Chapter 14: Streaming

#1

The Baldhead Climbing Club.

One of the larger Climbing Clubs in the country, it brought in enough revenue to be called a corporation in its own right.

The leaders of all its crews had gathered at the club, which maintained close ties with the government, the Association, and various companies.

Ten leaders in all.

The president of this club, with its ten crews, went by the nickname [Kraken].

Originally, his nickname had been Octopus, but he had changed it after someone pointed out that it sounded unimpressive.

“Is everyone here? All right, let’s begin today’s meeting.”

Everyone looked tense at the in-person gathering.

In a club of this size, knowing one another’s real faces was essential.

With so much at stake, there had once been a time when misconduct ran rampant.

The president of the Baldhead Climbing Club: Im Geonyun, [Kraken].

His head was practically a symbol of why the club was called “Baldhead.”

He possessed an avatar with an average stat value of sixty-eight, yet something bright and shiny followed him wherever he went.

His head gleamed under the lights.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, so we can proceed as announced last week. Everything’s going well, I trust?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, I have something to report.”

Everything had already been communicated last week, so each crew knew what it needed to do.

Their assigned managers would handle the detailed schedules anyway.

Really, these meetings didn’t amount to much.

Except when something unusual came up, as it had now.

Geonyun turned toward Tete, who had shot her hand up.

His face looked genial, but his gaze overawed the crew leaders of the large club.

“What is it, Tete?”

“I managed to make contact with Avatar 1993. If you’re… unfamiliar with him, I can give you a briefing.”

“Ah, Lord 93? Yes, I know of him.”

She had made contact with Hwanung, better known as Lord 93.

Even scouts from the most prominent clubs and associations had said he was difficult to reach…

And their most junior crew leader had pulled it off?

“Interesting. What was he like in person?”

“The details will be in the video we’re uploading soon, but to put it briefly, his forces outmatched our crew even while he was fighting a jiangshi as well.”

“Oh… And his character?”

“We only spoke briefly… but he wasn’t particularly rude.”

She went on to mention exchanging cards, and the other crew leaders began to look intrigued.

“You must be hoping for more support, Tete, talking Lord 93 up like that.”

“That’s not it. We just need to do better.”

There was a barb in that remark, but Tete smoothly brushed it aside with a smile.

After listening to their exchange and thinking for a moment, Geonyun spoke.

“In that case, keep in touch with him and maintain a good relationship. If there are any supplies I can provide to help, I will.”

“Thank you.”

“If Lord 93 is thinking of making his streaming debut, give him all the help you can. Don’t worry about equipment.”

“Understood.”

Geonyun ended the meeting with a satisfied smile.

Lord 93 was a rising star.

Judging from the videos, he was a summoner, wasn’t he?

Unlike other avatars, who had to do all the legwork themselves, a summoner’s potential was limitless.

If even he thought so, what would the larger clubs and corporations think?

The associations and unions must be falling over themselves to recruit him.

‘Could we see him in the professional League?’

Geonyun considered it for a moment, then shook his head.

The professional scene was about individual mechanics and ability.

Wouldn’t having a summoner participate make things play out too strangely?

They would probably only invite him to exhibition matches.

With that in mind, he decided to put his full support behind the Tete Crew for now.

Anyone connected to a hit would find some way to ride the trend into the spotlight.

‘She’s hooked a good one. Her crew might grow faster than the others.’

Geonyun smiled contentedly and thought about the climbs ahead.

Everyone had their sights set on Everest, but the reality was that even World Rankers struggled to make headway there.

Rankers who had once made names for themselves continued to retire as the years passed.

The Baldhead Climbing Club was currently tackling [Hallasan]-grade towers.

That was the second-highest grade in South Korea. Excluding [Baekdusan]-grade towers, which opened as special events, the club was tackling the highest grade available.

“It’s about time we expanded overseas, too.”

He had heard there were some truly incredible towers abroad.

The top ten towers could be entered from anywhere on Earth, but for the rest, people had to travel to the countries where they stood.

Countries even squabbled over whose towers had the higher grades.

‘Lord 93 would be a valuable addition to our forces.’

This was the first personal connection they had established with him.

They needed to build on it and develop an even better relationship.

Stroking his gleaming head, Geonyun pictured a bright future.

#2

Certain towers in each region operated under special rules.

Namely, they had owners.

The position known as Tower Master allowed its holder to alter the tower’s rules within limits and receive a share of all the wealth generated there.

Such towers were called [Master Towers], and countless people flocked to compete in them.

However, each owner held the position for only one month. Once that month passed, the seat became vacant.

What set Master Towers apart was that anyone could compete for the title of Tower Master.

“But that’s not what I’m here for today.”

Hwanung stood in the lobby of the [Knight’s Tower], a Master Tower open only to avatars with an average stat value of forty or below.

His Mana was a hundred, but his avatar’s average stat value was a miserable 32.5.

