As the colors around Adam finally began to stabilize, the warped lights and shifting environnt slowed... until everything collapsed into a single tone.
He stood in a black void.
A silent, colorless space with no sense of direction.
Up, down, left, right... none of it seed to matter here.
There was no floor, but he wasn’t falling.
There was no sky, but it didn’t feel closed in.
It was just... nothing.
And then, a familiar screen flickered into view in front of him.
[Compensation and rewards have been received]
[Level 81 → Level 82]
Mana Output has increased by 1%
[Level 82 → Level 83]
Physical Damage has increased by 1%
...
[Level 94 → Level 95]
Magic Damage has increased by 1%
Adam watched the notifications scroll one by one, each ding sounding out faintly through the void.
The steady climb in levels was satisfying, but he wasn’t sure if it made him feel stronger.
Maybe he was just getting used to it all too quickly.
Then, another notification.
[You have now entered] : Sponsorship Phase.
[Instructions] After every five floors completed, the Stream Hunter may now select 1 Major Sponsor and 5 Minor Sponsors. Selection of all slots does not have to be imdiate. The Stream Hunter may wait until later floors to fill the remaining positions. Choose carefully. Influence cos with cost.
Adam frowned as he kept reading. Another screen unfolded beneath the first.
[Sponsorship Explained]
[1] Sponsorship is the act of sharing one’s existence—mories, growth, victories, and failures—with an entity who has reached a higher state of being. Such beings are ranked at the Mythril or Legendary level, possessing overwhelming influence over others and things that exist.
[2] By accepting a Major Sponsor, the Stream Hunter grants them permission to subtly shape or guide their growth. This may appear as advice, power boosts, visions, interference, or even active intervention depending on the Sponsor’s nature.
[3] Minor Sponsors cannot directly guide your path but may offer limited support—such as enhancing certain traits, temporarily strengthening abilities, or increasing survivability in key monts.
[4] If the Stream Hunter dies, the Major Sponsor will suffer the sa fate, ceasing entirely, their essence bound to your continued existence. Minor Sponsors will not die, but they will suffer severe backlash, potentially weakening them for centuries or more. This binding is absolute. Choose with care.
[5] Choose your sponsors with caution. Not all gifts are given freely. Not all guidance leads forward.
Adam took a deep breath.
In his past life, he wasn’t offered a Sponsor during his first Sponsorship Phase...
Back then, he was just a young man who only knew how to follow orders.
He had no charm and no stage presence.
He barely had any viewers watching him.
It wasn’t until years later, when he got hired by a rising local hunter agency, that things started to change.
He earned the title of "Captain" after several successful raids and eventually beca sowhat known in the scene.
That was when he finally caught the eye of a Sponsor...
A viewer known as the [Knight of Rose].
Looking back now, Adam had a few regrets.
After binding his existence to the [Knight of Rose], he noticed changes.
He beca more emotional... too emotional.
There were days when even a simple farewell from a teammate would leave him feeling hollow.
Tis where anger, grief, or even joy would hit harder than it should.
He developed a strange kind of attachnt to people, even strangers he fought beside only once.
He knew this wasn’t fully him.
The [Knight of Rose] had altered him, using her influence to make him more empathetic... more human.
And while it annoyed him back then...
Those monts of weakness, those tears he couldn’t stop—
Tt was probably the only reason he hadn’t fallen into the pit of cruelty that swallowed so many others.
Her presence kept him lucid, as though being anchored to sothing real... and sothing kind.
Till now, Adam felt as though that little bit of empathy and kindness still affected him...
Leading him to cry over his recent teammate’s deaths despite already knowing what it felt like to lose teammates over and over again...
"...Still annoying, though."
Adam muttered to himself with a half-smirk.
Now, standing once again at the crossroads of fate, he had the chance to choose differently.
He glanced forward as the ambient light dimd.
[You may now select your sponsors]
[Sponsorship Offers]
[Nawh] Offers to share their existence with "Shadow" as an offer.
[TheeReaper] Offers to share their existence with "Destruction" as an offer.
[5th Style Sword Master] Offers to share their existence.
[Frog Eater] Offers to share their existence.
[Prankster of Kingdoms] Offers to share their existence.
[Experienced Old Knight] Offers to share their existence.
[Pulsed Howler] Offers to share their existence.
[Woman of Specters] Offers to share their existence.
[Aberrant of the Flesh] Offers to share their existence.
[...]
The more Adam scrolled down, the longer the sponsorship offer list beca...
It seems that this ti, he really had attracted the attention of a lot of viewers...
Adam could not choose all of them, and he did not have any plans choosing all of them as there were limited slots.
Amongst all of them, only two had caught Adam’s eye.
[Nawh] Offers to share his existence with "Shadow" as an offer.
[TheeReaper] Offers to share his existence with "Destruction" as an offer.
He had never seen "offers" before...
When the [Knight of Rose] offered a sponsorship towards him, it only had "offers to share their existence" written...
Just like the ones with the other sponsorships he had received just now.
’Is it because they’re those weird viewers with odd usernas...?’
Adam thought.
Adam frowned giving it a mont of contemplation.
He didn’t press anything yet.
Instead, he turned his attention to the system ssage blinking faintly at the bottom of the screen.
[Reminder: Choosing a Major Sponsor creates a mutual link between both parties. If the Stream Hunter dies, the Major Sponsor will die as well. Minor Sponsors will suffer backlash, but not death.]
Adam paused.
"...It’s finally mutual now."
He whispered.
In the past, the Viewers only watched.
They gave help, but they never risked themselves.
Now? If he fell, they’d fall too...
It wasn’t just a gift, it was a gamble.
For them, and for him.
This ant only one thing... That they viewed Adam as soone worth risking their existence for.
Adam paused for a second...
Before finally making his decision.
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