Chapter 319
[Khahahahaha! Excellent! To think you blocked every one of those bugs that noticed the signs!]
Seojun realized that now was the moment.
‘If I’m left alone, all eyes will be cut off. It’s not that I won’t be shown to the people. They’ll just reveal the ending—no, the epilogue a little later.’
Judging from the pattern in the historical records of the past, the viewpoint had probably been fixed on Yon at the final moment.
And then it ended.
It must have been a quiet moment. At least, that was how it felt when Seojun realized that the countless eyes watching him had disappeared.
[Excellent! Excellent! I was worried when you started acting strangely, but you’re far better than that other fool! Amazing!]
Except for this one.
Come to think of it, he had taken another shot at the person who had originally been the mastermind.
‘They must have figured out that person’s identity, right?’
Sorry about that.
How was he supposed to know they were really the mastermind?
It hadn’t been intentional.
If he had known they were the mastermind?
‘Still, I probably couldn’t have held back. You’d be curious to see what happens, wouldn’t you?’
In that case, it would have been willful negligence.
But in any case, Seojun in the past had not acted intentionally.
“Enough noise. What am I supposed to do now? Don’t tell me I have to wait.”
What Seojun meant was: Was he seriously supposed to wait here for an hour?
Of course, it probably wouldn’t work that way within the game, but the AI would more or less understand him.
[Yes! Now that the obstacles are gone, I’ll invest even more resources! It’s all thanks to you, collaborator! Once the passage opens, I’ll certainly grant your wish! Go to the front of the passage!]
After hearing Fragment’s words, Seojun walked toward the underground waterway where the passage was located.
Half-destroyed buildings.
The dead soldiers of Asius.
He passed by the heroes who had fallen in the previous battle.
The otherworldly monsters, wrapped in green energy, were also gathering from all across the city into a single location, following him.
The floor had been destroyed, exposing the underground waterway to the surface. The Hounds began gathering and clumping together around the passage there.
As if the disgusting monsters were rubbing against one another.
[Now then. As you said, I shall open the passage right away! The power I gave you is unnecessary! I can use the power that belonged to that insignificant creature and amplify it! Keep anyone from coming here in the meantime.]
I see.
Had he gathered the dogs to reduce the remaining time?
“Sure. But, you know.”
[But?]
“What did you think my purpose was?”
[The judgment of those who have gone astray. Yes, isn’t that what you truly desire? I shall make it happen for you! Hahaha!]
Had Fragment sensed something ominous?
For some reason, Seojun felt as if Fragment was trying to placate him.
“Are you scared?”
Seojun snickered.
[Scared of what? Keep watch properly! A massive war is about to begin!]
Seojun’s mood changed.
“Judgment, huh… Very well, brother.”
The clue to Asius’s corruption that he had obtained as a quest reward.
It had been nothing more than a forced interpretation. At least, that was how it would be judged in the historical record that had reached this ending.
But if Seojun had gone in search of that clue, the story would have proceeded in a direction more closely aligned with it.
That was how historical records worked.
But Seojun had not done so, and this was how it ended.
With everyone dead and the passage opening.
‘The epilogue.’
What was the purpose of the epilogue currently unfolding?
And what was he supposed to do?
What was the creator’s intention?
The AI’s intention?
What did they want?
The truth was—
‘There’s no need to worry about any of that.’
The epilogue did not exist for those things.
It existed to give him a chance to do whatever he wanted until the very end.
Then?
Regardless of the story that followed, regardless of the characters or their relationships, Seojun spent a brief moment of quiet pondering.
And then he made his decision.
He would simply live as he pleased.
And that was what resonated with the viewers, too.
“You’ll receive that judgment as well, brother.”
Seojun was—
a streamer.
* * *
The moment Seojun won.
The front offices of gaming teams around the world were swept up in excitement.
“Get him to the team immediately!”
“He won! He actually won!”
“This is impossible.”
“That skill is truly…”
They were faced with an obvious task, one that had to be treated as their absolute first priority.
