The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
“An enemy! An enemy has infiltrated!”
An organization member NPC who was roaming the theater troupe in a set pattern caught Alpaca’s tail.
‘Damn it. It’s too packed.’
Alpaca immediately used the smoke screen skill and the clone skill to disperse the aggro and hung onto the outer wall of the second-floor audience seats.
‘My stamina needs to hold out.’
Stamina drained every time he did parkour.
He could have saved it if he used wires, adhesives, or other tools, but Alpaca was currently in the middle of a bare-handed assassination challenge.
‘If I fall, they will swarm me just like that, and I’ll be helplessly caught. But if I go up, the NPCs are still on alert. Even if I hold out in one spot for long, the organization members on the first floor will discover me. What skill should I use…’
He quickly racked his brain based on the experience he had built up over about a week, but rendering such worries meaningless—
“Kahahahaha!”
A mad laugh rang out, and the sound of something tearing through the air was heard.
Whoosh!
Still hanging, Alpaca looked back and reflexively closed his eyes tightly at the rapidly flying object.
The blade lodged straight between his eyebrows, and he, who had been hanging from the second-floor audience seats, fell straight down.
Thud.
“Aaaaah! It’s another failure!”
He was ruined.
Every time he died, his reputation dropped, and now, to buy information from the guild, he had to farm reputation through simple grinding.
Or he had to carry out sub-quests, which were another form of simple grinding.
Both were equally a headache.
He had to somehow deal with Drake using the reputation he had naturally gathered while assassinating other NPCs, but…
-lolololol
-You suck so much lololol quit the game.
-Grinding go go
-Let’s give up on bare-handed now.
The viewers welcomed his failure more than anyone else.
‘Evil, so evil.’
He wondered if they really liked it that much.
Although he thought his broadcast wasn’t filled with malicious trolls, he knew from years of streaming experience.
That most viewers harbored a malicious troll in their hearts.
[‘ㅇㅇ’ has sponsored 1,000 won!]
[Hey, a new route to get Drake’s location info has appeared on the community. Go check it out.]
“Oh? Thank you for the 1,000 won donation!”
Yes.
It was because of viewers like this that he could find strength!
‘No, wait.’
Usually, when he checked under such circumstances, there would be images of real animal alpacas caught on fishing lines, created with crude editing skills.
‘But getting fooled even while knowing is the destiny of a streamer.’
Alpaca paused the game for a moment and came out to the lobby.
A vast meadow of high highlands unfolded, and Alpaca sat on a hay-shaped chair.
The background was entirely custom-made and sent as a gift by a fan.
‘At first, I wondered if they were messing with me.’
But the chair was much more comfortable than he thought, and the scenery was also nice.
Ultimately, considering the fan’s sincerity, he set this meadow as the default background.
Pwaaa! Pwa!
When he sat on the hay chair, a real animal alpaca residing in the lobby approached him, whose name was Daebak.
Boasting pure white fur and a cute face full of discontent, it was his broadcast’s famous mascot.
Ptooey!
Alpaca jerked his head to the side as Daebak spat.
“Ack!”
Even though he knew the spit was just a graphic having experienced it many times, a reflex action burst out.
-lolololol
-Has Daebak arrived!
-When on earth will you get used to it? lololol
– -_-
– -O- (Ptooey!)
‘Did they really have to implement even the spitting motion?’
Like this, even a loyal fan who created a high-quality lobby would insert at least one malicious element; such was the nature of viewers.
Pwaaaa!
He ignored whether Daebak was nibbling on the hay he was sitting on or not, and opened the internet.
“What should I search for? Should I go to the information board…”
-Go to the 30-upvote board
-Discussion board
-It’s the incidents and accidents board
-Free board
-No no, it’s the tips and know-how board
These guys.
Whom could he blame?
It was his own fault for asking the viewers.
“Let’s see. It’s right there.”
[Summary of Drake’s Location Info and New Route]
The person in the video was extracting information from a syndicate member in a slightly unique—no, highly unique—way.
“Kyah! There was such a method. What a grateful person to share this.”
Alpaca, who knew how to parry in his own right, quickly brightened up. It was because he didn’t have to do the boring reputation grind anymore.
