SSG 245
by CristaeYuseong returned to his own world.
First, he organized the massive amount of information he had obtained. Based on that, he laid out his future plans.
The conclusion was simple.
‘I just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing.’
He continued to work on raising his notoriety and preparing to cross over to the American continent.
‘Annoying as it is, Messiah may have been right.’
Knowing about their existence hadn’t changed his behavior.
‘Then let’s head north.’
His robot army would soon reach the Bering Strait.
‘I’m not planning to actually cross to the American continent until I hit 1 billion notoriety, but I’ll get to right in front of it in advance.’
He wanted to cross the strait as soon as he hit 1 billion notoriety.
And to do that, he had to find a way to actually cross the strait.
Though the Bering Strait is the shortest stretch of sea connecting Asia and America, it’s by no means close enough to reach out and touch.
‘I’ll get all sorts of interference at sea, I bet.’
He had no illusions that it would be easy.
Finally, he looked over his base. Most likely, this would be the last time he ever saw it.
‘I’ll stay near the Bering Strait for a while, cross to America, and then head to North Carolina.’
And, if everything worked out, he would cross over to the other world for good.
‘If not, I’ll end up buried under the Bering Strait or fall somewhere on the American continent.’
Either way, Yuseong would never return here.
It wasn’t as precious as the other world, but this base had been a warm haven for him in this world. After committing its image to memory one last time, Yuseong stepped outside.
As always, he wore the reinforced exoskeleton. But there was one thing different from usual.
Strapped to his back was the virtual reality device.
He had wrapped it tight in all sorts of protective gear, firmly secured to his back, worried it might get damaged.
According to Messiah, though, there wasn’t any need to cling to that particular VR device.
He himself was the one connected to Ark, not the device. Messiah said he could even use devices manufactured in the other world to access Ark.
Hearing that, he’d felt ridiculous for all the times he’d trembled at the thought of the VR device breaking.
But ever since first connecting to Ark, he’d always played it on this particular device.
Discovering it had been the first step in changing his hellish life. He felt a certain attachment to it, so he planned to keep using it as long as possible.
His journey went smoothly.
Though, naturally, in this world no trip was without its share of monsters and beasts blocking his path, those were no longer a problem for him. He crushed all the enemies that stood in his way.
He had set up bases everywhere, so resting along the way was easy.
It wasn’t as luxurious as the base he’d left behind, but he wasn’t asking for anything more while on the move.
And so, Yuseong kept heading north toward the Bering Strait.
Even while traveling, Yuseong didn’t neglect playing Ark. As soon as his conditions were met, he would head for the Bering Strait and the American continent, but that also meant he couldn’t cross until then.
The condition was 1 billion notoriety—a truly daunting number. Yuseong was confident he’d reach it, but the time it’d take was the issue.
‘If there aren’t any special events, it’ll literally take years.’
With Savior having been possessed by Hades, there was no benefit in dragging things out now. Restlessness was dangerous, but doing nothing and letting time pass was just as foolish.
He kept consulting Messiah.
Even if he couldn’t manipulate Ark as he pleased, Messiah was still the AI managing it, and his information was plenty helpful to Yuseong.
Aside from that, Yuseong continued every little activity he could to reach 1 billion notoriety, even one day sooner.
He focused on his main streaming content—optional boss hunting—and explored all sorts of Ark content to increase his notoriety.
But that wasn’t all. His efforts continued even after moving to the other world.
“Ah, even Yuseong-nim isn’t good at classic games the first time around.”
A streamer who specialized in playing retro games from before the VR era commented to Yuseong.
<ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Even he’s only human>
<That game was infamous for its difficulty even back then>
<He’s still doing well for a first try>
“But I’m sure he’ll get the hang of it soon… huh?”
The streamer, as well as viewers, stared wide-eyed at Yuseong’s gameplay.
<??????>
<What did I just witness?>
<Why… is he suddenly good?>
“Yuseong-nim, have you played this game before?”
“Just now.”
Yuseong replied as he skillfully manipulated the controller.
“Just now? When?”
“I died once just now.”
“So you got used to everything from that one death?”
“Yes.”
“How is that possible?”
“I picked up everything important—timing and patterns.”
