Chapter 67: This is not a commercial broadcast

Ash-gray clouds cover the entire sky.

Black smoke and red heat erupt from the earth, which has huge cracks.

A village engulfed in flames, buildings collapsing…

Faint screams spread on the wind.

You have arrived here in search of the saintess, ‘Yoo Da-hee’, the last hope of the world.

Yoo Da-hee is the only hope to bring light back to this world.

If she dies, the way to prevent the destiny of destruction will disappear forever.

Your profession is…

[F*cking strong, overpowered munchkin hero with a Dragon Sword]

…is.

The legendary Dragon Sword sleeps in the scabbard around your waist.

Together with the Dragon Sword, you have already achieved victory in countless battles.

However, now, at this critical moment when the world is finally about to collapse…

Even pouring all that power, it is unclear whether you can protect the saintess.

Pushing through the crumbled piles of ash, you reach a house in the rural village.

The humble wooden house, with its half-broken pillar, has a tilted door that looks like it could fall off at any moment.

You carefully open the door and step inside.

A girl in a white robe looks at you with wary eyes.

“…Are you Yoo Da-hee?”

Feeling your throat go dry, you spoke in a trembling voice.

She cautiously nods her head.

“Yes… but… who are you?”

Her voice, unfortunately, is clearly exhausted.

Fear and determination seem to coexist in her eyes.

You hastily explain the situation.

“This village is already dangerous! Soon the flames will spread… We can’t hold out any longer.”

“…”

“Please come with me, Saintess. To save the world, you are absolutely necessary!”

Yoo Da-hee smiles sadly and slowly shakes her head.

“This house, this village… holds all my memories.”

“But at this rate, everyone will…”

“Still, I can’t leave. Even if I die, I don’t want to run away just to save myself.”

You wipe the sweat forming on your forehead in frustration.

Outside, pillars of fire are soaring.

Countless houses have already collapsed.

Time is running out.

Eventually, you make a decision.

[If persuasion is impossible, I must take her by force.]

So you think…

“I know this is disrespectful to the Saintess… but I have no choice. I must take you with me. Please understand if I am somewhat forceful.”

Yoo Da-hee gasps for dry breath in front of you.

You can see her hands trembling faintly.

With a heart-wrenching feeling, you take a step closer, gently yet firmly grasping Yoo Da-hee’s arm.

“…Please forgive me.”

You turn your body to drag Yoo Da-hee out, even by force.

[Rolling the dice. (Range: 1~100, Success on 90 or higher)]

[Dice roll result: 75]

[Failure!]

…At that moment.

Rip-!

Suddenly, the sound of something tearing echoes.

Something.

Slips futilely from your grasp.

You slowly turn your head back.

…A few seconds pass before you recognize the horrifying situation that has already unfolded.

The Saintess, Yoo Da-hee’s arm, is torn off with a snap-, spewing red blood.

Yoo Da-hee, unable to even scream from the indescribable pain and shock, collapses on the spot.

Cruelly.

Your ‘powerful strength’ has instead ended her life.

“Ah, no… How could this…!”

The focus vanishes from the Saintess’s eyes.

A pool of bright red blood forms on the floor.

The blood-soaked scene, starkly revealed by the flames.

And then, the breath that finally ceases.

Saintess Yoo Da-hee.

Dead.

As the last hope to save the world disappears, the sky collapses.

Pitch-black darkness descends before your eyes…

[You Died]

…Rewind time and play again?

---

“What… What kind of garbage game is this!!”

Bang-!

Summer slammed the desk violently and raised her voice.

Bang, Kwaang- Bang!

What followed was a rough keyboard shotgun. The monitor and camera shook, and the broadcast screen trembled wildly.

[-Wow LOL Killing her like this LOL]

[-Summer girl… The sponsor is watching…]

[-Ah… Is this what they call a Souls-like TRPG…]

[-Game’s f*cking brutal LOL]

Summer let out an involuntary, hollow laugh.

“No… Does it make sense for her arm to tear off just because I pulled it a bit? And why is the dice roll judgment so stingy?!”

It’s a truly baffling game.

It’s absurd… but it’s a game that strangely fires people up.

“Again! Round 2 will be done properly!”

But Yoo Da-hee, true to her name, died again and again.

Dying from a stray arrow.

Dying from using too much divine power.

She even tripped over a stone while running, and the absurd text saying her head cracked open and she died popped up, making her dizzy.

“Really… crazy… game…!”

But it’s strangely addictive.

Weirdly captivating, making you want to keep challenging it.

It was exciting.

