Chapter 266: The Mightiest Reinforcement (4)

Once the contract with KDS was finalized, a massive media campaign ensued.

[Behind the Scenes of the Largest Raid in the Tower of Trials]

[Kang Jinhyuk Declares Attack on Ruins in Alliance with Europe’s Olympus]

[Yoo Chunyuk’s Debut: ‘Kang Jinhyuk is My Life-Saver’]

[Why Did the Saintess of Amsterdam Come Here? Rumors Reveal She Enjoyed a Vacation with Jinhyuk in Europe and is Engaged to the Rosenberg Family’s Third Daughter]

[Condemnation of Gandara Guild and India Continues. Indian Prime Minister Responds, ‘We Know Nothing of This.’ Stay Tuned for the Upcoming Press Conference on KDS Channel.]

Inflating worm-like stories into dragon-sized facts was a piece of cake for Jung Bumhee.

Most of the stories were based on facts, after all.

-Today I Live: The lineup is insane. My pants are about to burst.

-Hoon: People kept saying Yoo Chunyuk was overrated, but he’s proven them wrong this time. He’s just a monster.

-Cho Juwon: The strongest characters in any world are always the bald and the elderly. Don’t you know Grandpa?

-tbvj: The same goes for Teresa. Who said she was weak, kind, and gentle? Come out. Is this the saintess you wanted?

-cel: She’s a total blender. The mosaic makes it even scarier.

-Black and White Photo: It was me. I’m changing my nickname to a memorial photo.

-Riellia: Sister, I’m dead! (Really dead)

-Beginner: I might be okay dying if it’s for her.

-Nine: But aren’t all these people here because of Jinhyuk?

Exactly.

The reason why all these top rankers had gathered, putting aside their own tasks.

It was all for Jinhyuk.

“Report the situation. What’s going on now?” Jung Bumhee asked with a trembling voice.

Overflowing with anticipation and the anxiety of whether it could all be true.

“TV ratings have surpassed 20%. Can you believe it? 20% for a live broadcast on public TV. I can’t believe it even as I see it.”

“The number of concurrent viewers… has exceeded 500,000. We’ve only been broadcasting for 30 minutes, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“The advertising sector is also a huge hit. At this rate, we’ll get at least twenty offers.”

‘Who would have thought one player could have such a massive impact?’

Jung Bumhee barely suppressed a triumphant shout.

Indeed, it was right to pay the contract fee, even if it seemed excessive.

This was a jackpot.

＊＊＊

Good.

‘Everyone seems to be doing their part well.’

Jinhyuk nodded in satisfaction as he watched the simultaneously activated broadcast screens.

He had assigned Goguma, Spirit Water, T-Bone, and the Ancient Soldiers to handle the filming, and it was working perfectly.

Thanks to the Wailing Witch’s reckless attempt to interfere with the system, he had managed to exploit the gap.

Now, all that remained…

Was to finish things off neatly.

Crunch!

As he took a big bite of the grayish meat, a sour flavor spread in his mouth.

‘It’s a bit bitter, but… it’s edible.’

At least he didn’t end up like Alice, who was foaming at the mouth on a rock.

He had eaten properly prepared food, so it was at least edible.

[The Curse of Gluttony has been lifted.]

[You can now inflict damage on the Apostle of Gluttony.]

A status window appeared, signaling his success.

-Wac: 5252, I knew you could do it!

-Hawaii: So it was all Jinhyuk’s plan. The veterans are sweeping everything up in all three places.

-Kim Sun: He’s got a demonic talent for boosting views. This is unmissable.

-Limoncello: Jinhyuk is good at mukbangs too. No matter how much it was cooked, how can he eat that? It looked as bad as stinky tofu.

As he watched the rapidly scrolling status window, Jinhyuk felt the reality of the live broadcast sink in.

Just then.

“Grrrrooooaaaar!”

The Apostle of Gluttony roared fiercely, as if celebrating his victory.

Maria, Yoo Yeonhwa, and Lee Taemin had tried to buy time, but they couldn’t overcome the condition that their attacks were ineffective.

Still, they had held out for over 10 minutes, fulfilling their role.

“You did well.”

Jinhyuk nodded slightly in the direction of the three.

-Sky Below: I’ll remember this! Everyone, press X to pay respects.

-121: They’re not dead yet, fools. Don’t kill off healthy people.

-Mangmang: Yoo Yeonhwa and Lee Taemin are rankers known by everyone in Korea, but they couldn’t even scratch that monster?

-Cho Kyungmin: Even Olympus Guild’s Maria was taken down. Is that thing even killable?