“……”
<?????>
<????????>
<He figured it all out in one go?>
<Are we supposed to believe this?>
<ㅋㅋㅋ He’s even more ridiculous in Ark>
<But this is with a controller, not VR>
<Real pros aren’t bound by equipment ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
He even did collaborations with other streamers outside VR games.
“Hello, it’s time for another fun mukbang.”
<Hello>
<Yooha>
“So many people today. Honestly, I don’t get why people like watching someone else eat. If you want to eat, just eat yourself!”
<I can’t, I’m on a diet>
<We can’t make it look as tasty as you do, Yuseong-nim>
“If you’re enjoying the show, that’s good enough for me. I’ll show you what I’ve got for today.”
He held something up to the camera that he’d prepared.
<Canned food?>
<Looks foreign?>
<Wait… is that…?>
“It’s surströmming. I bought it because I was curious.”
<ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Surströmming>
<That’s the smelliest food in the world ㅋㅋㅋ>
<ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why would you buy that>
<A food even more stinky than hongeo ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
The chat was going wild, but Yuseong calmly showed the can from every angle.
“So, it looks normal enough.”
<That’s because it’s in a can ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
<If even the can rotted, it wouldn’t be food anymore ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
He lifted the can opener he’d prepared.
“Let’s open it.”
<Here we go!>
<I heard it smells like poop>
<There’s a hole!>
<ㅋㅋㅋㅋ It sprayed!>
“It spurted a little. I should have been more careful.”
<Ahhhh!>
<Major accident!>
<Why would you sniff it ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
<That’s gross! ㅋㅋㅋ>
“It definitely has a bit of a strong smell.”
<???????>
<A bit?>
<I’ve seen people freak out just at the smell>
“It’s open. This is the famous surströmming.”
He showed the open can’s contents to the camera.
<Doesn’t look that bad>
<Might just look that way>
<You’re eating it just like that?>
<Please at least rinse it off ㅠㅠ>
<He’s eating it, he’s eating it>
<He doesn’t look fazed?>
“Hm, since it’s fermented, it’s pretty salty.”
<That’s it?>
<The saltiness isn’t the issue here?>
“I’ll have a little more. I think I saw you’re supposed to eat it like this…”
He transferred a chunk to his plate and, as he’d researched, began to take it apart.
<All the innards are spilling out ㅠㅠ>
<Why do I feel like I can smell it through the screen?>
“Remove the bones… and done. Now for a serious taste.”
<You’re eating the whole thing?>
<ㅋㅋㅋ Every other streamer just nibbled at it>
Yuseong chewed thoughtfully for a long while before swallowing.
<?????>
<Not bad?>
<I saw a streamer throw up eating that>
<He must be a black bread killer>
<What’s that got to do with black bread ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
<He picked up another!>
<Surely he won’t eat the whole can?>
He put another piece in and looked to the kitchen.
“It’s salty—makes me want some rice.”
<Are you eating kimchi?>
<Is he going to eat the whole thing?>
<Another piece!>
<Wow, he actually did eat it all>
<Amazing>
Finishing the entire can of surströmming, he wiped his mouth.
“It does smell strong, but it’s not impossible to eat.”
<Most people can’t eat that>
<Incredible tolerance>
“That said, it’s not really filling.”
<It wouldn’t be>
Yuseong suddenly got up and left the screen.
<????>
<Where’d he go?>
<Bathroom break?>
<Oh, he’s back>
He returned with a massive bowl in hand, heaping with white rice.
“It was too salty, so I brought some rice.”
<ㅋㅋㅋ There’s the ancestor’s rice bowl>
<One bowl?>
<Looks like something out of an old black-and-white photo ㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
<That’s like four servings ㅋㅋㅋ>
<You’re not going to eat the rice by itself, right?>
“Of course, I’ll eat it with side dishes.”
He pulled something out from under the desk.
<?????>
<Surströmming?>
<He had more?>
“I bought a whole box so I still have more. It wasn’t bad, so I’ll eat the rest with rice.”
<???????>
<?????>
<???????????>
“It’s salty—just right as a side dish.”
He drew attention with so-called ‘mukbang’ content as well.
He tried whatever he could think of.
Thanks to such efforts, his notoriety rose significantly.
Still, Yuseong did his best to draw people’s interest, unshaken.
And after several months had passed, he finally reached the long-sought Bering Strait.