Chapter 730 – To Those Who Believe (1)
[I will be taking a break for the time being]
—What???
—You just came back and you’re going on a break again?!
—Where did that cockroach-like persistence go?!
The sudden announcement threw Park Hwigang’s NetTube community into chaos. A fellow explorer from the alliance asked him:
“Can you really give this up? How about changing the content a little? An indefinite break is too much. Do you know how hard it is to rebuild a channel once the algorithm drops you?”
NetTuber player, Park Hwigang. His NetTube subscribers had truly been built with blood and sweat.
“You’re not quitting because the haters got to you, right? Saying your subscribers are useless because you just followed Lee Hoyeol—no, the Supreme Commander—around. Those guys don’t know anything.”
Following someone’s tail takes skill too. And who was he following? The one and only, the great player Hoyeol.
“I know that well. I’m pretty proud of it myself.”
Risk your life. Whether by chance or design, Park Hwigang had followed Hoyeol’s path and narrowly escaped death many times. Of course, he never denied Hoyeol’s influence—unless he boasted so much that Hoyeol himself felt burdened.
Wasn’t that why Park Hwigang was called the Pope of the Hoyeol Faith?
“But that’s exactly why I have to make this decision.”
“You’re really going to go through with it?”
“I have to. If not me, then who?”
Where was he heading? The exploration of the Demon Realm.
“I’ll be honest. I know luck follows you, Hwigang, but this is the Demon Realm. And Lorenzik recently…”
His words trailed off. Park Hwigang nodded.
‘He closed his eyes in this Demon Realm.’
Romantic Explorer, Lorenzik. A legendary figure among explorers. It was said that 30% of the treasures stored by the Explorer’s Federation were spoils he had obtained. His name appeared in every exploration book.
“And you still want to explore the Demon Realm alone? Even posting an indefinite hiatus notice? Your subscribers would faint if they knew.”
Explorers Federation? In the past, they were rivals. Exploration opportunities had once been limited. But after the Great Cataclysm, there was no need for such competition.
Now they were comrades, and he was sincerely worried about Park Hwigang.
“I’m afraid something will happen to you too. Lorenzik passed away, and President Fabian has lost his spirit. You’re the one who’ll lead the federation…”
“Hey, don’t say that.”
“I don’t care. I’m recommending you in the head election.”
If you don’t want it, don’t leave—that was the unspoken meaning.
“I should get going now.”
Click.
With those words, Park Hwigang put on a helmet far larger than his head. It was the magic tool [Helmet of Silence], once worn by President Fabian when he set out alone to explore the Demon Realm.
With his keen explorer’s eye, the man recognized it.
“Isn’t that President Fabian’s favorite?”
“Yes. He passed it down to me.”
“Passed it down…?”
Wait. Did Fabian do that for no reason?
How had Fabian remained president for decades? Because no explorer surpassed him. Lorenzik had existed, but he wasn’t suited to the Federation.
Yet after Lorenzik’s death, Fabian’s activity visibly decreased. Everyone had assumed the loss struck him deeply.
“But that wasn’t it.”
As expected of you, President Fabian. Even if you were shocked, you would never neglect your duties.
Park Hwigang spoke without knowing any of this.
“That’s not all. When I said I’d explore the Demon Realm, he even gave me several magic tools he personally used. He said he confirmed their effectiveness himself!”
For an explorer, personal magic tools were everything. Passing them on meant acknowledgment.
‘He’s already recognized Hwigang as the next president.’
The explorer shrugged.
“Right. If not you, then who?”
“Pardon?”
“So make sure you come back alive.”
Since the Great Cataclysm, no explorer had gained more experience than Park Hwigang. He could be entrusted with the Explorer’s Federation.
Ah—but there was one thing he hoped for.
Watching Hwigang’s back, the explorer muttered:
“Our new president… you’ll still guarantee freedom of religion, right…?”
*
*
*
“Huaa.”
If it weren’t for President Fabian’s magic tool? Just thinking about it was terrifying. As Park Hwigang moved forward, his body trembled.
“The level really was just a number, Homen.”
Monsters of the Demon Realm? Not sure if they could even be called monsters. They could be divided into three broad types.
The demon race, who could be called the current rulers of the Demon Realm. The few survivors of worlds swallowed by the Demon Realm. And the cursed flesh that poured out from the curse itself.
“To think demon-type monsters are the easiest to deal with.”
If he told his subscribers later? They’d probably say, Hwigang, stop lying. But it was true.
According to Lord Hoyeol, demons grow by feeding on negative emotions. However, the negative emotions of the Demon Realm were being monopolized by the Silver Evil Eye, so demon-type monsters probably didn’t even live up to their level value.
“If they saw the cursed flesh, they’d say the balance patch failed.”
