- This doesn't sound like something I can decide. I'll report it to the director and get back to you. However, I think that the higher-ups will give a positive answer…
After Park Yoon-sik left, Sae-ah spoke to JiHan in a tired voice. "Uncle… I'll rest a bit."
It seemed like a conversation with a high-ranking official wasn't easy for a high schooler like Sae-ah.
JiHan nodded. "Yes, get some rest. I'm going to start the League, so come watch me on Battle Tube when you're free."
"Are you going to play with Dad's connector?"
"No. I'll do it raw."
"Hmm…? Raw?"
JiHan said it casually, but it was a serious matter for Sae-ah.
Yoon Sae-ah hurriedly grabbed JiHan's arm. "Uncle! That's too dangerous! You should play with a Battle Net connector! You'll get hurt!"
"It will hurt if they hit me even once. So far, I haven't been hit yet."
"Mister, since when did you become so pretentious?"
"Mister? But I'm just 27. How sad for you to call me that."
JiHan giggled and patted Yoon Sae-ah's head. "Come see your uncle and get motivated, dear niece."
"Ugh. Just because you finished 1st in Gangnam… I'll be watching your weaknesses closely."
"Sure, now get some rest."
After Sae-ah returned to her room, JiHan checked his achievement points.
'45,600 points… That's quite a bit.'
To think he'd get more achievement points from streaming rather than playing the game.
JiHan checked the Achievement Shop.
[Achievement Shop LV.4]
Achievement Shop Upgrade - 50,000P
Status Window Expansion LV.1 - 10,000P
Extra Class Slot LV.1 - 10,000P
Inventory Expansion LV.1 - 10,000P
Extra Title Slot - 10,000P
Emergency Recovery (Item) - 10,000P
He didn't have enough points to upgrade the shop, but that was something that could be pushed for later.
'Let's add another class.'
He needed to have a total of two classes to gain a unique stat, and to return to the Warrior class later, he would need three, so it would be great if he added one for the time being.
JiHan clicked on 'Extra Class Slot LV.1'.
[You've purchased Extra Class Slot LV.1]
[10,000 achievement points have been deducted.]
After that, one extra slot was added.
'To think it'd be this easy.'
JiHan laughed in disbelief when he saw the new space that appeared under the Support class.
It only took 10,000 points to get an extra class. That was too cheap.
He checked the next class addition item.
[Extra Class Slot LV.2 - Achievement Shop LV.5 is required.]
He needed to increase the level of the Achievement Shop to add a third class.
'The conditions are going to get tougher from now on.'
50,000 achievement points would be needed, and on top of that, he would probably have to spend tens of thousands of achievement points to get another class slot.
It was an amount he wouldn't have been able to earn if it weren't for Battle Tube.
'I should actively use the streaming option.'
It hadn't been long since Sae-jin left for Japan, so the entire nation's attention was probably going to be on him.
Instead of running away from the spotlight, he decided to take advantage of it.
JiHan touched the second class slot.
[You can add a basic class.]
[The classes available are the following.]
- Warrior
- Archer
- Mage
[Which class will you choose?]
As expected, only the Support class had disappeared. The rest were there.
JiHan grinned. 'Baron, I'll take what you always bragged about.'
Baron Williams, the person who'd reached world ranking #1 in his past life, was the leader of the America First Guild, and his Gift was SSS-ranked.
'Two Status Windows… It was a cheat Gift.'
As the name suggested, it was a Gift that duplicated everything in the status window, from classes to titles, and later on, it could even duplicate constellation slots.
Thanks to earning twice the experience and GP, no player could keep up with Baron's growth, but as expected of someone who'd created a guild called America First, he only favored Americans. Still, he would oddly cling to JiHan on the days he got drunk on whiskey during guild parties.
- JiHan! Come here. Let's have a drink!
- Master, if you're going to repeat the same story as last time, I'll decline in advance.
- No! I just want to talk with you!
He kept repeating the same story over and over again.
- JiHan… It's too bad that you aren't a true American.
- Guild Master… You said you wouldn't say that again.
- Why didn't you immigrate to America sooner? If you'd come before 2020, I would've taken better care of you…!
- Aah…
- JiHan, listen to me!
Then he kindly explained to him how he'd obtained his unique stat.
- Honestly, when I was in Bronze, I wasn't that confident in myself. Although I'd obtained an SSS-rank Gift, I didn't know how good it was.
- That's good, Master.
- Of course, I know now! Haha! Anyways…!
- You didn't know the Gift was good, so you decided to become a Support. That's why you were increasing your Divine Power when you suddenly had a curious coincidence… Weren't you going to say that?
- JiHan… How did you know? Did you hack me?
- This is the fifth time you've said it.
JiHan laughed as he thought of the past.
Baron, the leader of America First, the person who was ranked 1st…
He favored Americans, but he unexpectedly wasn't that bad of a person.
'If I naturalize as an American right now, as he suggested, I might be valued higher.'
The people Baron discriminated against were those who had immigrated after Earth's Tutorial Season, and there was an easy way to differentiate between those who immigrated before and those who did after.
