Chapter 267
Seo Jun setting ten Hero Records wasn't particularly surprising to Koreans.
Seo Jun had already shown them as Beduah.
Before that, as Kael and Id.
And even before that, in For the Sake of Swords, in Dawn of the Assassins.
He'd hammered it into their heads over and over to stop doubting.
Of course, some still doubted, but they were a minority.
But overseas, they'd only just started learning about him, and all they'd seen were Kael and Beduah.
Was that enough?
Enough to make them believe absurd things?
The answer: For the majority, it still wasn't enough.
However.
[If you're not pro-level, all of you come at me. Hahahaha.]
==
Ten just today. Easy. Watch the stream and you'll see. Is this not pro-level?
==
He kept showing them.
He kept shattering the top records.
Just like Id.
-Pro-level is now an undeniable fact.
-Seems like a talent that can always deliver the most perfect records.
└What do you mean?
└└It means that even if we don't know his maximum physical ability, he seems to have a talent for always exerting the highest level of concentration. That Korean streamer.
└└└So that's another way to interpret it.
-One of the records that was already considered the most perfect was Id's. But that streamer had long since shortened it using the concept of sound play. With just two orbs. On his first try.
└Why two orbs? Isn't Id's trial always faster with four?
└└That streamer's assimilation rate is 10. They say making four is hard for him.
└└└Whaaaaaat???
[An assimilation rate of 10, this clearly means there's something wrong with him.]
-You can do well even without an assimilation rate.
-But pros all have high ones.
└Some have low ones.
-Hmm. I'm starting to doubt his pro level again.
└Why this time?
└└Consistently performing at 90% is a talent, but what if he can't show 100% of his performance?
└└└You bastards. Ugh. Didn't you see the Five Man Palace? Fucking lollllllll.
└└└└This guy's frustrated wwwwwwww
The next day, Seo Jun set ten more new Hero Records.
If Seo Jun hadn't accidentally missed his sword or felt dizzy, the 1st place in twenty Heroes would have been locked in by him.
Unless someone found a new way to shorten the records like with Id's case.
Of course, even with that setback, it didn't mean Seo Jun couldn't still take first place.
[To surpass him and enter the history books as number one, you have to set the best record of all time.]
==
You have to play every single play perfectly.
This is something you won't know if you can do until you become a top-ranked player.
So how does that user manage to do it every single time!
==
And among the pros who began touching the rankings during the day, while they were maximizing their records and refreshing them every few hours, no news came of anyone reclaiming first place.
Logically, this was to be expected, but for foreign users, it felt like common sense was crumbling.
Because.
That guy from Korea was doing it.
[Even famous pros don't do it in one go. They slowly push past their limits over a long period. But that Korean guy!!!]
The next day.
Seo Jun only touched five more Heroes.
25.
That was half.
And after stopping there, he said on stream:
[???: Hmm, I just tried a little bit here and there, but there's nothing good. I'll just go back to playing Kael. Hahaha.]
==
This Korean is completely enjoying himself right now!
==
- Could it be that because we complained about Kael, he's now trolling the whole world? That's terrifying.
└No, he's always like that.
└└Well, that's a relief. Good.
- He's on the level of Shin Ha-yeon and Baek Do-yul. At least when it comes to concentration.
└Even if not in game, I now agree that in the Trials, he showed monstrous performance on par with those two.
└└So he's definitely more than qualified for pro level.
└└└We still don't know that.
└└└└What if he ends up doing all fifty Heroes because of you?
[So what did that streamer say he's doing now?]
Seo Jun said he's taking a break from the league.
It wasn't the usual practice; the Trial period held to select the history book champions lasts two weeks.
And currently, there are ten days left.
- He said he's going to play PC games for the next ten days.
└What PC games?
└└He said he doesn't know either.
- So he's saying he's seen it all. Seems a bit arrogant.
└He's earned the right to be arrogant.
└└Let's teach that Korean a lesson!
└└└Go ahead and try over the next ten days, hahaha.
Overseas community sentiment eventually settled like this.
Seo Jun hadn't directly provoked overseas viewers, but his actions were certainly grating.
And so, they thought it was both infuriating and astonishing that he had snagged 1st place in 25 Heroes and was casually waiting around playing any random game, and they hoped someone would teach Seo Jun a lesson in the history books.
The pros from each country.
They hoped that those pros, currently steadily climbing the rankings, would beat Seo Jun in the main tournament.
Of course, to do that, they'd have to take the number one ranking first.
[Overseas community reactions lolling lolllllll the public enemy of the martial world lolllllllllll the streamer really is the Heavenly Demon]
[He has returned! The Heavenly Demon!]
An added bonus was that the For the Sake of Swords community regained its vitality.
* * *
Shin Geom.
The Chinese streamer who had suffered the biggest humiliation at Seo Jun's hands spent three whole days challenging the 600 in Beduah.
But he felt a wall.
No matter how much he tried, he felt no sense of pushing past his limits and improving, and every attempt and effort felt like building a castle on sand.
