Chapter 170
Seo Jun was startled.
I am Joseon's Assassin.
His former streaming channel manager.
The reason for "former" is that when he fought against the Wave, he was stripped of his manager position for a week as a show of taking responsibility, all because of a ban.
Of course, in return.
[Joseon's Assassin's manager rights are confiscated for a week. Instead, we're elevating them to VIP of our channel. What do you mean, how is this taking responsibility? Anyway, we did impose a disciplinary measure.]
- lol For a while, you don't work and can watch the host's broadcast from a VIP seat? Actually, that's better.
- Joam! Joam! Joam! Joam!
- Is this that show-only disciplinary action? lolololololol
- So shameless lol
[Oh, and for those who were chat banned by Joseon's Assassin, I'll lift the bans. Instead.]
- Instead?
- What kind of reward are you giving?
- Yeah, if you did wrong, you should compensate.
[I'll personally ban them for a week.]
- Whoa!
- Troll cut! Troll cut! Troll cut! Troll cut!
- This is Travel done right!
- No, is there even such a law?
- It's up to the host lol
- Actually, isn't that a reward?
- It's definitely a reward lol
Such were the circumstances.
So Joam was his channel's former manager and current VIP.
Joam could be considered quite close to Seo Jun.
Occasionally they'd chat one-on-one, and he was also one of the regular viewers who came to watch his broadcast every day.
If you asked Seo Jun who his second closest viewer was after Brick Snatcher King, he would naturally pick Joam.
The reason Seo Jun was so surprised was this.
[30 million points! Are you insane?]
[No, is it even possible for an individual to have that much?]
[Who’s currently in first place?]
Travel ranks users based on channel points held.
Of course, you can make this private.
But most people don’t.
Channel points are a currency that is utterly useless if others don’t know you have that much.
If it were a typical fantasy world's power, hiding it might be more advantageous for survival.
If it were money, hiding it would let you live without envy.
If it were fame, hiding it could help avoid troublesome matters.
But channel points?
'They're completely useless, and the envy, well...'
Hmm.
'Considering what viewers do, there might be viewers who truly envy...'
It's possible, but.
Anyway.
For the most part, there's no real reason to hide them. If you're normal.
Nevertheless, Joseon's Assassin hid his channel points sometime after accumulating 25 million.
And when Seo Jun asked why, Joam replied:
- Host! Obviously I'm number one. Everyone knows. Heh.
So.
Something about mysticism or whatever.
'And I heard he's been participating in all sorts of bets...'
On Travel, you can see current point bets in real time.
It's a system that collects ongoing point bets and lets you go straight to those channels. Point-crazy viewers hunt down those things.
After Seo Jun's broadcast ends, Joam is exactly that type.
[Could there be more?]
[It's pretty famous that this user hunted for bets and aimed for underdog wagers.]
[After getting 25 million points, they went quiet, but it's hard to lose all that, so the prevailing opinion was that this user is definitely the #1 in points! And yet, 30 million!]
5 million.
It's by no means a small number.
Normally, even 100,000 is hard to collect.
At around 500,000, the immediate question is, have you been watching for several years?
But he gathered 5 million in the meantime.
Seo Jun was surprised by this.
- Crazy Joam lololololololololololololololol
- This is our manager!
- This is the average for viewers who watch the host lol
- You call the #1 rank the average? Is your IQ below average? lolololol
- stfu
"Wow. With 30 million points dropped, the bar barely budges."
[Wealth Gap] - 99%
For that to become 98%, the total points bet on other teams would need to exceed 300,000.
[Hahaha. So they just bet unconditionally on Seo Jun without looking at anything else?]
[The place where that user earned 25 million points in one go was precisely the joint broadcast of Alpaca and Seo Jun. They are Seo Jun's viewer.]
[So, thanks to Seo Jun, they got 25 million points, rolled it into 5 million more, and then threw it at Seo Jun? This is something only a true fan could do.]
[Whoa! The swag of wealth gap is alive, this!]
[Even if the total points eventually balance out, one person blasting 30 million? No one can top that.]
What meaning is there in topping it anyway?
Seo Jun thought so, but apparently the viewers didn't.
- Totally lol
- This is the average Sword God fan!
- That bastard is an assassin. He's not a Sword God fan, he's a Nameless fan!
- God of Assassins!
- Ah lol Until it ends, I bet no team will have even a single person betting 5 million.
- But we have 30 million! Whoa!
[Hahaha. Anyway, let's stop the auction talk there.]
Taeyang, who had been quiet, laughed and restrained them, and Arin nodded.
[Understood. Then! For the next 10 days, teams will have a period to build teamwork or practice. What's the biggest feature of this period?]
Bangju answered.
[First, the biggest thing is that we can have fun.]
No matter how you looked at it, Bangju seemed to be in charge of giving thoughtless answers.
[I see!]
[Just kidding. Actually, there's nothing special. Would we ever reveal truly important strategies?]
[Right, right.]
[Even so, I'm a bit curious.]
[What is it?]
[Which team's viewers will perform best during that practice period, I wonder. Heh heh.]
[I'm curious about that too. Heh heh.]
Bangju and Arin laughed insidiously.
[Isn't this a complete pride battle! As streamers, you should fight with viewer numbers!]
[Exactly! Which group will do the best 5-person collab! And be the most fun! Shouldn't we watch?]
[Yes! Then we'll conclude the scrim here!]
- They're instigating a fight lolol
- Can't resist a showdown with viewer numbers lolololol
- So if your viewer count is high, what reward do you get?
- You get the warm attention of the casters and commentators
[Until now...]
The relay broadcast ended.