If you'd immigrated before the Tutorial Season was over, your nationality on Battle Net would change, but once it was over, it wouldn't change anymore.
'Later on, that felt like a stigma.'
JiHan shook his head and recalled what Baron said about obtaining the unique stat.
- I picked the Support and Mage classes. To me, fighting in front doesn't look cool.
'First, I have to get the Support and Mage classes.'
JiHan chose his classes following Baron, and he'd already picked Support, so the only one left was Mage.
[You've chosen the Mage class.]
[You've obtained the F-rank skill 'Fire'.]
[You've obtained the F-rank skill 'Ice'.]
JiHan, who'd chosen two jobs that had nothing to do with Martial Power, checked his Divine Power stat.
'It's at eight. Excluding the title's effect, it's seven.'
He'd gained more than achievement points from the day before's stream. Though the amount of GP he'd obtained was a bit disappointing compared to the number of views he'd gotten since he hadn't used any advertisements, it was still a considerable amount.
He read the effect of the relic he'd bought through the Battle Net market using that GP.
'Sleeping while hugging the relic was effective.'
With the GP he'd obtained from streaming, he'd purchased a relic and increased his Divine Power by one after holding it while he slept.
'I need my Divine Power to reach 10 to meet the requirements Baron told me about.'
10 was the minimum requirement for obtaining the unique stat he was after.
'Compared to that, I obtained Martial Power quite easily.'
He'd obtained Martial Power with the stroke of a brush, but Baron's unique stat was quite hard to get.
'But it's worth it.'
JiHan grabbed the relic.
'I'll do my best to get more Divine Power in the next game.'
* * *
[The mission is 'survival.]
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As drums echoed from all directions, JiHan realized what map he was on.
'It's the Colosseum again.'
Although the map was the same as before, there was one clear difference: unlike in the tutorial, there was a bit of an audience watching them.
'Are elves the audience this time…?'
JiHan clicked his tongue as he looked at the arrogantly seated elves.
Elves were a race that looked like humans but had large ears. Although they had incredible beauty, their insides were completely different.
'Humans were deceived a lot by the elves.'
Elves were one of the main reasons why humans went extinct, so he couldn't help but grind his teeth when he thought about them.
'Things won't end like before this time,' JiHan told himself as he looked around.
Unlike in the tutorial, people who were stronger-looking with better equipment were looking at him.
"It's JiHan!"
He'd become famous in just one day, and the players looked at him cautiously.
'How come someone who cleared the tutorial is already matched with me? I'm level 16.'
'He used a mixture of Divine Power and Ki in the broadcast, right? He won't be easy.'
JiHan looked shabby at first glance—he held an iron cudgel in one hand and a large kitchen knife in the other, so it was kind of unbalanced. He was also wearing training clothes, so his defensive power was almost nonexistent.
He might've looked like delicious prey to the other players, who were decked out in equipment they'd gotten from guilds, but they were cautious.
'It seems like he'd die with just one attack.'
'I can't help but think that he might use Ki…'
'Should I watch him fight against others first?'
Everyone was looking at each other while observing the new players that were being summoned.
Flash!
A player wearing fancy armor was summoned near JiHan, and he began talking as soon as he appeared in the Colosseum.
"Hello~! It's good to see everyone~! I'm Streamer Golden Light. Today, once again, I'm going to explore the deep sea with everyone! Oh, my God, chairman!! Thanks for the GP donation as soon as I logged in!"
The players frowned when they saw him.
'Ahh, that bastard's here again.'
'Is he still doing the Deep Sea Exploration Project?'
Streamer Golden Light was a famous streamer on Battle Tube with a celebrity-like, handsome face. Until a few months prior, he was a promising Gold leaguer, but…
- What happens when someone from Gold goes down to Bronze? Let's find out in The Deep Sea Exploration Project. Let's get started!
To grow his Battle Tube channel even further, he devised a project that no other Battle Tuber had tried before and called it 'The Deep Sea Exploration Project'.
From that day on, Streamer Golden Light began losing on purpose.
- Everyone, I'm sorry~ I must end up last… Haha~ I'll be killing myself!
- W-wait… You bastard!
From Gold to Silver, and from Silver to Bronze. He stopped losing on purpose after he dropped to level 5.
- From now on, I, Golden Light, will start climbing while finishing 1st~ What about the skills I've lost? Fufu, I can recover those with everyone's 'love'!
Then, Streamer Golden Light's Deep Sea Exploration streams began.
Although he was level five, he had a lot of experience in the game, and he still had the equipment he used while in Gold, so there wasn't a single Bronze that could defeat him.
- Is this the level of Gangnam?
- Tsk tsk. That isn't how you should swing a sword.
His content featured him making fun of his struggling opponents.
Even if there were many promising players gathered in the Gangnam 1 area, Streamer Golden Light was someone who'd reached Gold League before, so no one was a match for him.
'1st place is taken.'
'Let's avoid that guy.'
Everyone thought they should avoid Streamer Golden Light if they could, and the player in question looked around when his eyes shone.
"Ah…! Everyone, check out what I've found!"
His eyes were locked on JiHan, who was wearing training clothes.