-LaTD: At this point, no matter how great Jinhyuk is, it’s going to be tough.

From the viewers’ perspective, not knowing how to damage the Apostle of Gluttony made it look daunting.

The fact that prominent rankers were defeated without leaving a scratch only reinforced the impossibility.

With extreme difficulty and a named monster that everyone had failed against.

All the conditions for a spectacular show were in place.

‘I’ve used swords several times, so it’s time to show something different.’

Jinhyuk pulled out the longbow ‘Fang’ from his subspace inventory.

-dyd: Oh? He’s using a bow?

-lke: Come to think of it, there was talk about a legendary bow being stolen from the Elf village.

-Rolling Cake: Ah. I remember. It was on the wanted poster. That longbow inscribed with High Elvish.

-Lucky Charm: Looks exactly like that one.

-Seo Youngjin: Eh, it’s probably a coincidence. No way Jinhyuk did that.

-Satan: Now I want to worship him as my master.

-SSS: Wow. Even Satan’s here.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Jinhyuk deliberately ignored it.

Instead, he casually shifted the topic.

“Close combat would be boring. Why don’t you give me some missions while we’re at it? I saw other BJs getting a lot of those.”

He felt nostalgic for his BJ days and wanted to increase his loyal subscribers and earn coins through missions.

There was still time before the Wailing Witch realized her barrier had been breached…

Before she could react, he had to extract all the benefits from the live broadcast system.

-Hellmangi: Look at that confidence. LOL.

-Original: Can you really do it? Bro. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?

-Kwon Taekyung: Can you do a speed run? I’ll bet 10,000 coins if you can take down that Apostle in 10 minutes.

-Daldong: I heard you’re close to Player Chun Yoosung. I’ll give you 10,000 coins if you upload a video of him in his med school life.

-Trust Me: Are personal missions possible? Then I’ll bet 20,000 coins for a video of you hanging out with Alice.

-tom: Feed Teresa, who’s rampaging over there, some Korean-style nuclear hot chicken ramen. 30,000 coins. Deal?

-Yopddeok: Hmm. Isn’t that just a death wish?

Some of the missions were bizarre, but the coins involved were enticing. Players who could bet in the tens of thousands of coins were likely core players of well-known guilds.

Except for the last one, none of the missions seemed too difficult to accept.

“You…promise?”

With that, he ended the statement.

Kukukukuku!

An arrow charged with magic power began to blaze fiercely on the longbow.

[Unique Ability ‘Dragon’s Breath’ has been activated!]

Flames surged.

An aura that could scorch the air rose around the Apostle of Gluttony.

“Krrrroooaaar!”

For the first time, the Apostle of Gluttony let out a pained scream.

It must hurt.

The reliable protection of Gluttony could no longer shield his massive body.

But did the Apostle know?

That the pain was only beginning.

“I’ll cook you with just arrows.”

Jinhyuk drew the bowstring within the flames.

[Using Lv10 ‘Red Magic Bullet’!]

A blazing trail sliced through the air.

Thwack!

The Apostle staggered as the arrow pierced his right knee.

Seizing the moment, more red bullets followed.

Thwack! Thwack!

Targeting the joints.

He aimed sequentially at each joint, forcing the Apostle’s balance to collapse to the right.

“Grrraaar! Aaaaargh!”

The Apostle of Gluttony screamed wildly, swinging his flail.

It appeared crude, but this was deliberate.

Thunk!

Jinhyuk lightly pushed off and moved to the side.

Almost simultaneously, a long tongue shot out from the Apostle’s body.

‘As expected, it’s coming.’

The head was not the true head. The real head was the massive one on its belly.

After distracting with the flail, the Apostle would use its sharp tongue to impale and consume its prey.

This was its preferred hunting method.

Of course, it should consider the opponent.

Snap!

The belly split vertically, revealing sharp teeth.

The tongue retracted, and a green light began to concentrate in its place.

“Using acid when you like to eat? You know it’ll dissolve everything and leave nothing to eat, right?”

[The Apostle of Gluttony uses ‘Green Acid Shot’!]

It seemed to have given up on eating.

Green beams were sprayed indiscriminately.

Rather than aiming precisely, it was a haphazard bombardment hoping to hit something.

However.

Kwakwaang!

Dozens of green beams were blocked by red beams.

Intercepted.

With precise mana distribution, all attacks were neutralized.

“It’s not bad, but if you really wanted to dissolve me, you should have tripled the number of acid shots.”

Looking smug didn’t sit well with the Apostle.

“Grrraaaar!”

With a roar of rage, the Apostle of Gluttony focused.

