The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 65

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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 65

 

Constellation’s Game [Lyka]

 

Jeongmin Lee was monitoring the dungeon with sweaty palms.

 

More precisely… the two participants who were his responsibility and classified as the most important figures.

 

The participants Jeongmin was assigned to monitor were none other than Seong-hwan Lee and Hajun Park.

 

Those two people who were estimated to have the highest combat power among all participants.

 

“TL (Technology Lead), the pace is at an acceptable level for now, right?”

 

“It’s within the expected range.”

 

“Good.”

 

The reason Jeongmin was assigned to these two was simple.

 

If Jang Seyeon was the head PD overseeing everything, then Jeongmin was the director (FD) in charge of the field.

 

Therefore, cooperating with the technology team to control the overall dungeon progress and special circumstances was none other than Jeongmin’s responsibility.

 

“Phase 1 is almost finished now…”

 

Thanks to thorough QA (Quality Assurance), fortunately no bugs had occurred yet.

 

But still, Jeongmin couldn’t let his guard down.

 

If any anomalies occurred in player progress speed or dungeon balance…

 

There was a possibility that the content they had spent billions to fine-tune could be ruined.

 

“How many beads have each of them collected so far?”

 

“Seong-hwan Lee has 82, and Hajun Park has 97.”

 

At the report from the TL overseeing the dungeon control room, Jeongmin breathed a sigh of relief.

 

These two were certainly exceptional, so their farming pace was quite fast…

 

But still, this level was within the predicted range.

 

‘As long as they don’t exceed 150 in the first phase… the tension of the ice age phase will work sufficiently.’

 

The reason for monitoring based on these two was because they were overwhelmingly the highest-level participants.

 

To find potential problems in level design as quickly as possible… monitoring these two people’s screens was the right approach.

 

“Their body temperatures are continuously maintained at 37°C, right?”

 

“That’s correct. But it’s really fascinating, PD.”

 

“Yes? What do you mean by that?”

 

“The system doesn’t tell them their body temperature, but when it dropped by about 1-1.5°C, both of them used exactly 10 Heat Beads each.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Players must have really sensitive senses.”

 

“That would make sense, right? If their bodies stiffen, they’d feel discomfort in combat.”

 

While conversing with the TL, Jeongmin inwardly breathed another sigh of relief.

 

‘No player has discovered the gimmick yet.’

 

If they had discovered the gimmick hidden within the temperature-dropping system.

 

These rankers wouldn’t be sensitively maintaining their body temperature at 37°C.

 

‘Good.’

 

While thinking such thoughts, Jeongmin glanced at the digital clock placed on the monitor.

 

‘One minute left.’

 

From phase 2 onwards, the participants’ body temperatures would drop by exactly 1°C every 3 minutes.

 

Moreover, participants who failed to enter the central area would have their temperature drop by 1°C every minute.

 

This meant that even participants who successfully entered the central area…

 

Would need at least 200 Heat Beads to survive the 60-minute ice age.

 

‘Even if they find the [Furnace] as quickly as possible, they’ll consume at least 150.’

 

So the currently peaceful interior of the dungeon would soon turn into hell.

 

[In 30 seconds, a severe blizzard will approach.]

 

[Everyone evacuate to the Underground City (Central Area).]

 

PK would run rampant to steal the insufficient Heat Beads.

 

“Now, everyone focus!”

 

After reminding the dungeon control room personnel once more about the importance of phase 2, Jeongmin bit his lower lip slightly and fixed his gaze back on the monitor.

 

‘For now, it’s going smoothly.’

 

If it continued like this, they could extract exactly the fun the production team had envisioned.

 

Phase 1 had already produced more than enough of the scenes they had hoped for.

 

[‘Ice Age’ of ‘Frozen Seoul’ has begun.]

 

[‘Ice Age’ will last for 60 minutes.]

 

But at this moment, there was one fact Jeongmin couldn’t know.

 

That was…

 

“Apgujeong Station? Why did we come here?”

 

“Soon, a freight train that can move to the central area will arrive here.”

 

The fact that there were already two participants who had farmed over 150 Heat Beads.

 

“Sohee, you’re conserving your Heat Beads as much as possible, right?”

 

And one of them…

 

“Yes. It’s quite cold, but I’m not using them for now.”

 

Was his close friend, whom Jeongmin wasn’t even paying attention to at this point.

 

* * *

 

I could completely finalize my strategy route for this entrance exam mission after phase 2 of 【Frozen Seoul】 began.

 

[In 30 seconds, a severe blizzard will approach.]

 

[Everyone evacuate to the Underground City (Central Area).]

 

[‘Ice Age’ of ‘Frozen Seoul’ has begun.]

 

[‘Ice Age’ will last for 60 minutes.]

 

“Ugh… it’s suddenly getting much colder.”

 

“Outside will be much colder.”

 

Actually, the moment I discovered the gimmick hidden in the ‘body temperature system’, the general strategy direction was roughly decided.

 

But still, until phase 2 officially started and I could enter the central area…

 

I couldn’t consider all variables.

 

“You’re still not using beads and enduring, right?”

 

“So far… it’s bearable.”

 

“You need to tell me if you can’t endure it.”

 

“Got it.”

 

What exactly was the gimmick hidden in the ‘body temperature system’?

 

It was a simpler mechanism than expected.

 

A system where the lower the player’s body temperature became… the stronger the ability buff that was applied proportionally.

 

There was an interesting gimmick hidden that gave ability buffs to participants close to elimination due to lack of warmth, allowing them to aim for a comeback.

