Chapter 43
Shin Ha-yeon.
I’d had a connection with her before.
Not a particularly good one, though.
‘To think she noticed.’
In truth, I’d half expected her to notice.
But I’d figured there was no chance we’d meet in the real world, so I’d just thrown out a provocation.
And yet.
“When’s your next checkup?”
“Probably the same day next month? Since the regular checkup is once a month.”
“Alright, thanks for letting me know.”
If we’re going to run into each other, I’d better avoid it.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just something.”
“Sure. But why are you here, hyung? I mean, your skills are better than mine, but I’m here because of work, spending hours in the capsule. You don’t even do long broadcasts.”
A streamer is an ordinary person.
What reason would he have to visit a research institute, not a hospital?
Lee Dong-su had asked that earlier, but Oh Ji-hye had cut him off.
“Hmm, I’ll tell you that later. First, let’s eat.”
I’m hungry.
“Okay. I know a good place nearby. Can I recommend it?”
“Sure.”
“I’ve been to Korea University a lot because of the research institute. The good restaurants… Ah. Hyung, you went to Korea University, right?”
The research institute was built near Korea University.
Lee Dong-su looked embarrassed, and Seo-jun nodded.
“Haha. Still, I bet you’ve never been to this place, hyung.”
“Is that so? By any chance, is the place we’re going a lamb skewer restaurant?”
“Ah.”
* * *
Seo-jun explained the situation to Lee Dong-su.
Starting with the story about his low synchro rate, and even the fact that he was aiming for the streamer tournament, Rios.
“Wow. You had that kind of backstory? Or goal? Anyway, I had no idea. Crazy. You need more viewers to secure a spot in the tournament, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Hyung, then with ‘For the Sake of the Sect,’ you were targeting this timing? That gives me chills.”
Lee Dong-su said, watching the lamb skewers rotate with the grill moving left and right.
“What are you talking about? Anyway, did you watch yesterday’s broadcast?”
Seo-jun asked, sounding surprised.
“Of course. I always catch up, even if it’s a rerun. I’ve even donated a few times.”
So that’s how he has so much free time.
And donations?
“What’s your Travel ID?”
Seo-jun became curious about Lee Dong-su’s actions.
Given that they clashed every single morning, one might have built up some resentment.
“Uh… It’s a secret.”
“I’ll give you VIP in my channel.”
On Travel, a streamer can grant VIP to a few viewers under special circumstances.
Usually, since it might look like showing favoritism, they give VIP to fellow streamers.
VIP allows chatting without being affected by chat modes (e.g., slow mode, subscriber-only chat, follower-only chat).
Also, during a broadcast, VIPs appear at the top of the viewer list, making it easy to check who’s watching.
“No, I don’t want it. You’re trying to do a post-mortem, right?”
Lee Dong-su narrowed his eyes, and Seo-jun felt a pang of disappointment.
He’s quick on the uptake.
“How did you know?”
“I don’t bite that easily. Heh. So, hyung-nim. You chose ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ as your second game because of the Warfront, right? That’s insane.”
Lee Dong-su pulled out a fully cooked lamb skewer and pressed the meat off with his chopsticks.
Seo-jun did the same.
“Warfront?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that?”
“Huh…?”
“I asked what the Warfront is.”
“You don’t know the Warfront?”
“No.”
“Even though you’re playing ‘For the Sake of the Sect’?”
Seo-jun ate his meat calmly, and Lee Dong-su stared in disbelief for a moment before recalling Seo-jun’s past broadcasts.
Looking at his track record so far.
That completely makes sense!
Having quickly accepted it, Lee Dong-su started racking his brain.
“Ah, so you didn’t know. Here’s the thing. Starting today, an event called the Warfront opens in ‘For the Sake of the Sect,’ and it’s insanely popular.”
“Really?”
“Essentially, during the Warfront period, almost all the attention of ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ players is focused here. Even players of other games get interested.”
“To that extent?”
