The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 14
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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 14
The Game of Constellations [Lyka]
Moonlight Garden is a dungeon that gives overwhelmingly more experience points compared to other hunting grounds of the same level.
But at the same time, it was also the most unpopular dungeon throughout the entire Island of Beginnings.
Why?
The fact that the reward balance was skewed toward experience points meant that other rewards were lacking.
Simply put, the only players who came here were those who prioritized leveling up above all else, but now that it’s been 10 years since the Gate opened, such demand had inevitably diminished.
After all, no matter how quickly you leveled up, it wasn’t like you could compete in growth with the rankers at this point.
Rather, staying on the safe Island of Beginnings for a long time to solidly build your capabilities as a Hunter had become the established standard approach.
So I was a bit worried about whether I could find a party right away…
“That’s right. I was waiting to enter Moonlight Garden.”
I was lucky.
Anyway, having just one party member would be enough.
Plus, he seemed to have decent skills too.
‘Having a capable party member can only be good for me.’
The man had a nimble and solid build with a youthful appearance, and even from a quick glance, his skills were excellent.
Should I say his talent seemed extraordinary?
He was using a sword like me.
If I had to find a flaw in this guy, it would be his tall height and unnecessarily handsome looks(?).
Not just handsome, but the most handsome person I’ve ever seen in my life.
└ Whoa damn, who is this guy? He’s so handsome?
└ Room Owner, ask for his name.
-Why?
└ So we can check if he’s streaming.
Damn, these shallow Constellation bastards…
-Hyungs, what does it matter if a player is handsome?
└ What do you mean what does it matter; if you’re handsome, donations pour in even if you just dig with a shovel.
What???
└ If Room Owner were handsome too, donations would’ve doubled?
Hey! What’s wrong with me!
“…”
I suddenly didn’t want to party… but there probably wasn’t any other alternative.
Honestly, aside from being handsome, I couldn’t see any particular flaws in this guy.
‘Of course, in terms of proficiency, there are some clumsy aspects…’
Considering this is the Island of Beginnings, it’s only natural to have some clumsy aspects.
Unlike me, all the Hunters here are on their first playthrough.
Thanks to that, I started thinking I should be more humble too.
Seeing that players with that level of talent are scattered around(?) even on the Island of Beginnings…
When I change classes and cross over to the continent to enter the real game, won’t I end up being just an ordinary person too?
When my thoughts reached this point, I felt a bit sad.
Anyway, setting that aside…
“Do you have experience with dungeon raids?”
“Yes. I think I’ve been through here about 20 times or so.”
“Oh!”
After exchanging names and chatting a bit, his understanding of the dungeon seemed sufficient too.
So this is the best possible situation.
Now I just need to enter the dungeon.
“What about you, Dave?”
“I haven’t counted how many times, but I’ve done it a lot.”
Oh, the man’s player name was ‘Leo’.
└ ??? You said you didn’t count three? lol
└ It’s your first time so you can’t see three balls lmao
└ lololol look at the room leader lying his ass off lol
└ Instead of worrying about meeting trolls, you were the troll all along lol
Ha, lying?
I think I’ve been through Moonlight Garden at least a few thousand times.
It’s frustrating but I have nothing to say, which makes me even more angry.
└ Room Owner, dungeons aren’t something you can clear just by being decent with a sword;;
└ For real lol if you don’t properly understand the mechanics, no matter how well you fight you’ll just end up trolling lol
└ Don’t bully our handsome guy!!
Excuse me.
I have all those gimmicks memorized down to the second, you know?
I can’t even explain this, so frustrating…
While I was thinking that, Leo smiled brightly and said.
“Oh! Then we just need to wait for one more person and we can go in!”
The recommended party size for Moonlight Garden is 3-5 people.
And since I said I was sufficiently skilled, he was suggesting we just need to gather 3 people.
Looking at Leo speaking with a bright smile, I started pondering internally.
Because I had no intention of waiting for one more person.
‘How do I persuade him that just the two of us can go in.’
It wouldn’t be impossible with three people, but it would actually be inconvenient for my raiding style.
Plus, I didn’t want to waste time waiting.
So I thought about it, and the answer came quickly.
