Chapter 15

—That’s a real ogre.

—Ogres are C-Rank dungeons, but I heard hunters of the same rank don’t go there to hunt.

—But the hide, tendons, meat, and all that sell for a lot, so higher-rank hunters go there often.

—Whoa, I see.

Jaeha glanced at the chat for a moment, smiled, and spoke.

“From now on, I’ll take out one per arrow, cleanly, and move fast. I think I can clear this dungeon in about 30 minutes.”

Speaking with confidence, Jaeha smiled and took his stance. Drawing back the red-tinted bowstring, he smiled again and aimed at the ogre’s head.

—Can he even see that?

—He’s gonna hit from this distance?

—Is that possible?

—Archers are so busted. -.- System admins, please nerf.

Swoosh—

Without even looking at the chat, Jaeha loosed his arrow. It flew straight toward the ogre and pierced clean through its head. The ogre crumpled, and Jaeha immediately drew the bowstring again.

And so, Jaeha’s first broadcast began.

* * *

—Insane ;;

—Whoa. How does someone solo a C-Rank dungeon in under 30 minutes?

—24 minutes. That’s crazy.

—He’s literally just overpowering it with pure physical ability.

Looking at the chat, Jaeha smiled.

“Thank you. Ending the broadcast at 30 minutes would be too short, so I’ll clear one more dungeon and then wrap up. On the way there, I’ll watch the chat and chat a bit with you all.”

With that, Jaeha walked over to where Seungho’s car was, and Seungho was standing there quietly waiting for him.

“That guy over there is my friend—my manager, I guess. He’s the one who edits and uploads my videos.”

“Nice to meet you, everyone.”

With that, Jaeha got into the passenger seat and switched the view to third person. Now the broadcast showed both Jaeha and Seungho.

“You don’t really need to show me.”

“Two people are better than one, since we’re at it.”

—Aw, it’s all guys.

Seeing that chat, Jaeha smiled.

“Should I find a woman? Someone to do the manager-type role.”

—Yeah

—No need. Not unless you’re gonna bring her into the dungeon with you anyway.

—Go find one.

—Probably don’t need one.

As opinions split in two, Jaeha spoke.

“I’ll think about it later. And, well, feel free to ask me anything you’re curious about.”

At that, the chat started flooding at an incredible speed.

—What’s your Total Ability?

—Total Ability!

“One moment.”

With that, Jaeha opened his status window.

[Na Jaeha]

[Trait: Ranged Dealer]

[LV: 22]

[Total Ability: 187]

[Skills: MuTube, Give Me Power, Half Recovery, Divine Physician Hua Tuo’s Secret Art, Bow Mastery, Mana Shot, Marksmanship, Breath Control, Shadow Walk, Stealth, Shadow Eye, Metallurgy, Rapid Fire, Triple Shot, High-Speed Fire]

“It’s 187.”

—Whoa. That’s low. And yet he takes down ogres?

—Yeah, that’s impressive.

—Earlier when you fought with the bow, you didn’t nock the arrow on the string. How’d you do that?

“It’s a skill. It loads automatically that way.”

—Then what’s your trait?

“My trait is Ranged Dealer.”

Then Jaeha switched the broadcast to first person. He opened his Inventory and pulled out a shabby bow. He’d made it in advance for this purpose. It only took a bit of wood and monster byproducts to craft, so there was no burden either.

“Before long, something like this will be going up on the Auction House.”

With that said, Jaeha checked the item’s effect. Of course, the effect was extremely low. The bow Jaeha was holding now raised attack power by 8.

—..????????

—An item?!

—And it’s a weapon, too.

—What is this?!

“I personally know a friend who has a skill that can craft items.”

—The guy next to you?

“No. He’s a civilian who hasn’t even had an Awakening.”

“Tsk.”

At that, Jaeha smiled and continued.

“That friend asked me to guarantee his anonymity, so I won’t reveal his identity. But as you can see, he can craft items like this. And we’ve decided to sell them officially before long.”

—What does attack power actually do?

“What I learned through experiments with him is that 1 point of attack power yields about the efficiency of 10 points of Total Ability.”

—No way?!

—Whoa, so that one weapon alone gives you +80 Total Ability?

—But why aren’t you using it, streamer?

“My current weapon was specially made for me by my friend. It raises attack power a bit more, and as you can see, it’s crafted to look cool.”

—Makes sense. A best friend would make you one.

“The reason I’m telling you all this is because we’ve decided to sell them, and my friend said he hopes they become a big deal and sell well. He said he can craft and sell most items—from swords and blades to staves and bows—so I hope you’ll all show them some love.”

—Got it. Don’t worry. I’ll buy the moment they drop.

—I’m definitely buying. Money’s just something you earn anyway.

