150 – Nymphs and Hyper Evolution #3
Kira Stone was extremely excited.
This was because she had filmed a fantastic video for her MTube channel.
“Hyper Evolution! What a cool technique!”
Kira was already feeling good at the thought of editing and uploading the video. The number of subscribers would surely increase greatly, and the views would skyrocket.
“Please upload it quickly!”
A cute animal was an infallible card for a Miteuber, and the ‘Hyper Evolution’ joker card made it a full house.
“It was truly a royal straight flush!”
As Kira turned on Haildo’s computer and opened the MTube window, she noticed Haildo’s search history.
“Inoi”
“Nymph Inoi”
“Oonioni”
“Top Nymph Inoi”
“Right, I remember saying we would share the computer.”
It seemed that Haildo, the quirky fairy nymph who lived with her, had searched her name extensively. It appeared that fairies were also curious about what would come up when they searched for themselves.
For Kira, who didn’t have many opportunities to interact with different races, these facts resonated lightly. Living as an Awakened often provided many unfamiliar experiences that were fun.
“How interesting!”
Kira now saved the USB and loaded the edited files. While doing so, one folder she discovered on the D drive caught her attention.
“Adult videos”
“Th-This is… the kind of adult videos I’ve only heard about? It must say so in Korean!”
Kira was greatly shocked. Was the seemingly upright Confucian man Haildo also a man with hot bl**d?
“Just a little…”
Gulp.
Swallowing, Kira slowly clicked the file and was taken aback by the multitude of videos within. They featured all kinds of animals running around.
“This isn’t adult videos at all; it’s wildlife footage! It’s filming the animals roaming around Primal Village!”
Kira closed the file with a slight feeling of disappointment. Then she found records of extensive searches for “Training Videos”, “Training Manuals”, and “Tips for Ranking Up”.
“This is…”
Seeing that reminded Kira of her own past. Back when she was a D Rank. Struggling to rise to C Rank, she trained hard and uploaded her videos. Haildo must have encountered his own videos in a similar manner.
“……”
Kira suddenly reflected on how she had become someone who only uploaded stimulating videos. The truth was, her diligent life as an Awakened had been aimed at practicing noblesse oblige.
“Caught a raccoon during a D Rank Rift raid! It keeps following me!”
“A training video to wish for C Rank achievement – Day 152”
Also, back then, there was an excitement about discovering new knowledge and worlds through rifts.
While watching the ‘Raccoon Video,’ which first surpassed a million views, Kira suddenly felt that her life as an S Rank Awakened was less enjoyable than before.
“It’s only natural that if I find it boring, my videos are boring too. It’s also natural for subscribers to drop… It’s just a recession…”
Tadadak-.
But Kira was a professional Miteuber, and she quickly edited the video and finished uploading it.
“Solo SSS Rank Squirrel Evolution!? First reveal in Kira Land!”
What a stimulating title.
Since it was the thumbnail for the video, it was best to make the lettering as flashy and colorful as possible. Yet, Kira didn’t feel particularly happy or amused.
“……”
Kira then logged into her undisclosed MTube sub-account, which no one else knew about. The subscriber count was 300. Each video only gathered around 20 or 30 views, but Kira already started smiling.
“A video capturing the squirrels of Primal Village”
It was a video of squirrels awkwardly filmed with a smartphone camera, without any stimulating BGM or captions. There were also scenes of honey ants building brick walls and tiger owls making hooting sounds.
# # #
“Title: Squirrel Hyper Evolution, Spring?
Content: That Haildo guy is doing whatever he wants, huh? Hyper Evolution, what a joke lol”
└ But the power was immense; destroying Ruby Lobsters with ordinary physical damage isn’t easy
└ Ahn Ahn: Evolve me too, Haildo, please evolve me
└ Will a Skull Honey Ant appear from Dark Evolution?
After the video “Solo SSS Rank Squirrel Evolution!? First reveal in Kira Land!” was uploaded, an endless number of comments were posted overnight. The SNS was buzzing about “Hyper Evolution,” and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
“I’m glad to have trained!”
Kkungkkungi…!
Pashuk-.
Kkungkkungi was running around me, wagging his tail like an excited puppy. He must have sensed with his wild instincts that people were talking about him everywhere. That must have felt good.
Kkungkkungi…!
Squirrels aren’t called squirrels for nothing. While calming the excited Kkungkkungi, Kira stretched out after spending the night in another room.
She then approached me with shining eyes.
