Chapter 9
Crunch—
A woman player from Murim, Un-hyang chewed on a walnut while watching the screen. “Are they dumb? How can’t they pass this with five people?” She sighed in disappointnt
Cheong-ryang, who was also watching from next to Un-hyang, asked, “Who is it this ti?”
“A strear nad Sangbbak. He’s currently challenging the 5th floor.”
“Sangbbak? Isn’t he that Lee Su-hyeok knockoff? Or is he Bbak Su-hyeok’s knockoff?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s a mixture of both.” She put another walnut in her mouth and turned off the stream.
Crunch—
“I don’t know why they’re streaming when they’re so bad,” she complained.
“Streaming isn’t just about skills. Don’t be too biased. With that mindset, you won’t be able to do this job,” Cheong-ryang warned.
They were employees of Balhae Entertainnt. High-ranking players and popular strears held influence akin to that of a celebrity’s, and it was their job to maximize influence for more points. As for the two of them, they were tasked with contacting such strears.
“Still, shouldn’t they be above a certain standard?”
“You shouldn’t judge people based on your standards alone.” Cheon-ryang reached for the walnut Un-hyang was eating. “Honestly, I still don’t understand why you’re here doing this job.”
Among the many players from Murim, Un-hyang was one of the ones who stood out the most. She’d quickly reached the 8th floor and had enough talent to go higher, but she’d suddenly stopped. One day…
“Is your company hiring?” She’d abruptly shown up at the company, saying she wanted a job.
“Why don’t you go higher? You seem like you could reach the top if you wanted,” Cheon-ryang said.
Un-hyang sighed. “Because it’s no fun.”
“Fun? Is that the agony of being a genius?”
“Are you making fun of ?”
“No way.” Cheon-ryang shrugged and ended the conversation on a light note. Even if they took the conversation further, she would never reveal her true feelings. ‘She wanted to go up to et Lee Su-hyeok. Of course she would feel bored.’
The mont she stopped climbing and lost interest in the world was when Lee Su-hyeok’s death was revealed.
It was a pity. As an old friend and as a player, seeing Un-hyang’s talent rot away seed like too much of a waste.
“What? This guy.” Un-hyang suddenly frowned, speaking in a voice tinged with displeasure.
Cheon-ryang asked, “What? Is there a strange guy?”
“A Lee Su-hyeok imitator.”
“Another one?” Cheon-ryang got up and looked at the stream Un-hyang was watching.
Sure enough, the stream showed a newbie strear using the na ‘Lee Su-hyeok’. It was a stream with 0 viewers.
“What are you doing…?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Hey, why are you watching soone’s stream when they have no viewers?” Balhae was an entertainnt company that contacted strears who had many viewers and collaborated with them to make money, so why was she watching soone who had not a single viewer?
“What do you want to do? It just popped up before ,” Un-hyang mumbled.
“That’s because you always watch streams with Lee Su-hyeok involved, so related videos pop up.” Cheon-ryang sighed.
Un-hyang, unaware of Cheon-ryang’s frustration, grumbled as if she were in a bad mood. “It’s really funny. I don’t understand where they get such confidence from.”
She was a fan of Su-hyeok. Not only that, but she was extrely enthusiastic about him. That’s why she watched all streams related to Lee Su-hyeok, regardless of the number of viewers.
“Then just don’t watch it,” Cheong-ryang said.
“Do you think I’m watching because I want to?”
“Listen. I understand how you feel, but personal emotions are prohibited in our job, especially when it cos to contacting strears.”
“I know, but…” Un-hyang trailed off and looked at the new ‘Lee Su-hyeok’ strear who had appeared on her kit’s screen. “Whenever they wear that mask, I can’t help but have expectations.”
If they were going to do it, shouldn’t they at least be good enough to not disappoint her?
Cheong-ryang closed eyes and thought, ‘Yes, let’s think positively.’ It wasn’t that there wasn’t anyone to have imitated Su-hyeok and done well. Before she entered the company, there was one player who had caught her attention.
“Yes. There are people like Cha Min-woo in the world. He began wearing a mask from the 3rd floor, right?”
Un-hyang nodded.
Cha Min-woo was the fastest player to climb the tower among those who’d started in the last 10 years. He’d climbed so quickly that people often said he was at the level of an average Blue Eyes mber already.
Un-hyang also acknowledged his skills, but…
“Lee Su-hyeok’s still the best. He can’t be compared to.”
As expected, that man still couldn’t be compared to Lee Su-hyeok.
Un-hyang focused on the stream.
[Viewers: 1]
She beca Lee Su-hyeok’s first viewer.
* * *
Reaper Scans
Translator – SCM
Proofreader – ilafy
Join our discord for updates on releases!!
sdiscord.gg/reaperscans
* * *
Torches on the ceilings and walls lit the humid, stuffy air of the huge cave Su-hyeok found himself summoned to. He caught his breath at the familiar spell.
[The 2nd floor’s first trial is starting.]
[Pass through the ‘Beginning’s Dungeon’ and escape.]
[You can earn achievent points based on how many monsters you defeat.]
The first trial of the 2nd floor’s ‘Beginning’s Dungeon’ was to catch monsters inside the dungeon and escape. Since it was the starting point of the lower floors, the trial itself was simple.
