Chapter 71

Heavenly Killing Star also realized at a glance that the post was someone’s mischief, just like Navigator.

He couldn’t help but know.

Hadn’t there been attempts to shake things up with ridiculous controversies from outside forces in previous battlefields too?

These were people who kept their own identities tightly hidden while digging up their opponents’ personal information down to the smallest details.

Creating forced controversies was child’s play for them.

But regardless of whether it was child’s play or not, Heavenly Killing Star hated that sort of thing.

‘That’s why I helped him.’

He had redirected the conversation elsewhere.

A duel challenge.

It was his own form of consideration that could both push the ridiculous controversy to the background and put the leading competitor in their place, while simultaneously serving as his own check against that advancing rival.

‘Why would a profitable game company go out of their way to favor one streamer anyway.’

Unless it was an AI created by that game company.

Having collaborated with him in real life proved that wasn’t the case either.

Anyway, he had helped that streamer in his own way while engaging in good-natured competition.

By suppressing one spark with a bigger topic.

The problem was.

‘He’s making this fire even bigger. What’s wrong with his head?’

[‘Heavenly Demon14’ donated 200,000 won!]

[Tomorrow from 7 to 10 o’clock, I’ll keep playing games non-stop without resting even for a moment. If anyone finds my ranking suspicious or thinks they’re better than me, just come at me. I’m confident I won’t lose even once. Hehe]

At first, he had his doubts.

Is that real?

Isn’t it someone impersonating him?

If he was willing to spend that kind of money—200,000 won—just to stir up trouble, he wanted to congratulate him.

You succeeded!

Navigator also hesitantly said,

“Um… is that really you, Seo-jun-nim?”

It was understandable to be uncertain.

-Lmao isn’t getting 1st place making him way too cocky?

-Mass provocation lol

-Is that really the same person?

-Look at that confidence

-When he suggested a duel, you just declared come at me all, you’re insane lol

It wasn’t unheard of for people to provoke and taunt like this, but most of the time it ended with targeting just one person.

Like Heavenly Killing Star had done moments ago.

But publicly targeting everyone?

And in front of 80,000 viewers at that?

‘Considering his personality, it does seem like him though.’

Navigator quickly logged into Travel and entered streamer Seo-jun’s room.

The screen infinitely copied itself like being in an elevator with mirrors on both sides.

Navigator watching Seo-jun watching Navigator watching Seo-jun watching Navigator watching Seo-jun watching Navigator was complete.

“Hello, Navigator-nim. Yes, I just sent that donation.”

-Damn he’s crazy lol

-Look how confident he is

-It really was him

-Ugh, so dizzy

Navigator skillfully touched the screen to break the infinite loop and replied,

“That really was you, Seo-jun-nim? Haha. Are you serious about the donation content?”

“Of course.”

The him on screen had a composed expression.

He looked confident, though he couldn’t understand why.

Saying something like that and then losing would cement a reputation as someone with delusions of grandeur.

There were many streamers with comedic images, but clearly this person’s main appeal was skill.

‘Is he mistaken because he hasn’t faced any proper rankers yet?’

He didn’t seem that stupid though.

Heavenly Killing Star watched the opponent carefully.

“I see. But Seo-jun-nim, do you think the rankers will accept that challenge?”

Navigator was concerned about a different aspect.

But the answer that followed was enough to shock Heavenly Killing Star.

“That’s why I said it like that. I told people who think they’re better than me to come at me. If you think you’re worse than me, there’s no reason to target me in the first place.”

Seo-jun on screen wore a relaxed expression as he delivered another mass provocation.

Why are you stoking the fire even more!

‘Now plenty of people will respond.’

Whether they think it’ll be fun or find him arrogant.

The reasons would vary, but ultimately, to avoid becoming someone with delusions of grandeur, he’d have to win them all.

Tomorrow happened to be a day when rankers’ defeats weren’t particularly important.

After 4 matches, you could keep playing and those subsequent games weren’t included in contribution calculations, so you escaped the penalty of defeat.

‘Did he not know that?’

Whatever the case.

Someone he didn’t want to get close to, but an interesting person nonetheless.

That was Heavenly Killing Star’s honest impression.

“Haha. Then Seo-jun-nim.”

Navigator made a meaningful expression.

“Yes?”

“Would you like to do a joint broadcast with me tomorrow?”

“Sounds good.”

“May I provide commentary?”

“Even better.”

Heavenly Killing Star and OnlyOneWon, who had been quietly watching their conversation, were dumbfounded.

Wasn’t Navigator worried about the backlash?

And how is a joint broadcast being arranged so easily?

“Great. This should be interesting. Let’s discuss the details after today’s broadcast ends.”

“Yes. Then I’ll go end my stream now. Take care.”

“You too, take care, Seo-jun-nim.”

“Ah. Heavenly Killing Star-nim.”

Heavenly Killing Star flinched.

He was tense about what he might say next.

“Yes?”

“If you think you might lose, you don’t have to come tomorrow. Seems like many other people will show up anyway. Thanks for the consideration. This is my way of repaying you. Well then, goodbye. To viewers too.”

The connection was cut.

Not just closing Navigator’s broadcast, but ending the stream entirely.

-LMAO

-Cutting off the chance to respond and leaving

-Heavenly Killing Star definitely has to target him now

-If you don’t respond after hearing ‘consideration’ and stuff, you become a coward

Saying thanks for the consideration and repaying him.

