Chapter 4- viewers
by lion★ [Underdog (Under-毒)] A spirit-type monster that attacks by exploiting human sympathy. It grows by consuming human vital energy. It sprays poison under injured individuals and waits for prey. When approaching an injured person, always check the ground first. Extremely vulnerable to fire.
Humanity, continuously pushed back by monsters that showed strong resistance to modern weapons, began hunting monsters when they gained a new weapon: psychic powers. The emergence of MS could be seen as an outgrowth of that confidence. However, from the monsters’ perspective, humans were merely prey, food. Their reasons for hunting were similar to humans’: amusement, consumption, showing off, honor… Even their hunting methods were diverse.
“Underdog?!” “My goodness! Has it already parasitized?!” “Haa… I’ll have to write another full A4 page of justification.” “Where are the gas masks?”
The rescue workers’ expressions soured. The 1-star monster, Underdog, was a monster that wielded potent poison. An assassin that lay in wait under injured individuals and poisoned other humans who approached to help. Because of this, the Underdog was also the monster the rescue team most wary of, for various reasons.
‘That old lady just wouldn’t listen!’ ‘Tsk. Things really got messed up.’ ‘Haa… what do I report to command?’
A family was on the verge of ruin. However, to the rescue workers, who had seen deaths as varied as the monsters’ hunting methods, this didn’t even count as a tragedy. Just a trivial incident: one rescued, one dead. They weren’t omnipotent Gods. They had no capacity to save even uncooperative citizens. An incident report was unavoidable though!
“Quickly! Quickly!” “Withdraw before more monsters are drawn in!” “Hurry with the corpse recovery!”
The rescue workers began donning their prepared gas masks one by one. There was no fear or worry for them. The Underdog had no physical attack capabilities. As long as they avoided its potent poison, it wasn’t a threat. They hurried the cleanup. All except for one person.
“It’s too early to give up.” Choi Kang-sik said, pulling a lighter from the front pocket of his abandoned tent bag.
‘Not some 4-dimensional pocket, either.’
It felt like everything he needed was in there. MS Yu Il-am was a fire-type psychic, so it seemed unlikely he’d need a lighter, but he always carried one because Yu Il-am acted snobbish, saying his psychic power wasn’t for campfires. He never thought it would be used like this.
Fwoosh!
He lit the dry grass with the lighter.
“Hey. What are you doing?!” “The body will…!”
The rescue workers, in the midst of putting on their protective suits, were horrified. Arson, before they had even recovered the body! Choi Kang-sik corrected himself.
“She’s not dead yet.”
The Underdog only targets the injured. Because its main diet is human vital energy, it cannot survive without living humans. The young man was genuinely impressed.
‘Man, what a tenacious life force!’
The pretty girl, kicked by Any-One, had to be considered still alive. The same went for her mother, who had just collapsed. That cunning 1-star monster doesn’t immediately kill its poisoned prey. The injured are good bait, and the more bait, the better. It would keep them alive until it had fully absorbed their vital energy.
‘Before that happens.’
Choi Kang-sik grabbed a fire extinguisher from the ambulance and ran towards the rising flames. With his camera, too.
The cameraman is doing something again!Save the pretty girl. TOld man. You're better than a psychic.If you save her, I'll give you King Sejong!
Choi Kang-sik had no noble spirit of sacrifice or respect for life. If he had genuinely intended to save her, he would have left the camera behind. This was pure self-interest.
[A certain God shows interest] [A hasty certain God shows slight interest]
To enter the broadcasting world with this temporary surge in viewership ratings. As a Monster Streamer, an MS.
‘As a cameraman, it’s impossible, even if I try my whole life.’
He had desperately tried various things for 10 years, seeking revenge on the Blade that murdered his family, but not a single place seriously hired him because he wasn’t a psychic. It had been wasted time.
‘No, maybe not entirely?’
He had knowledge beyond that of a mere hunter. He was different from the vast majority of hunters who possessed a simple mindset of attacking monsters with powerful psychic abilities upon discovery. The wisdom of the weak.
“Underdogs are weak to fire. Any viewer who has carefully read the monster encyclopedia distributed by the association would know this. But you might not know why this monster is weak to fire.”
Fwoosh!
The flames released onto the dry grass spread rapidly with the wind. It was only a matter of time before they engulfed the mother and daughter!
‘Right now!’
Whoosh!
Choi Kang-sik sprayed the fire extinguisher and leaped into the flames. He endured the hot sparks flying from all directions with sheer grit. He kept running in that state. All the way to where the mother and daughter lay! Of course, the broadcasting service didn’t stop.
“The Underdog’s poison is rapidly neutralized by high temperatures. Strictly speaking, fire is more of a strategy than a weakness. Therefore, the monster will move towards the less hot direction. Right now, that would be here.”
