NOVEL NEXT chapter 74
Before going to bed, I spent all the money I had left to buy one invitation ticket. Meanwhile, the CEO teamed up with the others and bought one more.
With Maru as my representative, I added Komari, and with Dora's daughter, I added Rain. Now all five of Parallel’s members were gathered.
From here on, the focus would be entirely on hunting while managing the members' sleep schedules. The promotional strategy would shift from the previous active approach to a more subtle one.
So, starting today... there’s nothing too exciting to watch...
[ (🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Community Chat Room, Day 3 ] 👪7,942
#64Cubic #Parallel
“… Why 8,000 viewers?”
Even though the CEO and the members were all logged in, and each of them was recording about 1.5 times their usual viewership, my viewers were still stuck at 8,000. There was no difference from when I ended the broadcast yesterday.
Why?
Was it because people wanted to see more Skeleton Knight gameplay?
When viewers expect something from a streamer, the watch time naturally increases. If that continues, viewers usually start giving small donations, interact with the streamer, follow the channel for regular stream notifications, and eventually subscribe. But…
My stream is only for two weeks.
After that, they won’t have any reason to come back.
I understand that the 64Cubic viewers were fascinated by the Skeleton Knight, but getting overly involved won’t help them in the long run.
I decided to throw a casual greeting to check who was here now that all the members had started their streams.
“Since the CEO and members have started their streams, I’ll go ahead and receive some gear from Movgun and start making money. I’ll rotate the screen occasionally for interesting content, so please stay tuned.”
— Eh? I came to watch Gia though?
— Skeleton Knight Magia
— You’re the hero of Skeleton Village!
— I’m sure everyone who wanted to watch the other members already left.
— Lol, true.
— Are you hunting with Geon today?
— Let’s go to the dungeon!!
After quickly scanning the chat, it seemed that about half the viewers were there to watch Skeleton Knight gameplay, about 10% were asking if I was hunting with Movgun, and the rest were my usual viewers.
I knew people were excited about the hidden job, but I didn’t expect the excitement to last this long.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t actually gone to the dungeon yet?
If that’s the case, half of those 8,000 will probably leave before the end of the day.
I also felt a little disappointed that the other members hadn’t discovered their hidden jobs. If they had, they would have had at least a week of special inflow.
Well, that’s just how it is.
Anyway, I just have to focus on what I need to do.
First, I’ll make sure the members change to second-tier jobs and help them gather materials.
Unlike first-tier jobs, which focus on material gathering, second-tier jobs require constant interaction with people, so they’ll naturally encounter more opportunities to showcase good scenes.
Since the CEO mentioned buying land today, I figured I could make a box for them to collect items, and the rest will be up to the members.
As for the subtle promotional strategy, it might seem confusing now, but it’s something I’ll have to work with once I start making money. First, I need to go to the dungeon to see how much I can earn. Once I know that, I can make more accurate plans.
So, today, I’ll make my living in the dungeon.
I soon received a whisper from Movgun.
[Whisper] Movgun: 309, 25, 294
[Whisper] Movgun: Come to these coordinates.
Since I was supposed to receive my gear at the dungeon entrance, I immediately ran over.
When I arrived, the surface was just a regular forest, but as I followed the stone stairs Movgun had already prepared, I found a large portal.
“Oh. This is interesting.”
[You were killing mobs like a pro, but now you’re impressed by this?]
“I’ve never seen this before. I’m still a newbie to 64Cubic, you know.”
[What kind of newbie kills 500 mobs with less than a pixel of health...?]
“It’s true. My playtime, including the server time, barely adds up to 50 hours.”
— New?
— Honestly, I bet you’ve been grinding in the back cubes, lol.
— We never had a way to know, lol.
— You guys are so innocent, it’s clearly a broadcast concept.
— Were you a 64Cubic pro in your past life or something?
— What past life, haha?
— Hey hey hey.
— If you say you’re a newbie, then you’re a newbie, no need to doubt.
— Magia-chan’s just a little baby.
Since mentioning reincarnation in a VTuber stream gets banned, I blocked a few who seemed stuck in that topic.
