The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Capitalist Streaming of a Freeloading Hero

Episode 103

Constellation’s Game [Lyka]

HBC’s variety show department monitoring room.

Jang Seyeon was watching the live broadcast of <Hunters School 3> Episode 1 together with a junior PD.

As a massive ice golem struck down on Seong-hwan Lee’s shield on screen, the monitoring room’s speakers erupted with a thunderous impact sound.

[Kuuuung―!]

“Wow… Senior. This season’s visuals are insane, aren’t they?”

The junior sitting next to her, PD Junho Kim, who was munching on a chicken leg while sneaking glances at the screen, couldn’t contain his admiration.

Though he was an ace in charge of music variety shows on the neighboring team, today he was sitting here more as a viewer than a competitor.

In fact, Junho Kim was also a fan of the <Hunters School> series.

“Did you replace the CG team? The quality is like a movie, seriously.”

“Well. Honestly, the CG team didn’t do much.”

“Really?”

“It’s just the result of pouring an enormous production budget into creating the artificial dungeon.”

“Wow…”

“Still, it definitely seems worth the money, right?”

“That’s true, Senior.”

Jang Seyeon crossed her arms and didn’t hide the slight upturn of her lips.

On screen, the early part of the first episode’s broadcast was in full swing.

Scenes of championship candidates like Seong-hwan Lee and Hajun Park… decimating monsters with flashy skills.

The mentors’ reactions inserted throughout were adding delicious rhythm to the cuts.

[Seo Jihyeok: Wow, look at that guy’s fundamentals. You’re telling me that’s a rookie?]

[Ma Gwangcheol: The shield angle is art. It looks like he just blocked it, but that’s actually a type of blocking technique, everyone. It’s not something you can just do casually.]

With the mentors’ expert commentary added, it definitely created more immersion.

Junho’s gaze, thinking such thoughts, was already fixed on every one of Seong-hwan Lee’s movements.

“The ones with star quality definitely grab attention right from the start. That Lee Seong-hwan kid is just the protagonist.”

Junho said, pointing at the screen. But Seyeon shook her head slightly.

“Protagonist? I wonder.”

At Jang Seyeon’s subtle response, PD Kim Junho’s eyes widened slightly.

“Oh, then he’s not?”

“Well… in the long run, Seong-hwan Lee is definitely worthy of being this season’s protagonist.”

“Hmm. What you’re saying is…”

“At least he’s not the protagonist in episode 1. In today’s broadcast, those guys are… just ‘buildup’.”

At Seyeon’s explanation, PD Kim Junho’s expression grew even more interested.

The structure was already immersive enough as it was… but according to her words, there was another hidden ace up their sleeve.

And Junho thought he knew what that hidden card was.

“You’re talking about that 35th level participant who got first place, right? Lee Geon-yul or something?”

Though he had tried his best to avoid spoilers at the company to fully enjoy the broadcast.

He couldn’t help but hear about a completely unknown player named ‘Lee Geon-yul’ taking first place in the entrance mission.

“Yeah.”

“But why isn’t he appearing? It’s been over 20 minutes since the broadcast started and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him.”

Seyeon gestured with her chin toward the cue sheet on the table.

“Watch carefully. We deliberately twisted the editing rhythm.”

The screen switched. 

As the broadcast structure moved into the early-middle part…

The struggles of mid-to-lower tier participants who hadn’t been caught on the main screen until now began appearing on screen.

Since they hadn’t appeared on the main screen, these videos didn’t show the mentors’ reactions.

Instead, caster Kim Sinwoo’s narration was helping viewers understand.

[Look at this! The desperate struggle of those who must endure the bitter cold with their bare bodies, without a single piece of proper equipment!]

Screams, flight, despair.

[For them, ‘Frozen Seoul’ is not a hunting ground. It’s a disaster zone itself where they must risk their lives for a single ‘Heat Bead’.]

The brutal reality behind the flashy heroes’ exploits.

[And it’s precisely within that desperation that a very strange and completely unexpected connection begins.]

And between those montages, a very short cut was inserted as if casually thrown in.

