Chapter 922

Inside the movie theater rented by Yeonggwang High School’s 2nd-year Class 0.

This theater, which Hwang Ho personally arranged for the rental, was designed exclusively for VIPs.

There weren’t many seats, and unlike typical movie theater chairs, there were large recliners, two-person sofas, and beds, allowing viewers to relax and enjoy the movie in comfort.

Additionally, Hwang Ho had prepared a simple food cart and a mobile refrigerator in case the screening ran long.

Thanks to this, everyone could freely enjoy the butter garlic-flavored popcorn and gorgonzola cheese balls that Maeng Hyo-don had praised.

However, at the moment, the 2nd-year Class 0 students were not focused on the food but on the student on the screen.

"Vice president! Have that jerk break his skull!"

"Sang-hoon turned his head, so Eui-shin’s not visible!"

"Well, there’s a quarter-view screen in the top right corner, but it’s hard to focus on it."

"I’ll zoom in on that part and add holograms to both sides of the screen."

When Hwang Ho relayed the message to the theater staff, they quickly adjusted the two broadcast screens, enlarging them and displaying holograms on both the left and right sides of the movie theater screen.

One was a quarter-view screen showing the in-game situation, and the other was the room of Yu Sang-hoon, who was currently playing the game.

The small broadcasts were enlarged, and as the screen was split, the students were excited that they could now see Eui-shin clearly.

"Wow, because we’re watching in a movie theater, it feels like Eui-shin is in a movie."

"Eui-shin looks so calm."

"Because the vice president’s face isn’t showing, there’s no sense of suspicion."

"Right."

Although his face wasn’t visible, the students immediately recognized Jo Eui-shin.

It seemed that they were disappointed that Jo Eui-shin’s face didn’t appear on the screen, so they continued to cheer and discuss whether he looked suspicious or not.

Meanwhile, the tank’s party was retrying and challenging the "Corrupted Spirit That Summons Tidal Waves."

"We’re still getting donations. Even though donations under 10,000 won aren’t allowed, they keep coming in. Looks like everyone is paying attention to our partner!"

"I think so too. Seeing so many donation messages mentioning the nameless new star, the bard, there’s no doubt about it."

As Gu Seul-bi and Ong Gil-dong had said, there were many donations, and a lot of them mentioned Jo Eui-shin.

Before each retry, Yu Sang-hoon would take a moment to thank the donors, but the overwhelming donations kept extending the break time.

Most of the messages were just regular encouragements, but there were also some messages provoking the tank, and some were hard to understand in terms of meaning or intention.

Hwang Ho clicked his tongue as he read a specific donor's name and message.

―(Notification) The only disciple has donated 55,000 won.

―I’m watching the stream! If the tries take too long, how about trying on another avatar for a change? If you open the mail, I’ll send you the Dragon Scales avatar set.

One of the messages Hwang Ho disliked came from someone with dragon blood.

The donation amount and nickname seemed carefully chosen to avoid being too burdensome, but it was clearly someone with dragon lineage.

The number 55 likely hinted that this disciple became a disciple on May 5th, Children’s Day.

―(Notification) Grateful Rabbit has donated 82,820 won.

―Talking about dragons! I think Jo2god111 would look great with bunny ears! Thumbs up! I’ll go first!

There was no need to doubt that this trivial message came from Oktoyeon.

Viewers ignored the meaningless, trolling donation, but not everyone chose to overlook it.

―(Notification) The Universe's Strongest has donated 111,000 won.

―Forget the bunny ears. Let’s not disturb the kids playing.

The childish wording made it clear to Hwang Ho that this message came from Jecheon Dae-seong, the leader of the original tribe.

Jecheon Dae-seong, who had been paying attention to Do Shi-hoo, would likely be watching the stream.

But Jecheon Dae-seong also often referred to Jo Eui-shin as his benefactor and had made subtle attempts to invite him to irregular luncheons or the original tribe’s domain, making Hwang Ho uncomfortable.

―(Notification) I don’t want to. has donated 222,000 won.

―I’d prefer to donate clothes for real-life avatars instead of in-game ones. I hope the streamer will consider it positively. Of course, all the participants must wear the outfits.

That annoying tone of speech could only have come from Seo Dol-im.

The thought that Seo Dol would get excited and write this message in honorifics made Hwang Ho feel disgusted.

When Jo Eui-shin personally refused to model, it seemed like Seo Dol was now considering getting the entire group to wear them.

Hwang Ho let out a sigh without realizing it.

"They’re just messing around. Do they have nothing else to do that they’re donating at that level?"

This comment came back to bite Hwang Ho.

"Huh? Isn’t that the same for Ji-ho?"

"Why is he putting himself down?"

"......"

When Sa Wol-seeum pointed this out, Dokgo Miro chimed in, and Han Yi silently nodded.

Hwang Ho had been mocked as a carefree, idle member of the tribe, but he had no grounds to argue.

Instead of arguing, Hwang Ho regretted it inwardly.

‘I should have donated smaller amounts over time. I acted too hastily, thinking I had to donate first.’

Hwang Ho had tried to change the atmosphere of the stream by donating a large amount, but what he received in return was blocking and refunding.

The following donors, who had planned carefully, donated smaller amounts and strategically enjoyed the stream. Hwang Ho didn’t like this situation at all.

In addition to the notable members of the tribe and their descendants, others who had always wanted to get closer to Jo Eui-shin were now donating generously, as if to get some release, which only further displeased him.

If those donations weren’t meant for Jo Eui-shin, he would’ve contacted those members of the tribe and told them to back off.

