Chapter 29
Echoes of the Restless, also known as the “Graveyard Hunting Ground,” was a highly efficient hunting ground.
Due to its sheer size, it featured monsters of various levels.
Fast respawn rates. Experience points above average. Optimized for party hunting, etc…
Despite these advantages, Echoes of the Restless was considered an unpopular hunting ground.
Why was that?
According to Aka-chan’s analysis during the Beta Test period:
The monsters that appeared were too frightening and grotesque.
They were undead types, which made them hard to kill, leading to high hunting fatigue.
And because the respawn mechanism involved the monsters digging out from the ground, there were many surprising moments.
In other words, it was a mentally exhausting hunting ground.
“Kyaaah!”
“…”
I watched in a daze as Suzuka ran away from the skeleton that had emerged from the grave.
‘Is it that scary?’
There are far more terrifying creatures than that.
In fact, that crude skeleton was rather cute in its own way.
Think about it. It’s just a walking skeleton.
It’s not even holding any weapons. Just imagine it as a body where only the bones have been separated.
“Go away, go away! Radiant Light!”
Crack—
The light that burst out from the small cross turned the newborn skeleton into dust.
She erased a freshly spawned skeleton from existence with just a single click while being scared.
Shouldn’t the undead be the ones who are terrified?
Groooaaannn—
“Isn’t it kind of cute?”
I pointed at a slowly approaching zombie and asked Suzuka.
Aside from the decayed flesh and the skin full of holes like a pair of worn-out jeans, it looked human.
“Not at all! Not at all! My Radiant Light is on cooldown, so please kill it quickly!”
Hmm. Is it really that terrifying?
She’s already defeated boss monsters far more disgusting than zombies.
I reached out my hand to the zombie that had gotten close.
Crunch!
“Fera, you got bitten! What do we do?!”
Fera was the nickname of my alternate character.
It might sound like it has a lewd implication, but that’s not the case.
Occult. Aurora. Opera.
As I followed a stream of consciousness with the “O” sound, I ended up with just the name part of “Opera” as my nickname.
It’s definitely, absolutely not a name I chose with such intentions.
“It’s fine. Heal.”
Chomp— Chomp—
The zombie that had been munching on my hand clutched its stomach and collapsed.
It looked like it had eaten spoiled food and gotten a stomach-ache, which made it amusing for some reason.
“Huh? The zombie suddenly died.”
“This is how you can kill zombies.”
I wanted to explain the principles of Divine Power, but I held back.
A user who knows suspiciously much about Akare?
Such a user would easily be suspected of being the developer’s alternate character.
“Would you like to try it too, Suzuka?”
“No way. Absolutely not. My body is precious.”
“Gasp.”
So, does that mean my body isn’t precious?
As I stared at Suzuka with such an expression, Suzuka’s eyes began to tremble violently.
“I’m just kidding.”
“Phew…”
Suzuka let out a sigh of relief, just as a zombie respawned behind her.
I immediately used Judgment Mace to crush the zombie’s head.
It felt like playing Whac-A-Mole from my childhood, and a smile naturally formed on my face.
“It’s scary…”
“If you catch them like Whac-A-Mole, it’s easy.”
“Ugh… I wish it were as easy as you make it sound.”
The levels of the zombies and skeletons were 9.
They were monsters that were easy to hunt for a level 10 character who had completed the First Awakening.
“Shall we level up and try catching some wraiths?”
The area we were in currently only had zombies and skeletons.
To hunt higher-level monsters, we would need to venture further inside.
The monsters appearing deeper within the grave were all level 11.
Wraiths, ghouls, and skeleton knights.
Among them, the generally most troublesome monster was the wraith.
Wraiths were incorporeal, meaning they came with a built-in physical damage reduction buff.
They were hardest for martial artists or hunters, especially warriors, earning them the nickname “nightmare of warriors.”
“Isn’t the incorporeal wraith the most troublesome monster in the grave?”
“My faith and beliefs. Before the cross, all are equal.”
“That’s such a profound statement.”
What exactly is the standard for a “profound statement”?
“I’d like to try it in practice.”
“I’ll cast a buff for you.”
I cast Blessing on the energetic Suzuka.
Suzuka ran a lap around the grave, drawing aggro.
Dozens of undead chased after Suzuka.
‘It’s like a scene from a zombie movie.’
Just as the duration of the blessing was about to end, Suzuka came to a stop.
“My faith and beliefs. Before the cross… huh? Eek! Help me!”
“Puhuh!”
A monster respawned right next to Suzuka as she was reciting her lines.
Oh dear, talk about bad luck.
I used Radiant Light to save the busy, fleeing Suzuka.
[Level Up!]
***
[Suzuka’s broadcast has started. – Akashic Records, 6 hours ago]
In the early hours of the morning, Suzuka’s broadcast had a whopping 50,000 viewers.
This was higher than Sweet’s 40,000-plus viewers and Daehyeop Kim’s 40,000 mid-range viewers.
It was natural for viewership to decrease as the audience spread out after the official release.
However, Suzuka was the only one whose viewership didn’t decrease—in fact, it even increased.
[Streaming Gallery]
―――
Fera noona, can’t you live up to your nickname just once… [265]
Fera noona in real life, as imagined.jpg [289]
Upvoting for those tempted to switch to Suzuka LOL [344]
She made the character customization look so hot, damn [310]
If Fera << debuts as a VTuber, she’d instantly become the queen ㅇㅇ [325]
―――
The reason for Suzuka’s increase in viewers was simple.
The concept posts on the Streaming Gallery were all filled with discussions about Suzuka’s broadcast.
As the influx of new viewers gradually built up, she eventually hit the top spot in viewership.
“What the… When did so many people start watching?”
