Chapter 221
[Victory!]
Surrender.
Seojun was a bit surprised that the game had ended with a surrender.
No matter how decisive a game, surrender was a move rarely chosen in tournaments.
But.
‘Maybe this time, it’s fine?’
Even Seojun, who had created that spectacle, thought it was quite a magnificent sight.
He even wondered, if such a martial art had existed in his previous life, that person might have taken the title of Sword God.
Though it’s just a game effect.
Right.
A game.
“We won! We won!”
Seojun returned to the lobby and joined his cheering teammates.
“Championship! It’s a championship!”
“Crazy Sword God! I believed in you!”
“100 million!”
It’s a fun game.
One you can enjoy with a smile.
A game where you can do anything, as long as the developers have arranged it.
Another world where you interact with others.
And within it, he—
“Ah, I have arrived.”
—once again became the Sword God.
Seojun put on an utterly arrogant expression.
It was only natural to act accordingly when you gained a title that hadn’t even existed in his previous life.
-Sword God! Sword God! Sword God! Sword God!
-Host, you’re seriously insane!
-Who am I? The owner of a beast’s heart who went all in on the wealth gap! Who am I? The owner of a beast’s heart who went all in on the wealth gap! Who am I? The owner of a beast’s heart who went all in on the wealth gap!
-lololololololololololololololololololololol I love you host, 1 million po life turnaround!!!!!
-From now on, Jin Seojun and I are one body...
-That’s a loss for the host, you bastard!
Wasn’t it funny?
The cheers pouring in through chat made Seojun smile with delight.
-Five Judgment Swords times five! Five Judgment Swords times five! Five Judgment Swords times five! Five Judgment Swords times five!
-The dual swords got duplicated!
-Eouma! Eouma! Eouma! Eouma! Eouma!
-The demon cult can just get lost now lololololololololololololololololol
It seemed like a fan meeting would be fun later.
What would these people be like in reality, away from this game and the world of Travel?
Would they act the same?
He felt like they’d still gather if he held one right now.
“Geez! I believed in you! Ever since our first collab, I knew this would happen. Really!”
“Seriously. I’ll serve you as my god...”
“Wind Sword, I think that’s going a bit too far... Oh, right. You were a Kael-chung.”
“Who am I? The team leader who won Jin Seojun at auction. Who am I? The team leader who won Jin Seojun at auction. Who am I? The team leader who won Jin Seojun at auction. Who am I...”
Hmm.
Realizing that his teammates’ current state wasn’t much different from reality, Seojun decided to postpone the fan meeting for a while.
He didn’t know what might happen if he held one.
“Alright, then let’s go now.”
[Arin has invited you to the lobby.]
[Will you accept?]
Interviews until now had been video chats within the system, but this time was different.
“Alright! Let’s go accept our prizes! But where did Lumi and Wind Sword go?”
Because this was closer to an awards ceremony than an interview.
Leaving behind the remaining Alpaca tending to Ha Yunho, Seojun chuckled and pressed accept.
“They went ahead. Let’s go too.”
* * *
The custom space in virtual reality that Arin invited them to—the lobby—was unique.
It felt like the first time he had come to the alpaca lobby in the high mountains.
Though unlike the natural alpaca lobby, this one was entirely artificial.
A giant arena with a screen at the back and audience seats in front; Seojun was summoned there and saw Arin and the commentators waiting beside them, smiling.
It was his first time connecting to a capsule as that form, aside from the Ark.
But nothing was different. This was virtual reality, no different from reality.
“Everyone’s here!”
They soon figured out where to look.
There was a cameraman in front of the stage.
Normally, when streamers capture the view they face in the VR world, they plop down somewhere.
That’s because they summon a camera, fix it in place, and sit down in front of it themselves.
But this time, there was an actual cameraman.
‘Is this what it feels like to broadcast in real reality?’
Of course.
The fact that it wasn’t reality was reinforced by the cartoon characters seated in the audience—elongated rectangles with very thin limbs attached.
‘They’re cheering quite passionately.’
-Ugh lolol is that the viewers?
-Better looking than reality!
-I’d rather be born with that body.
-You guys lololololol are you even human? You want to be born like that?
