The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Starfall]

Chapter 4

-Where'd the dragon who was calling him a scammer go?

-Guess he has to dance now?

-Pink Day it is

-I'm craving some twerking.

With a normal quest window appearing, the chat window began its assault.

Hanbit's brow furrowed deeply.

'He's giving a quest based on that lie?'

He let out a sigh.

Julio was trying to frame someone with fabricated evidence. And the target was his rival, Artsvel. To Hanbit, Artsvel was his true magic teacher and benefactor.

Hanbit turned his head to look at Yeonwoo.

"He gives you the magic book if you complete the quest?"

"There are about three linked quests. If you complete those two achievements, you can get the magic book."

"What about the thief? What happened to him?"

"He appears briefly in a cutscene, getting arrested and thrown in jail."

-That's cruel, Black Dragon.

-Even if you change the subject, you still have to dance~

-Newbie dance with a side of rice, please.

Ignoring the incoming chat messages, Hanbit recalled his memories.

In the first playthrough of the other world, he was falsely accused of being a thief and imprisoned. The reason? Simply because he was working under Artsvel, the owner of the rival general store. That was it.

'You've become Artsvel's dog, so all you've learned is how to steal?'

Hanbit, who had stopped by Julio's store for a delivery, was suddenly accused of being a thief. Fabricated evidence and soldiers bribed with money. He tried his best to defend himself, but of course, it had no effect.

'Your crime will also stain Artsvel. The future of her store... isn't it obvious?'

Julio's mocking words made his blood boil. But at that time, he was too foolish and powerless, so he was dragged away and imprisoned.

'Thinking about it again makes me so pissed.'

Even though he immediately took revenge in the next playthrough, his anger never subsided. Although they were in the same business, Julio always felt inferior to Artsvel. He was incompetent from the start, so he had to resort to fraud to barely keep his business afloat.

And now, even in this world where Hanbit didn't exist, he was trying to frame Artsvel herself.

Recalling the dirty past, Hanbit walked over to the display shelf.

"Will you do me this favor?"

"Shut up, you scammer."

"...Did you just call me a scammer?"

Julio's expression changed drastically at the word "scammer."

As he was observing Julio's face...

Ding-!

An alarm rang, and a holographic window appeared.

[Quest]

Find the money bag that Julio hid.

Reward: 500 gold, Quest unlocked

-Huh?

-What?

-Is he really a scammer?

"Huh?"

The chat exploded with confused viewers, and Yeonwoo's eyes widened in surprise.

Hanbit walked further inside.

Thud-!

Clatter-!

Hanbit started rummaging through the piled-up goods with his foot. Seeing this, Julio approached in a fluster.

"Hey, hey, you can't do that! Don't mess up the store!"

Even as Julio clung to him, Hanbit didn't stop. He continued towards the corner in the back, and then something caught his foot.

Thud

'It's so identical, it's ridiculous.'

The money bag hidden under the box, the same one Julio had used to frame him as a thief.

The location and size were exactly the same, making Hanbit scoff. The same item was probably hidden in Artsvel's shop, the one Julio had accused of the theft.

He bent down and pulled the bag out from under the messily piled boxes.

"You said you were robbed?"

"..."

When Hanbit questioned Julio, his expression hardened. Then, with a frown, he said.

"You're a quick one, aren't you?"

-Holy shit.

-This bastard was actually a scammer? What did I even get into?

-Can't you reset the quest?

-Getting hit by a truck would totally enable a reset.

-Ah, we're screwed, for real.

The viewers were shocked by the unfolding truth. They never expected to be deceived by an NPC.

Julio pointed at Hanbit and raised his voice.

"I have nothing to sell to you, so get the hell out!"

"Screw you."

Bam-!

"Ugh!"

Hanbit kicked Julio in the chest. The shocked man crashed into the shelves.

"What's going on here!" A voice came from behind.

Hanbit turned his head to see a soldier holding a spear.

[Cutscene Transition]

Swoosh-

As the message appeared, the scene in front of him changed. From a slightly distanced perspective, he saw Julio with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Shut up! We already have witnesses and evidence of your fraud!"

The soldier dragged Julio away.

The screen flickered again, and Julio appeared, imprisoned in a jail cell.

Swoosh-

With that scene, the screen returned to normal. Julio, who had been standing in front of him, was gone.

'There are cutscenes too, huh?'

Normally, he would have to fight his way through the bribed guards and hand Julio over to someone trustworthy. But the cutscene had suddenly appeared,showing the soldier he was looking for. If that soldier had arrested Julio, the situation would be resolved for sure. It was a fascinating mechanism that reminded him that this was indeed a game.

Ding-!

An alarm rang, and the screen was updated. A series of new messages appeared.

[Quest complete.]

[You have received 500 gold.]

[Quest opened.]

[A quest will be given when you move to Artsvel's General Store.]

-No way, what the...

-How is this real?

-Reset the quest, you sons of bitches!

-That trap was dirty.

The chat window descended into chaos as the truth was revealed. Hanbit, who knew the whole story, also had mixed feelings.

'...They connected it so well.'

After putting Julio in jail, the game guided them to Artsvel. It was as if the game had been waiting for this to happen.

Could this really be just a coincidence?

"Hyung!"

Yeonwoo, who had been watching the streamed footage, approached with wide eyes.