Click-
First, I just need to show that I’m a sufficiently trustworthy party member, right?
Just then, I spotted a black wolf slowly approaching.
[The effect of Unity of Body and Sword activates.]
“Wait! Dave, what are you doing right now…?”
I’m saying that if I use this guy as a sacrifice, I should be able to prove myself to some extent.
Swooosh-!
The Dark Mane Wolf is the weakest in terms of durability among the level 13 wolves.
But still, a one-shot kill isn’t easy.
[You have successfully defeated the ‘Dark Mane Wolf’ monster.]
With this much, my value as a party member… should be sufficiently proven, right?
“…!”
But Leo seems more shocked than I expected.
With his eyes wide open and mouth agape, he can’t take his gaze off the tip of my sword.
Hmm. He got it, right?
While I was thinking that, the Constellations suddenly started criticizing me fiercely.
└ Room leader lolol look at him suddenly showing off his strength???
└ O_O;;;
└ This is so easy lol so funny lolol
└ Don’t discourage our handsome guy ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ Look at our Leo being surprised ㅠㅠ He’s like a puppy ㅠㅠㅠ
No, this is annoying?
What did I even do!
Phew.
But regardless of what the Constellations say, I should finish what I started.
I can’t just suddenly stay still because the Constellations are teasing me, right?
“You were a bit surprised by my sudden acceleration, weren’t you? Haha.”
At my words, Leo came to his senses and shook his head.
“Ah, no. It’s more like…”
└ Surprised? lol haha
“Anyway, um… as you just saw, my damage output is pretty good. So I think a 2-person party would be sufficient for clearing this. What do you think?”
Ah, maybe it’s because of those Constellation bastards, but I’m getting less and less interested in partying.
It’s absolutely not because I’m worried this parasitic bastard might steal away my precious Constellations.
└ See? This is our Room Owner’s level~
└ Room Owner’s face looks a bit red?
└ Look at him stuttering lol
└ Even as a guy, it’s kind of heart-fluttering~
What the hell, these crazy bastards?
One thing’s for sure though – the Constellation who made that last comment, ‘Elfzoa’, is definitely a woman.
She has to be.
“…”
Anyway, aside from the giggling Constellations, the situation itself went according to my intentions.
“You, you definitely have incredible specs.”
“So would that be okay?”
“Yes. I can definitely pull my own weight, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Of course, if he knew my level was 12, things wouldn’t have gone this smoothly…
Fortunately, in Lyka, a player’s level is information that others can’t know unless you deliberately reveal it.
[You have formed a party with player ‘Leo’.]
[Current party members: 2]
[Party Leader: Dave]
Thanks to that, having formed a party with Leo, I was able to smoothly enter the Moonlight Garden.
[You can enter the ‘Moonlight Garden’ dungeon.]
[Would you like to enter?]
└ Wow~ A dungeon date with a handsome guy? Can’t resist this~
No, damn it!
I can’t stand this anymore.
Where the hell is the ban function in Lyka streaming…
[Constellation ‘Elfzoa’s chat has been restricted by ‘Dave’.]
└ That’s hilarious lololololol
└ The room owner lol seems really mad lololol
└ At least I didn’t kick you out though lol
└ The room master’s hit detection is fucked lol
└ So cute lol
Anyway, leaving the Constellations’ nonsense behind, I stepped toward the dungeon entrance.
Whoooosh-!
My vision filled completely with brilliant white light as space began to distort.
* * *
The Moonlight Garden is literally a field that feels like a garden bathed in moonlight.
A beautiful field with vast and splendid landscaping reminiscent of the gardens of Versailles.
But hidden within this beautiful scenery were some very nasty gimmicks.
Starting with the ‘Dreamlike Forest Maze’ that unfolds as soon as you enter the dungeon.
A shitty maze that sends you back to the dungeon’s starting point if you can’t break through within the time limit.
[You have entered the ‘Moonlight Garden’ dungeon.]
[The first phase begins.]
[Pass through the ‘Dreamlike Forest Maze’.]
[Time limit: 15 minutes]
This was the gimmick that caused me the longest period of suffering in my first playthrough.
