Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Real First Broadcast, Blade Centipede Fry 1

Shia, do you remember?

The day we first met, you were asleep like an angel.

At that time, the scribe said you had devoured a titan, but I couldn’t believe it.

Even in the faint silver light, your silver hair flowing like a galactic river and your angelic, radiant face made me think that an angel had descended from the heavens.

Haha, was that too poetic?

You didn’t like things like this, did you?

But this is my honest thought, so just accept it.

Oh, by the way, even when you grabbed my collar and got angry, I honestly wasn’t scared.

No matter how angry you were with that beautiful face, I wasn’t frightened at all, aside from feeling sorry and guilty towards you.

I still feel sorry about that.

If I ever get the chance, I want to tell you again.

Though it’s already too late.

Back then, we were together amidst the light, but now we are surrounded by darkness.

Our once fragile minds have matured into complete adults.

You, me, and even the black witch who’s like a cat.

Of course, I’m doing well.

I’m doing very well, so don’t worry.

Starting the day by remembering the days we spent together isn’t so bad.

Today is the day I went out with Shia.

Today is the day we claimed our first victory against the Demon King’s army.

Today is the day we marched forward together.

Today is the day you and I met Teresa for the first time.

Today is the day we were defeated and shed tears.

Today is the day we cried sorrowfully.

Today is the day we laughed again.

Today is the day we grasped the light together.

I remember it all.

One day, you said to me,

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright.”

Haha, yeah. As you said, I’m trying to be okay.

The Imperial Palace is the same.

A gentle breeze blows, and a warm spring wind drifts by.

The black cat witch is quiet.

She must be bored since you’re not here.

On the day you disappeared like the wind, on the day we shared our last moments.

You still scattered away from me like a radiant halo of light.

Once, you told me,

“Let’s meet often before we die.”

Yeah…

We should have met more often.

We should have faced each other more frequently.

We should have talked more diligently.

We should have spent more time together…

Yes, but I, too… want to complain a little.

Though I still picture you, who melted away like snow, today…

We’ve come too far to try to grasp what has already disappeared.

I’m sorry, Shia.

I promised myself over and over to grant whatever you asked of me.

Yet, I’m always the one who ends up breaking promises and failing to keep them.

Sometimes, I even forget that you’re no longer by my side.

Shia.

My dear friend, my family, the other half of my soul.

Do you miss me?

I miss you so much.

I missed you today.

I missed you yesterday.

And I’ll miss you tomorrow.

Let’s make one promise.

If we meet again…

Let’s meet often, diligently… no, let’s be together forever.

○○○○○○

“To commemorate the first broadcast, I’ll be doing a Blade Centipede fry mukbang!”

With those bright and pure words, Shia ended the broadcast.

Of course, the chat was in chaos.

No, Shia ended the broadcast before the chat could even descend into chaos, leaving countless viewers adrift like castaways before they could truly enjoy the show.

[Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold Mom I’m cold]

[Pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together pull yourself together]

[No way. It hasn’t even been 30 minutes since it started.]

[????]

[What the heck!]

[Wow, and she just ends it like that???]

[????????]

[Damn it…]

Even though the viewers were adrift, the host didn’t return.

In the end, as usual, the stranded viewers flowed into the Hunter Genre Gallery.

[No way, was that broadcast real](112)

Reply: 433 likes

『Isiah’s broadcast runtime was 28 minutes and 32 seconds, lolololol』

[She’s got it good.]

[For real, lol]

[How arrogant for a small streamer.]

[I’m annoyed, so I subscribed.]

Reply: [???]

Reply: [Seriously, her chest is huge, and you didn’t subscribe?]

Reply: [Logical enough…]

[Idiots, lololol. But you’ll all be back to watch again, right, lol.]

Reply: [You got me.]

Reply: [lololol]

[Today’s broadcast summary](228)

Reply: 873 likes

『Hello, I’m Isiah. I’m going to eat Blade Centipede. Bye.』

[Thanks for the summary.]

[Isn’t it way too short, for real?]

[Seen the whole broadcast.]

[Ah, damn… it’s too frustrating. She didn’t even say when she’s broadcasting again.]

Reply: [For real.]

Reply: [She teased us for a whole week and then acts all arrogant.]

