Chapter 81
- 12 consecutive wins, that's insane lololol
- This is the Heavenly Demon!
- You actually pulled that off? lololol
- Please become the cult leader! Please become the cult leader! Please become the cult leader!
- Ah lol, if you're gonna use that nickname and play this well, then for real take responsibility for the Demonic Cult!!!!
- Today's stream was legendary, too.
"It's over."
The clock hands point to 10:10.
Seo-jun stretched and returned to his original position. Bangju, who had been waiting while keeping an eye on the situation, approached him.
"You really worked hard!"
"Thank you. You worked hard too, Bangju."
"All I did was just watch. But you, Seo-jun, managed a whopping 12 consecutive wins! Twelve straight victories!"
Bangju continued.
"You didn't lose a single match, or even a single round, right?"
"Right."
- Kyaa
- A true master
- A lot of people will probably rewatch today. Didn't know he was this good.
Both Bangju and Seo-jun glanced at their own chat windows, and their eyes met as they returned to their original positions. They laughed inwardly.
"In my chat, some think you'd win if you fought a pro, Seo-jun. Have you ever fought one?"
If it's about real-life fights, he had some experience.
"Unfortunately, no."
"Ah, is that so? I'd like to see it."
"Maybe we'll run into one someday."
"Right! These days, there are a lot of former pros who've become streamers, and pros basically also stream when they game, so there are plenty of chances to meet them!"
Seo-jun nodded.
The biggest issue was being busy, but most pros were halfway familiar with Travel and its culture, so some interaction did happen. You could meet them while gaming.
"If I do meet one, I'll give it my best."
"Ah, you mean you'll do your best to make them lose their job?"
- lololol I'll make them unemployed!
- If you lose to a streamer, it's straight to jobless.
- Then you're on the same level as a viewer lolol
- Wonder what would really happen.
- If it's a new game, winning is totally possible.
"Alright, that was a joke. Anyway, today we had so much to see—matches against rankers, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the 12-win streak, and more."
Bangju began his closing remarks.
Looks like he's about to end the stream.
Seo-jun subtly turned his head and brought up the Travel window.
[Bangju – 140,000 viewers]
[Jin Seo-jun – 18,000 viewers]
The numbers were astonishing.
Viewership was close to that of a major corporate collaboration.
It meant that pretty much every Travel viewer interested in the battlefield was watching this stream.
He'd heard that the highest Bangju's battlefield content had ever reached was around 150,000. It was slightly less than that, but only if you didn't count Seo-jun's viewers. Including his numbers, it was safe to say they had set a new record.
"On top of that, Seo-jun, you earned a total of 66,650 bonus fame points today just from the win-streak. Adding the 6,000 or so you already had, you're now like 14 walking rankers!"
Bangju raised his voice as he spoke.
- That's a bit scary?
- Imagining a horde of zombies.
- Number one is guaranteed. From now on, even if he only wins once, others will have to win 14 times lolololol.
"Hehehe. Right now, the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions are in a real pinch. Because the Demonic Cult now has the most rankers! When rankers fight each other, they might lose, but these 14 of ours never lose! Thanks to Seo-jun, who's become a huge variable, things are going to get much more interesting."
Bangju then offered his condolences to the Slaughter Star.
"I hope Slaughter Star manages to survive. And with that, I'll end today's stream here."
Is it over?
Seeing Bangju tap his finger in the air, Seo-jun spoke.
"I'll end my stream too, TTV."
- The Demonic Cult has skyrocketed.
- Oh
- Are we going to win?
- TTV
- TTV
* * *
"Good work on today's collaboration. Next time, instead of just doing a relay like this, I hope we can have a proper collab and invite you to my studio."
"As long as it looks like fun, there's no reason to refuse."
Though by then, I'd need to know what capsule he's using first.
"Haha. When that time comes, I'll give you the best hospitality a fan can offer."
"A fan?"
"Yes."
"You watch my streams?"
"Of course. I think I've caught most of them live. I even donated once during a previous stream."
Bangju wasn't a streamer who went live often. And he considered himself more of a commentator or analyst.
So he had plenty of time to watch Seo-jun's broadcasts.
"I remember."
"Really?"
"Yes. But I thought you only started watching back then. As you know, catching the Demon Tower Lord was a pretty big event—it wouldn't be strange for anyone to come in through that."
"It's true that's when I first came, but I kept watching after that. Your skills are just that good, and your streams are fun."
"Thank you."
Guess I don't need to dig up that donation ID and do a background check.
With so many weird people around, every time someone said they were a viewer, he felt an urge to check if they'd done something.
A truly lamentable state of affairs.
"Anyway, today's collaboration was a huge success. Usually, it's tough to break 100,000. But at 150,000, it's safe to say almost everyone who's interested was watching. Who knows, we might actually become major streamers at this rate."
A major streamer.
It referred to those few broadcasters who casually pulled in tens of thousands of live viewers or had over a million subscribers on iTube.
These people were literally walking small-to-medium enterprises.
Moreover, even as the streaming market grew, Travel was still treated as a niche culture. But major streamers had recognition and popularity higher than most celebrities, so you couldn't treat them as niche.
Even the past Seo-jun, who had completely cut off all interest in capsules, at least knew their names.
"Major streamer, what are you talking about? I'm not even a mid-tier streamer yet."
"Hehe. Well, it might not happen right away, but who knows what the future holds? And aren't you already a mid-tier streamer?"
"Huh?"
"Surely you can hit 10,000 viewers."
"My regular viewers have been around 5,000 lately."
"You nearly hit 20,000 today."
