Let's catch ogres!
How?
With money!
Han Se-ah's proposal might have seemed ridiculous at first glance, and some viewers worried about the costs of commissioning magitech devices in the hero party's name and maintaining named-level monsters.
But these concerns were premature. Our party had quite the hefty coin purse, befitting our hero status.
We had enough gold to make it work, as long as we weren't trying to gather hundreds of berserk ogres to create an ogre army.
"Think we can do it?"
"Hmm, since we haven't spent much yet, it should be fine if we think of it as an investment for floor 60."
Being top adventurers, we earned tons but barely spent anything, so gold naturally piled up.
To explain: we set aside about half our gold earnings as party funds. The other half gets split five ways. If we earned 10 gold from an adventure, 5 went to savings, and each person got 1 gold.
But as top adventurers earning dozens of gold, with no one spending money, those coins just kept accumulating.
First, Grace. Being from a rural village, she only spent gold sending money home to her parents and restocking alchemical arrowheads. She had zero interest in accessories like necklaces, bracelets, or luxury gems.
Next, Irene. True to her temple nun nature, she only spent on donations for orphans and the Goddess Faith, never using gold for personal desires. Like Grace, her only accessory was a religious necklace with the Goddess's symbol.
Then Katie - openly the precious daughter of the Northern Duke... but her interests leaned toward armor and longswords rather than dresses and jewels. A military maniac. Though she spent the most among us, it was still a drop in the bucket compared to our earnings.
Han Se-ah spent some gold on making bombs as a game player, but used personal funds rather than party money. As for me, with gold saved for 11 years to buy a house and land, how could my spending exceed earnings?
Our only party expense was buying Grace's alchemical arrowheads. I even covered lodging costs early on, and later we got mansions through player privileges.
Meaning we had no expenses for equipment, consumables, or lodging - all three covered.
"Did we really save that much gold?"
"We saved a lot, but also barely spent anything. The Magic Tower provided equipment, the Kingdom provided consumables. Plus we got two mansions, so no lodging costs. No joke, our party funds only really go toward food."
"Ah... now that you mention it, that's true."
Breaking it down, for every 100 gold earned, we saved 50 and split 10 each. Of the 50 gold saved, 48 remained in party funds while individuals had about 3 left for living expenses.
Like someone with a million-dollar annual salary spending just $3,000 monthly. Living in their parents' house and getting monthly support means that salary goes straight to the bank.
How could gold not pile up when top adventurers earning dozens of gold per job only bought grain sacks worth dozens of silver and meat worth 10 silver as their biggest luxuries? Everyone's eyes widened seeing the hundreds of gold coins jingling in one corner of the inventory.
"Hmm, we've saved more than I thought."
"Well, we got our equipment from hunting boss monsters, so we didn't need to spend money there."
"Ah, could I have another bowl then?"
"Hey Captain! If you eat too much and can't run, we're leaving you behind!"
"...I don't eat THAT much!"
"Olek! What are you doing with food right in front of you!"
Even while watching Olek get teased by another knight then physically scolded by Alisa over bowls of fragrant soup, Han Se-ah's lips kept moving non-stop.
After turning off her broadcast and logging out, she must have stayed up planning all night. From getting out the pot and cooking soup to finishing the luxurious meal with bread and jerky, she kept talking only to viewers without a word to her companions.
No wonder Irene approached me with a worried face while cleaning up.
"Um, Roland?"
"What is it, Irene?"
Grace, having heard Han Se-ah's plan yesterday, led the way back checking for ogres with heightened senses. Katie was asking Alisa about the Empire's experience capturing monster waves, interested in the berserk ogre capture plan.
But Irene had been orbiting the silent Han Se-ah like a satellite all morning through cooking and eating, finally gently tugging my sleeve with a concerned expression.
"Hanna seems lost in deep thought since morning. There's no problem with the party, is there? If she has worries she can't tell us and is struggling alone..."
Seeing those kind golden eyes darken with worry and concern made nonsense rise in my throat. I wanted to say "Hanna's just busy extracting information and donations from viewers, no need to worry."
Obviously I couldn't say that, so to ease Irene's concern, I gently took her small soft hand that had grabbed my sleeve and smiled. The corners of my mouth lifted naturally at the tender warmth squirming between palm and back of hand.
"Don't worry. Hanna's probably just busy constantly revising and refining her ogre capture plans in her head. She hasn't spoken since morning but doesn't seem troubled."
"Is that so? You think?"
"Of course. If Hanna had something bothering her, she'd definitely tell us. We're a party after all - no reason to worry alone."
The camera finally turned our way as we chatted quietly, hands clasped together. Natural result after 3 hours of using ogre capture plans to solicit donations and strategizing based on overnight fan cafe and Heroes Chronicle forum posts.
The ogre topic had lasted nearly half a day since last night. As viewers tired of it, their attention naturally shifted to Mom whose hand I held firmly.
"So, um, Roland?"
"What?"
"Just in case... could you go give Hanna a hug?"
...Huh?
And the chat started burning for a whole different reason.