Chapter 72

The next day at 6:30.

Seo-jun turned on his stream in front of his room’s computer.

Today he needed to concentrate for three straight hours, so getting into the capsule right away would be too much.

“Hello, everyone.”

Having just confirmed that posts about him were still being uploaded to the community, Seo-jun warmed up his hands while watching his viewer count climb.

-Hi there

-We’ve been waiting!

-I’ll listen to Navigator’s commentary later, but I’m here for now

Many people were joining.

As if proving yesterday’s 15,000 viewers wasn’t a fluke, the viewer count quickly surpassed 10,000.

‘This level seems like I’ve reached mid-tier streamer territory.’

Even if it’s temporary, that’s fine.

More people would come to watch when Navigator turned on his stream.

Most importantly, Seo-jun had no intention of losing today.

-Lmao Are you seriously going through with that mass provocation?

-A demonic cult member acting up like this!

-You’re dead today

-Streamer, didn’t you push things a bit too far?

-I’m scared of how big this has gotten……

-LOL You really went all in without a plan

It hadn’t been long since he started streaming, but worried voices were already emerging.

Since he’d ended his stream immediately after that donation yesterday, it seemed like they had a lot they wanted to say.

He’d set aside this communication time before starting for exactly this reason.

So he should respond sincerely.

“Everyone, I say I can’t do something when I can’t do it.”

He stopped there.

-LOL

-That’s true

-So saying what you said yesterday means you can do it?

-Shh.

As expected, there are people who understand perfectly even when you speak indirectly.

Seo-jun started light communication with a smile.

[‘Rigged Dice’ donated 100,000 won!]

[Are you really confident you won’t lose even once today?]

“Of course. Ah, thank you for yesterday’s donation. Thanks to you, I sent my duel responses properly too.”

Seo-jun thanked him while responding to donations, then clapped his hands as if remembering something.

“Should we do point betting for the first time in a while?”

This one seemed worth doing.

The reason Seo-jun rarely did point betting until now was because the matches weren’t competitive enough.

If everyone bet on him winning, what fun would that be?

And it would be ridiculous for Seo-jun to lose just to make it entertaining.

But today’s situation?

-Let’s go! Finally!

-How long has it been since the last betting?

-I’m definitely putting all 250,000 points on it

-Moon moon! Moon moon!

-Nickname betting gets dogs barking excitedly LOL

-Finally we can bet our memories

Seo-jun smiled and opened channel point betting.

Whether he wouldn’t lose even once versus whether he’d lose at least once.

“I think this one might be close. Think about it. My opponents are all skilled veterans—won’t I lose at least once?”

-You shouldn’t be saying that lmao

-After hearing what the streamer just said, I’m convinced. The streamer really is confident he won’t lose even once

-Seo-expert lol

-You do hate seeing us do well lol

Regular viewers said this while betting on Seo-jun not losing even once, while new viewers saw the open point betting as an opportunity and bet on the opposite side.

-What are these natives talking about? Lmao. Obviously you have to bet on losing at least once

-Thanks to these stupid natives, I’ll take their points easily!

-This is split fifty-fifty

-Let’s take the 2x multiplier first

-Causing domestic wealth outflow

* * *

6:40.

“Hello, everyone!”

Navigator’s stream went live.

People usually continue watching what they were already watching.

Because of this, his stream, which had over 70,000 viewers the previous day, quickly filled up with that many people again.

10,000.

20,000.

40,000.

60,000.

Hardcore users who made sure to complete their daily four matches would hurry to finish them and then join, but most wouldn’t.

For one day, they could step away from the battlefield and watch streaming like they were watching a sports match.

Of course, Navigator didn’t always have high viewer counts either.

‘Wow. This speed is usually pretty difficult to achieve.’

This kind of rapid influx usually only happened during the final days of battlefields, when it was being decided whether the winning faction would be orthodox or unorthodox.

Yesterday’s provocation seemed to have performed way too well.

Had everyone been waiting just for this?

-When will Heavenly Killing Star snipe him

-Is it normal to hate seeing that demonic cult guy get attention?

-Let’s go!

-Rooting for the streamer

-Ooh, can we watch ranker battles the full course today?

-Uphold the unorthodox faction’s dignity

-Will the orthodox faction ranker win first or the unorthodox faction ranker win first lol

After about 10 minutes of light communication.

[Viewer Count: 90,000]

He’d surpassed 90,000.

At this rate, he might even exceed 100,000 soon.

It looked like he’d hit numbers that even major corporate streamers only reached when doing large-scale content, right from the start.

The reason people were anticipating this much was probably because Seo-jun’s track record so far showed he was at least not just another nobody.

‘He is ranked first in contribution.’

Navigator swallowed nervously.

This joint stream.

If he lost right from the start, it would be a complete disaster.

Riots could break out and public sentiment could completely turn.

Of course, this wasn’t something he could control.

Entirely.

“Hello.”

It was up to that streamer currently being summoned into the game.

“Seo-jun-nim! We already have 90,000 viewers. How many are in your stream?”

“About 15,000. I’ll connect the streaming screen now.”

They were each running their own streams.

“Is it connected?”

“Yes.”

While most joint streams happened because they were mutually beneficial, this joint stream in particular had a lot to gain.

Seo-jun could gather many people through Navigator, and Navigator could get involved in the center of the issue and show once again that he was the representative For the Murim streamer.

Just let the results turn out well!

Navigator silently prayed that even if Seo-jun lost, at least the content would be good.

“Great, the screen connection is working well.”

Seo-jun’s screen connected smoothly without any setting conflicts.

The rehearsal had been worth it.

Seo-jun’s screen appeared on Navigator’s stream screen that viewers were watching.

