yet."
"..."
"It's such a special environment—a gate—so doesn't anything work, as long as we're doing something?"
Was I the one overthinking this?
With that thought, I discreetly glanced over at the chat window.
[Yeah, just tell em to eat bugs in there or something lol]
[It's a game of chance though, what if they eat the wrong thing and die?]
[The Saintess would save them lololol]
'Just something like that was really fine with them...?'
As it turned out, I was the only one taking this seriously. Other streamers were nodding their heads as well.
"I mean... a gate isn't a place you can just casually visit in the first place..."
"Yes, normally even hunter streamers only go into E or D-rank gates after thorough preparation..."
The people directly involved were even more nonchalant about it.
I was the only one being so serious.
"Then let's just... think of it as going on a school field trip, or something."
[Lolol just think of it as sightseeing]
[Make sure to take lots of pictures lol]
The mood turned lighthearted in an instant.
At that moment, one streamer raised their hand and asked.
"But... has the gate been decided yet?"
As if everyone had been waiting, all eyes focused back onto the platform.
Over my shoulder, I could see the chat window being covered in a flood of question marks.
Then I stared meaningfully into the camera lens and smirked.
"As for that, once this meeting is over... I'll be sending out a mass text."
[Ah, you son of a bitch, just let us know too]
[Please!!! Don't keep it to yourself!!]
[I seriously feel this every time but this bastard is good at stringing people along]
The chat window blew up with a mix of cheers and jeers.
"One thing that's certain is that we won't be going to any half-baked gate. We'll be heading to a gate that no one can enter without us."
The streamers' faces grew slightly tense, and the chat window began speculating among themselves.
[Are they going to an S-rank gate???]
[I don't think they can handle taking this many people in, even if it's the two Unknowns]
[Just go for a refreshing unclearable gate, let's go]
[An unclearable gate, the fuck lmaoo, are you telling them all to just die?]
Like a pro gamer striking a signature pose, I playfully brought my finger to my lips.
"Shh. That's a surprise for later."
Then I brought the mic close to my mouth again and spoke declaratively.
"And... that concludes our meeting here. Though, really, there isn't much concrete yet."
Following that, I addressed the two VTubers, the Hero and the Demon King, though they weren't shown on screen.
"Your team leaders are the two I mentioned earlier. We'll sort out the actual teams right on the day of the gate entry."
[Huh?]
[Weren't we doing that right now?]
"Because someone might end up dropping out, after all. Each team leader should think carefully about who you want to pick until then, right?"
I said it like a teacher assigning homework.
Then I added one more thing.
"It probably won't be easy. So I can at least make this one promise. We will make sure the monsters don't lay a single scratch on any of you."
"..."
"Where on earth are you planning to go...?"
"Ugh... when you say it like that, it's actually terrifying...?"
"That's why you're being given the choice. It's perfectly fine if you receive our text and decide to give up. Because your lives come first."
I told them they could feel free to talk about it on stream after getting the text, and then concluded the meeting.
---
After the meeting ended, we ended all the streams and had a small private drinking session in an unlisted state.
Then, instead of a text message, I told them the gate's rank in person.
Back in their own homes, they started up their streams and began spilling the story.
Sure enough, the online communities were flooded with an immense wave of posts.
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: Isn't this guy fucking insane??? ]
[ Content: Wow, seriously lmaoooo you're going THERE??? ]
└ lmaooo I thought I had misheard for a second at first
└ But could he even do it with that many people in tow?
└ Wouldn't he be able to? He just kills anything with one punch anyway lololol
└ Seems like they're just seeing how many people chicken out?
└ The magic word, coward? lol
└ Yeah but wow... this guy was seriously crazy in his own way lololol
└ But what's surprising was that there were almost no early dropouts lol
└ Do streamers have multiple lives or something? Or do they just trust Hero and Saintess that fucking much?
└ If we fail, it's death! If we succeed, isn't this an instant skyrocket to fame!!!
└ If you die, it's not a skyrocket, it's just rotting in the ground, you lunatic lol
The viewers were in a state of hype (?) as if they'd been massively betrayed.
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: Now that I think about it, this bastard's earlier comments are really weird ]
[ Content: So they were going to an S-rank gate all along > But he said he was thinking about what kind of content to do there lmaoooo ]
└ Fuck, lolol the S-rank gate itself was the content, was he just a madman lmaoo
└ This bastard was a pro streamer too after all
└ For real, I was so ridiculously curious
---
And late into the early morning hours.
The association president went directly to Song Hoon's house.
"Song Hoon Hunter, this is truly... utterly absurd...!"
"Even so, I gave them the choice..."
"No, I naturally thought... a B-rank, C-rank... or at most, an A-rank gate if we were being generous!"
The association president wiped his hand down his face and let out a deep sigh.
"But... an S-rank gate...!!! Surely the streamers' families will be opposed...!!!"
A type of content that would be absolutely impossible without Song Hoon and Laila.
That was going on a field trip inside an S-rank Gate.