NOVEL NEXT Episode 5
[Category: Ragnarok Saga]
There are so many streamers to choose from. Truly, it’s overwhelming. This must be what it feels like to dive into a fierce red ocean.
Viewership ranges from 10,000 to 1,000, to 100, and 10. Some streams are barely watched, with just one viewer, often the streamer themselves. There are just so many.
Since I have the money, should I entrust it to a famous streamer?
But even if a famous streamer meets all three conditions, there’s one thing they might lack: desperation. They might also lack persistence.
They’ll probably give up after a while, since they’re busy with their own work. That’s why I’d rather entrust it to a smaller, lesser-known streamer who is more dedicated.
After grinding constellations for five straight hours, my body is starting to feel the strain. Lying in bed, I scrolled through the streamers.
“Who would be good?”
From the streamer’s perspective, a big spender like 100 Trillion Assets Yeo Ah-Jang suddenly appearing would probably be like winning the lottery. Of course, I wouldn’t reveal my assets.
Although I’d love to hire a team to run it like a factory, the Myth Grade Pink Heart is bound to my character and can’t be traded, so that option isn’t possible. I need to carefully choose the right person.
Many thoughts crossed my mind.
Then, a person caught my eye. A gentle, kind-looking face. Brown, long hair, and a bright, cheerful smile.
[Anty]
[Stream Title: Devoting Everything to Ragnarok Saga. Currently, 50,000 won or less.]
[Viewers: 35]
[Stream Time: 17:03:00]
What stood out was that they had been streaming for 17 hours straight and didn’t look tired at all. In this competitive streaming world, that’s rare.
“Interesting.”
But I had no information. A small-scale streamer not even listed on Wikipedia. However, for someone like me, who’s been around the community and the internet for so long, finding information is easy.
“Let’s copy Anty’s ID and search on Kugel! She has a NewTube channel… Got it. Hmm.”
There was no one around, but I felt a bit embarrassed, so I cleared my throat.
[Anty (Anty)]
[Channel Description: The Story of a Beginner Who Has Devoted Everything to Ragnarok Saga]
[Subscribers: 1.05k]
[Videos: 210]
She posted over 200 videos but only had 1,000 subscribers.
It’s a tough world to succeed in.
[Subscriber Q&A: 1,000 Subscribers]
[Q: What does Anty mean?]
[A: It comes from the word ‘Ant,’ like the small investor in stocks, someone with no influence but still working hard like an ant! If ants gather, they can change the world, right? Haha.]
[Q: Who edits your videos?]
[A: I do it myself. Where’s the money for that?]
[Q: Did you really study early childhood education?]
[A: Yes! It wasn’t the best college, but I graduated. I’ve seen some fathers from the Ragnarok Saga community watching my stream, feel free to ask me anything. I didn’t just graduate; I worked as a preschool teacher for two years.]
“Preschool teacher?”
Living in Yeo Ah’s body, I often encounter challenges that aren’t easily found in search results. But this person seemed like they could understand and provide insight into those challenges.
[Q: So why Ragnarok Saga?]
[A: Early childhood education is nice, but one day I realized I enjoyed streaming Ragnarok Saga, so I quit my job and went for it.
[Q: Do you regret it?]
[A: It’s tough, but it’s also really enjoyable!]
[Q: Are you quitting Beast Master?]
[A: Why quit? How could I? It’s so fun, I’m going to keep playing forever.]
Beast Master? The useless class that only gives buffs and gets kicked out?
Crazy, she leveled that trash class to 92. Truly, the mentality of someone who studied early childhood education for four years. I found a gem.
***
“Ugh~!”
As the sun sets in the evening, a young woman, stretching, arrives at a semi-basement room.
Her real name is Lee Han-sol. She uses the nickname Anty for streaming, but she hasn’t gained much attention yet. However, the seeds she’s planted will one day bloom, she believes.
“Let’s give it my all today!”
With a deep breath of determination, she sits down in her computer chair. Today, she worked as a part-time nanny from lunch until evening, earning about 80,000 won.
Her severance pay was running low, and today was a special day, so she took a part-time job. Why was today special? Anty had set up her stream, waiting for her viewers.
[Stream Title]
[It’s the time for heroes and warriors. Reclaiming the stolen nickname.]
3 minutes into the broadcast.
