Chapter 9
As befits a proud variety-game VTuber, I’ve played a truly wide variety of games on stream.
Among them, my favorite types are games with a high degree of freedom.
For example, historical simulations or Rift.
I mainly enjoy games where every match plays out differently.
The Outwind I booted up after four rounds of Jeungbaram is that kind of game too.
[You encountered a band of thieves while traveling with a caravan. Your friends and family were killed, and you barely managed to….]
The story begins with your entire caravan being attacked by bandits.
Because of that, the tutorial has you barely making it back to town penniless with one friend.
[Your parents are dead, so now you must pay off the family debt!]
Just when I barely made it back, the villagers started saying things like that.
“Hmm?”
-???
-Why am I the one who has to pay that?
-Is this what the world is like here??
-I feel like ditching the village
“Well, it is the Middle Ages….”
It’s hard for a modern person to understand, but for the Middle Ages, it wasn’t entirely unbelievable.
Of course….
“I don’t have to pay this back, right?”
-Yeah, you can just leave
-Let’s ditch the villageㅋㅋㅋ
I had no intention of paying it back willingly, anyway.
Isn’t fleeing the village usually the standard route in games like this?
What’s the point of staying in the beginner village? I’m a hero, so I should go farther.
“Leave the past behind and take one step forward….”
[Wayo! Don’t worry. I’ll persuade the villagers until you can earn the money, and if you happen to have a heart for this place….]
Fortunately, the village headman calmed the adults down.
What’s more, he even offered to pay off the debt if I was adopted into his family.
Is this some kind of branching point?
More importantly, the village headman is incredibly generous.
-Kyaㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Please adopt me
-This is what a Hokage isㅋㅋㅋ
“Sss… this is making me kind of attached to the village.”
-For real
-The village headman is likable
-Let’s just get adopted, shall we??
“Before that, let’s walk around the village and get a feel for the place.”
How many different games have I played since becoming a variety-game streamer?
Even when a game is unfriendly, I can usually get the hang of something like this in a few minutes.
From the viewers’ backseating, I gathered that early on, you’re supposed to loot items from around the village, raise some funds, and equip basic gear.
“Oh, there’s something here.”
Clang!! Bang!!
I smashed the earthenware crocks found in every village’s empty house, rummaged through shelves, and gathered items I could sell.
For reference, looting an occupied house makes the residents hostile, so you have to be careful about that.
-Oh no, that’s Boksoon’s surgery money
-You little punk, if you take it all, what are the villagers supposed to live on!
“We have to save the world, don’t we~”
I’m a hero, you know~ I have to save the world~
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-This kind of bastard is a hero…?
-Leave the emergency savings in the wardrobe alone ㅜㅠ
-If the village elders’ foresight was right, upvote..
Clang! Bang!!
So I smashed crocks and broke windows.
After kicking beds and sweeping up even the silver coins hidden underneath, I’d gathered enough money to buy decent armor and weapons.
“What do people usually use for weapons?”
-If you’re a beginner, just go sword-and-board
-Use a shield
“Hmm, ah, okay.”
Following the viewers’ advice, I bought a greatsword from the shop.
Fantasy means greatswords, after all.
-What a bitchㅋㅋ
-I knew you wouldn’t listen
-You know this is hardcore, right??
For reference, I chose the Hardcore difficulty.
If you die, your character is deleted instead of respawning. That’s the least a variety-game streamer should be able to handle.
“How many worlds have I saved? And you still doubt me?”
-Info) This streamer has ruined even more games than that
-Why are they so full of misplaced confidence??
-Greatswords are seriously fucking hard to use
“Trust me. Trust me.”
-Fuck, I put all my points on this
-Let’s go with that mindsetㅋㅋ
-Are there still idiots betting on Wayo in the underdog pool??
For reference, I opened an online betting pool when I started the game.
[Bet on Wayo vs. Don’t bet on Wayo]
If my character died today, the people who bet against me would win, while those who bet on me would rake in the points if I survived to the end.
I was planning to rake in a ridiculous amount, since the odds were nearly dozens of times higher.
“This is what happens when you lack faith.”
-It’s your first game, of course you’re going to dieㅋㅋ
-If Wayo survives, I’ll shit my pants
-How many times have we watched Wayo throw a game??
“Do you think this is the Rift?”
When the odds are that lopsided, it makes you want to prove everyone wrong.
I slung the greatsword over my shoulder and turned toward the village entrance.
