Chapter 317
The world trembles.
Excluding China, which keeps its own tally, the global concurrent viewership is forty-five million.
Korea alone accounts for two and a half million.
Including China, how many people must be watching solely for the final chapter of the History Tome?
The time slots are advantageous to Korea, China, and Japan.
From 2 PM to 6 PM. And then 7 PM to 11 PM.
The current time is 9 PM, Korean Standard Time.
Using the UK, where the prime meridian—the standard for Earth’s longitude and time zones—lies, when it’s 9 PM in Korea, it is noon in Britain.
If you wake up in the morning and start watching, it ends in broad daylight. Not exactly something you can call ideal.
Then what about the Americas? It’s the worst.
For starters, in New York it’s 7 AM. Seven in the morning.
The central regions have it at 5 or 6 AM.
San Francisco sees 4 AM.
You either stay up all night or wake up early. Even if you wake early, you can only catch the earlier sessions—running from 2 PM to 6 PM KST—via highlights.
Of course, some might argue: True, the time is favorable for Korea. But doesn’t that mean there’s hardly anyone in Korea who can watch the full eight hours, plus the hour-long break, for a total of nine hours?
And that’s a perfectly valid point.
That’s why the History Tome might, in a sense, be considered highlight content. Among the League-related content, it’s the second most famous and most watched, but replays and summaries are overwhelmingly more viewed than live broadcast numbers.
[Is Korea the Reason This Season’s History Tome Live Viewership Is Sluggish?]
[The Management of the Global Phenomenon “History Tome”—Is This Heavy-Handed Approach Acceptable?]
[Countless Pros Have Gathered, Yet Reactions Are Lukewarm. What’s the Cause?]
- The journalists are spouting nonsense.
- The estimated viewership via replays and summaries is record-breaking.
- Honestly, having the time centered on the UK is better.
└ That’s because it’s at least bearable, if not prime time, for the Americas. Based on Korean time, you either have to wake up early or stay up all night.
So in the early days of the History Tome, there was a fair bit of this and that talk.
But the History Tome sailed on so smoothly that the noise could be completely ignored.
No, the live viewership numbers climbed by the day. Every single day. Every time a session came to a close. Even though the time slots were unfavorable for the large viewer bases in Europe and the Americas.
It was entirely thanks to one person.
No one could deny it.
The mainstream media eventually acknowledged it too.
A star. Someone who, even during inherently boring live broadcasts, constantly spouted bizarre remarks proving his main job was a streamer; who, even amidst pros scattered in every direction, stood out with such skill that it drove people crazy with speed; who caused at least one incident a day that drove them just as mad; and with a personality to match.
A star. Yes. A star.
In the end, Seojun even became the Hidden Mastermind, showing a playstyle for the role that no one else could.
[Why You Must Pay Attention to This Korean Streamer!]
[Everything in This History Tome Began with This Person—and Will End With This Person.]
[Silent Despite Love Calls from Major Brands… What Is the Rising Star’s True Intent?]
- He’s stuck in a hotel running the History Tome, so of course he’s silent, you empty-headed reporter brat.
└ I… I don’t think you necessarily have to put it that way.
└ LOL fr, what a total dumbass reporter bastard.
- Why do these guys never have a day without spouting nonsense? lol
└ Well, when five people gather, one’s bound to be trash, so it can’t be helped lol.
- Thanks to a Korean streamer in a History Tome held in Korea, we’re soaring high—let’s go!
From the moment he became the Hidden Mastermind, the live viewership of the History Tome easily surpassed the average of previous seasons, climbing until it stopped just short of breaking the peak concurrent record.
Then came Day 13. It faltered slightly as Seojun took a break, but as if that lull was meant to build momentum, the potential exploded on Day 14.
Once the battle started, the live viewership numbers began to skyrocket madly.
The previous record was shattered in an instant.
And the number that appeared was 45 million.
That was the concurrent viewership.
And so, the world was trembling.
* * *
[I don’t really need them, anyway.]
They cheer.
“Aaaaaah! Kael has appeared! The real Kael! Not an AI, but our true Streamer!”
They go wild.
- Kyah!
- Streamer! Streamer! Streamer! Streamer! Streamer!
- You crazy bastard! lol A real crazy bastard!
“Phase 2! No, the final phase! Of course, this isn’t like Seojun to just leave everything to the AI!”
The battle’s final stage.
“He came down to finish it himself! Directly from the heavens! To handle it with his own hands!”
- I thought he’d come after drinking two more potions, but he’s already here! And he just threw the potions away!!! lol
- The Streamer’s personality: throwing down a taunt the moment he arrives lol.
- Crazy bastard lol. For a moment, I foolishly thought he’d actually not waste all the potions.
- Guess you really are foolish? lol This is the Streamer we’re talking about.
- Ah lol, true.
“The final phase!”
Bangju glanced at the viewer count and put on the happiest expression imaginable.
600,000 people were watching. A personal best record.
Six hundred thousand viewers on an individual stream. With the estimated Korean viewership at two and a half million, it meant more than one in five were watching together on Bangju’s channel.
She was simply thrilled.
‘The global numbers must be even more staggering.’
Because all these people had gathered purely to watch one person and wholeheartedly cheer him on.
“Right now, Kael has all his hidden abilities revealed! And the nine remaining pros, while dealing with the calamity that is the AI, have perfected their teamwork to the utmost!”
- For real lol, it was truly a calamity.
- They couldn’t beat it, after all.
- Even if it was thanks to healing potions, four of them still died to the AI alone lol.
- The AI was seriously insanely strong, you know?