The grotesque illustrations, slightly toned down for broadcasting yet still clearly showing the brutality, added realism.

Sweat unknowingly gathered in her hands.

Dying repeatedly, yet still managing to take steps out of the village, was something she really liked.

[-LOL This is a god-tier game]

[-Broadcast optimized game LOL]

[-Honestly, upvote if this is more fun than the dating sim LOL]

Fortunately, the viewers’ reactions weren’t bad either.

No, rather, they were explosive.

She thought it would be okay to run this content a bit longer.

“Yoo Da-hee, this b*tch, I’ll save her somehow. Going for a Kyeon-wang (stream until clear) today! I’m absolutely not ending the stream until I beat this…”

[Cosmo_Youngjun has donated 1,000 won.]

[Summer, let’s wrap up the stream soon. You’ll be late for your evening schedule at this rate.]

“Huh! It’s already this late?!”

Summer flinched, checking the time.

It wasn’t like she had absolutely no time, but considering her own shabby appearance, she needed to turn off the stream soon and wash her hair.

“I’ll end today’s broadcast here. Ah~ I really feel like cancelling today’s schedule.”

Just as Summer was about to end the stream, a huge donation notification window popped up on the screen.

[ChatRPG has donated 1,000,000 won.]

[Today’s broadcast was really, really, really fun!! You’ll continue it in the next broadcast, right?!]

“Another… another million won?!”

Summer’s mouth opened so wide her gums felt sore.

“Aigo~ Sponsor-nim! Such a large donation… Thank youuu~!”

[-Now she’s just openly calling them Sponsor LOL]

[-Includes Paid Promotion (Not)]

[-Back? door ad]

The big spender’s donation once again instilled manners into Summer, whose default speech was informal.

“Of course! Naturally, I have to continue~ I’ll definitely save that damn sunfish… no, our Saintess Yoo Da-hee-nim!”

Along with Summer’s shout, the donation notification window flashed once more.

[ChatRPG has donated 3,000,000 won.]

[And the person who made the real-time illustration generation AI model that Summer linked to ChatRPG! Could I possibly get their contact information separately?]

---

Outside was already dark, but the inside of the cafe was warmly enveloped in soft lighting.

“Ugh~ I’m tired.”

Summer.

No, Hwimin.

Stretched widely, straightening her slumped shoulders.

Her body felt a bit stiff after handling a busy schedule for the first time in a while.

Still, recalling the donation bomb from the big spender during today’s broadcast, her mood wasn’t bad.

Taking a sip of water from a small paper cup, Hwimin surveyed one side of the cafe.

“Summer, could you come over here for a moment?”

Youngjun, who was looking at something with his laptop open by the window, waved Hwimin over.

“What’s up, Manager?”

“About the person who donated millions of won to Summer during today’s broadcast…”

As Hwimin sat in the opposite chair, Youngjun turned the laptop screen towards her.

On the screen, the name ‘ChatRPG’ was displayed, along with the donation history from today’s broadcast and some contact records.

“This person requested the contact information of the person who made the real-time illustration generation AI model… meaning Jina, right?”

Hwimin raised an eyebrow at Youngjun’s words.

“Actually, it seems this person has been consistently inquiring through our official account since yesterday.”

“Since yesterday… Since I played Caffeine Love?”

“That’s correct. It seems they were quite impressed by Summer-nim’s broadcast.”

“They have good eyes. Well, isn’t Jina Mama quite an amazing person?”

Hwimin bragged jokingly, but inwardly she was slightly surprised.

‘This might not end as just a simple sponsored broadcast,’ she thought.

“So, we plan to respond to this matter directly at the Cosmo Live level. It’s not just about the donation amount; the potential for future collaboration seems significant.”

Youngjun nodded and said.

“Of course, this is only possible if Jina agrees.”

“But will Jina Mama accept this?”

Hwimin muttered to herself, feeling like Jina might find it bothersome.

She worried if she was burdening Jina with something bigger.

“I’ve briefly mentioned it to Jina. I called her before coming here.”

“What did she say when you called…”

“Well, same as usual. She said she’ll ‘meet later to hear the details’.”

Youngjun closed the laptop window and said.

“She seemed quite interested. Said inspiration was soaring… Oh right. She asked me to tell you she enjoyed Summer’s broadcast.”

“Nyahaha~ Glad she found it fun.”

Hwimin put down her water cup and tapped the tabletop with her finger.

Her heart pounded for some reason.

The ChatRPG she enjoyed so much.

She felt that perhaps it could be upgraded one step further.