Chapter 59

He looked around his surroundings.

A forest full of vegetation, no, a clearing deep in the mountains. In the corner of the clearing were NPCs.

They were escort agency guards.

The background for the game mode ‘Escort’ was mostly like this.

“You must be the ones from the Demonic Cult.”

The escort captain, the NPC who appeared to be the leader, approached and bowed his head in greeting.

“This way.”

He led them to where the wagon and NPCs were gathered.

Seo-jun and his teammates followed him.

“This is the item you need to protect.”

Various goods were stored in boxes on the wagon.

The escort captain pointed to one of them.

Then, just like how nicknames appear above people’s heads, text appeared above only that item.

[Blue Porcelain]

What they had to protect was blue-tinted pottery.

‘Looks fragile.’

The escort leader closed the box.

Then he left them alone and hurried to prepare for departure.

“The enemies won’t know what we need to protect. That item name floating above is only visible to our eyes.”

The viewer said, and Seo-jun replied.

“I know.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes.”

“That’s strange. This shouldn’t be possible.”

There was sincerity in his words as he spoke while tilting his head.

-LOL

-What do you mean this shouldn’t be possible? He’s been doing advance study lately

-It’s not advance study, it’s preparation, you bastard

-Are you a fake fan by any chance?

“Ah, right, you prepare beforehand so you don’t have to do that thing, don’t you? Hehehe.”

That thing.

He was referring to Seo-jun’s penalty.

The female teammate beside him, who had been listening, rubbed the wagon while speaking.

“Excuse me, what’s that thing?”

“That thing?”

“Yes. That thing.”

“Hmm. If you’re curious, search iTube Jin Seo-jun and watch.”

“Why won’t you tell me now?”

“It’s too embarrassing to say.”

The viewer grinned mischievously and suddenly picked up a stick from nearby, then started spinning in place with his hands raised above his head like doing ballet.

After stopping, he struck various poses using the tree branch as a staff.

Without saying a word.

It was like silent performance art, but the intent was clear.

Mimicking a magical girl.

-LMAO

-He seems crazier than the streamer?

-Insanity level is off the charts LOL

-Look at him with his mouth open and eyes twitching

-So scary lmao

-At that level, isn’t he a villain?

Viewers who saw this laughed, and the female teammate suddenly brushed her arms as if she’d seen something bizarre.

“What the hell.”

He could fully sympathize with her feelings.

Seo-jun shook his head with a laugh.

It was funny, but also not quite right.

“We’re departing!”

The escort captain up front shouted.

The game started simultaneously.

[Safely escort the goods to their destination.]

The escort agency began moving, and the users also started moving in step with them.

“Seo-jun-nim, so you really know what to do, right?”

Seo-jun nodded.

“Yes, really.”

Escort was a simple mode.

Just protect the goods from enemy attacks while they’re moving.

3 vs 3. The side trying to steal gets higher points if they successfully steal the goods, but they also win by just destroying them.

That’s why escort agency guards were attached as teammates to the escorting side.

Users respawned at the starting point while dart agency guards couldn’t respawn, which was a disadvantage, but they were still reassuring.

Knowing that enemies hadn’t appeared yet, the viewer tried starting a different conversation with Seo-jun.

“But how are you so good at fighting, streamer?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

His viewers might know.

He’d been giving consistent answers all along.

“Ah, that you remember your past life?”

“That’s right.”

Seo-jun nodded with an expression that said he’d guessed correctly.

“Oh, was that really true?”

“Of course. Why would I lie?”

Nobody believed him, but had he finally met someone who would!

-Neither of them is normal lol

-The woman next to them is getting more and more disgusted

-Just listening to the conversation, they’re quite broken lol

Just like the chat said, the face of the woman walking beside the wagon next to him looked like someone watching men who constantly made stupid jokes and nonsense.

She opened her mouth.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Are you really that good at games? Earlier this guy said something about you being a Shin Ha-yeon slayer.”

Shin Ha-yeon was hard not to know if you were interested in virtual reality.