An even more powerful magic than before was concentrated.

As if daring him to block it again, more green beams were about to erupt.

“…What?”

The Apostle tilted its head.

Jinhyuk, who had been holding the bow, had disappeared.

To intercept, he should have calculated the trajectory while maintaining some distance.

But no matter how it looked, Jinhyuk was nowhere in sight.

“When you collapse the right balance, the opposite side’s view shifts upward. In other words, it creates a blind spot.”

Jinhyuk’s voice came from directly below the left side.

“Grrraaaar!”

Though he couldn’t understand beast language, it seemed to question why he wasn’t using only arrows.

It was true he had boasted.

And he had declared it boldly.

But.

“Sorry, I’m a liar.”

Jinhyuk smiled.

[Unique Ability ‘Blood Explosion’ activated!]

‘Blood Explosion,’ the unique ability used by Amulam.

Blood-based magic.

With the blood spilled so far, its destructive power was undeniable.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Kwakwaang!

With a deafening roar, the Apostle of Gluttony’s body exploded.

Flesh scattered all over the ground.

-oo: Who gave the mission? They said a 10-minute speed run, but it took less than a minute.

-kdb: Not even a minute. Why is it so easy?

-Steamed Bun: It’s not easy; the skill synergy is just insane.

-Joonyoung: Did you see him only targeting the joints while barely seeing? Is he Legolas?

-Koyalya: That was all build-up for the final big hit. Chilling.

-Es: Give harder missions. Destroy Earth or behead the Demon King.

-Kim Kibum: Isn’t everyone overly glorifying him? This was a massive backstab. There’s no demon like him.

The chat was now too fast to follow with the naked eye.

＊＊＊

The Wailing Witch realized the anomaly seconds later.

“He breached my barrier…”

She had suspected as much seeing Jinhyuk laugh into the air.

It was clear.

This was what players called a live broadcast.

She didn’t know how, but a hole had formed in the barrier.

To confirm her suspicion, Jinhyuk switched the broadcast system from private to public.

The words in the chat became visible to the Wailing Witch as well.

-Kim Ji Wang: Hi, Grieving Granny. It means hi, Wailing Grandma.

-Asyam: How does it feel to get your head busted by Jinhyuk?

-Darkshadow: I heard it feels awful. Is that true?

-tom: Ahh. I want to be bullied by Jinhyuk too.

“Arrogant humans. Do you even know who I am? Don’t feel safe outside the tower. Soon, I’ll have a chance to find you all.”

-Rlawotjdo637: Oh, is that so? I’m so scared. I might need to change my underwear.

-Bamboo: My cat, who’s been deprived of treats for a week, is scarier.

-leve: Agreed. Have you experienced cat punches?

-Noh Gunhee: Sometimes, I’m afraid of my own power.

-coma: But aren’t you going to die here first?

“Grr… these wretches.”

Realizing it was pointless to speak further, the Wailing Witch waved her hand into the air.

[The barrier has been strengthened to 10 stars.]

[All broadcasting systems have been blocked!]

[You can no longer use the broadcasting system within the ruins.]

“A bit harsh, don’t you think? The viewers were enjoying it.”

It was expected.

But it didn’t matter.

He had gathered enough footage. The mission was perfectly completed.

Next…

Jinhyuk activated ‘Eye of Gluttony.’

——————————————————

Name: Wailing Witch (True Name Unconfirmed)

Gender: Female

Age: 469

Level: 115

Strength: 65
Agility: 58
Stamina: 45
Magic: 156
Corruption: 147

Available Stat Points: 0

Unique Ability: Black Tears

Skills: ‘Curse of the New Moon’ Lv39, ‘Advanced Barrier’ Lv35, ‘Herbology’ Lv34, ‘Black Magic’ Lv28, ‘Twisted Familiar’ Lv27, ‘Guardian Creation’ Lv25, ‘Magic Distortion’ Lv25

——————————————————

[Copy Condition: The Wailing Witch takes immense pride in her abilities. She believes that even the inhabitants of the upper floors cannot survive her barriers and curses. To copy one of her unique abilities or skills, you must defeat her using only barriers and curses.]

A detailed status window appeared.

The ‘Corruption’ stat stood out, as it maximized the efficiency of curse-related skills. The levels of the balanced skills were also noteworthy.

Indeed, the Wailing Witch was a formidable adversary.

However.

What mattered wasn’t how strong or difficult the opponent was.

What was important was that he could copy her abilities.

Laying the foundation to counter dragon breaths in the future.

Finally…

…he was one step away from obtaining this power.