Chapter 52

The next day.

“Hello, everyone.”

Seo-jun started streaming at exactly the same time as the day before.

-Hello

-hihi

-Hi Seo-jun

-Hello Seo-jun

-Hello!

Seo-jun looked fondly at the chat window that was now filling up quickly as if it were natural, then started some casual conversation.

“What did I eat? I just mixed an egg with soy sauce and ate that.”

Tasty and easy to make.

“What did you all eat? Or what are you planning to eat?”

It was almost dinner time now.

-Jjajangmyeon

-Chicken

-Pizza

-Caviar

Really predictable answers came flooding in.

“Wow. You all need to stop eating delivery food. Oh, there’s caviar in there too. If that’s real, I want just one bite.”

-Lmao

-Just one bite guy appeared

-Hey! Why would you buy caviar? With that money you could buy twenty bowls of hot, hearty soup!

-Soup fanatic, long time no see

“Soup is good. Alright, let’s start the game now.”

Having given enough time for people who received streaming notifications to join, Seo-jun pressed the game start button.

Naturally, the game was For the Murim.

Since Seo-jun had ended yesterday’s game session in the town center, the panda and bamboo didn’t appear this time.

Instead, Oriental-style buildings rose up.

“There’s one hour left until Battlefield opens. Alright then, let’s go to the Demonic Cult.”

Seo-jun had several reasons for going to the Demonic Cult.

To enjoy in-game content like clothing and equipment, you had to visit your affiliated faction.

Second, he had arranged to meet Heavenly First Swordsman at the Demonic Cult.

Seo-jun walked out of the town.

He couldn’t use lightness skill inside.

“Ugh. I could get there so much faster this way.”

But it was possible outside the town.

And the Demonic Cult’s mountain was clearly outside the town.

Using lightness skill, he could reach the Demonic Cult’s main gate that had taken him a whole 5 minutes to reach yesterday in less than a minute.

“Hello.”

Seo-jun greeted the swordsman standing in front of the main gate.

The swordsman also spotted Seo-jun and waved happily.

“Hello, Seo-jun-nim.”

“So, Swordsman-nim, did you do your homework?”

The homework he’d assigned was exercising in real life.

“Of course!”

The swordsman answered confidently.

-He did his homework? That’s pretty impressive.

-This guy actually did it?

-Why is he so good-natured

-Just words? You need to check.

The swordsman, who had his own stream running on the side, read the chat and said,

“Don’t worry, everyone. Seo-jun-nim will check later. We’re going to train together in real life starting tomorrow.”

Question marks appeared in the chat, and Seo-jun began explaining.

“Ah. It turns out Swordsman-nim goes to the same school as me.”

When he was walking across campus and heading home today, someone had been following him from behind.

Since there were many people on the street at the time, thinking that someone was following him could have been considered self-consciousness or celebrity syndrome, but.

Seo-jun had definitely felt it.

And the identity was revealed when Seo-jun suddenly turned around.

Like him, thanks to not touching his avatar, he recognized him at a glance.

Heavenly First Swordsman.

His real name was Jeon Jae-hoon, and he was three years older than Seo-jun.

“So I told Swordsman-nim to just do it together.”

-Wow, look at that connection lol

-What university?

-I’m curious too

“Hmm…”

While Seo-jun was considering whether to reveal it or not.

“Korea University. Hehe.”

The swordsman beat him to it.

-??????

-For real?

-Being good at studying too is kind of… makes me feel distant

-He was smart too! Honestly, it makes sense for the streamer since he’s a host, but Swordsman is surprising lmao

-The streamer’s usual wild behavior was all high-level calculations

-Scary

-So it’s real?

“Yeah, well. Why would it be fake?”

He hadn’t particularly thought about denying it or hiding it.

Someone recognizing him could easily happen even without revealing his university.

He didn’t need to worry about acquaintances at school recognizing him either.

Because he didn’t have any acquaintances.

A little sad.

“Ah! Should I not have said that?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Maybe he should just take a leave of absence.

Anyway.

“Well, since we’re schoolmates, and our neighborhoods are close too, I decided to personally supervise his exercise.”

He’d told Swordsman to come to the gym every morning.

For free, thanks to negotiations with the gym owner.

There’s no teacher like this who even considers his student’s financial situation. Really.

It’s definitely not because he wanted to have some fun training someone properly after a long time.

It’s just meant to help him develop a sense of his body while also taking care of his health.

“Oh right, Seo-jun-nim. And everyone. I filmed myself exercising for three hours yesterday. Want to see it?”

Why did you film that.

Seo-jun said without a moment’s hesitation,

“No.”

-LOL

-So firm

-Why won’t you watch

-What’s a guy gonna do watching another guy exercise

-We have the right to see it too!

Ugh.

What right.

“I trust you, Swordsman-nim.”

And even if he didn’t do it yesterday, he’ll just drill him going forward.

“Alright, that’s all about homework. Follow me.”

Seo-jun entered the Demonic Cult.

Since he was wearing the Grand Master title, NPCs would bow their heads and greet him first when they saw Seo-jun.

Leaving them behind, Seo-jun headed to the Demonic Cult’s training hall.

“Huh? There are quite a few people here?”

“Right.”