“He’ll become the best. No, he already is the best.”
“Can someone really do that with talent alone?”
“He’s already a legend.”
The people in those front offices probably had the sharpest eyes in the world.
After all, the front office existed to bring in people with such eyes and put them in their seats.
They acknowledged it.
He had already surpassed their common sense, the limits of their imagination. People like that could exist in this world.
And so they had a task.
That task was—
“Bring him to our team by any means necessary! If we manage it, we’ll immediately give the players some character training, too! But!”
The character training was merely a precaution, meant to prevent internal team conflicts.
But more important than that was—
“Absolutely—absolutely do not let him join another team. It’s fine if we can’t have him. He must never go to another team.”
If Seojun joined another team, the difference in their power would be enormous.
But more than that, they simply could not afford to make someone like him their enemy.
What if one of their own pros ended up being singled out like a divine sword?
“Even if it means paying him on the condition that he never signs a pro contract, stop him!”
“Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know!”
Half of it was probably a joke, and the other half was completely serious.
That was how precisely Seojun’s performance had been etched into the minds of people around the world.
And the result was—
[ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ The Boss wins!]
==
Thanks to him, every foreign league community has exploded! This is insane!!!!
The worst mastermind in history! King of bad character!
He even blew up the communities!
==
—This is seriously insane!
—That final scene from Yon’s perspective is genuinely terrifying.
—So that’s what happened… That’s what the participants were seeing.
He had driven people crazy.
The final scene had etched the image of Seojun as the ultimate mastermind into everyone’s minds more perfectly than anything else could have.
People had even begun to show understanding toward that scene.
[Now I finally understand China’s climax. Upvote if you agree ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
==
So they had to face someone like this… It was brief, but that guy was incredible.
He dared to try playing the mastermind against the Boss ㅋㅋ
You’d need extraordinary courage for that.
Upvote if you acknowledge him.
==
—Did you know? There’s a video on the Boss’s channel where the observer’s position was set up around the same time as Climax’s viewpoint, so it shows the moment the Boss notices him. It has 15 million views ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└The one where even the movement of the pupils was recreated perfectly, so the Boss makes eye contact with him? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└That was seriously creepy. I admit it ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Ahem. The identity of the Mastermind has not been revealed yet, so you must not call him Climax. Even if all of his habits have been exposed! Yes!
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└His habits really were all exposed. It’s hard to figure out who he is at first, but once you make a guess, it’s easy to find the evidence.
[In the end, this guy…]
==
He really was a god?
Kael’s god.
Kael cultists, rise up!!!!!
==
—The Kael cultists are already ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ They’re standing for a standing ovation out of emotion.
└Seriouslyㅋㅋㅋㅋ We’re already standing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—I really didn’t think he’d use the Three-Man Sword three times. In a row. Most people can’t even use the Two-Man Ultimate, but the Boss is seriously for real? My heart is swelling…
└The Boss really is… really… for real.
[He’s proving it to the world. The pro gamers from the league with the deepest talent pool in the entire world… What an incredible bastard. The greatest bastard.]
==
Seriously… what even is this guy?
No, what on earth is he?
==
—I’ve said this repeatedly. He really is just the ‘Sword God.’
└Seriously, the Sword God. Wasn’t that nickname given to him by a viewer? Who came up with it?
—We miss the Heavenly Demon Boss…
└When was the Heavenly Demon? That was ages ago.
└But considering his character, the Demonic Cult really does fit him…
└That’s honestly undeniable.
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[How far are you going to fly, Boss?!]
==
What do you mean, the limit of talent? ㅋㅋ
==
—He’s seriously incredible.
—Is this guy really just an ordinary university student?
└They call it Korea University, but talent at that level is enough to make even Korea University look like a gathering of ordinary people.
└The stories about the Boss’s university life that occasionally get posted are hilarious.
└Are those the Sword Stories?
└Yeahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—His talent is literally number one among all humanity. It makes no sense.
