Chapter 75

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Vroom.

The 4th floor of an old building near Jongno, Seoul.

In the office where only a single desk lamp was turned on, a vibration rang.

“Ugh.”

Kim Jae-ha, who had fallen asleep burying his head in his messy desk, fumbled around.

Barely grasping his smartphone, he half-lifted his heavy eyelids.

[Black Dragon]

[I apologize for interrupting when you are busy. If you have some time, could you log in right now?]

“Ah.”

As soon as he saw the name, he snapped out of his sleep.

Because he hadn’t even replied to the previous message.

The reason lay in this frustrating situation.

“This is truly fucking shit.”

Right after Black Dragon’s auction went up on RP Trader.

Kim Jae-ha hurriedly reported the situation to his department head.

Because he somehow wanted to bid in the company’s name and establish a business relationship.

However, the reaction was disgusting as always.

“This bastard is really trying to spend money like a madman. Hey, did you scheme this with Black Dragon? Trying to rip off some company money?”

Even if they succeed in contacting Black Dragon, the company needs to provide him with practical benefits.

This investment would bring massive profits.

He tried to persuade him with all sorts of words, but the department head ignored the proposal, spitting curses.

Such a pathetic and incompetent judgment.

He couldn’t raise his head in shame against Black Dragon, who had shown goodwill.

A sense of profound shame washed over him, contemplating that he was doing this work for the company and a guy like his department head.

“Haa.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Kim Jae-ha stared at the piled-up documents.

An immense amount of import-export document organizing and figure inspection done while staying up for two nights straight in the office.

The duty of serving in two departments periodically brought about situations like this hell.

He hadn’t even been able to check the broadcast since Black Dragon cleared the episode.

“Haaaa.”

Slumped back in his chair, Kim Jae-ha’s gaze was directed towards the ceiling.

Why was he working at this company?

Since when, and where had it all gone wrong?

Such thoughts swirled endlessly in his head.

“Oppa, are you not coming home today either?”

“Are you having proper meals, right?”

“Yoon-ah keeps whining that she wants to see her dad.”

The brief phone calls he had shared with his wife.

He wanted to go home and eat a warm meal, and embrace his lovely daughter as well.

The reality of not being able to sleep and forcefully shoving half-cooked cup noodles into his mouth was all too bleak.

“Should I quit.”

It’s said that salarymen always live with a resignation letter in their pockets.

Yet, someone who has to protect their family cannot take out that white envelope.

He could elect to transfer jobs, but even that was teeming with unstable factors.

“I should just work.”

Returning to the heavy reality, Kim Jae-ha turned his gaze back to his piled-up tasks.

Before that, he sent a short reply to Black Dragon.

[I apologize.]

***

The outskirts of Edlen’s forest.

Standing there, Han-bit was facing a tall man.

“I give my greetings again. I am Avant-garde, a streamer who loves RP.”

He had the exact same appearance as the figure seen in the department store.

The nickname ‘Avant-garde’ was clearly engraved above his head.

“Hello. You’ve come quite quickly.”

“It is only natural. I continuously leave Black Dragon-nim’s broadcast open, after all. It is unfortunate that Loafer-nim has stepped away.”

Before Avant-garde arrived, Yeon-woo logged off the game to handle matters concerning his startup.

Seeing how busy he was, it seemed they were at the final stages.

‘Is it a very busy company?’

Originally, he had wanted to bring Kim Jae-ha to talk as well, but only a short reply saying ‘I apologize’ had arrived.

Considering the atmosphere, he must be in a similar situation as his senior, Lee Min-ho.

It seemed there would be a need to meet him directly.

“Hmm.”

Glancing around for a moment, Avant-garde took a step closer.

“How about we relocate, for starters? The number of people is gradually increasing.”

The crowd pacing back and forth around them was at a level difficult to ignore.

It was unexpected that the spiteful Ranger wasn’t visible, though.

“But how did these people find this place? We even intentionally covered the screen while moving.”

“Ah, Black Dragon-nim’s location is being broadcasted entirely on the community.”

“A broadcast?”

Startled by the strange words, Han-bit moved his fingers to access the community.

Checking a certain post, he viewed its contents.

I logged in without tuning into the broadcast, and he is currently at Atsbel’s shop.

Those who see him, let’s share at the comments. Go go.

– Crazy stalkers ㄷㄷ

– Is he going to receive something from Atsbel again?

– He says he is going to a dungeon right now?

– He came out of Edlen and is moving.

– They found a dungeon at the place marked here.

– Now he’s clearing the dungeon.

– It’s a crazy dungeon.

– Clear is finished.

– He came out of the dungeon.

– Covering the broadcast screen and moving.

– Currently heading towards 11 o’clock from Edlen’s dungeon.

……

‘They are truly crazy people.’

He had fully expected someone to follow them.

But he never knew there would be a real-time broadcast in this kind of format.

Letting out a sigh, Han-bit looked at Avant-garde and spoke.

“I understand how this happened, but even if we go somewhere else, they will follow us anyway.”

“Ah, that is quite alright. I have this item.”

He took out two red cards with his hands.

The familiar hourglass pattern drawn on its surface was something Han-bit knew quite well.

