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109
“So this is that body cam footage?”
“Yes. It’s been recorded well from the very beginning.”
A café near Yeongdeungpo.
The four people from DD Studio gathered there were watching a video on a tablet.
『Does your wife and kid do this at work too? Don’t act shamefully. Hey? If you’re incompetent, at least do what you’re told.』
The scene of the two people’s exchange had been recorded vividly, sound included.
The section chief punching Kim Jaeha in the chest and pouring out verbal abuse — it was absurd to watch even again.
“This is far too clear as evidence.”
When the video finished, Avantgarde gave a nod.
The assault by Black Dragon that the section chief had claimed.
But what the footage actually contained was proof of his own wrongdoing instead.
“What are you going to do? If you show him this, he’d probably shut up right away.”
Yeonwoo added that they could wrap things up before any problems arose.
Not a bad option — but the plan had already been set in motion.
“But is this really okay? Telling him to put together a raid party and come…….”
Kim Jaeha asked, recalling the message’s contents.
Even though the word ‘payback’ had been used, he simply could not picture how it would play out.
“I’ve heard a rough outline of the situation, but I’m curious as well.”
Avantgarde also expressed his questions.
Hanbit showed everyone the community post.
“Our objective is ultimately to recover the dwarves’ heirloom — the hammer. As much as possible, we’ll be ignoring the Snow Drake.”
“…Will the Snow Drake be ignoring you?”
Yeonwoo asked in a baffled tone.
It also seemed strange that a boss of that caliber would selectively attack certain players.
“It won’t ignore anyone — it’ll kill everything. But if there’s bait, we can push our turn further back.”
“Bait?”
“There’s the section chief’s raid party coming from Taeyul, and plenty of players who’ll swarm in after seeing that post, right? We just use all of them.”
“…What exactly are you planning to do? Seems like it would be wise to be a little careful for now.”
Yeonwoo, reminded of the aquarium dungeon, asked with concern.
The camera angles coming out were great, and the view counts were genuinely rewarding.
But by the same measure, interest and hostility from multiple directions had begun taking more extreme forms.
Vanguards aside, a PK guild or stalking in reality were not matters to take lightly.
“This time it’ll be fine.”
Hanbit, knowing that worry well, had not put together the plan carelessly either.
“Fine how?”
“I’m going to call Liwei in as support.”
“…Liwei?”
The wish token received as the prize for winning the competition.
He had originally intended to wait and see to the very end, since Liwei had said to ask for anything.
But dwarven metallurgy was something that had to be obtained no matter what.
With Liwei present, even the smallest variables could be completely eliminated.
“If a vanguard is backing us up, that’s welcome…….”
Yeonwoo, mid-sentence, fell briefly into thought.
The in-game side was one thing, but the real-world problems were still significant.
He touched his phone screen and brought up a photo.
“I looked into the place called Deoksu Detective Agency, and it turned out to have no registered business address, let alone any business registration.”
“Is that so?”
A run-down abandoned building in the photo.
The broken windows and empty interior looked as though it had been vacant for quite some time.
“What about that person? Did he know anything useful?”
“Everything else was a dead end, but we got a means of contact. There’s someone well-versed in this sort of thing who I’m hoping can help.”
The information about the man who had tailed Hanbit was passed along directly to Yeonwoo.
Between the threats that had been made to cooperate as much as possible, the man had apparently ended up spilling everything he knew.
“Do you have any suspicions about who the culprit is? It does seem like there’s a possibility it’s that Adventurer A person.”
“Has the PK guild ever actually laid a hand on someone in real life?”
Avantgarde and Kim Jaeha, having heard a brief account, each offered their own speculation.
Hanbit was convinced it was Adventurer A, but there was still no physical evidence on this end either.
It would be better to wait until solid information came together.
“For now let’s watch the situation a bit longer. Yeonwoo, you too — don’t dig too deep. Don’t go there in person either.”
“I only went once because it was so suspicious. The rest I’ll leave to the person helping me.”
Yeonwoo nodded, saying he understood.
Small talk continued for a little while.
Then he glanced at his watch and said:
“I’ll be heading back to the office shortly. Just remember — the contract you signed takes effect immediately.”
The three had handed over their signed contracts the moment they arrived.
They were now officially members of DD Studio.
From here on, real results were what mattered.
For their own sake, and for the company’s.
Hanbit rose from his seat and said:
“Then let’s meet in the game.”
***
“This should do it.”
Logging into the game, Hanbit sent Liwei a message.
Simple content saying he would be using the wish token from their competition.
Ding—
Having sent it, he immediately turned on the stream.
The viewer count began filling at an extraordinary pace.
-Hey Dragon.
-Never mind the greetings, have you seen the trending RP posts?
-Some clarification on dwarven metallurgy please.
-Is the Snow Drake real?
-Is it fake?
-Can we sort out the restricted area first;
-Why only post the first part of the guide?
-Is the guide even accurate?
-200% chance it’s a lie.
The barrage of topics the viewers were pouring out led naturally into the restricted area guide.
Multiple vanguard teams still with no news of success.
It was inevitable that the validity of the first part of the guide posted on Black Dragon’s channel would come into question.
If players that powerful couldn’t clear it, the possibility converged to zero.
“If you believe the guide is wrong, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll give up on posting the rest of the restricted area guide.”
-Huh?
