344 - Quick and Easy Blasphemy 4
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: Posted in discord
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The harpy's claim of being the fourth imperial princess gained credibility through the update of Han Se-ah's quest log.
On the symbolically significant 50th floor, we faced two formidable bosses. One was a flying boss monster that inflicted stiffness through elemental aura, while the other was a pig-like boss monster with a massive health bar. freewёbnoνel.com
[It's said the Harpy Empire was created to seal the underground monsters]
[The Harpy Empire that kidnaps other races, and the underground monsters that can't be reasoned with]
[Which one will you face? Wouldn't using the altar allow you to choose?]
"No way. They're doing it like this? This is oddly infuriating."
-Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?Chicken?
-Ah, now I'm craving chicken
-You think the #1 gaming streamer with 6 stars, #1 mage, first 6★ owner, 10 million followers, and 1 million viewers, Han Se-ah, would chicken out and back off here?
-Reaping the benefits (by dealing with two full-condition bosses simultaneously)
-Hoo, I'll trust you. Dealing with two bosses at once, you must be the real Han Se-ah
[Boss Slayer Han Se-ah donated 50,000 won!]
Then wouldn't a double kill have super rewards?
[Roland's Robust Holy Sword donated 100,000 won!]
I'll donate a million won right now if you rush in and successfully double kill the bosses
"Eh? Oh, um. That mission is really tough, no?"
An average gamer would've sighed, "Ah, we're screwed~" and either wasted time or given up and reset. But Han Se-ah was no ordinary gamer, and her viewers wouldn't allow it.
From viewers nagging in general chat about chickening out, to VIP members silently adding to the mission pot.
Han Se-ah, startled by the nearly 10 million won mission pot that accumulated just because she hesitated for a moment, began to move hurriedly.
No matter how world-class she'd become, Han Se-ah still retained enough of a commoner's sensibility that 10 million won in mission money was enough to make her eyes roll back.
To give you an idea of how much that is, if the mission pot grew even a bit more here, the viewers who had been playfully teasing would start genuinely grinding their teeth and attacking Han Se-ah.
Seeming to instinctively sense this as a streamer, she stopped picking up mana stones mid-action and scurried over to me.
Meanwhile, a voice donation playing a synthesized version of Han Se-ah's voice saying "Help me, Roloemon~" was particularly impressive.
"Roland, what do you think we should do?"
"What do you mean, what should we do?"
As a gamer it might be fine, but as the party leader I couldn't just blurt out that we should take them both on at once. Seeing her scurry over to me and look to me for approval, her intentions were transparently obvious.
Han Se-ah, transparent as a jellyfish, was subtly looking to me for approval.
Feeling mischievous from deep in my chest, I decided to have some fun. She was probably hoping I'd charge in right away saying we'd take them both down... but it wouldn't be fun to give in so easily.
For me, or for the stream.
"Why don't we jump in while the Harpy Empress is fighting the tentacle monster? It might be interesting."
"Hmm......"
Of course, I had no intention of backing down either. The awakening quest was on my mind, but if we'd searched the entire imperial palace altar and found no hints, the answer must lie in the boss fight.
I also thought our party members had the skills to take on both at once. As long as I didn't do something crazy like charging between the two bosses like a madman, I felt we could handle it since we hadn't met anything that could penetrate my shield yet.
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For these and other reasons, I pretended to ponder for a moment. But our companions spoke up before I did.
"Um... do we really need to go right now?"
"The Harpy Empress is fighting the tentacle monster, you say? Why don't we assess the situation a bit first?"
"Is there really a need to risk ourselves by going in now...?"
The Knights' Order still hadn't reached the imperial palace, and we weren't exactly trying to rescue the Harpy Empress either.
The situation was a bit ambiguous since we had the 4th Harpy Princess in our grasp, but in the end both were enemies we'd have to defeat.
So Grace, Irene, and Katie each voiced their reservations with a brief comment.
They all seemed to have no intention of retreating or backing down, but they weren't eager to charge in right this moment either. I suppose that's the wise and cautious attitude of proper adventurers.
The problem is that attitude was setting Han Se-ah's ass on fire.
"Well, shouldn't we go now to assess the situation?"
-LOL Where does this pack mule think it's offering opinions? Just take the path when told
-No need for lighting in the underground since the monster came out, and no need to make paths since we're in the palace.. why do we even need Han Se-ah lol
-You can see her desperately trying to read the room as the mission money piles up, right?
