Chapter 36
Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and launched a new game.
“Thanks for the donation. Now, let’s move on to the next game.”
-Oh shiver shiver shiver
-Indeed?
-What could it be?
The background flipped and the world changed.
If the previous game, ‘Dawn of the Assassins,’ had tall buildings sprouting up like bamboo shoots in a dark setting, the game he just launched was different.
Like bamboo shoots, literally bamboo was sprouting up.
It was green.
That was Seo-jun’s first impression of the game.
Birds chirped and a panda started rolling around.
A hill covered in lush vegetation was the starting point.
Seo-jun first moved his body in place.
He stretched and swung his arms.
“……Hmm, just right.”
Thanks to Surface, which oversaw the capsule and virtual reality, the sensation of diving into VR didn’t change, but movement speed varied according to the set value.
And this game seemed to have tried to give a feeling as close to reality as possible.
The fluttering robe hem and the faint sound of strings evoked a nostalgic feeling.
Meanwhile, the viewers began to get excited as they recognized the game.
-Could this be For the Sake of Chivalry?
-That game where there’s actually no chivalry hahaha?
-That game full of damn martial arts veterans?
-Heh. It’s an online game!!!
-Go!
As expected.
They recognize it just from the starting point.
“As you all expected, this game is For the Sake of Chivalry.”
For the Sake of Chivalry.
Another game from Movie Soft, it was a martial arts action game set in the world of Murim, where three major factions—the Orthodox Faction, the Unorthodox Faction, and the Demon Cult—clashed.
It had ranked first in concurrent players on release day, and even now, years later, though it had declined somewhat, it still enjoyed moderate popularity.
And another major characteristic was that despite its moderate popularity, the game had an incredibly dedicated veteran player base.
- 385,000 viewers
- 270,000 viewers
That was the current viewer count on Travel.
For the Sake of Chivalry consistently maintained viewers in the late 300,000s.
Dawn of the Assassins had hit 800,000 just a week ago, but that was thanks to major corporate streamers who moved in units of hundreds of thousands.
Now that they weren’t playing, the numbers had dropped.
‘Still, Dawn of the Assassins wasn’t a bad choice.’
No, rather it was the optimal choice.
‘After all, now my stream has ten thousand viewers.’
Wait.
Ten thousand?
The streaming viewer count was way too high.
What’s going on?
He calmly checked his viewer distribution.
“4,000 foreign viewers? Huh, what’s going on?”
-Huh? What?
-The viewer count really is high
-I didn’t say anything because mentioning viewer count was banned until the streamer brought it up, I was frustrated alone
-Oh what
-4,000 foreign viewers? Shiver
It’s not common for foreign viewers to watch a stream.
Technology had advanced enough to auto-translate voices, but cultures are different, and the on-screen game visuals aren’t translated.
In other words, they had just temporarily flocked in.
Soon, Seo-jun realized the reason.
“Ah. It must be because of Yeonmujang.”
-Seems like it hahaha
-Yeonmujang’s influence is insane
-Bro, are you becoming world class now?
World class, my ass.
Seo-jun chuckled and fiddled with his streaming window.
‘Well, I guess this gives me something to say to the advertisers.’
Seo-jun figured that good things were good.
A notification appeared indicating that the stream included paid advertising.
“This game today is sponsored, you see.”
-Oh???
-Advertising already?
-Advertising the next game! Truly a monster born of capitalism
-But why advertise For the Sake of Chivalry? Is there an event?
-A Movie Soft ad, is he really becoming world class!
The viewers didn’t seem particularly displeased.
“Haha, indeed. But everyone, I won’t just quit this game right after the ad ends. Even if it weren’t an ad, I’ve wanted to try For the Sake of Chivalry.”
He meant it.
Because it’s a martial arts setting.
Skills are called martial arts.
Honestly, it’s a bit awkward, but it evoked a nostalgic feeling and seemed fun.
-Hahahaha
-I like it even more
-But then how long are you going to play?
“How long? Until I get bored.”
Seo-jun looked at them as if they were asking the obvious.
-Even when the game changes, this guy is the same hahahaha
-Even if public sentiment plummets, he won’t change, shiver
-He’s fallen a few times already but just pushes through. Like when he ends stream or skips Christina hahaha
“Alright then. Let’s move. To the village? No, the city below the hill.”
Seo-jun slowly descended the stairs beside him.
And beside him, a panda rolled past.
“Cute.”
It looked comfortable, but he didn’t copy it.
After descending, he jumped to get over the city wall first.
