Episode 91
If they lose this fight, losing the game is a certainty.
Even if they resorted to guerrilla warfare or came up with some other brilliant method, it was clear that gap could never be bridged.
If the opponent truly only had Seo Jun, making it a real 3-on-1, it might be different, but the fact that the game itself was 4-on-4 made it utterly despairing.
— Guys, we can win this time, right? Hwaiting.
One of their teammates who wasn’t a ranker typed in chat, and Han Punman thought to himself:
Still, he’s kind.
If it were me, I’d probably curse and ask why they lost.
‘Can’t you even win that?’
But once you fight, you realize.
Whenever it looked like his speed might put him at a disadvantage, he’d cut off the momentum with a sword blast at an unbelievably perfect timing.
Blocking most attacks if they came within a certain distance.
Cheonsalseong thrust his sword and shouted.
“Get hit already!”
He never gets hit by normal attacks.
Ah.
Han Punman regretted ever setting foot in this game.
‘I really need a joint sword formation.’
A sword formation for dealing with absolute masters.
That’s what he desperately needed.
Clang!
An exchange where every attack turned futile.
He wished the enemy would just take a hit, but the foe dodged, barely opening the mouth that had been spitting out trash talk just moments ago, as if he’d made up his mind not to even attack.
“Punman, how much time left on Frenzy?”
“Probably...”
The experience he’d built up returned as an uncanny intuition.
Like how a gamer with certain skills will suddenly, out of nowhere, think, ‘Huh? It feels like an enemy’s hiding here,’ and scan the radar.
“Soon.”
“I see.”
They’d lost the game.
“You going next round?”
At Han Punman’s question, Namgung Sega Jeomsoi watched the movements of Cheonma 14 closing in from the front, swinging his sword without a change in expression.
His judgment was quick.
“No, let’s tell the others to stop him.”
* * *
The viewers watching Seo Jun’s stream could clearly hear the conversation of the righteous faction rankers.
After all, they hadn’t whispered quietly among themselves, nor had they talked through chat.
[Eoujeong]
— Ah... suddenly I feel like clashing with the Unorthodox Sect today?
So one ranker said that.
Simply because his mood suddenly shifted that way.
No one asked why.
Just that suddenly, people with similar thoughts started popping up one after another.
— Me too
— lololol Today the Dang family brats are all done for. I’ll knock down all their daggers
— I already bumped into outlaws while hiking yesterday and it pissed me off
— Hey, you too?
— Me too!
— Honestly, we’ve beaten up on the Demon Cult too much haha
The streamer snickered at this.
“Mm-hmm. You have beaten up on them a lot.”
If you checked the current viewing channel of those who typed that, you’d definitely see one particular streamer.
“Oh. Frenzy mode’s coming soon?”
Seo Jun’s movements, seen through the stream, grew fiercer, and his sword began to speed up.
The second reason why a 3-on-1 wasn’t so advantageous.
Frenzy mode.
Since the system was designed from the planning stage to allow a reversal in outnumbered fights, the outcome was practically predetermined.
“No need to watch further. Today’s battlefield is this.”
Of course, one must not forget that ‘not so advantageous’ only applies when your skill far surpasses the opponent’s.
“Surely no one doesn’t know this?”
[Wijeongcheoksapa]
— I might do it too? If you hold out, you can win and it’s easy
— Okay if that looks easy, then you take charge of the Demon Cult and Cheonma from now on
— Ah. What a shame, but since I swore to properly discipline the righteous faction bastards this battlefield, I have no choice.
The streamer burst into laughter again.
“Good grief, you’re all the same.”
He wasn’t a ranker, but he’d been invited to Eoujeong, Wijeongcheoksapa, and Eouma (even if only the top two ranks were there).
This was the result of users’ consideration, so he could grasp the situation more easily.
Having the game pool grow stagnant and everyone roughly knowing each other has this advantage.
And it was also because he hadn’t betrayed that trust.
“Anyway, he’s good as expected.”