On the sparring platform in front of the training hall, there was Baek Wigang taking the Demonic Cult test, and when he had taken the test yesterday, there had been at most one person.

But now there seemed to be more than ten people.

-What’s this?

-It’s because of the streamer

-Why are there Orthodox faction guys in the Demonic Cult?

The training hall itself was empty, unlike the sparring platform.

Seo-jun took out two swords from a corner and asked the viewers,

“Because of me?”

Could it be related to Grand Master?

It was as expected.

-Don’t you check the community?

-Interest in the Demonic Cult test increased because you got Grand Master

-People are saying you cheated to get Grand Master, I think?

“Cheated? What kind of cheating?”

What was there to cheat about?

If remembering past lives counts as cheating, then it’s cheating.

“Right.”

The swordsman, who had been watching the chat next to him, also had the same look of confusion.

-People are saying your Grand Master title is fake

-Gasp

-I think it’s legit cheating. No matter how you look at it, that skill is cheating lol

-Skill being cheating is so funny lmao

-(link)

“Hmm.”

Seo-jun didn’t click on the link.

The content would be obvious anyway.

The time it took from when he first saw the techniques, then made modifications, and took the test was really short.

It could be seen that Seo-jun had prepared in advance since it was called the standard technique, but even so, the time Seo-jun had been exposed to For the Murim itself wasn’t very long.

On top of that, for a newbie to receive a grade that had never appeared before.

No matter how much he had topped Training Hall, it wasn’t easy to believe.

Simply put, it wasn’t common sense.

“But you all believe me, right?”

[‘Yes Yes’ donated 10,000 won!]

[Cheating? Smart people do stuff like that lol. A streamer who doesn’t even prep and does weird stuff all the time, what’s he gonna cheat on lmao]

-That’s true lol

-If you have a good body, your brain gets to rest!

-The streamer was first to clear so many things LOL. Martial arts superiority complex is crazy

-Wait! The streamer goes to Korea University. He is smart.

-Ah… it was all image-making this whole time. So calculating

-Cheating… maybe he did?

Or not?

Seo-jun pushed aside the chat that was gradually going off on tangents.

“Thanks for the donation. Now, let’s do what we came to do.”

Leaving the viewers behind, Seo-jun stood in front of the swordsman.

Swordsman also faced Seo-jun and said,

“But why did we come to this training hall? Are you going to teach me that technique you showed yesterday?”

“No.”

“…?”

“We came to train, obviously. A quick session before Battlefield starts.”

One real experience is better than swinging a sword at air a hundred times.

“You don’t mean that training is fighting with you or something… right?”

“That’s exactly right.”

What else do you think training is?

“W-wait a minute. Senior? Heavenly Demon-nim? Wait! What could I possibly do against you! Aah! At least teach me something first before beating me up!”

“You set pain sensitivity to maximum, right? That’s how training works.”

Seriously.

-I seriously thought yesterday this would happen

-You too? Me too!

-He’s gonna gaslight you into thinking this is good for you.

-For real lmao. Not bloody teachings that help, but bloody teachings that hurt lol

And the viewers comfortably watched this unfold.

* * *

Seo-jun spent about 30 minutes directly clashing swords with the swordsman, teaching him combat.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“What is this. Is beating someone up considered teaching? Thank god it doesn’t hurt much in virtual reality. But today? You said ‘for today’? Did my ears get messed up?”

“You heard correctly. You know what happens if you don’t show up to the gym tomorrow, right?”

“Hah… We shouldn’t have exchanged phone numbers.”

“By the way, Swordsman-nim, did you participate in yesterday’s Battlefield?”

“Ah, yes. I exercised a bit then entered Battlefield.”

“Did you attack or defend?”

“A man attacks.”

-How did he get into Korea University with that brain LOL

-Why not attack from day one

-Real casual users don’t really care

-I attacked yesterday too

-Romance approved!

Right.

Seo-jun agreed with the chat’s content.

If he didn’t have the goal of making it to rank 16, he probably would have given up the small position bonus and just attacked too.

-But what about the streamer lmao

-Rankers are all preparing seriously

-Yeah, why did you spin the roulette lol

-Even if it’s the streamer, it’ll be tough

-I saw yesterday that the streamer gained the most reputation points though? Isn’t it possible?

-Nah, that’s because the streamer’s build is specialized for domination

-He’s practically the master of Level 10 AI, so isn’t he basically the best?

-Training Hall and actual games are different

-PVP too

-Are you doubting the Heavenly Demon!

30 minutes before Battlefield starts.

Lots of chatter was going back and forth in Seo-jun’s chat.

Even though he’d performed so well in Training Hall and Assassin’s Dawn, people were still uncertain.

The reason was that he’d never done proper PVP against skilled players.

“Well, that’ll be clear after Battlefield ends…”

That’s when it happened.

Someone entered the training hall where only Seo-jun and the swordsman had been.

And suddenly threw a dagger.

The training hall was an area where attacks between players were possible, as the name suggested.

He wouldn’t die, but Seo-jun reflexively tilted his head back.

The dagger spun through the air, passing through where his head had been, and stuck into the stone floor behind him.

Seo-jun turned his gaze from the dagger embedded in the ground to the source of the throw.