Chapter 68
Midway Check.
The trends of the factions so far, which rankers have been defeated, and what events have occurred.
What will happen from now on.
It was a segment where famous players were invited to wait until 10 o'clock when the rankings would be revealed, discussing how things would unfold.
Seojun turned on Bangju’s stream and fixed his gaze on the broadcast screen.
By now, he was adept at the settings.
Even among the viewers, some praised him for it.
It made him feel unnecessarily proud.
[Alright, yesterday the orthodox and unorthodox factions merely traded a few light jabs. The truly exciting part is yet to come. The rankers have likely built up a certain amount of fame by now. The ammunition is ready!]
Bangju was currently having a preliminary chat before the main segment.
[Of course, those aiming for the top 16 will still carefully consider which battlefield to fight on. Hehehe.]
The reason why Bangju had only encountered some rankers but had never met experts within the top 50 came from his own mouth.
Of course, just because each victory was important to them didn't mean they wouldn't join the strategies of their respective factions.
If that were the case, it would have been boring.
In *For the Cause of Chivalry*, there was no culture of playing dirty to win.
The fact that everyone in the circle knew each other seemed to play a part in that.
[Now, anyway, you all know there's a specific reason I turned on the stream today, right? It's because the contribution rankings are being revealed today! It seems like a lot of people are curious about them...]
He got straight to the point. Because enough viewers had gathered.
As important as which faction would win—who would take first place in contribution!
The ranking showed the top 200 people.
And after the rankings were out, the areas where the ranked individuals were playing would be publicly revealed.
Checks and interference would intensify, and seismic shifts would occur.
But no matter how much things changed, the one with the highest chance of being the final victor was the current number one.
[So today, I've invited two guests. First, Hanpunman, who posted a fame estimation chart on Nohyeop!]
-Welcome
-It's Hanpunman
-That beggar bastard, dresses nicely in real life lololol
-He can't possibly be a social butterfly, right?
-With that face, how could he not be?
-Why :sob: They say the host is a loner too
-You believe that? lol
[Hello, I'm Hanpunman.]
[Yes, hello. Thank you for coming.]
[No, thank *you* for inviting me.]
Currently, they were in Bangju's studio.
Hanpunman revealed his real-life appearance.
"Everyone, who is that person?"
Seojun was seeing Hanpunman for the first time.
-He's a regular guy who analyzes well, like the host
-He's a known name
-He's a ranker too, but not to the extent of aiming for the top 16
-The brain of the orthodox faction
With the help of collective intelligence, Seojun learned about Hanpunman and focused back on the stream.
[Hanpunman's fame estimation chart, posted this morning, received the most recommendations.]
[Oh, really?]
[Yes. I think it's because you meticulously wrote down every reason for your estimations. As they say, those who are good at the game are also good at analyzing.]
[Thank you.]
[Now, even so, there are bound to be counterarguments, right? People can't all think the same way.]
[That's true. What are they?]
[Ah, you don't know? Do you perhaps not read the comments on your own posts, Hanpunman?]
[No, I don't.]
[Why?]
[I'm not going to fight in the comments, and if there's no need to persuade anyone, I find it more comfortable not to look.]
[Ah, so you just toss out a post, start a fire, and then take a step back from the blaze? That's the very definition of pleasure without responsibility...]
-lolololololololololol
-Now that you explain it, he really is a bad guy lolololololol
-Huh? Come to think of it, the controversy about our host being a grandmaster, it started with Hanpunman...
-He was the culprit? :shocked:
Bangju was enlivening the broadcast with his witty remarks and skillful hosting.
[Pleasure without responsibility? If there's a problem, I take the post down immediately and write an apology.]
[I see. Well then, do continue enjoying that pleasure.]
[...]
[So, the thing Hanpunman faced the most counterarguments about was this.]
[Yes.]
[It's regarding Cheonma 14.]
[Oh, is that so?]
Seojun was flustered when his name suddenly came up.
It had come out of nowhere.
-Kya! Getting mentioned while 80,000 people are watching live!
-Our host is world class! Our host is world class! Our host is world class! Our host is world class! Our host is world class!
-Hanpunman sees the host as number one
[Yes. It was fine that you placed Cheonma 14 at first, but the main criticism was that the gap between him and second place was too large.]
[I see.]
[Honestly, if someone is in the rankings, it's obvious they haven't lost even once and would have secured bonuses.]
[Hmm. But do I really have to refute this? Let's just say I was wrong...]
-lololololol The epitome of "If you refute, you're right"
-Look at this man living life the easy way
-Wisdom
-Is that why he chose to be a beggar? Maybe fiercely competing in the secular world is all pointless
In the bottom left of the screen filled with Bangju's stream, Seojun's small face also nodded up and down.
As befitting an analyst, he nodded, acknowledging the cleverness.
[Ah, the comments say it's the joy of peaceful contentment. Is this the dignity of the Beggars' Sect?]
[Haha. Thank you.]
[Still, please explain once. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for me to have invited you.]
[Hmm.]
[What is the reason for setting the gap in fame points, excluding the win streak bonus, so high between him and second place?]
[Well, first, I'd like to lightly touch on the fact that Cheonma—no, Seojun—has a unique method in the occupation battles.]
[Yes.]
[It's a playstyle other rankers, who have to recover stamina, internal energy, and endurance, can't easily pull off: blocking off the entrance.]
[Oh! Does that mean the Demonic Cult is good?]
