Chapter 66

Battlefield Day 8.

One region belonging to the unorthodox faction was occupied by an orthodox faction attack, but as if they had known this would happen, the unorthodox faction similarly occupied one orthodox faction region.

Day 9.

Both the unorthodox faction and orthodox faction recovered their respective lost regions.

They’d each thrown light jabs at each other.

It was a sign that the battlefield was about to begin in earnest.

And during all this, nothing happened to the demonic cult.

As before, those who were supposed to defend defended, and those who were supposed to attack attacked.

Of course, there was no change.

‘At Least 2nd Place’ group chat told Seo-jun that the demonic cult rankers were conserving their strength. However, there was no credibility to it.

The orthodox faction and unorthodox faction didn’t seem to pay much attention to the demonic cult either.

“Wait, dude. You said your capsule was borrowed?”

Tae-woo’s eyes widened as he ran on the treadmill.

“And if you win LOS, they’ll give you that capsule, so that’s what you’re aiming for?”

“Yeah.”

“Right. What you’re using, now that I think about it, that’s the latest top-tier capsule that just came out, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow. Crazy. They can just lend something that expensive to a random streamer? There’s no rental service! Can corporations do this? Huh? Isn’t this favoritism?”

“It’s up to the corporation. If you have complaints, don’t enter virtual reality and go protest instead.”

Go ahead and boycott it.

“…It’s not to that extent. Well, I guess they could lend it out.”

He knew he’d say that in the end.

If he was going to back down immediately, he shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.

“But why exactly?”

Hmm. Didn’t he tell him?

“Because I have a special constitution.”

Seo-jun stopped the treadmill.

“Yeah. What kind of special constitution?”

Right.

He’d been a streamer for quite a while now, but he never mentioned it.

Seo-jun explained the situation to Tae-woo.

“Ah, so that happened. Wait, then you really did use a capsule before? I thought it was just your usual lying.”

Tae-woo also stopped running and gulped down water.

“When did I ever lie?”

“All the time. So what was your old ID?”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“I’m curious. You must have been incredible back then too, right?”

“No. I wasn’t good back then.”

“No way. You’ve probably been consistently the same since middle school and elementary school.”

He didn’t know what that ‘consistently the same’ meant, but for some reason it annoyed him.

“Anyway, if you can’t win LOS, you’ll have to buy a capsule, right? Will you quit streaming then?”

“No.”

“Oh. That’s unexpected. You said it has to be the new model. You’ll really pay that money for one?”

This was already decided long ago.

“I’ll have to buy it. What choice do I have.”

Seo-jun said nonchalantly.

“Wow. This is the dignity of an 8,000-viewer streamer? You’ve almost caught up to me already.”

The minimum standard for mid-tier streamers was 10,000 regular viewers.

But Tae-woo was doing well among mid-tier streamers.

So saying he’d caught up was a bit of a stretch.

Also, in terms of regular viewers, Seo-jun was still only halfway there.

“Stop talking nonsense. Besides, there’ll be limits going forward. I’m worried about what to do.”

The battlefield would end and LOS would start in two weeks.

He wanted to increase his viewers as much as possible by then.

“Well, someone like you should be able to participate in LOS, right?”

“Still, it’s not 10,000 yet.”

Usually mid-tier streamers with 10,000 viewers mostly get accepted if they apply.

They’re called mid-tier, but there aren’t that many of them.

“I’d be pretty sad too if I couldn’t even participate in the competition and had to helplessly buy a capsule worth over 100 million won.”

It’s fine to try and fail.

But being completely denied the chance to even try would be awful.

“I need to reduce the possibility of being rejected as much as possible.”

“That’s true.”

Seo-jun leaned his back against the front of the treadmill and looked around the gym interior.

He saw one person exercising with noticeably large movements and loud shouts.

“But why did he end up like that?”

Tae-woo also leaned beside him and looked.

“Right. When that person first came, didn’t he really hate this place?”

“He did.”

