The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 78

"I'm going to be late."

After work, Hanbit immediately boarded the subway, heading towards Jongno Station in Seoul. He had already contacted Yeonwoo and Avantgarde to arrange a meeting place.

"Hyung!"

Yeonwoo was waiting outside the exit.

"I told you to go to a cafe."

"I arrived just in time. But have you seen the community?"

"What is it again? Is something up?"

"Check this out."

Yeonwoo handed over his smartphone.

A list of posts was scrolling on the screen.

<Story mode is so freaking hard;>

<Anyone up for a party?>

<Is anyone still stuck on the sewer story?>

<How the hell do I beat Balder in a duel.>

The contents were quite varied.

But the important part was separate.

<What's this on the way to Ifrit?>

There's a cave I've never seen before in the western mountains of Ifrit.

Is this a private area?

-Oh.

-This is it.

-What's inside?

└I went in but it was blocked.

└Isn't it just a naturally generated terrain?

└There's a weird symbol inside.

└Take a picture and post it.

└If you're curious, go see for yourself.

"A cave?"

The contents of the post, which had become a colosseum of opinions, puzzled Hanbit.

"You don't know either, Hyung?"

"No." Hanbit shook his head.

It was truly an unknown terrain, but a question occurred to him.

'Is it really a private area?'

Even after 55 times, he didn't remember every single small terrain.

But if it was in such an easily accessible location, the structure would have been clearly remembered.

In all likelihood, it was probably a private area.

"We should log in and go there. Let's go to the cafe first."

The two headed to a cafe near the exit.

A man in a suit was sitting in the innermost partitioned seat.

"Avantgarde?"

"Ah, you're here! Please sit down."

Avantgarde stood up abruptly and greeted them.

After everyone was seated, he pointed to the tablet next to the table and said, "It's nice to see you so often. Why don't you order first? Since I asked you to come today, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Thank you. I'll have a strawberry smoothie."

"And I'll have a chocolate frappe!"

After placing their orders, Avantgarde asked the two, "Did you see the post about the private area? It was a new place for me as well."

"Yes. I think it's likely to be a private area."

"As expected. So, we don't need to use the special compass we got as a reward, right?"

"Um..."

Hanbit pondered for a moment.

Despite continuously checking the community, no one had entered the private area yet.

There were two possibilities.

One was that the actual private area was in a different location.

The other was that the cave was the entrance, but there was a separate way to enter.

Hanbit thought that no matter which case it was, using the compass would solve the problem.

"Let's go to that cave first. I'll make a decision there."

"Alright. We have to go to Ifrit today, so we need to move quickly."

Avantgarde had an excited expression.

As they waited for their drinks, they continued their conversation.

"By the way, are you okay, Roper? I heard that the startup process is quite complicated."

"Actually, I won't be logging into the game anymore. I'm starting it in earnest today. Mostly related to the Black Dragon channel's videos."

"Oh, I see. So, you won't be streaming anymore?"

"I won't be doing live streams for a while, but I think I'll be working more as a manager."

Yeonwoo, having received his father's approval, immediately founded a company. It was the realization of his long-held dream of running a company and his goal was to properly support Hanbit, who was to become a main streamer.

"I'm sorry we can't play together, but congratulations. I'll do whatever I can to help while I'm working with Black Dragon."

"Thank you. Since you have a lot of experience, please teach me a lot about streaming. Though I might not listen that well."

The two had a smooth conversation.

Hanbit, who was watching them in bewilderment, asked a question, "So, how are you going to do a joint stream?"

"Basically, Black Dragon will be the main focus. You can progress through the story or show anything else you want to. Whatever you do, you'll be different from ordinary players."

"Didn't you say that Avantgarde hadn't cleared any episodes?"

"That was until yesterday, but not today."

"Huh?"

Hanbit looked puzzled at the strange answer.

Then Avantgarde placed his smartphone on the table.

"I've been playing through the story while watching Black Dragon's stream since before the reset message. Thanks to that, I completed the main quest late this afternoon. I'm still far behind, but I'm so grateful to be able to reach a complete ending."

[Achievement Unlocked: Walker of the True Path]

The reward message that appeared on the screen.

Compared to Hanbit, it was only half the level and there were no special rewards.

However, Avantgarde looked genuinely happy.

He was sincerely impressed that he had reached a complete ending, even though he had referenced Hanbit's stream.

"You said you stopped in the middle of the Edlen story?"

