The Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming - Chapter 73
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Capitalist Streaming of a Freeloading Hero
Episode 73
Constellation’s Game [Lyka]
Seojihun was a hunter.
A C-rank hunter, the most common type among South Korean hunters.
So, 5 years since awakening… at level 57 and belonging to a decent guild, he was a very ordinary hunter who barely made it into the hundred-million-won salary range.
‘I guess this counts as success.’
Seojihun had always thought that his current position was the limit that a dirt-spoon hunter could reach with moderate talent.
The fact that he had managed to get even this far was because he had awakened at a young age and had an exceptional ‘eye for talent’ compared to his actual skills.
He was working as the head of his guild’s Human Resources Department, and was also a scout who had discovered quite a few talented rookies so far.
‘Unless you have truly exceptional talent… it’s not easy to break through the glass ceiling of capital and climb up.’
So in fact, Seojihun didn’t really like 【Hunters School】, the hottest variety show recently.
While ordinary people who didn’t know much about hunters might be enthusiastic about such shows…
He thought this show was ultimately just displaying ‘the victory of capital’ wrapped in the plausible packaging of ‘talent’.
‘Fair competition? What a joke.’
It’s different from the very start.
Some start from level 1 wearing tens of millions of won worth of mana amplification rings, while others risk their lives with just a rusty iron sword.
And then the broadcast goes on about ‘effort’ and ‘talent’.
In Seojihun’s view, this wasn’t a survival show, but merely a show to confirm who was born with the most expensive silver spoon.
So the reason Jihun had come all the way to Sangam Dome Stage today to watch the 【Hunters School 3】 entrance mission was…
Because of a friend who was a true fan of this program.
Honestly, Jihun couldn’t understand at all why they had to spend so much money and even buy scalped tickets to watch something like this.
“Hey, you’ll change your mind after watching today too.”
“I doubt it.”
“You’ve never watched Seong-hwan Lee’s gate live cam, right?”
“Why would I watch something like that?”
“That’s exactly why your mind will change after watching today.”
“Hmm…”
“I heard the lineup is amazing today, not just Seong-hwan Lee. I really hope we get a good show today.”
The skills of the 【Hunters School】 participants would probably be amazing, just like his friend said.
Seojihun didn’t want to deny that much.
It’s just that he thought those skills weren’t created solely through effort and talent, so he couldn’t get interested.
Was it because he had a naturally rebellious nature?
What he wanted to see in programs like this was…
Not obvious rookie players built on capital, but a monster with overwhelming talent enough to shatter this structural glass ceiling.
‘But this isn’t the early days of the Gate incident anymore. It would be hard for such a player to exist.’
“Hey, Seojihun. Brighten up your expression. Do you know how much these tickets cost?”
At his friend’s scolding, Seojihun grumbled but turned on the personal monitor in front of him.
A 20-inch high-resolution tablet installed at each seat.
It was a VIP-level seat equipped with a ‘multi-view’ system that allowed real-time selection of any participant’s perspective.
‘By the way, how did this guy… get tickets like these?’
Anyway, feeling a bit sorry for his friend, Seojihun turned on the tablet and started watching.
The default setting for the tablet channel was the main screen that the production team sent to the mentors.
“Wow! Jihun, Seong-hwan Lee formed a party! But why are the other two party members a healer and supporter? Haha.”
“Maybe he’s confident he can handle all the DPS and tanking himself?”
“Exactly, wow… my expectations are through the roof right now.”
His friend, who brought his face close to the monitor as if he might get sucked into it, started praising Seong-hwan Lee while spitting saliva.
Saying that Seong-hwan Lee could probably make it into the global rankings within a few years.
His friend’s appearance, never resting his mouth for a moment… felt somewhere between a fan and a fanatic.
[Swoosh-]
[Crash-!]
“Wooooooah!”
But what was funny was that this friend’s behavior was quite common inside this dome stage.
Rather, sitting quietly and watching the monitor made him feel like… a normal person dropped into a village of one-eyed people.
‘No wonder rankers rake in the money…’
So after watching Seong-hwan Lee’s play for a while, Jihun smiled bitterly and changed the channel.
Honestly, Seong-hwan Lee was showing truly amazing performance.
But this too wasn’t purely in the realm of talent…
He thought it was a result created by the trinity of talent, capital, and background working together.
‘Well. With this level of skill already, he definitely seems to have ranker potential…’
Anyway, losing interest, Seojihun started browsing other screens.
While the main screen continued showing various players’ footage along with the mentor rankers’ reactions, Jihun started looking at other players’ individual screens one by one instead.