[Um...]
[Yes! Understood.]
-The god of hosting lolololol
-The guest almost got into trouble
-Phew
-Hanpunman won't say the Demonic Cult is good. Guess he really only speaks the truth lol
-The exact opposite of someone who spouts nonsense
[Alright, let's bring on the next guest! This person is the representative of those who say Hanpunman is wrong. It's none other than Cheonsalseong!]
It was a nickname he’d heard somewhere before.
Cheonsalseong was the star that presided over death, and though he was one to talk with a nickname like Cheonma, it felt immensely chuunibyou-like.
Seojun could only retrieve the identity from his memory after seeing the chat.
-Oh, a super expert appears
-Not an analyst, but was 1st place in the last battlefield
-:shocked: The host's recruiting power
-Insane
[Yes. As some of you may know, Cheonsalseong is none other than the former "Number One Under Heaven"!]
People called the 1st place in battlefield contribution the "Number One Under Heaven" until the next battlefield opened.
[In the last battlefield, you earned that position with truly outstanding skill and incredible sniping.]
Incredible sniping, he said.
For reference, after rankings were revealed, the system outright encouraged sniping, making sniping skill one of the important qualities.
Though sniping by bribing members of the enemy team was condemned.
Of course, it wasn't entirely unheard of, either.
[Who do you predict will be the highest, Cheonsalseong?]
[Naturally...]
Seojun listened intently to the words that followed, his interest piqued.
The words of the previous battlefield's 1st place holder were worth hearing.
He would know the approximate scores of countless competitors Seojun was unaware of, and have years of accumulated experience.
Most importantly, unlike Seojun, he would at least know his own fame points.
[The highest will be me. Not that streamer who’s clinging to a wrong concept.]
Hmm.
Was the anticipation for nothing?
-???
-He's provoking him
-This is getting crazy fun lololololol
-Trash talk begins
-Curious how the host will react
-His expression looks calm?
Seojun didn't say anything and just watched.
[Gasp! What do you mean, a wrong concept? Please refrain from provocations.]
[Haha. I apologize. Still, Cheonma is inevitably a wrong concept.]
[Oh? How so?]
[Originally, Cheonma is someone like a boss, standing at the very top and being the strongest, isn't it?]
[Yes, that's right.]
[But today, from the very start of the real competition, he's going to lose to me. How can he use the name Cheonma then? Isn't that right?]
[Ah...]
He had a point.
If a Cheonma loses, he isn't a Cheonma.
Seojun chuckled, recalling the Cheonma from his past life.
But when he laughed, the viewers seemed to think differently.
-Gasp, the host looks pissed
-Crazy
-That smile isn't a smile
-Is a duel request coming right away????
-I'm scared...
-Chilling.
Regardless of his own viewers misunderstanding, Bangju's chat room was laughing, perhaps because this level of provocation was always present.
[Hahaha! Is that so?]
[Yes.]
[You seem confident?]
[If I wasn't, I wouldn't have come on this show.]
[I’d like to reiterate that Cheonsalseong’s statements have no connection to me.]
Bangju laughed, and Hanpunman on the left shook his head repeatedly.
The two seemed acquainted.
[Now, before we hear Cheonsalseong's reasoning, let me briefly explain fame points to the viewers.]
Fame points serve as a system to match players with others of similar scores.
However, because the layers weren't thick and uniform, it was impossible for only people of exactly similar skill who had accumulated a lot of fame points to be matched together.
Therefore, while sniping might become a bit easier, at least this point wasn't crucial in the battlefield.
[The real reason fame points are important is that you gain attack points and contribution proportionate to that score. Isn't that right, Hanpunman?]
[Correct.]
The number of Korean users who participate in the battlefield at least once is reportedly close to 300,000.
But the number of users who participate without missing a day is roughly 10,000 per faction. About 10% of the total.
This could feel small.
However, these 30,000 people are users who enter their capsules every single day for 21 days without exception and play four games.
Virtual reality games have gained a much larger user base than in the PC era, and concurrent player counts have increased.
But it hasn't grown proportionally with the increased user base.
The reason is that the fatigue from the game itself is much higher than in the PC era.
And its accessibility is low.
‘Thanks to that, the vicarious satisfaction streaming market has grown enormously.’
In this context, 30,000 core users was a sufficiently high figure.
Yet, more than half of these people don’t earn as much fame in a day as the rankers do.
The fame points earned by doing one’s part in a single game is 30.
Assuming a 50% win rate.
Over the past 9 days, out of 36 games, winning 18 yields 540 fame points.
Of course, occasionally, if one gets lucky with consecutive wins, they can accumulate more.
[The win streak system settles daily and resets; it increases by four times based on two consecutive wins. For example, if you get a two-win streak, you receive 50 fame points before the next day's start. If you get a four-win streak, you get an additional 200, receiving 250 fame points the next day, and so on.]
[Everyone gets this, so there's no difference there.]
[Yes. It will change tomorrow since it's another day where fame point farming via streaks is possible, but that's how it is so far.]
[Thus, the most crucial factor that distinguishes the rankings is the fame points settled after the game ends.]
The conversation between Hanpunman and Bangju flowed smoothly.
It seemed pre-arranged.
-The explanation was clean lololol
-So this was the mechanism. I didn't know
-I live just fine not knowing. Look at the host
-A classic case of a strong body making the mind comfortable lolol
-For real lol