Chapter 268
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
Two treadmills in the gym were running at speeds of 12 km/h and 5 km/h.
The person on the 12 km/h machine was Seojun, warming up, and on the 5 km/h machine was Taewoo.
Walking leisurely, Taewoo called out to him.
"Listen well, Seojun."
"...?"
"The world isn't out to get you. Got it?"
Mid-stride, Seojun planted his feet on the side decks of the spinning belt and turned his head.
He shot a stupefied look at Taewoo, who was strolling with ease.
"Since when did I ever think that?"
"Hahaha!"
9 PM.
They had just confirmed that the trial was finally over and had come out to exercise.
"Anyway, it's not, so please don't go around with that weird victim mentality. From where I'm standing, you're the one getting the world good!"
As always, Seojun ignored Taewoo's noise.
The irony was that Taewoo always seemed to be trying to stop him from doing something, but then, if Seojun actually didn't do it, Taewoo would be the one feeling most let down.
That was just the kind of guy he was.
Seojun grabbed the towel he'd hung on the machine, wiped off the negligible sweat, and stepped down.
"Take it easy! Got it!"
Like a middle-aged woman speed-walking, Taewoo called out his admonishment.
This time, the "easy" was for something different, by the way.
Because after a simple warm-up, the place Seojun headed for was...
"Whoa. Look at that guy, never fails—warms up, then heads straight here without a single care for any other exercise. I'm gonna go coach him up. He does it so adorably it makes me wanna kill him, you know?"
It was the sparring area, where the gym owner greeted him with a beaming smile.
***
Having dutifully warmed his heart by helping (coaching) others, Seojun stepped outside into the cold wind. Beside him, Taewoo was shivering, complaining of the chill.
That's what he gets for not helping others.
Today, they weren't heading straight home.
There were people to meet.
"Hey there!"
A woman's voice rang out. It was familiar.
Next to her, a man was waving grandly with a bright face.
And next to him, an older man.
And beside him, the office worker who always gave off a burdensome stare whenever they met.
They were the members of Wealth Gap.
They had decided to meet in person to congratulate Seojun on passing his trial.
"Hahahaha! Seojun! You don't even have to exercise, and suddenly this neighborhood looks beautiful! Isn't this some kind of tourist attraction?"
Nope.
Just an ordinary neighborhood in Seoul.
Alpaca agreed with Ha Yoonho's comment.
"Right? Set aside that menacing building right in front of us, and the whole area suddenly feels pretty charming."
The building with the gym was also average.
As expected.
'None of them are normal.'
There was definitely something strange in the air with Travel.
Otherwise, there was no way every last one of its streamers was this unhinged.
For the record, Seojun was well acquainted with such energies: killing intent, bloodlust, demonic energy, and the like. He mused that maybe, if he dug into Travel, an opportunity might arise to recover the powers of his past life.
"It's been a while!"
"Taewoo? Can't say I'm particularly happy to see you."
"Same."
"Yoonho hyung, Lumi. You're all so mean. Ah, anyway, come on, let's go eat."
The reason they had gathered to meet Seojun was simple.
Because he would be confined for a while, they needed to see him before that.
It was apparently customary for the first-place winner of the trial, when they were about to be hauled off to the Historia, and that's why they were all here.
"Wow. To think someone from my own circle would be going into the Historia."
Ha Yoonho marveled with a chuckle.
He prided himself on having the widest network among streamers, but the Historia was no neighborhood spectacle.
It was a global competition where only the absolute peak among countless people could enter.
It wasn't something streamers easily got into.
"Right? But with Seojun, it just seemed like he'd walk right in."
"Exactly."
Each throwing in their two cents, they entered the private room of the restaurant they had booked.
Since they had streams that afternoon, no one drank alcohol.
"Here's to hoping Seojun pulls off the work of two or three people over there! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Clinking their glasses of sparkling water, they engaged in lively chatter. The main topic was what Seojun would do in the Historia.