[…Thank you.]

[Then, shall we party up?]

Inside a ruined convenience store. A dry conversation between the pale-complexioned beauty Chloe Kang and a man holding a steel pipe.

Just 5 seconds.

That was Lee Geon-yul’s first appearance.

“Oh? That’s Chloe Kang? But that man, that’s Lee Geon-yul, right? Wow, what’s he doing forming a party with Chloe Kang?”

“Curious, aren’t you?”

“Yes. That situation came out of nowhere. There’s no context or explanation.”

“That’s the point. The curiosity of ‘Why are those two together?’, ‘What’s that man that Chloe Kang is following him so obediently?'”

Seyeon’s eyes glinted sharply.

“It wouldn’t be fun to show it now. This guy’s real weapon is ‘plot twist’. Until viewers get distracted by Seong-hwan Lee and Hajun Park and become convinced ‘Wow, those guys are going to dominate this season’… we keep him completely hidden.”

The broadcast was now gradually moving into the middle part.

The battle for numerous fireplaces.

The conflicts and connections that arose in the process.

This storyline, which naturally led to the competitive structure of black and white fireplaces as the phases in <Frozen Seoul> progressed, was thrilling even without special direction.

In this part, the mentors’ delicious reactions were broadcast together again.

[Ma Gwangcheol: Wow, this is no joke. They’re going at it really viciously without holding back just because it’s a broadcast.]

[Seo Jihyeok: The system is really wicked. To survive, you have to extinguish others’ fireplaces. In the end, it forces selfish choices, doesn’t it?]

[Choi Jaemin: But what choices you make in that extreme situation… ultimately proves your caliber as a hunter. I think this is also part of the growth process.]

Scenes of mentors being shocked and audiences cheering came in breathless succession.

Even the excited voice of caster Kim Sinwoo who was directly on site.

[At this rate… everyone dies! No one will survive!]

The story thus reached the desperate situation where the elite monster wave struck the last stronghold.

[Han Soeun: Ah… look there. Now that the front line has collapsed, the healers are screaming. It’ll be hard to hold out like that.]

[Chae Yu-hyun: Right now, the ‘fireplace’s lifespan’ running out is scarier than the enemies in front of them. As time passes, reason becomes paralyzed and only instinct remains.]

When despair began to fill the eyes of the participants on screen… PD Kim Junho unconsciously gulped.

“Wow… the atmosphere is really brutal, Senior.” 

“Right?”

“If I hadn’t heard from you beforehand, Senior, I would have thought it ended here too.”

“Of course you would. Actually, even the production team thought so at that time.”

“Pardon?”

Jang Seyeon, who had been smiling while briefly staring at the monitor, suddenly spoke up again.

“Now, start the countdown.”

“What do you suddenly mean by…”

“3, 2, 1.”

[Kwaaaaang―!]

Simultaneously with Seyeon’s count, a massive ice pillar shot up in the middle of the battlefield on screen.

And from atop it, a man wielding a crescent blade fell down onto the heads of the monsters.

[Shuaaaak―!]

“Holy shit.”

Kim Junho’s mouth fell wide open.

The elite monsters that even Seong-hwan Lee and Hajun Park had struggled against… were swept away like autumn leaves before the wind with a single gesture from participant Lee Geon-yul.

[Participant ‘Lee Geon-yul’ has successfully defeated <Frozen Seoul>’s boss ‘Dongjang-gun’.]

[Boss defeat rewards will be granted to all players.]

[From now on, all players’ body temperature drop rate will decrease by 50%.]

This scene felt so surreal.

The mentors shot up from their seats, and Kim Sinwoo the caster let out a scream.

[What kind of plot twist is this?! Are these hidden participants that the production team kept secret?]

[Even the mentors look quite flustered!]

[And who is that female participant?]

Just from Kim Sinwoo’s voice full of live excitement, you could tell that no one had anticipated Geonyul’s existence until that moment.

Thanks to that, the situation became even more dramatic.

PD Junho Kim, who had gotten excited without realizing it, was also speaking faster and faster.

