The Regressed SSS-Rank Supporter Who Turned Dark - Chapter 84

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 84
“Are we dead?”
“Answer me.”
“What are you talking about? Dead?”
The Internet Broadcasting Platform streamers advanced slowly toward Eun-sung and his party.
Eun-sung stood with his arms crossed, watching silently.
He was curious to see how the novices would react.
Flash!
A selfie stick wielded by one of the streamers.
More precisely, a blue flash erupted from the smartphone camera attached to the selfie stick in a fan-shaped pattern.
“Move!”
Kim Seung-hye threw herself forward like lightning, taking the brunt of the flash.
Crack, crackle!
The blue flash’s effect was freezing.
“Ugh!”
Kim Seung-hye’s body froze white in patches.
“Damn!”
Oh Tae-kwon drew his spirit blade and rushed to Kim Seung-hye’s side.
Flash!
This time, a green flash from another streamer engulfed Oh Tae-kwon.
“Argh!”
Oh Tae-kwon’s face turned green.
Anyone could see it was a poisoning effect.
Flash!
Now a dark red flash erupted from another streamer’s phone, striking Kim Seung-hye.
“Kgh!”
Kim Seung-hye’s knees buckled.
Her strength drained away.
It felt as though her formidable power had vanished entirely.
It was unmistakably a curse.
Whoosh!
The streamers swung their selfie sticks at Kim Seung-hye.
One might think a mere selfie stick couldn’t hurt much, but that was far from the truth.
Thwack! Thwack thwack thwack!
“Ow!”
A sharp cry burst from Kim Seung-hye’s lips.
A Guardian who could endure a bullet to her own head without flinching was now crying out in pain from selfie sticks wielded by ordinary streamers.
Had an ordinary person been struck by those selfie sticks, their skull would have shattered to pieces.
Hum!
Kim Seung-hye’s ether vibrated.
Crack!
My frozen body shattered like ice, fractures spreading across its surface.
Boom!!
The accumulated impact exploded outward all at once, sweeping across the enemies.
“Ahhhhh!”
“My cotton candy!”
The Internet Broadcasting Platform streamers screamed and flew backward.
[Cotton Candy] was an item that served as currency on the platform where they operated.
“You bastards! Die!”
Oh Tae-kwon’s spirit blade tore through space.
Thud!
Clang!
The streamers’ heads flew off, their bodies split in half.
Yet Oh Tae-kwon’s spirit blade still bore the form of being roughly one-third broken.
The spirit blade that Eun-sung had shattered remained unrepaired, maintaining its fractured shape.
Quietly, Ra Si-hyun, who had been gathering ether all this time, lifted her spirit blade.
The ether that had accumulated sufficiently manifested her will into reality.
“Rise.”
Whoosh—!
Crash!
The streamers were lifted into the air before plummeting headfirst to the ground.
Bang bang! Bang bang bang!
Bullets from Kim Doo-hyun’s gun poured down upon the fallen streamers.
Squelch!
The broken blade pierced through the chest of the last remaining streamer, who had been struggling to rise.
“How was that?”
Ra Si-hyun’s eyes gleamed toward Eun-sung as if seeking praise.
Clap, clap, clap.
Eun-sung responded with hollow applause.
“Zero points.”
“Zero points…?”
Ra Si-hyun furrowed her brow, utterly unable to comprehend.
It seemed like I’d done quite well…
“Look behind.”
Eun-sung pointed over Ra Si-hyun’s shoulder.
“Huh?”
“What, what is it?”
“Insane.”
Kim Seung-hye, Oh Tae-kwon, and Kim Doo-hyun were already trembling in shock.
“This can’t be real…”
Ra Si-hyun muttered in disbelief.
Whoosh!
“My cotton candy….”
“The broadcast is on… hehe….”
The internet broadcasters, whom everyone thought were dead, were slowly rising to their feet.
“The broadcast… must go on… our viewers… please send us donations.”
A once-famous internet broadcaster reattached his own head, split in half, as he spoke.
* * *
In front of Bucheon Station Gate.
“Not bad for newbies.”
Wi Tae-woong glanced at his smartphone and let out a snort of amusement.
He was watching a live broadcast streaming through an Internet Broadcasting Platform in real time.
The shaky camera angles and blood-smeared lens made it dizzying, but the raw sense of presence was unmistakably alive.
[Viewer] Ooh lol
[Viewer] The broadcast is more fun now that Nine-Tail Crew is gone lol
[Viewer] Nice shot!!!
[Viewer] This is so entertaining lol
The chat window filled and emptied with real-time viewer messages.
“Boss, we’re ready.”
Lee Hyun approached and reported to Wi Tae-woong.
“Good? Then head out on your own.”
“By the way, what are you watching?”
“This.”
Wi Tae-woong showed Lee Hyun his smartphone screen.
On the screen, Eun-sung’s group was in the midst of combat.
“Huh? What is this?”
“What else? An internet broadcast.”
“But….”
Lee Hyun’s face twisted in confusion, unable to comprehend.
Communication with the outside was impossible from within a Gate, so broadcasting an internet stream should have been impossible.
“Ah, they didn’t explain that during the briefing. They only taught us how to deal with Broadcast Spirits, and I figured this was trivial enough not to mention.”
“I… see…?”
Broadcast Spirit.
The term referred to internet broadcasters who had been active around Bucheon Station and were caught up in the Gate phenomenon.
Officially, they had been declared dead, and they truly were dead.
But from a certain point onward, broadcasts from the dead broadcasters resumed on various Internet Broadcasting Platforms.
At first, there were rumors of hacking or fabrication.