—Seriously, where the hell did this guy train in swordsmanship? I need to know.
└Are you a Kael cultist?
└Yeahㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ I heard foreign Kael cultists are planning to travel to Korea once the dojo is identified. Tourism is going to skyrocket!!!!
└You crazy bastard, you think tourism will boom because of that? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[So what happens to the story now?]
—Enjoy the festival.
—The epilogue drops tomorrow.
—Seriouslyㅋㅋ
—The overseas response is blazing hot. Truly blazing.
[It’s a relief the Boss didn’t cause any serious diplomatic problems ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Historical Record victory! Korea victory! Korea is the best!]
==
This is what a K-streamer is!
==
—This isn’t Korea’s victory, but here they go with the jingoism again…
└‘A Country That Possesses the Boss’ (Original poster)
└What are you going to do about it?
└‘A Country That Possesses the Boss’ (Original poster)
└Ugh, illogical jingoist!
└‘A Country That Possesses the Boss’ (Original poster)
└Just piss off.
└Wow! I’ll admit, ‘A Country That Possesses the Boss’ is pretty good.
└This is one time when jingoism is allowed ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[So how much has this guy grown, anyway?]
[Turn on the stream! Boss!]
[I heard they’re letting the participants play at the hotel for a while ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Surface is really generous.]
[Turn on the stream!!!!!!]
* * *
All day long.
Among the chatter of League players around the world, talk of Seojun never died down.
Everything in this historical record had begun with Seojun and ended with Seojun.
League held the status of a game that everyone had played at least once.
No other game could rival it in popularity.
And Seojun had not merely performed in the largest piece of content that game offered outside of its actual tournaments—he had completely devoured it.
There was no way the interest in Seojun, or his fame, could do anything but reach the very top.
And the next day.
The epilogue of the historical record was released.
Not from Seojun’s viewpoint, nor from an arbitrarily chosen observer’s viewpoint, but through viewpoints selected perfectly by the experts.
He walked through the city.
To bring everything to an end.
—The atmosphere is insane!
—This guy is just a mastermind.
—He’s handsome, so he carries the atmosphere like crazy ㅅㅍ
—And Fragment, that bastardㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Scared of what? Keep watch properly! A massive war is about to begin!]
[Judgment, huh… Very well, brother.]
—So are the heroes from the Chaos side going to appear now?
—Will Climax appear as a new hero?
—It might get scrapped because nobody likes him ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Exactly ㅋㅋ Why would they even do something like that?
—Am I the only one who feels uneasy about the Boss just standing there?
And then Seojun spoke.
[You’ll receive that judgment as well, brother.]
—???????
—?????
—What a lunaticㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[What? Wait! Don’t come here—just watch! What are you doing?!]
[I never liked you from the beginning.]
[Then why! Why did you stop the other heroes?! If you were going to do this!]
—Seriouslyㅋㅋ
—At least he’s protecting Pangea, right?
—Kael has really gone completely dark ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s become a total lunatic ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—As a Kael cultist, I actually love itㅋㅋㅋㅋ He’s going to become an unaffiliated, freewheeling heretic inquisitor now, and that’s even cooler.
[Why did I fight them? Because I knew I would win. That’s all, brother.]
Seojun smiled faintly and walked toward the passage where the Hounds had gathered.
—Wow! ㅅㅍㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He says he knew he’d win.
—He’s saying that to us, right???
—Yeahㅇㅇ Seems like he’s saying it to us.
—Fact) He actually gave up almost all of his buffs. And still won.
—Give us a detailed analysis! Great scholars of the world! Graduate students!
[Don’t come! I said don’t come!]
[Brother, let us repent.]
—How many Judgment Swords is he going to use this time?
—Insaneㅋㅋㅋ Nine ㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is just ridiculous.
—Did he betray them just to show us that? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
—Ah, Boss, turn on the stream already. I’m seriously going to die if this keeps up!!
—Seriouslyㅋㅋ I’m holding my breath!