“By the way, both the person who found this and the developer who hid such a route are truly amazing. Don’t you think?”
-Real
-Kyah
-The quality of an open world comes from the details of its freedom.
-SitC is a god-game!
Since the pressure regarding Drake’s base information had vanished, Alpaca began to calculate how many more times he could challenge it during today’s broadcast.
And at that moment, a long-winded donation rang out.
[‘lolololololol’ has made a generous donation of 10,000 won!]
[Now is not the time to be amazed, is it? lolololololololololololololololololololololololol]
It was a donation crammed right up to the character limit.
Subsequently, a voice donation rang out.
[‘Some Idiot’ has made a generous donation of 10,000 won!]
[???: If he succeeds in that, I’ll take him as my master, receive his teachings, and do a clear-in-one-go challenge until I beat Drake with unrivaled gameplay!]
Um?
“Someone cleared it? Oh, no way. No matter what you guys say, I won’t fall for it.”
Even though it was virtual reality, Alpaca felt as if a cold sweat was running down his back.
He was anxious.
Suddenly, the fact that Ettore had been caught yesterday crossed his mind. No way. Why hadn’t he thought of it earlier?
While he was blaming himself, the number of people simply laughing in the chat window also began to grow little by little.
People who only typed “lol” without saying anything else.
Given the nature of his viewers, who could never unite for their lives, there was only one case where they laughed in unison.
‘When I’m suffering.’
Coincidentally, above the post he had clicked on, another post with thirty upvotes had appeared.
[First Unrivaled Clear of Drake.]
“Wow, really. Did you guys even manipulate the upvotes just to trick me? I told you, I’m not falling for it. You guys are vicious, truly vicious.”
Gulp.
While denying it with his mouth, his hand slowly moved toward the post.
And the revealed truth.
A certain man was holding a pipe and lightly beating up Drake.
Truly lightly.
At first, a thought like this also crossed his mind.
‘Oh? This seems doable? Maybe a clear-in-one-go challenge would be fine?’
But at that exact moment, the man in the screen parried a sword, and without even looking back, easily dodged the chain piercing from behind him with a simple tilt of his head.
His sense of relief flew away, and the series of actions forced him to face reality.
‘I’m screwed.’
That couldn’t be copied.
In the first place, he had struggled even with assassination, so what unrivaled gameplay?
Therefore.
“I think that video is edited. Right? Come on. How can a human catch that? Right? Hurry up and agree with me. Yes?”
He began to deny the video.
-No way lolol
-He’s talking nonsense lololol
-Alpaca has started denying reality lololololol
-Threats on
-He’s a streamer. If you go to Travel, it’s all there.
Naturally, it didn’t work at all.
“Ah, this person was the streamer who caught Ettore with unrivaled gameplay.”
This time, he began to change the subject.
-??? Was that Ettore caught?
-??
-On the first day of the open beta, Alpaca lolol got beaten up by Ettore for 10 hours trying to get the first clear. To think there’s someone who caught him.
-How did he catch him????
His viewers knew how difficult it was to catch Ettore because of his challenge a week ago, which had only wasted time.
In an instant, the viewers’ attention shifted to how he had caught Ettore, and Alpaca thought it was a good diversion.
[‘ThisIsHowYouCatchEttore’ has made a generous donation of 10,000 won! – travel clip]
Coincidentally, a video donation was played at just the right time.
The streamer named Jin Seo-jun grabbed the iron mace and performed a feat.
Alpaca, who had already seen it, was amazed once again.
If it were him, how much would he have to practice to be able to do that?
It was a smooth, flexible, yet restrained movement.
-Kyah! As expected of Mr. Unnamed.
-Wow, really fucking awesome.
-It’s such a fucking contrast. Unlike a certain someone.
-lolololol
-So you have to be this good to do unrivaled gameplay.
-What’s the streamer’s name?
It seemed even the viewers seeing it for the first time were surprised.
“And what’s even more amazing is that it’s only his second day playing the game. I was completely shocked when I found out too.”
-?? He’s a fucking talent monster.
