Chapter 36: Hidden Piece (4)

[First Hidden Piece Discovered in the Streamer Server! Congratulations to ‘Silverhair’!]

The first hidden piece finder on the server has been confirmed.

Amidst the passionate exploration by many streamers over the past few days,

someone has finally discovered the hidden piece located within the beginner village.

Congratulations to ‘Silverhair’ for discovering the first hidden piece on the server!

※ The user will be awarded a unique achievement and reward related to the hidden piece.

※ We do not respond to inquiries about the location or conditions of the hidden piece. Find it yourself.

---

Raidel stared blankly at the screen for a few seconds.

“…Silverhair? Is this real?”

The words slipped out of her mouth.

She recalled Yoo Seo-yeon from yesterday.

Skipping the tutorial and running to the blacksmith to build a raft.

It felt like watching a problem child.

She was curious what she’d do,

but not because she expected anything amazing—

just because she couldn’t predict what weird thing she’d try.

She’d wanted to get on the boat and follow along,

but she’d been too tired and passed out.

Just enough curiosity to lose to sleep.

And now she’d apparently found the hidden piece out of nowhere.

‘What the hell did she do after the stream ended…?’

Raidel felt dazed.

Like she still hadn’t fully woken up.

And it wasn’t just her who was stunned.

The viewers were just as desperate to know what had happened.

[So HOW did she find it?!?!?!]

[Silver Noona hasn’t turned on her streamㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[Forest staff not doing their job so we can’t see it lololol]

(TL note: In Korean, “noona” (누나) is a term of address used by younger males to refer to older females, particularly older sisters or female friends.)

The problem was, Yoo Seo-yeon was currently unable to stream.

And the only streamer she was close to was Raidel.

After all, Raidel had been the one who invited her in the first place.

So naturally, all the curious viewers had swarmed Raidel’s stream like bees.

[I’m DYING to know how she got it]

[Legend says Forest still hasn’t approved her stream LOL]

[I saw her build a raft, but no clue what came after]

[Did she actually sail to the edge of the sea??]

[She really found the One Piece….]

[She was the Pirate King all along lololol]

‘I don’t know either, you idiots…’

How was she supposed to know?

All Raidel remembered about Yoo Seo-yeon was poking her cheeks in a dream.

She had no idea what she’d done while she was asleep.

‘Ugh, they’re all here.’

Viewership had already hit 10,000.

It hadn’t even been five minutes since she started.

Even considering the Pixel Wars streamer server’s popularity,

getting 10k viewers in five minutes was unusual.

《‘DaggerGod’ donated 1,000 won!》

• What’s your relationship with her?

[They’re vibin’]

[Raidel’s the one who invited Silverhair]

[Hehehe~]

[Bobyite!]

《‘SupportLover’ donated 1,000 won!》

• Can’t you just log in and ask her?

[Yeah. You two are close, right? Go ask her.]

[Go go go go go go]

[Is Silverhair online right now?]

[Idk?]

[Let’s just log in and check]

“Okay, okay, everyone calm down. Feels like a war broke out or something.”

So much for her plan to lazily café-hop and chat.

She had to log in and find Yoo Seo-yeon now.

If she leisurely strolled through cafés, her chat would turn into a mob.

Just imagining it was terrifying.

“I’m curious too, so I’ll check right away.”

Raidel frantically clicked her mouse and slammed her keyboard.

She was three times more frantic than usual.

She launched the Pixel Wars launcher in a hurry.

Even as she put on her VR gear and connected,

her mind was a mess.

She might’ve been pushed by the viewers, but she was just as curious.

How had she found it?

All she could recall was Seo-yeon confidently carrying a raft.

Did she really sail across the sea to find something?

If she did, how did she find it?

‘Anyway.’

The viewer count kept climbing.

As soon as she logged in, she checked her friend list.

‘Please… let her be online.’

If she wasn’t logged in, she didn’t know how she’d handle the backlash.

Viewers could be terrifying.

But Raidel’s desperate hope was in vain.

The ID ‘Silverhair’ in her friend list was greyed out.

Offline.

She stared at it, dumbfounded.

“…She’s not on.”

She was doomed.

Her whole body felt deflated.

She should’ve woken up earlier.

Maybe sleeping like the dead for 10 hours was the problem.

If she’d come on sooner, maybe she could’ve met her.

“Hey, guys. Didn’t Silverhair meet with any other streamers? She’s been alone since finding the hidden piece?”

Of course, once the announcement went up,

other streamers would’ve swarmed to Yoo Seo-yeon, too.

Just meeting her and talking would’ve been a golden streaming opportunity.

While she was passed out for 10 hours, surely someone had gotten to her?

[Nope, no one met her.]