Reply: [That small-time streamer’s getting cocky, lol.]

[But how in the world do you eat a Blade Centipede??? Wyvern eggs or meat are apparently actual food, but how do you even begin with a Blade Centipede?]

Reply: [Dunno?]

[Whether it’s the Saintess of Kanttabiya or the Chest Saintess, I was disgusted, so this is great, lol.]

Reply: [Is this guy a vermin?]

Reply: [Don’t feed the troll.]

Reply: [This guy was in the gallery all day yesterday roasting Hunter Isiah, too.]

[Hunter Isiah officially begins streaming](249)

Reply: 1109 likes

『Here’s a summary of the broadcast.

Name: Isiah

Yes, she’s a returnee.

It’s been about a month since she returned.

Age: She says she’s 85 years old. But the Ethics Audit by the Management Bureau concluded her mental age is 21.

Hunter Rank: Not telling.

Judging from the Hunter Association’s certification mark on the stream, her skills seem to be guaranteed.

From the way she took down that group of Wyverns, she’s likely at least at the top of A-rank or the lower end of S-rank.

As for her combat ability, let the self-proclaimed experts analyze that all they want.

Here’s what else we know.

1. Her chest is massive. Really massive. I’ve never seen such naturally huge, well-shaped breasts in my life. At first, I wondered why people called her the Chest Saintess, but damn, they’re huge.

2. Her looks. Top tier. She crushes most celebrities. Since her body’s also top tier, she honestly looks way better than most entertainers.

3. The AI drone camera she uses is no joke. Most hunter drones out on the market are kind of stiff in their movements. But it seems like she got a sponsorship from the Hunter Association, because her drone camera zooms in on her automatically and responds to every small gesture or movement. It looks like the same drone she used in the Kurtala Mountain Range.

4. Judging from the fact that she repeatedly revived and killed Wyverns about 10 times, she’s likely a saintess type with healing powers.

5. The tentacles are indeed her ability. They seem to come out when she uses a skill called [Holy Miracle], and they move like extensions of her limbs. Whether they have a mind of their own, though, I have no idea.』

And so, the Hunter Genre Gallery enthusiastically roasted the arrogant small-time hunter streamer who disappeared after less than 30 minutes of broadcasting.

Since there was no announcement of when the next broadcast would be, it was understandable, but considering how the gallery members had eagerly waited for a whole week, they were seething.

They had come expecting the flashy, insane action of a potential S-rank Hunter, but instead, they got a short introduction, like the start of an adult video, before she suddenly disappeared. It would have been more surprising if they weren’t upset.

[The Saintess of Kanttabiya is a massive letdown. If she doesn’t stream again soon, she’s going to lose support.]

[Rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom]

[That small-timer really doesn’t know her place.]

[Hey, the broadcast is live again.]

[?]

[Seriously?]

[For real?]

[No way?]

And as soon as the gallery members heard that Shia’s broadcast was live again, they immediately changed their stance like ghosts.

[Oi oi!]

[Believe it, I always trusted you!]

[I knew it, damn it!]

[Sweeeet]

[She came back after only an hour.]

[Where did she go?]

[You should’ve at least told us when you’d be back.]

[Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me Mom why’d you leave me]

And while they loaded up chat and readied their anger, the gallery members swore they’d teach this small-time hunter streamer a lesson.

Damn, how dare she end the broadcast after just 30 minutes without even a proper announcement for the next one? You insolent girl!

However, the moment the drone camera zoomed in on Shia’s face, the many viewers experienced a moment of brain freeze.

“Oh, crap!”

“Aaahhhh!”

“What the hell is that!”

“Ugh.”

“WTF.”

“Crazy.”

“Gaaahhhh!”

●●●●●●

Blade centipedes range from F-grade to B-grade, but on average, they’re classified as C-grade monsters. Sometimes, older specimens are classified as B-grade in terms of danger level.

In rare cases, if tens of thousands of blade centipedes swarm together, they may be treated as one entity and classified at a higher danger level, but that only happens in special cases like Dungeon Overbreaks.

For now, blade centipedes are monsters shaped like centipedes, and as you can guess from the name, their legs, fangs, and claws have the toughness of steel, which is why they’re called blade centipedes.

