The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 66

-?

-??

-What?

-Is the announcement only showing up for me?

-Nope, me too.

-What's going on?

-Has there ever been a global announcement like this?

-Reset? Replay?

-No, seriously, I don't understand.

-And what's with the private area?

For once, Hanbit reacted just like the viewers.

He had thought the message was only visible to him, but it was a global announcement.

"Hyung!" Yeonwoo's voice rose urgently.

"What's going on? Why is there a world announcement?"

[Black Dragon! What's happening? Do you know anything?].

Questions flew in, along with a message from Kim Jaeha after a long time.

But he couldn't bring himself to answer.

'Could this be what I was talking about?'

There was only one possible explanation.

The word 'Edlen', which he had found in the code patterns of the RP gear program.

With no other information, this message had appeared the moment he cleared the Edlen episode.

He could only suspect that the goddess was involved, either directly or indirectly.

"Hyung, what is it?"

"I don't know. Maybe it means we cleared the real ending."

"Wow. So you can complete the strategy guide all the way, right? You can just follow the web novel, right?"

Yeonwoo's eyes were sparkling.

It was good to use it as a weapon to grow his channel, but since it was a made-up excuse, he thought it would be better to lay some groundwork.

"Not all the way. The serialization was cut off in the middle, so I couldn't see beyond that."

"Then should I look for the novel too? It seems like companies are going to start digging into it too."

"Forget it. It's a waste of time."

-Time-rich people are out.

-But since it didn't appear until now, it seems like it disappeared?

-Yeah, they must have been digging into it early.

-Is that the problem? What the heck is a reset?

-Edlen is already blowing up. lol

It seemed that players had immediately started moving after the announcement appeared.

If they were just thinking about the rewards, a retry was understandable, but what about the later episodes?

If they had to do it all over again, a reset wasn't an easy choice.

'I really did speedrun this.'

Even though he had used his past memories and experience, he had honestly cut down on time excessively.

"How about you? The rewards are based on contributions, right?" Hanbit asked Yeonwoo, remembering something.

Even though he was the party leader, all the progress had been led by Hanbit.

Honestly, Yeonwoo hadn't done anything.

"Compared to you, it's about 5%. Oh, and it seems like the achievement was only given to you."

"...Is that okay?"

"I told you. I'm not interested in playing. It's a huge boon for the company. My channel and your stream will grow insanely," Yeonwoo replied with a cheerful voice.

It seemed like he was completely focused on growing the Black Dragon channel and his company.

"Ah, what about the special reward? It says it will be given after 24 hours."

"I don't know. We'll find out when we get it."

Shrugging, Hanbit looked at his watch.

It was already 1 AM.

"I should go."

"What? You're leaving now?"

-?

-No, where are you going?

-We're in a mess right now.

-Don't leave.

-You mean we can just start over?

-Other starting cities are the same, right?

-Please take the discussion to the community.

-Just sit down for a moment.

-If you go, I'll get really mad!

-I'll really flip everything over.

[Muhanri has donated 30,000 gold.]

[Don’t go;]

[ㅇㅇ has donated 100,000 gold.]

[Explain yourself.]

[JuShikHoesa TaeSeong has donated 1,000,000 gold.]

[Hello. I’ve sent you the revised contract terms.]

[Cave Production has donated 3,000,000 gold.]

[Hello. I’m contacting you with a collaboration proposal.]

[Yeonhwa Gaming has donated 5,000,000 gold.]

[Hello. Regarding the contract, there are new terms…]

Viewers were practically clinging to his pants as donations from companies poured in.

While some of the names were familiar, the atmosphere was a bit different this time. Perhaps they were in a hurry because of the global message.

“I have to go to work tomorrow. Now that the episode is over, I’ll wrap things up and go. And I’ll be joining Roper’s company. If you have any ideas for collaborations with companies or streamers, feel free to let me know. Keep sending me your proposals.”

-No...

-Oh, right, my work.

-Damn;

-Team leader, that's how it is.

-But what time are you coming in tomorrow?

“I think I’ll start streaming around evening, but I’ll make an announcement. I’ll try to come as early as possible.”

-It’s a shame to let you go.

-See you tomorrow.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Finally accepting the situation, the viewers said their goodbyes. Hanbit immediately ended the stream.

Thunk-

He took off the gear and got out of bed.

His hair and clothes were soaked with sweat.

“Phew.”

He was exhausted from the long play session.

It felt completely different from actually moving around.

“Let’s take a shower.”

Hanbit went straight to the bathroom and took a shower.

When he came out, he quickly ate a late dinner his mother had prepared. After finishing the warm soup, he felt full.

After doing the dishes, he returned to his room.

“It must be a mess.”

Hanbit sat down at his computer and logged into the RPG community.

As expected, all the popular posts were about Black Dragon.

<Episode reset for the first time in history?>

Player Black Dragon, now affiliated with Roper, has cleared the Edlen episode, causing a major upheaval.

A golden global announcement.

The unprecedented situation has shocked everyone, from players to companies and the media.

Overwhelmed by inquiries, the RP management team announced that it was not a bug or error.

-They’re actually resetting episodes now;

-Everything is so strange.

-Why don’t they just investigate Black Dragon?

└It’s been officially announced that there’s no problem with Black Dragon’s account.