"No way he'll suddenly pull a betrayal and go one-versus-forty-nine after they all cooperated to conquer it like that old sea temple raid, right?"
"While doing his whole roleplay thing. 'Ahh. A divine revelation has just come down. Please, all of you die.' Like that, hahaha."
"Didn't something like that happen before?"
"There was someone who betrayed, but that guy had a solid story reason. But with Seojun, he'd just do it shamelessly, like always."
Lumi paused, then continued.
"He'd say something like, 'The God demands all your lives,' and just start killing. The viewers would be throwing up question marks, wondering when exactly that revelation happened, while the Historia participants throw up question marks, wondering if the God of Light really said that."
"That's highly probable."
"We'll still be rooting for you, Seojun! You too, right, Wind Sword?"
"Of course."
"Honestly, if you get cursed out worldwide, joint streams might be tough for a while."
"This guy Seojun is already being called a 'Demon King,' you Wealth Gap folks. And on top of that, he smiled like he was satisfied when he saw it."
"Hahaha. Do you maybe know something, Seojun? Like that Kael is the final mastermind or something?"
"No way Kael would do that! He's the best among the judges, to the point they call him the Proxy!"
"But depending on how you play it, the setting can change. That's the charm of it, and in that sense, it's immense power! Let's go, Seojun! Pope Kael! Emperor Kael!"
"Uncover the dark side of the Order of Light!"
"Fighting!"
***
"Ah, Seojun."
As they disbanded and were going their separate ways, Alpaca briefly caught hold of Seojun.
"Yes?"
"I saw you've been playing PC games lately. Do you know how to play Craft?"
"Yes."
"Got it! That's perfect! See you later!"
What was that?
Craft is a famous PC game where the goal is to survive in a blocky world, and where players can make practically anything using mods if they wish.
After seeing the others off, Seojun returned home.
Then, the war council that Taewoo had unilaterally convened began.
"The Age of Exploration story two years ago. The treasure hunt three years ago. Do you know what the conclusion is for all those countless Historias, Seojun?"
"What."
"The fact is that the people who emerged as the victors of those histories have never once repeated."
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Nope. There are quite a few top players who've appeared twice over the nine years, you know? But looking at it, even those who did great in a previous one die at light speed when they go back."
This was the tenth Historia.
Seven years ago, they say, two Historias had already taken place.
Back then, it really was a story known only to those in the know. Even Seojun hadn't been aware of it at all.
Last year, when he returned after seven years, had been the ninth Historia.
And this year was the tenth.
"Just about right."
For the pros to gather.
"You're not listening to a word I'm saying right now. Anyway!"
Taewoo passionately gave his speech from outside Seojun's door.
"Because everyone there is the best! And because it's absolutely impossible to deduce how things will flow without actually being in it! Even monkeys fall from trees is an everyday occurrence, that's what I'm saying. You need to be careful."
Seojun didn't particularly feel the need to be careful.
For one, Kael had the formidable force of the Order of Light.
And the Radiant Order was the state religion of the larger of the two southern nations.
Meaning, he was part of the establishment.
"Huh? B Because Kael holds high rank, an assassination could come your way. Once you're in there, you just have to be careful every single moment, no exceptions. Like you're truly living another life."
Look at this.
Just a while ago he was telling him not to go on a rampage, and now he was worried.
Taewoo was worried, deep down, that Seojun might meet a gruesome death and fail to show him what he was secretly looking forward to seeing.
"You obvious bastard."
Seojun closed the door.
***
That afternoon.
While all the people he'd met earlier were turning on their streams, Seojun alone did not.
"I'm off."
"Get home safe."
Seojun spoke to Taewoo, who was streaming on his computer outside his room.
He briefly turned on Taewoo's stream on his phone to check the chat before closing it.
-Where's he going!
-Turn on your stream, channel owner
-The channel owner here already has his on though
-Only one channel owner may rise in Travel
He headed straight for the appointed location. It was an appointment that had been set three days prior.
