Chapter 116
With a clanking sound, the drawn bridge locked into place.
Anyone could see the stage had been cleared.
Seeing this, Seojun said a word.
“As expected, you don’t need two people. What a god-tier game.”
- Why is this a god-tier game lololololol
- The game has freedom lololololol It’s god-tier for real!
- Looks like I’m watching Dawn of the Assassins lololol
- Crazy bastard. Truly a crazy bastard lololol
- This crap is co-op?
“Let’s head to the next room.”
Ignoring Taeu, Seojun walked toward the door.
Screams could be heard from inside again; he was curious what on earth they were doing.
The atmosphere was scary, like something could jump out at any moment, but surely it wasn’t that bad.
I’ll check it after it’s over.
Reading the chat, Seojun said.
“Yes, let’s leave him behind.”
He didn’t bother to say what exactly they were leaving behind.
- No lolololololol Is he planning to do the next one alone too?
- He got abandoned lolololol
- Taeu, you just keep screaming and solving puzzles lololol
- Everyone, don’t tell him by going over there
- Unity ㄱ
Beside the door, just as he expected, there was a control panel.
And perhaps because it had spun around in the air, the nail was embedded at a slant.
Actually, even if you shot the nail the normal way, it wouldn’t fly perfectly straight, so it would have slanted a bit anyway.
But this one was slanted so badly the angle nearly touched the wall.
“This much, I can’t do anything about. The difficulty is really harder than expected.”
Entering the next room, the bridge lowered again.
Seojun took two nails from his waist, putting one in the nail gun and one between his fingers.
Then, after a brief deep breath to focus his mind, he flicked the nail and lifted the nail gun.
Pew!
This time, like the first room, the door was on the left.
Normally, thanks to Taeu’s wind, it would have had to arc in a gentle curve.
But the nail Seojun flung flew straight, hugging the obstructing side wall, and just as it passed that wall, it was struck by the nail shot from behind.
Bang!
Suffering a collision and bouncing off, the nail’s angle was corrected, once again embedding properly into the control panel.
It was hidden from view, but he knew.
Clank.
With a humming noise, the bridge rose.
- The difficulty is hard? lololol
- It looks damn hard, but why does he succeed on the first try every time lololol
- Kya!
- I acknowledge it’s not a fluke
- Hmm! It’s cooperation between nail and nail!!
- lololololol It really is a co-op game lolololol
“This is kind of fun.”
This sequence of flinging a nail ahead and striking it mid-flight to alter its trajectory was genuinely very difficult.
In Dawn of the Assassins, Seojun was confident he could parry even the hardest parrying with his eyes closed, once he caught the first movement.
But this was different.
He had to give his full concentration every single moment.
The sensation of flicking the nail from his fingertips, aiming the nail gun, pulling the trigger—every instant required focus.
If the difficulty is this high. And if the utility is this high.
“Everyone, this is the Dang family’s secret throwing technique, so you must keep it a secret.”
The Dang family would definitely come drooling, wanting to learn it!
Or not.
- Did the Dang family have nail guns?
- How far has the Dang family fallen that they’d use nails as weapons ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Dang So... so he was the protagonist struggling to revive the fallen Dang family!
- Even going to the demonic cult and serving the Heavenly Demon to save his ruined family lololololol
If Dang So were watching this broadcast right now, he would surely send a message saying, “Who said I served him!”
Anyway, Seojun inexplicably wanted to try more.
To him, high difficulty meant fun.
It just meant all those weird traits he picked in For the Sake of Hyup were not for nothing. Of course, if you asked Seojun, he’d vehemently deny it and say the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and his Energy Absorption technique tree were very nice.
Seojun went to the next room and threw the nail and shot the nail gun.
And the next room, too.
After passing through a total of four rooms like that, a place that could finally be called a proper interior appeared.
And then, his concentration broken, Seojun glanced at the chat and instantly swallowed a groan.
- Sponsor is crying their eyes out lololololololololololololololololololololololololol
- They made all those puzzles, damn it lololololololololol and he just destroys them all like this lololololololol
- Turned the horror atmosphere into comedy lololol
- Right now Taeu can’t get out. He’s trapped lolololololololololololololol
Ah, right. This was a sponsored stream.
