Episode 274
“Is it here?”
“Yes. For now…”
The Forest of Specters, swept by destruction.
Beneath the shattered ground lay a small, dome-like space.
The person who had discovered this place was Bayst, the sole survivor among the spies.
“Hmm.”
Hanbit slowly looked around.
It was a structure surrounded by several barriers like a maze.
It seemed designed to encourage urban combat.
“How did you find this?”
“I heard a huge noise from above, and then a vertical passage opened up on the third floor. This space was underneath it. I wonder if it just became visible now that the terrain has disappeared…”
Bayst added that it was a sudden situation.
It felt like it was somehow related to the boss’s phase.
Anyway, it didn’t matter right now.
Stumbling—
Hanbit walked toward the center and stood before a red pillar.
Examining the surface, he placed his palm on it.
[Starting the occupation of the strategic base.]
[If you leave the position within 5 minutes, the occupation will be canceled.]
A red line appeared on the perimeter accompanied by a strange electronic sound.
It appeared to be a structure where the occupation was completed when that line filled up to the circle.
Presumably, if someone intruded and attempted to occupy it, it would be taken away.
Of course, no other factions remained now.
'About an hour, perhaps?'
Checking the remaining time, Hanbit sat down on a suitable structure.
Since the situation at Occupied Zone 32 was completely over, she now had the leeway to look elsewhere.
“…Am I still alive?”
Beist, standing a little distance away, asked with an anxious look.
However, killing her was completely meaningless.
“You’re a hardline player, aren’t you? Just stay until the time runs out.”
“Ah… yes.”
Beist nodded and carefully sat down on the floor. With
her knees pulled up, she looked somewhat pitiful.
“Come to our company. You’ll have to go through an interview, though.”
“Um… wouldn’t it be dangerous to move at this timing? I have a feeling the company might misunderstand something…”
She seemed worried about being branded a traitor.
But there was no immediate need to worry about that.
“The broadcast is still off, and you probably looked dead on screen. Our company wouldn't assign you any work that is visible to the outside world, either. Besides, do you think you can actually keep working there?”
“No.”
Bayst shook his head firmly at the question.
He seemed to truly despise the company.
“I have an interview scheduled soon, so clear your schedule. Leave your number with me, too.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
Hanbit, who had added Bayst as a friend, took his number and passed it on to Yeonwoo.
He had already explained the reason, so
Yeonwoo would understand immediately. 'Things… seem to be going well.'
The key members of the Alliance were conducting a private stream.
Hanbit had requested it to check the situation.
「Boom!」
「Thump!」
The Alliance members, scattered across dozens of zones, proceeded with the assault smoothly.
This was possible because the forces drawn to this Capture Point 32 were the strongest, and the designated capture point was a place the enemy had neglected.
Hanbit, who had been watching the situation all along, looked at Bayst and asked,
“Where is the respawn area?”
“Uh… the Raven King is Radianor, too.”
“Take this.”
He took out a Warp Crystal and handed it to her.
It was to avoid any unnecessary conflict.
“Use it as soon as the event ends. Like you’ve died and come back to life.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you!”
Bayst expressed her gratitude with a relieved expression.
It seemed she had been harboring worries all along.
About an hour later, a message signaling the end appeared.
[The Invasion Event has ended.]
[The Attack Team has defeated the boss.]
[Two players from the Defense Team have survived.]
[The Defense Team has successfully captured the strategic base.]
[The Defense Team has met two victory conditions.]
[The Hardliners have successfully defended Capture Point 32.]
Whoosh—
The Forest of Specters returned to its original state.
The results regarding Capture Point 32 followed one after another.
And when a little more time had passed, a message announcing the overall results appeared.
[Invasion Event Results]
1. Hardliners:
Successful Defense, Captured Territories: 35,
Successful Attack, Captured Territories: 59,
Capture Points: 348
2. Moderates:
Successful Defense, Captured Territories: 14,
Successful Attack, Captured Territories: 20,
Capture Points: 134
3. Holy Faction
Defense Successful Capture Points: 30
Attack Successful Capture Points: 21
Capture Points: 301
[As the Hardliners gained 348 capture points, the Hardliners have been determined as the winning faction.]
[Faction points will be distributed to all faction members based on their contribution.]
[Faction points have increased by 12,710.]