“Mr. Haildo! The reactions are incredible! If this keeps up, ten million views are guaranteed within a week! Congratulations on becoming a global star, Mr. Haildo!”
Kira held my hand and shook it up and down enthusiastically. A global star—what a wonderful resounding title.
Wouldn’t I now walk around foreign countries and have people recognize me saying, “Oh, are you Haildo?” and asking for autographs?
However, Lee Jin-A frowned.
“Hey, Kira. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t show me? What’s up with this? I’m in the video.”
Lee Jin-A seemed to have realized that she appeared in the video. There was a scene where Kkungkkungi was hyper evolving, and Lee Jin-A could be seen exclaiming, “Th-That’s—.” It was marked as “The most rewatched scene by viewers.”
“I think I’ve discovered an angel. Sam is heading to Korea.”
“Is that Haildo’s girlfriend? Oh, I’m not surprised he has a girlfriend.”
“Can Mr. 1 evolve his girlfriend too? I’m curious about that.”
There were many discussions about Lee Jin-A in the comments. Although she had a slightly clumsy side, she was an incredibly sharp beauty when seen from the outside, so it was natural that people were drawn to her.
“This Inoi’s piggy bank also appears in the video…! This Inoi’s typhoon clouds she boasted about also appear…! This Inoi has become the most famous Nymph in the world…!”
Inoi puffed her chest proudly, which was about 20 seconds long in a 10-minute video.
“This Coris also has its back featured…! If I had known, I should have asked Jun Core Jin-A to help me make my hair look prettier…!”
Coris’ video lasted about 30 seconds, but for some reason, it only showed her back.
A strange Mtube debut in many ways. What was the reaction like?
“There really was a Nymph lol”
“But isn’t the piggy bank full of <Mysterious Coins>? Greek people, come out.”
“I’m Greek, but I doubt it’s <Mysterious Coins>. There shouldn’t be that many collected lol But the Nymph seems real. Why is a Nymph in Korea instead of our Greece?”
“Nymphs are actually an ancient race of Korea, and it’s written in the true accounts of Goguryeo.”
Nymphs had some unknown aspects compared to Elves.
However, the reaction toward Inoi, who appeared in Kira’s video, was quite favorable and everyone seemed amazed.
However—
I felt a slight sense of disappointment. Kira’s video was much more stimulating than I had anticipated. But since Kira had simply worked hard at her job, I decided not to voice my disappointment.
And I had managed to find a wonderful video from last night.
I clicked on it without much thought as it appeared in the algorithm, and unexpectedly felt it was soothing.
“A video capturing the squirrels of Primal Village”
It had no captions and was devoid of a single dialogue. It even lacked the common background music, yet it featured squirrels and various animals coming out and eating food, creating a very peaceful atmosphere. Watching it was almost healing enough to make me yawn.
There had been quite a number of foreign visitors finding their way to Primal Village, and it seemed like one of them filmed and uploaded the video.
While I was watching that video, Kira spoke to me.
“What about that video…?”
“Oh, this is from another MTube channel. I thought they took such good footage of the animals. There are also videos of raccoons and foxes. I wonder what country they’re from?”
“I see! In England, there are many foxes, just like Korean stray cats. That person seems to be English. Their Miteuber name is ‘English Woman,’ right?”
Kira seemed to take pride in that for some reason. It seemed that she had this cultural pride regarding fellow countrymen as an English person.
After all, people are all the same.
“Mr. Haildo. If you want to debut on MTube, just tell me.”
Kira offered me a business card as she got into a white sedan. She seemed intent on including me as a member of her ‘Kira Land,’ which was an incredibly appealing proposition.
However—
Thinking it through, I wasn’t exceptional enough to balance both Miteuber and Awakened life.
I wanted to focus solely on my Awakened life right now. I couldn’t risk ruining things by trying to catch two hares.
“This Inoi feels very disappointed that it’s leaving so soon…! There’s still so much I want to show…! I want to introduce the ones I released back to nature…!”
Inoi seemed saddened to part with Kira, whom she had spent a day with. Inoi was a warm-hearted Nymph who liked showing off, so she seemed to not want to separate from Kira.
“Let’s meet again later!”
“This Coris doesn’t know what’s what, but it was fun!”
Vroom-.
As Inoi and Coris waved goodbye, Kira drove out of Primal Village. The squirrels barked at the car, and it was a scene as peaceful as ever.
“That was quite a stormy person.”
I realized only after she disappeared that Kira had a significant, loud presence.
At that moment, Lee Jin-A nudged me.
