Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 172
>Chapter Title: Angela's Secret
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Never before had he felt this level of tension.
Even when facing the server's first legendary named dragon, it hadn't been like this. His parched throat was barely moistened by a swallow of dry saliva.
"Oppa, by any chance..."
Hyun-ah, who had been staring at him intently, finally spoke.
"Are you a Kaiser fan?"
"No. Absolutely not... Huh?"
Do-hyun, who had reflexively denied it, froze.
It wasn't the question he had expected. Meanwhile, Hyun-ah seemed flustered by his vehement denial and continued.
"For real? You were defending him so hard, and it felt like you were watching out for Min, so I thought you were a fan... Whatever, you don't have to hide it. Why deny it so much?"
"Uh... no, I'm not a fan or anything. I just think positively of him. I saw him a lot in Delrock."
"Oh right, you played Delrock, Oppa. I think you mentioned you knew Kaiser?"
"Nah, not really. Kaiser wouldn't know me."
Do-hyun awkwardly changed the subject and seized the moment to escape.
"I should head to bed for now. I'm beat."
"Already? You really stick to your night and day schedule. Gamers have it all mixed up, but you're so diligent even when just gaming. If you'd studied that hard, you'd be at Harvard."
*That's why I claimed first place in the game.*
Do-hyun couldn't voice that thought aloud and gave a vague reply before retreating to his room.
He leaned against the door for a moment, listening, then let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Hoo..."
Was this what it meant to age ten years in an instant?
He'd been truly startled.
*To think she overheard that.*
He'd assumed he was safe since she hadn't reacted, but apparently, she'd heard it and doubted her own ears.
Do-hyun resolved to be more careful from now on and opened the group chat.
[Kim Hyun-soo: What was there to see lololol Just his stomach hurting or something.]
[Kwak Jae-yeol: Makes sense. He grinded Delrock like crazy. Probably a Kaiser fan.]
[Yoo Jong-hyun: Nah, from what I saw, he got PK'd by Kaiser back in Delrock days. Grinds his teeth whenever it's mentioned.]
[Kwak Jae-yeol: Oh yeah lolololol That was it.]
[Kim Doo-hyung: Seriously, how did he play that trash game for so long? Kaiser's one thing, but that guy's a lunatic too.]
[Yoo Jong-hyun: So when are we meeting up? Do-hyun's out of the army now. We should all get together.]
[Kwak Jae-yeol: Yeah. Let's pick a date.]
Fortunately, they seemed to have bought it without suspicion.
Makes sense—they'd never met in person, so no reason for doubt.
*Guess I should see them sometime.*
They used to meet up occasionally before enlistment.
A month had nearly passed since discharge; it was about time.
Do-hyun decided to set a date sometime and swiped through his phone screen.
[Kaiser TV]
[Subscribers: 6.987 million]
Subscribers were surging, nearing 7 million.
All views exceeded 10 million, heading toward 20.
Comments were overwhelmingly praise.
Of course, with more fans came more haters—jealous netizens posting malicious ones...
-Kashin Church here! This fool has blasphemed the god!
-Blinded by envy and jealousy, committing the unforgivable! How foolish can one be!
-The High Priest will not forgive.
-Beware the night fields. -Kashin Church-
-These fucking crazies... Do you go insane joining Kashin Church? Or do insane people join Kashin Church?
-Dunno. Like the chicken or egg first?
But our loyal Kashin Church members were swiftly dealing with them.
*One of them is Hyun-ah's friend, right?*
The thought sent a slight chill down his spine, but having them on his side wasn't bad.
Some were probably half-joking, turning it into a meme.
Anyway, the momentum was insane.
He hadn't accomplished much in Pratel yet, so snagging first in Sargis must've had massive impact.
*How much revenue is this generating?*
Views varied, but he'd heard about 6-12 won per view for videos this length.
A quick calculation showed it exceeding hundreds of millions, making Do-hyun whistle.
*Is making money supposed to be this easy?*
He'd casually sold some items, stacking 30 million won in his account.
Despite great achievements, compared to Delrock days, gear was a drop in the bucket, but revenue was dozens of times higher.
*What to do with the money. Gifts for Mom... and Dad's coming back soon, so get him something too.*
And there'd still be plenty left.
Not enough for a house... maybe buy a car?
Just imagining it brought a smile; Do-hyun turned off his phone screen.
*Time to edit the video.*
What other job was this blessed?
Reflecting on his past laziness with editing, he dove energetically into the field boss hunt footage.
He'd adapted now—it didn't take as long as before.
The shorter footage helped too.
Under two hours later, Do-hyun finished editing, uploaded, and flopped onto the bed.
"Wow! Video's up already! Am I in it? Oh, mosaiced anyway."
Hyun-ah's voice came from outside the door.
*Is this that awkward cohabitation thing?*
He couldn't let her discover his identity.
The one hiding his identity, and the one oblivious.
Their awkward cohabitation begins!
Do-hyun whipped up a movie poster tagline in his head, then glanced at his buzzing phone.
[Kwak Jae-yeol: Video dropped!! Check it out quick!]
[Kim Doo-hyung: Whoa... Still insane on video. We witnessed that live?]