“Isn’t that a Transfer Card? Where did you get that?”

A transfer card that can move you randomly within a certain range.

It was an item that is difficult to find or obtain within the Raven Kingdom.

“As expected, you know what it is. This was acquired from a rural village called Bananba.”

“Wow, nicely found. You have used it, right?”

“I’ve used one card, but it was a shame that the transfer was random. I guess it will mostly serve as an emergency escape use.”

“Hmm.”

A magic tool treated ambiguously due to being uncontrollable.

However, Han-bit knew the proper method to utilize this.

Especially if he could use it in the next episode, it would be as good as it gets.

“How about selling that to me instead of using it? With gold or cash.”

“Oh my, not at all. If you need it, I can give you as much as you want.”

Avant-garde extended the card without a second’s hesitation.

Fascinatingly, no other intent was visible at all from that action.

“You’re just going to give it?”

“It is purely out of my heart. When you called for me, I was truly moved, you see. If we weren’t on broadcast, I would have shed tears.”

– He’s just a guy who likes Black Dragon.

– I’m a viewer of Vanguard, but I stayed in Edlen for several days just to see Black Dragon.

– What sin have the viewers committed?

– The sin of choosing the wrong room manager.

Avant-garde’s gaze was sincere.

Looking at how he had sponsored him so many times and constantly attempted to contact him, his desperation was palpable.

“Then I shall gratefully accept.”

“Do not mention it.”

Since they clearly had things to exchange, Han-bit accepted his favor.

The two cards entered his inventory.

“It seems the number of people here has increased even further. What shall we do?”

Avant-garde asked, looking around his surroundings again.

The increased number of players were almost openly watching this place.

“Let’s just ignore them and go around.”

“Pardon? Will that be fine?”

“As long as it’s not a sudden attack, I guess it doesn’t matter. For now, shall we walk towards the forest?”

“That sounds exceedingly delightful. A stroll is none other than what RP is about, isn’t it?”

Avant-garde nodded his head as if he were glad.

Suddenly, he remembered that traveling all over the world was his main content.

Since it was agreed upon regardless, the two began to walk along the path.

Exclaiming from time to time while progressing through the forest for a bit.

Avant-garde carefully opened his mouth.

“By any chance, could I know the reason you called for me?”

“The reason?”

“When you cleared the episode and the World Message popped up, I obediently gave up. The only ones who could be of any help to Black Dragon-nim would be large corporations or Vanguards.”

Avant-garde was a streamer with an average of 10,000 viewers.

Although he was a veteran who had started RP from the opening, compared to those famous big shots he was meager.

Because he did not walk the path of focusing on story progression and growth like others.

“You sponsored a lot, and continually kept in contact. The fact that we actually met is fate as well.”

“I truly thought that was a dream back then. If your family members weren’t together with you, I might have dragged on thoughtlessly.”

– ?

– Do you guys meet off stream?

– Where is this at, I’m going right now.

– Please just stay stuck in the corner of your room like usual.

– The insults are severe.

– Although that’s exactly what I’m going to do without you telling me to.

Avant-garde recalled those memories joyfully.

Watching his appearance, Han-bit decided to adjust the evaluation of himself.

“If you remove matters related to the RP world, I am just a beginner, too. Regarding the system or the players, there are still many things I do not know.”

“Those formal concepts would not serve as a constraint for Black Dragon-nim. However, looking at the direction of existing episodes, information and relations concerning other players are quite crucial. There are places where you cannot make progress on your own.”

“Do you mean by forming a team?”

“There are instances where one forms a team, but there are also cases where divided forces clash. Of course, as you demonstrated in the Edlen episode, proceeding along the path of truth carries ample possibility of changing things entirely.”

Words starting from worry and concern to ending with anticipation.

He could understand Avant-garde’s thoughts, but whether he can progress completely alone depends on the situation.

Especially since predicting stories that have yet to be reached is difficult.

‘It’s better to shorten the time as much as possible, though.’

Examining the map, Han-bit briefly thought about the future.

Right now they talk about the progression speed being fast, but honestly he felt there was a sense of lacking.

After all, his goal is to eventually catch up to the most advanced Vanguards.

With such thoughts, Han-bit asked Avant-garde.

“I’ve heard that you travel all over the world, but how far have you gone?”

“I’ve almost traveled all the western continent where Raven is situated. As for the central region I got curious about the Holy State so I looked around a bit, and as for the eastern side access is blocked so I could not visit. Truly many things occurred.”

Because his content centers around bringing out the fun in his journeys, Avant-garde says the players and NPCs he met everywhere are also innumerable.

He seemingly developed many unexpectedly close connections naturally.

‘Not bad.’

Han-bit was surprised by the unexpected advantages.

Different types from what can be acquired through Luna.

In fact, if he traveled to several places inside the game there might be information that Han-bit does not know about.

Mulling over something, Han-bit tossed a question to him.

“I’d like to ask the opposite, but why did Avant-garde-ssi contact me? Were you also needing walkthrough information or the like?”

“Absolutely not.”

Avant-garde hastily waved his hands in denial.

And then he continued his words with a face more sincere than ever.

“I just wanted to get closer to the person who knows the ‘truth’ of this world.”