Viewers: 0
“Well…”
The stream was definitely on. 5 minutes into the broadcast.
Finally, a few viewers began to trickle in. Anty smiled brightly and greeted them.
Ant-ha
Ant-ha
“Welcome, everyone. Ahhh! The day has come, everyone.”
[Ragnarok Saga Nickname Auction Event!]
“Are these guys really making money now by hosting auctions and taking commissions?”
Hahaha
Good business!
But for Anty, and for other streamers, this would be a huge opportunity. Some would buy rare nicknames to grab attention, while others might buy the same nickname as theirs. Anty was in the latter group.
“I don’t have the money to buy an expensive rare nickname to get attention, but I’ve been streaming for over a year, and I think I should at least own the Anty nickname. I’m going for it, even if I don’t know if it’s available.”
She checked her account for a moment.
[My Account]
[550,000 won]
“Currently, I have 550,000 won. This should be enough, right? It’s funny, but I’m not a famous streamer, so…”
Gasp
Gasp
I’m gonna viral this in the Ragnarok Saga gallery!
“Please don’t! I expect the price to be around 30 million, maybe 40 million at most. But since it’s a two-character name, it’s kind of nerve-wracking.”
Hahaha
Why are you so scared?
For someone like Anty, the two-character name shouldn’t be too expensive, probably around 20 million. It has a nice feel to it…
“Really, I’m scared. If I spend all my 550,000 won, what will I do for the next month?”
Konjac, go go!
Buy a bunch of front leg meat!
“Konjac and front leg meat? We still have to eat like humans, right?”
You couldn’t live like a human when you started Ragnarok Saga.
“Well, that’s true. But hey, I still want to do what I enjoy. That’s what it means to live like a human.”
[Level 92]
[Cat Punch Nyang]
[Beast Master]
[Combat Power: 213,400,000]
It was 6:55 PM.
In just 5 minutes, the nickname auction would begin.
There were so many things to think about. Would the nickname Anty appear in the auction? If not, which nickname should I aim for as my second choice? If Anty does appear, how much should I bid? Money gets tangled up in these decisions, and it feels like I’m caught in a vine with no way out.
7:00 PM sharp. The nickname auction started.
At the same time, a flood of nicknames began to appear.
“Wow… all kinds of rare nicknames are being released.”
Oh
Wow
Let’s go!
Will Heart be released too?
Multitasking is a must for streamers. Anty read the chat while searching for her nickname, Anty.
“Heart is the name of the main protagonist in the Idol storyline, right?”
Yeah
Even without that, Heart itself is an SSS-level nickname.
“That’s right. Heart… I wonder how much it’ll sell for? Maybe around 10 million?”
Haha, 10 million is a bit much.
Who spends 10 million on a nickname?
“Right, who would spend 10 million on a nickname… unless it’s for an item.”
Then it happened.
She finally found it.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 0 Cash.]
“Wow, it’s up! Everyone, how much should we start with?”
Let’s start with 50,000 won.
Go big, shoot for 100,000 won.
“Guys, my total money is 550,000 won, so 100,000 won is a bit much…”
The first bid is the most important. That saying applies to the nickname auction too. If I rush and bid too high, I risk attracting people who’ll try to mess with the auction for fun. It’s better to pretend I don’t care whether I win or lose and casually add 30,000 won.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 30,000 Cash]
I just hope I can win it for 30,000 won.
A moment of silence passed. Then, an alert appeared, breaking the silence.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 50,000 Cash]
[Would you like to give up on bidding?]
“Ha… okay. I saw this coming. Still, I didn’t expect there to be some competition for a two-character name.”
Lol, right?
30,000 was too cheap, haha.
“Agreed.”
For every 10,000 I raise, my opponent raises the bid by the same amount. This back-and-forth is so nerve-wracking.
“It’s… suffocating. I feel like I’m having a panic attack.”
At some point, the 80,000 won I earned from working with kids all day disappeared in seconds.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 130,000 Cash]
“Wow… the money I made from watching kids for 8 hours, from 12 PM to 8 PM, is gone in just 5 seconds.”
Hahaha
At least you’re still getting something for it.
“Right! Don’t overthink it. If it ends here, it’s still within my expected range. I thought it would go up to 400,000 won, but 130,000 isn’t bad. That’s still 270,000 won profit.”
Why is that a profit, you fool, haha.
