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“Different content?”
A somewhat abrupt question.
As Hanbit wore a puzzled expression, Avantgarde added an explanation.
“It’s about showing the viewers a side of Black Dragon-nim that’s different from what they’ve seen so far. A streamer is, after all, someone who is always fighting for content.”
-This young guy knows what’s up.
-What’s today’s content?
-What about tomorrow?
-What comes after this?
-P… please stop……
[Stating Facts has donated 1,000 won.]
[Fact) If Black Dragon does something other than guides, we’re the ones losing out.]
-Oh?
-That’s true;
-Avantgarde, you fool, take it back fast.
-Let’s go the guide streamer route.
Looking at the viewers’ reactions, he could get a rough sense of where things stood.
“Hmm.”
A side different from what he’d shown so far.
The majority of viewers did want guides, but uniformity in content was bound to become a poison.
Perhaps it would be better to show a different style of play every once in a while.
“Understood. From now on, I’ll do the guide portions off-broadcast.”
“Pardon?”
-?
-No, wait a minute.
-Let’s communicate.
-I didn’t say a word;
The chat went into a state of emergency at those casually tossed-out words.
Seeing Avantgarde’s eyes go wide in surprise as well made Hanbit stifle a laugh.
“Just kidding. I’ll keep the guides as the main content, and every now and then show you something different too.”
“Phew, I genuinely thought we were plummeting into ruin.”
-Thank goodness.
-Almost dropped Avantgarde.
-Thank you thank you thank you……
Avantgarde and the viewers alike breathed a sigh of relief.
Watching their reaction, Hanbit shifted his gaze to the map and thought for a moment.
‘In that case, maybe I’ll try making it myself.’
Whether by coincidence or not, the process required for crafting armor contained some new elements.
Having formed a few plans, Hanbit turned his eyes to the camera.
“For now, shall we do some farming first?”
***
“Hmm.”
A forest near the restricted area.
Liwei, the vanguard scout who had been sitting at the base of a tree, let her blue spear hang loose as she sank into thought.
It was because the heat had not left her since coming face to face with Black Dragon.
“This isn’t enough. I’m still not satisfied.”
Nearly a year had passed since she began working as a vanguard affiliated with Qinglan.
Liwei, who loved competition, had issued challenges to all manner of powerful opponents.
Not simply clashing weapons, but measuring her own limits through competition in every conceivable form.
The countless strong opponents she had faced in that process.
Even among the top-tier players known as vanguards, the range of ability varied enormously.
But Black Dragon was somehow different from them all.
He gave a different feeling even from the hidden masters in the wild who had never risen to the vanguard.
“There have been plenty of theories floating around, but…….”
News circulating through the Korean community had also reached China.
From hidden skills to episode resets — anyone would have taken an interest.
It was only natural to be curious about Black Dragon’s true identity.
Though not a single theory held much persuasive weight.
“Liwei.”
Just then, her group of companions who had been surveying the area around the restricted zone approached.
Being employees of Qinglan, they were putting in effort to produce results.
“Did you find something?”
“…No. Just as you said, there was nothing. It looks like it really was the Black Dragon party acting alone.”
The female deputy captain of Liwei’s team let out a sigh.
They had been operating under the assumption that the unlocking and clearing of the restricted area had been carried out by an organized faction.
They also shared a conviction that uncovering those details would be of benefit to Qinglan.
“As I said before, Black Dragon is different. Chasing him with needless speculation will only lead to wasted effort.”
“When a newly emerged player shows that kind of performance, what can you do? I’m in a position where I have no choice but to be suspicious.”
The woman, who had been forced to make judgments on insufficient information, expressed her grievance.
Frowning, she shifted her gaze toward the ongoing broadcast.
“Why is he suddenly hunting now?”
The staff members who had been continuously observing the situation were trying to find clues in Black Dragon’s actions.
Yet rather than pursuing the Ifrit episode, he appeared to be moving toward the snowy mountains to gather materials.
After a brief moment of contemplation, the woman shifted her eyes toward the cave containing the restricted area.
“For now, we should clear the restricted area first. Let’s get in quickly.”
“No, I’m not going.”
“What?”
At Liwei’s blunt answer, the woman let out a baffled noise.
“Are you kidding? How are we supposed to clear it without you? The other two Qinglan vanguards are both far away.”
“You can proceed without me. If it’s a place Black Dragon successfully cleared, it shouldn’t be impossible for your specs.”
“That makes no sense……. Do you know the Odin side’s raid team is also making their way here? What are you going to do if they clear it before us?”
Odin — one of the vanguards known as a crystallization of talent.
Just ten minutes ago, he had declared he was giving up on clearing Episode 8.
That declaration had come with the news that he was heading for this restricted area.
“Now that Black Dragon has already cleared it, the order no longer matters. If anything, proving ourselves to each other might be the better move.”
“Prove? Prove what?”
“Access to the restricted area is at Black Dragon’s discretion. Isn’t it better to get on his good side?”
“If you’re the one getting on someone’s good side, that’s automatically suspicious. If you’re just going to pick a fight again, please stay put.”
Whoosh—
Liwei shot up from her seat and slung her spear over her shoulder.
“I’ll go settle this properly.”