Moreover, the people matched right now were those with fairly high reputation.

In other words, skilled players.

For such skilled players, it was even harder not to know Shin Ha-yeon.

Seo-jun glared at the viewer instead of her.

“Let me correct one thing first.”

“What?”

“I’m not a slayer.”

Slayer means killer.

If he carelessly used such words, he could end up archived on the internet for life.

-Streamer scared???

-What’s wrong with saying slayer!

-Why can’t you say you beat Shin Ha-yeon!

-The problem isn’t that he won, you guys lol

What should a streamer be most careful about?

Controversy.

You always have to watch your words.

“Then what?”

“I didn’t really beat Shin Ha-yeon, I beat her clone.”

She looked at him with eyes that said ‘if you say so.’

She probably didn’t know that extremely few people had beaten that clone so far.

“Ugh, Shin Ha-yeon my ass.”

“Huh? You don’t believe it?”

Seo-jun didn’t think much of it, but apparently his viewer did.

“What am I supposed to believe?”

“The fact that the streamer will carry this match!”

“Yeah yeah. Sure he will.”

Ever since the viewer had imitated a magical girl earlier, she’d been keeping her distance from his viewer.

“By the way, they should be coming out soon.”

The woman replied.

“Right. Let’s be careful now.”

“Yep. I’ll stick close to the wagon. We especially need to be careful of ambushes since the enemy happens to be unorthodox.”

Users from the Assassination Guild with stealth skills and fast movement speed were particularly threatening in this mode.

And Tang Household was equally threatening since they could destroy goods from a distance with throwing knives.

Ironically, the least threatening faction was Green Forest.

They were bandits.

“Well, I’m not too worried. Seo-jun-nim is amazing at catching assassins.”

“What makes you trust him like that.”

The woman clicked her tongue.

“Because…”

That’s when it happened.

Seo-jun, who caught the subtle trembling of bushes beside the path the wagon was passing, quickly swung his arm down.

Whoosh!

His sword made a slight cutting sound as it sliced through the bushes.

Both of them, who had said they were prepared but knew it wasn’t time for enemies to appear yet, were startled by Seo-jun’s sudden action.

“Ahhh! What is it!”

Then an enemy with a covered face screamed and jumped out of the bushes.

Judging by the red nickname, it was an assassin from the enemy Assassination Guild.

‘With their fast movement speed, they must have come ahead and waited.’

The enemy, whose health had been somewhat reduced after being hit by Seo-jun’s sword, lamented.

“Damn, your eyes must be freakishly good. Usually people don’t get caught, but just my luck.”

The Assassination Guild’s passive was stealth.

It was a trait that provided camouflage when staying still or moving very slowly, but it didn’t hide the effects their movements had on the terrain.

Things like footprints or rustling grass, for example.

So if you knew where an assassin was, catching those changes was quite easy.

But catching them without knowing where they were was very difficult.

It was impossible unless you poured all your attention into your surroundings or had naturally good observation skills.

-As expected, he’s good at catching assassins

-Assassination Guild was also a small-time operation like the Assassins lol, got caught right away

-Are your eyes really like a bird’s?

The assassin retreated.

“I’m leaving for now.”

The teammates didn’t go after him.

If they chased him alone now and the enemy regrouped to fight many-against-one, it would be disadvantageous, and if they pursued together, the wagon and goods left defenseless could be endangered by enemies taking a detour.

The viewer waved goodbye.

“Yeah. See you again soon.”

“In a few dozen seconds?”

“Keke, that’s right.”

The woman laughed.

Then she turned her head toward Seo-jun beside her and said,

“Your eyes really are good… Wait, where is he going?”

Seo-jun, who had been beside her, had followed the assassin.

“Right.”

“What?”

“Absorption Technique.”

“Huh? No, what…”

Hearing her voice gradually fading, Seo-jun smiled.

“You can’t just run away as you please. Isn’t that right, everyone?”

He deployed lightness skill.

