Chapter 62
Bang—
The bartender, who had been listening to their conversation, brought another bottle of the same vodka. He had mentioned they used to drink together here about ten years ago.
Judging by the bartender’s expression, he was unsurprised, as if he already knew the story.
‘So that’s why he chose this place for our meeting.’
Suhyuk began to understand why Schneider was so obsessed with the Thunder Cave.
‘Does he blame himself for what happened back then?’
Seeing Schneider, his head buried and arms wrapped around his head, Suhyuk saw a reflection of himself.
“There’s no trial that can’t be cleared.”
His former self, who was confident in tackling the Hydra. Schneider, who led his comrades to challenge the Thunder Cave. Different paths to success as players, but were their actions fundamentally different?
“The comrades…”
His breath hitched as he tried to ask the question. He was scared. Scared of the answer. Gritting his teeth, Suhyuk reopened his mouth.
But it was a question he had to ask.
“Did they blame you a lot?”
How did his comrades view Schneider?
How did the friends who survived that day, and those who died thinking of him?
In response to Suhyuk’s question, Schneider slowly raised his head.
“Blame…”
As if to question the obviousness of the inquiry. With a self-deprecating tone, he nodded.
“Yes, a lot.”
Thud—
It felt like something dropped inside Suhyuk.
“They blamed me. They said it was all my fault. If only I hadn’t been so stubborn, if only we hadn’t gone to that damned Thunder Cave. They demanded I bring them back to life….”
Schneider, vividly recalling that day, uttered the words of his blame-filled companions. His words began to fade away. Nausea welled up inside Suhyuk, making him feel like throwing up.
The words spilling from Schneider’s mouth. They echoed in the voices of Shiwoo, Yerang, Minjae, and Suhoon…
The voices of comrades who died or were injured due to his choices that day.
“Stop…”
With great difficulty, he opened his dry mouth.
“Stop! Stop it already.”
Schneider ceased his words at Suhyuk’s urgent plea and gave a bitter laugh. He reached for the bottle beside him.
“Why? Feeling sorry for me?”
“… No.”
Suhyuk shook his head. It wasn’t sympathy, but a sense of kinship. A strange empathy born from their similar situations. Schneider had been bearing the same guilt as him for ten years.
“You have no intention of giving up, do you?”
“Give up?”
Schneider scoffed at Suhyuk’s words.
“I urged them to take the challenge, causing their deaths. If I give up here, what does that make their deaths?”
He was right. He would likely feel the same. If his comrades had died not because of Kim Ilsoo’s betrayal but the Hydra. And if the Hydra hunt had ended in failure.
No matter how many years it took, no matter what it required, he would have poured all his time and effort into overcoming the Hydra.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m obsessed with the Thunder Cave. Not that you’d understand even after hearing this, right?”
No.
I understand.
To Schneider, the Thunder Cave is akin to his own form of vengeance. If he doesn’t succeed, he can’t face the comrades who died because of him. To him, conquering the Thunder Cave is the only way to find solace for their departed souls.
“And why are you telling me this?”
Suhyuk felt it was an unnecessary story to hear. His own comrades might think the same way as Schneider’s did. The thought had been gripping his heart, as if someone were squeezing it tightly.
Moreover, if he were to conquer the Thunder Cave himself.
‘What will happen to this guy, who has been charging ahead solely for the Thunder Cave….’
“I saw hope. Thanks to you.”
“……?”
An unexpected response. His expression subtly twisted under his mask. He had come to provide information because he lost a bet, but hope?
“Listen carefully.”
But Schneider’s face wasn’t one of despair.
No.
Instead, he spoke with more vigor than ever before.
“About what the Thunder Cave really is.”
*
Inside a house frozen white. In the frosty air that formed visible breath, Shiwoo paced back and forth in the same spot.
Glancing—
He kept glancing at the kit placed on the dining table. He murmured in a worried tone.
“Why isn’t she contacting me?”
It had been a while since Yerang had left. The last time he heard from her was when she safely reached the third floor, so she must have also reached the tournament venue.
‘Is she playing around midway? She probably would, but….’
Even though it was Yerang, she wouldn’t be playing around in a situation like this.
‘If she had obtained Minjae’s memento, she would have contacted me first.’
At least this time, she should have. So why on earth?
“Could it be….”
His anxiety caused the surrounding air to freeze even further.
“Did she get caught?”
The thought horrified him. Yerang was a specialist in disguise and stealth. Particularly in stealth, no one could match her. Unless Kim Ilsoo himself came, catching her if she decided to run was impossible.
No.
Even if he came himself, she would probably escape safe and sound nine times out of ten.
“Then why?”
He had sent her alone because he trusted her skills. He had absolute faith that she wouldn’t get caught. But the problem was, she wasn’t contacting him.
‘I might have underestimated this. If Kim Ilsoo had prepared countermeasures to break Yerang’s stealth….’
His thoughts spiraled into the worst possible scenarios.
Crackle—
The air around him froze over completely as he considered the possibility of losing Yerang too. Then suddenly.
“…Should I go find her?”
Shiwoo’s thoughts escalated dramatically. He knew it was a foolish idea. Kim Ilsoo was surrounded by numerous players, and fighting them alone without Yerang was like throwing an egg against a rock.
