The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter: 142

"Understood. Just let me know the time and place, and I’ll be there."

“…You’re really going to meet him?”

Raphina looked a bit surprised at the positive response.

Given how much attention Hanbit attracted, she had assumed he would be more cautious about revealing personal information.

“That guy’s always the same.”

Luna, who had been listening, spoke up.

“You’ve met him before too, Luna?”

“I had a few meetings with him while working on something with Raphina. Saw him in person each time. He’s the type who really likes people.”

She shrugged, implying they had crossed paths quite a bit.

It seemed like their CEO was an extremely sociable person.

“Oh, got a reply.”

Raphina, who had been waiting for a response, checked her messages.

Her expression grew a little more conflicted.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… he wants Luna and me to come along too.”

“Me too?”

An unexpected addition to the deal.

Feeling a little awkward, Raphina turned to her friend.

“Don’t think too much about it. He probably just wants to see our faces in person.”

“Hmm.”

Luna fell into thought for a moment.

Then, looking at Hanbit, she asked, “Black Dragon, would it be okay if we came along?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, you might not be comfortable revealing your identity. My face is already public, and Raphina’s with a company, so it’s not a big deal for us.”

“Ah.”

Hanbit understood the concern.

As a well-known player, exposing personal details always carried risks.

But that risk depended on who he was dealing with.

“I don’t mind. What matters is the deal.”

“Really?”

Luna grinned at his calm response.

Then, turning to Raphina—who still looked a little hesitant—she added, “I’ll go too. When’s the meeting?”

“Huh? You’re actually coming?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve met up in person. Besides, it sounds kind of fun.”

“Fun… not sure about that, but alright.”

Nodding, Raphina resumed contacting her company.

After a few rounds of confirmation, the meeting was set.

“1 PM, Vestige HQ, 7th floor. Got it.”

Hanbit gave a small nod and turned to his system window.

Current time: 11:50 PM.

He considered logging out right away, but now wasn’t the time to slow down.

First, he had to deliver the promised spirit-related information to Raphina…

Just then, Luna spoke up.

“Mind if I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“What are you planning to do about the Snow Drake content?”

“…Oh.”

Hanbit immediately understood what she was getting at.

The condition that came after slaying the Snow Drake.

The very thing complicating everything.

“This is because of the Ifrit episode, right?”

“Yeah. A ton of people are waiting for you to jump in. Even just within the advanced players, there are probably hundreds.”

Luna relayed the current sentiment within Astra, the game’s main community.

The advanced players and their teams had chosen to reset the episode, following Hanbit’s strategy.

While the Edlen storyline had wrapped up well, the next episode had suddenly become inaccessible.

For those who needed to progress quickly, this was a major setback.

“You two are planning to reset the Edlen episode too, right?”

“Yeah, we’re going to keep resetting and moving forward.”

“Same here.”

Both Luna and Raphina nodded in agreement.

That answer sparked another question in Hanbit’s mind.

“Raphina, didn’t you start in Bell Mora? I thought Vestige had a unified approach.”

“There were a few people who started in Edlen too. I got the contract offer just before I became an advanced player.”

Raphina had been an early player, advancing rapidly from Edlen.

Despite her struggles with spirit-related skills, she had still reached the 4,000s in the advanced ranking.

Unlike her reserved personality, her gameplay was anything but hesitant.

With that in mind, Hanbit shared his response to their question.

"To get straight to the point, I’m going to challenge it as soon as the content unlocks. Though, I’ll need to gather a raid party first."

"In that case, could you add me to the party as well?"

"…You, Luna?"

A direct and straightforward request.

There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation to weigh the pros and cons.

"If it’s alright, could I join too? I feel like I need to meet that scientist, Aysis, as soon as possible…"

Raphina also wanted to be part of the raid.

Aysis—the scientist who specialized in interpreting the power of spirits.

It was clear she had high expectations.

‘It’d be great to have both of them.’

Luna and Raphina, both solid mid-tier advanced players, were valuable assets he couldn’t afford to miss.

