The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 72

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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 72

 

Constellation’s Game [Lyka]

 

After the third phase began.

 

The blizzard that had been covering <Frozen Seoul> dissipated, allowing the surviving participants to breathe a sigh of relief.

 

[The turning point of the entrance exam mission has passed.]

 

[Current surviving participants: 47 / 100]

 

The second phase with the ice age was more painful than expected, but now the rate of body temperature drop had slowed considerably…

 

In any case, they could tell they were among the top 50% of participants.

 

“Phew.”

 

“I was worried we might get eliminated right from the first mission…”

 

“I’m glad we survived.”

 

But aside from that relief, none of the participants could afford to be complacent.

 

With the third phase came a new system called ‘Large Furnace’.

 

And they had clearly realized in Phase 2 that understanding this system as quickly as possible was directly linked to survival.

 

“Anyway, it’s a furnace. It must be a similar system, right?”

 

“We need to move quickly first. There are only two furnaces.”

 

So as soon as the third phase started, participants who had survived throughout the city gathered toward the city center in unison.

 

And what the participants discovered there were literally enormous black and white furnaces.

 

[You have discovered a ‘Large Furnace’ object.]

 

[‘Large Furnace’ maintains heat until it is destroyed.]

 

[Participants registered in the ‘Large Furnace’ system can maintain body temperature within a 30M radius.]

 

[A maximum of 15 players can be registered to a ‘Large Furnace’.]

 

[Once you choose a furnace, you cannot leave the ‘Last Bastion’ until the furnace is destroyed.]

 

[※ Warning! In 4 minutes, powerful ‘Overheated Monsters’ will swarm to destroy the furnaces.]

 

[Monster waves become stronger over time and continue until one of the two furnaces is destroyed.]

 

Participants who quickly found the furnaces had no choice but to register their information with the nearest furnace.

 

The total capacity of the two furnaces was limited to 30 people.

 

If they hesitated and the spots filled up, they could end up among the 17 who would be left out.

 

“Uh… which furnace is more advantageous?”

 

“There’s no time for that! Just come over here!”

 

So both furnaces filled up instantly.

 

Ding-!

 

[All furnaces have reached maximum capacity.]

 

[Participants who failed to register with a furnace will be designated as ‘stragglers’.]

 

A scene of genuine chaos began.

 

[Hidden rule ‘Sabotage Agent’ is activated.]

 

[From now on, ‘stragglers’ will not receive ‘preemptive attacks’ from monsters.]

 

[‘Stragglers’ can attack the furnaces.]

 

[When one of the two furnaces is destroyed, the remaining furnace’s capacity increases to 30 people.]

 

The black furnace, the white furnace, and seventeen stragglers.

 

47 players began frantically wracking their brains for survival.

 

* * *

 

Naturally, Chloe Kang and I were the first to discover the Large Furnace this time too.

 

We knew in advance that the next phase would occur at the center, and we had arrived early by departing 10 minutes ahead of others.

 

We consumed about 20 Heat Beads by moving before the interglacial period, but I considered it an investment for preemptive information gathering.

 

The fact that this choice was correct became clear as soon as we discovered the furnace.

 

“Phase 3 is a team battle concept.”

 

I only half-agreed with Chloe’s words.

 

“That’s true, but there aren’t just two options.”

 

“What do you mean…?”

 

“In my view, the very choice of selecting a furnace… is a trap set by the production team.”

 

To me, the essence of this Phase 3 was a war of attrition.

 

On the surface, it looked like a competitive structure between the Black Team and White Team, with those who couldn’t join either team being eliminated…

 

But in fact, the biggest penalty gained from choosing a furnace was cleverly hidden within these rules.

 

[Once you choose a furnace, you cannot leave the ‘Last Bastion’ until the furnace is destroyed.]

 

The Last Bastion was the name of the location where these black and white Large Furnaces were positioned… the Central Plaza of the Underground City.

 

‘So the moment you choose a furnace… all proactive options disappear.’

 

Participants affiliated with a furnace might feel like they’re under the protection of a stable barrier, but in reality, that choice robs them of all other possibilities.

 

‘Like elite monster farming, for instance…’

 

Moreover, I didn’t like having to leave the absolute goal of survival partially to chance.

 

Of course, if I hard-carried the monster wave and lasted longer than the opposite furnace, I’d win.

 

But even that victory would depend more on the overall capabilities of other participants than on my individual capacity.

 

So does staying outside the furnace increase the probability of surviving to the end?