‘So it’s finally starting.’ Normally, Su-hyeok wouldn’t be nervous about such trials. His nervousness was for another reason, though. Rather than being worried about failing on the 2nd floor…
[‘Lee Su-hyeok’ has started streaming.]
[Viewers: 0]
He had started streaming for the first ti as soon as the trial began; maybe that was why he had no viewers yet. Well, one couldn’t expect to be full after the first bite. No one wanted to watch a newbie player who had just taken their first step.
Su-hyeok put on the mask. ‘Let’s move for now.’
He began walking through the damp and quiet dungeon. One could doubt whether there were monsters there at all.
Tap, tap—
He walked slowly, keeping himself alert. All he heard were his own footsteps. His vision narrowed within the dim lighting of the cave, making his other senses sharper. That limited visibility was why the 2nd floor’s trial was often done in teams.
‘Sothing should appear soon…’
– Which floor is this?
‘!’ Su-hyeok’s eyes shone when words began appearing in the lower corner of his vision.
[Viewers: 4]
His viewer count suddenly went up to four. As expected, choosing ‘Lee Su-hyeok’ as his the was the right choice. “It’s the 2nd floor.”
– Do people start streaming from the 2nd floor these days?
– I’ve seen so. Most of them quickly quit because of no viewers.
‘I guess people from the lower floors don’t stream much.’ When thought about it, he’d never seen a newbie player from below the 3rd floor streaming. Even if their skills were lacking, most were players who had reached at least the 4th floor.
Naturally, it was rare to see soone streaming on the 2nd floor.
– This guy’s brave. To think he’d start streaming with the Lee Su-hyeok the from the 2nd floor.
– If you know, then why did you co here?
– Because it’s fun. Also, I used to be a fan of Lee Su-hyeok.
– Ah, you too? Hey, so was I, lol.
Another viewer had suddenly joined.
Five viewers… Although there weren’t many people, the chat was very active with conversation about Lee Su-hyeok.
‘What?’ He wasn’t expecting that. He just chose the the to attract an audience. ‘Were they my fans…?’ He felt a bit flustered and embarrassed to see the chat blooming with stories about himself.
20 years prior, Su-hyeok was so focused on climbing the tower that he never had the chance to communicate with fans.
– Is this the first try?
“Yes, this is my first try.”
– Woah~ A fresh newbie.
– First? This is actually better.
The viewers seed to find it interesting that he was a perfect beginner who had just passed the tutorial. Of course, there were so kind-hearted viewers who were worried about Su-hyeok.
– Are you going to be okay?
“What do you an?”
– Is it okay to stream already? If it’s the 2nd floor, this should be the ‘Beginning’s Dungeon’. That ans those dark places…
Paf—
[You’ve defeated a ‘One-Eyed Bat’.]
[You’ve earned 1 achievent point.]
He suddenly thrust the sword he was holding upward and pierced the eye of a monster flying overhead. It was a ‘One-Eyed Bat’, which was as big as a fist.
“You’re right. They appear out of nowhere,” he casually said.
– ????
– What was that???
– Can’t you tell? It was a one-eyed bat.
– Who doesn’t know that? How did he do that?
– It seed like it just flew into the sword on its own.
– What incredible luck.
The chat window erupted in an instant. Su-hyeok shook off the one-eyed bat stuck on his sword onto the ground and checked the chat.
– It’s a monster called a one-eyed bat. They suddenly co from dark places.
– That’s right, if one bites you, you’ll at least suffer a severe injury.
– They usually co from above, just like now. You can’t just look ahead and walk.
Bits of advice poured in.
Su-hyeok nodded as he read the chat, but he couldn’t follow all of it. “Besides the one-eyed bats, one should also be careful of ‘ground rmaids’.” Ground rmaids were a type of fish that lay flat on the cave’s floor. Although they looked like fish, they crawled on the ground.
“Ground rmaids are less noticeable. After all, they usually lie flat on the floor, waiting for prey.”
– Oh?
– Isn’t this your first try?
– These days, there’s a lot of information on the channels. You can easily find such information with a little research.
– Thumbs up for the effort.
Most of Su-hyeok’s viewers were also players who had passed the 2nd-floor trial and moved up. That’s why they were quite knowledgeable about how to pass the trial.
Of course…
– Don’t be greedy, and move with your team. That’s the answer.
None of them had taken the trial by themselves like Su-hyeok was doing.
“Thank you for your advice, Mr. ‘I love money,’ but I can’t do that. I’m challenging this by myself.”
– ??? Alone?
– Huh??? Didn’t you do any research?
– You’re screwed, lol.
– This is what I call a real newbie, lol.
There was a heated reaction to Su-hyeok’s revelation. It was understandable. After all, the 2nd floor’s trial was designed for a five-person party. He’d have to do the work of five people, so one couldn’t simply say it was five tis harder.
In fact, less than five people had ever passed the 2nd floor’s trial alone, making it extrely difficult.
– Mr… Will you be really okay?
‘I love money’ sent another ssage asking him if he would really be okay.
Su-hyeok swung his sword and replied, “Yes, I want to give it a try.”
Slash—
[You’ve defeated a ‘Ground rmaid’.]
[You’ve earned 2 achievent points.]
“Thank you for your concern.” The waiting ground rmaid’s head fell from its neck.
– ??? A ground rmaid???
– Did anyone see that thing?
– I didn’t.
– There was a ground rmaid, but now it’s gone.
Question marks flooded the chat again.
The number of viewers increased to six.
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