Due to faction characteristics, the enemy was faster, but since the enemy started just walking after not going far, the distance closed.

-Who said you could leave?

-Ah lol, if you fight, you have to kill the enemy first

-That’s quite a psychopathic trait.

-I think it suits the streamer

Seo-jun quickly approached, and the enemy sensed the presence and looked back.

“What are you? You followed me? No wait!”

Seo-jun charged while bringing his sword to the enemy’s neck.

The flustered enemy barely managed to raise his sword and thought he’d blocked Seo-jun’s attack.

But that was a mistake.

The sword he’d raised to stop the attack didn’t even make contact.

Because Seo-jun had pulled back his sword just before impact while flying at him, then landed beside him.

He’d given a feint so the enemy couldn’t annoyingly block with his sword when he landed.

In terms suitable for this game, it was a fake-out.

“You got tricked.”

Slash!

Seo-jun immediately sliced the side of the enemy who was making a confused expression.

Since it was a strike infused with internal energy, a lot of health was lost.

“Hey. Are you sane? You chased me for this?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“It’s obvious… Ugh. If I hold out just a little longer, my teammates will come, so what will you do?”

What will he do about what.

A chat that matched his thoughts happened to come up.

-Kill them all lmao

* * *

Clatter.

Thunk.

Creak.

The wagon made all sorts of sounds as it slowly traveled the unpaved road from roughly 700 years ago.

The escort agency guards maintained strict vigilance.

“To see this right before my eyes! Ah, not exactly before my eyes.”

The viewer rubbed his nose.

“What?”

“This is the scene of the bus.”

“Bus?”

“Yes.”

“What bus? It’ll be fortunate if he doesn’t come back as a corpse.”

“Just quietly get on board.”

What is he talking about.

“And why didn’t that person take the trait where Absorption Technique gets canceled when combat ends? It seems like it’ll be hard for the two of us to block from the start. Still, since we’re close to the starting point, if we hold out a little…”

While naturally thinking about the direction of the game afterward, a kill log appeared.

[Heavenly Demon14 –> Dongdong]

She said calmly.

“Fortunately he seems to have skill. 2 vs 2 should be manageable.”

Now even if the Heavenly Demon died, since their starting point was closer, he could rejoin faster than the enemy assassin.

Even if not, she was confident they could win 2 vs 2.

“Uh-huh. That’s not it.”

“What isn’t!”

“It’s not 2 vs 2, it’s 1 vs 3.”

“Why? Are we abandoning the wagon too?”

Seo-jun’s viewer shook his head.

“No. You’ll see if you just watch. By the way, sniping him was worth it. I was already regretting not switching to Demonic Cult right away after watching his stream.”

“Wow. You came to Demonic Cult following a streamer?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh. What a fanboy.”

“If I were a real fanboy, wouldn’t I desert? If his winning streak breaks, he’ll have to do the magical girl… Wait, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Huh? Magical girl? What’s that?”

“Hehehe.”

An anxious laugh was heard.

“With the streamer’s skill, he should be able to win this much even without me, right? I believe in you!”

What is this crazy guy talking about.

“Still, I might get banned if I just leave.”

His ID was the same as his Travel ID.

He could get investigated.

Even if he left right away and changed his Travel ID, he could still get banned based on previous records.

Too bad. Otherwise he would have just left.

“Excuse me? Hey? Explain this to me.”

The viewer ignored her words and entered team chat.

[Streamer. How about 200,000 won if you win this match without me?]

[Sure.]

[But if you fail, show Christina’s affection quest!]

[…]

[Fine.]

“What are you two doing?”

“A personal mission. Well, bye.”

“Huh?”

His figure suddenly disappeared while smiling.

She could only understand what had happened after seeing the chat that came up afterward.

[Well, there’s no need to leave the game, is there?]

Just as he said, when she checked the teammate list, one spot was empty.

“What a mess. Really.”

She definitely wasn’t to blame for suddenly wanting to switch factions.

“I’m definitely reporting them when this ends.”

Yes, both of them.