NOVEL WEB Chapter 8
[I’m tired of hearing about this Gravekeeper or whatever]
How long are we going to keep bringing up a poorly designed boss?
This is just a character for Demoninus’s self-insert daughter.
I just don’t get why people are so hyped about it.
[Comments]
– I wish it was just ‘Him’…
┗ Seriously, just stop itㅡㅡ
– If you’re mad, go create a more interesting plot yourself.
┗ Is this really fun?
┗ Ignoring all the existing combat systems without even patterns?
┗ It’s hilariously boring, you know?
– Diaries belong in a diary.
Even if it’s said that the excitement has cooled down a lot, mentions keep popping up.
Are they angry because it’s not their opinion, or do they just find burning the world fun, or maybe they feel a sense of mission to bring justice?
A group holding torches in their left hand and pitchforks in their right roams the community, setting fire to posts related to the Gravekeeper.
“This time, our target is over there!”
“Burn everything! Leave not a single ash behind!”
Are they running away out of fear of poop, or just because it’s dirty?
People who were tired of the arsonists lurking around began to avoid them.
As those fighting against the flames felt exhausted and fled, the remaining group, intoxicated by their sense of victory, cheered.
“Let’s ride this momentum and uproot them completely!”
“Let’s do it!”
Drunk on the sweet taste of victory, they started to advance with the mindset of eradicating all ignorant dissenters.
No retreat in their reckless charge.
Nobody was stopping their charge, and it seemed like their goal was about to be achieved.
Until a gigantic obstacle suddenly appeared in front of them.
[Real-time Gravekeeper Easter Egg discovered]
(Cutting the neck of a Cockatrice, the Gravekeeper appears.jpg)
(Aiming a sword at Joanie, the Gravekeeper.jpg)
(Turning their back and walking away, the Gravekeeper.jpg)
[Comments]
– What? Why did they spare them?
– ???? Is this for real?
– They always took the initiative, how did that happen? ㄷㄷ
– Is that really them?
┗ Nah, that’s a screenshot from Joanie’s stream.
┗ Isn’t that the traveling girl? Did she go to raid?
┗ Not for a raid, she just wanted to see out of curiosity.
The new discovery could be the key to a strategy.
The reckless arsonists, unable to control their speed, suddenly charged headfirst into the unexpected obstacle.
Maybe they didn’t fail to dodge; they might have thought their heads were tougher than the obstacle.
[So what? Does that change the fact that it’s a poorly designed boss?]
[Seriously, so many dumb kids. If we protest now, they won’t make such a crummy boss again.]
[It’s disgusting that noob gamers flock to it calling it a god game. Go back to the games you used to play; we don’t need you here.]
But no matter how bright the lights are, it has no meaning in front of the shining sun.
People were too absorbed in the suddenly appeared large bait to pay attention to the voices of the arsonists.
For those attention-seekers, the antidote isn’t attention; it’s indifference.
Even if they wanted to set fires, without fuel to burn, the torches they held began to lose power and flicker out.
“I can’t let it collapse like this!”
In the end, they made a final desperate attempt, determined to pay with their own lives.
[Blocked by the administrator.]
Undone by the massive hands controlling the world, only the abandoned pitchfork remained, growing cold.
[Currently organizing Gravekeeper-related plots]
Anyone who knows a bit about hunting would know about the hunting grounds known as ‘the capital of the old kingdom.’
If you go west from the Empire, you’ll find a hunting ground that’s pretty popular due to its high-level monsters.
Those who have seen it know—except for the occasional debris, it’s practically a wasteland, which is why it’s referred to as ‘the old kingdom.’
If time hadn’t passed significantly, it’s unlikely for the capital to turn into a wasteland.
However, this is actually the capital of ‘Grasis,’ a kingdom that was destroyed a year and a half ago, according to the timeline of the Silia world.
What exactly happened, no one knows, but it was only less than two years before it ended up like this.
So what does that have to do with the Gravekeeper?
(A clip of Joanie meeting the Gravekeeper.)
It was revealed by a streamer that the Gravekeeper is from the Kingdom of Grasis.
