A Million-Won Reaction and an Old Man's Fishing Rod
The familiar name made me flinch. I never imagined the person I had looked up just yesterday would show up in my stream. And with a massive one million won donation, no less. Thanks to that, my feet—which had been carrying me toward the outpost—stopped dead in their tracks.
Why did he come?
I slowly turned the question over in my mind, but no clear answer emerged. The only guess I could make was that he must have found me through the gallery, yet even that wasn’t certain. As I stayed quiet, the chat decided I was stunned speechless by the donation and began teasing me one by one.
It wasn’t exactly that. I was simply floored by the absurd coincidence. When I sneaked a glance at the chat, a few viewers clearly knew why he had donated to me.
Looks like there really is a solid reason. Curiosity rising, I waited for the next messages alongside the other viewers.
Bulramyeon had personally silenced the chat with another donation.
Maybe it came from years of streaming experience, but he handled the audience with surprising skill. Still…
I have to shut this down.
I was curious why he had suddenly dropped a million won. But that wasn’t the important part. This is my stream. Even though I had only just started broadcasting, I knew this was dangerous. I could understand the chat getting excited for a moment over a celebrity’s arrival. But the broadcast couldn’t keep shifting focus like the main character had changed. Especially not with the chat reacting to every single one of Bulramyeon’s donations. I didn’t like my territory being invaded.
Just as I was about to speak up and reclaim control—
Ah. A reaction. Only then did I realize I was supposed to respond. Regardless of how I felt, I had still received the money.
A million-won reaction, huh…
Almost every donation so far had been a thousand won, so I hadn’t prepared anything special for a huge gift like this. I never expected it to happen so soon. Should I do a backflip or three in the air? I could pull off three rotations easily, but that felt too cliché.
While I pondered, I remembered how the viewers had gone wild every time I showed my face at the start of the stream. That should work.
Having made up my mind, I gave a small nod.
“You wanted a million-won reaction, right? I only just started streaming, so I don’t have any prepared ones, but…”
I gestured for Nyua to rotate the streaming camera so it faced me directly. Then I slowly placed a hand on my stomach and lifted my shirt just enough to reveal my abs—nothing more.
“Just this once, I’ll do something special.”
My sharply defined abs filled the broadcast screen. The chat froze as if it had crashed. Then the viewers exploded.
“That’s it for the reaction.”
I lowered my shirt again, but the viewers refused to calm down. It seemed no one had expected that kind of response. Judging by the reaction… it wasn’t bad.
Still, the opinion of the person who had spent a million won mattered most.
“Bulramyeon, are you satisfied?”
Fortunately, the man himself seemed pleased. Time to take the reins back. I already had some momentum, but I needed to seize it completely. From his earlier reaction, it looked like he had something he wanted to hide. I decided to use that.
“Glad to hear it. If it’s all right, could you tell us why you donated a million won?”
To summarize, it went like this: During the tutorial I had killed two weasels and unlocked a hidden route, which created the Haerang Challenge. Bulramyeon had boldly bet a million won that it was edited. That was the root of the problem. Even though I hadn’t known, it seemed his comment calling another streamer’s play fake had been bothering him.
“It’s fine.”
Having roughly understood the situation, I nodded and started walking toward the outpost again. His earlier comment didn’t really bother me. People can think that if they can’t do it themselves. I knew that psychology better than anyone. I had experienced it plenty of times. Of course, having my broadcast disrupted was annoying, but he had apologized and clearly hadn’t meant any harm. Above all, he had already donated a million won. There was nothing more to say.
“Then I’ll get back to the actual stream now. Bulramyeon, I hope you enjoy it as a regular viewer too.”
I reached the outpost faster than expected. Unlike following a guide bug to track footprints, the outpost was easy to spot from a distance. I passed the sentry who wore an expression that seemed to ask You’re already back? and stepped inside. Near the entrance, I saw Reina pacing back and forth, looking slightly anxious. It seemed she had been guarding this spot ever since we parted.
I only went to catch one monster. Why is she worrying that much? The sight was so ridiculous I shook my head slightly, but a small smile tugged at my lips. It didn’t feel bad at all. Even though it was a game, it had been a very long time since someone had waited for me with such concern. In the world I used to live in, I had always been alone at the end.
At this rate, I’ll have to let the head-smack from earlier slide. I had planned to smack the back of her head later when the chance came, but… I guess I had no choice but to overlook it now.
I thought she was just a rude senior at first, but she seems to have more affection than I expected.
As I slowly walked toward her, she must have sensed my presence and lifted her head. Her face filled with surprise.
“Senior, what are you doing here?”
“What?! You’re already back?!”
“Did you want me to take even longer?”
“That’s not what I meant!!”
At her sudden shout, I let out a small chuckle. So this is what they meant by “fallen for the ugly one.” When I first saw that comment in the chat I hadn’t understood it, but now I got it. Reina’s flustered appearance was surprisingly cute.
And it wasn’t just me who thought so. Among the viewers, more and more people were falling for her too.
Come to think of it, didn’t they say there was a mod? I had heard there was a beauty mod that made Reina look prettier. I was already used to her current appearance, but I grew curious what she would look like with it. I should install it once before the next stream.
Having decided, I nodded to myself. At that moment, a sigh came from ahead.
“Haa…”
When I looked up, Reina was taking light breaths, trying to calm herself.
“Hoo… hoo…”
She seemed a little calmer now. After letting out a long breath, she asked,
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Good.”
Even as she said that, Reina still slowly looked me over. Finally, after confirming there wasn’t a speck of dust on me, she nodded.
“You obviously caught the Kukri Diya. Did you also bring back the materials?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Are you planning to go to Grandfather right away?”
“I think that would be best. Do you know where he is?”
“Follow me.”
With those words, Reina turned and began walking. As I followed her, the bustling center of the outpost gradually faded behind us until we entered a quiet corner where few people went. After walking for quite a while longer, a single old, shabby house came into view. In front of the unusually silent building, beside a gentle stream—
An old man sat peacefully, dangling a fishing rod in the water.
It was Dante.
As we approached slowly, Dante lifted his head, sensing our presence. Even though his eyes were covered by an eyepatch, his gaze turned exactly toward us.
“Grandfather. We’re here.”
“Hm? You’re already back? What about the Kukri Diya?”
“The newbie already caught it.”
“Hoh…”
Dante let out a surprised sigh.
“I knew the child fought well, but I didn’t expect this much. I thought it would take at least two days.”
He stroked his beard and shook his head.
“You have passed the test.”
“You’re not going to check the materials?”
“Reina, even this old man knows you’re not the kind of child who would lie.”
At those words, Reina’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“No, that’s not…”
Dante watched her with a warm gaze, then turned to look at me.
“I will prepare the hunter badge separately. Seeing your skill, I would like to give you a higher grade, but that is beyond my authority. It seems I can only give you the lowest grade. Though I’m sure you will rise quickly. Instead, I would like to prepare something else for you. Is there anything you desire?”
The viewers were disappointed but still seemed to quietly anticipate the separate reward Dante mentioned.
From the moment I heard Dante would prepare something else, there had only been one thing I wanted. I wasn’t sure if it was possible, but I decided to ask anyway.
“How about a spar with me? It sounds fun.”