“Yes, it runs for the next three weeks. Anyway, when the Warfront is active, no matter what hyung-nim does, you won’t get much attention. Unless you participate in the Warfront.”
I didn’t know that.
Seo-jun dipped his lamb in spices and thought it over.
“Then, conversely, if I perform well in the Warfront, attention will focus on me?”
“That’s right.”
“So, what exactly is this Warfront?”
“The Warfront, simply put, is a game mode where factions fight over each other’s territory, like a land grab. At the end of the period, the faction holding the territory with the highest score wins.”
“Higher score?”
“Yeah, not all land has the same value. Anyway, it gets complicated if you go into details. I’ve never properly played it myself, so I don’t know much.”
Hearing that, Seo-jun fell into thought.
The Warfront starts today.
‘Is this why Eve Fimo recommended ‘For the Sake of the Sect’?’
The timing fits.
If Seo-jun participates in the Warfront, that is.
“Oh, and you can accumulate contribution points in the Warfront. The top 16 are invited to an official tournament hosted by Movie Soft, so everyone’s attention is on them.”
“Hmm, top 16, huh…”
Seo-jun mulled it over.
If he doesn’t participate in the Warfront, it goes against his goal of maximizing viewer count before Rios opens.
From what Lee Dong-su described, it might be better to find another game altogether.
But what if he participates and fails to achieve significant results?
Then it might have been better not to participate at all.
From the sound of it, this seemed like a short-term, large-scale competitive event, and not just between factions—individual competition and ranking among players looked intense.
Considering that the concept and biggest asset of his channel was his skill, such a straightforward individually ranked content was troublesome.
If he was going to do it, he had to be the best.
‘Just hearing about it, it sounds fierce…’
While Seo-jun was deep in thought, Lee Dong-su opened his phone and entered a chat room.
[Bandit King]: Is it very difficult to get into the top 16 of the Warfront?
[JustOnePenny]: Yeah, it's insane. You need good strategy, luck, and on top of that, rankers rig their matchmaking lol
[NamgungSe-gaJeomsoi]: It's tough
[JustOnePenny]: Why, you gonna do the Warfront too?
[NamgungSe-gaJeomsoi]: Bandit, come to the orthodox faction lol
[JustOnePenny]: lololololololol
[Bandit King]: Then what does it take to get into the top 16?
[JustOnePenny]: You gotta be freaking good. Honestly, strategy and all that, if you're good enough, that's it.
[Bandit King]: I see. Thx thx
Lee Dong-su closed the chat room.
Then he thought.
Was Seo-jun’s skill at the level of “freaking good” that JustOnePenny mentioned?
The answer was.
Yes.
“With your skills, hyung, it seems doable, don’t you think?”
This was the man who had beaten Shin Ha-yeon and shown unbelievable skill!
Back when I didn’t know about his low synchro rate, I’d seriously thought about appealing to my coach to scout him somehow.
Even though I’m not the team owner.
“You never know.”
But Seo-jun’s answer was unexpected.
“If it were pure swordsmanship, maybe, but it’s a game.”
“Ah, really?”
If every game were like the training ground, Seo-jun was confident he would never lose even once.
But in most games, there are countless factors other than swordsmanship that determine victory. If Seo-jun, who only had shallow knowledge, faced off against those who pushed those factors to their limits, the gap in swordsmanship skill might be bridged.
Shin Ha-yeon seven years ago came to mind as an example.
"That’s why it was fun, though."
Of course, he had never lost.
At least, that’s what he believed.
Anyway! The Warfront seemed like too much trouble.
It might be better to pick a different game…
“So, are you not going to do it? That’s a shame, it looked like fun. Last time, during the event tournament, I think the winner got a prize of 30 million won or something?”
…I’ve decided.
I’ll give it a try.
No need to avoid it.
“Let’s finish eating quickly.”
It’s definitely not because of the prize money.
* * *
- Seoha
- Seoha
- Teuha
- Is this really the unknown channel?
