Chapter 49
"Just don't die and endure as much as possible, they said? If I die, it's right back to the start, isn't it?"
"Right. But the time limit will definitely be short. You said you picked the trait that boosts the power of the Star Absorption Great Art, after all."
"No matter how short it is... how am I supposed to endure that? The damage is insane, and they have endless stamina."
"You beggar, figure something out. You're our tank."
Inside the Orthodox fortress.
They were seriously discussing a strategy against the Heavenly Demon 14.
The player Haneulgeom, who had chosen the Namgung Clan, was already half-resigned, but the other teammates were searching for a way to kill the Heavenly Demon 14 using the information Haneulgeom had brought.
"I'm not a tank, I'm an off-tank, you bastards. I specced into the Dog-Beating Staff Technique."
"Ugh, this beggar, what a useless thing to see."
"Stop calling me a beggar."
"Why, does it upset you?"
"Cough."
"Don't laugh."
Gilbadak of the Beggars' Sect glared at the two Mount Hua Sect users whose mouths had curled up.
This is the problem with picking the Beggars' Sect.
Everywhere you go, everyone treats you like a beggar.
In terms of actual reputation, it's second only to the Demonic Cult!
From the bottom!
'It's true that the Beggars' Sect are essentially beggars...'
Still, it doesn't feel good.
"Anyway, you should have just specced into Drunken Eight Immortals Kung Fu and endured while drinking."
"Just hold on somehow. You're the only one who can tank."
"Fine. I get it. But you absolutely cannot die."
They steeled their resolve.
And that resolve crumbled less than a minute into the fight.
The dark crimson sword aura, characteristic of the Demonic Cult, smoothly brushed the void.
It seized control of space, making it impossible to dodge.
"Ah. One more hit and I'm dead. I'll fall back for a sec!"
As Gilbadak retreated, the exposed Mount Hua users yelled.
"Even if you live, we'll die!"
"Argh, this is beggar-like! The sword keeps bending? Isn't this a skill?"
"What? Beggar-like? That's Beggars' Sect hate speech."
"The situation is beggar-like, you beggar bastard."
- lolololololol Beggars' Sect hate, wow
- This is hilarious lol
- Those bastards at the end, just sitting still and getting donations, so full of themselves. You gotta beg to know a beggar's hardships.
- Chat, I smell a beggar! Manager! Mod!
A beggar's smell?
There's no such thing.
It's a common misconception that the Beggars' Sect stinks.
They actually only give off a pleasant scent.
The reason is simple.
'Because a bad smell triggers primal disgust, not sympathy.'
So they at least never emit an unpleasant odor.
Instead,
they mess with their appearances.
A beggar-like appearance evokes sympathy, you see.
With centuries of accumulated know-how in begging, how could they possibly smell?
'Cunning bastards.'
The Beggars' Sect were a jovial and fun bunch of beggars.
"Fine, since we have a bit of karma, I'll kill the beggar first."
There wasn't much time left until Qi Deviation anyway.
How long had they been fighting? The warning icon was already blinking.
'It's definitely fast.'
- What karma, chief? Could it be that the memories of your past life really surfaced?
- I told you, he was the Heavenly Demon in his past life.
- But... normally if you have karma, you'd spare them, wouldn't you?
- Must be some bad karma, then~
"Where do you think you're going!"
The tip of the Mount Hua sword trembled, scattering the crimson sword aura everywhere.
First Form, Plum Blossom Raging Waves.
Seo Jun checked his resource level and hurled his body backward.
He lacked the internal energy to counter the opponent's martial arts like before.
No matter how much he boosted the power of the Star Absorption Great Art and controlled it with superb senses, he couldn't use resources infinitely.
"Now's our chance."
The sword of Namgung, who had been far off to the side, glowed blue.
He had been watching from a distance to avoid having his internal energy and stamina stolen by Seo Jun.
Seo Jun twisted his body sideways in midair, bringing his sword down to block the swift strike that flew in like lightning.
Chaeeaeng!
- He blocks that from that position?!
- Qi Deviation should hit soon.
- First death, let's go!!!
- Why are you rooting for your own streamer to die...
Following that, the Mount Hua users whose martial arts Seo Jun hadn't yet countered attempted a chain of techniques.
Fourth Form, Plum Blossom Opening Guidance.
Plum blossoms bloom and sharply lead the way.
The crimson sword aura grew sharper, charging in to mince Seo Jun's body.
The terrifying thing about the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordsmanship is the chain of techniques.
