<알볼로피피자님한판해요 님이 10,000원 후원하였습니다.>
-Wow! Flea Market in 4 days!

"Thank you. It feels like four days is both long and short... I’m not sure how long it normally takes."

-Fact) If an average person got the same amount of experience as Yujin, they’d still be level 15 after two months.
-Playing dozens of rounds a day, killing bandits, and no-death escaping 15 kills every time, if you hit level 15 in four days, no one would play EU mode lolololol
-There was a reason he was pulling 70 AP rounds at the start lol
-He beat the crap out of them and finally got the flea market open in 4 days?
-If he had done the regular questline, he would’ve hit level 15 in half a day lol

...What kind of game am I playing?

I wonder if Harmony or Dice, when they step into this game, will follow the same path as I did. I’m not sure that would be the most ideal situation, but… well, who knows.

I know that level and skill levels, the flea market and hideout, and rapport and trade volume with merchants exist to give players with more time played an advantage, but for those who don’t particularly need that, it might be better to approach the game in a different way.

One thing I wish for, though, is that there’s a button before you start the game that allows you to activate or deactivate individual scenarios, or something similar. I’ll bring it up with Harmony if the topic comes up later.

Anyway—

"Finally got the flea market open. I didn’t realize how convenient it would be to buy items with money…"

A shop, a shop.

When my character hit level 15, I received an individual notification from the dealer that the flea market had opened. Following his instructions, I entered the shop, and the session changed, bringing me into a space just for players.

Items were organized by sections: keys, junk, containers, food, equipment, medical kits, firearm accessories, and ammunition. However, my first impression was simply… it felt like a neatly organized, brutal traditional market. It was almost like it just needed some bowls of soup to complete it.

Fortunately or unfortunately, no one recognized me yet. Most people were seated, browsing the item listings. After all, it would be inefficient to wander around, stuffing items into plastic bags or backpacks like you would at a real market.

"This is amazing."

Piles of items stacked high. Among them, the premium ammunition section was especially fascinating. The ammunition kept disappearing and reappearing in a cycle. It was almost like a jacuzzi that produced bullets, or maybe a chocolate fountain. It was a strangely mesmerizing sight.

It wasn’t that there weren’t people setting up and selling directly. That was possible because direct negotiation was allowed—there were some people haggling over prices to buy items at a slightly lower cost.

I too started unpacking my bag and registering items. The weight of my bag gradually decreased and became thinner. Luckily, I could see the average price and per-item price over the past 24 hours, so pricing wasn’t much of a problem. I could sell things for about 100 credits or 50 credits cheaper, and they’d sell with no issues.

That being said, the price of junk wasn’t that important.

───Clink!

Today's main dish was something else.

It was time to dispose of around 40 rounds of .338 Lapua AP ammunition and various firearms.

Over the past few days, I’d traveled across the map countless times, sending bandits and players alike to the lobby or heaven. By now, more than half of my gear box was filled with appropriately or fully modified firearms. So today, I planned to sell off a few items and buy a THICC weapon box.

I opened the shop within the flea market.

The title... well, here it goes.

"The Viam Shop is now open. I’m selling what I’ve collected over the time. If you want, come by."

And exactly 30 seconds later, the shop was flooded with customers.

"I came because I heard this shop is doing well!"
"The boss is cute and the food is friendly!"
"Teacher! Please accept in-game donations! Tick Case donation!"
"What in the world is this…"

Ah.

I’m quite a popular streamer.

For a moment, I lost track of things. The AP rounds I listed—priced slightly cheaper than the flea market—sold out in an instant. The firearms I had brought along, which I had collected but couldn’t keep due to space, were also gone in a flash.

Meanwhile, the loud voices continued.

"Please sign the bullets!"
"If you sell signed bullets, they could go for 200,000 credits each."

Is that so?

But it wasn’t really the time for that. Besides, I wasn’t trying to make easy money by selling my name here, and I certainly wasn’t going to take the game lightly. The shop had a donation feature, but I didn’t activate it for that very reason.

However, I soon discovered an issue I hadn’t expected. Even though I hadn’t activated the donation feature, they still used the trade item attachment feature—meaning, when buying an item, they’d attach something extra along with it.

Thus, my inventory started filling up with odd items.

-[Notification: You have obtained <Tail Wax> item.]
-[Notification: You have obtained <Made a Tail Protector for Teacher!> item.]
-[Notification: You have obtained <Viam Snack> item.]
-[Notification….]
-….

"Dammit, stop giving me these weird items! Ugh!"

"Ah, Viam is mad!"
"Dome! Hwang! Cha!"

I slammed the shop closed and pulled an axe out of my multi-purpose pouch, swinging it around wildly. Everyone scattered like a colony of spiders hit by pesticide... which sounds quite gross now that I think about it. Let’s avoid that example next time. Anyway, they scattered like meerkats meeting a top predator.

Thanks to that, or maybe because of it, my bag was soon packed again. Although I hadn’t turned on the donation feature, I still ended up with extra items. I received 50,000 dollars and euros each, along with a small case for keys, money, and dog tags.

Of course, it wasn’t just that. As I mentioned earlier, I also got useless wax, a tail protector or whatever it was called, an MRE named "Viam Kakka," and even a bulletproof vest named "Doon Doon Konda"... such quirky things.

I closed the shop, and in no time, I had about 10 million credits in cash.

"First, I need to buy a big weapon box."

But of course, the viewers wouldn’t stay silent after hearing that.

In no time, a dozen people set up shops nearby. I had a feeling I knew what was going on—they were selling the boxes I needed for 500,000 or 1,000,000 credits cheaper than the flea market.

