Chapter : 14
Rice-Eating Hero’s Capitalist Streaming
The Constellation’s Game [Laika]
The Moonlight Garden is a dungeon that gives overwhelmingly more experience compared to hunting grounds of the same level.
However, at the same time, it was the least popular dungeon on the entire Starting Island.
Why?
Because saying the rewards are skewed toward experience means the other rewards are lacking.
In other words, the players who come here are those whose top priority is leveling up—but now, ten years after the Gate opened, that demand has largely disappeared.
Even if you level up as fast as possible, it’s not the point where you can compete with the top rankers in growth.
Instead, the conventional wisdom has become: stay longer in the safe Starting Island to solidify your abilities as a Hunter.
So I was a little worried about whether I could form a party right away…
“Yes, we were waiting to enter the Moonlight Garden.”
I was lucky.
After all, one party member is enough.
And they even seem pretty skilled.
“If the party member’s ability is good, there’s nothing bad about it.”
The man had a sleek, sturdy build and a youthful appearance, but even at a glance, his skill was outstanding.
You could say his talent was extraordinary.
He used a sword, just like me.
If I had to find a flaw, it would only be his tall height and unnecessarily handsome face.
Not just handsome—he was the most handsome person I’d ever seen in my life.
└ Wow… what is this guy? He’s insanely handsome.
└ Ask the party leader for his name.
-Why?
└ Just check if he’s streaming.
Damn it, these idiot constellations…
-Guys, what’s the point if the player’s handsome?
└ What do you mean, what’s the point; if someone’s handsome, even doing dumb stuff gets donations.
Huh???
└ If the party leader were handsome too, donations would’ve doubled.
No! What did I do!
“……”
I suddenly didn’t feel like forming a party, but there was really no other option.
Honestly, except for being handsome, I couldn’t see any weaknesses in him.
“Of course, in terms of mastery, he does seem a bit rough…”
Considering this is the Starting Island, a bit of roughness is natural.
Unlike me, every Hunter here is on their first playthrough.
It made me think I should be a bit humble.
Seeing so many talented players here—even on the Starting Island—made me realize that once I advance and enter the continental game, I’d probably just be an ordinary person.
Thinking that made me a little sad, but anyway…
“Do you have dungeon experience?”
“Yes. I think I’ve done this about twenty times.”
“Oh!”
After introducing ourselves and talking a bit, it seemed he had enough understanding of the dungeon.
Perfect. Now we just need to enter.
“And Dave?”
“I haven’t counted exactly, but I’ve done it many times.”
Ah, the man’s player name is Leo.
└ ??? Didn’t count? lol
└ You can’t count the first time, duh lol
└ lol party leader lying, I see
└ Don’t worry about trolls; the troll is you lol
Ha, lying? I must have gone through the Moonlight Garden at least a few thousand times.
It’s frustrating, and I can’t even argue.
└ Party leader, just using a sword won’t necessarily clear a dungeon;;
└ Lol, if you don’t know the gimmicks properly, no matter how good you fight, you’ll just troll lol
└ Don’t bully our handsome guy!!
Excuse me?
I already know every gimmick here by heart to the second.
I can’t even explain this…
While thinking that, Leo smiled brightly and said:
“Oh! Then we just need to wait for one more person and we can go in!”
The recommended party size for Moonlight Garden is 3–5.
Since I have enough mastery, he meant that just three people would be fine.
Seeing him smile brightly, I started thinking:
“How do I convince him we can go in with just two?”
Three could work, but it would actually be inconvenient for the way I plan to clear it.
Also, I didn’t want to waste time waiting.
Then the answer came to me immediately.
Clack—
All I need to do is show that I’m a reliable party member, right?
A black wolf creeping closer caught my eye.
[The effect of Body-Sword Unity has activated.]
“Wait! Dave, what are you doing…?”
I could use this creature as proof of my skills.
Swoosh—!
The Dark Mane Wolf was the weakest among the Level 13 wolves.
Still, it wasn’t easy to one-shot.
[You have successfully defeated the ‘Dark Mane Wolf’ monster.]
This should be enough to prove my value as a party member, right?
“…!”
But Leo seemed even more surprised than I expected.
His eyes were wide, mouth agape, unable to take his eyes off my sword.
Hmm, that worked, I guess?
While thinking that, the constellations suddenly started criticizing me fiercely.
└ Party leader lol suddenly showing off?
└ o_o;;;
└ lol this is hilarious
└ Don’t scare our handsome guy!
└ Look at Leo, he’s like a puppy
Wait, what?
Why am I being scolded?
Hoo.
But no matter what they say, I need to continue.
I can’t just stop because they’re teasing me.
“Surprised by my sudden burst, huh? Haha.”
Leo shook his head to regain composure.
“Ah, no. It’s not that…”
└ Surprised? lol
“Anyway… as you saw, my damage output is pretty good. So I think we could clear this dungeon with just two people. What do you think?”
Ah, maybe because of these constellations, I’m even less interested in forming a party.
It’s definitely not because I’m worried they’ll take my precious constellations.
└ See? Our party leader is this good~
└ Party leader’s face is a little red?