It was less hot because he had cleared it with the fire extinguisher. The only escape route. Of course, a 1-star monster like the Underdog wouldn’t die from this much fire. But it could escape for the simple reason of disliking the surrounding environment. With very high probability.
“Aah!”
Suddenly, the pretty girl sprang up and ran towards him. The cute and charming appeal she had at the beginning of the broadcast was nowhere to be found. In a word,
XX zombie!Argh! My eyes! >0<Run! This broadcast is crazy!
Comments from surprised viewers exploded, but Choi Kang-sik ignored them. It wasn’t the time to worry about their reactions. Cold sweat streamed down his back.
‘This is getting a bit dangerous…?’
As the distance between him and the pretty girl narrowed, a sudden dizziness overcame him. A clear symptom of poisoning! Even if the heat had neutralized the Underdog’s potent poison, it wasn’t perfect. Moreover, at this close range, even that was meaningless. He couldn’t allow her to get any closer. Physical contact was outright suicide. Fortunately, he had an excellent weapon.
Thunk!
A clear thud. It was the sound of the fire extinguisher, swung with all his might, colliding with the woman’s jaw.
“Aah!”
The pretty girl let out a shrill scream and collapsed with a thud. The Underdog, with no effective means of attack other than releasing potent poison around its parasitized host, couldn’t resist.
[A hasty certain God is uncomfortable]
[A certain God disapproves]
‘Everyone. Do you want to see the broadcast end prematurely?’
Choi Kang-sik retorted to the Gods in his mind, then passed the pretty girl and ran towards her mother.
“Oof!”
He hoisted her onto his left shoulder without even checking if she was alive. He had immediately set the fire, stealing the monster’s mealtime. There was no way it would have had time to absorb the vital energy of the human it had captured. If he had hesitated out of fear of the poison, like the rescue team, he would probably be cleaning up a corpse by now.
Fwoosh!
The flames on the grassland grew fiercer.
“Ugh!”
Choi Kang-sik, who had no intention of burning to death here, quickly retraced the path he had cleared with the fire extinguisher. He encountered the pretty girl again.
“Aww…”
She was completely dazed and pathetic. However, Choi Kang-sik silently raised the heavy camera, ready to strike.
Then,
Pfft!
A magnificent farting sound, like an engine, erupted. A translucent gas, escaping from her body, rose high into the sky.
‘As expected, it fled.’
The Underdog is an incorporeal spirit. Its potent poison was its weapon, its alter ego, its core, so to speak. When things didn’t go its way, it was quick to give up. Choi Kang-sik lowered the menacingly raised camera and caught his breath.
‘If it hadn’t come out, seriously…’
Even he would have been at a loss. He couldn’t abandon the pretty girl like MS Yu Il-am did. Yet, carrying her, who was akin to a poisoned chalice, would have been reckless. All in all, he was lucky.
“Thank you for watching this substandard broadcast until now. MS Yu Il-am, who made a terrible mess, is broadcasting his final today. Oh! You might see him again on the news! This was cameraman Choi Kang-sik, making a special appearance due to a broadcast accident. Thank you!”
OMG? The cameraman declared the end of the broadcast on his own! lolSo, are you going to broadcast from now on?MS Cameraman? lolWhat a funny guy. See you again! (≥∀≤)/
After bidding farewell to the viewers, Choi Kang-sik turned off the camera and hung the strap around his neck. Then, in the empty space where the camera had been, he loaded the pretty girl like a piece of luggage. Essentially, he was carrying both the mother and daughter on his shoulders.
‘Seriously! The man of this household owes me a deep bow.’
Because he saved his wife and daughter. Of course, as for compensation, he had already received plenty. He had attracted the most important viewers for an MS.
MS. The best profession of this era. When else would he, not even a psychic, receive such attention? It was like successfully taking his first step on that fiercely competitive path. Maintaining viewership was crucial, but Choi Kang-sik wasn’t overly worried.
[A certain God quietly enters]
[A certain God scatters popcorn and welcomes you]
[Viewer: 4]
Because the number of viewers had also increased on this side. Thanks to that, the heavy camera felt like a child’s toy. He didn’t envy psychics at all. While moving to the ambulance, a rescue worker casually threw out a question.
“Were you a psychic, young man?”
As if on cue, everyone’s gaze turned to the young man. His bravery against the monster didn’t seem like that of an ordinary human.
“……” “…Gulp.”
Silent pressures urging a response. Looking at Seoul, which was getting closer, Choi Kang-sik replied.
“No. I’m…”
An Apostle, perhaps?
[A certain God's eyes sparkle]
“An aspiring MS. And by the way, I’m an atheist.”
[A certain God is shocked]