Suzuka, who found a moment of reprieve while moving between zones, was genuinely surprised.
When she had first gone to the church alone, about 20,000 viewers were watching.
Yet, in the deep hours of the night, when viewership typically declined, 40,000 people were watching the stream.
―――
– Don’t know?
– Why are there so many people at this hour?
– Maybe the night guards have gathered.
―――
Since Suzuka’s stream often attracted a lot of troublemakers, it had a basic three-month follower-only chat restriction.
Because of that, the new viewers couldn’t join the chat, and the regular viewers had no idea why the viewership suddenly increased.
Of course, some knew the reason, but they didn’t bother explaining it in the chat.
After all, mentioning anything sensitive could get them banned by the moderator.
‘Are they stirring up drama in Streaming Gallery?’
Though Suzuka pretended not to know, she was fully aware.
There are things you come to know even if you don’t want to when you’re active as a streamer.
Streaming Gallery is a place that inevitably gets entangled with big names, for better or worse.
This wasn’t the first time, so she was just curious.
‘Why did this drama attract attention?’
Suzuka’s gaze turned toward Fera, who was walking ahead.
‘Is it because of her?’
The only difference from her usual broadcasts was Fera.
‘A person with a unique charm.’
Whether it was letting a zombie bite her hand or healing her bitten hand to feed the zombie divine power,
she had a way of capturing attention with actions no one could predict.
‘Her voice is nice too.’
And her avatar—just how much effort she put into customizing it.
Even as a fellow woman, she found her incredibly beautiful and delightful to watch.
‘I want her.’
She wanted to get closer. To develop a special relationship.
Ah, not in that way, but in a broadcasting sense.
Above all, she genuinely enjoyed playing Akare with that person.
A person she wanted to be with, both in the game and on the stream.
As Suzuka pondered how to approach her, Fera suddenly stopped walking.
“We’re here. This is the entrance to the inner graveyard zone.”
Just as Fera said, the atmosphere here was distinctly different from the outer area.
It felt more eerie and sombre, sending chills down her spine.
‘To think they even implemented the feeling of goosebumps.’
Akare is truly a masterpiece.
Thinking that, Suzuka followed closely behind Fera.
“Hey, a wraith is watching us over there.”
“Y-Yes? Where? Where?”
Suzuka, who peeked out, turned her head in the direction Fera was looking.
“That, that thing? Those eyes?”
“Yes. Is it because it’s dark? I can only see pairs of eyes.”
“Ugh… It’s really creepy!”
Acting through a virtual character was the core role of a VTuber.
But when it came to scary things, it wasn’t an act.
She was genuinely terrified, closing her eyes tightly, feeling like tears were about to spill.
“It’s coming closer.”
“…!”
Just as Fera said, the wraith was slowly approaching.
A quadrupedal monster with several human heads hanging from its sides.
That was the infamous monster nicknamed the Mental Crusher, the wraith.
“It moves like a crab.”
“Please, stop admiring it and start attacking…”
Da-da-da-da-dat—
The wraith charged at Suzuka at full speed.
Suzuka, who had already screamed her energy away, froze on the spot.
“Can you give me a blessing?”
“Uh, ah, um…”
“Oh dear, it seems you’re broken.”
Well, can’t be helped.
A brilliant white light enveloped a small cross.
The small cross that Fera held transformed into a sacred mace.
Fera gripped the mace’s handle with both hands and assumed her stance.
Grrraaaah!
With foul drool dripping, the wraith rushed toward them, and Fera swung the mace with all her might.
Crack—!
With a sound of bones shattering, the wraith was sent flying.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. That was terrifying.”
Now that she had relaxed a bit, Suzuka clung to Fera’s arms.
Sniffle— Sniffle—
“It’s hard to take down a wraith with physical damage, so it’s best to attack it while the Judgment Mace is active.”
“Sorry, what?”
The Judgment Mace lasts for about 10 seconds.
After the duration ends, there is a 20-second cooldown.
In other words, Fera’s mace was about to disappear.
“Fera-nim, your mace!”
“Oh dear, the duration is over.”
Grrraaaaah….!
A furious wail came from the wraith.
“Then what about that one?”
“Suzuka-nim, you’ll have to take care of it yourself.”
―――
– How generous is a time-limited mace
– Just grateful that it disappears
– LOLOL this is bad
– Look at the unity in the chat window
– Suzuka in big trouble!
―――
Even in a serious situation, the chat window was busy making jokes.
Suzuka, unable to find a solution, shook her head vigorously.
“Impossible, impossible, impossible.”
“What’s impossible? Don’t be scared, just swing the mace once, and it’ll die.”
Hearing Fera’s words, Suzuka steeled herself.
She recalled the effort she put in during the beta test, wanting to grow stronger so she wouldn’t have to see Raven’s death again.
Although a week had passed since the beta test ended, the effort didn’t disappear.
Above all, she didn’t want to show such a pathetic side any longer.
Not to the viewers, not to Fera.
“Hoo… Haa…”
She held the mace and assumed her stance.
At the same time, the wraith, having regained its momentum, charged again.
She was scared, but she endured, facing the fear in front of her head-on.
“The blessing is on. Go for it!”
Suzuka calmly mimicked the actions Fera had shown her.
When it got close enough, she swung the heavy mace with all her might.
Crack—!
A sound similar to what she had heard earlier echoed.
Suzuka, who had unconsciously closed her eyes, slowly opened them.
“Oh, I did it.”
She let out a sigh of relief as she watched the wraith turn into dust and scatter.
***
While Suzuka was party hunting with Fera, an issue arose.
“…Why is this here?”
One of the sacred relics of the Church, the Holy Sword.
It lay sealed inside an unidentified coffin.
—
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