Chapter 14: Streamer Han Se-Ah 4
Han Se-ah seemed unable to recover from the shock and horror of glimpsing her dark future in my story.
At least she could log out, while I seemed destined to sleep in swamps and caves.
I snapped my fingers in front of her blankly staring eyes.
"Those are stories of top adventurers exploring the upper floors of the tower. You're just a beginner mage who just learned magic, so don't worry about that yet. The next spell you should try is Magic Missile."
"Ah, yes!"
She regained her senses when she heard the loud noise in front of her.
She was just starting out, reaching the first floor of Level 1, and going through the tutorial, so why worry about the top content?
It seemed my thoughts were well conveyed as she adjusted her grip on her staff and her eyes widened.
"Should I fetch a log to shoot at, or should I aim for that stack of straw?"
"Shoot at my palm."
"...What?"
Of course, it took less than a minute for her intelligent eyes to cloud over again.
Had she forgotten that I'd shattered her shield with just my fingertips?
Han Se-ah finally came to her senses as I held my palm out, poised as if to shout "Stop!"
Her eyes were darting around, probably receiving complaints from her viewers.
"Alright, here I go! Magic Missile!"
With the help of her viewers' nagging, she swallowed hard, aimed her staff at me, and chanted the spell.
A translucent fist-sized sphere appeared at the tip of her staff, as if out of thin air.
She swung her staff through the air like a fishing rod, and the Magic Missile accurately shot toward my palm.
She was pretty good at using both the shield and the Magic Missile for her first time, probably thanks to her skill window.
"Wham!"
A heavy sensation and slight push on my palm accompanied the impact.
It was a stronger shock than a beginner warrior's strike, but nowhere near as powerful as a goblin's stone sling.
Of course, it didn't even redden my skin, let alone bruise it.
"Did you aim for my palm?"
"Yes. You told me to shoot at your palm."
"Your casting is fast, and your accuracy is good. You're incredibly proficient with both the shield and the Magic Missile. At least you won't accidentally hit an ally."
"That...are there stories about..?"
"Right. Inexperienced mages sometimes accidentally attack allies. It's not just mages, though; unskilled archers and rogues who aren't familiar with their weapons can also hit their teammates."
There's no system assist to prevent team kills or friendly fire in this world.
Whether it's a party member or a monster shooting an arrow, getting hit hurts and can kill.
Naturally, there are beginner adventurer parties that almost get wiped out because a mage accidentally hits an ally while trying to help the front line.
That's why basic non-offensive spells like Spark, which Han Se-ah learned, are unexpectedly useful.
Most monsters aren't wearing armor, so if you burn sensitive areas like their armpits or groin with a flame, you can't deal as much damage as an offensive spell, but you can disrupt their stance.
Imagine someone trying to throw a punch while having their armpit hair set on fire with a lighter.
In the midst of urgency, even if I accidentally struck an ally, they were wearing armor, so there was no need to be alarmed by the sparks.
Unless I really had a ghost-like talent for hitting the ally's neck between their armor and helmet.
"Try using the rest of the spells just aiming at the ground."
The Light magic, a sphere of light that appeared on the staff like a Magic Missile and floated gently above it, the Spark magic that created a small flame on the ground aimed by the staff and left only a scorch mark before disappearing, and the Water magic that produced a droplet of water just enough to cover the scorch mark.
I couldn't tell if Han Se-ah had exceptional talent as a mage or if it was the power of the skill window, but all three spells passed.
The power would naturally grow as she increased her stats and leveled up, so the important thing was control.
If her aim was accurate when casting magic for the first time in a virtual reality game she'd never played before, then it was a pass.
Her shoulders straightened as she seemed to notice I wasn't just flattering her with words.
Considering that she wasn't scared of Goblins and could accurately cast magic, we could probably make it to the 5th floor.
Of course, even if it was the 5th floor, it would take quite some time to wander the vast plains four times.
"The magic is a pass. Now let's request to gather some party members and make a quick visit to the tower."
"Gather party members?"
Her eyes sparkled as if she'd been hoping for party members.
Clutching her staff, she followed me like a chick as I headed toward the counter where I casually greeted a receptionist who, although not as close to me as Ellis, was still a familiar face."
