Chapter 18

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Monopolizing?”

A question arose at the completely unexpected story.

Was that a possible structure in the first place?

“What did they do?”

“I don’t really know either. They say they just suddenly swept through the clears en masse a little while ago… Let me check for a bit.”

Yeon-woo quickly entered the RPG community.

The stiffening of his expression was visible at a glance.

“Why, is it full of curses?”

“It might be faster to find comments without curses?”

Swoosh.

Yeon-woo placed his smartphone back on the dining table.

Han-bit, who tapped on a post, let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s burning blazing hot.”

(TL Note: 100 limit refers to the Hero grade constraint)

It really was a first-come-first-served reward.

It was limited to 100 Hero grades.

Now, if you receive the quest from Atsbel, the reward pops up as Rare grade.

If it gets even later, it seems it might drop to Uncommon or Common.

Trash bastards.

– It’s f*cking dog sh*t. Black Dragon, Loafer you sons of b*tches!

– No wonder I couldn’t see a single Bomb Slime. Shib*l.

– I just wasted my time pointlessly.

– So in the end, Rashten’s lackeys orchestrated this?

– Bomb Slimes still aren’t spawning.

└ Go bow your heads to Rashten.

└ It’s not even a hunting ground spot, we have to buy the monsters now. Lol.

– Those major corp trash, seriously.

– Getting hit with 21 hours of pointless labor reality check.

– I imagined shooting up the ranks by clearing it 2nd;

– So, when are Loafer and Black Dragon turning on the broadcast? Just wait, seriously.

The packed comments were divided into exactly two categories.

Half were curses and lamentations towards the major corporation.

The other half was criticism directed at Black Dragon and Loafer.

The atmosphere was already convinced that the two were lackeys of the major corporation.

“There were exactly 100 Hero grades.”

“Yeah, exactly. Ah, seriously, this isn’t right.”

The reward of a Hero grade skill drew out tremendous motivation from the players.

If one corporation swept all of that away, and it was due to manipulation rather than skill, the sense of deprivation would be enormous.

“I should turn on the broadcast quickly. Regardless of me, you shouldn’t be getting cursed at, hyung.”

“What’s this, are you managing my image?”

“It makes no sense for them to criticize us like that based solely on groundless conjectures. When they were receiving the info, they were making a fuss about how good it is.”

Yeon-woo narrowing his brow and expressing displeasure.

At that appearance, Han-bit smirked and said.

“Why are you getting heated? We just have to say we aren’t.”

“It’s obvious they won’t listen if we just use words. There’ll be as many trolls coming to mess around as there are people genuinely coming to argue.”

“Is that so?”

Yeon-woo shook his head back and forth as if the future was being drawn out.

To think there are that many people who would come to cause a ruckus just for fun.

He couldn’t help but be inwardly curious.

“More importantly, what about the corporation that monopolized it? They don’t have anything to say?”

“It’s a place called Rashten from Germany… They just posted a statement on their homepage. That they’ve eaten all of the Atsbel Quests.”

A truly simple notice was posted on Rashten’s homepage.

“What kind of chuunibyou shit is this? Funny bastards.”

Han-bit spat out a chuckle at the automatically translated notice.

The word ‘true’ attached in front of conqueror was clearly mocking him.

“If they have a Vanguard, how successful of a major corporation are they?”

“The Ranger is in the mid-9000s vanguard rank, so they’re on the weaker side among competitors. Perhaps they tried to boost their atmosphere with this incident.”

“Hmm.”

The competitive relationship between corporations was outside Han-bit’s interests.

However, the corporation called Rashten provoked him first.

Even if he releases information, they will likely try to monopolize it desperately.

Han-bit didn’t have the personality to just openly let himself be used, nor the personality to just take it.

It’s only rational to properly pay them back.

“What about your broadcast? You’re going to keep doing it for the time being, right?”

“Until my company conception is finished, I’m planning to act as your manager and cameraman. Especially since today the trolls will be running amok crazily.”

“That’s fine. It’s not like there are no methods to resolve it.”

“… It is a normal method, right?”

