«It is obvious why ‘That Hunter’ came to your stream. After seeing Master’s special mana recovery skill, they were curious to see if you had the same skill as them. »

‘You think so too?’

«Yes, Master. In addition, thanks to ‘That Hunter’, the number of views and Likes increased significantly.»

‘I guess all sorts of weird things happen during a live stream. I feel like I just won the lottery.’

«I would not call it winning the lottery. After all, it means Master’s skills have surpassed the skills of ordinary Hunters. On top of that, you are a GodTuber that cleared a new dungeon that suddenly appeared, without being restricted by the level limit. Rather, it would be strange for ‘That Hunter’ not to take an interest in you.»

‘You think so?’

«You tend to underestimate yourself, Master. We also learned that [A/B] is very interested in your power. I heard that he put some kind of bounty on you?»

‘Yeah, that was really weird. I wouldn’t have believed it if my fans hadn’t sent me the screenshot of his donation after my stream ended. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel real to me. I’ve seen too much of what it’s like to overestimate yourself. But I get it. It’s more professional of me to use the fame of these two GodTubers.’

Being a GodTuber was like riding a bicycle, if they stopped, they fell. To survive, they had to keep pedaling.

Ji-Cheok took another deep breath. Breathing was the basics of Qi training. He continued to submerge deep into his inner self, looking to better control his inner strength. Eventually, he slowly opened his eyes and finished his training.

“Cheok-Liang, let’s check the effects of the titles we got last time. After that, we should think about purchasing new skills.”

«Yes, Master. I will do that. Let me show you the titles first.»

[Keeper of the Walls]

[Class: Rare

A title given to those who bravely defended the wall.

Increases the durability of buildings by 10% during defense battles.]

[Keeper of Life]

[A title given to those who rushed to defend their allies.

Increases all ally NPC abilities by 5% during defensive battles.]

‘They are not bad, but they’re not very necessary titles, don’t you think? If I upgrade them later, they might become as powerful as [Grandmaster of Slaughter], which increases the AoE damage by thirty percent and reduces the mana consumption by thirty percent, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. These titles are really only useful for defensive battles. I also think that increasing the power of the walls and NPC soldiers is not going to help me that much.’

“Hm…”

‘Wouldn’t the combination of [Pyromaniac] and [Grandmaster of Slaughter], or [Ant Exterminator] and [The one who killed the Two-headed gnoll alone] be more powerful?’

«That is correct. However, titles have additional effects on your stats just by having them, so the more you collect, the better.»

‘Yeah, true. It’s not like buying armor, where you can only wear one thing at a time. If I collect the titles, they accumulate. So Cheok-Liang, how many Likes do I have?’

«723,981 Likes, Master.»

‘Whoah, I’ve gathered more than I thought.’

«If you keep up with the pace, it will not take long for you to earn ten million Likes.»

‘Maybe. I’m glad that I’m earning more Likes than I am spending. Let’s target ‘That Hunter’, who is the best GodTuber in the world, as our goal.’

«That is a fantastic goal, Master. Here is a list of skills that I recommend to you, Master. I think it is wise to purchase all of them.»

Cheok-Liang wiggled his small front paws and opened up a skill purchase window.

[Veins of the Fire Spirit—100,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Non-upgradable)

The power of the Fire Spirit flows in one’s blood. As soon as the user learns the skill, the user can handle the power of the Fire Spirit.

Increases fire resistance by 50%.

Increases fire-type damage by 15%.

Reduces mana consumption by 15% when attacking with fire-type skills.]

[Will of Fire—200,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Non-upgradable)

The Will of Fire is awakened by those who deal with secret fire arts such as fire magic or spirits. The user will learn the nature of fire.

Increases fire-type damage by 15%.

Reduces mana consumption by 10% when attacking with fire-type skills.]

[Fire Awakening—100,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Non-upgradable)

The nature of fire is known to those who deal with fire. He who understands its essence shall acquire more knowledge about it.

Increases fire-type damage by 10%.

Reduces mana consumption by 5% when attacking with fire-type skills

Increases success rate by 10% when crafting objects using fire.]

[Fire Wizard—100,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Non-upgradable)

Wizards who specialize in flame magic know the ways of fire. Their attribute further increases the power of fire.

Increases fire-type damage by 10%.

Reduces mana consumption by 5% when attacking with fire-type skills.

Increases flame duration by 50% when attacking with fire-type skills.]

‘That’s a whopping 500,000 Likes if I am to buy all of these. Is this worth it? I mean, I earn more than I spend my Likes, but if I spend 500,000 Likes at a time, when will I ever be able to earn 10,000,000?’

«But, Master. By acquiring these skills, the damage of fire-type attacks will increase by fifty percent. If you add the [Grandmaster of Slaughter] and [Pyromaniac], the damage of [Blaze Walk] will increase by eighty-seven percent.»

‘The [Pyromaniac] increases the damage by seven percent, and [Grandmaster of Slaughter] increases it by thirty percent. It seems terrifying when you put it in numbers…’

“Do you have any better versions of [Blaze Walk]?”

«Let me search for it, Master.»

…

«It is a completely different type, but a similar skill exists.»

It had taken him a while, but it seemed like Cheok-Liang had found a skill.

[Cthugha’s Steps—200,000 Likes]

[Class: Unique (Upgradeable, Rank F)

An extradimensional flame dwells in one’s feet, capable of even burning souls. The heretic flame of another world writhes as if alive, injuring the enemy’s mind and burning immaterial beings.

15% chance of developing a panic condition.

15% chance of developing a fear condition.

*Caution

The skill caster may be afflicted with a lesser Panic curse.

The skill caster may be afflicted with a lesser Fear curse.] 