“Then let’s head out.”
-Please be careful.. I bet everything I’ve watched for a year
-Is betting against Wayo really an intelligence issue??
“Just watch. We’ll see who wins.”
What’s wrong with a greatsword, anyway?
Looking at this game, its combat system seemed similar to a Soulslike.
As someone who had once been the Ashen One, a greatsword didn’t look all that difficult.
And so I boldly ventured outside the village.
A vast field stretched out before me, with a rough path barely wide enough for a single cart.
Two bandits stood there, looking like part of the scenery.
-Oh, they’re bandits
-Lure them out one at a time and hunt them
I simply strode straight toward them.
[Alishungka! Ireun!]
[De! Urui!]
I approached the bandits as they mumbled some incomprehensible gibberish and immediately pressed the attack button.
Whoosh-
With a sluggish motion, the heavy greatsword swept horizontally.
And then the bandits….
Swish!
“Huh.”
-??
-What the hellㅋㅋㅋ
-No, lure them out one at a time
-They dodge too??
I’d expected to land a hit right away and start the fight.
But the bandit smoothly dodged backward.
“...This isn’t easy, is it?”
Is the combat AI actually pretty good?
Normally, it’s an unspoken rule that fodder enemies like this don’t dodge.
-See? I told you to use sword-and-boardㅋㅋㅋ
-This game absolutely requires one-on-one fights, not two-on-one
-Even with armor, losing health will make things hard later
-Yeah, do thatㅋㅋ go go go
I steeled myself while watching the chat swing between delight and despair.
Still, my gear was superior for now.
Compared to the bandits dressed in nothing but cloth, I’d looted every empty house in the village and equipped scale armor and an iron helmet.
On top of that, I had a steel greatsword.
Even if the AI knew how to dodge, the outcome was practically predetermined.
“Phew….”
And sure enough, the fight ended quickly.
“They’re not much, are they?”
I said that while looking down at the sprawled-out thieves on the ground.
They were fairly fierce, but exactly the sort of enemies you’d expect to find just outside a village.
-Kyaㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Was that really your first time getting hit??
-You can tell Wayo has experience as a variety-game streamerㅇㅇ
-Are the favorite-bet haters awake now?ㅋㅋㅋ
“So, where do we go next?”
-Go to the bandit camp and get revengeㅇㅇ
-Get revenge and bring back the caravan insignia, and the village debt will be forgiven
“Hmm, can we go there now?”
-Start by picking off the outskirts
-You need to farm more
-You probably can’t break through right away
-There’s a boss
“A bandit camp, huh? Sounds exciting.”
I said that while rummaging through the corpses of the bandits I’d just killed.
It was a bandit camp powerful enough to rob our entire caravan.
There had to be plenty of valuable things inside, right?
-This bastard doesn’t listen to a word we sayㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Sir, this is my first time gambling. Can I get a refund..?
-Please let me bet again
“Oh, what’s this?”
[Flame Cloth]
While looting and enjoying the chat’s reaction, I found a red cloth among the corpses.
-Read it, idiot
-Apply it and your sword catches fire
“Oh, does applying this let me deal elemental damage?”
-Yeah, it’s a fire enchantment
-Make sure you carry it around
-The enemies get really tanky later, so stuff like that becomes essential
“Okay, I’ll pick it all up.”
An enchantment? How could I pass that up?
Besides, a flaming sword is every gamer’s dream.
“It’s surprisingly useful.”
After looting the bandits, I obtained two antidotes, one Flame Cloth, some rags, and a few simple foods.
“Now that we’re resupplied, shall we head straight to the bandit camp?”
-Let’s go go go
-Ha.. I don’t know anymore
-Please take it slowly..
We had a world to save. There was no time to hesitate.
I opened the map and ran straight to the bandit camp.
“We got here quickly.”
The bandit camp was fairly close to the village.
In the distance, I could see a wooden palisade and smoke rising from a huge bonfire.
-Start by shaving down the outskirts
-There’s an elite mob inside, so be careful;;
-All right, let’s settle the debtㅋㅋ
Honestly, it looked impressive in scale, but I didn’t feel particularly threatened.
That was because I’d already seen the bandits’ level earlier.
Their numbers were troublesome, but they were still just people in cloth armor carrying blades.
And more importantly… weren’t they early-game fodder?
There was no reason for a hero who had saved countless worlds to be afraid.