Han-bit’s face that looked like he was about to cause an incident again.

Since he was the one who shook the RP world from the very first day, Yeon-woo felt expectation and worry simultaneously.

“Come to think of it, I need to teach you a bit about broadcasting too.”

“Broadcasting?”

“First, increasing regular viewers is important. If you broadcast directly yourself, hyung, the reactions and various things you have to pay attention to…”

Yeon-woo began to smoothly recite the necessary advice.

Han-bit, who initially thought he would just do whatever he wanted, listened quite seriously.

“You roughly get the feel of what it’s like, right?”

“Mhm.”

Han-bit, who had listened quietly, nodded his head.

He spoke with a confident voice.

“As expected, I want to do whatever I want.”

***

Returning home, Han-bit immediately rummaged through the guidebook he purchased.

After confirming the desired information and things necessary later on, quite a bit of time had passed.

Ding.

[Hyung, you’re late?]

Simultaneously with logging into RP, Yeon-woo’s message flew in.

Because several hours had passed since they parted ways.

Han-bit, who had been observing his surroundings, sent a reply while moving his steps toward the forest.

[I was looking at the guidebook for a bit. Is the Adventurer A who wrote it a vanguard? What about his affiliated corporation or something?]

[He is a vanguard, but he didn’t reveal to what extent. Affiliation is… a solo player? I don’t really know about this either. But why ask that?]

[Just curious. I have to check something, so I’ll contact you later. Let’s turn on the broadcast then.]

[Yes. I will be handling some chores, so call me.]

With that reply as the end, Yeon-woo’s online indicator disappeared.

Closing the window, Han-bit moved his steps toward the deeper forest.

‘It’s sparse.’

Advancing a bit further, the cliff where he had caught the Bomb Slime appeared.

Due to the monopoly news having already spread, there were few players searching.

Going down, he inspected the crevices of the cliff.

‘No slimes either.’

At least a few should have spawned during the morning.

For even ordinary Bomb Slimes to be nowhere in sight is a strange occurrence.

Tap!

Han-bit started running straight along the cliff.

When he had advanced for about 10 minutes, something caught his eye.

‘Found it.’

A tree inside dense bushes to the point it was hard for footsteps to reach.

Below the crevice covered in roots, a hole was pierced.

Beep.

Hiding all UI and information, Han-bit pressed the record button.

Lowering his posture, he squeezed his body and entered inside.

A narrow passage just enough for one person to barely fit through.

Following the gloomy path, a large cavity appeared.

‘As expected.’

What entered his sight were dark brown slimes.

Next to it, and behind it, identically shaped bastards were gathering in one place.

Even in the dark, it was clear that they were Bomb Slimes.

Gurgle.

Something moving where the swarming slimes were heading.

It looked as if the wall was wriggling, but the massive body was undulating.

[Elite: Bomb Slime King (Lv.7)]

‘They really went all out.’

The monster called the Bomb Slime King.

It’s the king of those bastards that grows its body size by luring ordinary Bomb Slimes.

Given its tendency to prefer large trees, there was no way it would be in a place like this.

Crackle!

Right then, a small spark popped from the bastard.

Han-bit pulled the camera zoom and illuminated the ceiling above the Slime King.

Embedded there was a black disc engraved with a certain mark.

‘… Isn’t that a Monster Inducer?’

That is a one-time use item obtainable from a dungeon in the North.

Just as the name implies, it possessed the effect of drawing in surrounding monsters.

‘I know what this is.’

They lured that Bomb Slime King to this place and used the inducer.

If that happens, the innate traits the bastard possesses and the performance of the Monster Inducer explosively stack in this space.

Naturally, all the Bomb Slimes in the area would gather.

If someone monopolized that, the culprit was obvious.

‘It’s even the Rashten logo.’

Han-bit pulled the zoom further and examined the mark engraved on the inducer.

The logo he saw on the Rashten homepage.

It was boldly slapped onto the inducer.

Was it something essentially engraved on the item, or were they certain they wouldn’t be caught?

Regardless of which it was, leaving that unattended was a stupid act.

Beep.

Terminating the recording, Han-bit raised his hand just like that.