“It’s almost time to start. I’ll head out now. Fighting!”

Navigator greeted them and left the capsule to sit at the pre-configured computer.

And Navigator, sitting in a chair, appeared at the bottom of the screen showing Seo-jun’s perspective.

“Hello.”

-There he is

-Were you in the game just to say hi!

-This is how commentary should be!

-Another day of Navigator’s honey-sucking stream

“Haha. I’m planning to provide commentary from here. I need to spectate intermittently too, and computers are more comfortable, right? Hehe.”

Seo-jun in the screen moved to the center and started the game.

The screen switched.

“Alright! The first game has just started! The region Seo-jun-nim chose is the central area where the demonic cult, orthodox faction, and unorthodox faction all meet. This prevents any specific faction from being unable to snipe him.”

Just because a region bordered all three didn’t mean all three factions would meet in one game.

It was the same as other regions—who you’d meet was random.

The position was defense.

“And today’s game mode is duels. Duels are a game mode where you fight one-on-one in a small map. It’s best of three rounds.”

Duels were nothing special as a game mode.

With no teammates, everything was decided purely by individual skill.

“The opponent is… Ah! It’s a regular user.”

Navigator let out a disappointed sigh.

-LOL

-First match sniping failed

-What did that guy do wrong

-It’s not a failure, they’re just not doing it

The opponent in the screen recognized Seo-jun’s face and nickname.

[Ah shit! Why am I meeting this person!]

Navigator shook his head.

“Are rankers being cowards? Hmm. Since the first four matches are ones where you can earn contribution, it wouldn’t be strange if they don’t snipe. Actually, it’s more rational.”

The first match ended anticlimactically.

* * *

As the first match proceeded without incident, people expected that Seo-jun would smoothly win at least until the fourth match.

And this expectation was shattered by the second match alone.

-Oh lmao

-Crazy, he’s meeting one right away?

-Did they mess up?

-No way a ranker would do that

-Already a crisis in the 4-win streak!

-This is delicious from the start

[Unorthodox Faction’s Dignity]

Thanks to the familiar nickname that appeared on the interface and the viewers’ reactions, he could tell a big fish had been caught from the second match.

‘We met sooner than expected.’

When he’d talked with Navigator, they’d said that because Seo-jun had built up too much of a gap, he probably wouldn’t meet anyone until the fourth match, or if he did, it would be much lower-ranked users. This was unexpected.

“Fifth in contribution? Wow. Even better.”

He wasn’t sure why they chose to snipe now.

“Let’s go.”

What he had to do going forward was clear, which Seo-jun found satisfying.

Victory in the game.

[Game starting.]

Duels come in 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 formats.

And naturally, as the number of participants increased, the map got bigger.

So today’s one-on-one had a small map.

Because of this, just walking a little outside from the starting point brought you face to face with the enemy.

The first round was a simple test.

Seo-jun was meeting a true skilled player(?) for the first time.

“Hello. I’m currently ranked 5th, Unorthodox Faction’s Dignity.”

The opponent greeted him.

So it wasn’t a wrong matchup after all.

Seo-jun felt it was somewhat underhanded, so he smiled and replied.

“Right. I’m the Heavenly Demon.”

-LOL I didn’t expect this today either

-Heavenly Demon villain mode starting? Lmao

-Split personality level

-After doing that, you should lose once

“Hehe. They say the early bird catches the worm, so I came a bit early. You’re not upset, are you?”

Oh.

He was being provoked.

Then he couldn’t just stay still.

The early bird.

“But do you know this? No matter when a worm gets up, it gets eaten by the bird anyway. So getting up too early just shortens that brief life.”

“Haha.”

The opponent tried to maintain his composure while speaking, but he couldn’t hide his lips twitching.

Seo-jun didn’t know it, but Unorthodox Faction’s Dignity was someone who had tried to create controversies in the community using multiple accounts.

“Come at me first.”

Seo-jun maintained appropriate tension in his body while slowly approaching.

Trash talk ended here.

Now it was time to prove things with the sword.

One-on-one didn’t mean there was no strategy.

Step by step.

The distance gradually closed.

“Ha. Interesting. Then I won’t hold back and will attack first.”

The moment the enemy finished speaking, he instantly closed the distance.

Unorthodox Faction’s Dignity had chosen the Assassination Guild as his sect.

The Assassination Guild’s characteristics were stealth and fast speed.

Fast speed included not just movement speed but also attack speed, and they had the advantage of faster lightness skills than other sects.

In territorial battles, this sect could create variables through unconventional plays.

So what about in one-on-one?

The enemy’s body shot forward like a projectile.

Using lightness skills to become even faster, he aimed for Seo-jun’s neck in that moment.

Looking at the longer preparation stance.

‘A strong attack? Rankers usually don’t use strong attacks, but he’s doing it from the start.’

Strong attacks dealt high damage but risked being stunned if parried, and using large movements against skilled opponents was like asking to be parried.

Seo-jun, who had deliberately given up the first move, raised his sword to parry.

Even if it was a strong attack, it was on the fast side.

Was that what he was aiming for?

But failing to respond to an enemy coming straight at him didn’t make sense for him.

Clang!

It was a light clash, just testing each other.

And Seo-jun was somewhat impressed by this exchange.

‘The parry didn’t work.’

The enemy recovered his sword and immediately moved to the next action.

Seo-jun observed the change in movement while analyzing the previous situation.

‘Did he slightly twist the trajectory at the last moment before contact?’

It was truly veteran-like use of fast speed to its fullest advantage.

He hadn’t used a strong attack for nothing.

It seemed today’s stream would be more interesting than expected.