[A Fortune Box of Fate will be distributed to all faction members.]
[An additional buff will be granted to all Hardliners' captured territories for 24 hours.]
[Stats increase by 1.5 times.]
[Damage increases by 1.5 times.]
[Gold acquisition increases by an additional 2 times.]
[Experience acquisition increases by an additional 2 times.]
[Item drop rate increases by an additional 2 times.]
-Huh?
-Wow;
-Why did the Hardliners win?
-??
-Holy Faction… Maybe it wasn't a big deal?
-LOL
The stream was restarted just in time.
Viewers were all surprised to see the unexpected result.
'It turned out well.'
The Alliance had targeted a large number of capture points with relatively low points.
In contrast, the Seongche faction struggled to defend and invade the high-point capture points. This
resulted in a meaningless concentration of forces, ultimately leading to unfavorable outcomes. In particular, the fact that LLLL's team moved separately to earn a large number of points also played a part. Ding— As I scanned the results, notifications continued. [The player who achieved 1st place in contribution is Black Dragon.] [A Fortune Box of Fate (Rank 9 – Epic) will be awarded.] -1st place? -This is Black Dragon. -I screwed over the 9th ranked player, so of course I'm 1st. Haha. -I took a screenshot of Xiaohui's final expression. -Info) The Xiaohui meme is currently the #1 trending post in RP. Capture Point 32, which held the highest points. Since I defended it almost single-handedly, it seemed a considerably high contribution was assigned. Swipe— As I took the reward out of my inventory, a red box wrapped like a toy appeared. A reward that was completely unpredictable. Hanbit, recalling the word "Destiny," immediately opened the box. Bang! Acrid smoke obscured the vision accompanied by a strange explosion. As it dissipated, a small metal plate engraved with a dragon appeared. [You have obtained a Dragon Emblem(???).] -A dragon? -You're finally living up to your nickname. -But what do you do with this? -Do I have to go find a dragon? -Let's try eating it first. -It's not meant to be eaten. '…I've never seen this before.' Even after staring intently at the metal plate, no memory came to mind. While there were quite a few unfamiliar items in the RP, this Dragon Emblem in his hand felt strange. Should he call it a familiar sensation? Hanbit immediately examined the item's information. [Dragon Emblem] Rank:? Grade:? Description: An emblem containing the essence of the dragon race that existed in the beginning. It seems knowledge of the beginning is required to interpret it. -The beginning? -God… *shivers * -Let's ask the Adult Faction. -What can you learn from a second-place loser? -They believe in goddesses, you know. Haha – The GOAT faction of the RP Over-immersion "…The beginning." Regardless of the viewers' mockery, there weren't that many primordial beings. Fortunately, however, they were by Hanbit's side. "Aerial, do you know what this is? They say it is the essence of the Dragon Race that existed in the beginning." Whoosh— a gust of wind blew along with the question thrown inwardly. What had wrapped around his hand dispersed after a short while. And then, an unexpected result was heard. "This isn't an item from this world?" "Huh? Weren't beings like the Black Dragon or the White Dragon the primordial dragons?" "Those dragons were, but this is different. It is merely a feeling, though." Ariel added that he didn't know anything more than that . "Thank you." Hanbit offered his thanks and glared at the Dragon Emblem. Naturally, nothing had changed. If he absolutely had to ask a question, it would be Team Zero, who had issued this. Not that there was any way to contact them, though. After pondering it a little longer, Hanbit gave up and put the emblem into his inventory. "If it takes 24 hours…" 'Is the hunt the priority for now?' Considering the persistent gap with the Adult Faction, it was right to close the gap while the opportunity arose. Immediately inspecting the status of the occupied territory, he delivered a message to his allies.
"You may hunt freely for 24 hours. I will inform you of suitable capture points for each level, taking buffs into account, so please refer to this and move flexibly. Moderates, please consider the situation without buffs."
Hanbit, who had long recognized the capabilities of ordinary players, simply summarized and conveyed the information.
Dealing with monsters that were slightly borderline difficult was more efficient in many ways.
'Should I give it a try?'
Thud—
Grrr—
Monsters began appearing immediately without any healing abilities.
Holding his sword, Hanbit kicked his feet toward the enemies.
***
The next morning.