“Just so you know, the numbers won’t be that large. Since everything has to be handmade by my friend. Still, he said he’ll keep making them and posting them steadily, so even if you can’t get one right away, they’ll keep coming up. There’ll be plenty of chances.”

As he continued chatting while watching the chat window, Seungho spoke up.

“Hey, we’re here.”

“Yeah? Then let’s head in right away.”

At that, Jaeha immediately checked whether anyone was inside the dungeon. But there were people inside, so Jaeha had no choice but to wait.

“Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer while chatting.”

—Good.

—This isn’t bad either.

And so Jaeha talked while watching the chat. About 10 minutes passed when Hunters came pouring out of the dungeon. A fairly large party of about 20 people emerged, and they looked absolutely wrecked.

“Qui—quick, call an ambulance!”

As the Hunter who came out of the dungeon spoke, Jaeha immediately called for an ambulance. Then he approached the Hunters who were bleeding heavily.

“Ugh……”

Jaeha used Half Recovery on them.

—Healing?

—He has a healing skill?

—Who the hell is this guy, seriously?

After restoring the people to a reasonable degree, Jaeha headed straight into the dungeon.

—You okay on mana?

—Looks like you used up quite a bit. Take a break first.

—You’ll get hurt doing that.

“I’m fine. I’m just shooting arrows from a distance anyway.”

—Still, seems a bit risky.

—So what dungeon is it this time?

“This dungeon is also a C-Rank dungeon. And the name of the dungeon is the Cliff of Harpies.”

—Harpies!

—Oh, right. An archer would have an easy time with harpies.

—But considering how fast harpies fly around, it doesn’t seem easy.

—True. If you don’t kill them in one shot, it’s dangerous. This time they won’t take forever to reach you like the ogres did.

“As you all know, the harpy’s voice—that is, the harpy’s vocal cords—is an extremely expensive byproduct. However, because of the harpies’ traits, most people avoid this place.”

—Lore dump incoming! Harpies are monsters that mainly appear in C-Rank dungeons, but the dungeon difficulty is comparable to B-Rank dungeons. Also, the byproducts—harpy vocal cords and harpy feathers—are extremely expensive, but since harpies are monsters that live at very high altitudes, you can’t deal proper damage without magic. Most spells that can hit harpies at that altitude end up shredding the vocal cords and feathers. Once that happens, they lose their commercial value, so intact harpy feathers and vocal cords command extremely high prices.

—Vocal cords go for at least 1 million won each. And feathers go for about 3 million won per 100 grams.

—That’s insanely expensive.

“Yes. That’s one reason, but I also chose this place because I wanted to show you what an archer is capable of.”

—But honestly, you’re just a Talent Freak, streamer.

—True. Most archers can’t even get close, let alone land proper hits from that distance. Hitting the head precisely like you do is rare.

—Hmm, so he is a Talent Freak.

Watching the chat, Jaeha smiled faintly and spoke.

“Well, if an archery athlete Awakens, they’re worth fielding as an archer…… something like that.”

Then he used his skill and began moving forward.

* * *

After about an hour of hunting since entering the Cliff of Harpies, Jaeha spoke as he wrapped up the hunt.

“That’s all for today’s broadcast. Since this was our first stream, I’m sorry I couldn’t prepare more. As for the schedule going forward, I’ll be streaming regularly three times a week. Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, all starting at 1 PM. Aside from the regular schedule, I’ll also turn on the stream whenever I’m bored or, well, feel like it. I go to a dungeon at least once a day to stretch my legs, so I imagine I’ll be live most of the time. Though, unless it’s a scheduled stream, it’ll probably just be one or two runs.”

—You go to a dungeon every single day?

—Is this for real?

—But honestly, if you hunt like the streamer does, it seems doable.

—He only hunts for about an hour at most per day anyway.

“Anyway, that’s how I’ll be streaming from now on, so I hope you’ll support me. And I’d appreciate it if you checked out the videos on my channel.”

With those final words, Jaeha ended the broadcast. After turning off the stream, he spoke.

“Peak viewer count?”

[Peak Viewer Count: 8,921,360]

“8.9 million. That’s a lot of people.”

“What the hell. So my face just got sold to 8.9 million people?”

“Think of it as a good thing. From now on, you’re half a public figure too.”

With that, Jaeha packed up and headed home. On the way back, he quietly mulled things over.

‘So this is all it takes to raise my Total Ability by 8.9.’

Jaeha let out a sigh and stared out the window.

‘Anyway, the numbers will keep growing. And it’s not like I have to put in any extra effort—the Total Ability goes up for free.’

With that thought, Jaeha turned his head.

‘I need to think of ways to draw in even more people from here on out.’

Then, Jaeha smiled.