The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 109

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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 109

Constellation’s Game [Lyka]

“…!”

Kim Yerim unconsciously shot up from her seat.

The screen was covered in pitch-black darkness.

The golden lion had swallowed Geon-ryul Lee whole.

“No, no way….”

Silence fell over the monitoring room.

The assistant director sighed and clutched his head.

“It’s over. Wasn’t that too reckless? How can he survive in there?”

“The damage from that must be enormous….”

Everyone was accepting Geon-ryul Lee’s elimination as a foregone conclusion.

No matter how impressive Geon-ryul Lee’s skills had been so far, being trapped in a high-temperature furnace meant the end.

So surely Geon-ryul Lee would declare defeat soon.

Most of the production team was certainly thinking that way.

However.

‘No. If he didn’t have some kind of plan… he’s not the type to foolishly jump in there, is he?’

Ye-rim’s eyes were still staring intently at the monitor.

She couldn’t explain why. What item he used, what calculations he made – none of that mattered right now.

Her instincts, her ‘intuition’ as a writer, were screaming at her.

At this very moment.

If she looked away from the screen even for a second, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Just as she was thinking that….

[Burst.]

Through the speakers, Geon-ryul Lee’s low, dry voice could be heard.

And the next moment.

KWAAAAANG―!!!

The monitor screen flashed white.

It wasn’t just a simple explosion.

It was like a giant golden firework going off, a visual shock.

The lion’s golden armor, which seemed like it would never break, couldn’t withstand the internal pressure and shattered into pieces.

And those fragments, before they could even touch the ground, transformed into thousands upon thousands of metal shards emitting brilliant light, scattered through the air.

Shaaaaaaaa―!

It was like the Milky Way pouring down from the night sky.

The dark labyrinth was filled with blinding golden light.

At that overwhelming visual beauty, Ye-rim even forgot to breathe.

“Wow….”

This was a scene that couldn’t be created even with CG.

Rain of Gold.

In that spectacular downpour, a man was flung out and landed on the ground.

Thud.

Geon-ryul Lee landed lightly on the pile of gold coins.

The golden fragments pouring down over his head sparkled like lighting designed to make him the protagonist.

He simply brushed the dust off his clothes and looked dryly at the scattering gold coins.

[Phew. That worked.]

The moment Geon-ryul Lee’s quiet voice echoed, a thrill ran through Ye-rim’s entire body.

Was it because the strategy was ingenious?

That couldn’t be it.

Honestly, Ye-rim didn’t even know what had just happened.

How exactly Geon-ryul Lee, who had entered the golden lion’s interior, had survived.

She wasn’t even particularly curious about that.

So what shocked Ye-rim was….

The scene unfolding before her eyes was such a perfect ‘picture.’

“This is insane… it’s truly art.”

Ye-rim covered her mouth, overwhelmed with emotion.

That composition, that lighting, and that overwhelming finale.

No director could create such a dramatic scene.

This wasn’t a variety show, it was a movie.

“Writer! That was recorded, right? We got that exact angle, right?!”

The assistant director shouted excitedly, but instead of answering, Ye-rim clenched her fist.

She was certain.

The moment this scene hit the airwaves, the ratings graph would break through the ceiling and fly into space.

‘This is the ending for this week’s episode. Absolutely.’

The only thing that worried her….

Was that this would make Geon-ryul Lee’s screen time in episode 3 too high compared to other participants, following episodes 1 and 2.

Actually, that wasn’t really Ye-rim’s concern.

‘The PD will handle the balance somehow.’

“Hah.”

Ye-rim sank deep into her chair and smiled brightly.

Broadcast content?

There was no need to worry about that anymore.

This one scene completed episode 3’s broadcast material.

No, this season’s legend had already been updated.

‘Hah… my first pick was really amazing…. Kim Yerim’s eye for talent is insane.’

After leaning back in her chair and savoring the afterglow for a moment, Ye-rim soon began focusing on the screen again.

The labyrinth mission wasn’t completely over yet.

* * *

As the enormous pressure and heat that had been crushing my entire body was relieved, an incredible sense of liberation washed over me instantly.

KWAAAAANG-!

With a thunderous roar, the golden lion made of metal exploded and scattered through the air.

Shaaaaaaaa-

In the refreshing air swirling around my body, I could be certain of clearing the stage.

Ding-!

[All monsters have been defeated.]

[Combat is ending.]

As my darkened vision brightened again, I first saw my party members running toward me from all directions….

“Team Leader!!”

“Are you alright?!!”

Clink-

Having grasped the entire situation, I picked up a gold coin that had fallen at my feet.

The heavy weight and cold touch transmitted to my fingertips.

So this must be the taste of victory… and the taste of capitalism, right?

Ding-!

[All monsters have been defeated.]

[Combat is ending.]

[By successfully defeating the ‘Golden Lion of Greed,’ you recover all LP that the Collector had taken.]

[Bonus +100%]

[Final Reward: 1,800 LP]

The Golden Lion of Greed was nearly impossible to clear without knowing the strategy.

Conversely, if you could pull it off, it was one of the stages with the sweetest rewards within ‘Midas’s Garden’.

