Chapter 70 - The Road Leading Up To Fate (1)

'No, this isn't something to get excited about.'

As the older one there, Hyun tried to calm down.

First, he needed to get to know who the kid was.

"Your ID is TarrTarr?"

"Yes."

"You're in middle school, right?

"Yes."

"Hmm…"

Hyun began wondering how someone younger than him knew so much about YouTube.

As the conversation got longer, he discovered that his knowledge exceeded that of a middle school student.

Because TarrTarr's explanation had some complicated and specialized terms mixed in it, Hyun felt dazed from time to time.

"Were you always interested in video editing?"

TarrTarr seemed excited at Hyun's sudden question.

"Yes! I learned from my dad, and I also entered the school club!"

"I see…"

Hyun's mind began thinking fast.

He remembered the rumors he'd heard before.

Content business…

Nowadays, many people earned several times the annual salary of an average office worker just by producing and uploading videos to YouTube.

And it seemed like TarrTarr had a little bit of know-how in regards to those things.

He also seemed to feel in debt.

'Maybe that would work?'

Hyun thought of a strategy.

If it were just uploading a bunch of videos, he wouldn't take the risk of getting his freedom taken away like professional gamers did.

There also wouldn't be tears of blood for selling gold or items for cash.

The more he thought about it, the clearer the plan became.

'Wait…'

As Hyun was thinking, he found the first issue.

'What should I do with Ain?'

The Support couldn't do much by itself without a damage dealer like Ain.

Except for when he had rescued Louise, Ain had always been next to him.

'Will Ain collaborate with my plan?'

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh…?!"

Hyun was surprised by Ain’s sudden appearance from behind.

"That video seems entertaining!"

Ain was looking with interest at the YouTube hologram video.

On the screen, there was the video of Hyun and Ain hunting down Leopard.

"Oh, that's right! I was also trying to say it to you!"

"I also have something to tell you. Ain, please sit down for a moment."

"Hmm, what's happening?"

The three sat down at a round table. Ain heard from TarrTarr about things related to content production and from Hyun about some plans they'd do from then on.

Hyun was thinking of convincing Ain with time, but the conversation was cut short because of what she said next.

"It was about earning money with YouTube?"

"You don't like it…?"

"Hmm."

After looking at the footage where she appeared, she quickly lost interest.

"But I don't want to show myself to people I don't know. I don't want to."

"Really?"

After hearing Ain's answer, Hyun scratched his head.

As the plans scattered away, Hyun's voice seemed down.

'Then, should I cancel the plans?'

At that moment, Ain smiled. It seemed like she'd noticed something.

"Hyun, is it because you need money?"

"Huh? It's not that I need it, but…"

"Then you want to earn more. Right?"

"Well, anyone wants that. Right? But I'm not going to make you do something against your will."

"Hmm?"

Ain's smile deepened.

'He won't do it because I don't want to…?!'

‘Does Hyun know it?’

In Hyun’s words, there seemed to be an underlying premise that he always had to be with someone.

But Hyun didn't seem to be bothered by that.

If it's like this… Maybe she could let Hyun do as he wished. It was sad that they had to be apart for a while, but it would probably be okay.

Ain tried to hold the laughter and said, "Hmm… If you want to, you can do it alone."

"I alone?"

"I need to catch up to you anyway. Your level jumped up a lot suddenly."

"Then you…"

"I'll be trying to catch up to your level."

Hyun didn't know what to say to Ain's words.

"Ain, if…"

"Oops, I need to go out. Do what you want for a while!"

['Ain' has logged out.]

After Ain suddenly disappeared, Hyun finished the sentence.

"You're not here… What should I do alone…?"

After Ain left, only the two were there.

Unlike before, Hyun was just silent.

In the end, it was TarrTarr who spoke first.

"I…Think that I should take that video down. From what I've heard from other people, if the other party is sensitive in matters related to portrait rights, it's better to erase the video."

"Yes, that sounds right."

Click.

[Do you want to delete this unlisted video? Y/N]

Hyun sighed after looking at thousands of dollars being erased. At the same time, he began looking at footage he could use.

'Oof… Alone, when was the last time I was alone?'

Hyun tried to remember.

From what he could recall, there were only three instances.

—The main quest he did with Louise.

—The time he «Assimilated» into the acrobat doll.

—And that time when he hunted down ghosts, but that footage had already been deleted.

Because the capsule’s memory wasn't unlimited, footage older than a month was automatically deleted.

'There are only two other usable videos.'

In the end, he ended up with just two possible candidates, but he felt uncomfortable with releasing either of them.

In the recording with Louise, how he activated and deactivated his skill, «Assimilation» appeared.

And the video of the acrobat doll, if users saw the information about it, they'd probably be able to guess his «Assimilation» skill.'

'Should I just upload it?'

For a moment, Hyun was thinking about whether he should just reveal his «Assimilation» skill, but he ended up shaking his head.

'No, I shouldn't do that. I don't know what would happen if I did that.'

«Assimilation» was the Support's main skill and his last trump card.

He should hide it until he either becomes so strong he doesn't care anymore or he learns another trump card.

But recording a video of a Support without using «Assimilation» was kind of pointless.

'What should I do…?- -'

Hyun began thinking deeply.

Was there a way to record a quality video without using «Assimilation»?

Because Hyun's eyes had become intense, TarrTarr subconsciously shrank.

"TarrTarr."

He finally opened his mouth after a while.

"Yes…?"

Then Hyun said something strange.

"Don't worry."

"About what?"

"I won't sue you for uploading that video to YouTube."

"S-sue…?!"

"I mean, I won't do it, but instead…"

Neither Hyun nor TarrTarr knew if one could be sued because of that, but it really didn't matter.