└ Look at him stammer lol
└ Even guys get excited~
Wait, these crazy guys?
One thing is for sure—the last person to speak, ‘Elfjwa’, is definitely a girl.
It has to be.
“…….”
Anyway, aside from the giggling constellations, things went according to my plan.
“Wow… your stats are really impressive.”
“Then is it okay?”
“Yep. I can handle more than my share, so it should be fine.”
Of course, if they knew I was level 12, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly…
Luckily, in Laika, a player’s level is private unless deliberately revealed.
[You have formed a party with player ‘Leo’.]
[Current party members: 2]
[Party leader: Dave]
Thanks to this, I could smoothly enter Moonlight Garden with Leo.
[You can enter the ‘Moonlight Garden’ dungeon.]
[Do you wish to enter?]
└ Haha—Dungeon date with a handsome guy? Can’t resist~
No! Damn it!
I can’t resist anymore.
Where is the ban feature on Laika streaming anyway…
[Player ‘Elfjwa’’s chat has been restricted by ‘Dave’.]
└ Hahaha
└ Party leader looks really mad lol
└ But didn’t kick her out lol
└ Party leader looks so satisfied lol
└ Cute lol
Anyway, ignoring the constellations’ nonsense, I stepped into the dungeon.
Whoosh—!
A white light filled my vision, and the space began to warp.
Moonlight Garden truly feels like a garden bathed in moonlight.
A field with vast, ornate landscaping reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles.
Yet beneath its beauty were very cruel gimmicks.
Right after entering, the ‘Dreamlike Thicket Maze’ awaited.
If you don’t escape within the time limit, you’re sent back to the dungeon entrance—a really cruel maze.
[Entered the ‘Moonlight Garden’ dungeon.]
[Phase One begins.]
[Pass through the ‘Dreamlike Thicket Maze’.]
[Time limit: 15 minutes]
This gimmick gave me the most pain on my first run.
└ lol party leader gonna spend all the time in the dungeon today?
└ Not planning to complete the level-up mission, huh?
No, I am.
└ You could spend hours in this maze lol, maybe just leave now?
└ Let him go lol he needs to break his head to realize it, that’s normal
The system doesn’t explain this, but the maze penalizes you for wrong turns.
Each dead end reached increases the difficulty of the next field.
Specifically, reaching the Moonshadow Plaza after the maze summons waves of monsters whose difficulty rises the more you mess up.
A truly sadistic dungeon design.
So it was easy to guess why the constellations were excited—they wanted to see me suffer.
“Maybe for a little while… I can meet the constellations’ expectations?”
Remember, my ultimate goal isn’t Moonlight Garden.
So I need to play a bit differently than usual.
If I act a little foolish in the process, the constellations will love it.
“Dave, you said you know all the gimmicks, right?”
“Of course.”
└ Of course lol confidence overload
“Then shall we split up to find the path?”
“Sure. I’ll take the right side.”
“Yep!”
Leo will struggle a bit, but I don’t feel sorry.
After all, I intend to carry him.
What struggle? You’ll see soon enough.
└ Oh, party leader is running.
└ Splitting up naturally, seems like he at least pre-studied?
I ran toward the first target coordinate and drew my sword to clear the path.
Shrrrk—!
[The effect of Body-Sword Unity has activated.]
Swoosh—!
The first monster to fall to my sword in the dungeon was…
[‘Blodbloom’ received critical damage.]
A Level 18 plant-type monster with large purple leaves.
Jeong Hyun-woo, aka Leo, was in considerable shock.
“Who is this person…?”
He had only expected an ordinary party member.
Being on the Starting Island, he knew it would be hard to find someone skilled.
Any appropriately leveled, normal party member would’ve sufficed.
To be honest, he had never found a compatible player for this dungeon before.
Even on Leo’s first attempt here…
He ended up carrying himself.
So he had no expectations.
“This is the Starting Island, right? High-level players can’t come here.”
Yet this man suddenly appeared and proposed a two-person run, completely beyond Leo’s expectations.
Even more, the fact that he could one-shot Level 13 monsters was absurd.
Sure, equipment helped, but…
“I couldn’t even follow his sword movements with my eyes. Even if it was sudden…”
This wasn’t a performance achievable by equipment alone.
As someone using a sword as their main weapon, I knew that best.
“Could he be a prodigy groomed by one of the Big Three guilds?”
Honestly, I felt a wall with just one sword strike.
Until now… I had never even seen a player good enough to impress me.
“Is this… real talent?”
Had my own talent been nothing special?
Then why did the big guilds keep sending me love calls?
My potential was supposed to be at least A-rank.
“…….”
Thinking this far, a paragraph from the Awakened Wiki – Potential popped into my mind:
[Potential is the most important indicator when predicting a Hunter’s prospects.]
[*High potential doesn’t automatically make one a ranker.]
[*Potential measures how much one can synchronize with the Laika world.]
[*True talent sufficient for a ranker can only be verified through ample testing inside the Gate.]
At first, I didn’t get it much.
But now, facing Dave, I finally understood.
For the first time since entering the Gate, Hyun-woo felt uneasy, clenching his fists unconsciously.
Becoming a ranker would require more effort than he had imagined.