From the 1st form leading into the 4th form, and then into the 7th form requiring deeper understanding.
"Please, just die this time!"
As Seo Jun didn't counter the form again, the emboldened enemies linked into the next technique.
Seventh Form, Plum Blossom Fluttering Frenzy.
Plum blossoms, dizzy and chaotic.
Since they were currently at level 6, the chain of techniques was limited to three, and the moment their strongest martial art unfurled unimpeded, the Mount Hua users were sure of victory.
Even after all they had suffered viciously so far.
"Did we finish him?"
The enemy finally uttered the words they never should have said.
The sword aura that had filled the space with crimson vanished, and before them was...
Only empty space.
"This time was a little dangerous."
As they heard Seo Jun's voice from behind, their eyes widened and they turned around.
Seo Jun smiled at them and gestured with his eyes towards his left foot.
There, turned into a cold corpse, was the beggar waiting to be revived or resurrected.
[Killed Gilbadak]
[Enemy fortress HP –20]
"Tch. Saying I'd target the beggar first for no reason."
"I told you not to call me a beggar!"
When did you even...
The now-dead Gilbadak reacted to Seo Jun's words, but Seo Jun neatly ignored him and stepped forward.
Now it was time to take care of the rest.
Seo Jun's HP was only a third left.
And even that was HP he'd filled by killing Gilbadak.
"Still, the Orthodox factions really are like cheats, huh."
- This time it was close.
- If he'd been one second later, death lol.
- Seeing even the chief almost die, that build really is trash.
"Ahem. What do you mean trash. I was only in danger because I said I'd target the beggar first. If I hadn't, well..."
Seo Jun trailed off while reading the chat log floating to his left, slowly turning his head.
The enemies who met Seo Jun's eyes felt an inexplicable chill, even though this was a game.
Jeon Jaehun, the talkative user among the Mount Hua Taoists, gulped and asked Seo Jun.
"Just... when?"
"What are you referring to?"
"Why does your tone keep switching, dammit. No, that's not it. I meant when did you go to the beggar... sir."
Overwhelmed by Seo Jun, Jeon Jaehun naturally started using formal speech.
- The tone switching lol.
- Just looking at them, that guy's an uncle in his 30s and the chief is early 20s, it's hilarious lol.
- Jaehun...
Seo Jun laughed lightly and told him the truth.
"At the moment you used the 4th form."
"The 4th form? Why then... sir?"
"That, child, is a puzzle for you to solve yourself."
Actually, it was just because he didn't have time.
He even took all those attacks head-on while going.
Simply because he had no time.
- Oh, the teachings of a master!
- Saying stuff like that after winning makes him look cool.
- For real lol.
"Ah, so there's something in the 4th fo..."
Before Jeon Jaehun could finish, Seo Jun attacked again, resuming the battle.
"And here's a second lesson. No matter the situation, never let your guard down."
This truly is a useful lesson.
In his past life, he survived precisely because he always stayed sharp.
The outcome of the remaining fight was obvious.
[Killed FarewellFromFarewell]
[Enemy fortress HP –20]
[Killed Haneulgeom]
[Enemy fortress HP –20]
[Killed Jeon Jaehun]
[Enemy fortress HP –20]
And then.
Seo Jun looked down at the enemies who had united in spirit to become corpses, and spoke.
"This is the third lesson. Cherish the opportunity to receive teachings from a master."
This meant only one thing.
Don't give up the game, and come die some more.
"Damn, I'm definitely switching to the Demonic Cult after this match."
"Should I switch too?"
"For real. Want to go together after this, sir?"
"Done. I'll send a friend request."
Jeon Jaehun and Haneulgeom became friends.
Having accidentally converted two Orthodox martial artists, Seo Jun returned to his base and watched the soldiers fight, waiting for the enemies to come.
[Holy Cult Lord. Do we really not have to do anything?]
[Yes.]
[Me too?]
[Yes.]
[I just kept dying to the enemy. I didn't even get a single kill, so is that okay?]
[I got at least one kill lol.]
[Me too lol.]
[Be quiet.]
While answering his utterly bored teammates.
* * *
The game ended.
Total kill score:
19 to 3.
Fortress HP:
[Blue: 0] vs [Red: 934]
Then, Seo Jun's scorecard for the match appeared.
[Allied revivals: 0 times]
[Base captures: 1]
[Soldiers killed: 0]
[Enemy martial artists killed: 19]
.
.
.
Various small details were tallied, but the most important factors were base captures and enemy martial artist kills.
