Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Previously, Kang Mi-Na had acquired exclusive rights to livestream Kim Pyeong-Beom. In other words, Mi-Na was the only person who could broadcast Pyeong-Beom.

“I will conduct an exclusive interview with Kim Pyeong-Beom! I will disable donations temporarily to ensure a smooth interview process!”

She even disabled the donations. Utilizing the Skill, Air Steps, Mi-Na dashed toward Cha Jin-Hyeok like a wild boar. Jin-Hyeok glanced at her, running toward him.

‘Air Steps?’

It was a skill that allowed her to create a thin panel in the air to step on, enabling her to run in the sky.

‘She rarely uses it unless it’s extremely urgent.’

It was one of the Skills that even Mi-Na hesitated to use due to the risk of potentially falling to her death if misused. However, at the moment, it seemed like nothing else mattered to her. Her sole mission appeared to be securing an interview with Pyeong-Beom.

“Kim Pyeong-Beom! It’s been a while.”

Jin-Hyeok couldn’t remember whether he spoke informally or formally with Mi-Na.

‘When in doubt, informal speech is the way to go.’

That way, he wouldn’t appear weak.

“It’s been a while, indeed.”

“Can I interview you?”

“Of course.”

This was the reason why Jin-Hyeok had stationed Mi-Na in this very location.

“What have you been doing, showing up here all of a sudden?” Mi-Na asked.

“I don’t think there is much time to answer such trivial questions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Check out BonjourTV right now.”

“BonjourTV?”

Mi-Na pulled out her phone and opened Eltube. Through BonjourTV, she saw the Queen Ant flying toward them. Coincidentally, the feed from BonjourTV showed Bong King giving up on trying to follow the Queen Ant.

“I can’t... I can’t chase her any longer, huff huff!’

Soon, the image of the Queen Ant disappeared from the screen. Jin-Hyeok said, “Kim Chul-Soo said that the Queen Ant is coming here.”

“Kim Chul-Soo? You know him?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he alright?”

“He’s recovering right now. He’s doing a sleeping livestream if I’m correct.”

‘Well, it’s actually Cha Jin-Sol who’s doing the sleeping livestream.’

However, he didn’t say that part.

“It seems the Queen Ant’s poison is very potent. And it possesses a special ability. Thanks to that ability, the Queen Ant is able to pinpoint her target’s location and fly here,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“And you revealed yourself to fight the Queen Ant directly?”

“Correct.”

Jin-Hyeok pulled out the Greatsword of La’kan from his inventory.

“That sword is...?”

“Yes. It’s Chul-Soo’s sword.”

“You seem to be quite close to Chul-Soo.”

“Quite.”

Jin-Hyeok swung the Greatsword of La’kan around as if it was his first time handling it.

“It’s a sword that I fancy.”

“From what I know, that is known to be a really good weapon. Did he lend it to you for free?”

“This is not the only thing he lent me.”

“Then what?”

Jin-Hyeok stalled for a moment. He was doing his best as a Streamer.

‘I’ve got the editing points figured out...’

And then, he pulled out another item within his inventory.

“I also got this.”

“W-Wait... This is...!”

Mi-Na’s eyes widened.

“Hold on a moment, everyone! Take a look at this! Is this for real?” Mi-Na said to her viewers.

-BonelessChicken: This is crazy! Lol!

-2017: Wow, a Mythic-Grade loan, is this even real? LOL N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.

-SpicySauce: This is amazing! I’m absolutely stunned.

-Gobulla77: I don’t know who’s crazier, a Player borrowing a 5 billion-worth item, or a Player lending a 5 billion-worth item.

-WasteWaterFilter: I think we can safely say that Kim Pyeong-Beom is Kim Chul-Soo’s wife. LOL.

A whopping five billion Dias were spent just to obtain the item. Jin-Hyeok even used the luck-related Mystery Pure Luck.

Pyeong-Beom was holding the Mythic-Grade Card that brought Kim Chul-Soo the greatest fame.

“He lent this to you?” Mi-Na asked.

“As seen on Chul-Soo’s livestream, the front side copies the abilities of the designated streaming target, but the back side contains a power that maximizes the strength of the Streamer themselves.”

“The Streamer themselves? You mean...?”

“No, I’m not a Streamer.”