└ lol the party leader’s gonna spend all day in the dungeon today lol
└ Room Owner, you’re not planning to clear the level-up mission, are you?
No, I am.
└ You could spend hours just in this maze lol How about we get out of here now?
└ Just leave them lol They only come to their senses after getting their head cracked lol
What the system doesn’t explain is… this maze imposes penalties every time you take a wrong path.
Each time you reach a dead end, the difficulty of the next field gradually increases.
Specifically, the Moonlight Shadow Plaza that you reach after passing through the maze.
The difficulty of the monster waves summoned there increases sharply with each wrong turn in the maze.
Truly a maliciously designed dungeon.
So the reason the Constellations were excited was quite predictable.
They wanted to see me suffer.
‘Maybe for a moment… I can meet the Constellations’ expectations?’
Let me say again – my final destination isn’t the Moonlight Garden.
So I need to play a bit differently from the usual method.
If I act a bit stupid in the process, the Constellations would love it to death.
“Dave, you said you know all the gimmicks, right?”
“Of course.”
└ Of course lol agreed lol
└ What the hell is this baseless confidence lol
“Then should we split up to find the path?”
“Sounds good. I’ll run to the right.”
“Yes!”
Our party member will suffer a bit too, but I don’t particularly feel sorry.
Anyway, I plan to carry him in the end.
What kind of suffering?
You’ll see from now on.
└ Oh, Room Owner is running.
└ Seeing them naturally split up, looks like he did some preparation?
Starting to run toward my first target coordinates, I immediately drew my sword and began cutting through.
Swish-!
[The effect of Unity of Body and Sword activates.]
Slaaaash-!
And the first victim of my sword in the dungeon was…
[You dealt critical damage to ‘Blood Bloom’ monster.]
A level 18 plant-type monster with large purple leaves.
* * *
Hyeonwoo Jung.
In other words, Leo was in a state of considerable shock.
‘What the hell does this person… do?’
Actually, what he had been waiting for in front of the dungeon was just an ordinary party member.
Since this was the Island of Beginnings anyway, he knew well that finding a party member with outstanding skills would be difficult.
So he was thinking that any party member of appropriate level and normalcy would be fine.
To be more honest, he had never actually met a player of matching skill level as a party member while clearing this place.
Even when he first entered this dungeon…
In the end, it was Leo himself, the first-timer, who had to carry.
So saying he had no expectations might be more accurate.
But.
‘This is the Island of Beginnings, right? There’s absolutely no way for high-level users to come here.’
This man who suddenly appeared and proposed a two-person strategy was someone far beyond Leo’s common sense.
Setting everything else aside, the fact that he could kill a level 13 monster with a single sword strike was absurd.
Of course, his equipment probably played a role to some extent…
(He hadn’t even considered the possibility that the equipment might be worse than his own.)
‘I couldn’t even properly follow his sword strike with my eyes. Even though it was sudden…’
It definitely wasn’t the kind of performance that could be shown through equipment specs alone.
As someone who used a sword as his main weapon, he knew this better than anyone.
‘What could it be? Is he a promising prospect being specially trained by one of the Three Major Guilds?’
Honestly, he felt a wall from just that single sword strike.
Until now, he had never even seen a player he thought was outstanding, let alone felt a wall…
‘Is this… real talent?’
Was my talent actually nothing special?
Then why do the large guilds keep sending me love calls?
My potential was definitely… at least A-grade, they said?
“…”
As his thoughts reached that point, a paragraph he had seen in the [Awakened Wiki – Potential] section came to mind.
[‘Potential’ is undeniably the most important indicator to consider when predicting a Hunter’s possibilities.]
[However, having high potential doesn’t guarantee becoming a ranker.]
[Potential is ultimately just a measure of what level one can synchronize with the Lyka world.]
[Therefore, true talent worthy of becoming a ranker can only be known after sufficient verification within the Gate.]
When he first read it, the content didn’t really resonate with him, but after facing this man called ‘Dave’, he seemed to understand what it meant.
Hyeonwoo, feeling anxious for the first time since entering the Gate, unconsciously clenched both fists tightly.
It seemed that becoming a ranker would require far more effort than he had imagined.
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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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