The deeper passage narrowed into a tunnel that smelled like wet earth and something sharper. Hajin kept the camera rod steady while Bibi shifted on his shoulder, dark lines flickering in and out like she was still processing what she had absorbed earlier.
"You good up there?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
"Bi," she answered, but the chirp was softer than usual.
'Good, at least she is not bouncing off the walls,' he thought, stepping over a crack in the floor where acid had eaten through the stone.
The tunnel opened into a wide chamber, and the camera light caught the far wall first, then the ceiling, then the floor. He stopped walking because the whole room was covered in slime residue, a thick layered coating clinging to every surface and pulsing faintly with a greenish glow.
In the center of the chamber, embedded in the floor like a tumor, sat the nest core.
It was a structure rather than a monster, a mound of hardened gel and bone fragments fused together with a dark crystal protruding from the top. Each pulse from the crystal sent a ripple through the residue coating the walls.
[Primary Objective Update]
[Defeat nest core]
[Recommended Time: 00:06:32]
[Time Remaining: 00:04:18]
'Four minutes,' he thought. 'Gate timer is still running, and the recommended time is already blown.'
Chat caught the objective panel and the tone shifted immediately.
[SeoulGateLurker]- "that's the nest core, bro has to destroy that thing to clear the gate"
[ClipFarmOperator]- "he has four minutes left on the recommended time, is he actually going to try this solo"
[CrownCounter77]- "after the mini-boss? honestly yes, put him on"
[DungeonAuntie]- "host, listen to me carefully, nest cores explode when they break, you need to hit it hard, fast and then get back, do NOT stand there admiring your work"
He read the warning and nodded once, already scanning the chamber for cover points. The walls had recesses where the residue was thinner, and a cluster of broken stone pillars sat to the left of the core. If he could get close, crack the crystal, and pull back before it detonated, he would be fine.
'Bibi can absorb the shock if I time it right,' he thought, glancing at her. 'She has been eating everything so far, might as well test if she can eat an explosion.'
"Bi," he said, and she looked up at him. "When I hit that crystal, I need you to wrap around me the second it cracks. Can you do that?"
"Bi bi," she answered, the dark lines on her surface flaring bright.
'That is either a yes or she is just excited,' he thought, gripping the broken rod. 'Either way, we are doing this.'
He stepped forward, boots sinking into the residue. The chamber reacted, walls rippling as three slimes peeled off from the coating and dropped to the floor with wet impacts.
"Not this again," he muttered, swinging the rod at the nearest one before it could orient itself.
The slime burst against the rod tip, acid splashing across his already ruined sleeve. He kicked the remains aside while Bibi intercepted the second one, pulling it into her body without breaking stride.
[Mass absorbed: 0.1kg]
[Maturity: 7.2%]
The third slime went for his ankles, and he stomped it flat before moving toward the core.
Chat was moving fast, viewer count climbing past 1,300, donation alerts stacking in a rhythm that made his phone buzz against his hip.
[Live viewers: 1,312]
[Tip received: 5,000 won]
[Tip received: 3,000 won]
[UrbanManaNerd]- "he is not even stopping for the trash mobs, he is going straight for the core, this guy is either brave or stupid"
[GateClipJunkie]- "both, it is both"
He reached the edge of the core mound and raised the rod. The dark crystal pulsed a few time before he swung.
The rod hit the crystal, cracking it without shattering, and a shockwave rippled outward through the residue. The walls shuddered, the chamber groaned, and he stepped back before the crystal could pulse again.
'Again,' he thought, stepping in for a second strike.
He swung, the crack widening as the crystal pulsed faster, erratic now, the residue on the walls starting to bubble.
He planted his feet, gripped the rod with both hands, and drove the broken tip into the crack with everything he had left.
The crystal shattered.
The chamber went white, a shockwave hitting him in the chest and throwing him backward. Bibi launched herself from his shoulder, body expanding mid-air, wrapping around him before the blast wave could tear through.
Heat washed over them, the sound deafening and the ground shaking hard enough to rattle his teeth before everything went quiet.
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling through a haze of dissipating vapor, Bibi pressing against his chest, while warm, solid and slightly larger than before.
"Bi," she mumbled, muffled against his shirt.
"Yeah," he said, voice rough. "We made it."
[Gate Interface]
[Primary Objective Complete]
[Secondary Objective Complete]
[Clear Rating: Exceptional]
[Time Bonus: None]
[Performance Bonus: Solo Clear, No Team Support]
[Final Rating: Exceptional]
He exhaled, long and slow, letting his head drop back against the floor.
[SeoulGateLurker]- "exceptional clear, no time bonus, but the performance bonus must be carrying the rating"
[ClipFarmOperator]- "I clipped the whole thing, editing now, someone remind me to post the link in the hunter forums"
[CrownCounter77]- "I need someone to explain what the slime did during the explosion, did it absorb the blast or just cushion it"
[DungeonAuntie]- "host you are an idiot, but you are a talented idiot, well done"
[UrbanManaNerd]- "nest core explosion radius is usually 8 meters, he was standing three meters away, if that slime had not wrapped around him he would be in the hospital right now"
[GateClipJunkie]- "check his viewer graph, he didn't have that many viewers when he entered the core chamber, now he's at 2k, this is going to blow up"
[MomSaidNoGates]- "my brother is a D-rank hunter and he says solo nest cores are not supposed to be possible for F-rank, what am I watching"
[Live viewers: 2,104]
[Tip received: 20,000 won]
[Tip received: 100,000 won]
[Tip received: 15,000 won]
He pushed himself up slowly, every muscle protesting, and checked his arms. Both sleeves were gone, skin red but intact as Bibi had absorbed most of the blast.
'Good girl,' he thought, patting her with one hand.
The Archive panel appeared in front of him
[Resonance trace detected]
[Viewer emotion intensity: Critical]
[Crown Aura +7]
[Current Crown Aura: 15]
[Archive repair progress: 2.1%]
[New summon slot available at 20 Crown Aura]
He stared at the numbers while Bibi climbed onto his shoulder and settled there.
'Fifteen crown aura,' he thought, jaw tightening. 'Five more and I can pull another one through. If I survive the next gate that is.'
He looked at the viewer count, [2,104] and climbing. The clips were already uploading, share icons lighting up on the stream overlay.
'Need to get this rod replaced before the next run,' he thought, picking up what was left of it and checking the camera.
The chamber was quiet now, just the drip of condensation and the soft hiss of cooling residue. The nest core was gone, shattered into glass fragments scattered across the floor.
He adjusted the camera, checked the exit beacon, and kept his voice steady for the mic.
"Thank you all for watching, and thanks for the tips," he said, nodding once at the overlay. "I'll be back for the next run."
Chat flooded with replies and quick emotes while he turned toward the exit path.
'First gate down,' he thought, 'I got two thousand viewers, hundred thousand won in tips, and fifteen crown aura. Not a bad start.'