However, it didn’t matter.

“Chul-Soo has a special ability,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“You don’t mean...!”

“Yes. Rule Breaker.”

It didn’t matter much since, technically, he was a Steamer, but since he was pretending to be a Swordsman, it was necessary to grant some coherence to the narrative.

“So, amidst such severe injuries, Chul-Soo used the Rule Breaker to alter the settings of the Mythic-Grade Card and passed it on to you, is that it?”

“Yes.”

‘Ah, but it feels like I’m flattering myself. I like it.’

“Wow...”

Suddenly, Mi-Na pulled out a white and yellow flower from her pocket and laid it at Jin-Hyeok’s feet.

“This is a snowdrop. It symbolizes hope, comfort, and patience. Through Chul-Soo and Pyeong-Beom, I felt hope and found comfort simultaneously. It showed that there is still hope for humanity. Even if another disaster strikes, I know that we can sufficiently get through it. We are, indeed, doing well.”

‘Oh, my. She seems to understand my concept very well.’

[...#Touched. #There is hope. #Can I love you?]

‘...Strange. Why is she moved by something like this? Is it because she’s still innocent?’

“Ah, my viewers told me that the operations of the military forces worldwide are going well,” Mi-Na said.

The military could not exert much power against monsters beyond a certain level. However, it was entirely possible to destroy the weakened Red-Eyed Ants that had lost their Commander Ant, and the Ant eggs hidden in various places around the world.

“They say that they found and destroyed more than several billion Ant eggs globally.”

‘Then the Queen Ant will go even crazier and rampage.’

Jin-Hyeok slowly walked toward the Guardian Tree.

‘The Queen Ant is going to be off guard, and in a state of anger.’

Under normal circumstances, the Queen Ant would not set foot here, but now things were different. She would breach the domain of the Guardian Tree to kill Jin-Hyeok, even if it meant risking everything.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

“What is that monster?”

It was the voice of the Guardian Tree that he had heard before, like a hallucination.

It was the voice of a child.

“Ugh. I don’t like that one. Why did you bring that gross monster here?”

Wondering if Jin-Hyeok could communicate with it, he asked in his mind.

‘Can you stop that monster?’

To his surprise, a response genuinely echoed back.

“I’m still just a child. How am I supposed to stop that?!”

It seemed it was thanks to the Mythic-Grade Card. The Card basically added 20 Levels on top of Jin-Hyeok’s current Level. Thanks to this, it seemed that he could now converse with the Guardian Tree.

“I can’t fight her. It seems like it would hurt.”

‘Then don’t fight her. Instead, conserve your power to assist me.’

“What are you planning to do?”

‘I am going to kill the Queen Ant.’

The All-Clear mark appeared on his right hand. The effects of the All-Clear mark were activated. Within a radius of one kilometer from the Sareoga Mart Dungeon, all of his abilities would increase in power dramatically.

‘Mythic-Grade Card, All-Clear mark, and even the assistance of the Golden Guardian Tree...’

Now, the preparation was complete.

Before he knew it, from afar and at the end of the street, the Queen Ant was slowly walking in this direction.

“Okay, I’m really not going to stop her! I’m just going to let her pass through. S-She really came in! I didn’t stop her!” the Golden Guardian Tree said.

‘But your power should still be intact right now.’

There was no need to protect the entirety of Yeonhui-dong. After all, a certain amount of damage was inevitably necessary.

‘Protecting a broad area would be more challenging than simply protecting me, don’t you think?’

“I don’t know. I’m scared.”

The Queen Ant approached Jin-Hyeok. Then, she tilted her head in confusion.

“What a strange occurrence,” the Queen Ant said.

She seemed to find it odd that Jin-Hyeok had transformed into Kim Pyeong-Beom.

“I can clearly smell the pungent odor of the fool on you.”

The Queen Ant smiled sardonically.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter. I intend to completely annihilate humankind. Tell me, are you attempting to stop me?”

Information about the Queen Ant began to appear before his eyes.

[LV178/Arloa P. Demiras/Skills/Achievements]

Before he could even respond, a silver thread flew toward him.

‘Wow, the boss monster is attacking me before I get the chance to answer! Huh?’

It was much faster than before.

Swoosh.

He felt a sensation as if his throat was being cut off.