After finishing his 24-hour hunt, Hanbit dozed off briefly and came out to the living room.
He sat across from his mother.
"Mom, let's quit."
After much deliberation, he had reached only one conclusion.
No matter what preventative measures were in place, it was inevitable that the various malicious acts would worsen in the future.
Leaving things as they were was dangerous for both his mother and the shop.
"I already said I'm quitting."
"Huh?"
Hanbit's eyes widened at the unexpected remark.
Then, his mother chuckled and said.
“How can Mom go to the store? It’s too much work for the boss. Do you think I’ll even be able to work when I’m worried about you?”
“…….”
The mother was the first to recognize the worries her child was feeling.
Speechless, Hanbit simply lowered her gaze.
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. The bad guys are those damn reporters. I should have kicked them out with a ladle.”
Mother said playfully, clenching her fist.
Hanbit sighed and looked up.
“Anyway, get some good rest now. We’re moving to a bigger, safer place.”
“Why rest? I have to work. Mom is still young.” “
Then it’ll be the same. They’ll just try to dig up information from somewhere again.
” “It’s fine. I’ll be working from Mom’s studio.”
“Studio? What do you mean?”
When she asked again, bewildered by the nonsense, Mother grinned.
Then she showed her smartphone screen and spoke.
A screenshot of Heukryong’s channel was displayed there.
“Yeonwoo asked Mom to draw a picture. She said it would be helpful to you.”
“A picture?”
“Thumbnails. You know, the video covers?”
“……?”
His thoughts froze for a moment at a remark that sounded like he had misheard something.
“Wait a minute.”
Hanbit stood up and hurriedly entered the room.
He took out his phone and called the person in question.
(Yes, Hyung. I knew you’d be calling anyway.)
Yeonwoo’s voice, laced with electronic tones, was nonchalant.
Hanbit, rubbing his brow, asked him,
“What’s this about my mom? It’s the first time I’ve heard it.” (You entrusted the channel work exclusively to me,
didn’t you? Hiring an artist is up to me.)
“No, that’s not what I meant…”
(She knew you majored in art, and she even gave me a few drafts yesterday. She seems a bit awkward with tablets, so I’m planning to set up the studio she needs for her.)
It seemed as though all necessary verifications had already been completed.
Dumbfounded, Hanbit couldn’t say a word.
(By the way, I heard your mom studied RP a bit.)
“Study?”
(She looked into it here and there because you said you were going to make it your profession.)
“…Are the view counts going to be okay? I know my mom’s art, but she’s not an expert in this market.”
(Even with just a decent cut, I'm getting tens of millions of views right now. What if it becomes known that these are drawings by the Black Dragon's mother? It's not even a generic thumbnail. Besides, I plan to operate like a team and hire assistants, so don't worry about overwork. I'm busy, so I'm hanging up~) *
Click*—Having
finished what she had to say, Yeon-woo hung up the phone abruptly and disappeared.
“Haa.”
Hanbit let out a deep sigh and immediately resigned herself to the situation.
Since she had wanted her mother to draw again from the start, there was no reason to object.
It was simply that this situation was completely unexpected.
Hanbit went back out to the living room and sat across from her mother.
“Won't you get stressed?”
“Of course I will. Do you think drawing for commercial purposes is easy? It’s not just about working hard; it’s a field where you have to be good at it.”
“Then you can just do it as a hobby.”
“What’s fun about a hobby? You should be doing something productive.” *
Click*
—Her mother stood up from her seat and gulped down the water in her cup.
Then, slung her bag over her shoulder, she walked toward the front door.
“Make sure you eat well. I’m going to stop by the shop and then go look at a studio with Yeon-woo.”
“…Okay.”
Hanbit, feeling dejected, nodded.
Watching this, his mother added one more remark.
“Mom likes helping her son with his work. I’ll do my best, so just cheer me on.”
Thump—
the front door slammed shut, followed immediately by silence.
Slumped into his chair, Hanbit stared blankly at the ceiling where the fluorescent lights twinkled.
“…Joo Yeon-woo.”
The name of the person who had planned it all came out naturally.
However, thinking of his mother, who must have felt listless after losing her job, he felt nothing but gratitude. After all, he
had never even imagined working on thumbnails.
Holding his smartphone, Hanbit sent a short message.
“Thank you.”
