Episode 11
"Enemies! Enemies have breached!"
An NPC faction member patrolling the theater in a fixed pattern caught sight of Alpaca's tail.
'Dammit. Too dense here.'
Alpaca immediately activated Smoke Screen and Clone skills to split enemy focus, then clung to the outer wall of the second-floor spectator seats.
'My stamina needs to hold.'
Each parkour move gnawed at his endurance.
Though wires, adhesives, or tools could've preserved it, Alpaca was attempting a gearless assassination challenge.
'If I drop, they'll swarm me. If I climb, NPCs are still on alert. Even holding out here, ground-floor members will spot me soon. What skill should I—'
He scrambled through a week's worth of experience, but his calculations crumbled.
"Kuhahahaha!"
Mad laughter reverberated as something sliced through the air.
WHOOSH!
Still dangling, Alpaca twisted backward and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
The blade pierced his forehead. He dropped from the second-floor ledge.
THUD.
"Argh! Failed again!"
Wiped.
Each death eroded his faction reputation. Now he'd need endless grinding to rebuild standing for intel—or suffer equally mind-numbing side quests.
Both options sucked.
He’d planned to use reputation earned from assassinating NPCs to handle Drake, but...
-LMAOOOO
-How are you this bad?? Quit already lol
-Grind time
-Abandon gearless runs smh
His viewers feasted on his failure like vultures.
'Vicious bastards.'
Were they truly this gleeful?
His stream wasn’t designed for toxicity, but years of broadcasting taught him one truth:
Every viewer nursed a speck of malice in their heart.
[User 'YY' donated ₩1,000!]
[New Drake location glitch in comms. Check it bro]
"Oh! Thanks for the donation!"
Right.
This was why he pushed through!
'Wait.'
Clicking the link predictably revealed shoddy Photoshop edits: real alpacas tangled in fishing lines.
'But humoring this is a streamer's curse.'
Alpaca quit to the lobby.
An expansive alpine meadow greeted him as he sank into a hay-bale chair—a fan-customized backdrop.
'At first I thought they were trolling me...'
Surprisingly cozy with killer views. He’d kept it as his default to acknowledge their effort.
Blehh! Bleh!
The lobby’s resident alpaca, Daebak ("Jackpot"), trotted over—his stream mascot with snow-white fur and a permanently sulky cute face.
PTUI!
Alpaca jerked his head aside as Daebak spat. "Gross!"
Even knowing the spit was mere pixels, his reflexes betrayed him.
-LOOOOOL
-Daebak’s here!
-When will you stop flinching??
-¯\(ツ)/¯
-( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) spit
'Did the spit animation really need to exist?'
Even loyal fans crafting pristine lobbies couldn’t resist one toxic sprinkle. Such was viewer nature.
Bleeeeh!
Ignoring Daebak nibbling his chair, Alpaca pulled up a browser. "What should I search for? Info board maybe..."
-30+ cringe threads go
-Discussion board
-Drama board
-Free board
-Nah Tips & Tricks board
Of course.
Whose fault was this?
His own for consulting chat. "Let’s see... Ah, here."
[New Drake Location Routes Guide]
The video showed someone extracting intel from faction members in... unconventionally creative ways.
"Kyah! So that’s how! Who’s the genius behind this?"
Alpaca’s mood lifted—no more grinding rep. His parrying skills would finally shine.
"By the way, whoever discovered this or the developers who hid this route are truly incredible, don't you think?"
-For real
-Kyaaa!
-An open world's perfection comes from the details in its freedom.
-Damn, this game's god-tier!
Alpaca, now free from the burden of Drake's base intel, began calculating how many more attempts he could squeeze into today's stream.
Just then, a lengthy donation alert blared.
[User 'ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ' donated ₩10,000!]
[Shouldn't you be freaking out right now? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
A donation bursting at the character limit.
Another voice donation followed:
[User 'Some Idiot' donated ₩10,000!]
