Now That’s Leeching

A ding sounded, and the opening sequence began.

Eid Chronicle had an unusual feature: you could gather people together before starting the game.

"I think connections with other people are important in games. And you can't just stare at a wall in an RPG. So you should play with friends, too. You gotta meet friends, even if it's only in a game."

Of course, the director who said that resigned not long afterward, but anyway, this game was unusual.

The opening ended, and we all appeared together on the same map.

Seongwon and Shin-woo started exploring the map right away, while Soran, Sahyang, and I decided to look around at a leisurely pace.

"By the way, something seems off about how you're playing. Jia, are you on a computer?"

I tilted my head at her question.

"...What else would I play on?"

"Yeah, I play on a computer too."

Soran and I looked at Sahyang, completely baffled.

"...No, Shin-woo definitely said you could play this in VR..."

I quickly switched to my streaming computer and looked up the information.

"Oh, you can play it in VR, but apparently the controls and stuff are easier on PC. But, well, VR has more of a romantic appeal..."

Just then, a memory flashed through my mind.

"One moment."

Click. When I logged out, Sahyang and Soran exchanged bewildered looks.

A few minutes later, Jia logged back in with a ding.

"It works with the VR headset I already have."

I put on my VR headset and logged into the game.

Sure enough, moving on two legs and seeing the world with my own eyes felt different.

"Soran, you don't have VR?"

"Oh, should we play in VR? It'd definitely feel more like a real adventure!"

She logged out too to put on her VR headset, leaving just the two of us in the world.

The unusual thing about this game was that if you formed a party beforehand, only your party members would be in that server.

Its greatest advantage was that we could take our time exploring the world without anyone stealing our hunting grounds or getting in our way.

"Sahyang, why did you decide to play this game?"

I asked her a predictable question.

Part of me was curious about what she'd say.

She seemed to mull it over, going, "Hmm..."

"I guess I just wanted to relax? I've been streaming for years, and mostly played FPS, AOS, and other competitive games. Don't you have that kind of romantic fantasy?"

"Adventure?"

"Oh, you get it! I wanted to experience a classic, straightforward story, the kind you'd see in a novel or a comic. What about you, Jia?"

I just answered honestly.

"I want to make money, and you were playing this game, Sahyang."

"Pfft!"

She burst out laughing and looked at me.

"I like how honest you are. I like honest people."

Soon, Soran logged in, and Sahyang formed a party and invited us.

"All right, shall we go?"

At her words, Soran and I smiled and followed her.

#

"Now this is nice."

I climbed to the top of a massive rocky mountain and looked down.

The beautiful scenery lived up to the game's open-world reputation. A gentle breeze blew, making our hair flutter.

"Huh. Would you look at that."

"What?"

"I mean, I know I'm seeing this in VR, but I feel like I can feel the wind."

"Really?"

She frowned as she gazed ahead.

"I can't really tell."

"You'll know when you're old."

We climbed back down and wandered around the area at a leisurely pace.

"Where's the main quest location?"

I opened the map to check our location.

"...One kilometer to the west."

I looked up and gazed west.

As far as I knew, the monsters scattered along the direct route were much higher level than us.

But there was no way to bring other viewers along to carry us, given how this game worked. And calling Shin-woo or Seongwon was out of the question, since they were too far away.

"What should we do?"

For now, I thumped the nearby tree with my hands.

Leaves and pinecones rained down with a rustling sound.

"Hmm, this place really is dry. The pinecones and leaves are all dried out. By the way, Sahyang, you're a ranged class, right? A mage?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Then set fire to these. I'll go find some thick branches or logs nearby."

I spoke to her, then jumped down below.]

Ivan was a character who could make swords float in the air.

Of course, he was such a generic character that he brought countless characters from other games to mind.

The biggest difference was that you had to control each sword individually.

With a swish, swish, swish, swords descended from the sky.

I grabbed one of the incoming swords and slammed it into the wall. It slowed with a metallic screech.

'So I only have one for now.'

Ivan had a brutally high difficulty level, and one reason was his damnable character-progression difficulty.

"Ptooey. Fuck."

