Chapter 139: Someone’s Hobby 1

The heavy footsteps of four massive golems echoed through the dark, secret path as they marched in line.

Ever since the launch of the virtual reality game, I owned the world’s only 6★ npc, and became the world’s top player.

Now I’m suddenly piloting a 6-meter-tall golem.

Quite an unexpected turn for someone famous for workout streams and the occasional gaming stream.

Had someone told my past self,

‘You’ll become the top-ranked player in a virtual reality game, easily breaking a hundred thousand live viewers as a global streamer.’

Would I have believed it?

“Hey! I don’t know about other stuff, but stop making those fake edits!”

Of course not.

It’s hard enough to believe in a virtual reality game that features NPCs moving as if they were real, not stiff A.I.

There’s the children from the temple, graceful Irene and the unpredictable northern brat, Katie.

But the most fascinating of all is Grace.

She’s fun and relaxed with other women, but in front of the man she loves, she becomes a shy girl.

Such deep and multidimensional personalities.

Created from mere text-based programming.

Their very humanlike behaviors, like acting impulsively when drunk, are eerily realistic.

“I thought the next section was close, but this passage is quite deep.”

“Right? I hope the explosion didn’t block our path.”

“That’s unlikely. If the situation was that dangerous, that voice would have told the pilot to run. They wouldn’t haphazardly risk someone skilled enough to operate such a massive golem.”

“True, anyone who can operate such an incredible thing would at least be a knight or a mage in any world.”

Adding to the confusion is the NPC named Roland, who’s talking behind me.

He was the first NPC I met in this game, the very reason I became the world’s top player.

With his dazzling golden hair, jewel-like blue eyes, and youthful face despite being over thirty.

It’s no wonder Grace fell for him.

Just the other day, there were reports of Roland’s pictures floating around not just in gaming communities, but in regular internet cafes.

Some viewers were using them in clickbait posts, claiming he was a new idol or a recently debuted Hollywood actor.

“Roland, it seems like the passage is ending.”

“Did you hear? Everyone, get ready for battle.”

Lost in these thoughts, the dark and vast passage finally came to an end.

On one side of my view, viewers were buzzing with anticipation for the real boss monster, while on the other side, there was a quest window opened for the viewers.

I moved my golem, which made a groaning sound.

Ironically, in front of these 6m steel giants stood a human in armor who barely reached 2m.

Some might find it peculiar, but the thin plate of armor worn over that muscular body is stronger than a 6m tall, several tons heavy steel giant.

Compared to his usual imposing figure, Roland appeared quite tiny.

No matter how tall or strong Roland might be, next to a 6m steel golem, he would barely reach its knee.

Of course, it took less than a minute for the viewers to shift from laughter to throwing insults.

“Hmm, what’s this?”

“Roland?”

In the darkness beyond the passage’s end, where an empty area like sector 301E is, something discreet yet threatening flew towards us.

Before Katie could react and draw her sword, or before Irene could cast a protective barrier, something sparked and vanished in the darkness.

Before we could grasp the situation, Roland’s deep voice, filled with mana, resounded in our ears.

“Hanna, if you can use magic while on the golem, light up the area now!”

“Ah, okay!”

Ignoring the chat messages popping up in the corner of my vision, I followed the command.

After all, when it came to ability, Roland was outstanding.

I swiftly removed my hand from the control orb of the golem and grasped the staff I had placed aside in the cockpit

Just because it wasn’t a mage-type golem didn’t mean magic couldn’t be cast from within it.

Thus, the dark arena was revealed, along with the identity of the boss monster that the viewers had been eagerly awaiting.

The vast clearing of Floor 301F, similar to where the golem was on 301E, looked identical, save for the broken lights.

From the smooth open space, to the hangar doors on the walls, to the sporadically damaged lights on the ceiling and walls.

The problem was the massive monster coiling its tail in the center of the arena.

“Is that… a snake? Is what flew its tail?”

47% had bet on a cave monster being a boss while 53% bet on a maze monster.

I’ve learned from years of streaming that once viewers start going wild like this, they won’t calm down, even if you ban them.

You have to wait until they cool down a bit, then filter them out and move on.

So, now’s not the time to focus on the chat.

We need to deal with the boss monster in front of us.

“Roland, I’ll cover you!”

“Hold it back! Find its weak spot!”

The massive snake in the arena, with its glowing red eyes shining in the darkness, was clearly not a typical one.

Its eyes emitted a more terrifying aura than any ghostly face I’d ever seen in a horror movie.

I’ve played a variety of horror games, but I’ve never seen a ghost scarier than the eyes of that snake.

Is it even possible for a virtual reality game to produce such an intimidating atmosphere?

Watching Roland act helped me to momentarily push away the creeping fear.

The enormous snake, probably about 20m long, was wriggling like a worm, struggling against a mere 2m tall human.

“Ah, thanks for the 10,000 Spinebreaker. The quest? Oh right… But honestly, how can you not be amazed when a person is slamming a 20m long snake on the ground like it’s a noodle?”

With a variety of sounds, the massive snake flailed pitifully on the ground.

Following a viewer’s advice, I checked the quest window.

I should at least skim through this so I can piece everything together and play my role as the mage of the party.

A tangled questline, an overly powerful NPC companion, and the national treasure-level magic artifact that Katie possessed.

Thanks to the boss monster of the 30th floor that was dealt with after many twists and turns, I can roughly piece the story together.

After briefly pausing the game due to viewers causing a ruckus with their questions, I opened a notepad for some organizing.

“Roughly this? Roland would probably understand if I summarized it like this, right?”

It was a snake so I thought the first option won, but according to the quest window, the snake actually came from the maze with the worms and the golems.

So shouldn’t the second option win?

Some of them can’t accept this and are causing a scene, but what can I do?

It was cave monster vs maze monster, after all.

“Anyway, that wraps up the lengthy explanation of the 30th-floor quest! Well, if there are any mistakes in the details, you’ll probably find out from someone else’s stream. Knowing your personalities, you guys won’t hold back from pointing them out, right?”

There were still many noisy viewers, but I chose to ignore them and ended the stream.

There was no need to stream the aftermath of the battle.

There are things I want to do without them watching, after all.