[???: If this works, I'll make that person my mentor and stream nonstop until I crush Drake in musou mode!]
"Huh? Who actually cleared it? C'mon, you guys can't fool me no matter how hard you try."
Alpaca felt phantom sweat trickle down his VR avatar's back.
Unease crept in.
He suddenly recalled Etohr's capture yesterday. No way. Why hadn't he remembered earlier?
As he mentally berated himself, the chat filled with smirking viewers.
Endless chains of 'ㅋㅋㅋ' flooded the screen.
Given his viewers' infamous lack of unity, there was only one scenario where they'd laugh in harmony:
'When I'm suffering.'
Right then, a new post with 30 upvotes appeared above the one he'd been reading:
[First Worldwide Drake Musou Clear]
"Wow, really? You even rigged the upvotes? Not falling for it. You're all monsters."
Gulp.
He verbally denied it while slowly clicking the link.
The revelation:
A man casually battering Drake with a pipe.
Not just casually - effortlessly.
First thought:
'Wait... Maybe I could do this? Might be streamable?'
Then the man parried a sword strike and dodged a chain attack without turning - just a slight head tilt.
All relief evaporated. Reality crashed down.
'I'm screwed.'
No way to replicate that.
He'd struggled with basic assassinations - musou was pure fantasy.
So:
"This is obviously edited. Right? How could anyone do that? Agree with me already! Yeah?"
He desperately denied the footage.
-No way lol
-Rambling nonsense hahaha
-Alpaca's denial arc begins rofl
-Threat Mode: Activated
-He's a streamer. Check Travel clips
The deflection failed miserably.
"Oh! This must be the streamer who beat Etohr in musou!"
He pivoted topics.
-??? Etohr got captured?
-??
-Bro got wrecked by Etohr for 10hrs on launch day lol. Someone actually cleared it?
-HOW????
His viewers knew Etohr's brutality from his week-old failed attempt.
As attention shifted to Etohr's defeat - perfect diversion, Alpaca thought - a timed donation arrived:
[User 'HowToBeatEtohr' donated ₩10,000! - Travel clip]
The clip played: Streamer Jin Seo-jun flawlessly wielding a morningstar.
Even Alpaca, who'd seen it before, marveled anew.
How many hours of practice created such movements?
Fluid yet precise, extravagant yet controlled.
-Kyaaa! Mummy Seat delivers!
-Holy shit that's insane
-LMAO the skill gap
-hahahaha
-This is true musou gameplay
-What's his channel?
New viewers seemed equally stunned.
"And get this - he'd only played for two days. Mind-blowing, right?"
-?? Genetic lottery winner
-Is he some IRL martial arts master?
-Not Chuck Norris. GG
-Cool story, play the game now?
Alpaca's eyes trembled like a sailor facing a typhoon as he read chat.
An imaginary voice mocked from above: 'Like that'll ever happen.'
Another voice donation rang out:
[User 'Some Idiot' donated ₩10,000!]
[???: If this succeeds, I'll take them as my master and keep streaming until I can solo Drake!]
“Sigh...”
Alpaca sighed deeply enough to extinguish the earth. Changing the subject now? He bitterly resented his careless past self.
Maybe if I stream for three days straight, they’ll forgive me...
Ending the stream by defeating Drake wasn’t even worth considering.
Pouting, Alpaca unnecessarily shouted after reading the next post title:
[Lift the hoof of Alpaca trembling after being caught by Drake LOLOLOL]
“Hey! If I had hooves, would I wear shoes? Look at these shoes! And viewers, stop upvoting posts like this. I’m already stressed!”
-LOLOLOLOL
-Alpaca’s hoof LOLOLOL
-Who wrote this? Nice one.
-LOL
-_-ㅅ-
[Handsome Alpaca watching community posts = instant upvote]
This one’s better.
Alpaca stealthily entered the post and upvoted it.
-Bootlicker!
-Kick out the bootlicker!