-Whoa, where are you going
-Not through the front gateㅋㅋ go around to the back
-I put all my points on this!!
So despite the patriotic underdog faction desperately clinging to my pant legs and trying to stop me, I marched straight toward the front gate.
[Alsta!]
[Woo! Alsra!]
The bandits at the front gate started running toward me while mumbling, and judging by the crude spears they carried, they seemed to be guards.
“Come at me!”
-Oh, please, start with the outskirts
-Yeah, men charge straight inㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-All right, let’s start the next round~~
The battle I entered while carrying the viewers’ screams, ridicule, and anticipation didn’t last very long.
“You bastards, I thought I was going to die…!”
-They just brute-forced it
-You would’ve died if you hadn’t bought that armor by looting the whole village
-This is why clothes make the man
The reason was that I simply let the spears hit me while splitting the bandits’ heads open with my greatsword.
“Ahh… that hurts.”
I gulped down the potion I’d just looted from a corpse and reorganized my items.
After taking one hit, I figured it was manageable and went for a straight-up brawl, but it was more dangerous than I expected.
-I thought my heart was going to fall outㅋㅋㅋ
-So closeㅋㅋ
-I bet half a year’s worth of points, please..
“Why would you bet half a year’s worth on the underdog?”
That person wasn’t in their right mind either.
I’d nearly died just now.
Still, this method was good for conserving stamina.
This game had stamina in addition to health.
Rolling, the all-purpose dodge, consumed a lot of stamina, which made things a little dangerous.
With more enemies than me, dodging every single attack would leave me with no stamina to strike back and only make the situation worse.
-It’s seriously lucky that two potions dropped
-Potions barely ever drop
“Really? I guess this is beginner’s luck.”
Saying that, I threw the empty glass bottle onto the ground.
For reference, I drank both of them. Apparently, you have to drink them all to fully restore your health.
“I think we’ve killed quite a lot now….”
With my health restored, I looked around and entered the camp.
A few more underlings had rushed out during my fight with the guards, and I’d beaten them all down too.
As a result, the inside was practically deserted.
“This place is nothing. What was all the fuss about?”
-For realㅋㅋㅋ
-These Outwind guys are so needlessly dramaticㅋㅋ
-No, the real one is inside..
“Really? Even if there is one, it’s just a bandit.”
More importantly.
The game didn’t seem as difficult as the chat had made it out to be.
It was surprisingly manageable. Had I simply farmed too much money in the village at the start?
Still, I thought it would have been genuinely difficult in the basic cloth armor, and continued deeper inside.
Clink, clink.
From somewhere deeper within.
A rattling sound came from the shadows.
“Huh.”
I turned my gaze toward it, and something glittering emerged from the shadows.
Wearing gleaming silver full-plate armor that reflected the sunlight….
[Bandit Knight]
Right, it was a bandit.
But it was no different from a knight.
“...How are we supposed to kill that?”
-??? What the hell is that??
-Axe, nooooo
-See? We told you to clear the outskirts, farm gear, and come back;;
-Run right now, it’s way too early to fight that
A quick look at the traits beside its name showed extremely high physical defense.
The greatsword that had so reliably split open enemy heads until now didn’t look like it could do much against that defense, and I began to wonder whether I really should run.
-Should we use the Flame Cloth we picked up earlier?
-Consensus: If your controls are good, shouldn’t it be beatable??
-Wayo, this is my first underdog bet, please run…
“Oh, right.”
Seeing the chat reminded me of the cloth I’d picked up earlier.
That’s right, I had an item from earlier.
Since that guy was cowardly wearing armor, I had no choice but to bring my own equipment to bear too.
[Hal! Saur!]
I watched the Bandit Knight stride toward me and pulled the Flame Cloth from my bag.
-You’re really going to fight it??
-Can that actually work??
-Please think this through..
Ha, why was everyone so scared?
Had they all turned into cowards because they had points riding on this?
“Watch closely… and don’t tell anyone.”
Whoosh.
I wrapped the Flame Cloth around my sword, and flames shot up from its sharp blade.
-?!!!
-Kyaㅋㅋㅋ
-They’re really going to fight it??
-You’re not going to tell me to become a captain, are you~~
“Bankai.”
-Fuck my points;;
-This is itㅋㅋㅋ
-This bastard’s got style bb
-The aura is insaneㅋㅋ
High defense?
Then I’ll just burn it down and turn it to ash.