X
[99]
[Gamlinyi: Is this a flex, putting an E-rank among A-ranks? LMAO.]
[Gae No-dap: H-H-H-How is this possible? LOL. Their physicals alone are getting crushed among those monsters. LOL.]
[Borissal: These trolls are hopeless, honestly. LOL. They’re just a bunch of kids making noise and stirring trouble.]
[Kobakjuk: LOL. Where did Kimmel, whom E-rank-nim supposedly subjugated, go? Where’s Dagon hiding? I can’t see them! Ah, focus the screen better, please! LOL.]
[FFR: Is that E-rank sane? It’s -55 degrees Celsius; can they even breathe? They must be insane! My chest feels so constricted! LOL.]
[bR45: No, guys, listen to me! I’m telling you, I’ve seen them somewhere before!]
[B-Rank Association President: I chew on firewood. Namu Amida Butsu.]
“No, seriously, people. There’s only one A-rank here, okay? And what do you mean, ‘flex’? You just don’t know who the real powerhouses are around here. Why do you think I haven’t been able to film Brother Dagon yet? Just film and die? No way. I’d genuinely die.
If I just died, it’d be a clean death, but I’d probably get my head dunked first into that ice water next to me. Ah, anyway, it’s not happening. Wait, this isn’t the problem!”
Baek Jiun grumbled, his lips pouting, as he filmed the group walking ahead of him. He deftly avoided Agon and Dali, instead alternating between filming the physically impressive Beom Yeonhu, Kang Taesan, and Byeon Yeongchan.
“Our team is currently last on the way to the snowy mountain, last place! I watched other teams’ broadcasts, and get this, the team next to us has already broken through the snowy mountain entrance and entered to fight the boss!
But! Our team! They insist on taking it slow, even if it kills them! Who said that, you ask? Well, there’s a certain big shot on our team who’s diligently taking naps and dawdling, so I’m telling you, a miracle is about to happen. What kind of miracle? A ‘dawdling’ miracle.”
Everyone listening in front of him stiffened their shoulders, looking serious. Behind them, Baek Jiun chuckled, amused by his own words. However, their steps halted abruptly when Dokyeom, who had been calmly walking ahead, suddenly turned around.
“You think it’s childish? Oh, come on, it was meant to be childish. Wow, look at the insults coming in. I tried to exert some effort so you could feel the temperature here… Wait, wait a minute, hyung. Why are you coming at me like that? Hyung, what do you have in your hand… Agh! Wait, let me turn off the broadcast! Argh!”
A thick wooden stick was ferociously swung towards Baek Jiun’s head. Its hardness and thickness were akin to a *Danso* [TL Note: A Korean bamboo flute, implying it was stout and firm].
While it wouldn’t cause more than a bruise, Baek Jiun desperately dodged it. Fearing his camcorder might break, he quickly closed the screen and tried to disconnect the jack from his phone. At that moment, Baek Jiun froze, his eyes wide.
“Hyung, Hyung!! This isn’t the time to hit me! Hyung, right now! The Woohwa Guild! Geon Ita’s team is taking down the boss!”
Dokyeom’s swift hand movements paused at the shouted news. Baek Jiun, who had been scanning the comments, immediately ended his broadcast and went to find Geon Ita’s video list. There were no less than four live videos.
Upon entering the most reliable hunter’s video among them, a cacophony of chaotic sounds burst forth.
[Wait! The video is too shaky, so I’ll just fall back! Please ensure no one here gets hurt!]
[You bastard, aren’t you going to attack?! How can you talk about backing off and getting a free ride?!]
[Have the support hunters fall back first!]
Shouts, explosions, and the screams of monsters swept through the surroundings like a sonic boom. Baek Jiun was already glued to the screen, his nose practically pressed against it, watching the video.
Dokyeom watched him for a moment before resuming his swing.
“Argh! Hyung, I’m watching the video right no—”
“Oh, really? Well, that’s what you get for making such idiotic jokes and infuriating people. Do you want to watch it while being hit, or while lying prostrate?”
Ultimately, Baek Jiun once again made a ‘walnut’ wrinkle under his chin and reluctantly lay prostrate on the floor. Dokyeom plopped down on his back and tapped his shoulder with the stick, as if giving him a wooden massage.
“Hyung, I really hate you so much.”
“Just watch the video.”
Before long, Beom Yeonhu, along with Kang Taesan and Byeon Yeongchan, had also gathered around the video. Baek Jiun watched the video, propped on his elbows, phone on the floor, even swallowing his saliva.
His eyes were filled with a mix of injustice, regret, and disappointment. It was easy to understand. He must have been thinking, ‘I shouldn’t have followed them, I should have just filmed Taeseongyeon’s team boss raid video, I shouldn’t have come here.’ Such regrets were plainly evident in his gaze.