A streamer with not a single flaw—physical ability, control skills, trash talking.
The battlefield had truly begun, and the streamer should have been busier than anyone, needing to grasp and record the movements of every faction right now.
But perhaps because every ranker’s attention was focused on one place at this very moment, he had plenty of leisure.
“Whoa.”
He opened the battlefield map and was startled to see not a single red dot.
Thirty minutes had passed since the start, and one or two rankers or lone wolves should have started making moves by now, but no one was running any games.
The reason, obviously, was because they were watching someone.
He suddenly grew curious.
“How many viewers?”
The 18,000 viewers they’d hit during yesterday’s joint stream had clearly been thanks to the streamer’s help.
He’d drawn massive aggro and herded a huge number of viewers to broadcast Seo Jun’s stream, so the wave flowing that way had been just as high.
But on the other hand, the fact that 140,000 had still chosen his stream told you something.
Because viewers prefer what they’re already watching.
It’s not just viewers—it’s a given that humans simply like the familiar and can’t easily accept the new.
That’s why it’s not easy to increase your viewer tier.
If you want to go up, you have to constantly build recognition, show your face, and be exposed to others.
So what about now?
Without him around, how many viewers does he have?
“Did he break ten thousand?”
The mid-range 10,000.
Mid-range is broad, but still.
If you surpass ten thousand viewers, you can proudly claim the unofficial title of mid-range streamer, someone with a certain amount of influence on Travel.
“Oh?”
Checking the viewer count, the streamer was as happy as if it were his own.
[Viewer Count – 13,000]
“He’s breezing past ten thousand.”
It’s only temporary because of the battlefield?
Because of yesterday’s joint stream?
It probably is.
But.
The streamer entered the Demon Cult’s chat room to observe the strategy and scratched his cheek.
This.
“By the time the battlefield ends.”
Wouldn’t he be hitting twenty thousand?
* * *
[Victory]
Seo Jun stared at the words floating before him, then looked away.
The 3-on-1 game against the rankers had ended overwhelmingly.
He wondered what kind of response this result would bring.
— Kyaa, victory! That’s insane
— Whether strategy or force, not a single thing is missing
— Why did he have to join the Demon Cult ㅠㅠ
Seo Jun let out a small laugh and left the map. His view flipped, and the original background returned.
If this were a public channel, there was no telling what the waiting viewers might have done.
If they did anything, he could just switch channels, and maybe because he moved his body directly, there weren’t many trolls.
But there are always those born without an ounce of shame, as if they left it behind in their mother’s womb.
— Righteous faction got wrecked, right? Righteous faction got wrecked, right? Righteous faction got wrecked, right?
— Three guys rush in and lose, what a level lololol Three guys rush in and lose, what a level lololol
— Cheonsalseong feature: a score vending machine
Maybe from excitement, there were many chats flooding the screen.
Seo Jun opened the map to catch the last game.
“Alright. Let’s see who comes this time.”
Viewer count: 13,000.
‘There must be a lot of rankers watching right now, right?’
He grew curious to see how they would handle the situation after witnessing that defeat.
As Seo Jun started queueing for the game, the same region he’d been playing in all along appeared once again.
— Try blocking it lolololol
— Tactical Cheonma drop!
— Watching the Demon Cult bastards get excited really pisses me off
— For real, these damn bastards
— How dare you call them that, it’s the Top Cult
— No, this time it’s different, hey if you’re jealous just try blocking lololololol
The Demon Cult and the Righteous Faction were fighting in chat. And the Righteous Faction was losing in firepower.
Because the defeated naturally have nothing to say.
[‘RighteousFactionSpokesperson’ donated 10,000 won!]
[This round will be different.]
But a donation rang out.
“Thanks for the donation. Well, you never know what’ll happen, though.”
Seo Jun said with a smile.
“Isn’t catching a game first the priority?”
Since only a single nickname kept appearing on the map.
[Cheonma 14]
— Ah
— No one’s coming!