Anyway, I proudly admitted I was a newbie, having played for less than a month.
“I haven’t even been to the Void World after the Red World.”
[Wait. You’ve never fought a Void Dragon, Gia?]
“No, I know about it, but I’ve never fought one.”
[Hmm. You’re a real newbie. I’ll give you the Movgun certification mark.]
“Thanks.”
— ??
— What’s this Movgun certification, lol?
— What’s the Movgun certification, haha?
— How absurd.
— They’re having a great time together, haha.
— Weirdly, their vibe matches, lol.
— Looks like Movgun set it up, what’s...
— Guess their friendship was forged in the civil war battles, haha.
The word "friendship" felt a bit off, but I decided to let it slide.
Friendship, huh?
Momo, the turret queen, is just waiting to shoot Movgun in the face if he steps over the line.
“Anyway, can I have the gear now?”
[Oh, right. Here, I’ll drop it. You can pick it up.]
I got the helmet, armor, greaves, gloves, and pauldrons, all in purple, giving me a 40% damage reduction.
If I wore the Void set, the reduction would increase to 60%, but Movgun said it would take him at least two days, so I wasn’t too concerned.
The gear I received was already good enough. The maximum enchantment level for 64Cubic was 5…
[I’ve really done an amazing job with these enchantments. How’s it look?]
Two parts had Protection Lv5, granting an additional 20% damage reduction.
Two parts had Swiftness Lv5, boosting movement and action speed by 120%.
These gloves were the best I’ve ever had. And the obsidian sword was no slouch either.
The sword had the "Annihilation Lv5" enchantment, which boosted final damage by 120%, an overpowered option. I’d heard it was really rare, but where did he even get it from?
Previously, my Diamond Sword would only do around 20 damage on a headshot, but with the "Annihilation" enchantment, the Obsidian Sword now did 36 damage to life targets on a headshot. That was a huge boost in damage!
But after calculating the damage, I started to think maybe I was getting a bit too much from this.
...I hope I won’t be hearing about how I owe him something later.
“The gear you gave me is amazing. I bet it wasn’t easy to get these enchantments.”
Movgun casually responded.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
[Our viewers were summoning monsters for donations, so I just killed them all. Lucky for me, these dropped. I’ve already got plenty, so don’t worry about it. Just hunt hard and make sure you pay me the 20% commission, alright? You’ll need to wear this gear to negate the Skeleton Knight debuff. How are you supposed to survive in the dungeon with your health halved?]
“I can just dodge it, right?”
[Well, yeah, but it’s tiring to focus for hours. You end up fighting while taking a few hits here and there.]
“Aha.”
[How about I join you for a round and explain things as we go? I’ll point out the mobs.]
“No, you’re probably busy. Just a quick explanation would be fine. I’ll try the headbutt strategy myself.”
I politely declined the offer to hunt with him and suggested he just give me a brief explanation.
[Alright then, let’s enter and I’ll give you a quick rundown.]
The dungeon consists of 10 floors.
Each floor spawns different monsters, and the higher you go, the stronger they get. According to the server guide, you need the right weapons, gear, and upgrades to clear floor 10.
Higher-tier weapons and gear are crafted by combining materials and ores found in the dungeon with the help of blacksmiths from second-tier jobs.
Enhancements are done at the blacksmith in the village at noon, using enhancement stones gained from monsters.
By the way, these enhancement stones are another major source of income from the dungeon. They get more expensive as you progress through the game, so I need to collect them without spending too much on my own upgrades.
[Enjoy your hunt. If you get caught lying about your earnings, you know what happens, right? Your hands will be cut off?]
“I’m a model taxpayer, I’d never do something like that.”
[You always talk like I’m a tax evader…]
“Why? Are you guilty?”
[Ah! No, I’m also a model taxpayer. Anyway, good luck. I’m off to explore, but if you have any questions, feel free to whisper me.]
It seemed like Movgun was leaving me to handle the dungeon while he went off looking for hidden jobs, collecting a 20% commission as he went.
The gear was set, and now was the perfect time for him to go look for hidden jobs.
