Chapter 76: Scratch?

A park with a small pond.

“Come to think of it, Rupyung.”

“Yes?”

While farming, I asked Rupyung.

“Um, is Morae Company a decent place to be?”

Unlike me, Bubugi, and Gu Jisu who are under Dot Entertainment.

Rupyung is a streamer under Morae Company.

Since it’s one of the top MCNs in our country, I was curious about the exact treatment.

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to hear directly from someone affiliated rather than looking it up on a wiki?

Then, the answer that came back was.

“Hmm, well, at least the CEO here doesn’t kidnap you for collabs, right?”

“Ah.”

Indeed, for a normal MCN or entertainment agency, that would be normal.

Our company is a bit strange.

This place wasn’t established with a serious business mindset, but more like a club?

It feels similar to friends gathering together.

Since admission is by recommendation only in the first place, everyone already knows each other well before joining.

It’s bound to be more comfortable than other MCNs where people start as business relationships.

And the number of people here is incomparably smaller.

Yes, so…

“No, f*ck, what are you doing!!!”

“Uh oh, aaaargh!”

F*ck—!!

“No, are you really a f*cking idiot?!”

I told you to say something before going in—!!

…So, that’s why they can talk so comfortably.

“Ehyu···”

At the sight of Bubugi and Gu Jisu naturally cussing at each other while playing the game, I sighed without realizing it.

It was a completely different image from his actor days that I saw on YouTube.

What on earth happened for the polite child actor to end up like that?

Perhaps his true self, which had been suppressed by the entertainment industry, was revealed through internet broadcasting.

And swearing in a way that doesn’t offend is also a talent.

Well, that doesn’t matter anyway.

“Then Rupyung.”

“Yes?”

“Are you going hunting now?’

“Ah, yes!”

Leaving aside the two veterans trapped in their own world, I spoke to Rupyung.

“Shall I go with you?”

“Ah, that would be great.”

When two or more people hunt together, the experience points are divided, but Rupyung is currently a ranged dealer.

Among them, since she was a glass cannon character who would die after a few hits, it was judged better to move with an ally who could protect her.

‘I don’t know if I’ll be helpful since I’m a beginner···.’

Well, whatever.

As long as it’s fun.

“So, who are you going to hunt?”

“Ah, I was just thinking of hunting wolves right now.”

Hmm, wolves.

Certainly, the drop table is good, and it’s prey of not-bad difficulty, but…

“How about we go straight for the bear?”

-Oh.

-What’s with the confidence?

-Can you dodge well?

-Why is the first hunt a bear?

“Why, there’s nothing particularly problematic, is there?”

Come to think of it, there are two of us.

And I now have Kujikanesada.

I thought we could probably manage one bear.

“Ughm, certainly····· there probably isn’t much of a problem.”

And it seemed Rupyung thought the same.

Rupyung quietly nodded.

And so, we set off on an expedition to find a bear.

「Urooooong!」

After teleporting to the next route.

We were able to find a bear roaring in a forest not too far away.

“I’m going in.”

“Yes, I’ll start sniping!”

[Charging Slash]

As I rushed at the bear using a skill, Rupyung’s character fired a barrage of bullets from a distance.

「Head!!」

「Kkuwoooo!」

After landing a charging attack, I immediately pressed the Q key to deal damage to the bear.

Then, the bear’s movements slowed due to the debuff.

I dodged its slow-moving front paw and slashed its back.

This feels somewhat like Titan Hunter.

Of course, the quality is incomparable.

Just as I was continuing the circling tactic and chipping away at the bear’s health.

The bear turned its body and looked straight at me.

「Urooooong!」

“Oh my.”

Was this pattern always like this?

I heard its AI behavior was simple.

As that thought crossed my mind.

The bear raised its massive body.

Simultaneously.

「Jjyuppyujjyuppyu!!!」

-Paak!

A sudden blow from the large bear!

Cheongha, hit by the blow, was knocked away.

“Aaargh!”

“Cheongha-nim?!”

The health bar, which had instantly dropped by more than half, came into view.

It seems my armor was indeed a bit weak.

I haven’t hunted any other animals so far; this is my first hunt.

So it wasn’t strange for my health to drop like this.

However.

“This isn’t enough, is it?”

Right now, the bear has less health than me.

And since I have rear support, it looked like it would be caught soon.

-Seogeok! (Slice!)

I immediately activated a skill and accurately slashed the bear’s body in a straight line.

「Kkuwoooo…」

Then, the falling bear spewed out all sorts of valuable items.

Simultaneously.

[Wood of Life]

“Oh, Wood of Life dropped.”

I was also able to obtain a valuable material.

I heard this has a single-digit drop rate.

I’ll use it someday, so I should stock up.

-If you were scared Kim Cheongha until just now, recommend lol.

-Humans are sorry…

-Bear~~!

-Goodbye Fubao.

-Pandaaaa!

-Our animal protection group will not forget this, fr.

“Ahem, what do you mean scared?”

