Chapter 206
Chapter 206: Raid Party's First Assembly
Paradoxically, what breaks down those who have endured countless hardships and crises is a brief moment of respite.
Baek Woohyun realized this fact approximately two years after regaining consciousness 'over there.'
It was when he had escaped from the research facility that tortured him under the guise of experimentation, wandered from place to place avoiding pursuit, and finally settled down to catch his breath.
When he was constantly feeling his life threatened, all he had to do was struggle desperately to somehow overcome each moment and survive.
To be honest, he had no room in his head for anything else. Because if he got lost in other thoughts even for a moment, his comrades' lives would also be endangered.
When he escaped from the relentless adversity and could finally contemplate the future, he truly felt the emotion called despair for the first time.
—"······Ah."
What should he do, and how should he do it going forward?
The castaway suddenly thrown into a world resembling the game he used to play felt profound hopelessness before the respite he barely obtained through struggle.
It felt like being thrown naked into the vast ocean. Anyone would have felt the same. Because it was a situation where he couldn't even know if he could return, let alone how to return.
—"Sua."
—"Yuna. Hojin. Daehyun hyung. Semi. Daeyoung."
Added to that was the pain of loss he belatedly realized.
Baek Woohyun, who sat hunched over desperately repeating the names of his lost lover and comrades, was clearly broken.
If life-threatening predicaments had continued, he wouldn't have had such worries—he even thought such things, to that extent.
In fact, he had no choice. After all, he was just an ordinary college student.
Someone whose only fights were a few arguments when he was very young, who had never even experienced the sorrow of losing someone precious. That was Baek Woohyun.
That such a person suddenly fell into another world, lost his lover and comrades, and managed to hold on desperately for three years was rather an amazing feat.
—"Send me home! Send me back!"
—"Why did you bring me here!"
—"···Mom, Dad. I miss you···."
The frustrated Baek Woohyun spent entire days hurling curses at someone he didn't even know, and shed tears longing for a home he couldn't return to.
The suffering he felt in that awkward state—neither strong enough to somehow endure the pain nor completely worn down enough to become numb—was beyond imagination.
If not for his surviving comrades, he surely wouldn't have taken a single step outside that narrow room.
Of course, going outside didn't mean he had overcome the despair that had risen to his throat.
He simply moved forward, clutching his bleeding wounds with just the desperate will to not lose anyone else anymore.
Yet new wounds from loss were carved on top of that, and his heart became a complete mess with unhealed wounds.
—"······."
'What does not kill me makes me stronger.'
The famous quote by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche perfectly expressed Baek Woohyun at that time.
Having survived despite receiving countless wounds, he eventually became strong enough to remain indifferent before any pain.
Setting aside whether that could truly be called 'becoming stronger.'
"······."
Baek Woohyun, who had been watching himself slowly wear away in the flow of time, soon woke from his sleep.
A deep furrow formed between his brows as he stared at the completely familiar ceiling with pitch-black sunken eyes. It was a facial expression representing his displeased mood.
Because he felt an emotion close to a kind of shame, completely different from the pain of wounds that had become dull from being mulled over too many times.
From his current perspective, his second year of life 'over there' could be called nothing but a dark history.
He didn't like the disgraceful behavior he showed when frustrated and broken, the obsession he displayed when he left his room determined to save everyone, and even everything after that.
He even fleetingly thought that dreams where his lost lover and comrades appeared to appeal for revenge would be better, so what more needed to be said?
'At least I could see their longed-for faces in those.'
"Damn it."
Baek Woohyun, who briefly spat out a curse, got up.
Unpleasant fatigue still clung to his entire body, but he couldn't lie down forever.
Especially not today. Because there was much to prepare. Perhaps the most of all the 'Nuclear Tourism' content so far.
'It's the first assembly day for the 【Lord of Storms】 Raid Party.'
Therefore, Baek Woohyun needed to prepare leisurely.
Despite his unsettled feelings stirred up by the dream.
Fortunately, there had been similar situations several times 'over there.'
Suppressing himself and doing what needed to be done wouldn't be difficult.
That's what he thought.
***
"Oh! Everyone came early! Nice to meet you!"
"Redok-nim! Hello!"
"I heard you're the raid leader this time?"
"Ahaha! That's right! The coach must think highly of me!"
—Raid leader Redok ㄷㄷ
—Team All-In connection what
—But won't he just be a figurehead anyway?
—ㅇㅇ More like a vice raid leader feeling
Redok, who arrived at the waiting area through the code he received in advance, smiled broadly and exchanged greetings with people.
Though there was still considerable time left until the appointment time Jeong Nayeon had announced, the surroundings were already bustling with gathered raid members.
A quick count revealed twelve people including himself. With the total raid party being sixteen members, 75 percent had already assembled.
"What, am I late?"
"Nope. Everyone just came early."
"Right? Phew, I was nervous thinking I arrived last when everyone was already here."
It was obvious why the raid members came so early. It meant they were that excited about this 【Lord of Storms】 Raid Party.
Like them, Redok himself had arrived quite early, unable to contain his anticipation for the raid party.
He assumed the viewers were also quite impatient. His own viewers had been clamoring about when the raid party would assemble from the start of the broadcast.
"Since it's a 16-person raid, it'll be two parties of eight each, right?"
"That's probably likely. Or depending on mechanics, it could be four parties of four."