"Yes. It was fortunate that I felt a sense of déjà vu when I talked to all the NPCs. It was a bit difficult, but thanks to Black Dragon, I was able to put it on the right track."

"That's even more amazing. Anyway, I'm glad we can go to Ifrit together. The problem is..."

A new worry settled in Hanbit's mind.

There were several goals in Ifrit, but there was one that he couldn't solve alone.

It was an important issue that was also tied to the episode.

"We're not the only ones going."

"Who else is there?" At Avantgarde's question, Hanbit got up from his seat.

After finishing his drink, he picked up his smartphone and said, "Let's go pick up Kim Jaeha."

* * *

"Have you thought about it?"

"All that's left is the final decision. I don't think there will be a big problem with funds either."

Yeonwoo nodded at Hanbit's question.

Discussions about recruiting Kim Jaeha had been taking place intermittently.

Since Yeonwoo was the one who had to pay the salary, his agreement was important.

"Didn't you say he wasn't answering?"

"I got a late reply. He said he would be here by 6:30 at the latest, but there's no news."

Kim Jaeha, who had been out of contact, had replied at dawn.

They had managed to make an appointment, but it was already past 7:30.

"It reminds me of the old days. I think his usual work hours were until 6."

Avantgarde, who was walking beside them, said with a wistful expression.

He said he had been an ordinary office worker who worked for a company until three years ago.

"Taeyul's office... it's over there."

Yeonwoo, who was leading the way, searched for the road. When they reached a distance of about 10 minutes from the station a loud shout was heard.

"Hey, Kim Jaeha! What the hell are you doing here?"

A building with the name ‘Taeyul’ on it appeared.

At the entrance of the stairs below, a middle-aged man was yelling at someone.

A tired-looking man called Kim Jaeha raised his voice pitifully.

"I'm not doing anything! How many times did I tell you that I need to bid? If you had only reported it to the CEO..."

"I don't care about the results! Who would have thought there would be a crazy guy who would spend 100 million won on a 10 million won earth essence? You should have persuaded me properly!"

"Companies, streamers, and individual players are all competing to get in touch with Black Dragon in any way possible! I noticed that atmosphere and reported it in advance! Your department head ignored it!"

"You're such a crazy bastard. It was your job to suck up to Black Dragon without any auction! Understand?!"

Having heard the conversation, Hanbit got the gist of it.

The other two who were listening with him did as well.

"Is that about your auction, Hyung?"

"Kim Jaeha must have proposed a bid. I can roughly see how things are going."

Many people were eyeing the auction as an opportunity. If someone had made a faster decision than Luna, they would have probably been in contact with him. Kim Jaeha's prediction was accurate.

"You're only supposed to do work that doesn't cost money. You only ruin company business when you spend money. No, actually, you couldn't ruin it much more than you already have, could you?”

"...I told you clearly back then that it was dangerous. And this time, it was something we absolutely had to do."

"Hey."

Smack-

The division manager hit Kim Jaeha in the chest with his fist.

"Don't get any ideas. You're just a guy who can't do his job. Instead of firing you, I'm giving you work that doesn't cost anything. You're so clueless."

"......"

The endless barrage of insults, each one hitting harder than the last, reached Hanbit's ears.

And the man said something that shouldn't have been said, "Are you doing this to your wife and kids too? Behave yourself. Huh? If you're incompetent, at least do what you're told."

"...Why are you bringing my family into this?"

"Oh, you want to hit me? You can’t control your fists either?"

Kim Jaeha's clenched fists trembled slightly but he was enduring it because of his family.

‘Is every company like this...?’

The team leader's face naturally came to mind.

He was exactly the same, even down to bringing up family.

Hanbit could see his mentor, Lee Minho projected onto Kim Jaeha, who was being humiliated by such a vile person.

"If you can't even take advice from your superiors, will you take care of your family properly? You'll be stuck in that position forever. Because of me, I'm picking up trash like you... What?"

Someone grabbed the arm of the manager, who was spewing out curses.

He looked up and met Hanbit's eyes.

"Who the hell are you? Let go."

"Who are you?"

"Wow, this guy didn't even get a proper upbringing. Who talks to an elder like that? Ugh!"

The manager’s expression twisted in pain.

It was because of the excruciating pain that had shot up his arm.

Crunch-

Hanbit lightly pressed his fingers into the manager's arm.

He knew all too well how to inflict pain.

"You have to act your age to be considered an adult. That's what my mom said."

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

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