* * *
Meanwhile, Taeu.
“Ugh, shit. It’s not that I was scared something would jump out; I’m just very cautious! Then let’s get out now. I wonder if that bastard Seojun solved the puzzle before me. Since he didn’t come here, I think I solved it first. Let’s go to his room and troll……. Huh?”
Rattle.
Rattle, rattle.
“What? Why won’t this open? Wait, was the door even closed in the first place? Ah, shit. What is this?”
Taeu jiggled the doorknob, voicing his confusion.
The moment Seojun destroyed the stage control panel, the bridge rose and the exits of the adjacent rooms closed.
Most viewers were watching both streams, so they easily deduced this, but not Taeu.
With the viewers conspiring, how would he know?
“Why are you laughing? Why are you laughing!”
- lolololololol
- lololololol
- lololololololol
- You’re trapped
“Hey, Seojun? Ya! Are you outside? Did you close the door?”
It was a remark that was half true.
“Don’t mess around, Seojun.”
He’s scared.
* * *
- Who told them to keep copying the map structure?
- If they gave the streamer a sponsor, they should’ve made it unpredictable lolololol
- This is definitely the developer’s fault
- Shouldn’t they have to bear this much at least?
- They knew and still entrusted it, right? lolololol
“Hmm……”
“…….”
Han Seungcheol, a manager at Stream Korea.
He was in charge of selecting indie games to support with development costs and assisting when development faced difficulties. In crude terms, he was the money line, and in front of game companies, he couldn’t help but be in the position of power.
Yet now, he was reading the mood in front of Monster’s CEO Lee.
Of course, he never pulled power trips just because he was in the superior position, and he habitually noticed others’ feelings and accommodated them by nature. But the mood he was reading this time had a slightly different quality to it.
Manager Han had come with CEO Lee to a restaurant with a private room, watching the sponsored stream in a quiet environment and conversing.
But from the moment Seojun went off-script, he felt the atmosphere turn chilly.
“…….”
Manager Han thought to himself.
The puzzles and the world inside the game, crafted after countless deliberations, meant to be shown to and experienced by gamers.
What would it feel like to have all of that skipped in an instant with an exploit?
‘Is it really an exploit…….’
The dictionary definition of an exploit is a simple and easy method.
But was flinging a nail ahead and then hitting it to adjust its trajectory really simple and easy? He had doubts.
No, there was no room for doubt.
‘Who on earth does something like that.’
From Monster’s standpoint, this was likely something only Seojun could do, enough that they wouldn’t even need to bother fixing it.
It was indeed the skill of the one who led the cunning but weak demonic cult to victory in the end. He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
So it wasn’t an exploit.
Also, since Seojun would go back and proceed normally, he thought it wasn’t really a problem.
Just a minor happening?
[For the users, you can restart from any point in a stage! Is. This. Not. A. Real. God. Game.? Awe. Some!]
- Bro, please don’t do that awkward acting lolololololololol
- Even your tone changes lololololol
- Cynical --> Clown
- Watching the streamer act now, I realized: The trolling that flowed like water during Heavenly Demon was really the streamer’s true nature
- Real talk lololol
The situation itself was so funny it might actually be a good thing.
However.
Because CEO Lee continued to be quiet, Manager Han was reading the mood.
Did he feel betrayed by the Heavenly Demon of the demonic cult he trusted? If so, this might be a good opportunity for him to convert to a great orthodox sect.
CEO Lee was currently staring down at the floor.
He didn’t harbor doubts like, “Is it upsetting or disheartening to that degree?”
Creators have their own creative pains, and he likely couldn’t understand.
“Are you alright?”
“Of course I am.”
CEO Lee lifted his head and opened his mouth.
What’s this.
He’s smiling?
“Hahaha! As expected, we made a great choice in scouting him!”
“Is… is that so?”
“Yes. I was captivated by that side of him when we scouted him in the first place. Of course, I never expected our game would have such a loophole. I had a faint hope, but to solve the control panel in such a way.”
So that’s it?
It was a relief he was pleased.
“Though, seeing it now, it’s also absurd. Hahaha.”
“His skill is certainly outstanding.”
Why did he have to go to the demonic cult of all places.