└With all this attention, they wouldn’t hide it, right?

└Bullshit. lol When has RP ever advertised? They have millions of users anyway.

-I’m actually enjoying replaying it.

└Same lol But I can’t do it as well as Black Dragon.

-I’ve seen quite a few early birds.

-Guilds are already considering boosting.

“It’s a mess.”

No matter which post he went to, the comments were chaotic.

What was surprising was that there were more players than expected who were starting over.

Especially the early birds, who had no reason to come back and reset.

“Hmm.”

Hanbit recalled the message that appeared when he cleared the episode.

[Player Black Dragon's party has succeeded in the condemnation of Barres.]

[A special reward will be given to the player who first reached the truth in Episode 1. After a

24-hour preparation period, rewards based on contributions will be given in the inventory.]

[Players who have cleared Episode 1 will be given the opportunity to reset and replay.]

[Some of the private areas will be opened.]

The condemnation of Barres and the truth of the episode. His journey in that world was described as “the truth.”

What did it mean to give other players the opportunity to reset and replay? And what about the private area?

It was completely baffling.

“Team Zero… that must be the clue.”

The immediate way to get a clue was to contact the RP developers.

The problem was that they were a secretive organization, making contacting them impossible. That's why he'd investigated the RP gear, but that would also take time.

"I’ll give it a shot anyway."

It was worth a shot, so Hanbit logged into the official RP website.

He left an inquiry to the development team through the customer center.

The results would probably arrive in a few days.

“Now, about this item…”

Among the items Hanbit had obtained, there was one he could sell.

It was the Dungeon-obtained Earth Essence.

He immediately logged into the RP trader.

“This Black Dragon name is so annoying.”

His real name was Kang Hanbit, but his nickname was Black Dragon. What was with the light and darkness theme? He was still resentful that it wasn't his choice.

What was that damn goddess thinking?

“Earth Essence. Rank 3... Unique grade.”

Hanbit searched for items with the applied grade.

But nothing appeared on the list.

“Nothing at all?”

He had planned to set a reasonable price, but this was a problem.

Hanbit went to the RPG community and started searching through old posts.

“9 million won last month? That’s a bit low.”

A month ago, a comment on a post asking about the price had mentioned 9 million won.

He was a little disappointed, as he had expected at least 10 million.

"I'll just post it anyway."

The seller could set whatever price they wanted.

With that thought in mind, Hanbit quickly wrote a post.

“…Auction?”

Among the various selling options, the auction stood out.

The system seemed simple enough.

“Hmm.”

After all, the item would only sell if someone was looking for it.

As long as he set a good starting price, he wouldn't lose.

“Let’s set the starting price at 10 million... and I’ll set a buy-it-now price too.”

A bid price that would immediately end the auction. It didn't really matter anyway, so he just added another zero.

Click-

Hanbit set the closing time for noon and posted the listing.

Looking at the clock, it was already 2 AM.

It had been a long day.

Thump-

Hanbit threw himself onto the bed.

He fell asleep instantly.

* * *

“Hanbit, are you okay? You look really tired today.”

The next day, while cleaning up the meeting room, his mentor, Lee Minho, asked him worriedly.

“I had a lot to focus on over the weekend. Are you okay, senior?”

“I’m used to it. But I saw your stream. There was even an article about it this morning, wasn’t there?”

“…I’m a little embarrassed about that.”

The episode reset incident had a much greater impact than expected.

It seemed to have been a shocking enough event to be covered by major news outlets. And the impact was felt in unexpected places.

“Hey, Hanbit.”

As they left the meeting room, the team leader called out to him.

Hanbit went over to his desk.

“Are you moonlighting?”

It wasn’t a surprising question. He had expected this.

Since he was going to join Yeonwoo’s company, he planned to quit this job anyway.

Hanbit replied with a calm expression, having no intention to bend.

“Yes, I’m streaming games.”

“Streaming games? You’re crazy. Don’t you know it’s forbidden to have a side job? How dare you be so arrogant as a mere intern!”

Bang-!

The team leader slammed his fist on the desk.

On his desk were articles about the streamer Black Dragon and related stock data.

It seemed he had suffered a significant loss in the stock market.

“I’m sorry! I forgot to tell you!”

Lee Minho quickly bowed his head, taking the blame.

“No, I knew everything. I do it anyway.”

In reality, Minho had told him about the conflict of interest earlier. The choice had been his.

“Hey, do you think I’m a joke?”

The team leader was on the verge of exploding, his brow furrowed.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and spew more insults...

BEEP-

Hanbit's smartphone alarm went off.

“Damn it, this is too much.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Whatever. Write up a disciplinary report and submit it. I’ll report it to the higher-ups and forward it to HR.”

“Yes, sir.”

“This company is a mess.”

The team leader stormed out of the office, muttering under his breath.

Returning to his seat with Minho, Hanbit pulled out his smartphone.

“Ah.”

The app logo displayed on the alarm was the RP Trader.

Come to think of it, it was just past noon.

<The auction for Earth Essence has concluded.>

A simple message informing him of the situation.

He clicked on it, and the page for the auction opened.

“…What?”

Hanbit froze, his eyes fixed on the result. He rubbed his eyes and checked the amount again.

An expletive slipped out of his mouth.

“Woah, damn.”

<Auction winning bid: 100 million won>

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]