My Glitched Streaming System: I Can Steal Sponsored Gifts

After they had spent some time recovering, Im-hee had managed to regain a little of herself. Though she looked as strong as a twig ready to snap at any moment, she insisted they keep moving.

Sae-wee, on the other hand, was fine enough for combat. Though she still felt stings and inklings of pain in parts of her body, she didn’t let anyone know.

Being left with no choice, they continued forward.

The group made their way along the right path thanks to Ji-su’s guidance.

As usual, Min-ho led the way, prepping himself for anything that might attack them out of the blue.

He went about his responsibilities as normal, but he hadn’t said a single word the whole time. Everyone could tell he was still shaken by what had happened. Ji-su and Im-hee had assumed it was because Sae-wee had almost died, but Sae-wee knew better.

As she kept her eyes on him, she began feeling guilty to have caused him such pain. Both him and Im-hee, who was now burdened with the pain she felt moments ago.

’I should have been more careful,’ she thought, tightening her grip on her dagger.

While Min-ho walked, he couldn’t help but be drawn back to memories he had tried so hard to forget. To think the walls he built to hide away those memories would be broken down so easily.

All because of Sae-wee.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized there was something about her that affected him in a way he couldn’t understand. Like the both of them were always destined to meet. And face these trials together.

Shutting his eyes for a moment, he tried to forget these unnecessary thoughts and focus on something a little more important.

He glanced at his Z-Eye for a moment, looking at the numbers above.

253 views.

The numbers—no matter how much he tried not to believe it—were real.

Somehow, he had achieved one of three Golden-fingers. Though he had thought the numbers would decline over time, it only seemed to grow.

Under normal circumstances, this was supposed to be good news to any Z-Streamer, yet Min-ho couldn’t help but wonder what kind of people were actually watching him.

Thinking back to the moment he was distraught... he had been given three Gifts.

Each one equivalent to a thousand Coins.

The timing of these Gifts made his skin crawl, as though it was some sick joke.

Shaking the thought off, Min-ho focused on the path ahead, trying to keep his senses on high alert in case anything Ji-su couldn’t detect was lying in wait.

***

An hour into their trek and their progress had come to a screeching halt.

What stood before them was a wide cavern with a large gap separating them from the other side, which housed passageways to many more spiraling paths.

As they stood, they could physically feel the air had gotten hotter. There was a strange acidic smell in the atmosphere that itched at their noses.

’Why’s it so hot all of a sudden?’ Min-ho thought, keeping his sights sharp on their surroundings.

Just like before, the ground before them was broken in sections and looked brittle. There were cracks here and there, and it could be felt there was a drop below it.

"The terrain is unstable," Ji-su said, his brows furrowed as he focused.

Min-ho turned to him, anxious about what he wanted to say next.

"And there’s... there’s something underneath. A river of sorts." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Min-ho and Sae-wee raised a brow.

"What do you mean, river?" she asked.

"Can I sit for a minute?" Im-hee intervened with an exhale.

"Right," Ji-su said, helping her to the wall. Sae-wee joined hands, gently placing her in a comfortable position to sit.

"What else can you see?" Min-ho asked, his eyes briefly darting toward Im-hee, guilt biting at him for his indifference.

But he needed to know if anything lurked underneath.

Ji-su paused for a moment.

"There are corpses of Spectors down there. And there’s one corpse of a particularly big Spector," Ji-su elaborated.

His explanation managed to plant seeds of fear.

Upon receiving this information, Min-ho couldn’t help but wonder if those corpses were even corpses at all. They needed to be away from this place, fast.

"How stable do you think this terrain is?" Min-ho asked, turning to the thin-looking platform before them.

"I think it should be strong enough to hold our weight... if we moved individually..."

Once he said this, Min-ho and Sae-wee’s breath caught. Instinctively, their gazes fell on Im-hee, who needed support to stand upright.

Im-hee did not meet anyone’s gaze, as she too knew what this meant. She needed to move or get left behind.

Min-ho clenched his fist, then turned to the path before them.

"There has to be another way around it," he said, eyeing their surroundings.

The tunnels converging from the walls all led to this point. Like this was the central hub of it all.

There was no way around, unless...

Min-ho lifted his gaze to the wall.

’If Jang-book was here, he could...’

"We should turn around, you’ve gotten us lost!"

Min-ho’s eyes widened. Everyone turned to the voice, save for Ji-su, who just smiled.

"It’s obvious we’re headed west, stop telling me otherwise." Another voice rang in.

It was Jang-book.

"Jang-book?! Dok-su?!" Min-ho called out.

The voices went quiet.

"Min-ho?" Jang-book called back.

"Ji-su, are you there?!" Dok-su yelled uncontrollably.

"He’s fine, he’s right here!" Min-ho said, relief overcoming him.

"I’m okay, brother!" Ji-su said, a solemn smile on his face.

"Well, where the hell are—"

Min-ho could see Jang-book’s foot coming out of a tunnel not too far from them, his leg reaching for the platform.

Min-ho’s stomach flipped. He had yet to tell them.

’Don’t step there. Don’t step there.’

"No, stop!" he shouted.