-If she misses out on today's mission money she'll be so pissed she won't be able to sleep for days, kicking her blankets lol
-Today's mission money is almost 20 mil, if it slips away she'll be so frustrated she might rage quit for a few days lolololol
It's already up to 20 million?
Glancing at Han Se-ah's stream window, it seemed all the big spenders in the streaming world had gathered in the less than 5 minutes we'd been talking.
Checking the viewers' exaggerated chat messages and small donations, it looked like everyone from the "chairmen" who spend hundreds of millions on female streamers to the foreign whales who rank 2nd or 3rd in total donations on international streams had gathered.
Apparently, word had spread about the first 50th floor clear and the potential first double boss kill.
Han Se-ah's complexion darkened in proportion to the increasing mission money. Feeling I'd teased her enough, I opened my mouth.
"I think we should go right now."
"That's right!!!"
Come on, at least try to manage your expression a little...
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Raei Translations
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The reason I insisted we charge in right now to face two bosses wasn't to help Han Se-ah score her 20 million won jackpot.
'Surely last time... the quest was changed midway to help Han Se-ah. Come to think of it, my original goal was just a quest to help Han Se-ah.'
No matter how I look at it, the transcendent being who stuck me here seems to have a soft spot for Han Se-ah. From the start, my quest condition wasn't to climb the tower myself, but to help streamer Han Se-ah deal with monsters and climb the tower, which suddenly appeared as my quest condition.
The fact that the quest consistently refers to her as "streamer Han Se-ah" every time suggests that the tower doesn't just need to be climbed, but done in the streaming perspective.
In short, it feels like I'm some extra in a web novel about constellations.
I suspect some transcendent being tossed me in like a donation to support Han Se-ah out of interest... That's the extent of the deduction I could make.
"You have a reason for going right away?"
"Well, if Roland says we should go, we'll go, but..."
So if I'm Roland the supporter of streamer Han Se-ah, not adventurer Roland, I should aim for the last hits on both bosses now.
If we wait and observe, causing one boss to fall first and failing the mission, not only will the viewers be disappointed, but the transcendent being might be let down too.
I'd rather deal with a Goddess who restricts web surfing by installing parental control programs on the internet, than an evil god who takes away an arm or eyesight as the price of quest failure.
If I make a good impression now, maybe later when I make a huge mistake, instead of my soul falling into the hellfire pit, I'll just get punished by having to play the clown on Han Se-ah's stream. In other words, I want to take out an insurance policy by getting on the transcendent being's good side.
A person should always think about the future, after all.
"Roland, is there really a reason we need to recklessly take on two boss monsters at once?"
But I couldn't tell my worried party members,
'Actually, I'm a 21st-century military service returnee college student, and I can see hologram windows like Han Se-ah, and I want to make a good impression on a transcendent being who may or may not be a Goddess so I'm trying to create some premium stream content.'
If I did, a shocked Irene would drag me to a temple, tears streaming down her face as she tried to purge the demon lord's dark magic filling my head with a prayer.
What excuse should I use that would be convincing? As an adventurer I didn't have much to say, so should I say something needs to be done as the holy sword's owner?
As I was trying to come up with an excuse, unexpected support came flying in.
From the Harpy Princess still in my grip.
"I-If you're planning to deal with Mother, I'll help!"
"...What?"
Gazes sharply converged on the sudden declaration of familial betrayal.
Undaunted by those piercing stares, the 4th Princess began to continue her story.
"The one who sits on the imperial throne must be willing to sacrifice their life for the empire! This is our first and absolute law, decreed by thunder from the First Emperor, which must never be broken! For the peace of the empire, even Her Majesty would gladly give her life!"
-Going for the "Succeeding You, Mother" angle right off the bat!
-Like mother like daughter, the imperial bastards immediately start with political bullsh*t to get rid of Mommy first
-The situation keeps evolving in directions I never imagined lolololol This is why I watch streams, f*ck yeahlolol
-But isn't this natural from her perspective? If she's the 4th Princess, she just needs to get rid of three to become Empress
-Mom or getting wiped out by Roland and the knights... What gleams in those red harpy eyes isn't the cowardice of trying to avoid the situation or concern for her mother, but the glazed eyes of a fanatic who truly believes the Harpy Empress should die... no, must die.
The monster created by the empire's elitist indoctrination had begun discussing the death of its own mother.