 

Limited to Phase 3, the interglacial period, yes.

 

It’s true that we can’t know what will happen in Phase 4.

 

So the perfect choice here is…

 

“There’s absolutely no reason to hastily choose a furnace right now.”

 

Delaying the furnace selection.

 

“If we were short on Heat Beads from farming, that would be different, but honestly we have quite plenty.”

 

“Right?”

 

“Besides, while other participants are tied to the furnaces, if we go hunt high-value monsters… we could earn even more beads.”

 

“I agree.”

 

“So choosing a furnace won’t be too late after we confirm which furnace survives.”

 

For now, during the interglacial period, we’d farm leisurely while slowly observing the battle situation at both Large Furnaces.

 

Then at the point when the balance of power collapses… we’d join the furnace with certain survival to eliminate variables.

 

“The capacity is already full, so would there be a way to join?”

 

To Chloe’s reasonable question, I nodded.

 

Naturally, I had thought about this part.

 

“When one side is about to collapse, there’s a very high probability that… even within the furnace that gained the upper hand, a few people would have defected.”

 

“Hmm… that does make sense…”

 

“Even if that’s not the case, isn’t there one very easy method?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“We can PK during the confusion.”

 

“Ah!”

 

“Though I don’t think we’ll need to use that method.”

 

In fact, the plan designed in my head didn’t end there.

 

Actually, I had one perfect move left that would guarantee survival even if variables arose in all the plans I just mentioned.

 

“But Sohee. The best scenario for us right now is…”

 

After I finished explaining even the last scenario I had in mind, Chloe nodded as if she was now completely convinced.

 

“Alright. It won’t be easy, but… let’s give it a try.”

 

And having made all our decisions, we quietly left the area before other participants appeared at the furnaces.

 

* * *

 

Crack!

 

With an eerie rupturing sound, the jawbone of a wolf with burning red leather skin was crushed.

 

Volcanic Wolf.

 

It was one of the few elite monsters in the Underground City.

 

[You have defeated the elite monster ‘Volcanic Wolf’ for the first time!]

 

[As a first kill reward, Bloody Knuckle drops.]

 

Hajun Park let out a long breath of white vapor that lingered around his lips.

 

In both his hands were long swords with dark red blood clotted on them.

 

Thud-

 

Hajun Park discarded them onto the ground without hesitation and immediately equipped the red-colored knuckles that had just dropped onto both hands.

 

A crude chunk of metal made solely for crushing bones, without any fancy magic stones or engravings.

 

This rough weapon was exactly what Hajun Park liked most.

 

[Class trait activated: Feral]

 

[Attack speed increases as the scent of blood in the vicinity grows thicker.]

 

Confirming the System Message that appeared on his retina, Hajun Park indifferently brushed off the bloodstains on his clothes.

 

Whirr-

 

A faint mechanical sound reached his sensitive ears, but he didn’t pay attention to that either.

 

He had known what the sound was from the beginning.

 

‘It’s following me quite diligently.’

 

What was following Hajun Park through the blizzard was a filming drone from 【Hunters School】.

 

In fact, being filmed well by this drone would be the most important thing for 【Hunters School】 participants, but he thought there was no particular need to be conscious of the camera.

 

He was someone who had no choice but to understand the nature of broadcasting despite his young age, and he knew very well what he could show.

 

‘What I can show anyway isn’t some clumsy hero act.’

 

Raw, unfiltered ‘wildness’.

 

That was probably the character the 【Hunters School】 production team expected from him.

 

‘Phew. Still, I can’t help that it doesn’t feel natural.’

 

In fact, this kind of ‘attention’ was unfamiliar to Hajun Park.

 

He was an orphan and had no friends.

 

However, he had targets he needed to get revenge on, and to face them, he simply needed sufficient recognition and backing.

 

So Hajun Park was more desperate and fierce than any other participant.

 

‘So… beating me won’t be easy.’

 

‘Survival’ was something like daily life to Hajun Park.

 

So he thought that he would definitely be the final survivor of this survival show as well.

 

[The blizzard will disappear in 30 seconds.]

 

[All ‘Small Braziers’ will disappear.]

 

[2 ‘Large Furnaces’ will be created in the Underground City Center.]

 

[The ‘interglacial period’ of ‘Frozen Seoul’ has begun.]

 

[The ‘interglacial period’ will last for 60 minutes.]

 

With such thoughts, Hajun Park became the first to enter the ‘Black Furnace’.

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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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