- I think only people who watched the battle properly will really understand.
- Is it even allowed to be that overpowered?
“Yes! The AI was incredibly strong. Why was it so strong, you ask?”
On this, there could be no disagreement.
- Because its original body is strong!! Damn strong!
- I mean, the Streamer already showed us lol.
- Still, it seemed like a 100% clone of the original body lol.
“Was it really 100% of the original body? That? Yeah?”
The majority of viewers responded in agreement. They said absolutely not.
“Exactly! And now he’s going to show that!”
Why else would he throw away two potions just to start?
Seojun’s confidence was always grounded in proof. Ordinary people just couldn’t see it. No, no one but him could see it. But if you’ve followed his record…
- Ah lol, he says he’ll show us lol.
- We believe you, lol.
- Overseas, they say if he fails to do better than the AI here and dies, he’ll fall straight into the abyss.
- They’re asking us to see if he can win overwhelmingly, lol.
- He really would fall into the abyss lol. After stirring up all this chaos, if he can’t pull it off, he deserves a beating lol.
- But it’s the Streamer, isn’t it~
Right on cue.
[I’ll show you the nine Judgment Swords.]
- Kyah!!!!!
- Crazy bastard! Crazy bastard! Crazy bastard!
- There it is again! Saying things without basis and then actually pulling it off! lol
- Lol.
Bangju was astonished.
The duration of the Mark of Heresy was 30 seconds. At three seconds per Judgment Sword, nine of them were possible. Possible, technically.
[Ha ha ha ha! Do you really think that’s possible?! Even if time-wise it is! Even if you can overwhelm us with sheer physical prowess to create a Mark of Heresy in three seconds!]
Six and three. That was the split between melee heroes and ranged heroes. And the three ranged heroes stood separately, directly opposite Seojun. In that formation, there was no way nine Judgment Swords were feasible.
[Shut up and come at me.]
[Yes, sir!]
Bangju switched the perspective. First-person view.
“I’ll show you from Seojun’s point of view!”
The battle resumed with Yon charging in.
When fighting the AI, the heroes had initially taken turns marking the Hidden Mastermind one by one, switching out when their health dropped. Other melee fighters kept their distance and attacked when they saw an opening. They had changed their approach because going one-on-one with the AI caused them to lose health instantly due to the gap in ability. From then on, they engaged multiple at a time, and now, facing the original body, they made the same choice.
In that fleeting moment, the view became chaotically scrambled. Attacks came stretching in from all directions in an instant, aiming for Seojun’s health. It seemed utterly impossible to react. The fleeting attacks blurred across the screen, and even viewers who failed to fully perceive them felt it would be impossible to dodge.
But for those who properly understood, Seojun proved it was possible.
Moving lightly on a diagonal, Seojun let three attacks slip by and blocked the strike coming from the front. Was merely blocking it all he did?
Thrust!
Simultaneously with the block, his own attack landed. Then, shoving the directly confronting Yon back with his sword, he rotated his body and aimed for the neck of Bernard behind him.
Whoosh!
Slash!
Bernard allowed the attack, and in sync with Shin-geom’s diagonal strike, he used a skill targeting Seojun. Ranged attacks, having found their angles, also came flying. Energy erupted from Bernard’s blade, and with a simple swing, the ground where Seojun stood was gouged as if by claws.
Patter-patter.
Seojun retreated three steps, and the spot he had vacated was immediately showered with attacks.
[Press him! He’ll hesitate to be reckless without potions!]
[But he has lifesteal.]
[He’ll be cautious! He likely figures we’re mentally exhausted anyway, and there’s plenty of time. What, don’t you want to get a single hit in?]
The heroes began to corner the Hidden Mastermind. It was all-round pressure. The world’s finest grabs, techniques, mastery, and coordinated attacks unfolded.
Watching this entire process from Seojun’s perspective was…
- Oh…..
- Busy, busy.
- His head doesn’t stop moving.
- His movements too, insane.
- I knew he was good, but really… really…
Yet, despite the dizziness, Bangju didn’t change the point of view. She thought that, at least for the ending, it had to be seen from the Hidden Mastermind’s viewpoint.
After all, everyone…
‘Is going to replay it anyway.’
Smiling, Bangju continued her commentary.
“Ah, he still hasn’t taken a single hit! And he’s saving his invincibility skill, too! What’s this? Is he planning to end it in one go?”
- Dodging everything without even using invincibility once is insane.
- The opponents are also more hesitant to recklessly use their skills because of his invincibility.
“Exactly! A misfire could drag in their own teammates! But! Even so, they are pressing Seojun perfectly and safely! Kael! When will you use your invincibility skill?!”
The nine heroes were mechanical. Several optimal skill combos had already been established, and with perfect cooldown calculations, they pressured him relentlessly. Dodging all that without invincibility skills was undeniably a feat of extraordinary skill, but…
- But wait, so in the end, the Streamer has seven strikes landed and the opponents have zero lol.
- A god!
- Still, it’s hard to create a variable by sacrificing some health like the AI did. He doesn’t have potions.
- That’s just because he hasn’t used invincibility yet!
- Stop getting pushed back, Streamer!
- He isn’t saving invincibility for no reason. Looks like he’s watching for an opening.
- What’s he preparing?!
- If he fails, it’s the abyss for you, Streamer ㅠㅠ.
If he fails, it’s over.
And then. The moment the four charged in at once, closing the distance, Seojun’s body finally began to glow white.
[Blessing of Radiance]
Swordmaster’s Game Broadcast
Chapter 318
24.03.25