TGFTE 93

Chapter 93….

“How the hell do you expect to get your hands on such top-grade coolant in the lower sectors!? Have you finally lost your mind!?”

Old man Deokbae’s furious voice rang out.

But Lee Ji-han only shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll make sure to get it in time. So please, I’m asking you to make it for me.”

He gave the old man confidence.

“T-This…! Fine, fine! I’ll do it because you’re asking, but don’t you dare complain later!”

Deokbae sighed deeply and practically shoved Ji-han out.

As soon as Ji-han stepped into the alley, he prepared to record a clip.

“Hello, this is HAN. Fishbowl head—you know it, right?”

He greeted the viewers casually.

“The higher the coolant grade, the better. I’ll pay more than it’s worth.”

He had credits to spare.
Between direct donations and the ones stockpiled like savings, the amount was substantial.

Normally, he wouldn’t touch those.
He wanted to grow through his own strength.

But right now? If there was ever a time to blow through them, this was it.

Servers always ended eventually.
Especially massive streamer servers—there was always an end date.
They weren’t permanent, lifelong servers. That fact made it easier for Ji-han to let go of his hoarded wealth.

In truth, he’d never been one to cling to possessions in the first place.

Calmly, he made his offer.

“Fair price? Honestly, it’s funny to even call it that. I’ll pay above market, highest price, whatever you ask.”

He spoke with sly charm, but not in a way that grated.
Like a slippery snake in disguise.

Gone was the naïve, overly earnest Ji-han—what appeared now was the smooth, capable fixer, HAN.

“Condition is simple: sellers can’t be tied to the Shadow Syndicate. You all know they’re hunting me down in the mid-sectors.”

The negotiator revealed himself.

“Come down through the alumni elevator. Then, come straight to me.”

A simple conclusion.

And that video—
the viewers, Ji-han’s cuckoo flock, started spreading it like wildfire to other streamers.

Not to everyone, of course.
Those known to side with the Shadow Syndicate were filtered out by the viewers themselves.

Like the remnants of “Ego,” or those about to log back in after death penalties, ready to be sacrificed as treasure-hunting fodder.
They were excluded. The rest of Punk Loader’s survivors heard Ji-han’s unbelievable offer.

[High-grade coolant, name your price LOL]
[No way I’m missing this LOL]
[I just spread the clip to the streamers I follow]
[Same here LOL]
[Hey, didn’t our guys need coolant? Guess we’ll buy here?]
[But man, even reaching the lower sectors from mid is gonna be tough…]

In an instant, Ji-han’s viewership shot up.
Fans of other streamers came running, curious about this madman making such an offer.

But Ji-han didn’t get flustered.
He just shrugged at the climbing viewer count—
as if to say, Bring me your masters.

As if this was just another big stunt he could pull off again and again.
The aura of someone who had solo-cleared two hidden dungeons already.

[LOL welcome, newcomers]
[Don’t mind Ji-han looking awkward—he gets shy]
[Anyway, if you’ve got coolant, let’s trade]
[Leave the descent to the alumni association, they’ve got the elevators covered]
[They’re holding the line pretty well, so don’t worry, just go]

His longtime viewers, knowing his real personality, started acting as brokers on his behalf.

“Haha, thank you, everyone.”

[Thank us? Just wait a bit.]
[Hell is about to break loose.]
[LOL this is the hell you created yourself. Endure it with sheer willpower.]
[Yeah, brace yourself.]

Their odd warnings puzzled him. Ji-han tilted his head—

And then,

Are you really buying coolant? I’ve got some to sell!
OMG mom I made it on stream LOL
Reinstalled Punk Loader just for this
Please support my channel, CheolminTV!
I have coolant too! Is this good enough???
Let’s meet up! I want your autograph!
When do we even reach the lower levels? The elevators are packed!
Can you tell the alumni guys I need to come down?
This is insane! The elevator lobby’s a nightmare right now!
Can you read this message? Do whispers show up?

Scammers, sellers, clout-chasers—
hundreds of messages flooded his terminal nonstop.

He had expected some chaos, but an unlimited, no-ceiling offer like this?
Even non-sellers would swarm like mad.