In contrast, the cursed flesh was utterly terrifying. Its grotesque appearance definitely made it feel even worse…
“Anyway, no matter how suffocating it gets, I’m never taking off my helmet.”
Why venture into the perilous Demon Realm?
Simple. Park Hwigang wanted to earn his keep. Or rather, it might be more accurate to say he wanted to settle the debt of the meals he’d owed.
‘Because it’s something only an Explorer can do.’
Carving a path into the unknown.
That’s right. Park Hwigang had set out to gather information on the cursed flesh, the biggest obstacle facing the Holy War Alliance.
Sneak, sneak.
[Helmet of Silence] — an item that prevents enemies from attacking first unless you strike first. A dream-like effect for an explorer.
“Maybe I’ll get a little closer.”
Thanks to streaming, talking to himself had become a habit for Park Hwigang. Fortunately, muttering to himself didn’t count as an attack.
“Please just stay still.”
[Explorer]
Their abilities begin with a unique item every explorer possesses: the [Exploration Journal]. Scratch, scratch. Park Hwigang began sketching the cursed flesh in his journal with a pencil.
[Your ‘Exploration Journal’ is being updated.]
[You have discovered a new species.]
[Your reputation as an Explorer increases.]
The system messages were broken and invisible, but those messages must have appeared. If he began writing the characteristics of the cursed flesh next to the sketch as observed through an explorer’s eyes—
“Looking closer, it doesn’t just look like a lump of flesh. It seems wrapped in some kind of membrane. Wait, is the concept that its true form appears if the membrane is peeled away?”
Scratch, scratch.
As he continued writing its traits, he suddenly felt something off. Wait, why is it so quiet?
It wasn’t because the cursed flesh was calm.
With one hand clutching his helmet so it wouldn’t slip off by mistake, Park Hwigang stiffened because of the silent view.
“Didn’t the broken message… appear?”
After the system stopped functioning properly for most players, broken messages felt meaningless. But Park Hwigang thought differently.
Maybe it was his explorer’s nature. Treating broken messages like riddles—guessing the number of characters and reconstructing the original message—was fun.
But why hadn’t even a broken message appeared?
“In most cases…”
It meant another adventurer had already recorded information about the cursed flesh first. But Park Hwigang still had doubts.
“Sir Lorenzik isn’t the type to leave something like this…”
President Fabian had encouraged his ambition to write a journal about the cursed flesh. Which meant no one had recorded information about them yet.
So he changed his perspective.
His trembling pupils turned toward the cursed flesh. No way. Even as he thought it, he muttered aloud.
“…That means the cursed flesh is already a well-known existence?”
That thought brought back afterimages—Hoyeol he had met inside the curse, and the dragons including Eunaxus.
After pondering for a long time, Park Hwigang reached a conclusion.
“Could they be the same, yet different beings?”
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
“If reversal magic were cast on the cursed flesh…”
Of course, Park Hwigang knew nothing about magic. He didn’t even know if it was possible. It was just a thought.
“Would we be able to learn their original form?”
Shake, shake.
“No, forget it. I don’t really want to know.”
Somehow, it wouldn’t sit well with him.
Right now, the cursed flesh was an enemy that had to be defeated to conquer the Demon Realm. If they turned out to be familiar beings we knew, both the same and different…
“We wouldn’t be able to point our swords at them.”
He let out a deep sigh and picked up his pencil again. Maybe only a specific cursed flesh was duplicated. Let’s record another one. The moment he stepped forward—
“Grrrraaa—”
All at once.
“W-Whoa, that scared me.”
The cursed flesh began making grotesque noises and showing hostility. Had his sigh been too loud and knocked off the [Helmet of Silence]? He hurriedly checked his helmet—it was still on.
“…?”
Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, Park Hwigang followed their gaze. Soon, the culprit entered his sight. The Silver Evil Eye.
A question mark.
His head filled with question marks. Why were they alternately hostile and not hostile, then howling toward the Silver Evil Eye again?
There was one difference from before.
“…Damn it.”
Same yet different beings. That thought lingered in his mind. Those beings filled his thoughts—including the Silver Evil Eye and Hoyeol. And the countless Hoyeols who had recently appeared.
But—
“!”
His anguish didn’t last long. A scene unfolded before him that forced his mind to stop. Same yet different. As if proving that fact, what spread before his eyes was—
Rumble.
Architecture magic—Hoyeol’s specialty. The Silver Evil Eye, shining even colder, seemed to declare that it was the caster.
But Park Hwigang shook his head.
“…No, that’s not it.”
What the manifested architecture magic built—
A monument that crushed the entire group of cursed flesh without a trace.
Park Hwigang no longer mistook things.
“T-There’s no way something like that could be related to Lord Hoyeol…?!”
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