He practically shouted in a hushed voice.

"What is this? How did you really know?"

"Well..."

Hanbit started to speak but then stopped. Come to think of it, how could he explain this? Such knowledge was impossible in a game he was playing for the first time.

'Ah.'

Racking his brain, Hanbit came up with a plausible excuse. Even if they didn't believe him, he could tell them the truth later.

Having made up his mind, he said to Yeonwoo, "There was this web novel I used to read. It's completely gone now, but the setting seems similar."

"Web novel?"

-Web novel?

-What's this all of a sudden?

-Stop whispering.

The viewers also reacted to their lowered voices.

Since this was a necessary step anyway, Hanbit scratched his head and said, "You might not believe me, but I used to read a lot of fantasy books. It's really hard to believe, but I'm kind of an expert in that area..."

"Ah, I understand."

Yeonwoo agreed before Hanbit could even finish his sentence. Considering all the fantasy knowledge Hanbit had shown during their military service, it was only natural for him to have read books and comics.

"You believe that? Why?"

"It's not strange to make a game based on an original IP, right? That author could be the RP story writer. But what was the title?"

"...I think it was Erport?"

"Wow, that's the title? The goal of the RP story is to find Erport."

-How is the title Erport

-Black Dragon, you like that kind of stuff?

-Should we talk more about this?

-But I've never heard of that title.

-It must be some crappy novel. I could probably write better. LOL

-Just had that delusion.

Yeonwoo and the viewers completely accepted his explanation. Hanbit felt a bit complicated, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

Ding-!

[ㅇㅇ has donated 10,000 won.]

"Oh! Thank you for the 10,000 won donation!" Yeonwoo's voice boomed.

The reward for winning the bet had definitely come through.

Since the viewer had kept their promise, Hanbit also spoke up. "You really gave it to me? Thank you."

-But how did you really know?

-His account is brand new

-Was the web novel thing true?

-I'm going to look it up.

Confused, the viewers started making their own speculations.

The account creation date displayed on Hanbit's character information window was indeed today. There couldn't be another account with the same name unless he had cloned himself. In other words, aside from the name "Black Dragon" and the automatic customization, the account was completely new in the system.

Of course, this was the result of the Goddess or her accomplice tampering with it.

"My hyung is naturally mysterious and eccentric," Yeonwoo stepped forward and began his defense. "If Julio wasn't a scammer, he probably would have made him one."

"What? Make him one? What are you talking about?"

"See these fists? The culprit is capable of physical manufacturing!"

-Culprit (custom-made)

-Physical therapy, I agree.

-I won't mess with him.

Despite the absurd turn of events, the chat window reacted with amusement.

'...Is this what streaming is like?'

The world of streaming was not easy to adapt to.

He could just leave the difficult stuff to Yeonwoo. Hanbit was a person who focused on what he was good at.

"Let's go to Artsvel now."

"She’s not a thief... anymore. Don't tell me that NPC is the magic teacher?"

"That's right. Though I don't know how it'll play out here."

Yeonwoo quickly followed after Hanbit, who had started walking.

He readjusted the camera angle and said, "I didn't know it would connect to Artsvel like this. I never saw her after the thief quest."

"What? She's not on your map?"

"Of course not. She was taken to jail after being caught."

- Come to think of it, she's not on mine either.

- I tried all the skill quests.

- It was a really good quest, so I just did it.

- She's on mine. LOL I skipped magic.

- Yeah, she's on mine too.

Only a minority of viewers said they still had Artsvel on their map.

Apart from focusing on one skill, there were no restrictions on trying out different things. Considering the rewards, it was natural to try completing easy quests.

'Artsvel must be so frustrated.'

He could clearly imagine her reaction to this absurd situation. Countless players had progressed through the game without ever meeting Artsvel, simply because Hanbit had eliminated Julio in his past playthroughs.

Thud-

Hanbit, who was walking through the alley again, stopped.

The building had a slightly shabbier impression compared to Julio's shop, but it had a much more stable atmosphere.

"Whew."

Hanbit was a little nervous. Unlike Julio, Artsvel was someone he had truly been close to. She was a benefactor to whom no amount of gratitude could ever be enough.

'What? Why are you asking me for work? Get out.'

Their first meeting was extremely prickly. However, as he showed his face more often, her reaction softened.

'...Just move the stuff over there for now. Don't even think about freeloading.'

'Combat skills? What makes you think you can... Ah. Why don't you learn magic from me instead?'

'Didn't I tell you to be careful? Don't you know you'll be the one who suffers if you get hurt?'

'If you're not going to spend your whole life moving things, study. You need to know the basics, don't you?'

Despite initially rejecting him, she took good care of Hanbit. He had received so much from her, including a job, magic lessons, and information necessary for survival in this world.

Even when the atmosphere turned strange due to the false accusation against him, Artsvel remained the same.

'Your fault? Don't give me that nonsense. I won't let that rat Julio get away with this.'

She had visited him in prison and left with those determined words. A few days later, the news reached him in prison that Artsvel had been burned to death.

Creak-

Hanbit carefully opened the door and walked inside.

[Artsvel, the General Store Owner]

A young woman with blonde hair was resting her chin on her hand at the counter.

Hanbit softly spoke her name.

"Artsvel."

[Translator - Jjescus]

[Proofreader - Starfall]