- Hi yo
As soon as Seo-jun started streaming, the viewer count surpassed 2,000 in a flash.
The numbers kept climbing, and even though it was a black screen, countless people’s chat flew by.
‘They said the influence of the training ground would linger even today.’
Seo-jun waited a moment, then turned on the screen and greeted them.
“Hello, everyone.”
- Ha2
- Seoha
- Teuha
- ??? Something’s different?
- Is this real life?
- Looks like it
- The streamer is sitting in a chair, after all
- Could it be a PC game???
People catch on immediately.
“Yes, that’s right. This is my room.”
Seo-jun slightly shifted his chair aside so the computer camera could capture the back.
Though the only thing in view of the computer camera was his bed.
He moved the chair back and appeared on screen before speaking.
“I’m going to start here today. I’ll begin ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ a bit later.”
- Is this a chatting segment? Love it
- Can’t resist a casual chat
- Let’s play a PC game!
[‘SoThat’ donated 5,000 won!]
[What are you going to do in reality?]
- For real, even leaving the lobby ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Of course it’s a PC game
- Purge the PC-game parrots! Mods!
“SoThat, thanks for the donation. You asked a good question.”
Seo-jun paused briefly and adjusted the streaming layout.
The camera feed that filled the screen shrank and moved to the bottom right corner, and the computer screen took over the main display.
“It’s a roulette.”
On the screen was a typical site that comes up when you search for “roulette” in a browser.
- ???
- What are you trying to do?
- The streamer isn’t normally like this...
- Gasp! Gambling addiction ㄷㄷ
- Are you picking a faction?
Seo-jun read the chat and chuckled.
“No. I’m not a gambling addict, and I’m not picking a faction. I’ve already chosen my faction.”
- ???
- Oppa is always like this. Let’s break up!
- I still haven’t forgotten the Christina quest-skip tragedy. I can’t guarantee what will happen if you keep doing things your way, streamer.
- Was that really a tragedy? ㅋㅋㅋ
- Reflect the viewers’ opinions! Reflect them!
- Why are you choosing the faction on your own, huh?
Seo-jun read through the chat with a pleased smile.
Thankfully, the viewers were playing along nicely.
All that time of doing things his own way had paid off.
“Anyway, everyone, I’m planning to participate in the Warfront.”
- So?
- Is there any ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ streamer who doesn’t do the Warfront? ㅋㅋ
- Didn’t you already know that?
Sadly, I hadn’t.
But after coming home, I gathered information on the Warfront.
And the more I learned, the more appealing an event it seemed.
It looked fun. So much so that I’d probably have joined even without the prize money.
‘If it works out, great; if not, oh well.’
Before I knew it, the prize money had taken a backseat.
“That’s not it. I was thinking of making a pledge while playing the Warfront. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
So Seo-jun planned to add another layer of entertainment to the broadcast.
- A pledge, all of a sudden?
- Out of nowhere?
- Yeah, that does sound fun
- What’s the content?
“I’m going to decide the content together with you all now.”
There were plenty of things that could serve as a pledge.
It could be related to the faction’s rank, or tied to his individual contribution ranking.
He could aim to hold a certain territory until the end, or force a faction to withdraw.
Options were varied.
- Hmm, what would be good?
- So you’re leaving this kind of thing to us ㅋㅋ
- Then did you bring out the roulette to decide the pledge?
“The roulette is for deciding the penalty if I fail the pledge.”
Because, naturally, no pledge is complete without a penalty.
But.
Opinions began flooding in before the pledge was even decided.
- Penalty? ㅋㅋㅋ You’re so dead
- The word “penalty” is making my mouth water ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- Let’s use the cat speech style for a month, how about that.
- It’s a bald head experience for sure ㅋㅋㅋ
- Cross-dressing and filming reactions at a club
- How about dancing in a magical girl costume in front of the main gate of the university the streamer attends?
Seo-jun, whose eyes hadn’t even blinked through countless brutal battlefields in his previous life, momentarily flinched.