"We have to consider party splitting too."
"Is a 4-person disciple party composition possible?"
"It seems like there are four people!"
"With me and Yoojeu-Yoojeu, that's exactly four!"
"···Wow···!"
—Eou, look at that sound never stopping ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Natural result when you gather sixteen broadcasters in one place ㅇㅇ
—Amid all that, Yoojeu-Yoojeu hasn't said a word except greetings ㅜㅜ Poor thing ㅜㅜ
—Are Kang Soyul and Yoojeu-Yoojeu really official disciples, hmm
"···Don't doubt... my teacher-student relationship with the coach...! I'll ban you···!"
"Right! We're definitely official numbered disciples!"
""Ahaha!""
"What's with the disciple connection!"
"Woo-woo! Corruption!"
The venue was filled with noisy chatter.
Well, fifteen people—they had all arrived—individual broadcasters had gathered in one place, so it was truly a natural result.
They were people who constantly talked during broadcasts even alone. With sixteen of them present, hoping for quiet would be strange instead.
Viewers watching thought Baek Woohyun might even struggle a bit to restrain these people excitedly chattering away riding the momentum.
······Only until Baek Woohyun appeared at the meeting place.
"······."
""······.""
—?
—Suddenly quiet
—Shutting their mouths all at once;;
—Somehow creepy ㄷㄷ
Silence descended simultaneously with Baek Woohyun's appearance.
The raid members who had been chattering excitedly shut their mouths all at once as if they had made a promise.
It was a bizarre scene enough to perplex watching viewers. No one expected it to become this quiet when Baek Woohyun hadn't even said anything.
Someone who didn't know might have thought the sound had been muted.
'No, what's with this atmosphere···.'
'C-can I speak?'
'I can't breathe.'
However, if the raid members had seen the viewers' chat, they would have asked back instead. Couldn't they feel Baek Woohyun's pressure?
Right now, Baek Woohyun was emitting a strange pressure that made people shut their mouths involuntarily. The broadcast camera simply couldn't convey it.
The raid members felt as if someone had placed a sharp blade against their necks. Or, the feeling of being placed naked before a beast baring its teeth.
Either way, it was clear it wasn't a feeling ordinary modern people could easily experience.
—Did they all get hit with a silence CC
—Is it because of Hackphysical?
—How much discipline did he enforce behind the scenes ㄷㄷ
—Hackphysical is creepy if you keep watching
'MilitaryDisciplineHackphysical' donated '1000 won'!
[He definitely visited them in real life ㅇㅇ They all got scared after seeing Special Forces Hackphysical]
—Aha
—So scary ㄷㄷ
—A suspiciously people-handling special forces operative visits? Ugh
—I'd immediately bow my head ㅋㅋ
"—Wow! Everyone's gathered! Are we a bit late?"
"Y-yes! We're all here!"
"Not at all! You're not late at all! Yes!"
Until Jeong Nayeon appeared afterward with a brightly smiling face to refresh the atmosphere, the raid members couldn't utter a word.
Even as viewers watched them frozen and chattered about how he enforced discipline in reality or how the Hackphysical special forces operative theory was true.
Naturally, whether it was true or not didn't matter to the viewers. They were people who were satisfied as long as it was entertaining.
'Ah.'
The fortunate fact was that Baek Woohyun belatedly realized he was outwardly displaying emotional turbulence.
He took a deep breath trying to calm down and quickly collected his scattered mind. If he hadn't noticed, it would be one thing, but once he realized it, dealing with it was easy.
Thus, having regained his composure and returned to his usual state, he slowly looked around.
"······."
The faces of talents selected by Baek Woohyun himself came into view, including Redok, the Beau-tiful Siblings, Kang Soyul, and Yoojeu-Yoojeu.
They, who had shrunk back from the pressure he emitted after a rough night's sleep, were now facing him with sparkling eyes as if nothing had happened.
Smiling bitterly inside, he cleared his throat softly and said.
"As you all already know, this raid is based on me, so the difficulty is extremely high. Moreover, the allowed time isn't long either."
High difficulty and short challenge time.
The result created by mixing these two elements was very simple.
"It means the training to participate as raid members will be very intense. For a while, you'll have to invest all your time except sleeping."
"It's fine!"
"We're already prepared!"
—Can't eat it but go
—ㄹㅇ Must do it no matter what
—If you give up, you're not a broadcaster ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—We're actually happy the broadcast time is longer ㅎ
Even at Baek Woohyun's warning continued with a chilly gaze, the raid members showed no signs of giving up.
No matter how intense training awaited and they had to do it day and night excluding sleep time, having become individual broadcasters, it was a deal they couldn't give up.
For individual broadcasters whose recognition equals income, to miss the first public raid of the national game 'Reverse Planet' conducted in 'Nuclear Tourism' content?
It was absolutely impossible, something that shouldn't happen. Having received the qualification, clinging to this desperately somehow was natural.
"Good."
Seeing the raid members full of determination, Baek Woohyun raised the corners of his mouth.
Before an expression that somehow felt as chilling as when he first appeared, the raid members unconsciously straightened their backs.
Seemingly thinking there was no reason to hide it now that they had agreed, the demon instructor who had made the rookie Avengers 'over there' tremble revealed his fangs and smiled.
"Remember. You are the ones who agreed."