But it was blocked.
-Immediately climbing over the wall hahaha
-That pickpocket couldn’t fix his habit
-Don’t do that here… I’m a bit embarrassed hahaha
-I don’t know that person. Don’t make eye contact.
“Hey, why are you trying to cut ties? That hurts.”
Seo-jun turned his head to the side.
There was a path where people passed and an entrance.
He approached a guard warrior at the entrance wearing a bamboo hat.
As someone approached, the guard tilted his hat up with a finger and looked at Seo-jun.
The hat-wearing warrior said,
“An adventurer from another world?”
So this was the concept?
Dimensional travel, huh.
Well, I’m not curious about the lore.
“What is your name?”
Soon, a window appeared in front of Seo-jun.
It was a window to set his nickname.
-Here too, go for Nameless, it’ll suit
-Nameless will probably be taken
-Are you going Orthodox?
-Unorthodox is best, those hypocrites haha
-Never go Demon Cult. Just don’t go, I’m telling you.
Hmm.
People started taking sides again.
But he already had something in mind.
The weirdest name from both his past and present lives.
“I’ll go with Cheonma.”
Can’t resist this.
[Would you like to set it as ‘Cheonma’?]
“Sure.”
There’s no special meaning.
I just thought it’d be funny.
-Hahaha, Cheonma again
-Koreans’ love for Cheonma
-What season is this guy on with Cheonma?
[That nickname is already in use.]
Ah.
“This is multiplayer, right? Of course the nickname would be taken already. Then Cheonma2 is obviously taken too.”
Seo-jun nonchalantly increased the number.
Nicknames aren’t that important anyway.
[Would you like to set it as ‘Cheonma2’?]
[Would you like to set it as ‘Cheonma3’?]
[Would you like to set it as ‘Cheonma4’?]
.
.
.
[Would you like to set it as ‘Cheonma14’?]
“Sure.”
Just as he was getting tired of it.
He finally succeeded in creating a nickname.
Seo-jun’s nickname was decided as Cheonma14.
“Alright, Cheonma14, a truly magnificent nickname.”
Hmm hmm!
The warrior nodded and showed admiration.
-He’s good at socializing haha
-Wow! 14 Cheonmas! They’re cloning!
-Hahaha, do you have to go this far for Cheonma?
“So, Cheonma14. Which faction do you want to fight for? Note that you can change factions at any time. Of course, if you do, all the contribution points you’ve accumulated in that faction will return to zero. Hahaha!”
As explained earlier, there are the Orthodox Faction, Unorthodox Faction, and Demon Cult.
Generally, the Orthodox Faction refers to sects that walk the righteous path.
They value etiquette and morality, and steadily build their martial arts.
The Unorthodox Faction tends to value personal gain much more than the Orthodox Faction.
Most of them commit crimes as if it’s nothing, and some entire organizations thrive on crime.
Also, some sects are classified as Unorthodox because their methods are too cruel.
And the Demon Cult worships strength.
Only power.
Everything else is irrelevant.
Etiquette? Morality? Status?
All are equal in the face of strength.
It’s said that For the Sake of Chivalry cleverly mixes these stereotypes to weave its in-game story and create a good arena for conflict.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Very well, take your time looking around and decide!”
“Okay.”
Seo-jun entered the city.
Other users were visible.
“Let’s go play a game first. Ah, you’re asking if I’ll do the tutorial? Nope.”
-Come on, it’s not like you’re blindly rushing a new RPG boss; read the instructions a bit
-And then you’ll carry like a boss
-This is why people call you a tech dummy; you never read the manual for something new, even if it kills you hahaha
-For real hahaha, classic tech dummy trait
How did they know I don’t read manuals? Truly a wonder.
“Well, it’s fine.”
Anyway, the game matches you with people of a similar level.
Seo-jun thought learning while playing was enough.
Though the viewers didn’t seem to agree.
Seo-jun headed toward a large building visible at the end of the main street.
When he entered, an interface to start matches appeared before his eyes.
“Hmm. The most popular game mode is…”
For the Sake of Chivalry has several game modes, but the two most popular and crowded ones can be considered…
One resembling a fighting game.
Duel.
Duel is a game mode where you’re randomly matched into 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3.
And there’s Conquest, similar to an AOS format.
It’s 4v4, and the game rules are a bit more complex.
“Let’s try Conquest.”
The most played game mode is Conquest.
The reason is that Duels are entirely dictated by control skill, so there’s a higher entry barrier.
