I Have a Reason to Hate Streamers

[You have been invited to a party by Myeolgongui Hyetbul.]

[Would you like to accept the invitation? Y/N]

[You have joined the party.]

The most basic farming method in Infinity Black is field hunting.

It’s not that there aren’t raids or instant dungeons, but unless you’re gathering an elite team, the efficiency is surprisingly low.

Did everyone really say they were seasoned players? Then why can’t they dodge this?

It was a pattern that could be countered with just using items. Were 30 won more valuable than 10 minutes of time?

Only those who have experienced it know the hell of endless retries!

As someone with many enemies, gathering people was quite a tough task, so I really didn’t want to choose that option.

It wasn’t that it wasn’t fun, but fighting against people was still more enjoyable.

[Party Member List]

[Party Leader: Myeolgongui Hyetbul (Sniper)]

[Hundoshimania (Fighter)]

[Dol-gwal (Berserker)]

[Gawol (Assassin)]

[San-sae (Bard)]

The composition of the party was quite satisfactory.

The Fighter and Berserker would take the front lines, while the Sniper and I would handle the real damage.

With a Bard to support, it was a thoroughly conventional combination.

While the party members exchanged polite greetings, my gaze shifted towards the chat window.

[Heo-gong’s Whisper]

– This is Heo-gong, SSA’s guild master. I heard from Dongjak Station.

– I finished talking with the upper house, and the Fighter is the dispatched member.

– Please take good care of our youngest. I’ll contact you again once the war is settled.

The “upper house” is slang for a higher guild.

And the Fighter, Hundoshimania, has kept his guild name private.

He seems to be saying that he’ll intervene using that as a pretext if things get tough.

Well, I don’t care about petty power struggles.

I just need to work for the money I’ve been paid.

It’s a rare opportunity for me to farm and pocket some cash.

Gathering party members in the highest hunting grounds is a hassle, and I’ve managed to offload that annoying step to others.

For now, I can leisurely sip on honey here, and if needed, take out a streamer or two.

The party leader, Myeolgongui Hyetbul, spoke in a business-like tone.

“We’ll have a three-minute personal maintenance time and start right on time. Gawol will handle the monster gathering, and Hundoshimania will be the main tank.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t forget the experience and currency buffs.”

True to the aim of the party, there were no small talk distractions.

As soon as the clock hit the hour, I was the first one to move, with the Fighter following me at a slight distance.

This “Ancient Weapon Depot” is one of the best hunting grounds at this moment.

And Inbl is a game where leveling up is difficult and growth periods are lengthy.

Unless you’re a proper junkie, you can’t even step foot here.

As expected, the party members understood their roles and moved accordingly.

The cool breeze wrapped around my calves. Just in time, the Bard’s buff kicked in.

[Wind Blessing is upon you.]

[All action speed increases by 10%, movement speed by 15%.]

[Cast by: San-sae]

It wasn’t a particularly challenging hunt.

I, being the most mobile, teased and drew the monsters in with my Chain Scythe.

Once a certain number gathered, the Fighter engaged with their main abilities to attract their attention.

The Berserker’s role was to keep the monsters from scattering. Once everything was set, the Sniper and I would risk our lives.

If any problems arose during this process, our health bars could vanish in an instant, but no inexperienced player committed such rookie mistakes.

Field hunting must be safe and efficient.

And as we got used to the mechanical movements, casual conversation began to slip in.

The first to speak up was the Bard, San-sae.

Being a support with relatively less pressure, the long silence seemed to bore him.

“Gawol.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really Gawol?”

“Is there a fake one?”

Since this game doesn’t generally allow duplicate usernames, it’s not unusual to find a unique character that mimics me here or there.

In fact, impersonators pop up occasionally in the community.

Looking back, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience.

So maybe that’s why my tone dropped a bit? The blonde halfling shook his head.

“No! It’s not that. You’re pretty famous these days.”

“I’d rather not talk about the videos…”

“That’s not it, I’ve been a fan of yours for a while.”

“Uh? Really?”

“A fan. Our guild was struggling due to a war, and after being attacked by you, we managed to resolve it. I’m really grateful.”

Ugh.

Oh no, I need to manage my expression.

