Chapter 76: Starving Beast 1
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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The chat carried on, shifting between chaos and calm.
Once Charlotte's curiosity was sated, she left.
Meanwhile, Grace, Irene, and Kaiden surrendered to slumber on the cabin beds.
I lounged on my own bed, focused on surfing the web, while Han Se-ah talked with the chat in the adjacent cabin.
"Nothing much to do tonight, guess I'll just hit the sack?"
-Are you not going to have girl talk?
-This isn't some dating sim, haha
-Heard everything already, so you just skip it
-How about a sleep stream?
-Get on with it already, skip!
Having said that, Han Se-ah reached out with an exaggerated motion to press the floating hologram UI of the game, showing the viewers.
As she hit the [Rest] button, she flopped onto the bed like a marionette with its strings cut, then promptly arranged herself into a proper sleeping posture.
'So that's how it works, huh?'
Simultaneously, the live stream stopped.
The chat, which had been buzzing like a downpour in the monsoon season, froze as if a moderator had paused it.
However, the typical black screen signaling the end of the stream didn't show up.
The feed just stopped, as if someone yanked out the internet cable.
Curious, I browsed other websites.
It wasn't that the internet window - my reward from the system - was malfunctioning.
After a night of video watching, I realized one peculiar detail: the clock in the lower-right corner of the window was not moving.
Time stopped in the game world when Han Se-ah exits, but it kept moving in the real world.
When Han Se-ah saved her game, time resumed in the game world but stopped in reality.
Upon confirming this simple rule, Han Se-ah - who had been resting while I explored the internet - abruptly opened her eyes.
Time resumed in her live stream.
She picked up her conversation with the viewers, wriggling as if enjoying the bed's comfort.
"It's morning now, and everyone should have rested well. What should our next move be? Will the guild and the Magic Tower organize something like a subjugation team?"
-Considering the enemy's numbers, we might need to gather our own NPC army too.
-I bet those mage freaks will rush in with eyes full of excitement
-Getting outside first should be fine, I think
-Please push through the boring parts yourself
Seeing Han Se-ah, who had been lying perfectly still on the bed as if she were an actress in a time-stopping movie, now casually chatting again felt odd.
Since the other party members were likely to wake up soon, I decided it was time to get up.
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Raei Translations
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As expected of a place where mages gather, the tower cabin is surprisingly well-equipped, complete with shower facilities, despite its humble exterior.
After a quick rinse, the team grouped in front of my cabin, looking refreshed.
"So, what's next?"
"Why don't we have breakfast here, then head out? We could push on for another day if we want to, but we don't need to wear ourselves out."Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.
"Just like the cabins, the dining hall was made large for expeditions going up, but most mages have their meals in the labs with a ration... Our lady does the same, so if she leaves before lunch, I think you should carry on without her."
"I see."
"Yes. She was examining the Orc warrior's bracelet till dawn yesterday, so she may have just gone to bed."
As Maid Mari spoke, Han Se-ah scooped up the soup with warm bread from her inventory, an item courtesy of 1 'Kind Baker' Johanna.
The chat found amusement in how the usually stoic maid's expression changed - once while observing the inventory and once more about her lady's late night.
The chat was once again abuzz with excitement.
Turning away from the embarrassing spectacle in the chat, Han Se-ah took a moment.
The fervor of tens of thousands could be overwhelming.
Gamers were alike, East or West.
Even foreign viewers, who initially came for the walkthrough, started participating in the chat using translation tools.
"Ah, smells good. Any leftovers?"
"?"
"What, f*ck. Can't I share a bowl of soup?"
"No, it's not that."
As I was about to rise from my seat, having enjoyed the warm, hearty soup, a figure abruptly drops down at our table.
Rebecca, vigorously shaking her bright red hair as if shaking off water, unexpectedly requests soup.
What's going on here?
Antenor is an unpredictable genius.
It wouldn't be strange for him to be rummaging around on the 10th floor looking for traces of the Full Moon Wolf instead of advancing to the 43rd.
But Rebecca is a different story.
Despite her beast-like manner and reckless instinct-driven actions, she is still Rebecca, the 'Mercenary Queen.'
The reason her title remains unchanged even after becoming an adventurer is simple: adventurers pursue the unknown, while mercenaries hunt for wealth.
Why is she, a woman intent on earning her fortune by breaching the tower's top floor, loitering in the 20th-floor safe zone?
"Why didn't you go up?"
"I went up and came down, f*ck. Did you guys see it?"
"What?"
"Those pigs have multiplied!"
Her teeth are bared like an excited beast as she pounds on the table.
Our party members exchange confused glances, confused by the fury of the senior adventurer who'd stormed in out of nowhere.
"Those sons of b*tches overturned our kids' food carriage!"
"Ah"
From the 10th floor to the 20th, and from there through the 30th and 40th to the 43rd.
Transporting food, a task even a senior adventurer must oversee.
But, in keeping with a mercenary's love for efficiency, each level's adventurers are responsible for escorting the carriage.
It's only natural that intermediate adventurers take care of the 20th floor.
After meeting with their higher-level counterparts, they hand over the carriage at the 30th floor safe zone.
It's not inconceivable for the food carriage to be raided by the horde of orcs now occupying the 20th floor.
"I went down to the first floor to order plenty of beer and food for the kids, and my own liquor and cigarettes. But when a day passed and the carriage didn't show up, I went down and what? These f*cks, these bastards think they can f*ck with me."
And it's a known fact that a starved beast grows ferocious.
One 5 rated, red-haired beast whose territory has been invaded, possessions stolen, and has been starved to the bone.
It's about to be f*cked.
...Not me, but the orc.
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