‘Wow, you sure found something amazing. You’re saying that this skill has strong fire damage, but the caster has a chance of getting cursed by it.’

«Yes, Master. However, Master already has a mental barrier, and the upgraded version of [Guardian of Hope shield] will protect not only you, but also your allies.»

‘Ah, you mean the third function.’

[Function: The user and his teammates gain high resistance against negative mental influences.]

«Yes, Master. That is why it is possible to completely ignore the lesser mental curses. Conversely, not only is it incredibly destructive, but it also has the rare ability to cause damage to the enemy’s mental state.»

“Can I use it with [Blaze Walk]?”

«You can try. At this moment, it is unknown.»

“That’s understandable. There is no other Hunter who can use the skills of other jobs the way I can.”

‘Hm… I have to think about that. But still, a skill that can screw with the opponent's mind? If I use this on a hundred Stone Ants, that means around fifteen of them will fly into panic. It’s like buy one hundred and get fifteen for free. But I still don’t know the exact definition of ‘teammate’ when talking about the function of the shield.’

«If we are talking about the Fortress of Hope, I believe ‘teammates’ would be the people in your team. Of course, each dungeon will have slightly different standards.»

‘Wow, that means [Guardian of Hope] is so overpowered.’ I didn’t expect that a shield that looked like a door would be this good… No, well, the way it was upgraded, it was bound to be powerful.’

«Yes, Master. Since this dungeon is made for a full-on battle, the items obtained are also similar to the theme of the dungeon.»

‘Dozens of Hunters uniting against thousands of Stone Ants… But the reality is that Hunters care more about their individual rankings. Either way, the combination of [Guardian of Hope] and [Cthugha’s Steps] is basically a no-risk high-return investment. And what if it CAN be used with [Blaze Walk]?’ 

«It will be something that no one has ever seen before.»

It would be worth buying the skill even if just to know if using those two skills together was possible. If it was impossible, Ji-Cheok could keep that in mind for the future, and if it was possible… he would have created a uniquely destructive skill of his own.

“Alright! Let’s buy them all!”

‘The sound of 700,000 Likes taken away from me is like music to my ears~ Now I would have 23,981 Likes—wait it’s 24,513 Likes! I earned some more Likes while buying these skills. But… I’m hungry for more Likes.’

«With this, we are fully prepared, Master.»

“Okay. With this… I think we can do it!”

«Then we will have to prepare for your next stream, Master»

“Yupp.”

This was a preview notification for tomorrow’s event.

[Clearing 1st place in all 4 teams at the Fortress of Hope. #Letsgo!]

It didn’t matter which group Ji-Cheok fell into. He was going to monopolize the rankings of all teams!

‘This is going to be fun.’

* * *

⌜So! I’m going to try and come first place in all teams in the Fortress of Hope! Of course, I might fail~ I know that’s a possibility.⌟

On the screen, Ji-Cheok deliberately pretended to cry. His beautiful face, which he took good care of by increasing his Charm stats, stole the hearts of the viewers.

⌜Well, at least I have to try. Who knows? There might be more hidden rewards!⌟

“Ah, fucking hell… Who the hell would stan that kind of sissy bitch?”

It was Yum Ra-Du—the youngest in the direct line of descendants of the Danmok Yum family.[1] 

The Yum family was the local tyrant of the city of Danmok, Gyeonggi Province[2], and was a prestigious family in the Hunter world, having produced many talented fire-type Hunters. Ra-Du’s grandfather was the current head of the Yum family, and his father was the eldest son who would be the next head of the family. This meant that, in the future, Yum Ra-Du was in line to become the family head as well. 

From an early age, the youngest grandson of the family had not only awakened with fire-type abilities, but also turned out to be a true prodigy when it came to fire-type skills. Ra-Du would always get the drumsticks, which were the best parts of fried chicken, and other food that was good for the health, such as dried persimmons and red ginseng. His grandfather loved him so much that he even considered putting Ra-Du next in line for the head of the family, since Ra-Du was the strongest in the family. This made Ra-Du think he was the king of the world. 

However, right now, this arrogant Ra-Du was seriously pissed off. Even when he hadn’t gotten his favorite limited-edition dinosaur robot as a birthday present, he hadn't been this pissed off. At that time, his grandfather had calmed his angry grandson and eventually given him the present he wanted by having his secretary search for it, but Ra-Du had been very angry before he got the dinosaur robot. 

Ra-Du was now burning with anger as he looked at the man on the huge screen that covered the entire wall. It was Um Ji-Cheok. He was a rookie Hunter who had recently become a rising star in Korea. This so-called super rookie’s GodTube channel was growing fast. 

“How does this bastard already have 580,000 subscribers?”

Yum Ra-Du remembered the number of subscribers of his channel. Although his channel now had eighty-two thousand subscribers, with the miracle of rounding up, he always told people he had ninety thousand subscribers. Of course, his parents told him that since he wasn’t going to be a full-time GodTuber anyway, he should just focus on leveling up. They said that leveling up now was better for his future. They also said that kids who sold their faces at low levels were foolish because their skills would be known to the world. Still, Ra-Du felt annoyed.

‘Well, according to my parents, that bastard is going to be irrelevant sooner or later. But this bastard has a weird job that doesn’t let him level up normally.’ 

Even if Ra-Du told his parents about this, they would keep telling him that he was going to be the one who laughed at the finish line.

‘They told me to keep a low profile for now, but still, I’m so pissed.’

1. The original spelling we used for his name was “La-Du”, but we have changed it to Ra-Du as requested by the Korean publisher. ☜

2. Danmok city is fictional, but the Gyeonggi Province is the province surrounding Seoul. ☜