Of course, Seo-jun was largely unaware of this and simply chose Conquest because it had a shorter queue time.
A match was found instantly.
“Oh. Let’s go.”
* * *
-Ah! It’s a mid-game join
-A mid-game join from the start, someone deserted!
-Hahaha
[tip. There are bases in Conquest. The more bases you capture, the more you continuously reduce the enemy fortress’s health, so secure more bases than the enemy.]
After reading the help tip that appeared beside him, Seo-jun looked around.
He was standing in a deep forest spawn point.
“So if it’s a mid-game join, I came in during an ongoing match?”
-Yeah
-It happens when someone quits mid-game
-It’s only in normal games
“Ah, I see. Looks like we’re losing for some reason.”
The scoreboard floating above.
[Blue: 217] vs [Red: 479]
The left was his team’s fortress health.
“Hmm. Weapon is a basic sword. Skill is Samjae Sword Art?”
A martial art that could be called the epitome of third-rate skills.
Seems like you start with this default setup if you haven’t chosen a faction.
“Is the goal to destroy the fortress?”
There’s clearly more to it, but…
Seo-jun faced forward, toward the battlefield.
There were markers showing base locations in the center and on both sides.
“Well, I’ll figure it out as I go and fight.”
He drew his sword with gleaming eyes.
He could see martial artists, soldier NPCs appearing and heading toward the central path.
Seo-jun decided to follow them.
[tip. Put strength into your feet to use basic lightness skill! But lightness skill uses stamina and a bit of internal energy, so if you use it too often, you’ll become exhausted!]
Soon.
He arrived at a point where enemy and allied forces clashed.
NPCs began fiercely fighting in the street right next to the central base.
Seo-jun tried putting strength into his feet.
More precisely, he focused while imagining using internal energy.
In games with powers like mana or internal energy, imagining this way is important.
After all, don’t things like the settings window or interface come up through imagination?
‘Internal energy, huh.’
For a moment, he felt a slightly unfamiliar sensation, and his movement speed increased.
As he kicked off, he felt like he was gliding through the sky and could move even faster.
In that state, Seo-jun lunged into the enemy ranks.
‘Hmm, not familiar, but not hard to adapt to.’
Seo-jun moved as if sliding along the ground, dodging enemy attacks while slashing at their torsos.
-Oh hahaha, a master from the start?
-Lightness skill is damn hard when you first try it
-I always feel this, but maybe the streamer isn’t a newbie
[Enemy Fortress Health -5]
A small message informed him that he had reduced the enemy fortress’s health.
“So killing a soldier deducts 5 points.”
Moving among the soldiers was harder than expected, but Seo-jun quickly started chipping away at the health.
He definitely got the hang of the lightness skill.
[Enemy Fortress Health –5]
[Enemy Fortress Health –5]
[Enemy Fortress Health -5]
.
.
.
‘No enemy players?’
He felt that there were suddenly far more allied soldiers than enemy soldiers.
“Ah, there he is.”
Seo-jun spotted someone with distinctly different clothing approaching from the left.
He put strength into his feet, used lightness skill, and closed the distance instantly.
Since he had been hiding among the soldiers and ambushing, it was highly likely the enemy hadn’t noticed him.
He had aimed for this and entered the chaotic battlefield from the start.
Because the enemy with information has an absolute advantage.
The enemy had very little health. Even to Seo-jun, who didn’t know the damage of basic attacks, it looked like they’d die in one hit.
And as expected, the enemy couldn’t react to Seo-jun’s ambush.
But.
There was another important fact.
“Agh! Died… What the, we’re on the same team? Hey, you bastard!”
[tip. In For the Sake of Chivalry, you can damage allies. Be careful not to attack or be attacked by allies!]
Another tip appeared.
“Ah.”
So he was an ally.
No wonder his outfit was blue.
[You killed The Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven]
“Revive me.”
“?”
“I said revive me! You crazy troll!”
The user named The Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven shouted at Seo-jun from where he lay on the ground.
“Oh, you can revive in this? But how do you revive?”
Seo-jun approached him but couldn’t find a way to revive, and eventually the timer floating above The Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven’s body ran out, and he respawned at the spawn point.
Then he sent a message to Seo-jun.
[Come to the spawn point. The game’s already half lost, and you’re dead, seriously]
-Even unintentionally toxic streamer hahaha
-Agh, damn newbie hahaha
-Satan: Team-killing and not reviving is a bit…
-Where’s the chivalry! Where the hell is the chivalry!
-No matter how you look at it, the streamer is a newbie hahaha