Though it isn’t confirmed yet, it seems pretty much confirmed.
Unlike the language Arkish used by us and other NPCs, the Kingdom of Grasis uses a language called Granic, and it was seen that the Gravekeeper paused when the streamer spoke Granic.
The mountain where the Gravekeeper is located was part of Grasis territory, and it was suspicious that they were hiding their identity, leading to the suspicion that they are a person from Grasis.
Anyway, after the streamer confirmed they spoke Granic, they just went back without killing them.
Then a shocking fact came to light.
(Audio file)
No one had succeeded in talking to them until now, so nobody knew, but it turned out the Gravekeeper was actually a woman! ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
If only they’d tried to communicate in Granic sooner, they would have known, but they always approached speaking Arkish, so there were no replies.
Moreover, since Grasis was at war with the Empire before its fall, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be ill feelings.
We always cursed the dumb boss, but maybe the real bad ones were us, going with swords drawn and using our own language, attempting to kill them when they didn’t understand?
Looking back, the first one to die was the one who openly tried to steal the sword.
Truly, it was all the fault of those idiots!
Ah… I’m sorry for slandering you, Demoninus…!
I’m sorry for slandering you, Gravekeeper lady!
[Comments]
– Listening to the voice, it sounds like a dude, right?
┗ If they’re stronger than me, they’re a lady.
┗ That’s right.
– Cute Gravekeeper buries people.
– Now that I think about it, it seems so obvious that I can’t believe nobody knew this.;
┗ Most people are busy leveling upㅇㅇ.
┗ It seems hard for us to keep up with those foreign kids in figuring stuff like this out.
– Please give a lot of attention to streamer Joanie~
– So what happened next?
┗ It’s still in progress ㅇㅇ.
┗ Where did you see that?
┗ (Joanie’s stream link)
┗ Thanks!
┗ Ah, I can’t hold back, going to watch it now.
The dissemination power of the community is incredibly strong and fast.
Even though a wordless story travels a thousand miles; in the world of the internet, the word spreads beyond ten thousand miles.
And the results have become visibly apparent.
“Th-the number of viewers…”
– Our streamer… did they become a world-class sensation?
– Joanie! Joanie! Joanie!
– Ranked number one for the most influential internet broadcasts by Forbes.
– It’s too funny how surprised they are. w
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand… a hundred thousand?!
Joanie’s eyes spun around as she encountered a viewer count she had never seen before.
Originally, Joanie’s stream was of a scale significant enough to be called a ‘big corporation’ in the realm of internet broadcasting.
She had a lot of stable viewers and subscribers.
When she went live, the donations that came in were substantial amounts.
However, even Joanie had never seen a viewer count like this before.
Pishik was a platform targeting the domestic market rather than the overseas one, and sadly, the size of the domestic market wasn’t that large.
This was due to the smaller population compared to other countries.
Because of this, it was not easy for even top broadcasters on Pishik to surpass a hundred thousand viewers…
“Is it still increasing?!”
Even at this moment, more people were joining Joanie’s stream.
With awkward Korean and foreign languages mixed in the chat, it was clear that not only Koreans but also foreigners were flooding in.
Although the translation module applied to the broadcast isn’t very good and makes communication difficult, everyone was trying hard to express their opinions by typing in the chat.
Watching her managers scream as they were inundated by the waves of incoming viewers, Joanie’s head began to cool down.
‘It’s a shame, but…’
A small loss can lead to a greater loss. She knew that well.
After hesitating for a moment, she firmly pressed the ‘one-week-long follower chat’ button, and miraculously, the waves subsided; the managers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
People whose mouths were shut and hands were tied would likely leave, so the immediate viewer count might drop.
However, those who liked her stream would stay anyway, so Joanie determined that she needed to impose some limitations to maintain the broadcast atmosphere.
It was the right decision.
However, at the same time, it was a decision that overlooked human obsession.
[‘q1w2e3’ donated 10,000 won! Thank you!]
– If you strip off that rag, it’s a hundred thousand won.