-Where’s the manager?!
Same old crowd.
Alpaca sighed deeply and surrendered.
“Well... a promise is a promise.”
If I collapse midway, the viewers will understand.
-Kyaaa!
-So cool, Alpaca!
-Is the next stream titled ‘New Year’s Waiting Room’?
-Let’s break the Guinness record for longest stream LOLOL
-Wanna bet whether the new Assassin’s Dawn game or your ‘keep-streaming’ challenge ends first?
-Basically declaring you’ll die streaming in this lifetime smh
Or not?
Alpaca glared at the viewers.
Come to think of it, a collab stream might be fun.
-Inviting that streamer would be lit though.
-Just checked their community stream—they’re crazy good LOL
Chats popped up as if reading his mind.
But:
“First, don’t mention me in their stream. That’s just annoying.”
For things like this, warnings must be given early and firmly.
-Ok
-Yup
-e
Being a 2-day-old streamer was problematic.
He’d never done collabs before, and things were going smoothly—no need to disrupt that. Might make the other party uncomfortable too.
Hmm.
Just as Alpaca agonized, a collab notification popped up.
Checking it, Alpaca’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Anyway. Ending the stream here today.”
-Today was legit.
-If you rage-quit now when your next stream might last forever, that’s heartless LOL
-FRLOL
“Good work, everyone.”
[Stream has ended.]
That day, a collab notice was posted on Alpaca’s fan cafe.
Meanwhile—
Movie Soft, overseeing over ten global development studios.
In the CEO’s office of Movie Soft Korea, developer of Assassin’s Dawn: Shadow in the City, someone burst through the door.
“CEO! Emergency!”
“What?”
Eve Faimo, CEO of Movie Soft Korea, swiveled her chair to see Kim Yoon-chan—an overly optimistic employee.
“A Ruler’s been captured, CEO.”
“...”
“Via solo play.”
At the troubling report, Eve demanded details:
“Which one?”
“Drake.”
“Pfft. No issue. He’s the weakest—should’ve been caught by now anyway.”
Eve’s serious expression dissolved.
“But if people start asking about the Fragments of Order...”
Eve cut him off.
“Enough. Pointless worry. Yes, collecting all Fragments would disrupt our plans, but you designed the system to prevent that. Why the panic?”
Fragments of Order dropped when defeating Rulers solo.
One Ruler was designed to be unbeatable without a specific skill, no matter the player’s skill.
They’d ensured unlocking that skill took considerable time—meaning no need to worry yet.
“I know, but what if the worst happens? Plus, the captor’s a streamer. They just... walked up and caught Drake.”
“Mr. Optimism here.”
“Gut feeling!”
“Enough. Get back to—Wait. ‘Just now’? So you were watching streams during work hours?”
“...Oops. Gotta go!”
“Hey!”
Next day.
“What’re you doing?”
“Just checking game skill info.”
Taewoo shook his head at Seojun browsing community posts in the taxi.
“Don’t get obsessed.”
“Shut up. Need to double-check for the collab.”
Though sudden, they’d discussed the collab’s general flow despite limited time.
“Why’re you tagging along anyway?”
“Wanna see that hyung after so long.”
“What about your stream?”
“I’ll hit a nearby PC bang. It’ll work.”
Ugh.
Seojun sighed deeply, his veteran streamer dignity shining through.
“We’re here.”
After paying the driver, they exited.
“Follow me—I’ve been here before.”
“Sure. But why’d you meet him originally?”
“Hyung ran a rookie-discovery segment back then. Met during that. I was a 4th-year streamer; you’re a 3-day rookie. Damn.”
His tone held no real jealousy—Taewoo had endured his own struggles to succeed. Comparisons were meaningless.
After 30 minutes of wandering, they reached the destination.
So much for ‘been here before.’
Seojun shook his head and rang the bell.
Ding-dong.
Moments later, the door opened. Someone emerged.
