Chapter 07

A notification popped up for Jin-Hyeok.

[Do you want to take the escalator?]

This escalator was set to go to B1F, the subway platform.

[You have boarded the escalator.]

[You have entered the Subway Platform.]

Jin-Hyeok was met with a group of gray wolves wandering around.

This monster's name was simply 'Gray Wolf,' and it was either Level 17 or 18.

'They're pretty weak.'

It would have been nice if there were slightly stronger creatures down here, but Jin-Hyeok knew that he was asking too much.

He had to give them credit for one thing: they grouped together and attacked as a pack.

Yelp!

One of the gray wolves that had tried to bite Jin-Hyeok's neck cried out.

"It appears it broke some of its teeth," Jin-Hyeok was commentating for his stream as always.

The combination of the 'Broadcaster's Barrier' ability and the 'Lord of the Tutorial' Achievement

effect was proving to be almost too good. Jin-Hyeok didn't have to worry about defending because the barrier was always activated.

This allowed Jin-Hyeok to concentrate solely on his livestream.

"They're surrounding me now."

Jin-Hyeok seemed carefree. It might have been a little risky if he had tried to fight them in this situation without the Broadcaster's Barrier, but that was just a matter of Jin-Hyeok's relative lack of experience with this particular fight.

'Wait, should I pretend to be at least a little scared scared?'

Even if he had the Broadcaster's Barrier ability, could a Tutorial-level Streamer be completely fearless in the face of this many monsters surrounding him?

The thought occurred to Jin-Hyeok, but he quickly shook his head.

Never mind the fact that feigning fear with his acting skills would look unnatural anyway—there was no way he could act like he was frightened at all here.

'I can't help the fact that I'm just not scared.'

Several wolves rushed at Jin-Hyeok, growling.

Yelp!

They didn't appear to be good learners. The wolves only stopped running after five or six of them broke their teeth on Jin-Hyeok's barrier.

Jin-Hyeok quickly grew tired of the whole thing, unable to feel the usual thrill and joy of raiding a Dungeon.

"I've come down to this new Field, but it seems there's not much here."

Jin-Hyeok pretended to look around.

"What's that? I'm seeing something unusual."

Jin-Hyeok had already come down here with a purpose in mind, and that purpose was related to the convenience store he had seen off in the distance, the one he had been looking for.

That store was completely overgrown with vines.

"How fascinating. I'll go investigate further."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

These vines did not grow naturally.

"This looks to be the work of a Skill."

As usual, Jin-Hyeok was able to detect a variety of things thanks to Broadcaster's Truesight. Jin-Hyeok discovered the presence of a Player beyond the vines.

He could see the Player's information, to be more specific.

[LVL 21(+2)/ Loser/Wood Lord /Skills/ Six-Day Survival]

'Loser?'

Given that people chose their own names, it was an odd choice for an Awakened name.

Having said that, Jin-Hyeok recognized him.

However, the Mok Jae-Hyeon[1] he knew in his previous life simply used his real name as his Player name. Jin-Hyeok reasoned that it could have been changed later in the timeline.

'His job is highlighted in yellow. A 7-Star, just like I remember.'

Players with 7-Star rated Jobs were ideal for Jin-Hyeok to play with.

In reality, 7 Stars was a fantastic rating—it was in the top 10% of Jobs in terms of grading. But, if you asked him if that meant 7-Star Jobs were the best, he'd have to say no.

'That's why they're ideal for someone who wants to finish third.'

In fact, the main content of choice for Streamer Mystery Box was the playing of 7-Starrers.

Jin-Hyeok tapped the mass of vines.

"Excuse me, but could you please open the door for me? I'm a person."

"…"

Jin-Hyeok was unable to hear any response. Maybe he was up to something on the inside, but there was no way of knowing what it could be.

"You can trust me because I'm a good person. Could you please open the door for me?"

Still, there was no response. To be honest, this was to be expected.

A Gray Wolf showed up to chomp Jin-Hyeok in the back, only to destroy its teeth.

"If you won't open the door, I'll just open it myself."

"…"

"I swear, I'm not a shady person. I'm a Streamer, and all I want to do is interview you. I also have some questions for you."

Jin-Hyeok looked around and examined the vines closely.

'I should be able to get through the front door in about three hours.'

The Skill that had created these vines was known as 'Wood Fortress.' It was known to be a very efficient and effective defensive ability.

The +2 Levels that the Player inside was receiving right now were also due to the fact that he was inside the fortress he had built.

While it was an exceptional skill, it was not untouchable. At the end of the day, this one was made by a Tutorial-grade Player who was still in their early twenties in terms of Level.

'All I have to do is remove the vines one at a time.'

If Han Sae-Rin, the resident navigator of Jin-Hyeok's team in his previous life, had been here with them, she could have removed a fortress of this quality in less than a second.

Jin-Hyeok drew his dagger and began hacking at the vines to carve out a path.

Due to the simple nature of the task, his mind began to wander. Beginning with Han Sae-Rin, he imagined the faces of his teammates one by one.

'I wonder how they're all doing.'

Jin-Hyeok, to be honest, didn't bother looking for them after his regression.

He intended to live a very different life, and there would be no opportunities for his and their paths to cross. He intended to applaud their achievements from afar.

That didn't mean he didn't long for those days. Those days of playing together with his team had truly been an adventure and filled with joy.

'Oh? I think I'm done.'

Jin-Hyeok soon discovered that he had made an opening big enough for him to squeeze through.

'That was way faster than I thought.'

Jin-Hyeok expected it to take at least three hours, but it only took one.