— No one
— No one’s coming at all! lolololol
— Did they really chicken out? lololololololololol
— Now, player entrance. What? The player ran away?
* * *
[Eoujeong]
— Nobody’s going?
It was a sentence that wounded one’s pride.
And Han Punman, who had typed that chat, awkwardly looked around.
Everyone seemed to have nothing to say.
Thank goodness. At least they’re not giving me crap for losing that.
Anyway, in the end, they’d need to send in fourteen more rankers to restore the scales tilted by Seo Jun’s victory back to balance.
The problem, if you could call it that, was that they’d still have to assume all fourteen would win. But anyway.
The battlefield is a team game.
— Looks like the Demon Cult will be important from now on.
‘That’s right.’
Just what was Seo Jun intending with his movements?
What was he looking toward?
That streamer’s final game was caught.
There were no rankers.
And simultaneously, red marks started popping up on the map in various places.
‘It’s really starting now.’
Han Punman kept his eyes on the battlefield map and shared opinions as much as possible.
— The Unorthodox Sect and the Demon Cult are attacking each other. Another region.
— Let’s lightly poke a Demon Cult spot too.
The Orthodox Faction’s strategy is always the same.
The Orthodox Way.
A method of waiting for the enemy to move first, then responding.
Being the strongest faction of the three, it was the most efficient and righteous way they could choose.
— Several Demon Cult members attacking the same region as Cheonma
— Defend?
Han Punman watched the situation and typed.
— Abandon it, and take another place with those resources instead.
— The Unorthodox Sect is touching us too.
— Defend there.
‘No unusual movements.’
Just poking here and there, giving up what needed to be given up.
As they sized each other up, the 12th day of the battlefield came to an end.
The results come out tomorrow.
‘Damn Movie Soft, like a bunch of thugs.’
If the results came out right away, you could prepare for tomorrow, which could make the game boring. So they announce it the next day right when it starts.
To test your quick wits.
And because that way, more mistakes happen.
In fact, there were quite a few cases of losing a battlefield ridiculously, so in terms of fun, it was a passing grade.
The next day.
Han Punman waited for 7 o’clock.
While keeping his eyes on Seo Jun’s streaming, which turned on at six thirty.
[Winner Is Demon Cult Anyway]
That was Seo Jun’s stream title.
‘Winner my ass.’
Laughing at the title, Han Punman entered the private channel he’d been invited to.
Users were gathering.
“You’re here?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see the hotfix today?”
A hotfix means an emergency patch.
Normally, patches happen regularly once a week, but when bugs or other errors appear, you can’t help but patch even on an off day to fix them.
That’s a hotfix.
“Yeah.”
“They said they tweaked the matchmaking system based on fame, but isn’t that obviously targeting Cheonma?”
“Looks like it.”
The problem, if you could call it that, was that they didn’t explain the details.
“Will it become 4-on-1? So they can somehow stop him.”
Han Punman shook his head at his comrade’s words.
Most people spoke like that comrade, but Han Punman’s thoughts were different.
That a 3-on-1 in an occupation battle was something that shouldn’t make sense balance-wise in the first place.
Many people are mistaken because of Seo Jun’s victory.
When looking at an occupation victory—not a fight—from the game’s perspective, 3-on-1 is clearly advantageous for the three.
Yesterday, they made mistakes, and the enemy simply responded well.
‘There’s no way Movie Soft doesn’t know that.’
So if the matchmaking system changed to be more favorable to Cheonma...
“Hmm.”
It becomes a headache.
[Starting right away again today. Where to, you ask? The Righteous Faction, of course. I was from the Righteous Faction in my past life.]
The sound flowing from the streaming echoed in his ears, and Han Punman rubbed the back of his neck.
‘What the hell does that have to do with anything?’
Anyway.
[A straight march forward. Just try and stop me, Righteous Faction folks.]
Han Punman narrowed his brow, overcome by a strong premonition that how to stop Cheonma would be the decisive factor determining the direction of this battlefield.
The real battlefield was beginning.