‘Did he notice that I deliberately redirected the topic? But then why…’

Why provoke and then leave?

It was incomprehensible, but one thing was certain.

If he ran away tomorrow, he’d become a coward.

* * *

Seo-jun finished his closing remarks and shut down his capsule.

After nearly 4 hours of playtime, he felt slightly dizzy, but it subsided after washing away the fatigue with hot water.

Around an hour later, while he was resting and organizing his thoughts, Navigator contacted him to coordinate tomorrow’s joint broadcast.

Joint broadcast would start at 6:50.

Each would stream separately, but Navigator would share Seo-jun’s screen for commentary.

They also ran through various settings and did a rehearsal for smooth operation.

[Seo-jun: Thank you for your hard work.]

[Navigator: Yes. I hope you win them all tomorrow!]

[Seo-jun: Do you think I won’t lose even once?]

[Navigator: Honestly, it seems difficult, but has anything you’ve done so far been easy?]

[Seo-jun: I suppose. Thank you.]

That level of reaction was probably optimistic.

After finishing everything, Seo-jun went into No-Honor.

First, he checked what Lee Geon-yeong had sent.

[Lee Geon-yeong: Just blocking these 4 people made half a page of the 30-recommendation posts disappear!]

Lee Geon-yeong had sent usernames, which were the same ones that had been raising questions about Seo-jun.

Seo-jun searched for posts by username.

At first they wrote lightly asking if it was possible, but within minutes their content became increasingly aggressive.

“Wow, it really is.”

And among them was the person who had written that problematic post that could have caused trouble.

“Isn’t this completely planned?”

Good thing it ended well.

In reality, people’s attention was now focused somewhere completely different.

After the contribution rankings were revealed on the first day, tomorrow would be day 11.

With one-on-one duels happening, many events would unfold and interests should be diverse, but right now the topic receiving attention was just one, thanks to his actions.

[That cult member who wouldn’t show donation content from the start, I knew he’d cause trouble lol]

[The way he wrote ‘hehe’ at the end of that donation was so annoying]

[Is this normal for someone I’m seeing for the first time?]

-Yes, extremely normal.

[I’m definitely watching tomorrow.]

Unexpectedly, posts written by his viewers had made it to the 30-recommendation list.

Usually, posts about individual streamers are hard for people to understand unless they watched, making it difficult to get many recommendations.

Even on days like today when many people understood the context.

But seeing them appear sporadically like this meant.

‘The 12,000 viewers was significant.’

When you think about it, that’s mid-tier level. It’s no big deal for his mentions to appear and get around 30 recommendations.

And anyway, most people who hadn’t watched his stream were talking about him too.

[Who is this Heavenly Demon guy to get 1st place and act so arrogant.]

[The ranking 1st place identity: someone the orthodox faction envied and the unorthodox faction stomped their feet over?]

[He’ll definitely lose at least once]

[What do you mean at least once? I think he’ll be lucky to win over 50%]

[The streamer who’s never faced a real ranker says) I’m lol confident lol I won’t lol lose lol even lol once.]

This level of reaction was normal.

He had expected it too.

Seo-jun’s smile wouldn’t fade.

[Honestly, he is being arrogant]

==

It’s not like he sees rankers as easy prey.

==

-But he’s a Shin Ha-yeon slayer, so isn’t it okay to see them as easy prey?

└That damn Shin Ha-yeon victory again lol. That was an AI. And if it was Training Hall, it’s basically a noob zone with no martial arts

└For real, martial arts are our pride

└Acting like he knows martial arts when he won with no techniques using traits

└Grand Master.

-Let’s gather the 3-minute curry gang

└We’ve been oppressed by delusional patients until now and it was unfair. Now it’s time to rise up!

└Suddenly I’m proud of being a 3-minute curry gang

└All the guys who changed their nicknames and were hiding are here

└So what are you going to do about it? What can you even do?

-He just said it casually because tomorrow’s defeats don’t matter lol

He had just said it thinking he’d face anyone he didn’t like or wanted to check, since tomorrow’s game mode was duels.

But it was being interpreted this way too.

“And… oh? A ranker is publicly announcing participation too?”

[Ranking 6th. This Isn’t Murim.]

==

I pledge to defeat the Heavenly Demon to restore proper order to the martial world.

==

“Hmm.”

For a moment, Seo-jun found himself disliking that he thought this level of role playing was normal.

It was because For the Murim had too many weird people.

-The murim old-timer has arrived.

-Why are you using the word ‘ranking’?

-Isn’t it basic common sense to use proper martial arts terminology in murim instead of using ‘ranking’ word?

-Is it true that Mount Hua currently being a dormant volcano is fact?

-Chicken is supposedly food that ancient Shaolin monks enjoyed eating

Ranking 6th was a very high-ranked celebrity, but everyone was busy making fun of him.

‘Are there others?’

Looking around, he found that besides ranking 6th, other rankers were announcing with verification that they’d target him tomorrow.

It had become a trend.

“This should be fun.”

[If I’m 17th place and beat 1st place, do I become the best under heaven?]

[Not a Master declares he’ll crush the Heavenly Demon tomorrow!]

[This is going to be legendary matchups for real]

[If that bastard loses from the start, it’ll be seriously awkward as hell lol]

And.

[That guy only does Absorption Technique]

==

If you rush him with deadly intent from the start and run, you can perfectly counter it.

Take note.

==

Seo-jun stretched with a satisfied smile.

“Looks like it’s time to change traits.”