Centipedes, as arthropods, have a somewhat flat body with up to 177 segments, and they typically have 15 pairs of legs but can have more than 170 pairs.

And the wretched blade centipede, classified as an F to B-grade ‘monster,’ has a disgusting 200 pairs of clattering legs as a basic feature.

Their length starts at 1 meter, but the larger ones can grow over 10 meters. One particularly dreadful specimen found in a dungeon in the Amazon region of South America was recorded at a horrifying 34 meters.

While individual centipedes aren’t that strong, hunting them is unusually difficult.

Hunting a blade centipede alone is not even allowed by the Association, and several C-rank hunters, unaware of how dangerous they are, have foolishly gone after them, only to come running back out of the dungeon in a panic.

This happens several times each month.

If they manage to escape with their lives, they’re lucky, but many aren’t so fortunate. Blade centipedes are considered the leading cause of hunter deaths in A-rank and below dungeons, except for a few high-risk dungeons.

Even some A-rank hunters have been killed by swarms of blade centipedes.

How could monsters with an average C-grade danger level kill an A-rank hunter, you ask…

“….Well, here we are! This is the so-called ‘Rotten Mountain’ dungeon in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.”

[What? Rotten Mountain???]

[Is she insane?]

[Ugh, gross.]

[Holy…]

Squirming, swarming, wriggling.

The damned numbers of these wretched centipedes were the main culprit behind their increased danger level.

A swarm of wyverns?

There are hundreds of them in a single breeding ground.

Since their threat is clearly visible, hunters who face them are thoroughly prepared, and surprisingly, very few hunters have died at the claws of wyverns.

But blade centipedes?

When tens of thousands of them come wriggling out, no hunter can stay sane.

Although blade centipedes can inhabit all sorts of dungeons, in the ‘Rotten Mountain’ dungeon, they were the apex predators that dominated the entire ecosystem.

There were very few natural enemies to keep them in check, and the blade centipede population continued to grow within the dungeon.

In the Rotten Mountain dungeon, the estimated number of blade centipedes was classified as “unidentifiable.”

This was no surprise, as just digging a single hole in the mountain could cause thousands or tens of thousands of blade centipedes to pour out.

That alone would be a terrifying sight.

“Hehe, the air is nice, isn’t it?”

[How are we supposed to know if the air is nice?]

[No, lolololol]

[She’s saying the air is nice with those things crawling in the background?]

At the viewers’ words, Shia turned around.

Between the bushes, a blade centipede about 5 meters in diameter was quickly scurrying away as if fleeing from Shia.

It wasn’t that big after all.

It didn’t seem to have much meat inside, either.

It looked to be about C-grade.

“Yeah, I won’t eat that one.”

[What?]

[Didn’t you say you were going to eat a blade centipede?]

[No, host, can’t you just eat something more normal???]

[Lololol, look at her going wild just because it’s her first broadcast.]

“Do you know? Sometimes, a solitary blade centipede can even reach A-grade.”

[?]

[???]

[What?]

[Stop talking nonsense, the average blade centipede is C-grade.]

“No, I asked a friend, and they said very rarely, A-grades do appear.”

[Whether or not an A-grade appears, are you really going to eat that???]

“If it’s A-grade, its mana concentration will be higher. It’ll also be much larger than a normal blade centipede. And it’ll be packed with meat.”

[….What?]

[What did I just hear?]

[Aaah, no, stop!]

[Host, I was wrong. Let’s eat something else.]

“Nope. Once you’ve drawn the sword, you might as well slice a rotten radish.”

[You don’t even have a sword!!]

[Is she really crazy? Lololol]

[Wow, this is exactly the kind of show I was looking for!]

[Wow, was this the kind of stream you were running??]

“Right? Hehe, I think I chose the dungeon well.”

[No, you madwoman, 90% of the viewers are rejecting the blade centipede right now, lol.]

[For real, lol.]

[No, but I’m looking forward to it.]

[Stop talking nonsense, lol.]

The viewers slowly caught on.

Deceived by her appearance and healing ability, they initially thought the host was a returnee, a gentle and kind saintess with an old soul.