With a kind smile, Hyun calmed TarrTarr down. Then he kept talking.

"But instead, I want you to answer my question honestly."

"Y… Yes… O-of course!"

As TarrTarr's mouth became dry, Hyun began asking him questions.

"Let's say that someone tells you a very big secret and asks you to maintain it no matter what… Could you do it?"

"Secret…?"

"No, this kind of question makes no sense."

Hyun smiled after thinking of another way.

He had a skill that allowed you to know if someone was lying to you.

That skill was «Assimilation»! Since it allowed you to read the other person's feelings.

Of course, the moment he used it, information about that skill would be revealed, but Hyun could solve that issue easily.

'It wasn't hard!'

Ting-.

At that moment, TarrTarr received a message.

[Player 'Hyun' wants to control your soul.]

[Will you accept? Y/N]

TarrTarr stared blankly, then carefully asked.

"Control my soul…? What's this?"

"Oh, just accept it. I'll explain it to you later."

"Weird…"

With trembling hands, and full of doubts, TarrTarr accepted the message.

Then he immediately received another message.

[Player 'Hyun' wants control priority.]

[Will you accept? Y/N]

"Should I accept this, too?"

"Yes."

[Player 'Hyun' has sent a friend request.]

[Will you accept? Y/N]

"This too…?"

"Yes."

"…"

TarrTarr felt like he was being forced to sign a suspicious contract, but he ended up doing as Hyun said.

After accepting him as a friend, Hyun sent him a whisper.

「Close your eyes.」

"The eyes…?"

「Yes, don't open them. And from now on, answer only via whisper.」

Paf!

The moment «Assimilation» activated, TarrTarr felt slightly uncomfortable.

Since his eyes were closed, he didn't know what was happening outside. He also couldn't see the status window.

Hyun asked a question while focusing on his trembling feelings.

「Did you ever feel the urge to check another person's status window?」

「Never.」

「Are you good at keeping secrets?」

「Yes, probably?」

…

The interrogation-like questions kept going on for a while.

'Weird.'

Hyun began wondering.

Even though he had asked tens of questions, TarrTarr feelings didn't shake even once.

Was he telling lies without batting an eye? Or had he really not lied?

'I'm sure «Assimilation» isn't broken.'

But a question Hyun asked him answered the doubts he was having.

「Are you regretting coming to see me?」

「Ah…」

「Hmm?」

「N-no… That's… Not true.」

It was at that moment when TarrTarr's calm feelings became turbulent…

After feeling the nervousness spread through the body, Hyun finally accepted the situation.

'Okay, I'm sure he won't be a problem.'

Paf! After «Disassimilating», he nodded.

"You can open your eyes."

"What… Was that?"

Hyun smiled at the confused TarrTarr.

"Even if I don't tell you, you'll soon figure it out."

* * *

Novice Dungeon of the Necromancer…

It was a place where a lot of monsters that ranged from level 30 to 200 appeared.

Because you could stay there from when you were a novice until you finished the second job ascension, many users stayed there for a long time.

'Good, should we start?'

Paf-.

Suddenly, Hyun disappeared.

TarrTarr was surprised after seeing him disappear.

「Hold on for a moment. Let me check your status window.」

He couldn't control his own body.

It felt as if another person was forcibly using it.

Only after a while did TarrTarr understand what was going on.

"No way. Are you currently inside my body?!"

「Yes, it's a skill called «Assimilation». With this skill, I can enter and control another person's body.」

"Wait, this is weird! I came here because you told me you would show me your gameplay!"

「That's exactly why I've borrowed your body.」

TarrTarr kept complaining for a while, but Hyun checked the status window while ignoring him.

TarrTarr Lv.59 ('Hyun's soul is currently Assimilating!)

HP: 2065/2065

Mana: 370/370

Job: Thief

[Strength 28(+2)] [Agility 60(+129)] [Vitality 30(+5)] [Magical Power 29(+8)]

Oh, stats aren't bad at all. Yes, a thief should have double the amount of Agility compared to other stats…」

Thanks to «Assimilation», stats were kind of unbalanced at the moment, but his base stats were good.

Hyun began checking out his other stats.

Because the combination of the skills of a Thief was very important, if you picked the wrong ones, you could ruin your character.

Skill List -

[«Combo» Lv.4(+1)]

- Increase the combo by 1 every time you land a consecutive attack on an opponent in less than a second. If you fail even once, the combo is reset.

- Depending on the number of the combo, the speed of the attack and movement increases.

[Increase Critical Hit Chance Lv.2(+1)]

[Increase Critical Hit Lv.1(+1)]

[«Three Consecutive Cuts» Lv.0(+1)]

Hyun sighed after reading the skills.

TarrTarr felt uneasy at Hyun's reaction.

"Is there something wrong…?"

「The skills… Are bad.」

"Why?"

Hyun began explaining while grabbing the head.

「If you're trying to become combo specialized, you shouldn't have learned the ones related to critical hit; you should've focused on the speed passives!」

"Is it that bad? I've picked them after checking out the communities…"

「Yes, you should stop entering the community boards. There probably isn't anyone there with common sense.」

TarrTarr suddenly became scared.

Anyone would feel that way if someone you thought of as a great master told you that the character you've grown with such great care was ruined.

「Your ultimate attack is good. Is this a third-level awakening skill?」

Awakening Skill -

[«Trance» Lv.0] <Passive>

- Depending on the combo, your attack increases.

That was TarrTarr's ultimate attack.

It was so simple that you could describe it with just one sentence without any fancy rhetoric, but depending on how good you were, it could become extremely effective.

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