"Today was an exception."
"That's true, but Seo-jun."
"Yes."
"The people around here are crazy about masters."
"..."
"Seriously."
Bangju wore a serious expression.
"I see."
"Of course. Anyway, I'll send you today's donation earnings from my channel later."
"Okay."
Splitting the donations 50-50 with only Bangju was something they had negotiated the day before. For the record, Seo-jun had been in favor of including himself and splitting it evenly.
"Don't be shocked when you see the amount later. The people here are really crazy about masters."
* * *
It was just as Bangju said.
Today's stream events not only dominated all topics, but public opinion was excellent.
[After today, it looks like the 'Number One Under Heaven' debate can be put to rest lololol]
[I actually tried following the advice streamer Seo-jun gave in those old technique posts, and my skill level really went up. He's called Grandmaster for a reason.]
[Just getting hit by a wooden sword shows how big the skill gap is, really.]
[Seo-jun <-- why is this bastard so entertaining???]
[Battle Analysis: The Namgung Family Branch Store.]
There were also posts analyzing things seriously.
[The situation where the leaders of the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions are forced to throw away all their strategies and rack their brains because of one person in the Demonic Cult! "How on earth does a figure like that come out of the Demonic Cult?" "What have our masters been doing all this time!"]
Nickname: Fanatical Believer. That looked familiar.
The post was like that too.
Chuckling, Seo-jun checked the comments.
- It's so hilarious that it actually turned out like he said lolololol
- Why is his name Fanatical Believer? He's only ever right. Isn't he a truth-telling journalist?
- The posts this bastard wrote between the fights are even more ridiculous.
└ [Breaking News] Orthodox faction's Rank 2 resorts to drugs to compete against the Heavenly Demon. "Impossible to oppose him without drugs." "Demonic Cult's Seolsam, stronger than Daehwandan."
└ Demonic Cult's Seolsam lmao lolololololol
└ What is this, Korean red ginseng? ffs lololol
- This person writes articles with nothing but truth, zero fabrication.
[If you win, can you just spout nonsense?]
- um
- yeah
- yes
- Why are you asking something so obvious?
- The moment you win, it's no longer nonsense, rookie.
- And if you're jealous, what do you do?
[The Demonic Cult bastards are getting way too cocky. You haven't won yet lol]
[What does it matter if we haven't won yet? Your rankers got completely wrecked.]
[Honestly, if the Heavenly Demon came to the Orthodox faction, I'd bow down and welcome him like crazy.]
[Upvote if you'd trade 14 of your own faction's rankers for the Heavenly Demon lololol]
Walking forward, Seo-jun thought.
"The response is definitely good."
Eight out of ten posts in the real-time TOP10 were plastered with articles related to him.
After all, the community with the most firepower right now was the Old Association.
"By the way, why did they call me?"
The place he was currently heading to was a hall located on the Demonic Cult's map.
Right after the stream ended, Dang So had summoned him here. Normally, he would have ignored Dang So, but since Lee Dong-su and the Heavenly First Swordsman had also called him, Seo-jun was leisurely making his way to the hall.
As he reached the door, he heard voices.
"Stone Wall Seizure King and I-believe-in-the-boss. Whose IDs are these two?"
"I don't know. They don't seem to be among us."
"So those two unidentified accounts just downvoted along with us because they thought alike?"
"It seems so."
"I see. Well, it doesn't matter! We successfully shot them down anyway!"
What did they mean by shooting down?
Why did he have such an ominous feeling?
"I mean, you called me over just for this stupid stuff. Do you even know who I am? If you knew my main account, huh? You'd all be shocked."
"Shut up, Bandit King."
It was a feast of utter nonsense.
Maybe I should just not go in.
With a sour expression, Seo-jun opened the door.
When he entered, Lee Dong-su, wearing a large avatar, Dang So, the Heavenly First Swordsman, and several others were gathered—all of whom had sent him messages.
Their only common point was probably that they had all chosen the Demonic Cult as their faction.
Dang So, who seemed to have orchestrated this meeting, approached him first.
"So you finally show up. Even when I said it so many times before, you didn't come, but the moment someone else calls, you're right here. Well, not that my plan to lead the Demonic Cult to victory would have had any issues without you."
Starting off with bullshit right away, that Dang So.
The Demonic Cult winning? Yeah, right.
Seo-jun watched him with half-lidded eyes, as if daring him to continue.
"Still, I can't just ignore you, so I'll personally entrust you with an important role. Will you accept it?"
Translating that, it meant "Please cooperate."
He meant it.
"Can the Demonic Cult even win?"
"Of course. Although, thanks to the fame points you've earned, if you just follow our instructions, victory seems even easier."
"Really?"
He intended to cooperate anyway.
Just not with this guy.
"That's right. And about half the fame points you earned are our share, so don't even think about backing out."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you think your 12-win streak just happened on its own?"
"Then what?"
"It's all thanks to us quietly cracking down on posts that would've been unfavorable to your streak behind your back!"
So they were gathering as a group and manipulating things.
Ah.
Now I get why Bandit King over there was looking so aggrieved.
They must have dragged a busy pro here just to tell him to downvote—how could he not be resentful?
"Well, we didn't directly manipulate by writing posts or giving recommendations. We just responded because there were forces trying to systematically slander us."
I see. But isn't that still manipulation?
Even he seemed to realize he was guilty, which was why he was denying it was manipulation. Seo-jun inwardly prayed that they hadn't done anything really weird.
He figured he should hear the details later from Lee Dong-su or the Heavenly First Swordsman.
"Anyway, that aside. Can we really win?"