Chapter 164
2.
The player known by the nickname Short in Eternal World was, until just recently, considered one of the rising stars.
No—more precisely, he had been one of the rising stars.
And a talent of Eclipse Order at that, the guild ranked 4th in the guild rankings.
Due to his capabilities, he had been pushed into Meiran's backup team, but that didn’t mean his skills were in any way lacking.
If it hadn't been for a guild like Eclipse Order, which was in the single rankings, he was the kind of talent who would have been nurtured as a top prospect.
However, after Meiran left the guild, the situation changed drastically.
The guild had to go all in.
And so they turned him into a hunting dog.
He refused at first, but they offered him too much money to turn it down.
‘With this much money... even if I have to start over and join another guild, it's a profit...’
He had made that judgment and allowed himself to be reduced to a hunting dog, but he thought it was acceptable.
He thought it was a plan that couldn't possibly fail.
Not only that, but Tempest Wing and several other major guilds that had participated in the recent large-scale event had also agreed to send some of their people.
He was certain they would succeed in killing the Demon King.
He believed that if they succeeded once, they could succeed again and again, stop his growth, and begin a campaign of infinite killing.
That had been his judgment.
Short emerged from his capsule and let out a scream.
“Fuck! Why the hell did the branch manager show up there!!!”
Everything had been ruined by a single NPC named Branch Manager Belmore.
Above all, the message he saw right before being forcibly logged out.
[You have been imprisoned for attempting to accumulate infamy.]
[You will be imprisoned for 100 days.]
[Bail is not permitted.]
An imprisonment where bail wasn't even an option.
It meant he was stuck, locked up for 100 days.
In other words.
'I can't even make a new character.'
Setting aside the success or failure of the mission, the restriction of not being able to use this character or create a new one for that long was a massive penalty.
Short was boiling with rage, but he had received an advance payment.
Suppressing his seething anger, he made a call.
It was to none other than a representative from Eclipse Order.
[Did you succeed?]
“...It's a failure.”
[Was the Demon King that strong? Or did he realize we were targeting him?]
“...Neither. An Over Palace NPC blocked us and had us imprisoned.”
[……?]
The report of the absurdly anticlimactic result.
No one had seen it coming.
Even the representative from Eclipse Order was left speechless.
The representative didn't understand what that meant, but Short didn't know enough about the situation to explain it either.
In any case, one thing was certain.
“It seems Over Palace treasures the Demon King immensely.”
If not, there's no way they'd be guarding him around the clock.
In other words, any assassination plan, no matter how well-crafted, was impossible.
[Hmm.]
The Eclipse Order representative went quiet for a moment.
Then, as if not giving up just yet, he spoke.
[If you're imprisoned, it'll be hard for you to return for a while. Good work.]
The words were a clear sign that he was being cast aside.
Rage welled up in Short, but the next words calmed him down a little.
[Keep the advance payment. And in the future, we'll give you the position of team leader for our new rising star's backup team. Think of your prison time as a vacation and get some rest.]
“...Thank you.”
[And just in case, do some research on that Demon King fellow. You've got a good eye for these things, don't you?]
Telling him to rest on his vacation while also asking him to do research—what kind of nonsense was that?
Anyway, this is what having a job is like.
But there wasn't much Short could say.
“Yes, I understand.”
[Think of it as gathering intel for a newly formed assassination squad.]
“Yes.”
[Well then, get some rest.]
“Thank you.”
With that, the call with the Eclipse Order representative ended.
Short was now effectively retired.
He sank into his sofa.
Can't even play the game for a while, what is this crap.
Regretting ever joining the assassination squad, he turned on the TV.
An alarm went off on his MyTube account, which was linked to the TV.
[Live broadcast announcement from the Rapid Guild Channel.]
[Purchase a ticket?]
“A live broadcast?”
‘No way.’
On the off chance it was what he thought, Short checked the title.
[The Demon King's Raid]
It was, just as he thought, a raid by his former target, the Demon King.
‘Well, they did ask me to gather intel. Should I take a look?’
He wondered what would have happened if Branch Manager Belmore hadn't been there.
He bought a ticket, entered the live broadcast, and waited.
The Demon King's raid broadcast began.
And Short, who had been watching silently, forgot all about sinking into his sofa and shot up to his feet, his jaw hanging open as he stared and muttered.
“...Even if the Over Palace branch manager wasn't there, we would've been the ones to lose.”
3.
The raid bosses that appear in the labyrinth are quite diverse.
Some raid bosses reflect the characteristics of their labyrinth, while many others have completely different traits.
Here in the underground labyrinth, snake-type, bat-type, or spider-type bosses appeared frequently.
The raid boss Seonghyun was about to fight was one of these three: a spider-type.
This time, thanks to contacting Rapid in advance, they were able to set up the live broadcast beforehand.
Since it had been a full week since Seonghyun's last live broadcast, the crowd's enthusiasm was even more intense.
Usually, a rising star would broadcast at least twice a week.
So people were getting antsy.
After all, broadcasting only once a week, if that, was something only established rankers did.
-Waaah!!!!! It's finally on!!!!!
-Seriously T_T Why don't you stream more often T_T.
-Please stream more often T_T.
-Where is this?
-Oh? It's Pentagrid, isn't it? Judging by the underground labyrinth, it does look like it?
-Is Pentagrid the ONLY place with an underground labyrinth????
The moment the live broadcast started, a feast of comments flooded in like a tidal wave.
Seonghyun saw it and was like
'They said I don't have to reply to every single one, right?'
Without bothering to read the chat, Seonghyun proceeded with the raid as planned.
When it was his turn to enter the raid, he strolled in as if nothing in the world could stop him.
A walk full of confidence and majesty.
Was it because of Seonghyun's intimidating presence?
