The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 141

“…Am I even supposed to be here?”

“I never thought we’d meet face to face like this.”

They moved to a bar at Hanbit’s request.

Sitting at the table, Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde looked across at Luna.

The absurdity of the situation was already evident from the chat.

- Is this for real?

- Guess you need to be at Black Dragon’s level to even talk to Luna.

- I heard Luna’s super cold.

- Saw her roast an advanced player right to their face. Lol.

- Nowaki? That guy tried to hit on her and got shot down.

- A chaebol heir doesn’t even register people like that.

- Go look up her pics. She’s literally idol-tier.

- Chaebol + stunning looks + first-wave player. Insane.

- Black Dragon, go for a confession attack!

- Nope. Mentally unstable right now.

Viewers flooded the chat with everything they knew.

The combination of "chaebol heir," "looks," and "advanced player" was bound to draw attention.

“Hm.”

Luna’s gaze was fixed solely on Black Dragon.

After observing his expression, she grinned and asked, “You’re not very good at handling fan clubs, are you?”

“…I’ve had some bad experiences.”

Taking a deep breath, Hanbit tried to erase the mental image of a sea of banners.

Praise or support directed at him wasn’t the issue.

It was when that admiration turned into action that things became unpredictable.

‘I don’t even want to remember it.’

In the past, Hanbit had possessed the body of a king from a small, weak kingdom called Ediphenov, located at the northeastern edge of the continent.

Total population: 20,000.

Of those, 2,000 people had jobs dedicated solely to worshipping and praising the king.

Imagine taking a single step and having the earth shake with a deafening chorus of music.

Imagine saying, “The sun is bright today,” and your subjects bursting into tears of gratitude.

Imagine receiving nonstop hymns, festival proposals, honorary titles, and odes from 2,000 people every single day.

Imagine an entire nation wearing clothes embroidered with your face.

Imagine statues of your naked body erected across the land.

Hanbit never wanted to experience those feelings again.

“…What the hell did you go through?”

“For Black Dragon to be this affected…”

Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde exchanged glances, carefully observing Hanbit’s demeanor.

He looked genuinely drained.

- So there’s a dark history here, huh.

- Living up to that username.

- But seriously, who were those people?

- Feels like illegal merch or something.

- Black Dragon and the Keepers of Truth (Black Dragon doesn’t know they exist).

- Unofficial fan club. Lol.

Even the viewers were growing curious about the people holding banners.

Rubbing his temples, Hanbit turned to Avantgarde.

“You mentioned people who research the truth of RP, right? What were they like?”

“They’re people who question the mechanics behind Adventurer A’s strategies or try to analyze the lore of RP itself. Some even form social clubs or university circles.”

“…They’re really serious about this.”

Taking an interest in this world wasn’t a bad thing.

Even holding banners could have been their way of asking for the truth of RP to be revealed.

‘This is a nightmare.’

There was no malice in their actions, so lashing out felt unwarranted.

Should he at least ask them to remove "Black Dragon" from their group name?

No. That might just fuel their passion even more.

“…Haah.”

Faced with a situation with no clear solution, he let out a deep sigh.

Watching him, Luna lightly tapped the table and said, “You should get used to it.”

“…What?”

“As you probably know, people’s interest manifests in many different ways. Fan clubs are just one of the weirder cases.”

She added that she had been through something similar herself.

As the daughter of a high-profile corporate chairman and an advanced player with immense talent, she was bound to attract attention.

“How did you handle it?”

“I froze the fan club president until they disbanded.”

“…Huh?”

- Oh, damn.

- As expected from the number one Frostblade user.

- How do you even fight a chaebol advanced player, lmao.

- Want a taste of our legal team?

- Social death. Brutal.

A far more… decisive solution than expected.

Viewers kept bringing up her chaebol background, but Luna’s confidence came from something else entirely.

Her overwhelming talent and absolute self-assurance.

“That’s… one way to do it.”

“Right? If you don’t like it, just go all in.”

Luna stretched, speaking with complete sincerity.

‘Phew.’

As the conversation continued, Hanbit felt his headache fading bit by bit.

Maybe Luna was right.

Maybe the best approach was just to go with the flow.

With his worries momentarily set aside, Hanbit quickly gathered his thoughts.

"I'm sorry for looking so disorganized. I must have wasted your time."

“This isn’t exactly a common situation, is it? I actually found it refreshing.”

Smiling, Luna shifted her gaze toward the back of the bar.

Then, turning back to Hanbit, she continued, “So, shall we get to why you reached out? It seemed like you had something to ask.”

“Oh, one moment. Let me mute the stream for the viewers.”

- ?

- Ah, why;

- Don’t abandon us.

- Noooo

Ignoring the flood of complaints in the chat, Hanbit muted the stream audio.

Then, without wasting any time, he got straight to the point.

“This is a bit sudden, but I had a question about Bell Mora.”

“Bell Mora? You mean the starting city?”

“Yes. I’m planning to sell a guide on how to clear its episodes.”

“Ah, I see.”

Even from that brief explanation, Luna quickly grasped the situation.

It was obvious why someone would seek her out, an advanced player.

“What exactly do you need to know? The right buyers? Or pricing?”

“I’d appreciate your thoughts on both.”

“Give me a second.”

Moving her fingers, Luna accessed her system.