-Did you just say ugly people aren’t human?
-You bastards said you wanted to be non-human lololololol
Well, they’re dolls, not people.
Anyway, the five members of Wealth Gap stood in the center, the commentators a little off to the side, and Arin stood in the middle, cheering as she stretched out her arms to them.
“The winning team! Wealth Gap!!! Waaaaah!”
-Waaah!
-The rectangle viewers are cheering!!!!
-Eouma! Eouma! Eouma! Eouma!
-Tell the demon cult to get lost!!!!
-lololololololololol
-But the host won anyway.
-Seriously, they just win all the time. Insane lololololol
“First of all, congratulations on winning! Now, if you look behind you...”
Behind?
Seojun looked back.
On the giant screen was a photo of the five Judgment Swords frozen in mid-air, just before plunging down.
When did they even put this on the map?
“Look below that, please! The devices on the floor!”
“Ah.”
“They’re your prizes!”
Under the screen were five capsules. They looked exactly like the capsule in Seojun’s room.
Seojun’s mischievous side kicked in.
“Huh? You’re giving us those right now?”
Viewers instantly recognized his innocent expression as a joke, but Arin was flustered.
-lolololololololololol
-Like they’d give that?
-It’s being delivered separately, duh lol
-You think they’d just give out this model in the lobby and call it done like a little kid? lololololololololol
-Arin, explain yourself!
“Ah. Haha. You were joking! Don’t worry, everyone! The top-tier capsules and prize money will all be properly delivered!”
Along with a snicker, a chat appeared telling him not to disrupt the proceedings.
“Now then, let’s hear your thoughts on winning! But first, Player Seojun?”
What’s this?
Is she trying to get revenge?
“You showed us something incredible in the final match!”
It wasn’t.
“How did you do it! Did you plan for this from the beginning! Were you confident in the Five-Man Palace? Did you practice it before? I have so many questions. Can you answer them?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Thank you!”
“First, I’ll explain how I did it in a separate broadcast. It’s hard to explain here.”
“That’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.”
-And he’s gonna brush it off with “just remember your past life” lol. If the host dodges like this, I’m upvoting lololololololololololololololololol
-Total lolol
-???: You think you’d understand even if I explained? Just donate lol
What the.
How did they know?
“It’s true I prepared the Five-Man Palace from the start. I didn’t practice it, though.”
“So this was your first attempt?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, come on. In the finals?”
“Anyone who’s watched my stream would know. Check out the replays.”
-Yeah, this guy just played well from the very first match.
-From the start, he just does everything; you think he’d practice for a measly Five-Man Palace?
-It’s not exactly measly, though.
-But the host is shamelessly promoting his own stream in the middle of this lolololololololololololololololololol hilarious.
-With that talent, he’s working hard as a streamer, host... Thank you! For not falling into bad things!
-For real lololololol
Arin continued the interview, asking questions to the other team members as well.
Roughly summarized in Seojun’s style, it went like this:
Q: Next time, if you’re invited as team leader and Player Seojun goes up for auction, will you buy him?
A: No.
Q: Why is that?
A: …….
Q: …….
A: Ah! We want to give other streamers a chance.
Q: Regarding Player Seojun’s guidance……
A: Seojun-nim is a god!
Q: As a Kael-chung, did you learn anything separately……
A: Seojun-nim is a god!
Lumi, who was afraid of drawing aggro, answered textbook-style, and the only one in his 30s, Alpaca, handled the questions with wit.
The interview was wrapping up.
“Finally! There’s one thing I’d like to ask Player Seojun.”
“What is it?”
“I understand that Wealth Gap already agreed that if they won, they’d participate in the pro league’s event match. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
When they had advanced to the finals, the organizers had asked them in advance.
“Do you have anything to say about that match?”
Ah.
This.
They’re telling him to make a video message for Shin Ha-yeon, right?
-Host, let’s do this properly lolololololol please!
-You already won!!!
-You really shouldn’t mess with pro fandoms, though lolololol
-But honestly, a lot of pro fandom watch streams anyway, so it might not matter.
-lololololololol after seeing the Five-Man Palace and the Taker busting, honestly, even if he’s a bit cocky, they’d accept it.
So that’s how it is?