[LOL look at Ji-han’s eyes spinning]
[Wow; even we didn’t expect it this crazy]
[Good thing this isn’t a normal game, the terminal filters the spam a bit]
[Still, this is insane numbers]
[Makes sense, though. No one in Punk Loader—hell, Pretzel itself—is hotter than Ji-han right now.]
[Of course people want a piece of him.]
[LOL okay, yeah, maybe this was our fault…]
[Fault? More like help! We’re trying to actually help him out here!]
[Yeah, true.]

Ji-han chuckled awkwardly at his terminal, while HAN’s flame flickered yellow in agitation.

Then suddenly—

[Wait, why’s the terminal lagging?]
[LOL never seen it stutter like that before]
[Even prank call streams didn’t crash it like this LOL]

Thunk.

The terminal shut off completely.

[LOOOOOOOL]
[WTF HAHAHA]
[How many messages did you guys send!?]
[Honestly better this way. Just meet the ones who show up in person.]
[Yeah, good filter for the trolls]
[LOL actually perfect]

It was the first time in Punk Loader’s history.
Ji-han burst out laughing.

Anyway, now all he had to do was—

“Get ready to welcome the people swarming in.”

And head to somewhere easy to find.

“What the—!? He’s looking for coolant!?”

Mari—idol Kim Mari—was in the middle of recording when she saw the fan community summary of Ji-han’s stream.

“Coolant, coolant…”

It felt like he’d gone way ahead of her in the single week she’d missed.
A lonely ache welled up inside her.
Her fast-to-fall-in-love heart cells turned that heartbreak into “art”—another song.

And now this bombshell event went off.

“There’s gotta be some… somewhere.”

She jumped straight into the team voice chat, calling her members.
Especially Lee Runa.

Runa knew Ji-han personally, liked the game, had collected rare items, and had been quick to reach the mid-sectors.

[Runa unnie! Hurry! Runa unnie!]
[What, what’s going on?]
[Hurry! Do you have any spare coolant?]
[What? I haven’t even turned on the AC in forever?]
[No, not that coolant! Punk Loader coolant!]

Runa’s incredulous voice.

But Mari was desperate.

[Punk Loader coolant? …I do have one.]
[Unnie! Right now, please! Log in!]
[Wait, why!? What’s happening!?]
[Ji-han is buying them! He’s looking for coolant right now!]

Silence.

Runa probably thought Mari had lost it.

And then—

[HAHAHA! What, Ji-han needs one!?]

Runa burst into laughter.
She’d met Ji-han in Zombreath, knew keeping good ties wouldn’t hurt.
She was planning to hand over a few if she had them anyway.

[Quick! Unnie! Look at the fan café, hurry!]

But Mari’s reaction was different.
Had this hopeless romantic fallen for him again? Runa wondered, but—

[Fine, fine. Logging into the café now.]

She clicked her way in. And then…

[Mari.]
[Yes, unnie!?]

Her voice had turned icy cold.
Calm, sharp as a freshly-honed blade.

[Gather every coolant we have. Tell everyone to log in now.]
[Huh?]
[Hurry! We need to fund our final-week concert, don’t we!? Time to raise money!]

And so Runa, Mari, and the others began to move.

Because in the face of money, love, and their older sisters’ pressure—there was no winning.

A roleplay mega-server.
On such servers, everything was done in-character.
Out-of-game ties stayed out-of-game, and people only acted according to their roles.

That was Punk Loader.
Even if people recognized each other in real life, they’d only say, “Hah~ who might you be?”
Any further contact was against the unwritten law.

But Ji-han’s request smashed that law to pieces.

Coolant-holders started gathering around him.

“Hah~ I don’t know who this guy is, but someone wants my help this badly!”

The Emperor of Jeg. Kim Bbong-tta.

“Haha, disciple—or rather, hah, whoever you are. You’re saying someone needs coolant?”

The master of River & Sword Chronicles, Namgung Hyung.

“Ugh, I was supposed to be streaming Zombreath! Why are you dragging me in again? …What? Ji-han needs coolant!?”

Even the massive streamer Golden Whale.

Clips and cuckoo messengers reached those connected to Ji-han.

And they all reacted the same:

“Why the hell does this guy play so hardcore?”

The Shadow Syndicate—
an NPC enemy faction, hunting Ji-han specifically.