Chapter 273
On the morning the History Book began.
Seojun had a moment to hear about the rules once more, not from his manager but from Team Leader Lee.
It was special treatment.
It could be a bad thing, but Seojun decided not to care.
"The start time is 2 p.m. The world runs for four hours from 2, then stops for one hour."
The world freezes.
It's a commonly used expression.
Literally, from 6 to 7, the server simply halts.
"And then it resumes from 7 to 11, and that ends the day."
When it was worldwide, they followed UK time, and participants had to change their sleep patterns.
In fact, even now that everyone's gathered in one place, participants from other countries are essentially changing their sleep patterns.
Either way they'd have to shift their sleep, but some people dislike being awake at night.
Back then, the game company solved that by inviting those players to the UK.
"A day in-game passes six times faster."
Four hours means a day in the game passes.
Of course, the time the participants actually feel is still the same four hours. They just need to know that day and night flip rapidly.
"And from now on, you can only use the capsule for electronic devices, you know? We'll limit the capsule too, of course, by installing a management app."
"Yes, I know that."
If he hated this, he shouldn't have joined.
Everyone knows it's unavoidable control.
"Yes, then please turn in your phone shortly, and don't use any other electronic devices. If you do, it'll all be detected anyway."
"I know. I heard a participant gets caught now and then."
"That's right. But I don't think you'll do it, Seojun-ssi."
"Why?"
"Because you can break through fine without cheating like that, right?"
"...Well, yeah."
He couldn't deny it.
Seojun asked.
"So, do you think I'll be the winner of history?"
"I'll be rooting for you. A fellow countryman doing well is better, isn't it?"
Oh.
Seojun was impressed.
He showed interest, too.
"It seems there's some kind of pride fight among the team leaders too."
A pride fight.
And watching others' pride fights was Seojun's favorite element. Also one he couldn't resist.
"Hahaha, how could there not be? We're human too. Guess we can't help getting a bit high-nosed and cocky."
"I see. You must have no worries since there are plenty of others doing well besides me. Like Byun Do-yul."
"Ah. Byun Do-yul, that person seems to be keeping an eye on you too, Seojun-ssi. Are you two close?"
"We had some contact in a streaming sense back during Rios, but none since then?"
Seojun just said it offhand.
Because Byun Do-yul was the previous champion.
"Is that so? I thought otherwise. Byun Do-yul kept asking in detail about what you're doing, how you're preparing, what you asked."
In that instant, Seojun got goosebumps.
Why on earth would that person?
Immediately, he racked his brain to check the info on Byun Do-yul's hero.
Whether it was a hero at the complete opposite pole from his, or starting somewhere close.
It wasn't. The hero was on the other side of the continent, to the point of no contact at all.
Seojun also wondered if he'd somehow earned a grudge.
But this didn't reach a conclusion.
'I'm not the type to provoke, but others often take it as provocation.'
Hmm.
Seojun nodded and warmed up, thinking he'd better watch his back if he ever met Byun Do-yul.
It's not that he trusted others originally, but that he'd be especially careful.
"Then leaving the building is the same as you said yesterday?"
People have a hard time staying only in a room.
Seojun could hold out fine, but if people can't even take a walk, it can harm their mental health.
Team Leader Lee answered.
"Yes. It's the same. However, there are things to watch out for, as mentioned yesterday."
The hotel was booked entirely.
Precisely starting today, there would be no outside tourist guests.
The game company handled everything themselves, like covering the cost of turning away reserved guests and booking them better hotels.
That much is manageable. The backing is Surface.
"You can use the restaurant, lobby, etc. You cannot use places like the pool or sauna where it's hard to monitor information exchange. If you're caught having such conversations, you'll be disqualified the same way."
"Yes."
"Sigh, I've never done this before, so I'm not sure if it'll work."
"But you said you'd prepared."
"We've toyed with the idea of gathering in one place since way back. Well then, good luck from today on."
***
[Who do you think will be the main character?]
==
The main character of history!
kekeke Can't resist this.
==
-Today's finally the day.
-Isn't that the line always said around this time?
└And the predictions were always wrong.
-It's the host, obviously kekeke
└The lineup is insane, so who knows what variables might pop. Even for that host.
└Byun Do-yul is here too, so sure kekeke
└Why isn't Shin Ha-yeon showing up? Scared?
└For real lol
└If she did, a three-way fight would've been crazy.
[30 pros alone! This is truly insane.]
==
Where's everyone going to watch?
kekekekekekekekekekekeke
==
-For real, where?
-Each country's official broadcast?
[Everyone watch Bang-ju! Says they'll broadcast solely from the host's perspective!]
==
???: Ah. I got a casting offer from Korea's official account for commentary, but I turned it down because I want to see only that person. I'll watch only that person on my personal stream!
Bang-ju <-- If you think this bastard is damn smart and knows how to gather viewers, upvote kekeke
==
All streamers who applied for the History Book server broadcast can spectate.
And in this spectating state, you can switch in real-time among the 50 heroes to watch whoever you want, but broadcast streams usually capture special moments as much as possible and are broadly divided into those that hop around this hero and that hero, and those that stick persistently to just one hero.
And Bang-ju, a caster in a fairly unrivaled position in Korea's Travel, had announced he'd follow Seojun.
-Kyah!
-Even the spectators have romance!
-Then just watch Bang-ju kekekekeke
-Don't foreign guys have people like Bang-ju?
