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chapter 28
“You’re choosing this one?”
Miel stared at the request form placed on the counter as if she couldn’t believe it.
No matter how wide the difficulty range was, it wasn’t a request a rookie adventurer should be touching.
“Why? Is it not allowed?”
“Of course it’s not. If a rookie adventurer dies, it leaves a bad taste for me. Just start with a request like this.”
She rummaged through the documents and pulled one out.
It was the easiest, simplest request—gathering medicinal herbs.
Hanbit shook the firefly flower in his hand and asked,
“You didn’t forget about this, did you?”
“Be careful! The petals are about to fall off!”
Wanting it badly, Miel raised her voice in a panic and tried to grab it.
Pulling his hand back, Hanbit asked again,
“Do you think a rookie adventurer could get a flower like this?”
“Obviously it’d be hard to get it themselves. Didn’t you just buy it somewhere?”
“If I had that kind of money, I’d have hired mercenaries to escort me for a bit.”
“…….”
At his perfectly reasonable reply, Miel puffed out her cheeks.
Knowing the ecology of the firefly flower, she couldn’t think of a counterargument.
Still, claiming not to be a rookie while wearing such shabby gear was absurd beyond belief.
“Haa.”
Letting out a deep breath, Miel alternated her gaze between the flower, the documents, and Hanbit.
Even with lingering doubt, the adventurer before her was clearly different from an ordinary beginner.
In other words, there was no real reason to deny him the dungeon request.
And it definitely wasn’t just because she wanted the firefly flower.
“I’ll give you the request. But properly assess your own level. If something feels off, run immediately.”
“Got it. Here.”
After receiving the request form, Hanbit handed over the firefly flower.
Miel took it and very carefully transferred it into an empty vial.
“I never thought I’d get my hands on this…… Thank you!”
-Wow, Miel actually says something like that.
-She told me never to come back;
-Seriously annoying as hell.
Seeing her genuinely happy expression, the viewers were left confused.
“I’ll come back after I finish the request.”
“Yes! Please be careful!”
After a brief farewell, Hanbit left the guild at once.
Following him, Yeonwoo asked in confusion,
“Hyung, you do know the story, right?”
“I do. It’s about exposing the sins of Edlen’s mayor.”
“But before that, you have to earn the guild master’s trust. If you waste time in a dungeon, things could go badly.”
From the moment the main quest begins, time flows compulsorily.
While there’s a fair amount of leeway, missing the timing completely breaks the story.
Since there’s no chance to retry, following the guidebook has become the established orthodox route.
“That’s why I’m doing it this way.”
There were two reasons for choosing the dungeon request.
One was to prove his ability and earn the trust of the guild master, who would become an ally.
The other was to push the story in a direction completely different from the guidebook.
A branching point that allowed him to dive straight into the narrative while considering both.
‘Still so many.’
Countless players stared at Hanbit as he exited the guild.
None looked like they’d approach him to talk, like Ranger had before.
“What episode are the vanguards on right now?”
“Why suddenly ask about the vanguards?”
“Just curious.”
“Hmm… According to public info, Episode 8. The top vanguards might be even further, though.”
“Is that so?”
Each episode of RP usually covered the scale of a city or small nation.
Reaching Episode 8 in just two years was impressive enough.
That is, by the standards of people experiencing it for the first time.
“At that pace, I can catch up quickly.”
“…Catch up to the vanguards?”
-He just declared he’s catching the vanguards, damn.
-Black Dragon really means it.
-Say it to their faces.
-Is that even physically possible?
-No idea. Just get on board.
[Yulio has donated 1,000 won.]
[Hmm… is it really that level?]
-This guy’s still here;
-Prison must be comfortable. lol
-Die.
If an ordinary player declared they’d catch the vanguards, it would’ve ended in ridicule.
But Hanbit’s actions so far were enough to inspire expectation.
“Where is Episode 8?”
“It’s an island called Feria, west of the central continent. Even among the vanguards, they’re competing, so there’s not much known information.”
“Ah, there.”
