Chapter 71
Cheonsalseong, too, realized at a glance that the post was someone’s prank, just like the streamer.
It was impossible not to know.
Hadn’t there been attempts to shake him with absurd controversies from outside during the last battlefield?
They were the ones who would hide their own identities completely while sometimes digging up even personal information about their opponents.
Fabricating a baseless controversy was nothing to them.
But whether it was a small matter or not, Cheonsalseong hated that kind of behavior.
‘That’s why I helped out.’
He turned the topic elsewhere.
A sparring request.
It was his way of pushing the ridiculous controversy aside and giving a competitor who was ahead a chance to step on him—a form of consideration, but also his way of putting the brakes on that competitor.
‘From the start, why would a game company making good money ever push a single streamer?’
Unless it was an AI made by that game company.
But since they’d had an offline collaboration in reality, that was proven false as well.
Anyway, in his own way, he had helped that streamer and engaged in good-natured competition.
By suppressing the embers with an even bigger topic.
The problem was—
‘He’s fanning the flames even bigger. What’s wrong with his head?’
[‘Cheonma14’ has donated 200,000 won!]
[Tomorrow from 7 to 10, I’ll keep running the game without a single moment’s rest. If there’s anyone who doubts my rank or thinks they’re better than me, just come at me. I’m confident I won’t lose once. lol]
At first, he doubted it.
Is that real?
Is it not an impersonator?
If he paid a huge sum of 200,000 won just to stir up aggro, then I wanted to congratulate him.
You succeeded!
The streamer also hesitated and said this.
“Uh… Is that really Seojun-nim?”
It was ambiguous enough to make him wonder.
- Kek kek kek kek Isn’t he acting too cocky just because he got first place?
- Massive aggro kekekekeke
- Is that really that guy?
- Look at that guts
- He suggested sparring but now he declares come at me all, insane kekekekeke
It wasn’t as if such aggro-pulling provocations never happened, but they usually ended with calling out a single person.
Like Cheonsalseong had done just moments ago.
But openly sniping the entire crowd?
In front of 80,000 viewers?
‘Considering his personality, it does seem like something he’d do.’
The streamer quickly accessed Travel and entered the streamer Seojun’s room.
The screen copied endlessly, like stepping into an elevator with mirrors on both sides.
It was a completed loop: the streamer watching Seojun watching the streamer watching Seojun watching the streamer watching Seojun watching the streamer.
“Hello, streamer-nim. The donation just now really was from me.”
- Kya, insane kekeke
- Look at how confident he is
- So it was real
- Ugh, dizzying
The streamer deftly touched the screen, breaking the infinite loop, and replied.
“You’re really Seojun-nim? Haha. Do you mean what you said in the donation?”
“Of course.”
In the screen, he looked perfectly calm.
He seemed confident, but I couldn’t figure out why.
If he loses after saying something like that, his image as a compulsive liar is sealed.
There are plenty of streamers with a comedic image, but wasn’t this person clearly known for his skills?
‘Is he deluded because he hasn’t met any real rankers so far?’
He hadn’t seemed that stupid.
Cheonsalseong watched his opponent carefully.
“I see. But Seojun-nim, do you think the rankers will accept that fight?”
The streamer was paying attention to a different angle.
But the reply that followed was enough to make Cheonsalseong astonished.
“That’s why I said it, isn’t it? I told those who think they’re better than me to come in. If they think they’re worse than me, they have no reason to snipe me in the first place.”
With a relaxed expression, Seojun once again launched a wide-scale provocation.
Why is he adding fuel to the fire!
‘Now a lot of people will respond.’
Because it seems fun, or because he’s arrogant.
The reasons might vary, but in the end, he absolutely had to win them all to avoid becoming a compulsive liar.
Tomorrow happened to be a day when rankers’ losses weren’t a big deal.
You could continue playing even after the fourth match, and since matches after that didn’t count toward contribution, it was an escape from defeat.
‘Could it be he didn’t know that?’
Whatever the case.
Someone I don’t want to get close to, but an interesting person.
That was Cheonsalseong’s pure impression.
“Haha. In that case, Seojun-nim.”
The streamer put on a meaningful expression.
“Yes?”
“Then would you like to do a joint stream with me tomorrow?”
“I’d like that.”
“May I do the commentary?”
“Even better.”
Watching their conversation quietly, Cheonsalseong and Hanpunman stuck their tongues out.
Wasn’t the streamer worried about aggro?
And why was the joint stream being arranged so smoothly?
“Heh. It’s going to be fun. We’ll discuss the details after today’s stream ends.”
“Yes. I’ll go end my stream now. Take care.”
“Yes. You too, Seojun-nim.”
“Ah. Cheonsalseong-nim.”
Cheonsalseong flinched.
He tensed up, wondering what he was going to say this time.
“Yes?”
“If you think you might lose, you don’t have to come tomorrow. I expect many others will show up. Thank you for your consideration. This is me repaying it. Well then, see you. To all the viewers as well.”
The connection was cut.
He didn’t just close the streamer’s broadcast, but ended his own stream entirely.
- kekekekekekekeke
- Leaving without letting him reply
- Cheonsalseong definitely needs to snipe him
- If you hear something like consideration and don’t respond, you’ll look like a coward
To repay because he was grateful for the consideration?
‘Did he notice that I deliberately turned the topic away? But why on earth...’
Provoke and then leave?
It was incomprehensible, but one thing was certain.
If he ran away tomorrow, he’d become a coward.
* * *
After wrapping up his farewell, Seojun ended the capsule session.
