GBAS 21

The platoon leader’s worries were truly spoken out of ignorance.

Informational videos, like those announcing in-game updates, could rake in a quick burst of initial views if uploaded fast enough, but there was a limit to maintaining a steady influx of viewers. This was due to the latecomers who churned out similar videos like mushrooms after a rain shower.

Since it was impossible to regulate this in the first place, a distinguishing feature was needed to keep from losing attention to subsequent videos and to consistently attract new viewers. An appealing point of differentiation that would convince them, “It absolutely has to be this channel.”

Some might ask. Why still be greedy for views when you have such a large subscriber pool? But, isn’t that just obvious?

‘What I want is an endlessly upward-trending graph!’

Now that not only his subscribers but also the average views per video had stabilized, Aqua was, on the contrary, getting anxious. In this fierce red ocean where new channels were created daily and hundreds, or thousands, of videos were uploaded every second, all while new users were also increasing, going through a ‘stable period’ was the same as saying he was on a downward slope.

Aqua slowly scanned the seven guild members gathered before him.

It was a shame the guild master wasn’t here, but this was the best party combination one could ask for. He hadn’t canceled an important collaboration for nothing.

The immediate goal was to gather information on the dungeon, but he had already considered the possibility of twisting the video’s theme depending on the trial’s outcome. Not a bland tips-and-tricks video, but a montage that put the party members’ skills in the spotlight. And with a new dungeon as the backdrop, no less!

Aqua wore a triumphant expression as his eyes took in Hyunwoo and Jooin.

Something overflowed from his eyes as he looked back and forth between the two. The Summoner and Bard that everyone coveted. He was certain that as long as those two were here, he would hit the jackpot if he was lucky, and at least a moderate success if not.

The views would be guaranteed no matter how things turned out. That was because there were more than just one or two people waiting for this picture. He couldn’t quite remember if their chemistry had been good enough for people to want to see a scene from over a year ago again, but…

Aqua recalled the not-so-small number of people who had even come to his live broadcast to ask about the two, and let out a smirk.

[Party] Aqua : Mwahaha!

What the, what’s with him.

Hyunwoo, who had exchanged glances with Aqua, frowned. Seeing him grinning like that, he must have been cooking up some sinister plan. Shaking his head with a sigh, Hyunwoo waved his hand in the air. It was to finish organizing his half-done inventory.

“This should be enough for here….”

Next up after the inventory was the skill window. When he brought up the skill window, a spread of small square boxes filled the space before his eyes. Hyunwoo double-checked his pre-saved presets and put his crafting skills into the empty auxiliary key slots.

As his short burst of concentration faded, his gaze, as always, drifted toward Jooin.

“……”

Baek Jooin, standing not too far away, was fiddling with his guitar with a serious face. Seeing him pluck the strings one by one and adjust the pegs on the headstock, it seemed he was in the middle of a sound check.

Just as he was glancing at Jooin, with a skill dangling from the tip of his index finger, a large shadow fell over Jooin’s head.

Whine-.

The one who had approached Jooin was none other than his own partner, Frost.

‘That thing…!’

While the startled Hyunwoo froze in place, Frost pushed its snout into the space between Jooin’s waist and elbow as he held his guitar. The creature, who would normally flinch and shake its head as if swatting something away if anything so much as touched its ear, now didn’t seem to care if its ear was being pressed down or not. It lifted its chin, gently touched its damp nose to Jooin’s cheek, and made eye contact.

He had thought it was strange for the creature, whose daily routine was to laze around until just before a battle, to keep loitering nearby; it seemed he had been dying to get Jooin’s attention.

Noticing that Jooin wasn’t pushing him away, though he seemed surprised, Frost made a bold move. It began to slowly open its snout.

At that moment, Hyunwoo’s expression crumpled. This was the creature that treated any human it liked as a piece of candy. If left alone, Baek Jooin might end up covered in drool.

“…You!”

Just as he was about to step forward to stop Frost,

[General] Jooin : Hey?

Hyunwoo’s steps came to an abrupt halt at the sound of the simple voice.