“That… that’s the guy from the convenience store earlier, right? Geonyul? No, the direction is insane? He just suddenly emerges from the ground?”

But Jang Seyeon was quietly smiling.

This part was excellent too, of course…

“The real thing starts now. The editing team pulled three all-nighters because of this part.”

The next direction was what Seyeon considered the climax.

Whirrrr-

Suddenly the screen inverted to black and white, and time rewound with sound effects like film being rewound.

Then subtitles appeared on screen.

[ Time Rewind : What were they doing at that moment? ]

With fast-paced music, Geonyul’s actions outside the main screen unfolded with dynamic speed.

The process of him hunting elite monsters alone while others fought over fireplaces, and using terrain to find Dongjang-gun.

This part was also filled only with Kim Sinwoo’s shocked narration and Geonyul’s dry voice, instead of the mentors’ reactions.

“Wow… changing the order makes it feel completely different. If they’d shown this first, I would’ve just thought ‘he hunts well’, but showing the result first then revealing the process…”

“It gives credibility. Like ‘ah, he wasn’t just lucky, he had a plan all along’.”

Seyeon crossed her arms.

The character Geonyul was, in Seyeon’s view… actually not a ‘growth type’.

Of course his level was among the lowest of the participants.

But if you looked at his dungeon clearing process and unique, extraordinary play style…

He felt more like a ‘complete type’ from the beginning, a hidden master in the field that no one had recognized.

So to maximize that catharsis, they needed time to convince the viewers.

Unlike other participants, Geonyul’s recognition was close to zero.

“And here… it leads to the long-awaited first place announcement.”

As [1st Place: Geonyul] appeared on the electronic board in the screen, the broadcast began rolling ending credits.

Seeing that scene, Junho Kim nodded.

Even the ranking announcement scene, which could have been boring, felt very cleanly organized.

“Senior, you really did the editing brilliantly. That level 35 guy is going to dominate search terms starting tomorrow, isn’t he?”

But.

“Wait a moment.”

It wasn’t even over yet.

“Huh? What else is there? The ending credits are rolling.”

“These days audiences don’t leave theaters without watching the post-credits scene.”

Seyeon grinned and pointed at the monitor.

Just when the ending credits finished rolling and the screen seemed about to turn off.

The screen turned back on with noise.

[ Hidden Track : Master of the Frozen Throne ]

Empty snowy plains. Geonyul’s back as he faced the boss monster ‘Dongjang-gun’ alone.

And the scene of him pulling out a massive magic gun and pulling the trigger aimed at Dongjang-gun’s head was captured in slow motion.

[Bang―!]

So this was probably… the final scene of the battle between Geonyul and Dongjang-gun that had never been revealed before.

The screen cut off abruptly at the scene where Dongjang-gun’s helmet shattered and Geonyul calmly stepped onto the debris.

[Full versions of all participants’ battle footage will be released later.]

And silence.

Junho, who had been staring blankly at the screen for a moment, rubbed his arms as if getting goosebumps.

“…Wow, that’s insane. Throwing hints as a post-credits scene and separating unreleased footage…”

“Hehe.”

“Are you uploading this separately to the official channel?”

“Bingo.”

“Wow… this was all planned too.”

“Right. Actually, if you put this in the main episode wrong, it becomes loose. Here, just one ‘impact’ hit is enough.”

Jang Seyeon put down her empty coffee cup and stood up from her chair.

Her eyes were full of confidence.

“You saw it, right? This is worthy of being called a hidden card, isn’t it?”

By tomorrow morning, all eyes in South Korea’s hunter industry would be focused on that level 35 hunter.

And that meant explosive viewership ratings for 【Hunters School 3】.

Click-

Seyeon opened her laptop and accessed the 【Hunters School】 community lounge.

And here was already…

[Discussion] Honestly, if you think the ‘Time Rewind’ editing is insane, upvote lol

[Chat] Anyone else who got on the Geonryul coin? I’ll raise my hand first lol

[Question] What’s the relationship between Chloe Kang and Geonyul? Earlier at the convenience store…

It was a situation on the verge of explosion.

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