“You did well. How did you manage to fry and cook that Kira?”
“What do you mean fry and cook her?”
“Kira used to buy a bag of the calming candies I made every time she came to Korea. But this time, she didn’t buy any. I guess she found her peace. You can tell just by looking at her, can’t you?”
Now that I thought about it, Kira had had a friendly relationship with Jin-A as a buyer and seller.
I found it hard to believe that even such a bright and cheerful Miteuber relied on Jin-A’s candies to that extent.
“I feel like I haven’t really done anything. Maybe it’s because the squirrels are cute. The village does have a good atmosphere. Honey ants and tiger owls are all hanging around too.”
For someone who loved animals, Primal Village could be the best retreat. I was sure that having spent a night there, the fluffy animals had a good influence on me.
While I was thinking this, Lee Jin-A took something out from her pocket.
It was a bag of candies wrapped in plastic.
“This is unnecessary now. Do you want these candies?”
“No, I don’t need them either.”
“Oh really?”
Lee Jin-A chuckled at my reply. Soon after, she threw the bag of candies into a nearby trash can.
“‘I don’t need them.’ You’re probably the only one who can say that. But you might need them soon. You know the A Ranks are aware that you and I are being excluded, right?”
I vaguely sensed that too. Just yesterday, I had tried to explore a rift to show Kira the ‘Hyper Evolution’, but the A Rank Awakeners, who were the party members, rejected our participation.
That was why we aimed for the unreported rifts of the gangs.
“People can be really petty. Exclusion? That’s childish. It’s not like we’re kids. Just know that you and I can now find it tough to participate in party hunts.”
Tsk-.
Lee Jin-A clicked her tongue and rubbed the dirt on the ground with her sneaker.
I had heard vaguely about the exclusion among A Ranks, but I never thought I would become one of the targets, so I was quite taken aback.
What should I say? Just the fact that I had risen to A Rank felt surreal to me.
“Well, I’d heard that bullying and exclusion feel like an A Rank initiation. But still, what will happen to you, Jin-A, who isn’t even an A Rank yet, being targeted?”
“Dunno, should I just go and beat them all up?”
Lee Jin-A frowned.
Being a former delinquent, I felt a bit scared that she might actually do that.
“I’m joking. Just joking. Do I look like someone who beats people up and extorts them to film videos? I’m not that kind of person.”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
“Respond.”
Crinkle-.
Lee Jin-A frowned.
Woo-woong-.
At that moment, my phone rang.
“Ari: Senior! It’s the promised time! Now you must become my husband!”
“Oh. Has it already come to this?”
As I rubbed my chin while reading the message, Lee Jin-A, who had been growling next to me, glanced at my phone.
Then she asked me.
“What’s this? You have to become Yu Ara’s husband?”
“Just take it literally. I will be her husband, and we will go on a beautiful island honeymoon together.”
Swoosh-.
Ari, dressed in a white gown, appeared in the yard of the well.
Inoi, as always, exclaimed, “Hieek…!” upon seeing Ari, then relievedly added, “Now that I see, it’s Jun Core Ari…! I mistook her for the Nymph-hating hunter…!”
Inoi had originally been scared of Ari, but she gradually became familiar with her.
“Honeymoon to an island?”
Lee Jin-A asked me, seemingly puzzled.
I decided to explain simply.
“It’s a covert mission. Ari asked me to play the role of her husband. We have to go to that island and investigate various things.”
“What? Why is a medical officer on a covert mission?”
Lee Jin-A seemed to find it hard to comprehend many aspects of the situation.
Suddenly, Yu Ara trembled.
“That’s─.”
But Ari was an official, and officials could inherently handle various assignments.
I suggested to Ari.
“Why don’t we take Jin-A along to the island? If it’s a covert mission, someone like Jin-A who can manipulate people’s hearts would be much better.”
“…Alright! As expected, senior! But Jin-A, are you okay? We’ll head to the island now. It’s known as the ‘Hell Island’ and is ruled by the A Rank Demon Lord Jun.”
“Demon Lord Jun….”
Jin-A’s expression suddenly became serious.
Taking advantage of the atmosphere, I asked Ari.
“Really, among the people trapped on that island, are there Nymphs too? I know you wouldn’t lie to me, but it’s surprising to hear that Nymphs are trapped on the island.”
“Shh-. That’s still a top-secret matter-.”
Ari looked around and covered my mouth with her palm.
Ari’s palm was warmer and softer than expected, but it carried a slightly salty taste.