The bidding slowed down for a moment. Could this be the end of the auction? Please, let it end here.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 200,000 Cash]
But the bid started rising again. This time, it jumped by 70,000 won in one go, and the bid passed into the hundreds of thousands. Anty’s voice began to tremble.
“Wh-who’s sniper bidding?!”
Hahaha
Emergency, emergency.
Anty, what should we do?
“What should we do? I can’t stop now!”
As I raise my bid, my opponent raises theirs, and then I raise again, and they keep raising too. Is this the kind of fight that wears you down and cuts away at you? The bid continued to rise quickly.
[Anty]
[Current Bid: 500,000 Cash]
“Ugh! This is a crisis! Is this really the right thing to do?!”
It’s the only chance you’ve got, you have to go for it.
Just give up, sis.
Seriously, 500,000 won for a nickname?!
Her total savings were 550,000 won.
This wasn’t for some item, it was just for a nickname bid, 500,000 won. Cold sweat began to bead across her body. But she couldn’t give up. It was her nickname.
“Ah, whatever, let’s do this!”
[Anty]
[510,000 Cash]
“Please, please!”
[ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won!]
[It’s cold…]
“Thank you for the donation. Seriously, it’s… cold…”
[Auction Ended]
[Anty]
[Final Bid: 510,000 Cash]
“Wow. I got it. Mom, I did it.”
Congrats!
So now you have only 40,000 won left?
The joy was fleeting, as the cost of victory was harsh. She’d have to live the rest of her life on just 40,000 won. Was spending 510,000 won on a nickname too much?
“Still, it’s my nickname. How could I not buy it?”
She started rationalizing her decision.
“In theory, if I get rare boss items every week, I could make 1,000 a month!”
I knew Anty had a plan!
Honestly, winning the lottery would be faster.
[ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won!]
[Hey Anty, go take care of the kids.]
“Wow… But I’m glad I graduated. Long live my degree!”
Haha, true.
Wow, it’s good you went to Early Childhood Education.
You’ve paid off your student loans, and now you’re doing Ragnarok Saga streams, right?
“Student loans… I’ll just take out a loan to pay it back!”
Emergency, emergency, emergency!
[Level 92]
[Anty]
[Beast Master]
“Wow. This is it. Doesn’t it look cool?”
Was it worth 500,000 won?
Please say it’s cool.
The class…
What’s wrong with the class?!
Breaking News) Knight sold for 20 million.
“Wait?!”
I thought it was just another common trolling comment. But it wasn’t a lie.
[Knight]
[Final Bid: 20,000,000 Cash]
“Wow… that’s on another level. I was trembling just adding a few thousand won.”
How can your hands tremble? They should tremble like this.
…
Ban him.
..
“Hahaha. I’ll use that joke next time when I’m taking care of the kids.”
That’s your type of humor?
Anty continued to check the nickname auction.
“This is kind of fun to watch.”
Then, it appeared. The iconic class Idol, the main character’s name, and one of the ultra SSS-level nicknames.
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 0 Cash]
“It’s here. How much will it go for?”
Since the Knight went for 20 million, don’t you think this one will go for the same?
As expected of an ultra SSS-level nickname, it started with a whole different level.
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 30,000,000 Cash]
“Wow. It’s starting at 30 million? I started with 30,000 won.”
That’s a whole different world.
But it didn’t stop there. The bids kept increasing, with people bidding hundreds of thousands of won like it was nothing.
“I can’t believe what I’m seeing. They’re raising the bid by 100,000 won each time. Is this even cash? Doesn’t it look like gold?”
..
Ragnarok Saga whales are legendary.
The fierce competition among the few bidders. At this rate, I thought it would end around 5,000,000,000. Just then, it happened.
[Heart]
[Current Bid: 500,000,000 Cash]
“Whoa.”
Anty couldn’t close her mouth.
Huh?
500 million???
Crazy!
*
Anty’s Nickname Auction Stream.
Stream time: 8 hours. Expenses: 510,000 won. Earnings: About 2,000 won. But there was something gained…
“Was there? Sigh…”
But still, this was something I’ve wanted to do for a while. I believe I’ll get noticed eventually, so I started streaming again.
“Let’s start with energy today…”
[Heart has donated 10,000,000 won!]
[Can you do a proxy constellation for me?]
“Wait?!”