“That was because of you. You kept calling him up to the ring.”

“That’s also true.”

The identity was Heavenly First Swordsman, whom he’d met in real life.

At some point, he’d become fanatically obsessed with fitness and was working hard with weights alongside other muscular older men.

“One! Two! Three! Four! Five!”

“That’s right! That’s how you do it! Young man, your form is excellent.”

Seo-jun clicked his tongue while watching the scene.

Martial arts is not something you obtain by training like that.

“You see, martial arts is…”

“Shut up, old man. I’ve been hearing that since high school.”

“…Right.”

Was this one of those too?

Seo-jun didn’t remember, but he accepted it.

“So. What about the viewers? The battlefield buff has its limits too, right?”

“Well, that’s true.”

It was ambiguous to call it a limit.

The viewers gained through the battlefield were much more than expected.

And they’d probably increase a bit more going forward.

It’s just that with 10,000 viewers in sight, he’d gotten greedy about safely participating in LOS.

Well, who knows how it’ll turn out.

If someone had told him a year ago after seeing that, that he’d be streaming like this now, and enjoying it, would he have believed it?

“Ah! I think I know a surefire method.”

“What.”

“Deliberately create controversy. Target and insult famous streamers.”

“?”

“Then you could get 30,000 viewers. Really.”

As expected. His friend was not right in the head.

Seo-jun lamented.

“Or quit the battlefield right now and do the penalty. If you do that, you’ll probably hit 50,000 on the live stream. Now that I think about it, what are you even worried about? Right, brother? Or sister?”

Doesn’t he know that’s more serious?

* * *

Seo-jun moved away to escape Tae-woo, who was spouting nonsense.

On the ring, Lee Dong-soo was sparring with some fighter.

“Why did you come over here? Shoo, shoo.”

The gym owner approached Seo-jun and started waving him away warily.

“That friend you brought and tormented for a while is exercising over there right now, so hurry up and go.”

To try this hard to drive him away.

Seo-jun made an incredulous expression.

“I just came to watch.”

“Really? You’ll really just watch? Huh?”

“What else could I do besides watch?”

The owner’s face changed to resemble Seo-jun’s after hearing those words.

And he muttered words mixed with slight resentment and bitterness.

“Hit the fighters.”

“?”

“Hit the people who came to exercise.”

“……”

“Called over the guy you’d beaten and hit him again.”

“No…”

“Hovered around giving advice and hit people when they got annoyed.”

Was it that bad?

“I don’t think it was to that extent.”

He seriously didn’t think it was necessary to be so upset.

“Are you even human?”

“Where else would you find an ordinary person like me? When was I ever that violent?”

“Wow… Wow. Really. You!”

The owner grabbed his neck.

And just then, Lee Dong-soo finished sparring and came down.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. And Seo-jun, I don’t know what you’re planning, but please, in moderation. You know?”

Sniffling sounds could be heard.

Hmm. He must be going through some hard times lately.

“He’s getting older, so I should be understanding.”

Seo-jun dismissed it as him having some circumstances and Lee Dong-soo took off his headgear and approached Seo-jun.

“Hyung, did you know?”

Seo-jun moved back slightly, worried about getting splashed by sweat.

“What.”

“I’m also doing the battlefield.”

“Really? What faction?”

“I was originally Green Forest, but I followed you to the demonic cult, hyung.”

“Why bother?”

“……”

Wasn’t that the reaction he expected?

“What’s your nickname?”

“BanditKing.”

“Then just stay with the unorthodox faction.”

“But…”

Why did he choose the demonic cult?

Wasn’t it precisely because of his nickname?

Nicknames and role plays should match, after all.

“Well, the demonic cult guys are kind of like bandits. Maybe it fits?”

That’s right.

Thinking about it, in his previous life the demonic cult was no different from bandits.

They were just stronger because they had martial arts, and more cohesive due to their cult leader, but fundamentally they were no different from thieves.

“Haha, I see… Ah. Please keep my identity secret. It’s a sub-character.”