Thank goodness I was at the front of the party.

When I distanced myself from the party members, I opened up San-sae’s information window.

His guild was Lesser Panda. I hadn’t heard of that name, but they seemed to have a large number of members.

They looked like a guild that takes in newbies without membership requirements.

It’s all well and good to have many such guilds in the game, but they also make for easy targets.

Unfortunately, this game’s survival of the fittest doesn’t spare beginners.

Even if they have grievances, when newbies start getting hurt, it’s common for the higher-ups to bow their heads.

In other words, in the field ecosystem, they are like herbivores.

In the midst of being predated upon, my request must have overlapped.

“I didn’t intend for it to happen, though.”

“Still, it’s not the first time you’ve helped. I always wanted to thank you someday.”

“I don’t exactly play the game that cleanly, though…”

“I heard. But guys like us haven’t really suffered, right? Anyway, I’m cheering for you.”

“Uh. Thanks.”

Such a day comes while living.

The mention of being a fan left a strange flutter in my chest.

The reason I don’t bother weak guilds isn’t because I have some grand principle.

There simply was no reason to.

Most of my clients are at least wolves.

There’s no way a poor rabbit would spend a lot of money to me.

Killing streamers is far more fun than taking down someone popular.

Too weak opponents are just unsatisfying to squash.

[★ You have obtained an intact Ancient Weapon Power Source.]

And to make my mood even better, a system message pops up.

Feeling a nice boost to my game balance – I pushed harder into hunting.

*

Generally, the unit of party hunting is one hour.

In these top-tier hunting grounds, it’s not rare to spend several hours together, but of course, there are those who want to take a break.

While the Berserker went out for a smoke, I also sat in a safe zone and browsed through streaming platforms.

[Myeolgongui Hyetbul’s Whisper]

– It’s been a while since we started hunting, but they’re not back yet.

– Honestly, I thought they’d be back in less than an hour.

I had to find the broadcast of streamer Dongmi-cham.

After all, he’s a potential opponent I might face. There’s no guarantee that we will fight, but there’s no harm in checking him out ahead of time.

But even after searching, I couldn’t find him streaming live.

Looks like he’s turned it off for now.

I set up alarms to notify me even during the hunt, then fiddled with the voice channel options.

From now on, only Myeolgongui Hyetbul would hear my voice.

I’d be chatting over Luce’s broadcast.

I minimized the screen and set it next to the minimap.

This way I could keep an eye on Luce and not lose my vigilance.

Perfect placement.

“You never know. That Dongmi-cham is offline, though.”

– He might be logged into the game. Anyway, got it.

“But how did you get involved with that guy? You don’t have to answer if it’s awkward.”

– Ah, I was originally a member of his guild. Before going to the army…

“So you had a falling out, huh?”

– Let’s just say his behavior was a bit, no, a lot off. Then I met Dongjak Station at the base.

An intriguing tale began to unfold.

Originally, Dongjak Station Agent and Myeolgongui Hyetbul were on opposing factions.

It seems they exchanged friendly banter in the field, letting curse words fly.

But as they came to fulfill their military obligations, Myeolgongui ended up as Dongjak’s junior.

When he found out about it, he thought something dreadful was about to start.

He imagined uncomfortable vibes lingering throughout their service.

But surprisingly, Dongjak let it slide, and they quickly became close.

– Now that they’ve been released, it looks like he’s fully switched sides. But you know how it is, right? Betrayers don’t get off easily in this scene. I’m still paying my dues.

“So you called in the upper house instead of fighting directly.”

As I mentioned, justification within the game is a significant matter.

In a situation where you’ve poached a guild member, it’s necessary to tolerate some of the opponent’s anger.

After all, revenge can’t go on forever, and after a few weeks, it usually fizzles out.

I could understand SSA’s passive response.

“Dongjak seems to care about you a lot. He called in the upper house for help and dragged me along as well.”

– That’s because… I took a few unique items with me when I left the guild. I was one of the higher-ups.

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

– If I die, I might drop those items, so they’re looking out for me. But if they protect me too openly, they lose their justification, right?

It’s exactly the tale of the siege I knew.

This thick, pungent smell of trash.

How heartwarming.

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