After a day or two, more people would be entering through the invitation tickets, and the server would become crowded. At that point, the hidden jobs would be snatched up quickly.
Now, I was ready to implement the subtle promotional strategy I had in mind.
The new residents flooding in? They were my next target.
Do you remember how crazy things got on the first day with just 10,000 WK?
The new players would keep increasing, but it wouldn’t be easy for them to start earning right away.
They might be pushed out by the senior players or get lost in the unfamiliar server.
But I plan to earn money, invest half in the team, and give half to the new players.
This is the Parallel first-gen, Another’s way of offering relocation support.
I need to see how much I can earn today to figure out the next steps.
***
— Who is this person?
— How are we supposed to know?
— Don’t ask, we don’t know either, haha.
— I’ve been watching since yesterday, haha.
:: An anonymous sponsor donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Keeping the other streams open was definitely the right move… ::
— But seriously, hunting for 12 hours straight? Is that even possible?
— No hunger or thirst, so it’s like just living in the dungeon, haha.
— Oh, haha, I don’t even need to eat the Wickerbread, huh?
— The person who kept nitpicking Magia earlier has now left, haha.
:: An anonymous sponsor donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: But seriously, does this person even eat? ::
— Huh, that’s a good question.
— Hmm.
— Wait, have you eaten?
— Did you not eat and just spend all your time in the dungeon? Haha.
[ (🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Community Chat Room, Day 3 ] 👪4,332
Half of the 8,000 viewers couldn’t hang on and dropped off after today’s 12-hour grind.
[390,395 WK]
— Wowwwww, this is insane, haha.
— Holy crap, the money, hahaha.
— This is crazy, lol.
— Whoa, you’re making a ton of money, seriously.
I originally had 10,000 WK, so I made a total of 380,000 WK today.
Since there weren’t many people who had changed to second-tier jobs, most of my items went to the shop, and even without the enhancement stones, I earned this much.
If users start buying the dungeon materials, the prices will only go up.
It’s like a money well.
Just kill monsters, and you earn money.
My gear was good enough that my health barely even dropped.
“Thanks to everyone who told me to go to the dungeon. It’s definitely made supporting Parallel a lot easier.”
— Shouldn’t you be spending it on yourself though?
— Yeah, right. Not a chance, haha.
— Once the enhancements start, they’ll disappear quickly, so shouldn’t you save it?
“I’d rather the CEO and the members use it. I’ll just put it in the chest at the house site.”
— Noooooo.
— That’s such a waste, haha.
— With 380,000, you could enhance several times, try to get skins, mounts, ohhh, you should’ve given it to me.
— Ohhhh man, haha.
I was on my way to the Parallel house site the CEO started building, when suddenly a fiery bird flew down and landed gently in front of me.
It was definitely Movgun, who was walking around yesterday, now riding some kind of phoenix.
He must’ve gotten it from the mount gacha earlier when he mentioned pulling a phoenix.
[Oh, I’ve come to collect.]
The total money I earned today was 380,000 WK, so 20% plus a little extra would be 77,000 WK.
I turned it into a check and dropped it in front of Movgun.
As soon as Movgun saw the money, his eyes widened.
“Wait, did you seriously just spend the whole day in the dungeon?”
“Yep. It’s been really profitable.”
“Wow. I could tell you were crazy ever since you did the smoke gacha. But seriously, didn’t that make you lose your mind? I tried doing that last season and nearly lost my head, so this time I’m just claiming dungeon territory and not moving from there.”
“Not really. It was manageable.”
“Did you eat while doing all this?”
“Eat? Uh, no?”
“I’m talking about real food, not in-game food.”
“Ah, yeah. I had four energy bars. I was too busy hunting and moving the others' positions on the stream.”
— Wait, seriously, you didn’t eat? Haha.
— 12 hours without eating??
— That’s crazy.
— Is that really food, haha.
Movgun sighed and muttered.
“Well, Gia, your character... well, Gia is a bit thin, but even so, energy bars? Aren’t you going to starve to death like this?”
“Wow. That’s really a bad joke.”
“Well, I wasn’t trying to joke, it was just a slip-up.”
“Uh-huh. The second time was definitely a joke.”