Astra—an exclusive community where only a select few first-wave players were invited. It was the perfect place to gather high-quality intel.

“Bell Mora’s situation is a little tricky,” Luna said after a brief pause.

“What do you mean by tricky?”

“With the episode resets, most companies that were focusing on Bell Mora have shifted their strategy toward Edlen.”

“…Oh.”

That short explanation was enough for Hanbit to understand.

So far, every episode guide and hidden skill strategy Hanbit had revealed was based on starting in Edlen.

Any business keeping an eye on his moves would have naturally gravitated toward that city instead.

“Then would it be hard to sell?”

“If it’s your information, people will still buy it. But they’ll want more guarantees—how it compares to Edlen, whether there’s any exclusive intel from the Raven Kingdom, things like that.”

Luna laid out a realistic assessment.

Listening carefully, Hanbit asked, “If none of those additional conditions are favorable, how much could I expect to get for it?”

“In that case, they’d be paying for access to you, not just the information. Plenty of buyers, like me, would be willing to offer in the hundreds of millions, but in the end, it’d get annoying. They wouldn’t be buying just the guide—they’d be buying a connection to Black Dragon.”

Luna, who had been an independent player herself, added a warning.

Once business deals came into play, obligations and entanglements would inevitably follow.

“Thanks. I’ll have to think this over.”

Hanbit, who had no intention of shackling herself to anything, was already sorting out his next steps.

But then—

“Oh, there’s something I forgot to mention.”

Luna suddenly stood up from her seat.

“Huh?”

“Everything we just talked about applies in general. But there’s an exception.”

“…What do you mean?”

Hanbit frowned at Luna’s cryptic words.

Meanwhile, Luna smirked and started walking.

Step-

She strode purposefully toward a table tucked into the corner of the bar.

Then, without hesitation, she grabbed someone’s arm.

“Whoa!”

The woman sitting at the table flinched in surprise.

A wide-brimmed wizard’s hat covered her head.

Her face was partially hidden, but her identity was revealed almost instantly.

“You really thought you wouldn’t get caught?”

“Ah…”

At the mention of her name, the woman slowly lifted her head.

Seeing her face, Hanbit immediately recalled who she was.

“…Raphina?”

- Huh?

- Wait, isn’t that Raphina?

- ??

- What is she doing there?

- Turn the sound back onnnnnn!

As expected, the chat exploded as viewers recognized her.

“Huh?”

“Raphina… isn’t she one of the Spirit Summoner advanced players?”

Even Kim Jaeha and Avantgarde widened their eyes in shock.

The situation was strange enough to catch everyone off guard.

“L-Luna! Wait a second!”

Raphina, still caught in Luna’s grip, was dragged over to the table.

And just like that, two advanced players were now sitting face-to-face.

Hanbit took a moment to process everything before voicing his genuine curiosity.

“You’re a Spirit Summoner, right? So why are you here?”

“Uh…”

Raphina hesitated, glancing away.

She felt completely different from the poised and mature figure Hanbit had seen back in Edlen—the one who had always worn a warm smile when surrounded by others.

Luna, noticing Hanbit’s reaction, chimed in.

“You must’ve seen her before?”

“I saw her once in Edlen. From a distance, though.”

“She looks totally different now, right? Well, this is the real her.”

Luna poked Raphina’s face with her finger.

Raphina, still pulling her hat down over her face, simply sat there and took it.

Watching this play out, Hanbit spoke up again.

“But really, why are you here?”

“She’s a huge fan of Black Dragon. What was it you said? Something about how jealous and in awe you were as a Spirit Summoner?”

“H-Hey! Why would you say that?!”

Panicked, Raphina lunged forward, clamping a hand over Luna’s mouth.

Hearing that, Hanbit finally pieced it together.

‘She said she got stuck at Rank 3.’

Raphina was part of the 4,000s in the first-wave ranking.

Yet even she had hit a wall at Rank 3—Hero-grade Spirit Skills.

Compared to Hanbit, who had reached Rank 5—Epic-grade—there was a significant gap, even if their paths had diverged.

“You’ve contracted two lower-tier spirits, right?”

“Ah… yeah. Water and Wind.”

“And your proficiency? I remember hearing you hadn’t maxed it yet.”

“Well… it’s been over ten months…”

Raphina’s voice trailed off, sounding increasingly dejected.

But pouring in time alone wouldn’t fix the issue.

“Want some help?”

“…Wait, really?”

She looked up instantly, her eyes gleaming with hope.

Seeing her reaction, Hanbit laid out his terms.

“Of course, it won’t be for free. Luna, is this the exception you were talking about earlier?”

“Not exactly. The real exception is Vestige, the company Raphina belongs to. They’ve been focused on Bell Mora since the start, so they’re definitely interested in your guide. Right?”

“Yeah, our CEO is really firm on that.”

Raphina nodded in agreement.

If their company had been invested in Bell Mora from the beginning, they’d likely be willing to offer a good price.

“I’m looking to sell my guide on Bell Mora’s episode strategies. Could you check with your company and see if they’re interested?”

“…Give me a second.”

Raphina quickly sent a message to her company.

The response came back in less than a minute.

“Oh.”

Reading the reply, Raphina’s expression turned slightly conflicted.

Then, looking up at Hanbit, she spoke.

“So… the CEO wants to know if they could meet with you in person.”

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]