Seo Jun closed the screen in front and looked straight ahead.
His teammates' heads all turned simultaneously toward Seo Jun.
"Wow, Seo Jun, what's with that viewer of yours?"
"Kuhuhu. To have connections with the richest tycoon on Travel!"
That was Ha Yoonho, the connection leech, speaking. He was grinning while shaking a carrot.
Just do one thing.
"Kuh. It's been a while, Joseon's Assassin. Anyway, Seo Jun, even your viewers are overwhelming!"
"Not overwhelming, but aggro... Ahem."
Rumi coughed. Seo Jun nodded.
It's excessive aggro, for sure.
"Right. Should I ask? What they were thinking? They're in my channel right now."
Joam was quiet. Normally, even as he chatted and received all sorts of spotlights in his channel, it wouldn't be strange.
"Joam?"
Seo Jun opened the one-on-one chat room.
He displayed it on the broadcast.
[Hello, Host!]
"No, what were you thinking when you bet that? And how did you earn 5 million points?"
Thanks to Joseon's Assassin betting a whopping 30 million points, Seo Jun's team's swag was revived.
Of course, that's all.
Seo Jun just found the situation amusing.
[What do you mean, what was I thinking! This is a profitable venture that yields at least several times over!]
- This is trust lololololol
- He already earned 25 million points. It's just faith!
- Joam, this bastard, is simply good at investing lololol
- Whether it's good investing remains to be seen.
- This isn't investing, it's gambling, you idiots!
- In the stock market, investing = gambling is a given, so it is investing lolololol
"I see."
He nodded.
"Then, what about the 5 million points?"
[Since my seed is quite large, I went around betting 250,000 points on underdog bets with high potential. And it just multiplied! I don't know either!]
- Points beget points.
- Isn't Joam actually really good at investing?????
- Luck is f***ing amazing.
- So damn jealous.
Truly, there are a few people like this, I guess.
Seo Jun nodded once more.
"I'm really envious."
"Rumi, why?"
"If I had that many points, I could practically control Ha Yoonho, put Taewoo through horror broadcasts, and so on... Anyway, there are endless uses."
"Ah!"
I see.
Points weren't useless after all.
Everyone had been so blinded by point betting that they'd forgotten, but at least for streamers, it was usable currency.
"Joam?"
[Yes?]
"I will definitely win and multiply it several times over for you. In return, how about a very small fee? You'd use it where I want."
The reply was quick.
[Deal! Actually, my hands are trembling even now, you know? Since I put in almost all my points lololol]
- If you're not trembling, you're not human.
- 30 million, jfc lolololololol, imagine the chaos you could cause on Travel lololol
- Truly the heart of a beast lolololol
[But now that I hear the host speak, I feel at ease. I believe! Let's go for the win!]
"Yes. Understood. Everyone else, bet on me. You won't regret it."
Seo Jun spoke resolutely.
Then he looked at his teammates.
The teammates felt a chill.
And Ha Yoonho, his expression frozen, frantically shook the carrot he'd been holding with both hands.
"By the way, Yoonho, what have you been doing since yesterday?"
"Leave him be. It's not the first time he's done something weird. He's probably asking Carrotland to put in some advertisement."
Seo Jun and Ha Yoonho's eyes met.
Ha Yoonho, cautiously watching Seo Jun's expression, put on an awkward smile pretending nothing was awkward.
So Seo Jun naturally acted clueless and asked back.
"Carrotland? The secondhand trading platform?"
If Ha Yoonho realized that Seo Jun knew what he was up to, Ha Yoonho might even abandon himself and openly shout to run away.
Seo Jun inwardly raised Ha Yoonho's training intensity once more as he stood up.
"Alright then, everyone, see you in reality tomorrow."
It was time to assess each member's capabilities in detail.
"Wow!"
"Sounds fun."
"Finally!"
* * *
"Oh? Hello!"
Rumi waved her hand. Where she looked, there were Wind Sword and Alpaca.
"Why are you two waiting in the underground parking lot?"
"We thought it'd be nice to gather and go together, so we waited," Alpaca said.
"Aha! Hey! Come on out! What are you doing not getting out of the car!"
Rumi shouted at Ha Yoonho, who wouldn't get out.
With a face that said he really didn't want to go, Ha Yoonho stepped out of the car and walked toward them.
"Hoo, maybe it's better with more people. Yeah. Let's think positive. In a way, it's karma. Karma. For ignoring my signal."
"What are you mumbling about?"
"Sigh. Never mind. Hello, Alpaca, Wind Sword."
"Hello."
"I'll lead the way. Let's go."
"Yes."
"To hell."
"Pardon?"
Ha Yoonho said nothing and held the elevator.
Beep.
[4th floor.]
The floor changed.
"Will there be cutting-edge equipment?"
"Maybe it's a traditional dojo. Knowing Lee Dongsu..."
Listening to his teammates' conversation, Ha Yoonho chuckled inwardly, stepped off the elevator, and guided his team to that familiar place.
"Here we are."
Alpaca followed Ha Yoonho while observing the surroundings.
It was an ordinary gym.
'What's that over there?'
Ha Yoonho was walking toward a space separated by glass, apparently used for a different purpose.
At a glance, it seemed like there were many people.
And the moment they entered inside.
On both sides, older brothers stood in a line and greeted them in unison.
"Hello, sirs!"
What the heck is this.
Scary.
Where is Lee Dongsu, and who are these older brothers?
And.
Watching this scene from afar, Taewoo thought.
'This bastard is a repeat offender, definitely.'
A long time ago.
Back in the cafeteria days, the suspicion that it might have all been engineered grew mightily.