Chapter 10

Chapter 10

‘Six people...’ Su-hyeok’s eyes shone. His number of viewers steadily increased, probably because new ones were arriving and none were leaving.

“Ground mermaids rarely move alone.”

Slash-!

Su-hyeok’s sword decapitated another mermaid.

[You’ve defeated a ‘Ground Mermaid’.]

[You’ve earned 2 achievement points.]

“Not only must you be careful of the ground, but you should also watch the walls. These guys stick to the stones, not the ground.” He slashed at a seemingly featureless wall, and another ground mermaid died.

– Again??

– It wasn’t a coincidence?

– Isn’t this your first try?

Once could be a coincidence, but two or three times was something else. He easily found the ground mermaids and beheaded them with a single strike each, so the reaction was quite explosive.

– What happened? Why are you all reacting like that?

– Didn’t you see the one-strike ground mermaid kill?

– Wasn’t it a fluke?

– He already one-shotted two of them.

– Could it be that the one-eyed bat from before...?

– No way. He wasn’t even paying attention to the ceiling.

Though there were only six people, the chat was quite active. Su-hyeok’s feats were just that fascinating.

“For now, I’ll keep heading inside.” He couldn’t remain still if he wanted to beat his past record and impress his viewers. Naturally, since he was aiming for a skill-based stream, he needed to continue.

– If you’re alone, it’s better to slow down a bit.

– Yes, if you keep going straight, the numbers are going to increase a lot.

– I’m starting to get excited, lol.

The viewers weren’t fools. Those who’d been watching since he killed the first one-eyed bat gradually started to have expectations of him.

– Isn’t he going too fast?

– You’re right.

– Be careful. I’m starting to get nervous just from watching.

Monsters that appeared in the Beginning’s Dungeon could be largely categorized into two types: one-eyed bats and ground mermaids.

Neither of them were particularly strong monsters. No matter how lacking your stats were, most people could solo them. There was another reason they were dangerous, though...

You never knew when or where they would appear.

– When you look at this, it looks like it’s his first try...

– He’s doing it alone, so that’s a given. He’s a total newbie.

Thud—

Su-hyeok suddenly halted his rapid walk, turned, and swung his sword to decapitate two one-eyed bats in one go. Then he jumped upward.

“Grk-?” The ground mermaid made a grotesque sound and looked surprised in the instant before it was decapitated.

Slash—!

The monster’s head flew into the sky, and the heads of the two bats and the mermaid all hit the ground at nearly the same time as Su-hyeok landed.

Thud, thud—

[You’ve defeated a ‘One-Eyed Bat’. x2]

[You’ve earned 2 achievement points.]

[You’ve defeated a ‘Ground Mermaid’.]

– What just happened?

– What??

– What? Did something just happen?

– Something’s... happening...

The viewers didn’t understand what was going on and sent confused chats. Three monsters had died in an instant. Not only that, but they had been killed with such a smooth movement that it looked like a single stroke.

“They came from above and below at the same time. They must be on the same team despite being different species.” It was amazing that Su-hyeok had been able to smoothly react to an attack that even large parties would have fallen victim to.

– Let’s say that the ground mermaid is understandable, but how did you know about the one-eyed bats?

A viewer, who no longer thought it was a coincidence, asked a question.

Su-hyeok explained it. “If you focus on the sound, you can tell where they are coming from and how many there are.”

– What???

– Well, theoretically, that’s true, but...

If that goal changed from ‘survival’ to ‘hunting’, it was a whole other story. That’s why Su-hyeok didn’t go back. Instead, he began looking for places with more monsters.

– Come to think of it, he keeps going farther in.

– He’s recklessly charging ahead, lol.

– Didn’t you investigate before coming?

– If you keep going in, it will be dangerous.

– If you keep going straight...

Squeak—

Squeak, squeak, squeak—

Squeak, squeak, squeak—

As soon as people began sending worried chats, a bunch of sounds were heard. The cave’s passage widened out, and a stench wafted into Su-hyeok’s nose.

The one-eyed bats hanging upside down from the ceiling opened their eyes, and red glows appeared everywhere.

– See?

– I knew this would happen.

– He’s done.

– See you in the next try~

That part of the dungeon with the dozens of one-eyed bats was known as a player graveyard.

‘There are a lot.’ Thinking that he’d gone to the right place, Su-hyeok smiled. So far, he’d been upset by how only one or two appeared at a time. In his eyes, the many enemies looked like a large amount of points.

On top of that...

[‘My Personal Small Stream’ has registered a mission.]

[100 points if you catch them all.]

Though there were only a few viewers, a mission already appeared. Su-hyeok’s eyes sparkled. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it wasn’t bad for just starting.

– Lol.

– You evil bastard, lol.

– Seriously~

Of course, the mission was registered just to tease him. He didn’t care, though, he’d gone all the way there to earn points anyway.

“My Personal Small Stream... Thank you for the 100 points.”‘ Su-hyeok expressed his thanks in advance as he approached the bats.

* * *

“Argh! You idiot!”

Bang—

Cheong-ryang, who’d been watching the stream, slammed her hands on the desk. She was usually known for being calm and composed, but she had a reason for losing her cool.

“Damn it. Why did someone who’s been doing well up to the 6th floor suddenly have to fail here? Huh?” Playerz had a gambling section where one could gamble on whether a huge streamer would complete a mission or on the outcome of events.

There were many ways to gamble in Playerz. Cheong-ryang was quite serious about gambling. Even during work.

“Were you gambling again instead of working?”

Startled by Un-hyang’s question, Cheong-ryang tried to defend himself. “Th-this is part of my work.”

“Is watching streams all that there is to your work? Aren’t you watching it for gambling purposes?” Un-hyang might’ve been obsessed with all Lee Su-hyeok-related streams, but Cheong-ryang had his own problems with gambling while working.

Both of them were huge headaches for the company, but they each thought the other was the problem.

“Just stop. Didn’t you lose your salary again on that bet?”

“Wait. There’s still one left.”

“You made more than one bet?”

Un-hyang gave the man a pitiful look.

Ignoring Un-hyang’s gaze, Cheong-ryang stared at his player kit again.

“Haa... the team leader should know about this.” Un-hyang turned her gaze back to the screen. Both were focusing on their respective streams again.

A few minutes later, Cheong-ryang, who’d been staring at the player kit, suddenly stood up. “Yes! To think you’d save me!” he shouted without realizing it before casting Un-hyang a cautious look.

He’d just been reprimanded, but then he started celebrating earning points. Usually, she would have thrown one of her walnuts at him, but...

‘She isn’t getting angry?’ For some reason, there was no reaction.

“...?” She wasn’t even bringing the walnut she’d been holding to her mouth. Was something wrong?

Cheong-ryang carefully approached Un-hyang and asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Crazy...”

“Huh? Me?” Even though he’d been slacking off, wasn’t calling him crazy a bit harsh? He realized that Un-hyang’s gaze was fixed on the player kit in her hand.

‘What? She’s still watching that stream...?’ She was still watching the 2nd-floor player who’d just started streaming using the Lee Su-hyeok theme. Cheong-ryang turned his head to Un-hyang’s screen.

“What the...?” Cheong-ryang couldn’t help but be just as shocked as Un-hyang when he saw Su-hyeok break through the center of a dungeon that was purposely designed to be impossible to survive.

“Just how many did he kill by himself?”

____