 

‘Whoever designed this… used their head well.’

 

Actually, in this type of farming survival dungeon without special gimmicks… the broadcast dynamics couldn’t be extracted interestingly.

 

Players with high specs and good skills would get far ahead in farming from phase 1…

 

Rankings would be decided blandly without even a chance to reverse that dynamic.

 

So this ‘buff proportional to low body temperature’ was, in my view, a stroke of genius.

 

Even participants who couldn’t farm sufficiently in phase 1 and were approaching blackout due to cold.

 

The system structure created the possibility of ambushing higher rankers and stealing ‘Heat Beads’.

 

The buff amount was also more powerful than expected.

 

‘My body temperature has only dropped about 5°C so far…’

 

It wasn’t the full ice age yet, just a feeling of body temperature dropping 3-5°C, but already my overall abilities felt boosted by about 20%.

 

‘Calculating based on damage, I get almost exact numbers.’

 

And one more thing.

 

If my calculations were correct, the buff values… seemed to follow a steep upward curve as body temperature dropped.

 

I first felt this when my body temperature had dropped about 1/3 of the current amount.

 

Back then, it wasn’t even close to 20%, just a minimal buff of about 2-3%.

 

‘If body temperature drops to about 20°C, just how much buff would be applied?’

 

I’ll have to try it to know for sure, but it feels like I’ll become at least 5 times stronger.

 

Of course, if my body temperature drops to 20°C, a normal person who isn’t an Awakened would already be a cold corpse…

 

Anyway, if I know exactly what my limit body temperature is and use this gimmick to the extreme.

 

I can think of quite a lot of ways to draw an interesting picture.

 

Screech-

 

Clank-!

 

While I was thinking about that, the freight train that had been waiting arrived at the freight railway disguised as Apgujeong Station.

 

“It really… came?”

 

“Let’s get on for now.”

 

But from here on, it’s just blatantly the exact same field as Iron Grave.

 

Probably putting a new Seoul-style skin all the way to the underground city… the budget wasn’t that generous.

 

[5 [Heat Beads] will be consumed as fare.]

 

[Would you like to board ‘Subway Line 3’?]

 

Well, thanks to that, it became easier for me to utilize my memories.

 

‘If they copied it this identically… the path into the city center should be the same too, right?’

 

[You have boarded ‘Subway Line 3’.]

 

[You will be transported to the ‘Underground City’ shortly.]

 

Before other participants enter the interior, I need to figure out what gimmicks are hidden as quickly as possible.

 

That way I can gain an advantage based on information asymmetry before the real competitive structure begins.

 

“By the way… the atmosphere gets quite eerie from here.”

 

So I decided to start sharing information with my teammate now.

 

To boost teamwork, Chloe Kang needed to know what she should know by now.

 

We’d built up a lot of trust while progressing through Phase 1.

 

“This place is based on the Iron Grave dungeon.”

 

“…?!”

 

“It’s a level 90 dungeon in the Novarc Archipelago.”

 

Chloe Kang’s eyes widened slightly.

 

An expression that finally understood my orders.

 

“Ah, so that’s how you knew everything…!”

 

But even so, not all her questions would be resolved.

 

“Even so, it’s not like you could have actually entered that dungeon, right?”

 

“Of course not. How could I possibly go to Novarc?”

 

I wasn’t just familiar with this place – I was a hardcore veteran who had cleared it hundreds of times.

 

The moments I showed here and there were definitely not at a level you could achieve by simply knowing about the dungeon.

 

“I was lucky enough to see it on a Walkthrough YouTube Channel.”

 

“Still, that’s impressive. A level 90 dungeon… you wouldn’t have been able to experience it firsthand.”

 

Anyway, after satisfying Chloe to some extent, I started nagging again.

 

“So from here on, you need to follow orders like clockwork.”

 

“Haven’t I been doing that all along?”

 

“I’m saying the tempo will be much faster.”

 

And while we were having our brief conversation.

 

Screech-!

 

The freight car sliding along the rails passed through a long, dark tunnel and arrived at the underground city.

 

[You have arrived at the ‘Underground City’ of <Frozen Seoul>.]

 

[The cold is slightly alleviated.]

 

Following the familiar terrain deeper inside, I first turned on my PDA terminal and began searching.

 

But after a moment.

 

“Huh…?”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Wait, this way.”

 

In the large open area at the entrance of the underground city…

 

We discovered an intense heat source that was completely unexpected.

 

It was thanks to the PDA.

 

[You have discovered a ‘Small Brazier’ object.]

 

[The ‘Small Brazier’ will be activated for 1 minute.]

 

[When the ‘Small Brazier’ is active, participants within a 10M radius can maintain their body temperature for the duration.]

 

A brazier…

 

Since it’s a gimmick connected to the body temperature maintenance system, it’s naturally a new object I’ve never seen before that wasn’t in Iron Grave.

 

This is an interesting system, isn’t it?

 

[When you put ‘Heat Beads’ into the ‘Small Brazier’, you can extend the brazier’s activation time.]

 

[If the brazier’s fire doesn’t go out for more than 10 minutes, 3 out of the players in range will receive a ‘Supply Box’ each time (maximum 3 times).]

 

[From ‘Supply Boxes’, you can randomly obtain various equipment and auxiliary items needed for combat.]

 

Oh ho.

 

[※ Warning! If there are 4 or more people around the brazier, the brazier’s duration will decrease rapidly.]

 

Maybe from Phase 2 onwards, utilizing this brazier might be the key?

—————
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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