And that intuition was accurate.
"That crazy Bang-tzu bastard. His only skill is concentrating well. So he has a big advantage in other Trials too."
He needed revenge. But he felt his limits.
He lacked the basic ability to sustain maximum concentration for long periods every single moment.
He could develop that basic skill if he tried, but it was impossible within the remaining time.
The basics were always the hardest.
"I'll get you no matter what."
He grit his teeth as he read posts about Seo Jun on the Chinese community.
He couldn't stream.
He didn't want to broadcast himself floundering to surpass his opponent's record.
Countless comparative chat messages would flood in.
"If I fight him in there, I'll win. Yeah. In the preliminaries, even if they're outstanding, if the events match up badly and they get eliminated, it's game over."
Shin Geom had a method.
Choosing a different Hero.
There was plenty of time left, and if that bastard wasn't in the rankings, he could definitely aim for 1st place too.
The problem was.
"He might snipe me again."
So Shin Geom went into Seo Jun's stream, where he was playing the old PC game Starcraft.
Currently, he had created a room and was waiting for an opponent, and the game's room title was this.
After using an image to translate the text, Shin Geom clicked his tongue.
[1v1. 30 years and you're still a newbie? Come on in.]
Well, the game's content and title weren't important.
Right there, visible to viewers, was a mission.
[Stop playing any more Trials — Mission Reward: 13,000,000 won]
"A money-crazed monster bastard."
Shin Geom grumbled.
He still hadn't accepted that mission.
It was the result of the issue drawing attention, with people all over the world chipping in little by little.
And there was a high probability that the rank 1 holders of the remaining 25 Heroes had also chipped in.
"I'll chip in too."
Shin Geom added 2 million won.
If that streamer accepted the mission, he wouldn't be able to interfere anymore.
Then Shin Geom would seriously begin challenging a new Hero.
Shin Geom was meticulously preparing to crush Seo Jun.
* * *
With one week left, the mission reward reached 20 million won, and Seo Jun hit accept.
Meanwhile, the pros were each choosing their Hero and diligently improving their skills...
"Hey, Rachel."
"Yeah?"
"That sensation of immersion you talked about. I think I've grasped that moment a few times. But it's hard to maintain?"
"But now that you've felt it, you should be fine."
Currently, pros were in every Hero except Kael, and the Hero Bernard chose was Beduah.
One week. He had to show a perfect play within that time.
"Really?"
"If you properly hold onto that state, it won't break unless there's an external disturbance."
Then the record of 600 would come. Soon.
"Rachel, was the Id record you set this time achieved by entering that state?"
"Yeah. I think I was able to find it better when I focused solely on this, compared to when I have schedules."
"Id wasn't even touched by that streamer, so you didn't even need it to be perfect, so why did the coach clear your schedule? Anyway, even if you get into the history book, all you'll do is play second fiddle. Hehe."
"Shut up."
"Anyway, thanks. I'll try again. I bet everyone around the world is doing the same as me, right?"
"Do your best. One week left."
Bernard smirked and clenched his fist.
"One week, my ass. If it takes that long, I'll lose all face as a pro. Let's show them."
And the very next day.
Bernard succeeded in the 600.
* * *
[First to succeed was Korean pro gamer Baek Do-yul!!!!! FYI, this guy got 1st place just one day after appearing in the rankings.]
-Fucking amazing.
-Is a monster just a monster?
-Will other pros take long or fail...?
-Dammit, it's a Korean again...
[Bernard's appeared!]
-To finally pull off the most iconic 600 in Beduah. Bernard, America's pride!
-Yeah! As if he could fail!
-It was just his busy schedule holding him back; his skills are fully capable.
└But doing that 25 times in a row? Don't you think that's on a different level?
└└Shut up, Korean!!!! We did it!!!!!
[It was a really great experience, Sami Giraud too.]
==
French national team midlaner Sami Giraud also succeeded on the same day!
==
Afterwards.
Success stories kept pouring in.
Talented individuals abandoned their training schedules and focused entirely on one thing.
They had a clear direction on how and what to train, and an enemy was set.
It would have been strange if they didn't succeed.
"It's over, Seo Jun. The Trials!"
Tae-u giggled.
He thought things hadn't gone the way Seo Jun wanted.
"Exactly."
All the pros had succeeded.
"Seo Jun, the only record you're still 1st in is Kael, right?"
Watching Seo Jun browse overseas communities on his computer, Tae-u laughed refreshingly again.
"You didn't expect them to do this well, did you? Huh? You must not have thought they'd succeed in every last one."
And at that moment, Seo Jun turned his chair, and Tae-u could see his face.
It was that expression he always wore.
"Yeah, I didn't expect it at all."
A relaxed smile that said everything had gone exactly as he wanted.
Beyond it, the bright monitor entered Tae-u's vision. He could see which post Seo Jun had stopped on.
[Thank you for raising the heroes (pros), Korean Demon King! Now all that's left is for you to be defeated!]
Not just in Korea, but around the world.
The stage was perfectly set.