However, the key factor in this raid was monopolizing the primary loot.

Hanbit planned to secure that through his position as raid leader, which gave him full authority over item distribution.

"Then, how about we make a deal?"

"A deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

At his proposal, both of them immediately showed interest.

Hanbit carefully laid out a reasonable offer.

"I intend to take the main rewards from the Snow Drake. In exchange for your help, I’ll provide you with the items or information you want."

"Would that include… anything related to spirits?"

Raphina’s interest remained consistent.

Nodding, Hanbit responded.

"I did say I’d help earlier, didn’t I? Originally, I was only planning to give you information, but if you assist me, I’ll personally take you to the Spirit Garden."

"The Spirit Garden…!"

Raphina shot up from her seat, gripping the table.

Hanbit added a further explanation.

"You’ve only been to the Spirit Village, right? The Garden has a much stronger presence of spiritual energy. Since you’ve already bonded with two low-tier elemental spirits, you’ll definitely see results there."

"Then I’ll help! Please make sure I can go!"

More than just an appealing offer—it was an opportunity she had to take.

Compared to that, the Snow Drake’s loot hardly mattered.

"Thank you. Then, as for you, Luna…"

"Can I go to the Spirit Garden too?"

"Huh?"

Hanbit hesitated. He had been about to suggest a few different options, but Luna’s request caught him off guard.

She didn’t have any direct connections to spirits.

"Luna, do you need to go there?"

"I’ve gotten a little curious."

A simple response.

If she wanted to go, it would be strange to suggest something else instead.

"Alright. I’ll take both of you to the Spirit Garden."

"Yes!"

"Sounds good."

The negotiation wrapped up faster than expected.

As they were still processing it all, Luna spoke up.

"You said we’d need more raid members, right? I’ll take care of that."

"I’d appreciate the help, but how do you plan on recruiting them?"

"I’ll put out a notice saying ‘Black Dragon has exclusive loot rights’ and see who still applies. If we set a minimum party size requirement, plenty of desperate advanced players will take the bait."

A clever strategy, using the advanced players’ mindset against them.

And with Luna handling recruitment, there wouldn’t be a single person who dared to question it.

"I’ll ask around too. The more trustworthy members we have, the better."

Raphina clenched her fist in determination, ready to contribute.

Hanbit could feel their sincerity—they truly wanted to help.

"Thank you. I’ll leave the raid member recruitment to you two."

Feeling unexpectedly moved, Hanbit stood up.

The best way to repay them was to fulfill their wishes without fail.

"I’ll take you both to the Spirit Garden. Let’s head out now."

* * *

Hanbit’s party left the city, heading toward the northern forest.

Their destination was the cliffside, where they would meet Asla.

—They’re going to meet a spirit?

—Is Raphina finally unlocking her spirit affinity?

—Wait, why is Raphina even there?

—This party lineup is insane, lol.

—Luna + Raphina + Black Dragon + @??

—@ = Jaehaham + Bangga dude

—They’re just people, chill;

As soon as Hanbit turned on the stream and explained the situation, the chat exploded with messages.

Watching the flood of reactions, Luna grinned.

"Did you know Raphina donated too?"

"…To me?"

"Luna!"

Raphina quickly reached out, trying to cover her mouth.

Hanbit was also quite surprised.

"I haven’t seen that name before. Do you use a different nickname?"

"Well… I went by ‘Spirit.’ It felt a little embarrassing to reveal my identity…"

—Huh?

—Spirit?

—That nickname is too on point, lol.

—Wait, isn’t that the person who donated millions?

—Yeah, I remember seeing that too.

—advanced players are on another level…

Hanbit definitely remembered a viewer by the name of Spirit.

They had donated five million won twice and had consistently sent anonymous donations.

In total, it amounted to tens of millions of won.

But to think that Spirit was actually Raphina…

"Thank you. You’ve helped me a lot."