It wasn't because Jin-Hyeok was surprisingly good at Skill removal; rather, Wood Lords were much weaker than Jin-Hyeok had anticipated at this point in their game.

"Hup."

Jin-Hyeok squeezed himself into the hole.

"Hello, I came here to interview-"

"AHHHHH!!! Ughhh! D-don't get any closer!!!"

Mok Jae-Hyeon took a step back, trembling as if he were looking at a ghost.

Mok Jae-Hyeon was dressed in a school uniform and had a small build. According to Jin-Hyeok's memories, the older version of Mok Jae-Hyeon that he had come to know in his previous life was practically a giant. He assumed that Mok Jae-Hyeon was going to have a growth spurt all at once later down the track.

"H-H-HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"

"…."

Jin-Hyeok noticed his reflection in the mirror hanging from the corner of the convenience store.

'Oh.'

To be fair, Jin-Hyeok was absolutely terrifying. He was still covered in Gargar's blood, giving him a dark and terrifying appearance. Jin-Hyeok had grown so used to seeing himself like this that he hadn't paid it as much attention as he should have.

"I'm not a bad person," he assured him.

"G-g-go away!"

Mok Jae-Hyeon squeezed his eyes and flailed his dagger around. Even a child wouldn't have been hit by it.

Jin-Hyeok remained motionless, the dagger unable to reach him.

"Please, Loser-nim, let's just talk for a minute. I'm a Streamer Player."

Something about the word 'Loser' twitched Mok Jae-Hyeon.

"I just want to have a conversation with you and get some video content while we're at it."

Jin-Hyeok wanted to ask as to what quest Mok Jae-Hyeon was working on and how he got it.

Mok Jae-Hyeon didn't say what the quest was, but he did say that the reward was very good considering they were still in the Tutorial stage.

Of course, Jin-Hyeok knew that it had to be taken into account that it was something good from the perspective of someone with a 7-Star Job.

This was Jin-Hyeok's chance to get his hands on such a prize and possibly play with Mok Jae-Hyeon. It was ideal for anyone aiming for third place.

However, Mok Jae-Hyeon was currently so terrified that he appeared to be about to pass out.

"Mmm... you don't really want 'Loser' as your Awakened name, don't you?"

Jin-Hyeok noticed faint bruises on Mok Jae-Hyeon's face after closely inspecting it.

"Seems like someone beat you up badly, too."

These were not monster wounds—a monster would have simply killed him.

"And judging by your personality, you wouldn't have come here all by yourself."

Jin-Hyeok could surmise that someone had forced Mok Jae-Hyeon to adopt his name 'Loser,' and that the same person had then brought him here against his will.

"Tell me what's going on."

"…"

Mok Jae-Hyeon finally opened his eyes and looked at Jin-Hyeok at that point.

He still appeared to be afraid, but he decided to at least speak.

Jin-Hyeok then received a notification.

[The VIP chat request window has been activated.]

[Do you want to accept the VIP chat request?]

Jin-Hyeok wondered what this was.

Ah.

Jin-Hyeok recalled Kang Mi-Na, a colleague and Streamer herself, and the numerous times they had discussed the VIP chat request function.

{FLASHBACK}

"Think of it as VIP viewers flaunting their cash and shit. They get to spend their money on a special conversation with you," Kang Mi-Na explained.

"So, what's in it for you?" Jin-Hyeok asked.

"You can make a lot of money."

"Wait, isn't that good for you then?"

"Haven't you heard of high-risk, high-reward investments? It's a f*ck!ng sh!tshow because there are so many entitled brats. There was this crazy @ss bastard who said he'd send down a controllable avatar so he could touch my boobs from afar."

{END OF FLASHBACK}

Jin-Hyeok couldn't remember much because of all the swearing that their conversations were infused with, but one thing he did remember was that VIP chats were high risk, high return.

Despite her broad dislike of VIP chat requests, Kang Mi-Na would say in the same breath that attracting VIPs and capturing their attention was essential if one wanted to become a top Streamer. Mi-Na cursed them every day, but when a VIP chat request came in, she immediately put on her best capitalist, rainmaker smile when welcoming the viewer.

Jin-Hyeok was sometimes terrified by her two-faced personality.

'I should turn this chat request down.'

As he previously stated, Jin-Hyeok's goal was not to become a top Streamer, his goal was to be at third place.

He only had to accept the same level of risk that a third-place finisher would. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall Mystery Box ever mentioning doing any VIP-related content—and that was the path he wanted to take.

[You rejected the VIP chat request.]

Jin-Hyeok exhaled a sigh of relief. Out of sight, out of mind.

What he didn't realize was that rumors were circulating about an insane Streamer who not only refused to engage in normal chat, but also turned down VIPs as well.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The interview with Mok Jae-Hyeon was a huge success.

Mok Jae-Hyeon was semi-forced to come here, as Jin-Hyeok had correctly predicted.

"So, after you were half-dragged all the way here, all your friends died, and it's just you who's still here and alive, hiding away... Is that correct?"

"...Yes."

"I didn't see any bodies outside, though."

Mok Jae-Hyeon squatted on the ground and grabbed his head with his hands.

"They must have all been eaten."

"That is not possible. There are no monsters that eat humans here. You said you'd been here three days, correct?" Jin-Hyeok asked.

"Yes."

"Did you know that at midnight, it becomes regen time here?"

"Regen time? What's that?" Mok Jae-Hyeon asked

.

"You come back to life even if you're completely dead. They were probably able to get away some way or another after being revived."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Mok Jae-Hyeon[1]: This character's name is meant to be a little comedic and ironic, because 'Mok' is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for 'wood.' It is a real surname, though the actual surname has different semantics.