Chapter 3
- I'm sorry. I won't crack jokes in front of you again, Goldie.
- Please, please, please spare us!
- We've been a little too harsh, haven't we? Haha.
- We?
- Wow, I can't even keep up with her speed;
- I just got here. Why's the mood so weird?
- Look at all the regulars collapsed over there.
As I finished off the goblins and collected their mana stones, the chat window somehow grew livelier.
“Ha-eun?”
“…Ah, y-yes!”
“So what do I do now?”
…She seemed a little shocked, too.
Why was everyone acting like this?
Weren't goblins the lowest-grade monsters?
Wasn't this kind of thing only natural?
Even a human mage could do this much.
“Um… we have to defeat the boss to get out!…”
“Really?”
Clatter-
I looked at the five low-grade mana stones gathered in my hand and used a skill.
Treasure Digitization.
It was already a skill that helped me a lot, but it wasn't just a passive ability.
It had one more essential function.
[Would you like to sell 5 Low-Grade Mana Stones?]
[Sale price: 50,000 won]
It let me sell things on the spot.
And the money went straight into my bank account.
I didn't know where the items went after disappearing, but since the money definitely came through, I didn't think too much about it.
More importantly.
[210,250 won]
Even using a basic skill cost tens of thousands of won.
Was this really okay?
I'd just earned less than I'd spent, too…
The numbers didn't add up at all.
Well, for now, I should try to get the rest out of my viewers.
- Your expression looks weird.
- Here she goes again, about to start her shit.
- I-I'll donate.
They'd gotten way too good at reading me…
“Ha-eun? Let's go this way.”
“Y-yes!”
As I walked through the forest without a moment's hesitation, a few concerned comments appeared in the chat.
- But do you know where you're going?
- You could get trapped inside the Gate.
- I saw a Hunter get rescued once. They survived by eating monsters.
- Yikes.
“Guys. Can't you smell the money? You seriously can't smell it?”
- [BumperHarvest] Just find a ranger to join your party;
- Smell the money, my assㅋㅋ What are you, a sniffer dog?
- [LushGreen] Is this person S-rank? I saw a clip, and she slaughtered them.
- Freaking out over goblinsㅋㅋ
- Bullshit, goblins are fucking dangerous too.
- I'm the 24th descendant of a swordsmanship family, and I could probably do that much.
- [LushGreen] I'm genuinely curious: what did she do that the screen couldn't keep up with her speed?
“Acceleration? Want me to show you how? Just donate. Donate.”
Honestly, it wasn't even that difficult a technique.
All it did was amplify mana's propulsion and let me follow its flow.
It was like stepping on the gas to make a car go faster.
And I'd been saving my money in case I really did get trapped here, like the viewers were worried about.
Honestly, I didn't think I'd get lost.
The stench of rot was guiding me in the right direction.
Was it because this was a low-rank Gate?
Or were humans just that weak…?
- You haven't even cleared it yet, whatㅋㅋ
- Is this staged?
- I believe in you, Goldie. Loyal, loyal^^7
- H-honestly, after seeing her fight, I th-think she could just blow everything up and be done with it…
- Are you fucking stupid? You think Gates are staged? You're an ordinary person, aren't you?
- [BumperHarvest] Damn… I wanted to Awaken like that, too.
“Now, now. It says in the rules: no insulting each other.”
“…Should I mute them, unnie?”
“Give them five minutes for now.”
Ha-eun, who'd been trailing behind me hesitantly, spoke up cautiously.
Seeing her like this, she really did seem like a manager.
“Come to think of it, you're a Hunter, too. Don't you have anything to do?”
“Pardon?”
“Like hunting monsters or something.”
“Oh, I'm just here to supervise. Of course, I'll step in if things get dangerous…”
At her words, implying there probably wouldn't be any danger, I chuckled.
Kieek?-
“If you're okay with it, then that's fine.”
For now, I should take care of the ones that just appeared in front of me.
***
Keh…-
Smack!-
“Let's see… forty thousand won?”
[210,750 won]
After literally snapping dozens of goblins in half, I sold their mana stones and stood up.
We'd come pretty far in, it seemed.
The unpleasant mana and stench of rot had grown much stronger, too.
Even Ha-eun said she could smell it now.