The players in front of the raid boss room parted like the Red Sea.
Seonghyun walked steadily through the gap.
“Th-The Demon King!?”
“Is-Is he going to raid alone?!”
“W-Well, it would be weirder if the Demon King raided with a team.”
The surrounding players muttered, and the chat window buzzed with similar comments.
-Damn!!! The pressure is insane.
-If I were there, I would've moved out of the way without even thinking ;;;
-I know, right? His style is killer.
Truly, the walk of the Demon King.
Faced with his majestic and dignified appearance, both the viewers and the nearby players watched in silence.
However, there were also plenty of people who clearly didn't approve of Seonghyun.
People who found fault with everything he did.
The trolls you find in every broadcast, no matter where you go.
-lololol But the raid boss the Demon King is fighting is just the Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia?
-Kinda lame~
-Ah, he has to do that to maintain his majestic image~
-lolololol Streamer must be scared of the other raid bosses~
They were trying to get a rise out of him, but far from being provoked, Seonghyun didn't even know such comments existed.
However, perhaps because of Seonghyun's lack of reaction, they were the ones who got triggered and started making even more noise.
-Why even watch this broadcast? Isn't he just gonna use his skills, sweep with his familiars and legion, and everything will die?
-LMFAO I know, right.
-I don't get why people hype up a broadcast that just wins with numbers lol.
-Says the guys who can't even pull off the numbers strategy themselves lmao.
-Seriously, if you don't want to watch, then don't force yourself to pay for a ticket to get in.
-That's what I'm saying.
-They talk so much for people who wanted to watch so badly they paid for a ticket lol.
-So what region are you?
A few viewers frowned at such comments and tried to fight back, but the trolling didn't die down.
Ignoring it all, Seonghyun entered the lair of the Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia.
The room was unusually large for the labyrinth.
It was so big he figured he could even summon Anemor without issue.
But today was not Anemor's day.
Hadn't he just obtained some truly valuable ranged units?
Two of them, at that, and both were overwhelming.
That was why Seonghyun didn't move an inch, even as the Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia, began to stir.
-Is he not using his skills?
-No summons?
-No swordplay?
Driven by curiosity, the viewers couldn't take their eyes off the screen.
Meanwhile, the Labyrinth Spider, Talonpia, began to move.
The raid message appeared, and an event scene followed.
It was an event scene where the giant spider, Talonpia, moved around, spewing webs and venom in all directions.
Since it was now a common raid boss, none of the viewers wanted to watch it.
If there had been a skip button, they would have been screaming for him to press it.
Their only curiosity was how Seonghyun would deal with Talonpia.
That was it.
And so, at the very moment the viewers were wondering, Seonghyun snapped his fingers.
With that, the Gate of the Netherworld appeared.
-Oh, here we go!
-He's summoning his familiars!
-Tsk, it'll be the same familiars again.
-Yep yep, the demon knight or whatever. The usual guys will put on another flashy show and it'll be over.
Whatever their problem was, the cynical trolls were still at it.
Meanwhile, from the Gate of the Netherworld that Seonghyun had opened, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Ttok, ttok.
At the sound, like that of a woman's heels, the viewers were puzzled.
-Isn't that the sound of heels?
-Did the Demon King have any female familiars?
-Nope nope, pretty sure he didn’t have one?
-A new familiar?
The chat window was full of such speculation.
Even the trolls, overcome with curiosity, forgot to type and just watched.
And then, the sound of heels multiplied from one set to two.
Ttok, ttok.
Ttok, ttok.
The sound of one person walking confidently forward, with another following behind.
As the sounds echoed, Talonpia also sensed that something was wrong and hesitated to charge.
Normally, it should have charged forward like a proper raid boss, but it didn't.
It waited quietly.
No.
Vrrrrr!!!
-Holy crap, Talonpia's hairs are standing on end?
-Is that the 'Spider-Sense' thingy?
-It's shivering?
-What's going on?
At the very moment that Talonpia's fearful appearance fueled the viewers' curiosity, two women walked out from the Gate of the Netherworld.
One was an alluring, captivating woman with long, ultramarine hair combed elegantly into a ponytail.
The other was an unspeakably beautiful woman with red hair, being shaded by a black parasol held by the first.
The moment the two of them appeared, the chat window froze.
Not a single new comment came up.
The woman with ultramarine hair was astonishing enough, but the red-haired woman she seemed to be serving was beyond words.
A woman who possessed both the noble grace of a goddess and the fatal charm of a demon that could steal one's very soul.
As that woman showed a playful grin along with her alluring smile,
-KYAAAA!!!! Unni!!!!!
-Whoa, holy shit!!! Noona!!!!
-Whoa, those are the new familiars!?!?!?
-so jealous so jealous so jealous so jealous.
-omgomgomg Mom, I wanna be the Demon King when I grow up.
-No way, my summons are just monsters...
-Well, they're monsters in a different sense.
-This is insane, insane.
-AAAAAAAAAH!!!
It was absolute chaos.
To think his new familiars were two such beautiful women.
The red-haired one, especially.
Just then, as every viewer was watching in envy, Seonghyun gestured.
“I will go first.”
The ultramarine-haired woman who had been holding the parasol, Serphina, stepped forward.
A fierce gale rose up toward Talonpia, which was trembling in fear on the ceiling.
Hwiiiiiiuuuuuung———!!!
The great gale was more than enough to sweep away Talonpia's massive body.
Unable to fight the wind, it immediately crashed to the ground.
A crimson moon appeared overhead, gathered its crimson light, and fired it at Talonpia.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa———!!!
As the beam of crimson moonlight struck the ground, a massive crater was gouged into the labyrinth floor.
-??????
-??????
-What is that power???
-Is that really a familiar????
-What did I just see?
The chat window was flooded with countless question marks.
