Raeshan walked toward the massive chest. It was wrapped in dark vines, glowing faintly with golden light. With a simple input, he opened it.
The screen flashed.
[Boss Loot Revealed]
[You obtained: Black Crown Core]
[You obtained: Parasite King Seed]
[You obtained: Rare Skill Book Fragment x1]
The chat froze for a second.
Then it went insane.
[Livestream Chat]
@leaf_watcher: NO WAY
@user_665: BLACK CROWN CORE??
@greenblade77: THAT'S A TOP TIER DROP
@rookie_hunter: BRO JUST WON THE LOTTERY
Raeshan's eyebrows rose slightly. That was the first real reaction he had shown.
"Huh," he said. "That's… better than expected."
He hovered over the Black Crown Core, letting the item description appear on screen.
"A high grade core used for crafting A rank poison and curse resistance equipment," he read. "Yeah, this one's expensive."
@user_cliff67: How expensive
@user_098: Sell or keep??
Raeshan thought for a moment. "I'll keep it for now. Stuff like this gets more valuable later."
He glanced at the viewer count.
[Live View Count: 143]
Raeshan paused.
"…Oh."
The number kept climbing.
@greenblade77: Stream just popped off
@leaf_watcher: People are sharing the link
Raeshan let out a small breath and smiled faintly. "Guess the boss kill helped."
He checked the stream timer.
"Alright, that's enough for today," he said. "I promised one A rank dungeon, and we cleared it clean."
@user_665: NOOO ONE MORE
@rookie_hunter: Keep going
@user_cliff67: At least open the fragment
Raeshan chuckled softly. "Next time. Don't want to get greedy."
He ended the run and exited the dungeon. The game screen faded back to the main menu.
[Dungeon Hunter Main Menu]
He stopped the livestream.
[Stream Ended]
The room went quiet.
Raeshan leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a moment. The faint hum of the computer filled the silence.
"Not bad," he murmured.
He stood up and stretched lightly, joints popping.
As he turned toward the window, a sudden sharp pain struck his chest.
Raeshan froze.
His vision blurred for a split second. His heart thudded hard, once, twice.
Then a cold mechanical voice echoed inside his head.
[Awakening Conditions Met]
Raeshan's breath caught.
"What…?"
The lights in the room flickered.
[System Initializing]
His screen flashed white.
Outside, far above the city, the moon slowly brightened.
Inside Raeshan's room, there was no one present.
---
Inside the Tutorial Rift
"Ahh…"
Raeshan suddenly felt his head hurt, as if it had been struck by a hammer. He grabbed his head with both hands. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
In front of him floated a glowing blue transparent window. A few words could be seen on it.
[Tutorial Rift]
He was dumbfounded by the sudden change in his situation. Just moments ago, he had been playing a game while livestreaming, and now he was inside the Tutorial Rift.
It was too sudden.
He looked around and saw that he was floating on a white platform. No matter where he looked, all he could see was golden mist.
It was beautiful.
Raeshan was briefly enchanted by the scenery when a cold mechanical voice echoed inside his head.
[Tutorial Rift Loading Complete]
Ding
[Choose Tutorial Rift Difficulty]
→ Easy
→ Hard
→ Nightmare
Raeshan looked at the system window, a knowing smile appearing on his face. He understood what had happened.
He was already eighteen years old, so he had been transported here to take the Tutorial Rift test.
If he survived the Tutorial Rift, he would awaken as an Awakener and be sent to the Blue Planet.
He observed the system window and decided to choose Hard difficulty.Reason, he wanted to grow stronger and protect himself, as well as his loved ones.
Awakening a higher level talent would help him become stronger, which was why he chose Hard.
As for Nightmare difficulty, he did not choose it because no one had ever completed it.
He remembered a talent from the Elephant Nation who had arrogantly challenged Nightmare difficulty.
Now, that person was running a tea stall in some random countryside.
Just as Raeshan was about to choose Hard difficulty, a sudden change of events occurred.
[G.rrrr℅°°__#@]
The system window began to glitch.
Raeshan saw this, and his heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. This was his only chance to become stronger and change his fate.
He hurriedly clicked Hard difficulty on the system window, but—
Ding.
A cold system voice appeared in Raeshan's mind.
[Guest has chosen Nightmare difficulty]
Loading… Ding.
[Hosts: 100 participants assigned to challenge Nightmare difficulty]
[Special criteria met… Loading]
Ding.
[Hidden Mission Unlocked]
[Hidden Mission: Kill the pack of Dried Wolves, including the Mini Boss Silver Dried Wolf]
[Dungeon Loading… 12%]
Seeing this, Raeshan did not know what to do. He completely panicked.
"My god… Nightmare difficulty. I'm finished."
But then he saw the hidden mission, and memories of everything he had been through surfaced. His family dying at the hands of monsters. Becoming an orphan. Losing his childhood sweetheart.
He gritted his teeth, his eyes hardening as he remembered his resolve.
"If fate chooses to send me to hell so I can become stronger, then I, Raeshan, will go to hell and become stronger."
"My fate will be decided by myself."
Ding.
The cold mechanical system voice echoed inside his head.
[Dungeon Loading Complete]
Raeshan disappeared from the white platform.
---
Author's Note
If you like 'SSS-Rank Dungeon Streamer', please consider adding it to your collection.
Also, send Power Stones to keep me motivated to write more.
Thank you for your support!