Nodding at the all-too-familiar name.
He roughly knew where progress got stuck, but it wasn’t something to worry about yet.
For now, the goal was to clear Episode 1 as fast as possible.
“Hyung, I’ll look for the easiest dungeon first. I think I organized that before—huh?”
Mid-sentence, Yeonwoo suddenly looked flustered.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wait a second. My dad’s calling—I need to take this.”
Leaving those words behind, he vanished on the spot.
It must’ve been an important enough call for Yeonwoo to step away mid-broadcast.
-This time it’s dad?
-That’s fair.
-Just go dungeon already.
-Ditching Roper?
-That’s his role.
Regardless of Yeonwoo’s situation, the viewers began urging him on.
If he walked slowly, it wouldn’t be hard for Yeonwoo to catch up.
“Alright. I’ll move ahead for now.”
Hanbit started walking out of the city.
Players following from a distance weren’t a problem at all.
Ding—
[ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won.]
[So where’s the dungeon?]
As he stepped into the forest, a donation message appeared.
Before Hanbit could answer, the chat exploded.
-Isn’t spider dungeon the safest?
-Yeah, basically tutorial-level.
-Still rough for newbies.
-Did you forget his stats?
-Spider, go go.
The viewers’ opinions gradually converged on the spider dungeon.
Then another donation alert popped up.
[Lucifer has donated 10,000 won.]
[Challenge Dungeon TOP10 mission, go?]
“Challenge dungeon?”
The unfamiliar term piqued his interest.
And with a mission involved, prize money already came to mind.
-Challenge?
-Top ten, holy shit lol
-Nickname fits too well.
-How is his name Fallen Angel GOAT.
-He’ll set a mission but won’t pay the reward.
-This’ll be fun.
-Streamer has to go. lol
Judging by the reaction, it seemed to be a fairly famous dungeon.
“What’s a challenge dungeon?”
-Dungeon where you compete clear times.
-In Edlen, only levels under 30 can enter.
-Top 10 cutoff is like 20 minutes?
-Possible, right?
-No way, you demons.
Listening to the explanation, Hanbit nodded.
A simple structure—just clear it fast.
There was no reason to refuse.
“Where is it?”
-Straight north.
-You have to go almost to the cliff.
-Open the map.
Answers came immediately.
‘North?’
Checking the chat, Hanbit quickly opened the map.
Thanks to the viewers’ explanations, finding the exact location didn’t take long.
‘So that’s how it is.’
Hanbit let out a dry laugh.
The dungeon he planned to visit for the story.
Its location overlapped perfectly with the challenge dungeon.
With that being the case, there was no reason to turn down the mission.
“Alright. I just need to make top ten, right?”
-Lol, no way.
-Speedrun freaks are everywhere.
-He’ll do it.
-Ban everyone saying he’ll make it.
-Just watch first.
The reaction was harsher than when he got the skill.
Still, many defended him thanks to what he’d already shown.
Ding—
[Lucifer has donated 10,000 won.]
[What will you do if you fail?]
“If I fail?”
The inevitable failure pledge that always followed challenge missions.
Scanning the chat, Hanbit suddenly had an idea.
“Ah, should I write one more guide like the one I posted yesterday? I’ll try to make it more detailed.”
-NO NO NO NO NO
-Professor, please.
-We can’t even understand the first one.
-Is this a thesis?
-We’ll do our best, please.
The moment he mentioned another guide, the viewers reacted with fierce rejection.
Hanbit himself thought the first guide was lacking, but if they didn’t want it, so be it.
After a moment of thought, he offered another option.
“Hmm, then how about I pick one person by lottery and personally watch them for a day? Is there a lottery function?”
-Oh?
-?
-Seriously?
-There is a donor lottery function.
-You’d really do that?
At his offhand remark, the reaction completely flipped.
No—beyond flipped, it was spiraling out of control.
“If the function exists, then it’s possible. Shall we go with that?”
Ding—
[Lucifer has registered a 1,000,000 won challenge mission.]
[Success if you enter the Challenge Dungeon TOP10.]