Since his playtime was close to four hours, he felt a slight dizziness, but after washing away his fatigue with hot water, he felt fine.
As he was resting for about an hour and organizing his thoughts, he received a message from the streamer who had finished his broadcast about how to run the joint stream tomorrow.
The joint broadcast would start at 6:50.
They would each stream separately, but the streamer would share Seojun’s screen and provide commentary.
They also did a rehearsal, adjusting various settings for smooth progress.
[Seojun: Thank you for your hard work.]
[Streamer: Yes. May you win every match tomorrow!]
[Seojun: Do you think I won’t lose even once?]
[Streamer: Honestly, I think it’ll be tough, but has there been anything easy among what you’ve done so far?]
[Seojun: Is that so? Thank you.]
Even that reaction was probably on the optimistic side.
After finishing what he had to do, Seojun logged into the gallery.
First, he checked what Lee Geonyeong had sent.
[Lee Geonyeong: After blocking just these 4 people, half of the first page of the top-30 recommended posts disappeared!]
Lee Geonyeong had sent the usernames, which were the ones who had raised doubts about Seojun.
Seojun searched for posts written by those usernames.
At first, they wrote casually asking if it was possible, but after a few minutes, the posts became increasingly aggressive.
“Wow, seriously.”
And among them was the person who had written that particular post requiring special attention, which could have become a problem.
“Isn’t this completely premeditated?”
It was a relief it ended well.
In fact, wasn’t everyone’s attention now focused on something entirely different?
It was the first day after the contribution rankings were revealed, and tomorrow would be Day 11.
With one-on-one sparring matches, many things would happen and interests would be diverse, but thanks to his actions, the topic receiving attention right now was only one.
[He’s the one Demonic Cultist you knew would cause trouble from the moment he didn’t show the donation message kekeke]
[The fact that the streamer’s donation ended with ‘lol’ is so infuriating]
[I saw it for the first time today, is this normal?]
- Yes, it’s extremely normal.
[I’ll definitely watch tomorrow.]
Surprisingly, posts written by his viewers were appearing among the top-30 recommended posts.
Usually, internet broadcast posts are hard to grasp without having watched them, so they’re difficult to receive many recommendations.
Even more so on a day like today when many people understood the context.
But the fact that they were appearing here and there meant—
‘The 12,000 viewers were a key factor.’
If you think about it, he’s mid-tier. His mentions appearing and those posts getting about 30 recommendations was nothing.
And anyway, most people who hadn’t watched his broadcast were also talking about him.
[Who is Cheonma that he gets first place and pulls this much aggro?]
[The identity of the rank 1 who the orthodox factions envied and kept in check, and the unorthodox factions were jealous and couldn’t sit still?]
[He’s definitely going to lose at least once]
[Once? Do you think achieving over a 50% win rate would be a relief?]
[A streamer who has never met a real ranker says: I’m confident I won’t lose even once.]
This kind of reaction was normal.
He had expected it too.
A smile wouldn’t leave Seojun’s lips.
[Honestly, he is cheeky]
==
It’s not like rankers see him as a meal or something.
==
- Shin Hayeon is a Slayer, but wouldn’t it be okay to see her as a meal?
└ That Shin Hayeon win narrative again kekeke. That was an AI. And if it’s the training ground, it’s basically the beginner zone with no martial arts.
└ For real. Martial arts are our pride.
└ It seems like he got carried by his no-technique trait, but what does he know about martial arts?
└ Grandmaster here.
- Let the 3-minute Curry Corps assemble.
└ Until now we’ve been oppressed by compulsive liars, it was unfair. Now is the time to rise!
└ Suddenly I’m proud to be in the 3-minute Curry Corps.
└ All the guys who changed their nicknames and hid are right here.
└ So what are you going to do about it? What can you do?
- Feels like he just said it recklessly, accepting that he might lose tomorrow kekeke
But since tomorrow’s mode was sparring, he had just meant to face anyone he disliked, or anyone who wanted to keep him in check.
So this was how it was being interpreted too.
“And… oh? A ranker is publicly participating?”
[Rank 6. ThisIsntMurim.]
==
To set right the ways of the martial world, I pledge to vanquish the Heavenly Demon tomorrow.
==
“Hmm.”
For a moment, Seojun disliked himself for feeling like this level of concept was just normal.
It was because there were too many weirdos in For the Chivalrous.
- The Murim boomer is here.
- Why are you using the word ‘ranking’?
- Isn’t it common sense to use pennies in murim?
- Is it true that the Mt. Hua where the Huashan Sect is located is now Resting Volcano?
- It’s a known fact that chicken was a favorite food of the monks of ancient Shaolin.
He was rank 6, a hugely well-known name, yet everyone was busy making fun of him.
‘Are there others too?’
When he looked, besides Rank 6, other rankers were also verifying themselves and declaring they’d snipe him tomorrow.
It seemed to have become a trend.
“Looks like it’s going to be fun.”
[I’m rank 17, so if I beat rank 1, do I become the strongest under heaven?]
[Master Gosua declares she’ll crush the Heavenly Demon tomorrow!]
[For real, legendary match-ups are going to happen]
[And if this bastard loses right from the start, it’ll be a total mood-killer kekekekekekeke]
And.
[That guy only ever uses the Energy Absorption Great Method.]
==
If you just run away using the Slaughter Curtain from the very beginning, I think you can perfectly counter him.
Take note.
==
Seojun smiled with satisfaction and stretched.
“Seems like it’s time to change my trait.”