Sometimes she dropped biting remarks, but they assumed she was fundamentally a gentle, relaxed older sister type.

But they were wrong.

She wasn’t the Saintess of Kanttabiya or the Chest Saintess.

She was the Crazy Saintess, who threw insane tantrums.

“Alright! Let’s start the broadcast where we find an A-grade blade centipede in the Rotten Mountain dungeon and fry it. I’m excited, hehe…”

From the moment Shia entered the Rotten Mountain dungeon, the sharp stench of malevolent energy made her feel good.

From the viewers’ perspective—and that of ordinary people—they wouldn’t be able to smell the malevolent energy.

To them, the scent of the Rotten Mountain dungeon, where over hundreds of thousands of centipedes lived, would be like a damp autumn mountain, with rotting mud and leaves.

No matter how much the viewers freaked out, Shia hid her excited heart as best as she could and laid out the frying pan and various ingredients she had packed in her backpack.

[Holy crap, she really brought a fryer.]

[Breadcrumbs, eggs, cooking oil, lololololol.]

[It’s a portable, large-capacity fryer, lolololol.]

[She’s lost it.]

[I saw that on home shopping yesterday, lol.]

[This isn’t the stream I signed up for…]

[But I’m actually excited?]

[This is an unexpectedly entertaining stream, lol.]

“Um… but how do I find the blade centipede? Should I look for a cave or something?”

[In the Rotten Mountain dungeon, if you dig a hole, blade centipedes come out immediately.]

[For real?]

“Ho… really?”

After listening to the viewer’s advice, Shia nodded and slowly ran her hand over the ground.

Indeed, there was a faint trace of malevolent energy clinging to the earth.

The malevolent energy from a single blade centipede wouldn’t be much, but if they were swarming together, the stench would be thick.

Boom!

[Uh, what’s the host doing?]

[What is it?]

Having made up her mind, Shia thrust her hand into the soggy ground.

[Looks like she’s fishing for centipedes with her bare hands, lol.]

[What if you get bitten?]

[Getting bitten by one hurts like hell, even for an A-rank hunter.]

After sneaking a glance at the viewers’ reactions, Shia slightly lifted the corners of her mouth.

When could she ever get the chance to eat an A-grade blade centipede if she checked them one by one by hand?

“Ugh, ha!”

Boom, rumble!

[What? What?]

[Is the ground being lifted???]

[What is it?]

Shia stood in the rocky area of the Rotten Mountain dungeon.

The rocky ground had eroded over time, covered in dirt, dust, and leaves, and fused into a single mass.

If you used some heavy machinery, you could probably lift the entire rock formation.

But Shia began lifting the ground herself with her bare hands, a feat only possible with heavy machinery.

[No way, what the hell????]

[How’s she lifting that?]

[?????]

[How did she do that???]

[????]

[Is this a power show?]

However, the moment Shia lifted about 8 meters of ground and the dirt fell helplessly to the ground under gravity, the viewers had to stop marveling at the host’s immense strength.

Because right behind the rock formation Shia lifted…

Creak.

Clatter, clatter…

Groan.

Crunch.

Snap.

Creak.

[WTF, this visual.]

[No, what the hell is this?]

[What are you doing, host??]

[Holy crap.]

[Ugh.]

[What the hell is this…]

Like freshly kneaded dough being pulled into noodles, countless blade centipedes crawled all over the rocky surface, twisting their bodies.

Just like when you lift a small, mossy rock in the mountains, and the creatures living underneath—centipedes, pillbugs, millipedes, earthworms, woodlice—squirm beneath the damp, moist soil.

Anyone who’s seen this sight during their childhood may recall the creepy crawlies swarming beneath a rock.

It was the same in this Rotten Mountain dungeon.

The only difference was…

Here, there were hundreds, even thousands of 3-meter-long blade centipedes clinging to the rock formation.

And the top-tier AI drone Shia used zoomed in with ultra-high resolution on every single one of them.

“Aaaahhhh, holy crap!”

“Ugh.”

“Screeeeam!”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

As the viewers reeled in horror, Shia smiled innocently.

“Hehe, I found it!”

[Found what, you crazy woman!]

[Aaaahhhh, please stop, host!]

[I want to leave, but I can’t.]