"Oh no, there’s no need to thank me! I’ve learned so much from Black Dragon’s streams—it’s only right that I pay my dues!"

Even though she primarily used other skills, Spiritmaster was still a core part of her identity.

Even after being stuck at the same level for ten months, she never lost her resolve.

On top of that, she had restarted the entire Edlen storyline, meaning she had actually relied on the streams a lot.

"How did you find the Edlen episode? My walkthrough might not have been the most useful for you."

"I didn’t follow it exactly, but I liked how mine turned out. Since I skipped the Julio quest, I was able to bring Arzvel back safely."

"I also did my best to navigate the story to a satisfying conclusion. The hardest part was talking to Asla."

Unlike Hanbit, the two of them had taken a slightly different approach to the episode.

There were unavoidable issues, such as Asla’s relationship path and scroll modifications.

Not to mention, communicating with someone who had severe social anxiety was bound to be difficult.

But an advanced player was still an advanced player.

They had the skill to find the best outcome in their own way.

"Oh, I forgot to ask this."

A thought crossed Hanbit’s mind, and he turned to Luna.

"How did you clear the Feria Island quest? That one usually takes a few days."

"Oh, that?"

Walking alongside him, she pulled a blue ingot out of her inventory.

It was the Frozen Ingot, a reward from the quest.

Pointing at the patterns engraved on its surface, Luna explained, "It was kind of like a spot-the-difference puzzle, so I just memorized all the patterns."

"…You memorized all of them?"

"It was the fastest way, wasn’t it?"

The puzzle at the location Hanbit had mentioned was notoriously complicated.

It involved ice monoliths that only appeared when Feria Island was nearly deserted.

Each monolith had hundreds of different patterns, and the key was to find the two matching ones.

The normal strategy was to wait for the number of options to decrease over time.

But memorizing all the patterns?

Hanbit was secretly impressed and made a suggestion.

"Would you be interested in getting a custom weapon crafted?"

"A weapon request… Oh, you mean by Kim Jaeha?"

Luna caught on immediately.

Nodding, Hanbit pointed to the Frozen Ingot.

"This material enhances ice attributes significantly. If it’s forged into a sword, it’ll have incredible effects."

"But it’s a Rank 6 weapon. Are you sure? If he fails, the whole thing will be ruined."

"It’s fine. Jaeha will handle it."

Hanbit turned to the man walking behind them—Kim Jaeha.

Upon hearing his name, Jaeha looked startled and pointed at himself.

"…You want me to forge a Rank 6 weapon?"

"You can do it."

"I can’t! Even with my hidden skill, I’m only Rank 3 Unique! What if I mess it up?"

"It’s okay. Trust me, because I trust you."

"What kind of nonsense is that—"

—LOL

—Motivational speech activated

—What happens if he fails?

—???: Who are you?

—Instant disowning;

Jaeha was flustered, but this was a hurdle he had to overcome.

His growth would directly benefit Hanbit.

If he worked on higher-ranked weapons, his proficiency would increase tremendously.

‘Gorik doesn’t fully understand his own potential.’

Hanbit knew why Jaeha was anxious.

But he wasn’t forcing the impossible on him.

Gorik himself had acknowledged Jaeha’s talent, and his Dwarven metallurgy was exceptional.

If those factors combined, the outcome would undoubtedly be incredible.

"I can see the trust you have in him. Then, I’ll officially make a request."

Luna stepped closer and handed over both her sword and the Frozen Ingot without hesitation.

Taking them in his hands, Jaeha let out a deep sigh.

"Haah… I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. If I fail, it’s going to be hell."

"I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry."

"Why would you take responsibility? If it fails, it’s on me for hammering it wrong."

Jaeha shook his head, his expression turning serious.

For some reason, he reminded Hanbit of Gorik.

"You handle the payment. I’m heading to Edlen to start immediately."

With that, Jaeha set off.

His determination was clear from his steady pace.

Watching him walk away, Hanbit didn’t sense even a shred of doubt.

[Translator - Jjescus ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]