So even without the Constellations’ sponsorship, it was a stage I would have chosen no matter what anyway…

[Constellation, ‘The Golden Master’ admires your wit!]

[Constellation, ‘The Golden Master’ gives you a standing ovation!] 

└ Dave!!! Damn it! I knew I could trust you!!!

└ Whoa… using protection scrolls like that? Is this guy actually insane? ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ

With an unexpectedly new type of mission plus massive sponsorships added on top… this couldn’t have turned out better.

‘Damn…’

With just a bit of exaggeration, I was worried I might die from dopamine addiction at this rate.

└ But how the hell did he do it?

└ Surviving in there just by tearing one protection scroll doesn’t make sense, does it?;;

└ For real;; It was just a low-grade physical protection scroll;

Since I was in such a good mood… I decided to provide some customer service by explaining how I did it.

Thanks to the Constellation hyungs, I’d basically secured a 10,000 LP bonus, so this much service was only natural, right?

– As you all saw, hyungs, the Golden Lion’s exterior is steel. It’s nearly impossible for a party under level 50 to penetrate.

The Golden Lion’s exterior boasted near-perfect durability.

Absolute defense that deflected not only physical attacks but even most magic.

But conversely, that also meant the internal pressure couldn’t escape outside either.

So…

– It’s similar to the principle of a pressure cooker, you could say?

Therefore, if you succeeded in creating even the tiniest crack, it became impossible to withstand the internal expansion.

This was exactly why I had tried so hard to create a small crack, and it was the core point I’d focused on in my strategy.

└ So… he used the barrier’s expansion to blow it up from the inside?

└ Seems like it;;

└ And since he even detonated the internal mana core, the explosive power got amplified ㅇㅇ

The [Low-Grade Physical Defense Scroll] I’d bought from the 9th Stage Pawnshop.

Originally meant to block external attacks, but the story changes when you use it in an enclosed internal space.

The expansion force of a barrier deployed toward the interior rather than exterior becomes the most powerful bomb, tearing the lion’s body apart from the inside when it has nowhere to go.

To succeed at this, you needed the guts to enter the lion’s stomach alive, and the judgment to tear the scroll at the precise timing just before dissolving in stomach acid…

But since I’d done it a few times during beta, honestly it wasn’t even a risk for me.

Creating a small crack in the lion’s chest was actually the harder task.

‘Well… it wasn’t a protection scroll I’d bought with this intention from the start though.’

Anyway, after hearing the rough explanation, my party members were also looking at me like I was completely insane.

“I knew you were… crazy… but…”

“Isn’t that… too reckless for a person?”

“Team leader, that was sick.”

“…I respect you. Really.”

Still, since the results were good, that’s all that mattered, right?

I was thinking that when…

└ This bastard… is level 35?

└ This is ■■■, right? Not ■th playthrough, this bastard?

Impressed by my strategy, additional sponsorships started pouring in again.

[‘Scoundrel 2nd Seat’ has sponsored 250 LP.]

└ This is… I gotta admit, room leader. It was worth the money for real

[‘Demon Realm’s Wallet Warrior’ has sponsored 550 LP.]

└ Wow;; I wondered why so many gathered in some newbie’s room… enjoyed the good show?

[‘Starlight Guardian’ has sponsored 200 LP.]

[‘Returner of the Celestial Expanse’ has sponsored 170 LP.]

…and so on…

Damn… this is happiness, this is life.

-Thank you, bros ㅠㅠ

Anyway, having safely cleared even the hidden stage, we did some quick maintenance before moving to the next stage.

We were in tatters from fighting that monster-like creature…

And above all, we couldn’t not butcher this precious Golden Lion’s corpse.

Creak- Creeeak-

[Beginning ‘Butchering’ of ‘Golden Lion of Greed’ corpse.]

[Butchering success rate decreases due to poor corpse condition.]

[Current progress: 0%…1%…15%…100%!]

[‘Butchering’ successful!]

[You have obtained ‘Golden Iron Chest’.]

And seeing the results, I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

‘It’s a bit disappointing that Lionheart didn’t drop, but…’

Golden Iron Chest was a special material used for crafting tier 6 equipment.

So I decided not to sell this to the pawnshop and take it outside the labyrinth instead.

If we’re going to distribute it as LP outside anyway… wouldn’t it be better to sell it to the pawnshop and earn more interest?

No.

I have no intention of selling this.

Besides, it was unanimously decided… that I would keep it.

“Well, you practically caught it yourself, team leader, and you did the butchering too… it’s only right that you take that much.”

Since no one objected to Park Jinwoo’s words, wasn’t this exactly what unanimous meant?

“Then shall we set off again?”

Having finished maintenance and butchering, our group immediately moved toward the next stage.

And about two more hours later…

[Moving to next stage.]

[Stage level has increased.]

[Current stage level: 26LV]

We had somehow come even farther than the destination point of the skip portal the Collector had suggested.

[Current assets: 5,738 LP]

[Current profit/loss: +5,238 LP]

With tremendous profits I’d never achieved even once during the beta period.

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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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