I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Chapter 509: Side Quest Collection 4

Though the side quest "For Elize" had begun, our daily life didn't suddenly change into frantic running around. Like the Dark Knight's final forces that had merged with monster waves somewhere, we needed information gathered before we could do anything.

In a normal RPG, they'd kindly mark coordinates telling us to kill the witch in this area, but this was the world's first virtual reality game with unfriendliness and realism as its motto. While the quest window showed a few lines of story, there was no kindness like minimap integration or advance directions about where to go.

We had to figure out everything ourselves - what kind of being this mad witch was, where she was, and how to deal with her.

"Hmm, feels like we've hit a wall."

"We've just been moving too fast until now. This is how adventurers normally live."

This waiting period was a terrible ordeal and trial for K-gamer Han Se-ah.

Weren't K-gamers the ones who complained that even 2x speed was too slow, demanding 4-8x speed in mobile games? The "ppalli-ppalli" (hurry-hurry) cultural trait was so strong it made people spend premium currency on instant completion rather than wait for items to naturally unlock over time.

But now the main quest progress was blocked, we had to wait for clues to solve it, and even the side quest we were doing in the meantime required waiting for information?

This was how both adventurers and mercenaries lived. People who risked their lives fighting couldn't live like workaholics without vacations, just to blow their fortune on alcohol, gambling and women from stress. They'd take requests, investigate, grind hard, then rest for months under the pretext of maintenance.

Anyway, rather than fearing viewers' seizures, Han Se-ah herself felt bored and turned to me while writhing like a salted worm.

"Well yeah, but... Roland, what are you planning to do while waiting?"

"Thought I'd practice swordsmanship for a change."

"Swordsmanship? You, Roland?"

That question drew instant attention. Come to think of it, did our companions still see me as some kind of "tragic hero unable to forget past wounds"?

The awkward reaction when meeting Jacob, an acquaintance from the past earlier, might have accelerated their misunderstanding. For me it was the difficult task of pretending to know a stranger, having to act familiar after 11 years... but to them it might have looked like past trauma resurfacing.

Thanks to that, they surrounded me after hearing "swordsmanship." Being encircled by such beauties should be enjoyable or even blissful, but this situation wasn't great.

"Swordsmanship training, not bad. You usually need time to slowly adjust after getting new equipment and reaching new levels."

"That's true. Katie's armor will be arriving soon too."

"Is that so? Come to think of it, knights visiting the temple said similar things. That rushing doesn't help."

I'd casually mentioned it hoping to absorb more swordsmanship fragments, but the conversation suddenly turned into coddling Roland. Only the my-pace Han Se-ah could break this situation, but...

"Hm? Ah, yeah. Being too hasty isn't good."

I'd expected her to demand we hurry and look for even minor quests, but she suddenly lowered her tail and joined the coddling parade. Wondering what happened, I glanced at her stream window to see viewer donations flooding in.

The "handsome man traumatized by sad past" setup had become mainstream theory not just among our companions but viewers too.

The Roland Squad with their weird nicknames like Great Sword or Lightning Bat or Barbarian Club. Following the Sister Squad, Mama Squad, and Kid Squad, self-proclaimed Club Squad members were seizing this chance to bombard Han Se-ah. Though "Club Squad" was mostly just guys fooling around.

While Han Se-ah wasn't the type to be swayed by viewers, she wasn't a psychopath who'd ignore warnings not to poke at a companion's pain and dig into trauma. Plus our relationship had grown closer lately, so she wouldn't miss a chance to both earn money and be lovey-dovey.

"Was there an empty lot at the inn?"

"Even in the archipelago there must be sword guilds? We could probably rent space there."

"Let's rest well today and look around tomorrow. We found the Adventurer's Guild today, so tomorrow we can find the sword guild or blacksmith."

And so began an awkward rest period that was uncomfortable for me alone.

※

The lack of long-term content was familiar to Han Se-ah's viewers.

After all, just traveling between northern, eastern and western parts of the Kingdom took 2-3 weeks by carriage. BB Games' suspiciously suspicious virtual reality game had no speed options, so people enjoyed it more like watching a real-time project than playing a game.

Therefore Han Se-ah's viewers fell into two categories: Those who enjoyed edited highlight videos, and those who desperately clung to watching live broadcasts despite the grind.

Naturally, the proportion of lunatics was overwhelmingly higher in the latter group.

"Today? You're asking what we're doing today... probably checking out the southeastern district we promised yesterday and maybe swinging by the slums. Grace and Katie seem reluctant, but Sister Irene showed some interest. She might be curious about the archipelago temple's welfare work."

[Roland Thunder Mouse donated 10,000 won!]

Take Roland to a dark place saying he should serve the hero, no need to film -10k

"Is this person actually insane?"

She cooked with Irene in the morning like doing a cooking broadcast. After having breakfast together while taking care of the half-asleep Katie, it was time for light morning exercise. While Irene prayed and read scripture, Han Se-ah practiced "mana control meditation" - really just chatting with viewers.

Pretty women cooking together, then feeding pretty girls - cooking and eating broadcasts. While not an unpopular genre, the rabid live broadcast viewers always felt something lacking.

This resulted in toxic viewers popping up that made you wonder how they hadn't been banned yet. Random nonsense unrelated to the broadcast was basic, with some openly making sexual comments. And with more people gathering, foreign trolls getting banned increased too.

"Really, seems like there are too many weirdos with all these people. Anyway, today's map exploration again, so keep that in mind."

Han Se-ah grumbled toward the broadcast camera while I warmed up in an empty lot near the inn with a wooden sword Katie had somehow obtained. Though various incidents occurred while thoroughly exploring the archipelago over a week, none had as much impact as the toxic viewers attacking Han Se-ah.

Like the mercenary from an Imperial backwater who got beaten up by an archipelago monk for hitting on Irene, or the sword instructor who paled realizing potential political issues after acting cocky wanting to see Katie's sword, then learning she was from a Kingdom ducal house.

While not major incidents or quest triggers, they made decent broadcast content. Though the conclusion was they still couldn't match the trolls' antics.

"Working hard again today, Sir Roland."

"Ah, good morning."

At least the truly disgusting ones got filtered by AI. As I exercised absentmindedly with Han Se-ah's broadcast as background, a man greeted me warmly. He was the guy who'd introduced himself as a unremarkable retired mercenary and shown us a wide training ground for swordsmanship.

Messy brown hair, patchy scruffy beard, wrinkled shirt with a potbelly visible beneath - he looked like a properly retired mercenary who'd saved money well... but getting his greetings sent chills down my spine.

It meant the archipelago wasn't some demon's lair, but had monsters hiding their power scattered about, from retired neighborhood uncles to street guards.

...Should I push this as content since I'm bored?

Could be fun making content like "Find the Hidden Strong Ones" and having people guess star ratings just from appearances.

Enjoy the chappy!