But.
Rather than surviving alone, he preferred challenging the rock, even as an egg. As Shiwoo was gathering his energy, deep in thought…
Bzzz—
His kit buzzed. Thinking it might be Yerang, Shiwoo quickly checked.
However,
『’Lee Suhyuk’ has started streaming.』
It was just an alert for a subscribed channel, notifying him that Lee Suhyuk’s stream had started.
“What the heck?”
Disappointment washed over him. He thought it was Yerang’s contact.
“I should just cancel the subscription or something…”
Bzzz—
Then it buzzed again. Shortly after the stream alert, a message came through.
『Yerang: Sorry.』
“Sorry…?”
Apologizing for contacting late?
If that was the case, she had every reason to be sorry. Given the anxiety he had been feeling, even a hundred apologies wouldn’t suffice.
But.
‘Still… it’s a relief she’s alive.’
As long as she was safe, that was all that mattered. No need for apologies, just returning safely was enough. She must have been in a situation urgent enough to preclude contact.
Just as he thought that.
Bzzz—
“…Huh?”
Another message from Yerang.
『Yerang: I just gave those shoes to Lee Suhyuk, hehe』
Seeing that, Shiwoo hurriedly checked Lee Suhyuk’s stream. And the moment he saw the crimson-tinted shoes he was wearing.
“This….”
The relief he felt moments ago turned into anger toward Yerang.
“Yerang-!”
*
Suhyuk started his stream a day after meeting Schneider. Usually, he would start his stream as soon as he began a trial, but this time, the situation was different.
‘Just the travel took a whole day.’
The time it took to travel to the central mercenary guild of the Conrad Kingdom. Under normal circumstances, he would have had to perform missions, build up credentials, and earn a higher mercenary rank while traveling.
But Suhyuk skipped all that, heading straight to the central guild. It wasn’t until he arrived there that he started his stream.
-Su-hi!
-Hey, hey
-Where is this?
-The building looks kinda fancy
As he went live, viewers began pouring in.
Of course, the number of viewers wasn’t as high as before.
『Viewers: 3,022』
This was the number of viewers even before the stream officially began. At this rate, surpassing 5,000 viewers and possibly reaching 8,000 seemed achievable.
However.
The speed of viewer increase wasn’t as steep as it was during the tournament.
“It’ll be hard to exceed 10,000 viewers like during the tournament.”
“Why is that?”
“The tournament was a special case. There were bets placed, and naturally, people were more interested. Typically, tournament content draws 1.5 times the average viewership, sometimes even double.”
Un Hyang had explained this beforehand, so Suhyuk wasn’t too disappointed. No, even this was more than enough.
‘I can increase my viewers again later.’
Putting aside his greed, he officially started the stream.
“Hello, I’m Lee Suhyuk. Nice to meet you.”
His greeting was formal and stiff.
-Su-hi!
-Will he ever fix that stiff greeting?
“Sorry, I’m still not used to it.”
Seems like he sucks at streaming after all.
– Is there a streamer who’s good at everything except streaming?
– Lolol seriously, why call that a streamer? lolol
Fortunately, the viewers seemed to have gotten used to it. And Suhyuk had also grown accustomed to streaming.
“So they say. The manager even scolded me about it.”
– For being bad at streaming?
“Yes. They said if I’m covering my face and can’t even host properly, what am I doing?”
In reality, the words were softer, but the viewers liked spicy commentary.
Suhyuk intentionally added another remark.
“Guess I might get fired.”
– Lololol
– If you get fired, join another network.
– Yeah, there are plenty of other agencies besides Balhae Entertainment.
– But no stream grows this fast.
Some time was spent engaging with the viewers. For streamers, this was the golden hour.
『’MoneySeekerHyuk’ has donated 100 points.』
『Did you celebrate after the tournament?』
Viewers who wished to interact with the streamer were most active with donations during this time.
“No, I just slept at the lodging.”
“Am I friends with Schneider? No, we’re not friends.”
“Thanks for the confession… but I’m not into men.”
“I won’t take off the mask… oh, you want me to take off my pants? Manager, please mute that person.”
There were a few odd donations mixed in, but Suhyuk diligently responded to the donation messages for a few minutes.
And just as he thought it was time to start the main stream.
『’Shortened as Delicious’ has donated 10 points.』
『Are you challenging the Thunder Cave today?』
A timely question came in.
“Yes, we’ll be challenging the Thunder Cave today.”
-55555!
-Knew it from when he started the stream lol
-Was wondering when he’d start because of all the donations
-Is the first attempt possible?
Just as Suhyuk was about to set off for his Thunder Cave quest.
“Excuse me…”
Among the crowd that had been hovering around Suhyuk for a while.
“You’re Lee Suhyuk, right? The one who streams.”
A man with narrow, squinty eyes stepped forward and addressed Suhyuk. As if he already knew.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Glad we ran into you here.”
He spoke awkwardly, as if he was forcing himself to.
“We’re also planning to challenge the Thunder Cave.”
Suhyuk looked at the group of about ten people behind him. The party consisted of three women and seven men. They were not mercenaries from this world, but players like Suhyuk.
-They came to leech off you.