“Sub-character?”

I’ve heard of that.

Pros are exceptionally given one additional capsule account.

If requested, they’ll make up to three.

“Interesting. Got it.”

“The second account is nice because you can play games or practice without pressure. By the way, hyung, how much fame have you accumulated?”

“I haven’t checked, so I don’t know.”

“Really? A ranker I know predicted that you probably accumulated the most, hyung.”

“I don’t know.”

Seo-jun had all his actions exposed, so many people speculated that he’d built up an unusually large amount of fame.

He’d finished most games at a level higher than pubstomping, and set unprecedented records in raids.

It was enough to become a target of wariness among rankers.

“Still, they told me not to let my guard down.”

“Huh?”

“Today, after the battlefield ends, contribution rankings will be publicly released.”

“Right.”

It’s a system designed to encourage rivalry among top rankers.

This kind of thing makes it more interesting.

“And the next day’s game mode is dueling, where things could be overturned.”

“Ah. I know that too.”

“Ah, really? I was going to tell you in case you didn’t know, but that’s good.”

He had been playing the game a little, just a little recklessly.

Still, he wasn’t someone who’d jump in without any research.

It was somewhat unfair.

“Tomorrow’s game gives the same maximum of only 4 contribution points, but you can keep playing, so you can keep accumulating fame, right?”

“Yes.”

How devious.

Showing how much you’ve fallen behind and how much others have advanced, then giving you a chance to overturn it the next day.

However, it’s hard to properly utilize the ability to keep playing.

You’ll be matched with opponents of similar skill level.

“I’m looking into everything too.”

“I see.”

Lee Dong-soo nodded in understanding.

“Don’t you feel bad though?”

“Not at all.”

“But where did you meet that hyungnim?”

“Ah. I have some people I became friends with while gaming. Why?”

“You don’t seem to be in the faction chat room.”

Seo-jun recalled the demonic cult’s chat room, which was depressing just to think about.

‘At Least 2nd Place’.

Anyway, there didn’t seem to be a user called BanditKing there.

“There was such a thing?”

He just didn’t know about it.

“Wait, let me invite you to the demonic cult faction.”

“Yes.”

Seo-jun invited Lee Dong-soo to the faction chat room.

“Uh, but why is the chat room name like this? Is this really where rankers gather?”

Unfortunately, it was.

[At Least 2nd Place]

-A newcomer

-A ranker, right? Welcome.

-You were unorthodox faction? Welcome.

-You never tried the battlefield? Welcome.

-Anyway, welcome. Even if you’re a spy, welcome.

Even though he’d barely participated in conversations, he didn’t know why this was so embarrassing.

“Hmm… Should I just leave?”

Lee Dong-soo muttered seriously.

He seemed to have lost interest instantly.

“Why. They’re welcoming you nicely.”

“Seriously?”

“No.”

Seo-jun said bluntly. Honestly, it did look pathetic.

Still, Lee Dong-soo adapted to the atmosphere quickly.

Befitting a sociable male high school student.

-Demonic cult seniors, this BanditKing bows his head to you!

-Welcome, mountain bandit!

-What mountain bandit. Anyway, nice to meet you

-Why did you come so late?

-I was trying the battlefield for the first time, so I didn’t know this chat room existed. Still, I’ve been accumulating fame from the very beginning of this battlefield, so don’t worry.

-No one was worried. As long as you enjoy the game as a member of the demonic cult, we’re satisfied.

-Yes.

His mental fortification seemed lacking.

-By the way, Heavenly Demon-nim, how much contribution and fame do you have?

-We’re curious too

-Could there be someone higher?

-It comes out today. Just wait.

People here and there seemed very interested in his contribution.

Seo-jun typed to change the subject.

-But aren’t we attacking today either?

-No.

-We need to defend

-If enemies attack?

-That doesn’t mean we can go on the offensive…

-Ahem, we’re conserving our strength.

-Everything is for 2nd place!

-…