A donation alert popped up with a ding.

[Finally, that boring-ass story is over.]

"Fuck off, you dumbass."

I quickly blocked the donation and moved on.

What did the viewers want? What were all these people watching me hoping to see?

They wanted to see me fight.

Throw swords, get into bloody battles to level up, grow stronger, and fight even stronger bosses.

Maybe I would've gotten a better reaction if I hadn't played this game. Maybe I should've played a VR FPS or an AOS game instead.

'Still, leeching is sweet.'

I glanced at the viewer count.

There were over 400 viewers. The other streamers' broadcasts were probably boring while they waited for me.

Grrrr...

I heard a beast growl.

The creature that appeared in front of me bared its teeth and looked ready to charge.

I quietly opened my inventory and gulped down the attack potion they'd given me as a starter item.

"Is this really VR? Why do I feel full?"

Marveling at how advanced the technology was, I charged at the creature.

#

"Kyarrr!"

I chuckled at its timid cry, so at odds with its massive body, and ducked beneath it.

"Grrk?!"

It was a monster, after all. It twisted its neck at a bizarre angle to follow me.

I spun and flung my sword at it, but it dodged nimbly, then lunged at me with its teeth bared.

"Come on!"

Whoosh—

With a sharp swish, the sword barely grazed its head.

'It dodged.'

Only then did I check its stats.

I was only level five, having just cleared the tutorial. That thing was level twenty.

But Ivan's greatest strength was the ability to play in unconventional ways. With the right approach, you could take down monsters almost twenty levels above you.

'If I had just one more sword, I could play even more unpredictably.'

I rushed toward a tree to dodge its attack. The thing was so strong that just one swing of its forepaw sliced the tree clean in half.

"This is insane."

Of course, I wasn't talking about the monster.

The chat was flying by so fast that a new message appeared before I could even read the previous one.

'There are already 600 people here!!'

My mouth watered. I hadn't put donations on screen so I could focus on the fight, but the total piling up had already passed 200,000 won.

'This much money without even displaying donations...?'

I grinned, raised my sword, and charged.

Normally, Ivan had poor durability, so you had to use his floating swords to block attacks and keep your distance, but

I was different right now. Adrenaline was surging through me.

I gripped my sword and charged at it. Maybe the sudden move startled it, because it backed away with a whimper.

"Get over here!!"

I rushed at it, stabbed one of its paws, then spun around and drove my knee into its jaw.

"Kyaaah—"

"Gum-Gum Gatling!!!!!!"

I pulled my fist back, coiled my body as far as I could, and stretched my muscles.

Then they contracted in an instant, and I unleashed dozens of punches on the creature.

"Ora ora ora!! Die, you bastard!!!"

Its head started lolling more and more with every punch. The wounds around its neck multiplied until the flesh finally split with a rip, sending its head flying into the air.

Splatter.

The monster's head flew off its body and landed on the ground.

"Uh, is this the camera?"

I turned the VR camera toward myself, picked up the head, and took a picture.

"How's this? Do I look a little... like a barbarian chieftain? Anyway, I'll read the donations."

My mouth watering, I played the donation alerts.

"Thanks, Saio! Thanks, Eros! Thanks, Mannu! Thanks, Wengo! Thanks, Jureokjahi..."

I rapidly read out the usernames and skipped through the donations.

A grand fanfare rang out, and my eyes widened.

[Sam-ban donated 100,000 won! I enjoyed your interview video~ Watching you fight now takes me back to the old days]

"Oh, Sam-ban! Thank you! Oh, what should I do for a reaction? Uh, I'll try the Zero Two dance! All right, here we go~!"

While Lee Jia thrust her hips to do the Zero Two dance, the two of them watched from above.

"..."

"This is ridiculous."

Seen through the telescope, she looked unbelievably ridiculous.

'She's making money.'

Though the chat was full of people talking about Lee Jia, the stream's overall audience had grown.

On top of that, Sam-ban's donation was bringing together audience pools that normally would never overlap.

'Good. How should I use her?'

While Lee Jia drooled over Sam-ban's donation, Sahyang was eyeing her greedily, too.