“It should be around here.”
Hmm, come to think of it, what were the habits of carnivorous plants again?
There was something that green guy used to keep going on about.
Rustle-
…Ah, that's right.
“This is… pollen.”
First, they lure in their prey, then scatter powder with anesthetic or sleep-inducing effects.
Then they devour their immobilized prey.
- Streamer, got any antidote??
- Isn't that the stuff that can paralyze an elephant?
- People use it for crimes a lot these days.
But it picked the wrong opponent.
Those pathetic things wouldn't be enough to anesthetize me.
It'd take enough to put at least a million elephants to sleep all at once.
Clench-
I clenched my fist and punched the nearest tree.
Boom!-
…!-
The impact sent the tree's yellow pollen raining down in clumps.
Then a red sap, like blood, flowed from between the split branches.
Whether it actually contained the blood of humans or monsters, the stench was overwhelming.
“So it really isn't an ordinary tree. Is this thing the boss here?”
“U-Unnie! Above you!”
As if it had sensed a threat, tendrils shot out from between the tree's branches and flew toward me.
Ha-eun was startled and seemed to judge that we were in danger, so she drew her sword from her waist.
It had a hideous look, with bandages wound tightly around its black blade.
So that's what an artifact looks like.
Of course, I was interested in that weapon, too, but there was still plenty I hadn't shown them yet.
“Sorry, Ha-eun. I'll see what you can do next time.”
Step-
I took a step forward and blocked Ha-eun's path.
I could use Acceleration to knock away every tendril, but I was starting to look one-note.
It was my debut stream, after all. I wanted to draw plenty of aggro.
Tap-
[Withdrawal: 200,000 won - Details: [Dragon's Eye Awakening] skill usage fee]
[10,750 won]
I briefly lowered Polymorph, closed my eyes, then opened them again.
My pupils were no longer human. A reptilian, vertically slit pupil came into view.
“Uh, uh…?”
My Dragon's Eyes inspired fear in anyone who saw them, and Ha-eun took a step back when she saw me.
Whoooosh-
Regardless, I opened my eyes wide and watched the tendrils' paths.
The tendrils looked as if they were moving in slow motion, like time had stretched out.
At this price, was seeing things slowly the most I could manage?
Smack!-
In the space of about a second.
I quickly found the optimal path and caught every tendril flying toward me in a single motion.
Crack!-
Then I slammed them hard against the ground and stomped on them, pinning them in place.
“All right, everyone, special event. Someone send 300,000 won and I'll show you something awesome.”
- Something awesome?
- Wow, what are those eyes??
- How'd she catch them…?
- Those reptile eyes are fucking terrifying;;
- [BeardedGuard] Huh…
- Isn't the standard strategy for a tank to block those?
- Yeah, the tank blocks them while the damage dealers cut the tendrils.
[BumperHarvest donated 300,000 won!]
[What is it? Show us already]
“Great, time for a 300,000-won reaction!”
[310,250 won]
I thought I could at least try a weak version for 300,000 won, so I took a deep breath.
Then I drew out as much mana as I could from my lungs and fused it with the air I'd inhaled.
Fuse. Compress. Ignite.
And then.
Fwoooosh!-
Release.
My breath, transformed into a raging inferno, shot straight toward the tree.
- Huh
- Huh
- Oh…
- Wow, holy shit, that's awesome
- ??
- [BumperHarvest] ?
The flames that burst from my throat, like a flamethrower, engulfed the tree and the surrounding trees.
[Withdrawal: 310,250 won - Details: [Breath] skill usage fee]
[0 won]
I'd spent all my money, but at least I'd drawn plenty of aggro with that.
I should consider it an investment in the future.
“Hoo… Ahem.”
After burning through all my mana, I cleared my throat as I looked at the blazing forest and the tree.
It had been a while since I'd breathed fire, so my throat felt a little scratchy.
- Whoaㅋㅋㅋ
- This is insane…
- Now that's a dragon, damnㅋㅋ
- Legendaryㅋㅋㅋ
- That's so fucking cool. I want to breathe fire, too.
- Every man's dreamㄷㄷ
- Wait, was this person actually a dragon?
- They might have to close this Gate for a while;;
When I looked at the chat, I saw that I was blazing as brightly as the tree in front of me.