“Ah, busted.”
— I agree, haha.
— Yeah, haha.
— LMAO.
— Magia-chan, huh?
— Just by looking at the character, you can tell she’s thin…
— The CEO is really thin, haha.
— Magia, haha.
Of course, Movgun’s jokes didn’t end there.
“Oh, I get it. You’re doing a concept play? Since your hidden job is Skeleton Knight, and skeletons are undead, they don’t eat, right? Skeleton Knight Magia, shortened to ‘Skeleton Gia.’ Haha.”
“Wow….”
I couldn’t help but sigh at his awful sense of humor.
Is this what pro-gamers are like?
This is why I really hated it when Movgun broadcasted with the CEO.
I didn’t even want to rate his jokes—he didn’t deserve it.
“Good luck. Now that you’ve got your mount, come collect again tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Take care~.”
I muttered under my breath as I logged out of the Wicker server.
“You really need to tone down your jokes…”
It was a bit like gossip, but I said it out loud for Movgun to hear.
***
Magia started avoiding Movgun the next day.
He wasn’t the type of person she liked anyway, and she figured he’d just make some weird joke if they spoke.
She thought about avoiding him until someone else found a new dungeon...
But oddly, after avoiding Movgun, other players started appearing in front of her a few days later.
Magia, who had been going around helping new players in the server with the so-called "disaster relief funds" (some even called it the ‘Jana Support Fund’), seemed to be making a lot of money, and people began to seek her out.
But one nickname that Movgun had mentioned on stream turned into a meme, and now whenever people came to her...
Later, Ronze came to ask her for a discount on enhancement stones.
[Oh, aren’t you Skeleton Gia? Did you have a good meal today?]
“I haven’t eaten yet.”
[Huh? Are you really going to pass out from not eating while making money?]
“I’ll eat soon…”
Even Kamik, who had lost all his money from enhancing and came to borrow some, asked...
[Skeleton Gia. You’re going to collapse like this, just making money? I’m really worried about your health. You should listen to me.]
“Should I raise the interest rate to 40%?”
[Oh, I’d better leave. 30% is already a great deal~.]
Lastly, Serena came, concerned about her health as well.
[Gia, are you eating some snacks while doing this?]
No, I just had an energy bar, and people are really making a big deal about it.
I had an early dinner because of the community chat room, and since I couldn’t leave the seat often, I just ate an energy bar. Naturally, when I went home, I got hungry and had a simple meal before bed.
It wasn’t like I was only eating energy bars all the time, but it seemed like everyone thought that.
Eventually, Magia, who was getting annoyed, snapped.
“I’m ordering a pineapple pizza. Want a gift card?”
[Oh, no, it’s okay…]
“Too bad. So, are you here to borrow money, Serena?”
[Oh, that’s not it.]
Serena, the blacksmith, said:
[Let me make you the strongest gear on the server, for free, as long as you provide the dungeon materials.]
“Huh? If you’re giving it to me for free, wouldn’t you lose out?”
[No, it’s fine. I get the title of ‘Server’s Top Gear Crafter.’ With that title, I can sell equipment that’s slightly weaker than the top ones for a high price.]
Magia, who had always thought Serena was just a kind person from the I’m Wolf collab, started seeing a side of her that was surprisingly money-minded.
“Is it because of the invitation tickets?”
Serena hesitated and said:
[Yes. Our team has eight people, so we’re trying to bring everyone in. Merisha and I are working our butts off to earn money.]
“Well, that’s a shame…”
Magia felt some sympathy when she heard this.
How desperate must they be to come all the way here to ask for help, despite being competitors?
“That’s unfortunate…”
Just then, Magia was stuck on floor 5 of the dungeon.
She had barely managed to reach the 5th floor, and the monsters there were too strong. She needed better gear.
But knowing how desperate Serena was, Magia thought she might come through with the best gear if it meant making money.
Unlike others, Serena hadn’t even mentioned the “Skeleton Gia” keyword.
Magia, having done the math in her head, said cheerfully:
“I’ll give you all the materials from today’s hunt. Go ahead and make it, and let me know if you need more.”