“No, this isn’t settling anything — hey!”
Thump—!
Liwei dashed off before the words were even finished.
There was no player present here who could keep up with the speed of a vanguard.
“Here she goes again.”
The woman pressed a hand to her forehead and let out another deep sigh.
Once Liwei had spotted a worthy rival, no words reached her.
Knowing that all too well, there was nothing she could do but watch her go.
“How did it come to this.”
Half a year ago, the woman had personally applied to join Liwei’s team.
For exactly one reason.
Because Liwei was far too handsome.
On the day she happened to cross paths with Liwei at the Qinglan headquarters, the course of her life changed.
It had taken her less than a day to get herself onto his team, as if enchanted.
“I must have been truly out of my mind.”
It was the sort of thing others might point fingers at — but if they actually saw Liwei, they would think differently.
The only thing she liked about him was his face.
Just that one thing, and nothing else — yet it had stolen her heart completely.
Even when she was furious at Liwei to the point of her head boiling, one look at his face was enough to defuse it.
“Haah…….”
Letting out yet another deep sigh, the woman shook her head and pulled herself together.
She shifted her gaze to the subordinates before her and said:
“Follow me. We need to clear it ourselves.”
***
“It’s been a while since we’ve come this way.”
The snowy mountains near Ifrit.
Upon arriving at a carved-out ravine, Avantgarde glanced around and remarked.
“It’s not an easy place to set foot in.”
Through the snow-laden forest, the slopes, and throughout the ravine, monsters caught the eye.
This was a zone where monsters level 30 and above were distributed.
Most were animal-type monsters — wolves, deer, and the like.
“By the way, what kind of farming are you doing? I haven’t heard of any items that drop specifically around here.”
Players who hunt in the field were not few in number.
Pushing through episodes alone would eventually bring progress to a halt.
Whether for leveling up or for earning money by selling loot, the field was an indispensable hunting ground.
However, the monsters in this vicinity were low in efficiency, so few people sought this place out.
“There are 2 things I need to obtain. One is the frostbitten spider’s venomous fang. The other is the snow-flower deer’s tough hide.”
“…Pardon?”
Avantgarde was taken aback.
It was because the things Black Dragon had mentioned were materials that could only be obtained with extreme rarity.
Being purely within the realm of luck, it was not a problem that could be solved through any guide.
“Are you sure about this? There’s no ceiling on drop rates, so there’s a chance it could take quite a long time…….”
-Rare of rares.
-There’s someone who farmed the venomous fang for a month and still couldn’t get it.
-Does the snow-flower deer even spawn?
-Wouldn’t it be better to just buy from the exchange?
-Yeah, he has plenty of gold, let’s look after our sanity.
-The venomous fang is listed at 2 million gold right now.
Avantgarde as well as the viewers expressed concern.
Loot that was simply difficult to obtain on a probability basis.
Usable for weapons and armor, but with performance far too ordinary relative to the effort required to obtain them.
“It’s fine. It won’t take long.”
Hanbit was well aware that these were materials not easily obtained.
However, a way to reduce the time did exist.
‘I haven’t really hunted properly before.’
Monster hunting in Edelen had mostly taken place in dungeons.
Beyond that, it had been for skills or for the sake of advancing episodes, so the purpose had been somewhat different.
This time, perhaps he could do some hunting that was truly just for the sake of hunting.
“Let’s start by getting the venomous fang first. We’ll head down below.”
Hanbit and Avantgarde immediately descended along the slope of the ravine.
The path that stretched long in a V shape showed no end in sight.
Thud—!
The two, having descended all the way, landed on the uneven ice below.
Monsters could be seen in the distance, but only one or two at most.
“There are certainly fewer here than up above. What do you intend to do?”
Avantgarde, scanning the surroundings, asked.
Compared to the commonly used field on the upper part of the ravine, this place seemed to have no advantages whatsoever.
Hanbit turned his gaze to the ground and gave a simple answer.
“I’m going to do something like a sweep hunt.”
“…Down here, you mean?”
-?
-Am I seeing the surroundings right?
-I can’t even see a single one;
-Looking for spiders.
-Developers, spawn some spiders.
Everyone’s reaction was exactly as anticipated.
Going out of the way to descend to a place with even fewer monsters, just to do a sweep hunt.
It made no sense by any conventional logic.
“This terrain will take you far longer. Wouldn’t it be better to look around caves or cliff areas?”
Avantgarde understood the rarity of these materials well.
The drop rate was low to begin with, and the number of monsters appearing in the field was not large.
And yet, using the entire wide map would be far too inefficient.
“No, it’s fine.”
Hanbit’s plan, having already identified those problems, was simple.
One piece of information that had never turned up accurately no matter how many community boards or other sites he searched.
That was the monster nest.
A place where newly born creatures were packed together in a swarm, so to speak.
‘It seems like the kind of thing someone might know about.’
Players perceived it as a system where monsters spawned out in the field.
But not everyone thought that way.
Swoosh—
Hanbit shifted his gaze and looked down the continuing path.
A nest that existed underground beneath the downstream end of the ravine.
There were a few more in the Ifrit vicinity, but this was the only one that had formed naturally.
Hanbit scanned the floor of the ravine and moved forward.
“We’re moving.”