“A 300,000-won Breath is pretty weak, but luckily, it seems to have burned well since it's a tree!”
Actually, I'd expected the reaction to be good.
Whenever I'd shown humans my Breath in the past, their reactions had always been pretty intense, for better or worse.
Turns out people like flashy visuals.
[Gate cleared.]
[Reward - 1 Mid-Grade Mana Stone]
Just then, a status window appeared in midair.
It seemed that tree really had been the boss.
And there was an extra reward, too.
Thinking this was a pretty sweet deal, I smiled—but the moment I looked at the tree, already burned to a crisp,
an important fact suddenly came to mind.
“Uh, wait a second. What about my drops?”
“Um… they all burned up…?”
- You burned them.
- Fwoosh
- Idiotㅋㅋㅋ
“Ah.”
Damn it.
“No, my reward!!”
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- ㅋㅋㅋ
- This stream is a reaction gold mineㅋㅋㅋ
- She even burned up the rewardㅋ
[What'sItGonnaBe donated 10,000 won!]
[Here's 10,000 won for your reward]
As I stared blankly at the tree, which had already turned to ash,
a status window appeared in front of me again.
[Gold Dragon special reward applied.]
[Unique]
[Reward - Forest Jewel Fragment 1/3]
Huh?
A special reward?
Plop-
A small green jewel fragment fell in front of me.
[Effect - Produces oxygen.]
***
That evening.
The Hunter Association's Seoul Branch, Suppression Team 3 office.
“Sigh…”
“Manager, you've been sighing a lot more lately.”
“Wouldn't you be sighing, too, if you were me?”
Kim Sang-cheol, who'd watched the footage recorded by the drone, let out a long sigh.
He'd thought he'd seen quite a few returnees by now, but things this far beyond the norm still kept showing up.
‘At least she's not hostile toward humans…’
Even to an active S-rank Hunter, the woman on the screen…
In other words, that woman who called herself a dragon—experience and instinct screamed that she was dangerous.
And now, Suppression Team 3 had been put in charge of her, which meant even the manager's job was in danger.
“I heard she has to spend money to use her skills, Manager.”
“…That's right.”
“Then if we only give her enough under the pretext of support funds to keep her under control—”
“You must not have read the interview records properly. That woman said she could go berserk.”
Even so, her release into society had once again been entirely at the higher-ups' discretion.
What in the world was the Association president thinking?
If going berserk meant losing control and doing whatever it took to gather every last treasure…
“I don't think we could stop her in the middle of the city. There'd definitely be enormous damage.”
She'd said she'd spent 300,000 won to breathe fire.
At that level of power, she still seemed to have trouble taking on A-rank monsters or stronger. But look at it the other way.
Give her just 300,000 won, and she could take on B-rank monsters or even B-rank Hunters.
And if that amount were 3 million or 30 million won, it was impossible to imagine how powerful she'd be.
…In other words, a monster the Association would struggle to handle had come to Earth.
As Kim Sang-cheol replayed the footage and worked on his report, Park Ha-eun approached him hesitantly.
“What is it this time, Hunter Park Ha-eun? We went all the way to the site because you insisted. What else is there?”
“W-Well… my brother contacted me…”
“Hunter Park Sang-hyeok?”
Hunter Park Sang-hyeok was an A-rank Hunter on the verge of reaching S-rank.
If someone like him was contacting her like this… could an incident have occurred that hadn't been officially reported?
“He said he saw a monster he'd never seen before in a newly appeared Gate…”
“You mean the Gate that appeared in Incheon?”
“Y-yes… He saw something huge while rushing to escape because the inside suddenly collapsed.”
“If it's a B-rank Gate and he ran away…”
“B-But they did install a barrier field!…”
Suppression Team 3 was, as its name suggested, a department dedicated to suppression.
Some information and monsters had to be eliminated before the public found out about them.
“So it might be a new monster that doesn't register on the equipment. They want us to check it out quietly and deal with it. All right, then—”
Ding-
Just as he nodded and began to gather his thoughts,
[Order: Deploy the returnee Goldie (hereafter ‘Lee Se-yeon’) to Incheon's N-24-1(B) Gate.]
a new email appeared on his monitor.