"Hello."
"Hello, Sword God."
Seojun was thankful that the meeting spot was a private room and not a public place, given his counterpart's greeting. It was a little embarrassing.
"I'm the first one here."
"Yes. Since there are only four Koreans."
Four was actually a lot.
"Is it because there are only four Koreans? Or because you scheduled this with me before the trial even ended?"
"Let's say it's both."
Team Leader Lee Hyunju of the League Historia smiled as she spoke.
"So, how do you feel? In total, over thirty professional players are participating together. It's an unprecedented event. Usually, it hovered between ten and twenty, but this time it's over half."
"I really have no idea why you're asking me for my thoughts."
"And out of those over thirty, twenty-four of them passed your standard."
Seojun thought, 'She's really good at ignoring what people say too.'
And strangely, he detected a very faint hint of resentment.
"Hahaha! Congratulations!"
And a very faint hint of madness.
"So! We've also prepared something."
"...?"
This meeting was for hearing an explanation of overall procedures, excluding details about the content to come. It was not a place to announce something prepared, to a participant no less.
Seojun looked ahead, feeling a bit put off. Team Leader Lee opened her eyes wide and said,
"We've decided to hold a pre-launch festival! In Korea! Hahaha! Usually, each country just proceeds on its own, but! This time, as a special event, we're aiming to invite the participants to Korea and create an opportunity to build ties even in the real world, if they wish!"
Hmm.
So, basically.
Seojun asked, "Was that planned originally because it's the tenth anniversary?"
"No!"
"Then?"
"Talk of it started not long after your trial began."
"Why? Because of the tenth anniversary?"
"No. To honor Sword God's hard work."
"...What hard work."
'Something feels off.'
"The pre-launch festival, will you be attending?"
***
The idea to gather participants in Korea for the tenth anniversary hadn't come solely from Team Leader Lee. It was the consensus of all the team leaders.
Since a massive number of pros were already participating and the scale had blown up, they decided to make it even bigger for the tenth anniversary and use the opportunity to hit that user called Sword God with at least one blow.
It was a comment made before they even went to persuade the pros.
Wouldn't meeting in reality make them a bit more conscious of each other and uncomfortable?
Wouldn't it impose some limits on provocations and the like?
What would happen when they met the Divine Sword in the real world?
Solely to inflict that slight discomfort and awkwardness, the team leaders had resolved to endure the extra work.
Since the other side had given the development teams a hard time as a bonus, they'd do the same as a bonus.
The location was Korea.
As the core hub of virtual reality and an advanced economy, it was suitable.
And the result.
A few days after the trial ended, the news spread.
[Star pro gamers are coming to Korea?]
[Announced as a tenth-anniversary event. What's with these guys who never do this kind of thing? lol]
[They're recruiting streamers to join the party lol hope I get in]
-Are you a streamer?
└Could be a streamer, you know
└They're accepting foreign streamers too, so the competition will be insane. Plus the company is covering all expenses
-Most of the pros will probably do impromptu streams too lol on top of that, streamers? Is this just a TP? lmao
└The member list is just an absolutely insane, crazy-good TP
[Not a single Historia participant missing—all boarding flights to Korea! The reason?]
[That bastard, they're trying to meet him just once in real life lol]
-What lol It's just because there's an event, so they're going lol Stop reading so much meaning into it
└The pros have got to be dying of curiosity too. What kind of bastard is this guy to be that good?
└They might come to recruit!
└'You! Become my teammate!' lmao
└Even if their schedules are completely cleared, if the channel owner brings him in as a teammate, they win every tournament lol
└What's he spouting, 'win' my ass lmao
-Ah lol A real-life PK needs to happen lol
└Divine Sword ended up participating after all lol Seriously, watch your back at night, channel owner
└I should send him a helmet
Then, another two weeks passed, and over thirty pros and participants started touching down on Korean soil one by one.
At this point, it was six days until the Historia.