[Sword God has donated 1,000,000 won to the challenge mission.]
[Exclude me from the lottery.]
[Avant-Garde has donated 2,000,000 won to the challenge mission.]
[Please let me get picked.]
-Vanga bastard’s back again. lol
-No way he gets picked.
A flood of donations poured in, likely due to the failure pledge.
And it wasn’t limited to individual players.
[Hanasaki Production has donated 5,000,000 won.]
[Golden Shark has donated 5,000,000 won.]
[Yeonhwa Gaming has donated 7,000,000 won.]
All sorts of companies putting their names up through regular donations.
The amounts were significantly larger than before.
Just as Yeonwoo said—maybe his value really had risen thanks to obtaining a hidden skill.
‘How much is this, seriously.’
Staring blankly at the piling messages, Hanbit pulled himself together.
It was time to move.
“Then I’ll head to the dungeon.”
Leaving the entrance behind, Hanbit entered the forest path.
The road to the dungeon wasn’t rough, so reaching it posed no difficulty.
‘Why are there so many?’
At the dungeon entrance built of stone walls.
Players crowded the place in droves.
Seeing them all turn their gaze toward him, they were clearly watching the stream.
“Hyung!”
A frantic voice came from behind.
Turning around, Hanbit saw Yeonwoo running toward him from afar.
“You made it here fast.”
“That’s not the problem—!”
Trailing off, Yeonwoo hurried closer.
Lowering his voice, he whispered urgently,
“Why would you come here? And you even accepted an impossible mission!”
“Why? It’s just a dungeon you clear quickly.”
“That’s exactly the problem! Do you know how much time it takes to reach the rankings? You need tons of consumables too!”
Grabbing Hanbit’s shoulders, Yeonwoo rattled on.
As a dungeon that had existed since early days, every basic strategy had already been researched thoroughly.
To clear it faster than competitors required countless attempts and immense effort.
Every action and decision to shave off even one second was forged through trial, error, and experience.
All kinds of consumables available on the market were essential, requiring extensive preparation.
“And what’s with the failure pledge? One-on-one feedback with you is something even big corporations can’t pull off!”
“I’ll just watch at the level of what’s in the guide. And if I succeed, I won’t have to do it anyway, right?”
“That’s why I’m saying this is hard! Right now, you need to show only successful outcomes!”
-Can hear everything, lol.
-ASMR is insane.
-Already promised, can’t back out.
-Black Dragon placing 500th.
-500? More like 1,000th.
As his voice grew louder, viewers started teasing him.
Since the prevailing opinion was that the mission was impossible from the start, it was a natural reaction.
Hanbit turned Yeonwoo back toward the viewers.
“What are you so worried about? We haven’t even tried yet.”
“All the top record holders ran this dungeon at max level 30. Most of them spent weeks or months speedrunning!”
Listening to him, Yeonwoo’s concern made sense.
Record holders fourteen levels higher than Hanbit, who was level 16.
On top of that, they’d invested massive time and effort to shorten their clear times.
Overcoming that compounded gap was normally impossible.
That is—if you were normal.
“What’s the reward? If it’s a time competition, is it scaled?”
“Scaled rewards apply to first-clear boss loot and stat points. The real reason people aim for first is the challenge reward.”
“Challenge reward?”
“You pay an entry fee to enter a challenge dungeon, and every week, first place gets all the accumulated fees. It’s basically mandatory before level 30, so the amount is huge.”
“Is that so?”
A strange system where first place takes all the entry fees.
He didn’t know how much it would be, but more in-game currency always meant more options.
Yet another reason to aim for the top.
To think a dungeon he had to visit anyway would bring this much benefit.
“So… how about negotiating with the viewers? Instead of ranking, maybe set a clear time target.”
Lowering his voice again, Yeonwoo suggested it.
No matter how he looked at it, competing records with ranking players felt like an insurmountable wall.
But with his goal clear, Hanbit walked toward the dungeon entrance and said,
“Just wait. I’ll show you what first place looks like.”