Since he had come this far anyway, he thought he might gain some inspiration by watching various players’ performances.
‘Isn’t there something a bit different?’
But as Jihun was casually flipping through channels, one particular participant caught his eye.
Channel 98.
A participant who had never been shown on the main screen even once, clearly in the lower ranks.
The reason Jihun stopped at this participant’s screen wasn’t really anything special.
‘What’s his class?’
From the participant beating up monsters with a crude steel pipe and shield, he couldn’t see any characteristics of any class Jihun knew.
‘A rabbit doll…? Is that a summon?’
But if curiosity was the reason his gaze first stopped on this channel, the reason he couldn’t change channels was due to a completely different kind of emotion.
‘What the hell is this guy doing?’
In terms of pure visual spectacle, it was embarrassing to even compare to Seong-hwan Lee, and was even inferior to the hidden class mage specializing in poison magic who was fighting alongside him.
But the performance of weaving between monsters without any special combat skills had reached a realm that Jihun simply couldn’t understand with his common sense.
‘This isn’t some circus act.’
Checking the participant information, he was only level 35, in the lowest tier.
A player with similar specs to those rookies that Jihun reviewed in the Human Resources Department.
But this man was handling level 40+ monsters like he was dealing with little children, while continuously giving orders to his party members.
Watching this surreal situation… how could he possibly change the channel?
“Hey, did you find something interesting?”
“…”
“Kwon Yuna appeared on the main screen, aren’t you going to watch?”
“Oh, wait a minute.”
“Wow, why is Kwon Yuna so pretty? She’s a real goddess.”
He couldn’t even hear his friend’s words.
The battle of the participant named Geonyul was that shocking to Seojihun, and so Seojihun was gradually getting sucked into the video.
Had about 20 minutes passed like that?
[Warning. Foreign substance detected.]
[Contamination removal protocol activated.]
[Screech- Screeeeech-!]
When Geonyul’s party encountered a giant elite monster, he was so immersed that he let out an audible gasp.
“Crazy, is he trying to get himself killed? Why isn’t he running away…?”
The screen was hell by Jihun’s standards.
A house-sized incinerator golem was going berserk and spewing crimson flames.
This wasn’t a monster that a 3-person party below level 50 could reasonably take down.
Even from his perspective at level 57, it felt like a considerably dangerous monster.
Right.
So surely… that was Seojihun’s common sense.
Kuuuung-!
And when the golem’s massive fist struck down on Geon-ryul Lee’s party member, Seojihun thought it was over.
There seemed to be absolutely no way for the participant named Kangmin-woo to avoid that brutal fist.
If one party member was eliminated like this, failure of the strategy would be the natural course.
However.
Clatter-!
At that moment, participant Geon-ryul Lee, who had leaped into the golem’s massive frame, began displaying incredible combat abilities.
As if he already knew the trajectory of the falling fist, he dove into the blind spot where the golem’s joints bent…
Crack-!
Screech-!
Dodging the golem’s tremendous attacks left and right, he began neutralizing that monster’s specs one by one.
“…This is impossible.”
Seojihun’s eyes wavered.
He forgot even to breathe as he was drawn into the screen.
The man seemed to predict every movement of the golem, and even if that were true, he was performing acrobatics that would be difficult to pull off.
‘This can’t be.’
Skills? Expensive artifacts?
There was none of that at all.
Only movements without any excess, and judgment sharp enough to send chills down one’s spine.
In Jihun’s eyes, participant Geon-ryul Lee’s play felt like a kind of ‘bug’ in gaming terms.
Crash!
Finally, Geon-ryul Lee succeeded in subduing the golem, and even at that moment, Jihun was staring blankly at his tablet screen.
Unable to believe what he had seen, he checked the participant’s information once more.
[Participant: Geon-ryul Lee (Dave)]
[Level: 35]
[Class: Seraphist]
And Jihun found himself unconsciously thinking.
That this participant named ‘Geon-ryul Lee’ was different.
‘Who… exactly is this person?’
This wasn’t just a comparison within the cast of 【Hunters School 3】.
Even compared to any rookie that the media had treated as a star until now, what Geon-ryul Lee had shown was overwhelming.
Of course, to ordinary people, other flashier rookies might appear more brilliant…
Seojihun trusted his own eyes.
That’s why he was certain.
‘Absolutely. This is talent that even Seong-hwan Lee wouldn’t be able to match.’
With such thoughts, Seojihun was drawn back into the screen.
And he thought.
Perhaps this season of 【Hunters School】 would be one that even he would make sure to watch.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