-We’re sorry.
-There are just too many insane people.
-Just one coin please.
-Where did all the rich folks go?
[Sword God has registered a 1,000,000 won challenge mission.]
[Success condition: post the rest of the restricted area guide.]
[ㅇㅇ has donated 500,000 won to the challenge mission.]
[Please.]
[GoGolem has donated 200,000 won to the challenge mission.]
[Save me.]
[Taehun Corporation has donated 2,000,000 won to the challenge mission.]
[This is Taehun. We’re rooting for you!]
[Chowoo has donated 2,000,000 won.]
[Donated.]
[Yeonhwa Gaming has donated 5,000,000 won.]
[Yeonhwa is cheering you on as well.]
-Holy cow, chaos.
-Donate on my behalf, please.
-Isn’t Chowoo a vanguard?
-Plenty of other vanguards too. Lol.
-Cool donations are refreshing.
-Yeonhwa Gaming just became a whale;
The mildly threatening remark had barely landed before donations came pouring in like madness.
The proportion of plain donations, not through the challenge mission, was also considerable.
“Thank you all for the donations. Please don’t interfere with the episode, and for the metallurgy and Snow Drake — well, that can’t be helped. Blocking competition isn’t something I can do.”
-He’s actually letting us?
-The leak was Gorik’s doing technically…
-I’m logging in.
-So many people in the snowy mountains now. Lol.
-The crevasse is packed too;
A magnanimous decision that drew favorable reactions.
Not one of them was probably thinking that they were about to become bait.
‘Speaking of which, how’s that person doing?’
Seeing Yeonhwa Gaming’s donation, Luna suddenly came to mind.
A special clue passed along as thanks for the information.
To obtain weapon materials using it would require at minimum a few days of effort.
Even being fast, it would probably take at least four days.
‘Well, she might have given up.’
The value of the materials obtainable was not just excellent — it was remarkable.
Hanbit himself absolutely intended to stop by there at some point.
But since the world was not one that yielded such materials easily, dropping out partway through would not be strange either.
If she had gotten stuck somewhere and reached out, he would have happily told her how to get past it — but.
“Black Dragon-nim!”
“You were already streaming?”
Just then, Avantgarde and Kim Jaeha, having just logged in, came over.
Perfect timing.
“You’ve arrived. Let’s move right away.”
Hanbit moved out onto the street with the two of them.
The eyes of players within the city naturally gathered.
“So — where are we going?”
Kim Jaeha asked, keeping his guard up around him.
Several buildings standing tall nearby.
Hanbit’s destination was a tower covered in red walls.
“Before heading to the snowy mountains, I want to learn one more magic. The research institute is right there, isn’t it?”
“I know it. But that’s where you learn rank 3 magic. Shouldn’t you need to fill your rank 2 proficiency first?”
“Well, it’s worth trying.”
-Will it work?
-No. Turn back.
-Don’t tell me he already filled the proficiency.
-That was a dream I had.
[Apprentice Mage has donated 1,000 won.]
[If rank 2 proficiency is already full, I’m quitting being a mage.]
The chat erupted at the mention of proficiency.
In truth, the proficiency had filled the very day he learned the skill — Hanbit knew that.
No need to say so right now, though.
“Let’s head in for now.”
Hanbit moved toward the tower entrance.
Quite a few people were coming and going through the wide-open main gate.
“Hey, Black Dragon’s here.”
“Should I say something?”
“No, act like you don’t know him! If you bother him, he said he won’t post the guide.”
The players who spotted Hanbit lowered their voices and murmured among themselves.
‘Works nicely.’
The remaining restricted area guide held hostage.
It was indeed an effective approach.
People like Liwei and Trigger were simply not ordinary.
Though Liwei had at least been helpful.
“Hello?”
A girl welcoming the three of them from inside.
A white uniform-like outfit indicated she was a student.
-Nia, hi.
-Our Nia.
-So cute.
The chat’s mood shifted at the girl’s appearance.
In the words of the players — the only healing element in Ifrit.
Hanbit was in agreement with that assessment.
“Hello.”
“I haven’t seen you before… oh?”
Nia stepped one pace closer, and her eyes landed on Hanbit’s wrist.
“Wow! It’s gold! I’ve never seen one of those before!”
The girl raising her voice in surprise.
Seeing her after so long, old memories came to him naturally.
‘We used to hang out often.’
Nia was a student at the magic school and a staff member of this institute.
With a personality bright and warm enough, they had naturally grown close.
The real turning point into genuine closeness had been a certain event.
“Oh? A gold bracelet on an outsider… could you be the one who helped the subjugation team during the monster attack yesterday?”
Nia, studying the bracelet closely, suddenly asked a question.
“That’s right, but how did you know?”
“Wow! My dad is an adventurer! His name is Zenon…….”
“Ah, the person I greeted yesterday. So you’re his daughter.”
“Hehe, that’s right. You wouldn’t believe how much Dad was going on about how incredibly strong the adventurer was?”
She added that it was a side of her father she had never seen before.
After chatting for a moment, Nia seemed to remember something.
“Ah, I’m sorry. You must have come for a reason. How can I help you?”
“Nothing else — I was wondering if I could see the director.”
“Of course! Please wait just a moment!”
Nia quickly went up the stairs to the floor above.
And a short while later, her cheerful voice floated down.
“You can come up!”