[They say she logged off right after getting the hidden piece.]

[Other streamers are frantically trying to find her lol]

《‘MagicBaxter’ donated 1,000 won!》

• All the other streamers are waiting for Silverhair to come back right now lololol

And that answered everything.

She really had logged out right after finding the hidden piece.

The streamers who were prepping their content were now like dogs chasing chickens.

No one had a way to contact her, so all they could do was wait.

But Raidel did have some familiarity with her.

So everyone swarmed to her stream, hoping maybe she had something.

‘Should I… actually call her?’

She did have her number.

It was a bit late in the evening, but for a streamer, it was prime working hours.

A call wouldn’t be a problem.

Just as she thought that—

Ding.

[‘Silverhair’ has logged in.]

Raidel’s eyes widened.

Yoo Seo-yeon logged in at the perfect time.

Almost like she’d planned it.

Finding her wasn’t hard.

She was just standing in a corner of the village. Raidel reached her in under a minute.

As she approached, Silverhair’s character waved.

“Raidel, you’re here? You didn’t show up for a while, so I was wondering what happened.”

That familiar voice.

Yoo Seo-yeon’s calm and steady tone felt weirdly comforting.

“Ahaha, I just slept a bit too hard… Anyway, Silverhair.”

Raidel reflexively responded.

“I heard you got the hidden piece! Congrats!”

“Hehe, thank you.”

Yoo Seo-yeon gave a deep, polite bow at the waist.

Almost like she was bowing to the viewers watching.

[LOL too cute]

[She’s so freaking adorable lol]

[I’m in my 50s but Silver, I’d like to hold you in my arms.]

[That’s Silverhair? Her voice is really nice.]

The viewers picked up on it and reacted warmly.

“But seriously, you logged in the moment I showed up! Talk about timing. I thought you were waiting for me.”

Raidel joked.

It might’ve been a coincidence, but it felt perfectly timed—like she had been waiting.

“I was waiting.”

“Huh? Really?”

She was actually waiting for her to log in?

Yoo Seo-yeon smiled.

“Once I got the hidden piece, I knew other streamers would rush in. I waited until you went live.”

“Whoa, why?”

“If we talk here first, it’s better for your stream.”

Raidel stared blankly for a second, then burst out laughing.

‘She really gets it.’

If you appear on someone else’s stream,

you get attention—but that’s all.

‘No revenue.’

Yoo Seo-yeon would be doing all the work, and the other streamer would get all the donation money.

But she couldn’t help it. Yoo Seo-yeon couldn’t stream right now.

Raidel’s stream was different.

Whenever Yoo Seo-yeon appeared to help, Raidel made sure to share a sizable chunk of the donations.

They hadn’t signed a contract, but Raidel benefited a lot too—she felt like she owed her.

The bigger her stream got, the more they could help each other.

Yoo Seo-yeon would get direct benefit too.

[Streaming instincts lolololololol]

[She’s a total pro now lolol]

[Respect for that stream sense lololol]

[Delbung, bow down and pay respects]

[Since she can’t stream, she’s doing it all on Raidel’s channel lololol]

Even with the huge influx of new viewers,

most of them were still Raidel’s fans at heart.

Hearing that Yoo Seo-yeon had waited for Raidel’s stream out of consideration gave them a positive impression.

“Wow, you did all this for me… I’m touched.”

And she meant it.

Even if there was benefit involved, the fact that she waited was real.

‘She could’ve easily gone to a big-name streamer instead.’

If she was thinking long-term about debuting, getting exposure on a bigger streamer’s channel might’ve made more sense.

But she waited—for Raidel.

That showed her own kind of loyalty.

“Anyway, ahem. The viewers have a lot of questions right now, since you can’t stream.”

There was seriously no information out there.

No creepy fan had followed her to document her journey.

Even Zeronix, the admin, hadn’t said a word about how she’d gotten the piece—probably to keep things exciting.

So there was only one person they could ask.

‘How did she get it? Or wait—more importantly…’

Kim Ha-yoon had a lot of questions, but she started with what the viewers most wanted to know.

“So… what did you get from the hidden piece? There was nothing in the announcement.”

First, she wanted to know what the reward was.

‘It’s probably a weapon, right?’

Since it was from the beginner village, a weapon seemed fitting.

A little boring maybe, but it made sense.

If it was a weapon, she could use it right away to dominate the early stages.

It might fall off later, but that early lead would be worth it.

Not bad at all.

But instead of a weapon,

Yoo Seo-yeon pulled something completely different from her inventory.

‘A mask?’

A mask with warped silver and black patterns, gleaming eerily in the light.

Yoo Seo-yeon proudly raised it up, her chest puffed out.