“Fireball.”

Whoosh!

A crimson fireball flying toward the giant slime.

Han-bit quickly hid his body behind a low-lying mound of dirt.

Kaboooooom!

True to the name Bomb Slime, the flame served as an excellent detonator.

As he peeked his head out, the bastards had vanished without a trace.

As expected, if you only think about killing them, they are too easy.

Ding.

[Experience Points increased by 7,720.]

[Level has increased by 4.]

[4 Stat Points are distributed.]

‘Just how many of them clumped together?’

Unlike ordinary Bomb Slimes that give nothing, the Bomb Slime King yields a massive amount of experience points.

He thought the size was a bit large, but the numbers were far greater than what was visible.

It must be because they continuously gathered even after Rashten left.

Ding.

He was about to leave his spot, but the messages kept continuing.

Turning his gaze, Han-bit discovered new content.

[Title: Adversary of the Bomb Slime is added to the list.]

[Achievement: Suppressing an Elite Monster has been accomplished.]

[1 Stat Point is distributed.]

“It gives one here too.”

[Adversary of the Bomb Slime]

Damage dealt to Slime monsters increases by 5 percent.

Unlike The 55th Recorder, this is the first title obtained through gameplay.

Since the effect applies just by possessing it, it would be good to collect as many as possible.

Rustle.

Han-bit pushed through the debris and headed outside the cave.

What was important right now was the monopoly incident by the Rashten corporation.

“No matter how much I think about it, it makes no sense.”

Sitting at the base of a tree, he organized his thoughts.

Such a hidden space didn’t appear in the guidebook.

However, it was completely certain that Adventurer A knew this location.

[Zentromber]

The NPC Zentromber written in the guidebook is the miner who personally dug this place out in the past.

If one hadn’t met him living alone on a mountain peak in another region, it would be normal to not even know his name.

In other words, it means Adventurer A didn’t disclose all the information.

‘Yeon-woo said that user was a solo player but… Is there information he sells without putting it in the guidebook?’

Just because it’s a guidebook doesn’t mean everything needs to be disclosed.

The key was the level of knowledge Adventurer A possessed.

The strangely vast amount of information and ambiguous accuracy, and even completely wrong parts, all weighed on his mind.

It was more strange if it wasn’t intended.

Beep.

Calling up the friend list, he sent a message and the recorded video to Yeon-woo.

[Come to the front of Atsbel’s general store in 1 hour. And upload the video I’m sending now anonymously to the community site.]

***

“Hyung, I was really surprised. To think there was something like that.”

In front of Atsbel’s general store.

Han-bit and Yeon-woo, who had left their characters stationed there, were talking on the phone in reality.

It was a simple matter of just setting the gear to power-saving mode.

“The reaction was refreshing, right?”

“Inevitably, they have no choice but to curse Rashten upon seeing that. Their site probably blew up too?”

A single post containing the recorded video was uploaded to the RPG community.

Judging whose doing it is, is up to everyone.

– ? Why are those guys there?

– Information) The Bomb Slime King only spawns in the shade of the central giant tree.

– Information 2) The Slime King lures and absorbs other Bomb Slimes.

– Isn’t that Monster Inducer over there the Rashten logo?

– They lured them all the way there on purpose to orchestrate it?

– D*mn that’s some serious dedication;

– How did they shove them in there;

– ???: We are the true conquerors of the Atsbel quest.

└ So this was sniping Black Dragon. Lol.

└ Gloomy bastards;

– I told you. Loafer and Black Dragon have no relation?

– They were cornering innocent people, look at their stance change. Lol.

The exploding view counts and endlessly increasing comments.

The ignited atmosphere showed no signs of subsiding.

Of course, to Han-bit observing from afar, it was an entertaining comedy.

“Then the misunderstanding is resolved. Now we just have to learn the next fire magic.”

“… Pardon?”

Yeon-woo’s voice changed at the casually thrown words by Han-bit.

“What do you mean by that? What about the proficiency?”

A reaction as if he had heard a truly absurd story.

Han-bit answered nonchalantly.

“I filled all of that.”