The video, mid-stream, began to flicker and blur with static, drawing complaints from viewers. Yet, thousands of comments streamed by every second, piling up like a fortress. The number of viewers alone surpassed 600,000.
Considering that viewers were split across other videos, this was an astonishing number. It showed just how intense Korea’s interest in this disaster was.
Every scene, teetering between life and death, was captured in the shaky footage. Geon Ita’s vivid, smiling eyes hardened with killing intent, and his sword energy surged forth with a chilling beam of light.
The screen went white, and a grotesque scream echoed across the land.
Baek Jiun’s face looked as if he was about to cry. Dokyeom looked at his bowed head and spoke casually.
“Oh dear, our Jiun looks like he’s dying of envy.”
“Ah, I don’t know! I’m so envious my stomach hurts, so would I be smiling?! Everyone else is strategizing and putting in effort, so what are we doing?! Hyung, do you actually intend to do anything? You didn’t just leave the team to waste time, did you? There’s a limit to how shameless one can be; you’re like a venomous snake…”
“I’ll double your viewer count.”
What?
Baek Jiun blinked blankly, his face bewildered. So… double…? Double?
“…On my channel…?”
Teacher, what is that standard even…? [TL Note: ‘Teacher’ here is a respectful but slightly sarcastic way to address Dokyeom, implying he’s talking nonsense.]
“I’m telling you, I’ll funnel twice the viewers of the video you’re watching right now into your channel.”
Baek Jiun immediately clapped a hand over his mouth. Still prostrate like a dog, he squirmed anxiously.
“Double? Double? Hyung… You’re not, you’re not crazy, are you? Double would be… No, that’s over a million people! My subscriber count is only 40,000 right now, so what kind of absurd nonsense are you talking about?”
“I’m telling you, I’ll make that possible, I will.”
“Haha, alright, alright. Hyungnim, first, come down, please? Let’s talk properly face-to-face, okay? Hyungniiiiim!”
Though he spoke grandly of skills and such, his primary objective was, of course, ‘Authority.’ In the original story, Geon Ita clearly obtained the ‘Authority of Wrath’ that he desired.
The problem, however, was that something else was hidden in this snowy mountain besides ‘Authority.’ The fact that Dokyeom knew about it was an even bigger issue.
Why? Because Ju Uiryeong would surely know about it too.
In the original story, Geon Ita returned without acquiring the
Unlike the present, where Taeseongyeon was alive, virtually no hunters had volunteered to clear this gate in the original story. Everyone had been forced to struggle in dire conditions.
Hadongwon of the Media Guild, who prioritized losses over gains, was someone who focused on saving people rather than acquiring things.
Naturally, they were bound to clash and go their separate ways. Although they eventually completed the snowy mountain raid after many twists and turns, Hadongwon had to return empty-handed, unlike Geon Ita. He had chosen survival over reward.
Of course, the biggest reason was probably that he didn’t know ‘how to obtain it.’
The
In the original story, Hadongwon first sought out the ‘third’ witch, who had the lowest rank. The initial premise was already tangled. However, there was no need to despair.
After all, ‘Authority’ always circulated and reappeared somewhere else.
Of course, that was only in the original story; here, he intended to secure all three. With Taeseongyeon present, there was no reason to give up.
“Hyung? Hyungnim? Are you even listening to me? I’m begging you like a dog here!”
“Alright, alright, just stop squirming, okay?”
From Dokyeom’s perspective, Baek Jiun was actually a welcome sight, like a windfall. He was the reinforcement who appeared just as Dokyeom was pondering how to get information from the two fractured teams.
It was only thanks to Baek Jiun, who watched videos of both teams and quickly relayed their progress, that Dokyeom had been able to indulge in naps and idleness for the past few days.
“You just do as I say. Then I’ll inflate your viewer count, which you love so much. Just don’t get too excited and act out.”
“Haha! Hyung, when have you ever seen me act out? I know my place. I know my limits very well as I go about my business.”
Why doesn’t this guy realize that his very presence here is suspicious?
“I’ll listen like a good dog, just tell me what to do, Hyung! I’m BaekTuber, and I always keep my word. I knew you were a big shot, Hyung. Of course, I knew; my intuition isn’t wrong.”
Dokyeom, seated on Baek Jiun’s squirming back, stood up with an ‘ootsa.’ The nimble body that had been prostrate immediately sprang up. Baek Jiun, calling him ‘Teacher, Teacher,’ knelt reverently, awaiting Dokyeom’s words.
However, when his gaze flickered sideways, Baek Jiun swiftly grabbed his phone and let out a shriek.
You’ve got to see this next! I Became a Vampire Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : I Became a Vampire Girl