***
Raei Translations
***
"I'd like to recruit novice adventurer party members."
"Yes, Roland. Ellis kept saying you were raising a junior. It was true."
"She might be talkative, but she doesn't lie."
"Since she's a mage, how about a frontline fighter, a thief, and a priest?"
One of the remaining members was a priest.
Priest climb the tower due to their beliefs.
To the point everyone treats them with respect.
As I nodded my head in agreement, Han Se-ah nodded along.
While the camera was facing the other way, I quickly opened the chat window.
-PleasePriestHerePleasePriestHerePleasePriestHere
-Normal thieves can't even find party members lol
-Waiting for a bikini armor female warrior to appear, holding my breath
-No, I heard she died from a rock, what bikini armor lol
-Looking at the leather armor Han Se-ah is wearing, sexy female warriors don't exist here
...Why did a competition to expose their fantasy desires suddenly start?
I closed the chat window without even thinking of properly reading the dizzying contents.
As expected, is the forum more useful than the chat window?
With superhuman vision, I saw other streamer stories mixed in between but they weren't very informative.
Judging by the reference to "thief," they seemed to have chosen the rogue class, but the rogues here weren't dual-wielding damage dealers, they were the pathfinders of the party in charge of exploration and trap removal.
If they didn't have proficiency in lockpicking, trap removal, and tracking various skills from day one of gameplay, they'd be shunned.
Without those skills, they wouldn't be any different from local farmer A.
"Since I'm here, I'd prefer a frontline fighter with a balance of offense and defense. If possible, we should have an archer for scouting rather than a thief."
I handed another gold coin to the nodding receptionist.
Although it was a large sum for a service fee, it was necessary for smooth social interactions.
Especially in a medieval world where professional ethics and human rights were virtually nonexistent.
Han Se-ah, who had been closely following me, was once again surprised.
If she had logged in yesterday and discussed the magic skill tree with her viewers, she would have learned the price of the lowest-grade magic stones.
The currencies in this typical fantasy game were copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins.
"Is it really that expensive to form a party?" she asked, concerned about already spending two gold coins, which were hard to obtain even by gathering hundreds of lowest-grade magic stones.
"No, forming a party is usually free."
"Then why did you give her the gold coin?"
"So the receptionist finds us competent people. If we go by the rules, novice adventurers would only group with other novices.
A farmer who sold his entire property to buy a single sword and became a frontliner, an archer who learned how to shoot a bow from his hunter father but knows nothing about monsters, or a mage who accidentally hits allies with their spells
It's common to form such dreadful parties, though mages aren't that frequent."
"Ah"
Han Se-ah quickly understood my point.
Even though the Adventurers' Guild sorts adventurers into novice, intermediate, senior, and top tiers, it's still a medieval guild where documents are handwritten. This world doesn't classify levels and ranks through a game system.
As a result, even among novice adventurers, there are those like Han Se-ah who are talented mages, and those who can't even kill a goblin due to fear.
The gold coin serves as a fee to filter out such individuals.
The receptionist, having received a gold coin tip worth more than her monthly salary, would surely filter out the worst adventurers.
At the very least, she would gather people who had entered the tower alone and has exchanged lowest-grade magic stones.
That's the most common way for novice adventurers to prove their abilities.
"What about the priest?"
"Priests are even rarer than mages when it comes to climbing the tower. Mages become adventurers to directly acquire magic stones and study the phenomena inside the tower, while priests only become adventurers because of their faith."
"Because of their faith?"
"There are temples in the city to heal the sick and injured, but since temples can't be built in the tower, they decide to go there themselves."
"Ah, so they climb the tower to help injured people. They must be remarkable individuals."
"That's why you should never quarrel with a priest in the city. Simply being involved in a dispute with a priest can severely damage your reputation."
Fortunately, these priests were truly devout individuals. Corrupt priests who disregarded human lives for money, like in dark fantasy stories, didn't exist in this world.
After all, the existence of gods was proven through divine power, so who would dare to act that way?
I hope Han Se-ah doesn't encounter any strange stories or locked content while playing the game.
Such as dealing with corrupt churches or troublesome nobles.
***
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