└Would they? They're busy cheering their own country.
└Some more minor ones might only watch Seojun.
-You gotta stick with the side that's good at spectating for this, you know. Bang-ju's pretty good.
-Sounds like Bang-ju is gonna soar thanks to the host, I hear that.
└HostCoin <-- This bastard has never crashed even once.
Naturally, the reaction was good.
Many Korean streamers besides Bang-ju also said they'd spectate Seojun.
But if Seojun gets eliminated early, or stagnates while other heroes solve problems, the spectators will eventually leave.
[Organized List of Spectating Heroes by Streamer]
[How long will this History Book take, kekekekeke]
[Working viewers who have no choice but to miss the first half and only see the second... so damn pathetic kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke I just need to not be one of them!!!! I'm truly happy to be a viewer.]
[So what will the host really do?]
[They say he'll ditch all character concept and become emperor right away? kekekekekekekekekekeke]
[Heir of an ancient empire. I will stand above all!]
Anyway, the attention gathering from the start wasn't a bad thing.
And this attention wasn't only in Korea.
***
[I don't think streamers necessarily have to watch the hero that their own country's participant is in.]
==
So you don't need to curse out the streamers watching that Korean.
==
-I agree. Honestly, I'm a little curious too.
-Everyone just watching freely is enough.
-But I simply cannot understand why they want to watch that streamer.
└Why's that?
└└There are too many notable people. What reason is there to watch the Sword God over them?
└└└Yon yielded to him. (photo of Viking Yon about to bring down an axe)
└└└└I'll acknowledge that.
[China has not a single streamer saying they'll spectate that person! Hahaha!]
==
Hahahaha!
==
-If you watch, you'll get buried over there kekekekekeke
└Korean. What's so fun?
└└You guys are just fun? kekekekekekekekekekeke
└└└Ha. You guys will stop watching that person soon anyway. How good can he be? Just a mere streamer.
└└└└(photo of Viking Yon about to bring down an axe)
└└└└└kekekeke No more replies? Chinese vanquished kekekekeke
[Yon getting his tail trimmed was certainly surprising.]
==
So was breaking the punch machine.
With skills like that even in reality, he certainly deserves attention.
==
-Yup, not gonna watch. Koreans' marketing is too obvious.
└(photo of Viking Yon about to bring down an axe)
└└Fine. I'll watch.
-Others watching I'll accept, but I'm not watching anyway. I have my own streamer to watch.
-It's meaningless. Most people watch each country's official broadcast anyway, so don't forget the most important thing is making plays that can appear there.
[It's almost!!! starting!!!]
***
1:55 p.m.
Seojun entered the capsule.
Just as Team Leader Lee said, inside the capsule he couldn't play any other games.
He could only press the icon that appeared right in front of him to connect to a certain server.
"Playing the game without streaming?"
Even though it's essentially a broadcast everyone is watching anyway.
Seojun launched the game.
They don't have to fill exactly four hours and can dawdle, but not a single participant would do that.
With a blink, Seojun was standing in a dark place.
Buildings were visible, but all covered in shadow; human figures were visible too, but frozen.
In the frozen world, he similarly could not move.
'Hmm.'
In that situation, Seojun went over the information he'd gathered before.
'They said gathering lots of achievement points is unquestionably good.'
Achievement points are a currency only for participants inside the History Book.
How to get them is by doing quests that appear depending on the situation.
If unaffiliated, you'll start with some kind of personal problem having arisen; if affiliated, a mission will be given.
Whether you do them or not is up to you.
However, since you can get special goods matching the region or faction the participant is in with these achievement points, it's better to do them.
Following quests is one of the easiest ways to get closer to the story, but even if you skip the immediate quest, other quests continue to adjust and appear according to the situation, so it's said that moving with goods as the goal is good.
Time passed and it hit 2 o'clock; the world's shadows began to lift.
The place Seojun stood was a space that seemed to be an office in a temple.
The human figure seated before him was a high being.
[Cardinal Ian]
Kael is an inquisitor of the Church of Light.
An inquisitor is a hound of the church that listens to the cardinal's orders, but Kael bears the title Agent of Radiance, a hero of the era blessed with divine power.
Ian spoke.
"You're curious about the prophecy that came down this time?"
Not curious.
But he felt he knew how the story would begin.
"No matter how much you're in a special position to act independently, as an inquisitor I cannot tell you the contents of the prophecy."
Ian continued speaking.
"Unless you offer sufficient contributions, that is."
Contributions and the prophecy.
That was Seojun's first task to solve this History Book.
The setting was surely that all previously accumulated contributions had been used up.
Seojun considered Kael's devout, upright, and rigid personality as he was about to respond, then stopped and thought.
Anyway, the tone doesn't really matter.
So Seojun spoke as usual.
"So what do you want."
Just ever so slightly without manners.
Originally, NPCs' eyes and age don't match their faces.
That was the start of the History Book.
***
Meanwhile, Bang-ju, who was watching Seojun's beginning, said this while casting from outside.
[Ah! Kael seems to finally be hitting puberty! I'm afraid of how much more twisted he'll become!]
-From the start, a character-breaking tone kekekekeke
-This is the way for History Books!
-Ah, tell him to hurry up if he wants something kekekekeke
-It's like this already, so I'm just terrified of the future kekekekekekeke
-If he's too annoyed to show the prophecy, let's just take the Pope's seat kekekeke
-The spring of the church ㄷㄷㄷ