Alas.
It’s been years since he quit the battlefield due to lack of time anyway, but his thoughts keep drifting elsewhere.
It’s all because he has to check the game communities every time and ends up knowing all the battlefield trends.
“Is it only his skill that’s outstanding? I think there’s another reason the Streamer Heavenly Demon did that sudden off-script action.”
“Pardon?”
“Look at this.”
CEO Lee handed him his phone.
Ah.
So that’s what he’s been doing looking down at his phone earlier.
The site that appeared on the phone was Nohyeop.
Among the countless posts, a few prominent ones made Manager Han realize why CEO Lee had been glued to his phone.
[Hey Dang family, is doing this possible?]
[Even in an action adventure horror game, the ever-consistent Heavenly Demon lolololol]
[Heavenly Demon showing he is a Heavenly Demon clip]
[Guys, I told you to call him Sword God?]
CEO Lee spoke.
“That kind of play is exactly what that Heavenly Demon does best. And that kind of play is something worth mentioning in the community. Right?”
“It is.”
“Then naturally, viewers of For the Sake of Hyup who were watching the stream will write posts, and community users who see the posts will become interested and come to the broadcast, don’t you think?”
“Wouldn’t they?”
As it was, viewers were increasing in real time.
Seojun’s viewer count, which started at 19,000, was at 21,000 when they began watching, and now another thousand had just joined, making it 24,000.
“Then the upcoming final chase scene will happen when people have gathered at their maximum.”
If their most carefully crafted part is broadcast at the peak viewer moment?
No matter how Streamer Seojun figured it out, from their perspective, this was undeniably a very good situation!
“That is…!”
“The Streamer Heavenly Demon is very, very smart and calculating. Think about it for a moment.”
CEO Lee was referring to the battlefield.
But Manager Han recalled a previous incident.
‘Now that you mention it.’
There was that time when he deliberately opened the training ground rankings to coincide with the ad timing!
Back then and now, was every single action designed?
Really?
Manager Han felt goosebumps all over his body.
[Oh, this puzzle can be solved like this. It. Is. So. Well. Made! Just skip the nails? Quiet, please. I don’t know anything like that and can’t do it.]
- ‘Nail’ (can’t) do it
- So you’re saying you can!
- But wow, his brain is seriously amazing. Taeu next door is redoing it but you still finish faster damn
- Makes sense.
Watching him spout such cheeky and brazen commentary optimized for streaming, people say he has a ‘knack.’
And there are only two ways to have that knack.
Either he is genuinely brazen by nature, born to be a streamer, or he analyzes streaming with a smart mind and adopted that concept.
If it’s the latter, then even that outrageous and vicious personality on stream was all designed.
And this is the more likely scenario.
How can a person be that shameless?
Seojun continued to easily solve the puzzles.
Scanning the structure in one go and solving it smoothly was highly impressive, and Manager Han’s suspicion gradually became certainty.
“It’s nearly over.”
“It is. CEO, from the moment you enter Chapter 1, the average expected time up to the boss fight—ah, the chase—was about an hour, right?”
“Yes, but he arrived in just thirty minutes.”
The two watched Seojun enter the final section.
And at that moment, CEO Lee suddenly recalled their earlier conversation and offered Manager Han some hard-earned advice.
“Manager Han. That partner streamer you mentioned earlier. If it ever comes to pass and you need to secure that streamer, catch him as soon as possible.”
“……Why? Because we absolutely must not let the competition snatch him?”
“No.”
CEO Lee shook his head.
“Simply because that’s cheap.”
“Huh? Isn’t there a bit of a bubble right now? Wouldn’t it be better to wait a bit and then make an offer? The contract terms will probably renew on a yearly basis……”
With over 20,000 viewers now, wouldn’t jumping in be a loss?
But CEO Lee seemed to think otherwise.
“Then you should buy him out even more urgently right now.”
Buy out?
Unaware that Monster kept regretting ‘should’ve bought him then’ as they watched Seojun’s viewers multiply several times over, Manager Han could only wear a puzzled expression.
“Buy now. Now.”
Right now is the cheapest.
Faced with the earnest eyes and advice born from experience, Manager Han could only nod hesitantly.