[‘Anonymous donator’ donated 1,000 won! Thank you!]
– If you ask about Ofanmu, it’s a thousand won.
[‘Atomic’ donated 100,000 won! Thank you!]
– WTF! I can’t understand what’s going on!
[‘Anonymous donator’… ]
‘S-small loss…’
As the chat was blocked, a wave of donations surged as a backlash against it.
Unlike before, this time Joanie couldn’t easily restrain it and was torn.
While chewing on her innocent lips, hesitating, someone suddenly came to her rescue.
Suddenly.
“…Eh?”
Something was shoved in front of Joanie.
A steaming chunk of protein, that is, a piece of roasted meat.
“Eh, so… um, how do I say ‘It’s for you to eat’?”
In Joanie’s thin Granic dictionary, there were words like ‘save me’ or ‘wait a moment,’ but there weren’t any everyday expressions like ‘is this for me to eat?’
After a long time of thinking, the Gravekeeper still held out the piece of meat.
“Forget it, I don’t care!”
Could it be that extending roasted meat in front of someone was a special dining etiquette unique to Grasis?
…Let’s hope that’s not the case.
After gathering her courage, she accepted it, and thankfully the Gravekeeper focused on eating without any further reaction.
“Did they actually give this to me to eat?”
– Then they must’ve given it to throw away?
– Wow, they even shared food with someone they just met ㄷㄷ look at their character.
– Now that I see it, I can’t believe nobody knew this until now.
┗ Most are just busy leveling up, you know.
– The meat was personally roasted by the Gravekeeper. Enjoy it thoroughly!
“Isn’t this cockatrice meat…?”
I’ve never eaten monster meat before…
– ???
– You’re not going to eat this?
– It’s the best.
– Monster meat turns out surprisingly delicious!ㅇㅇ
– Did you actually try that?
– NPCs eat it a lot. You can find it sold at stalls or inns.
– I bought it once, but it was gross. Threw it all away after one bite.
– That’s because the meat sold there was of low quality. The delicious ones are actually really good.
But rejecting this meat felt too awkward with the viewers watching.
‘Actually, it’s not so much about the awkwardness…’
Joanie’s eyes were on the Gravekeeper.
Would she commit the heinous act of tossing the meat that was presented to her, personally roasted?
No matter how kind they are, they couldn’t possibly hold their anger; it’s something that could get someone killed.
Just a while ago, the monster that threatened her was now something she was about to eat in this cruel survival of the fittest; Joanie trembled.
As the time to hesitate increased, the atmosphere in the chat became more troublesome.
“Ugh… fine!”
In the end, unable to withstand the pressure, Joanie closed her eyes and took a bite of the meat.
Being an adventurer, she had traveled around the world, tasting various dishes.
Of course, she had eaten wild game, and even she, who has experienced many flavors, found this hard to eat.
The unique, strong odor of wild animals assaulted her nose, and the tough texture made her feel like she was chewing gum instead of meat.
Perhaps due to the cook’s lack of skill, it was such a lasting impression that she had avoided wild game meats ever since.
Even though it was a monster rather than wild game, it would probably be no different.
Moreover, the Gravekeeper had simply roasted it with the most basic spices, without any effort to eliminate odors.
Thinking about it like that, Joanie…
Munch, munch.
“…Huh?!”
Joanie’s eyes widened.
Her teeth gently sank into the surface of the meat.
Then, the juices trapped inside burst out explosively, savagely invading Joanie’s mouth.
“It’s… good…?”
The odor she feared disappeared without a trace.
The meat was not tough at all; it was tender enough that even a child could chew it.
A subtle smoky flavor from the roasting danced upon the meat, displaying a splendid flair.
“What’s this…? It’s really delicious?”
Joanie began to voraciously tear into the meat, as if she had forgotten her earlier hesitation.
With a look that seemed to come straight out of a cartoon, the viewers watching Joanie’s stream eagerly swallowed their own saliva.
– From today, I’m going to hunt cockatrices.
– Monster meat is really tasty, you see.
– Wow, they’re really enjoying it…
– I’m going to prepare water for noodles.