The broadcasters, known to be dead, inexplicably began streaming live again.
The platforms attempted to block the broadcasts and delete the channels, but it was futile.
The next day, their broadcasts would inevitably resume, appearing on each platform’s main page and announcing their existence.
It was like a scene straight out of a horror film.
“The dead… are broadcasting?”
Lee Hyun asked in a trembling voice.
“As you can see.”
Wi Tae-woong held up his smartphone.
On the screen.
Kim Seung-hye’s body frozen solid, Oh Tae-kwon consumed by poison, a selfie stick plunging downward—all streaming live in real time.
“Those bastards are already dead, but they won’t stop broadcasting. They’ve become earth-bound spirits wandering around Bucheon Station, streaming forever.”
“Ah…”
“Isn’t it amusing? Living people finding it entertaining to watch broadcasts made by the already dead, giggling away? Kekeke!”
“Ugh.”
Lee Hyun’s face twisted in disgust.
“Don’t make that face. That’s just how humans are. As long as it’s entertaining, they don’t care who’s broadcasting. The world is full of people who can laugh and chatter while watching this kind of vile snuff film. Look.”
Wi Tae-woong pointed at the chat window.
[Donated 10,000 won!]
[Donated 5,000 won!]
[Donated 30,000 won!]
[Viewer] Kill them!
[Viewer] I wanna see those bastards’ heads explode lolololol
[Viewer] Shouldn’t we take out the mage in the back first?
[Viewer] With this guy’s skills? You been watching for a day or two?
As the broadcast’s energy escalated, excited viewers rushed to donate to the Broadcast Spirit conducting the stream, flooding the chat with messages.
“Thanks to that, I get to sneak a peek at our beautiful junior. Hehe.”
Wi Tae-woong said that and immediately opened the payment window, purchasing 100 million won worth of virtual gifts on the spot.
“What are you doing…?”
“If you watch the broadcast, you have to pay.”
“Are you serious?”
Wi Tae-woong pressed the payment button instead of answering.
[Ambition donated 100,000,000 won!]
The chat froze for a moment, then exploded.
[Viewer] 100 million???????
[Viewer] ???
[Viewer] What is this???
[Viewer] Bug?;;;;
[Viewer] Insane;;;
[Viewer] What’s 100 million;;;
The camera panned, focusing on the face of the Broadcast Spirit conducting the stream.
It slowly lifted its head.
Toward the camera.
More precisely, toward Wi Tae-woong beyond the screen.
My mouth fell open.
“Th-thank you… for the… d-donation…”
A grotesquely distorted voice.
Ding!
A selection window appeared on Wi Tae-woong’s phone.
⦁ Strengthen (100 million)
⦁ React (100 million)
⦁ Intervene (100 million)
“Huh?”
Lee Hyun flinched in surprise.
“There’s a saying in classical Chinese: ‘Money can move the gods.'”
“Pardon?”
“It means with enough money, even spirits will obey.”
A sly smile spread across Wi Tae-woong’s lips.
* * *
The resurrection of the Broadcast Spirits seemed to deliver quite a shock to the novices.
Well, it would be stranger not to be surprised when the monsters they’d just killed came back to life.
This resurrection pattern was extraordinarily rare—a trial that would be difficult to experience in lower-ranked Gates.
“Simply fighting enemies? Anyone can do that.”
Eun-sung spoke in a low voice.
“This comes first.”
Eun-sung tapped the side of his head lightly as he spoke.
“You need to understand how to fight. Who you are, who your opponent is. What your strengths and weaknesses are. Grasping the overall situation and making sound judgments—that’s what matters.”
“…!”
Advice that would become bone and flesh struck at the heart of the novices’ understanding.
“Watch.”
Eun-sung approached the first resurrected Broadcast Spirit.
“Hyungs! This bastard….”
In that very instant.
Slash!
A crimson arc severed the smartphone mounted on the Broadcast Spirit’s selfie stick.
The phone, split in half, tumbled through the air before dropping to the ground with a thud.
Crackle, crackle…
The screen warped and distorted along with the noise.
Black and white pixels flickered, consuming the display.
“No… the broadcast…”
Thud!
“Gasp!”
Slaughter’s Delight pierced through his heart.
Thump!
He collapsed without resistance.
There was no resurrection.
Whoooosh!
Ether flowed from the corpse of the dead Broadcast Spirit and was distributed evenly among Eun-sung and his companions.
And then….
Glitter glitter!
Dozens upon dozens of Etherium crystals poured forth.
This was why the Bucheon Station Gate had earned the nickname “rice mill.”
“You saw it.”
Eun-sung spoke without even glancing at the Etherium crystals.
Nod nod nod!
The rookies bobbed their heads vigorously up and down.
“Go ahead.”
The moment Eun-sung stepped back slightly.
“Thank you so much, brothers!”
“Oh my! Chairman!”
“We offer you our deepest gratitude!”
The Broadcast Spirits were entirely focused on thanking their viewers, as if Eun-sung and his companions didn’t even exist.
“What… what is this.”
“Brother?”
“What are they doing?”
“This is incomprehensible.”
The bewildered rookies turned to look at Eun-sung.
One might think it strange to abandon the fight like this, but Eun-sung did not laugh.
Whoooooosh!
Intense ether erupted from the Broadcast Spirits, and their bodies began to transform grotesquely.
“Their money must be rotting away.”
Eun-sung muttered as if utterly unable to comprehend.
“The viewers must be throwing money at the Broadcast Spirits.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Eun-sung answered Ra Si-hyun’s question in a cold voice.
“They want to watch us die.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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