There’s no way I, wielding a Japanese sword, would lose to someone, right?

To injure me, you’d have to have analgesia and Mystic Eyes, commit serial murder, then.

Break at least one leg and come at me.

“Ah, I’ve gathered everything now.”

[Crafting Aias…]

In the meantime, I didn’t forget to consistently continue farming, hunting to a degree that was almost overfishing.

My weapon is still purple, but I’ve equipped good armor now.

Wouldn’t it be okay to fight once soon?

“Cheongha-nim, I’m going to level up a bit and come back.”

“Ah, yes.”

How long had it been since I parted ways with Rupyung for a while and wandered around?

“Huh?”

A red silhouette moving at the edge of the screen caught my eye.

It was an enemy test subject.

“Um, I encountered an enemy, should I fight?”

Their equipment seems weaker than mine, but I don’t know the character matchup, so I can’t act recklessly.

When I asked in the Discord call room, an answer came back surprisingly quickly.

“What does it look like?”

“Ah, a pretty blonde girl.”

The one you get after the tutorial.

“Ah, if you’re confident you can get properly close, it’s okay to fight.”

She added that my character also has a stun on the charge skill, so it’s definitely catchable.

Hmm, is that so?

“Then let’s ram them.”

Ah, whatever, I’m just going for it.

-Headbutt dinosaur, let’s go.

-Hey, ram it.

-As long as it doesn’t end up like Bubugi.

Like a Pachycephalosaurus ramming its head and charging at an enemy.

Ren immediately slammed a charge skill into the enemy test subject.

Kwang-!

The enemy ranged dealer, bewildered by the follow-up damage and stun, moving only their mouse without knowing what was happening, was directly cut down by the burst damage from the Japanese sword.

[Level has increased]

Then, the level filled up in an instant.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t like I hadn’t taken any damage at all, so I could see my health had decreased to some extent.

“I think I’m old now···.”

Even if it’s just a game, to get this kind of result while wielding a Japanese sword.

It hurts my pride more than I thought.

-?

-??? What did you say?

-~says the 22-year-old.

-Then what does that make the people next to you…

-?

-?

‘···Huh?’

At the fact that suddenly dawned on me, I hurriedly shut my mouth.

My age?

Twenty-two.

The age of the person next to me?

…Thirty-one.

Wow, soon we’ll have a 12-year age difference.

So…

“What did you say?”

It means it’s not unreasonable for such a reaction to come back.

Rupyung’s cold voice.

Additionally, it seemed she wasn’t the only one who was irked.

“Excuse me, dude.”

“Yes···?”

“You’re the youngest here, you human.”

“Where does the maknae now···.”

The CEO’s dumbfounded voice echoed from beyond the microphone.

The moment everyone turned away from me.

There was only one action to take in such a situation.

“I’m sorry··· Please forgive me···.”

-lol.

-Dogeza, let’s go~

-Bow your head, Cheongha.

As the viewers said, I used the mouse to flip my avatar.

Then quietly bowed my head to the ground.

A little bit of aegyo was an added bonus.

“Okay, I’ll forgive you.”

“Be careful next time~!”

“Wow, this b*stard is a total flirtatious bird.”

Perhaps thanks to my swift dogeza.

Fortunately, people seemed to be letting it go to some extent.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely like that.

“Ah, come to think of it.”

This doesn’t have a team kill bug, right?

“···Rupyung-nim?”

Oof, what is this person saying.

It’s creepy.

“No, I’m just··· worried I might make a mistake.”

“Ahaha···.”

…Um, you said that for entertainment purposes, right?

-That person just needs a bug lol.

-Now really in her 30s lol.

-Come to think of it, she’s the oldest among them lol.

The grudge of a 30-something was longer than expected.

Unfortunately (?), this highly polished game didn’t seem to have any team kill bugs.

Just as the situation was about to be resolved.

“Ah, but Noona.”

“Huh?”

Bubugi spoke to the finally calmed Rupyung.

Oh, this feels somewhat ominous.

And, my prediction didn’t seem to be particularly wrong.

“Honestly, isn’t it true that Pyang-noona is old?”

Since those words came out of his mouth.

“···Eh?”

At the sight of Bubugi digging his own grave, I momentarily stared at the screen with a blank face.

What, do turtles also have multiple lives?

I’ve heard that cats have nine lives.

Perhaps the reason turtles live over a hundred years is that they secretly keep dying and resurrecting.

And Bubugi is about to use one of those lives now.

Hmm, then everything makes sense.

—No, it doesn’t.

“Hey!”

Do you want to die, really—!!

At Rupyung’s roar, triggered by those words, my mind, which had departed to a distant galaxy, returned to Earth.

Wow, he’s triggering her again?

“No, you have to admit what you have to admit.”

Pathetically.

“You son of a···!”

“Hey, you crazy human—!!”

Hahahah!

I began to quietly observe the tiki-taka flowing between the two.

‘Oh.’

The stones are fighting quite amusingly.

Today, I genuinely craved popcorn.