In truth, Seojun was the type of person who carefully gauged where to lie down before stretching his feet out.
“First, I understand the teams will be mixed for the showdown, is that right?”
“Yes, that’s correct! Players from TX and Wealth Gap will be mixed! While keeping their lane positions!”
“Then I could end up on a team with anyone from TX, but one thing will absolutely never change: I’ll be facing Player Shin Ha-yeon?”
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Then……”
Seojun paused again, then flashed an arrogant smile and stared at the camera.
“This time, I’ll be hoping you win.”
* * *
[Yes! And with that, Wealth Gap’s victory means Rios……!]
-So host, what did you mean by that interview at the end?
-This time?
-Host, are you saying you hope you win, or you hope Shin Ha-yeon wins?
After everything ended, they sat in front of their computers, chatting casually with the Wealth Gap team while a video played.
“Thank you for the 10,000 won donation.”
It was time to order something tasty and chatter idly.
[Seojun-nim. Check out this post. It’s hilarious.]
Lumi sent a link.
When Seojun clicked it, a post on Riven appeared.
[Instead of Dokkaebi, Bear Greens hyung should have come jungle. Then the game might have been worth playing.]
==
Lunch vs Sword God
Matchup of the centuryddd
==
“Hmm, who is that person?”
-lololololololol host doesn’t know
-Lunch vs Sword God lmao lololololol
-At least the rhyme is on point lololololololol
-If you could only bring one person to a deserted island, who would you choose!
-Obviously Bear Greens for this one.
They chatted about this and that.
[Wow, but guys. In the event match, being on Shin Ha-yeon’s team vs being on Seojun-nim’s team. Which do you think is better?]
As a viewer, it was plenty interesting.
[Well, why ask something like that, Yunho?]
[Alpaca-nim, you answer first!]
[Sigh. I just want to be on Seojun-nim’s team.]
[Oh! Does that mean——?]
-Daaang
-Are you opening a chat battlefield?
-Alright, let the debate begin.
-So host, what did you mean earlier! You made it so ambiguous we can’t even stir shit up!!!
[That’s not what I meant. It’s just that win or lose, meeting Seojun-nim as an enemy seems terrifying.]
[Oh. I’ll admit that.]
Everyone except Seojun giggled.
They talked for a while longer, then Alpaca spoke.
[So, everyone? What time are you coming tomorrow?]
[Oh, right.]
[The after-party!]
[There’s a pool there, too.]
[But no one will probably use the pool.]
They had decided to hold a gathering and dinner with all the teams right away tomorrow.
While talking with the other teams, they found that right after Rios ended was when everyone was most free and had no schedules, so they quickly set the date.
Incidentally, the party room was near Seojun’s neighborhood.
-These guys are pros at group projects lololololol already booked an after-party.
-We’re spending our money, so they better get things done.
-For real lolol
[I have something to do near there in the morning.]
[Then you can meet up with Seojun-nim and Taewoo and come together.]
[Is that so?]
“That works. But what do streamers even do at after-parties?”
Seojun suddenly grew curious.
[Hahaha! We’ll show you a whole new world, Seojun-nim!]
* * *
And then.
After the after-party ended.
[The Tale of the Sword’s Luck] There was someone who stayed underwater for a full 25 minutes. I was the only one there who counted the seconds. – Rain]
[Why isn’t ‘that person’ drunk? First time getting wrecked 3-on-1 with alcohol. – Mental]
[The bastard who jumped into the pool drunk and got everyone wet. The bastard who turned it into a water fight. I was totally wasted too, but I’m not that guy. – Caterpillar]
[I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. And thank you for saving me. – Hat]
As streamers began sharing their after-party stories one by one,
[There’s someone who makes every neighborhood person they meet bend at the waist first? – Lumi]
[I hid because I saw that person at the entrance too. My body just took over. There’s something dangerous. – Dokkaebi]
[My glasses got padlocked. – Wave]
[The three biggest drinkers in Travel took over one table and got wrecked there. Whoa. This was. Whoa. – Spoon]
A ghost story about some existence began creeping through Travel.
Of course, no one directly mentioned who it was, so the identity remained a mystery, and that made it even more terrifying to the viewers.