Naturally, they had food, medkits, drinks, and storage cases listed for even cheaper than normal prices. And it wasn’t just randomly placed; the selling permissions were locked, meaning you had to negotiate directly with the sellers to buy items.

"You might feel a bit burdened right now, but don’t you know that it’s actually better for us, the newbies, and for you if you buy items here?"

"Huh?"

"If you don’t buy here, you’ll just end up farming to earn money to buy it, which means everyone will be happily getting beaten up until they can gather enough money, right?"

"Ah."

-True words lolololololololololol
-Hurry up and buy, Yujin!!
-If you don’t buy now, more players will be sacrificed, Mr. Teacher?????
-But if you just farm quietly, can’t you make money without killing anyone?
-So you think he’ll just farm quietly? lololololololololol

What exactly am I to the viewers? A natural disaster? - Saying that feels a bit odd, but my skill level is so high that it can sometimes be a bit much.

With that thought, I packed up more item storage cases and returned to the gear box.

I wasn’t sure if I was satisfied, but I felt good.

Meanwhile.

───Beep!

"Whoa, crazy!"

"Why the hell is it here!?"

"Just let’s die. If Mecha Yujin appears, all items will be immediately retrieved anyway."

Boom.

With a flash of blue plasma, three people exploded.

Mecha Yujin had officially started moving.

"Finally, the real Mecha Yujin is revealed."

After finishing up my EU play for the day and chatting with viewers, I came across a video posted on my tricky site. Even though it had only been uploaded a few hours ago, it already had over 200,000 views. The title was simple: Mecha Yujin Plasma 3-Man Squad Annihilation.

It was a title that couldn’t be ignored, so I clicked on it without thinking, and the video started playing. Three players were casually moving through the Bunker map, when suddenly sirens blared from all directions—factories, frameworks, everywhere. A transport plane suddenly appeared from the sky.

There was one peculiar detail: it looked different from the usual transport planes.

"Well… it certainly looks Artemis-like."

-Whoa, what’s up with the transport plane dropping Mecha Yujin? lololololol
-Now hunters aren’t the only random spawns, Mecha Yujin too? This is insane lololol
-The forums have been buzzing for a couple of days, so I knew something was up lol
-The entrance was iconic lololol
-What is this, Iron Man? lolololololol

Whoooom, boom.

From the point where the video was filmed, about 100 meters away, I heard a thud and a slight shockwave, followed by the UI in the top right corner flashing red with "Unable," meaning the escape points were all blocked.

-What’s this? It seems like we’re in trouble?
-Uh... all the exits are blocked. Did they announce this event or something?

───Boom!

At that moment, the usually mundane Bunker section was filled with blue light, red flames, and rising dust. The first explosion seemed to come from plasma, the second from fire at the impact point, and the third was just dust.

Another ominous sound echoed, and gunfire erupted from the direction of Mecha Yujin. After several shots, they quickly disappeared, and not long after, my downgraded Icarus gear on my left wrist activated, showing Mecha Yujin’s real-time position.

We all swallowed nervously as Mecha Yujin’s figure appeared about 50 meters ahead.

What can I say?

It looked remarkably similar to me.

"Why does the hair and chest look so much like mine..."

-Lmao, Mecha Yujin is ‘possible’ now.
-The expression is so emotionless, it’s terrifying haha.
-If it’s not too much trouble, would it be okay to caress that slim exterior?
-I feel like I’d pee myself if I met this in-game lolololol

Of course, despite everything, I found it pretty interesting. Even though I said that, I couldn’t help but smile. It was pretty fun watching a boss monster modeled after me roaming around the map.

Anyway, let’s get back to the appearance details—yeah, it looked just like me. Of course, that was because I gave permission for it. A lot of people were asking about it in the chat or through donations, so I reassured them that I had approved it and continued watching the video.

Naturally, the outer shell was bulletproof, and it was clear that bullets only caused sparks without damaging the Mecha much. The high-caliber rounds did seem to dent the outer shell here and there, but the shield seemed to reduce the damage.

With overwhelming physicality, Mecha Viam closed the distance...

"Hostile faction detected. Target eliminated."

It shifted its tail, and with a flash of blue fire, it aimed at the players.

Boom.

The tail shot out with the speed of a bullet, hitting the ground, and with a loud bang, it seemed to carve out a piece of the earth, sending up dirt and flames. One player was reduced to ashes. The plasma-infused tail glowed ominously.

Despite the overwhelming display, Mecha Yujin fought relatively moderately—aside from using its tail plasma cannon. The remaining two fought well, even with the unfavorable situation, but after about 30 seconds, the tail cooled down, and the cannon recharged.

So, the two players became one, and after a few minutes, the last one disappeared.

But the important thing wasn’t that.

-You encountered Artemis’s new weapon? Well, we can’t do much about it. We’ll return the lost items on our end. Depending on the details, we may offer additional rewards, so please share everything that happened in detail.

-What?
-Whoa, you get insurance money too? lolololol
-2 million credits? That’s crazy lol
-Mecha Yujin, let’s hope it appears in every room!!!
-Newbies will finally get some breathing room lololol

...This is actually a win, isn’t it?

I didn’t expect this.

But aside from that, I realized something: the specs of Mecha Yujin seemed a little different from what had been revealed beforehand. It had shown more overwhelming mobility and firepower at high-value research facilities, but here, aside from the plasma cannon, it didn’t seem to be as impressive.

Without thinking, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"If I bring a few friends, I think we could take it down."

-Wait, what????????????
-You’re seriously planning to take it down? Lmao, you madman!
-Of course, that’s what he’d do, lol.
-Please, teacher, no more!

Why not? I could totally take it down, right?

But no, my small act of rebellion didn’t even register.

It was a typical day.