Should I just not do this?
He had severely underestimated his viewers.
Anyway, the Warfront seemed like a lot of trouble.
Maybe it’s better to pick a different game…
“So, you’re not going to do it? That’s a shame; it seemed fun. I think last tournament event gave 30 million won to the winner or something?”
…Decided.
I’ll give it a try.
No need to avoid it.
“Let’s finish eating.”
It’s definitely not about the money.
* * *
- Seoha
- Seoha
- Teuha
- Is this really that unknown channel?
- Hi
Seo-jun’s viewer count shot past 2,000 the moment he started streaming.
The numbers kept climbing, and chat flew by even though the screen was black.
‘They said the training ground would still have an effect today.’
Seo-jun waited a moment, then turned on the screen and said,
“Hello, everyone.”
- Ha2
- Seoha
- Teuha
- ??? Something feels different?
- Is this real life?
- Looks like it
- The streamer is sitting in a chair, after all
- Could it be a PC game???
People caught on instantly.
“Yes, that’s right. This is my room.”
Seo-jun shifted his chair slightly so the computer camera could see behind him.
Though the only thing visible was his bed.
He moved back into the frame and said,
“I’m starting here today. I’ll play ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ a little later.”
- Just chatting? Love it
- Can’t resist a casual chat
- Play a PC game!
[‘so_that’ donated 5,000 won!]
[What are you going to do in reality?]
- For real, leaving the lobby lol
- Of course it’s PC games
- Ban the PC-game parrots! Mods!
“so_that, thanks for the donation. Good question.”
Seo-jun paused briefly and adjusted the layout.
The corner camera feed shrank, and the main screen showed his desktop.
“It’s a roulette.”
A typical web roulette page appeared.
- ???
- What’s this for?
- The streamer isn’t usually like this...
- Gasp! Gambling addiction ㄷㄷ
- Is he picking a faction?
Seo-jun chuckled.
“No, I’m not a gambling addict, and I’m not picking a faction. I already chose one.”
- ???
- Oppa always does things his own way. Let’s break up!
- I still haven’t forgotten the Christina quest skip tragedy. You can’t just do whatever you want.
- Was that really a tragedy? lol
- Listen to the viewers!
- Why are you deciding the faction on your own?
Seo-jun read the chat with a satisfied smile.
Thankfully, the viewers were going along with it.
All that time of doing things his own way had paid off.
“Anyway, I’m planning to join the Warfront.”
- So?
- Is there any ‘For the Sake of the Sect’ streamer who doesn’t do the Warfront? lol
- Didn’t you already plan that?
Unfortunately, no.
But after getting home, I had gathered info on the Warfront.
The more I learned, the more appealing it seemed.
It looked fun—even without the prize money.
‘If it works, great. If not, no big deal.’
Somehow, the prize money was no longer the main reason.
“That’s not it. I’m thinking of making a pledge while doing the Warfront. That would be fun, right?”
Seo-jun planned to add another layer of excitement to the stream.
- A pledge?
- All of a sudden?
- Yeah, that might be fun
- What’s the pledge?
“I’ll decide that with you all now.”
There were many options.
It could be about the faction’s rank, his individual contribution score,
holding a certain territory until the end, or knocking out a specific faction.
Plenty of possibilities.
- Hmm, what would be good?
- Leaving this up to us, huh lol
- Is the roulette for choosing the pledge?
“The roulette is for deciding the penalty if I fail the pledge.”
Because no pledge is complete without a penalty.
But opinions started pouring in even before the pledge was set.
- Penalty? lol You’re dead
- The word ‘penalty’ makes my mouth water lol
- Let’s use ~nya speech for a month
- Bald head experience incoming lol
- Cross-dressing and filming reactions at a club
- How about dancing in a magical girl costume in front of your university’s main gate?
Seo-jun, who hadn’t flinched through countless brutal battlefields in his past life, felt his eye twitch.
Should I just not do this?
He had underestimated his viewers too much.