As if he knew exactly what was about to happen, Jooin naturally avoided Frost’s snout, which had been about to play a prank, and started stroking the creature’s forehead. As if delighted even at having its move seen through, Frost stuck out its tongue, panted happily, and vigorously spun its tail like a propeller.

As he watched the scene with a dazed face, Jooin turned to look at Hyunwoo. Jooin’s nod was as natural as someone who already knew he had been there.

When their eyes met, Jooin paused his stroking for a moment, pointed at Frost, and asked.

[General] Jooin : He remembers me, right?

Hyunwoo’s lips were sealed shut by the sudden question. Ah, no. Quickly coming to his senses, Hyunwoo nodded his head fast in affirmation, and Jooin shifted his gaze back to Frost and smiled, the corners of his mouth turning up.

[General] Jooin : Smart boy.

The wolf, with all its sharpness hidden away, crouched before Jooin as if it were an innocent puppy and enjoyed his touch. It was an unusually friendly display for a creature that didn’t even spare a glance for most humans.

Then again, Baek Jooin was worth remembering. He was the person Frost had coordinated with the most right after becoming Hyunwoo’s partner. Understanding Frost’s behavior, his head nodded on its own.

In the midst of it all, Hyunwoo felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘Huh.’

He thought that his ex-girlfriend’s dog looked just like that when he’d run into it on the street one day, and at the same time, Hyunwoo’s face contorted horribly.

Of all things to remember, it had to be this. It was certain that those two, looking so unnecessarily fond of each other, were making him strange as well.

‘I’m really going crazy.’

Frost, having realized that Jooin welcomed him, was now wagging not only its tail but its entire rear end from side to side. It was then.

[Party] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Hey, you two over there

[Party] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Shall we go if you’re ready?

At the timely message, Hyunwoo’s face lit up. As his eyes met Jooin’s, who was stroking Frost’s head, Hyunwoo gave a short nod as a sign of apology and then put his fingers to his lips and blew a whistle.

Whee-!

Hearing the call, the range of Frost’s tail movement gradually decreased. With a slow movement, Frost pulled its face from Jooin’s side, licked its chops with a look that was obviously one of disappointment, and then walked over to Hyunwoo.

“Huh?”

It was a reaction that was blatantly annoyed. Glancing at the creature, Hyunwoo took out a couple of training treats from the summon-exclusive inventory.

Woof!

A spark flashed in the wolf’s eyes as it noticed Hyunwoo’s movement. Hyunwoo, giving Frost a look, tossed two treats into the air one after another.

The snacks, the size of a child’s fist, disappeared without a trace with a thump, thump sound.

“Good boy.”

Only then did the wolf stop its grumbling and obediently follow behind its partner.

As the 8-person party, with Hyunwoo and Jooin in tow, approached the dungeon entrance, a group of users who had been guarding the area blocked their path.

[General] YogurtFlavoredBar : What the, thought you guys gave up

[General] Heritage : You keep coming back lol

They were familiar voices, not heard just once or twice.

The two at the front, Camellia and JuJuGeneralAssembly, who were the first to identify them, instantly hardened their expressions.

Above the heads of those who had spoken to them, the same guild name was written. Five stood in front. Three were gathered not far away, observing them.

The group of eight was none other than the guild ‘Cheolbapong’.

Damn it.

As a sense of foreboding prompted Camellia to try and mediate the situation, JuJuGeneralAssembly, who had spotted a familiar face among the five blocking their way, held Camellia back.

With a lopsided smirk, JuJuGeneralAssembly pulled Camellia back and at the same time took a couple of steps forward to stand at the front. Then, staring intently at someone squeezed between the opposing group, he said.

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : Ah lol

[General] JuJuGeneralAssembly : You’ve got some nerve huh

At JuJuGeneralAssembly’s words, he squeezed out from between YogurtFlavoredBar and Heritage as if he had been waiting.

His nickname, clad in yellowish light armor that was neither golden nor bronze, was Notgeurut. He was the person who ranked #1 on JuJuGeneralAssembly’s personally selected list of <The Frontier>’s Most Disgusting People.

[General] Notgeurut : ??? lol