Ignoring Hwang Ho’s feelings, the donation stream continued.

"Isn’t that Shi-hoo lying down? Why does he keep wriggling?"

"I thought it was just an uncomfortable position, but now that I look closely, it seems like he’s making numbers with his body."

When Kwon Lena asked the question, Mok Woo-ram, who had been observing Do Shi-hoo, made a guess.

Upon hearing that, the students who had been absent-mindedly watching the screen suddenly realized.

Do Shi-hoo was lying down and making numbers with his body to correspond with the donation amounts, reacting to the donations.

As the viewers realized that Do Shi-hoo was wriggling his body to form numbers, they expressed their sympathy.

[So that’s what he’s been doing since earlier.]

[Isn’t the player supposed to be earning a lot? Why’s he being so stingy?]

[Is he doing donation reactions for a job? He’s working hard haha]

[When did Hae-Tak start? Is this the tank’s first broadcast?]

[Dark Mage…….]

[If you scroll down, all the stream details are there, yet some people keep asking the same questions.]

[Make sure you give him a good reward after the stream, boss.]

[Please wear a different avatar, ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

Do Shi-hoo had quickly become the pitiful one trying hard, but he was actually from the TC group.

Considering Jo Eui-shin’s future inheritance in the dragon kingdom, he was the wealthiest among the four.

Amidst the misunderstandings and manipulations in the donations and chat, the tank party finally caught a clue to breaking the "Water Sacrifice’s Corrosion" pattern.

―30 seconds until the corrosion starts.

Jo Eui-shin’s calm voice echoed through the theater’s sound system.

In just the third try, Jo Eui-shin figured out the solution and gave a hint to the other two so they could catch up, but Jang Nam-uk, distracted by the spirit’s threatening attack patterns, couldn’t think clearly.

Do Shi-hoo teased him, and he himself enjoyed some nonsensical attempts, while Yu Sang-hoon happily watched the newbies.

Then, finally, Jang Nam-uk realized that the totem summoned by the spirit was necessary to solve the pattern.

"The spear user hasn’t interacted with the totem yet. Maybe we should check if this corrupted spirit is using dark magic."

"Dark magic...? Oh, there’s no debuff. Just now, Eui-shin played the purification melody. There must be another reason."

"Looks like he just made a mistake."

Although Jeong Jin-mook suspected the spirit’s debuff, as Min Green had said, Jang Nam-uk’s status was very clean.

Most of the students didn’t point it out, but they guessed that Song Dae-seok’s words were right.

The chat was flooded with frustration directed at the spear user.

[We’ve come this far, and you still can’t break it?]

[Spear user, should you check your settings? It looks like it’s hard to see.]

[Spear user, it’s not the screen. Everything’s wrong. The bard and tank are giving orders, but you can’t follow them haha]

[The difference in levels is too big, just kick out the spear user and get a new party member. It’s so frustrating.]

[If you bash party members, you’ll be permanently banned.]

[Manager, another one’s going.]

As the criticism of Jang Nam-uk increased, even those who had tried to ignore the comments began to express dissatisfaction.

"It’s only been 30 minutes, why are there so many comments?"

"Are these people all good at the game?"

"Probably not. There’s always those who criticize a painting without knowing anything about art. There are probably those kind of people here too."

Manager Namgoong Kyoo-yeon started blocking and deleting messages without warning.

When the phrase "Message deleted by the manager" appeared a few times, it became clear that the manager was cleaning up the problematic viewers, and the malicious commenters quieted down.

Meanwhile, Jang Nam-uk, the target of their attacks, didn’t even have time to look at the chat and was focusing entirely on the game.

―I can’t interact with the totem! What do I do?

―Check if you’re pressing the dash key while moving.

―Ah...!

At Jo Eui-shin’s advice, Jang Nam-uk exclaimed.

In his hurry, he had pressed the dash key and moved, making a mistake.

Taking Jo Eui-shin’s advice, Jang Nam-uk succeeded in interacting with the totem and picked it up.

Do Shi-hoo pinged the ground to guide Jang Nam-uk.

―Here, hurry!

―Sorry, I’ll be there soon!

Jang Nam-uk hurriedly moved with the totem and stopped in front of the pillar.

Then, all party members threw the totem into the pillar, which would consume the sacrifice just before the "Water Sacrifice’s Corrosion."

The totem was sucked into the pillar with a terrible scream, and the urgent BGM switched to a brighter tone.

"The collapse of the platforms has stopped!"

"Wow, that jerk is coming down!"

Water droplets that had been flying everywhere lost their light and sank to the ground, and the spirit, whose consciousness had been disturbed, fell to the earth.

Jang Nam-uk and Do Shi-hoo stood still, cheering as they watched the scene, while Yu Sang-hoon and Jo Eui-shin rushed to attack the fallen spirit.

The sight of the tank and bard charging toward the spirit seemed like a scene deliberately directed by the game developers.

As the spirit fell and the ground shifted, the BGM played, and the tank’s charge followed. Viewers watching in first-person mode went wild with excitement.

[Seeing it from the tank’s perspective is insane.]

[This is it.]

[I knew this game was serious about presentation, but for phase 1, they put this much effort in?]

[Who would do Hae-Tak in first-person? I almost missed this epic moment haha]

[VR mode was probably just meant to view the background and characters.]

[Can’t do the raid without quarter-view, but the tank is really good.]

Amid the enthusiastic reactions of the viewers and cheers from Class 0, the "Corrupted Spirit That Summons Tidal Waves" entered phase 2.