‘Tete is… Ah, there she comes.’

Today, he only intended to get a taste of livestreaming in the lobby.

He had already told Tete he would be entering this tower.

In return for providing her with some content, he would receive a share of the proceeds and learn the ropes of streaming.

“Hello! It’s Tete!”

“You’re early. Hello.”

And so Hwanung appeared on Tete’s stream.

The chat began scrolling like mad, and the peak concurrent viewer count shot up.

Hwanung’s avatar waved in response to the viewers.

- Wow!

- Lord93!Lord93!Lord93!

- Start streaming! Please!

- What? A collab with Lady Tete!?

“Hello. I’m Avatar 1993. I’ll be chatting with Tete for a little while today. I’ll be climbing solo, though.”

- Aww, too bad.

- Wow, are you looking for a Sherpa?

- I’ll work like a slave, I swear!

…

As the chat raced by, a donation suddenly came in.

Climbers also accepted donations as part of their streaming activities.

They were now more popular than most celebrities, after all.

[U.C.L has donated 10,000,000 won.]

[Hello. This is U.C.L. Do you have any plans to stream on your own channel?]

- Holy crap!

- ??

- Wait, Britain?

- What are the British big shots doing here;;

- Dude, what are you doing here?

The enormous donation sent everyone into a frenzy.

U.C.L was the largest Climber association in Europe.

Alongside those in China and North America, it was considered one of the world’s three largest associations.

And an organization like that was taking a direct interest in Lord 93?

Naturally, the viewers’ interest exploded as well.

Just how high would Lord 93’s value climb?

That would depend on what Hwanung did from here.

“I’m planning to get ready for my own stream with Tete’s help. Once I’ve set up a channel, I’ll see you all there.”

“Ahem! Leave the preparations to me! I’ll make sure everything is ready, from start to finish!”

“Thank you. Well, I’ll see you in the tower.”

The [Knight’s Tower] was essentially a Colosseum.

A tournament unfolded across its stages to select a true knight, with only one final survivor.

Once a month, it also held a Master Tournament to select its Tower Master.

Each session had a hundred participants in total.

A team could have up to five members.

[The tournament will begin shortly.]
[Please press Join Game if you wish to participate.]

“Well, I’ll see you all later, everyone.”

“Happy climbing!”

After saying goodbye to Tete as well, he pressed Join Game.

She pressed the button too, joining her crewmates for their climb.

Light enveloped Hwanung as he waited for the tournament.

‘If their average stats are forty or below…’

They wouldn’t stand a chance against Eyas.

The more he thought about it, the more broken summoning seemed.

Everyone else had to fight with five people, while he could command more than ten summons.

‘I feel sorry for whoever ends up facing me.’

[Stage 1 is beginning.]
[Avatar No. 19930211 VS Tamgyeon and 4 others]
[The time limit is 15 minutes.]

The tower took the form of an enormous circular arena.

His opponents seemed to be streamers too; he spotted a streaming drone hovering off to one side.

Drones were invulnerable by default.

Seeing Hwanung standing alone, his opponents looked surprised.

“Huh?”

“Who’s that?”

“Lord 93!?”

The one called Tamgyeon seemed to recognize him.

Hwanung gave a small smile and uttered a single word.

“Summon.”

His summons appeared at his call.

The sight of them pouring out in a crowd horrified his opponents.

There were five of them.

Hwanung, on the other hand, had more than ten summons.

“I-isn’t this unfair!?”

“Y-yeah! There are five of us! What’s with their side!?”

They voiced their complaints, but the tower’s response was firm.

[No irregularities detected in the avatar. Combat will proceed.]

“Oh, f—…”

“Well, what can you do? Consider yourselves unlucky.”

With that, Hwanung turned to Eyas.

Her remaining task was to knock out eight people in a PvP tower.

If the rounds went normally, she would meet all the conditions in the next round.

Hwanung was curious to see what would happen.

Looking at the opposing team, who had already lost the will to fight, he gave the order.

“Charge.”

His summons rushed forward en masse.

It was practically an act of brutality.

#3

The outcome was decided in an instant.

Against the brute force of numbers, avatars with average stats of forty or below could do very little.

Two N-rank summons were knocked out in the process, but losses that small were nothing.

“That avatar’s so damn broken.”

The last holdout said it as Eyas’s sword pierced him.

Hwanung merely smiled and watched him get eliminated.

Climbers eliminated in Stage 1 received no rewards, so they would have to try again.

With five Climbers eliminated, Eyas needed just three more to grow.

Hwanung fixed his gaze on the section marked [??].

What could those question marks mean?

[Stage 2 will begin shortly.]
[Please stand by.]

Meanwhile, the next stage was about to begin.

Hwanung looked at Eyas, who held her sword in a firm grip, and asked,

“You can handle this, right?”

“Of course, my lord. Pray leave it to me.”

Her words had never sounded more reassuring.