The reason this scorecard mattered was tied to why Seo Jun had thrown out bait earlier, asking the enemies not to give up.
- What will the Fame be?
- There's no way it's low.
- How much do you think it'll be?
It was Fame points, of course.
In the battlefield, winning the game earns a player Fame points, while losing causes them to lose Fame.
The system automatically calculates and assigns Fame based on a player's performance.
And in the battlefield, Fame points are just as important as the points themselves.
[Fame earned: +150]
An exclamation escaped Seo Jun's lips involuntarily.
"Oh."
A much higher number than he expected floated up on the screen.
Assuming that in a normal game, the player who performed best typically gets around 50 Fame points, the system judged that Seo Jun's contributions were triple that.
- Why is it so high?
- Honestly, pulling that off 1v4... it'd be crazy if it wasn't high.
- The power of noob stomping!
- Even for noob stomping, that's pretty high.
Higher Fame means more points you can earn each time you win a battlefield game.
In the battlefield, the more you play, the better you play, and the better your strategies, the more contribution you can rack up.
"Do you think I can reach rank 16?"
- No.
- Doing this every match seems tough.
- Sure, it's noob stomping now, but as time goes on and Fame accumulates, you'll only get matched with players who have equally high Fame... That build doesn't look viable.
- And there are way too many variables when it comes to Fame rankings.
Negative opinions from people who knew the battlefield well poured in.
It was understandable. Even he wasn't confident.
But.
The playful look that was always in Seo Jun's eyes shifted for the first time.
A ranking calculated from contribution, factoring in Fame, battlefield points, and faction bonuses all linked together.
To aim for rank 16 among all that...
It seemed he needed to get a little more serious.
"Alright. I'm queuing the next match right away. And anyway, with my build, there's no need to heal at the base. From now on, I'll just wait at the entrance of the enemy fortress."
- This madman lolololololol.
- Declaring he'll simultaneously grief and noob stomp, damn.
- Let's see how long this lasts lol.
* * *
"Phew, today was tough."
- Heavenly Demon's Return! Ten Thousand Demons Bow! Heavenly Demon's Return! Ten Thousand Demons Bow! Heavenly Demon's Return! Ten Thousand Demons Bow! Heavenly Demon's Return! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!
- 天魔再臨! 萬魔仰伏! 天魔再臨! 萬魔仰伏! 天魔再臨! 萬魔仰伏! 天魔再臨! 萬魔仰伏!
- The chat is overflowing with fanatics lol.
- Can someone translate those hanja??
- It's just the same as those guys spamming in Korean lol.
[19/0/0]
[24/0/1]
[26/0/0]
[15/0/0]
This was Seo Jun's KDA.
KDA stands for Kill/Death/Assist.
That meant Seo Jun averaged 21 kills per match.
For reference, in the second match, he got one assist thanks to a teammate who didn't listen to him.
- Honestly, I dunno about anything else, but is the chief's build insanely good for noob stomping?
- The fact that he can wait at the entrance after hitting level 6 seems good.
- The chief just waits at the entrance without even hitting level 6.
- The Star Absorption Great Art seems tighter than expected, yet he's doing it with zero deaths.
- In the last match, the enemies wouldn't even step out of their fortress lol.
- Long live! Long live! Long, long live!
- You say "long live" to a king, not the Heavenly Demon, you moron.
You can only play the battlefield four times a day.
It's because there's still a long way to go.
And now.
"I'll end the stream here."
- Seo bye.
- Cheon bye (Heavenly bye).
- I'm gonna try it for the sake of the martial world too.
- Cheon bye.
- Cheon bye lol.
[Streaming stopped]
Whoosh.
After getting out of the capsule, Seo Jun washed up and sat in front of his computer.
To check the analysis of his stream.
"Six thousand viewers, that's a lot."
It was a bit less than yesterday, but he wasn't disappointed.
"The core viewers are still sticking around without dropping off."
People's reactions?
Seo Jun simply turned off the computer and lay down on his bed.
"Nothing special, probably."
There was nothing that would cause a stir.
Even if he earned a lot of Fame points and stomped noobs, it was the same for all the rankers.
Right now was the period where beginners and experts were mixed together.
Once time passed and Fame accumulated, the really good players would likely start getting attention.
"That aside, my build..."
The build Seo Jun used today was incomplete.
He had picked the detailed parts spontaneously, so it seemed like he would have to tweak it.
But.
He was tired.
"Maybe because I concentrated a bit."
With that thought, he closed his eyes.
Never once dreaming that he had become a hot topic for an entirely different reason.