[Yoo Jong-hyun: Kaiser Punch! Kaiser Punch! Kaiser Punch!]
Do-hyun smirked at his friends' nonstop chatter in the preview, then tossed the phone aside.
He'd planned to watch soon, but lacked the confidence.
*Not my problem.*
His head hurt thinking more; Do-hyun surrendered to the blanket with a whatever-happens attitude.
Thus, a week passed.
* * *
On the Gods Online community, all sorts of topics popped up, but Kaiser chatter was inevitable.
From Kashin Church fanatics to haters and indifferents.
Always bringing hot topics, drawing crowds of all kinds.
-Is Kaiser doing the main quest or something?
The hottest recent topic: the main quest.
Solo-playing a different game, it was bound to come up.
-Huh? Main quest? Barion said there's no such thing.
-Wtf main quest joke lololol If it existed, it'd be cleared already. Top 10 Guilds and Adventure King look like shit?
1 year and 6 months post-launch.
In a game with 1 billion players, no one had found even a clue.
How could newbie Kaiser be clearing it?
So everyone thought it odd but dismissed it—until recently, when vibes shifted.
-Main quest unsolved is canon, but... still suspicious.
└Fr, contractor vid too, solo different game? Makes no sense otherwise.
└Brión segment cutscene only explained by main quest.
└Wtf, so Kaiser's pioneering main quest?
└Not definite, but suspicious af.
The contractor video's final monsters.
The bizarre humanoid boss fight never seen before.
His solo anomalies and insane specs—all lending credence to main quest theories.
-Heard Top 100 Guilds assuming Kaiser's on main quest, investigating from Raven to Brión.
└Phoenix Guild and Baekdu Mountain Guild moving too.
└Saw some Top 10 explorers lingering there?
└Holy shit... Top 10 stepping in?
└Fr, focused on New Continent, but it's nerve-wracking. Whichever Top 10 grabs main quest skyrockets.
└Yeah, can't touch Kaiser now without losing face, so watching. Empire hit, they'll swarm lololol
└Good thing Kaiser's guildless. Otherwise, war.
Guilds thought the same—hypersensitive as organizations.
Result: scouring Kaiser's paths.
-Wonder how it'll go.
-But if we find main quest first?
-Scouted or slashed, one or other. Realistically, beat them to it? Lol no. Best is popcorn and watch.
For average users, main quest or not, it was thrilling drama.
Eyes naturally on Kaiser's moves.
-So what's Kaiser doing now?
-Getting nagged by Luriel?
-Wow, that boomer bitch nagging even gods.
-Luriel? Who's that?
-Wandering NPC in Pratel.
-Rumor he got quest from her. Hunting all week, meet Luriel, repeat.
└Luriel giving quests? She curses nonstop but never quests?
└Wait... another main quest?
└Wtf??
Interest peaked—then.
-Fuck, insane!! Not time for that!
-Wtf! Hero Guild dropped a bomb!
Unexpected nuke from Hero Guild.
-Hero Guild wtf. Another meme?
└Lol I knew we'd report 'em someday.
-No shit, not that. Check Hero Guild notice NOW. I called it. I'm going first!
-Wtf all fuss... Huh? Huh??
-No way...? Real?
Hero Guild's official notice.
[Hero Guild, after over 6 months of effort... (abridged) worldwide first hidden piece, the Lloydra Raid... (abridged) ...to atone for past mistakes, recruiting any volunteers for the raid team.]
Wordy notice packed nukes.
-Hidden raid boss...?
-100-man raid team? Insane... Pratel's largest?
-Wow, grudge on field bosses led to this.
World's first Pratel hidden raid boss.
15 for boss raid, 100 total team—massive event.
Shocking enough, but last line floored them.
-Wut? Anyone can join?
-Atone for unintentional harm?
-Wow... Berzerge looks different. Face glowing today.
-Master of otome games...? Stole my heart.
-Gay for Berzerge, not me...
-Insane... Adventure Log raid reward alone nuts? Must join!
Not guild-only—open to public users.
Level limit cleared, anyone welcome!
-Chant! God Berzerge!
-Berzerge fan starting today!
-Otome guy? Whatever! Guild Bok-dong approves!
Enough to drive users mad, flipping public opinion.
-So recruitment when? 2 hours?
-Fuck yeah. Lining up now.
-No lining. Fair chance, exact time at city center.
-Real shot at raid? Too excited.
-Ugh... When's time? 1 min = 1 hour.
Forgetting Kaiser talk, all fixated on Pratel's first raid boss Lloydra team.
Lloydra only in their heads.
While attention elsewhere.
"What, back already? Got everything I asked. Good job."
"...All done? Nothing else?"
Do-hyun handed materials to wandering NPC Luriel, getting quest checked.
Tense seconds waiting.
Luriel nodded, satisfied.
"Good, this'll do. Thought two weeks minimum, but a week? Desperate, huh?"
[Quest 'Luriel's Conditions (7)' cleared.]
[Satisfied Luriel with all conditions.]
[Linked quest 'Angela's Secret' triggered.]
*Finally!*
Do-hyun clenched his fist at the messages; Luriel grinned and turned.
"Follow. Got something to show."
After a week of patience.
Time to hear about Angela.