-Isn’t he some kind of intangible cultural asset in real life?
-So he’s not a Chuck. Bummer.
-I got that, but you still have to do the clear-in-one-go challenge, right?
Watching the chat, Alpaca’s eyes trembled like a sailor facing a violent storm.
From the heavens, a voice seemed to pathetically say, “As if that’s even possible?”
Subsequently, a voice donation turned on once again.
[‘Some Idiot’ has made a generous donation of 10,000 won!]
[???: If he succeeds in that, I’ll take him as my master, receive his teachings, and do a clear-in-one-go challenge until I beat Drake with unrivaled gameplay!]
“Haa…”
Alpaca let out a sigh deep enough to cave in the ground. Changing the subject, my foot.
He deeply resented his reckless past self.
‘I wonder if they would let me off if I stream through the night for about three days…’
The option of beating Drake to end the stream didn’t even enter his range of consideration.
Wearing a tearful face, Alpaca uselessly shouted as he saw the title of the next post.
[Alpaca, who is shivering because Drake was caught, please raise your hoof lololol]
“Hey! If I had hooves, would I wear shoes? You shoe! You guys, stop upvoting posts like that. I’m already anxious enough.”
-lolololol
-Alpaca hoof lolololol
-Who wrote that? Good job.
-lololol
– -_-
[Upvote if you think Alpaca looking at the community is handsome.]
He liked this one a bit.
Alpaca stealthily entered the post and clicked upvote.
-A sycophant!
-Ban the sycophant!
-Where is the manager!
Consistent bastards.
Alpaca let out a deep sigh and declared surrender.
“Well, a promise is a promise.”
If he collapsed while doing it, the viewers would understand, right?
-Kyah!
-Cool, Alpaca!
-Is the next stream’s title the New Year’s waiting room?
-Let’s hit the Guinness World Record for the longest streaming time in the world lololol
-Anyone want to bet whether a new installment of Dawn of the Assassins will release first, or if he will succeed in the clear-in-one-go challenge first?
-Essentially declaring that he will only stream until he dies in this lifetime, shudder.
Or not?
Alpaca glared at the viewers.
Anyway, he thought it would be fun if they did a collaboration stream.
-But it would be fun to have a guest stream with that streamer from earlier.
-I just went to the community and saw it, he is seriously fucking good lololol
Coincidentally, chats that seemed to read his mind also appeared.
However.
“First of all, please don’t go to that person’s stream and mention me. That’s a nuisance.”
In matters like this, warning must be given in advance and firmly.
-Yes
-Okay
-Ye
The fact that he was a second-day streamer bothered him.
There was no way he had done a collaboration before, and looking at the situation, he was sailing smoothly, so it could unnecessarily interfere. He might find it burdensome too.
‘Hmm.’
Just as Alpaca was agonizing over it like that, a Travel notification popped up.
Checking the notification, Alpaca’s eyes widened in surprise.
“First of all. I’ll end the broadcast here today.”
-I respect it today.
-The next broadcast won’t turn off for a lifetime, so if we get angry at you ending the stream now, we have no conscience lolololol
-So true lol
“Good work.”
[The broadcast has ended.]
That day, a collaboration announcement was posted on Alpaca’s fan café.
***
Meanwhile.
Movie Soft, which had more than ten subsidiary developers worldwide.
Someone flung the door open and entered the office of the president of Movie Soft Korea, which had developed the latest installment, Dawn of the Assassins: Shadows in the City.
“President. We have a big problem.”
“What is it?”
Yves Paimon, the president of Movie Soft Korea, spun his chair to see who the employee who had just entered was.
Kim Yoon-chan.
He was a highly optimistic subordinate.
“A Ruler has been caught, President.”
“…….”
“With unrivaled gameplay.”
Due to the somewhat troubling news, Yves Paimo demanded a detailed explanation.
“Who was it?”
“Drake.”
“Oh, then it doesn’t matter. It’s about time he got caught. Isn’t he the weakest one anyway?”
The serious eyes of Yves Paimo completely relaxed.
“But if people start getting curious about the Fragments of Order…”
Yves Paimo cut off Kim Yoon-chan.
“Enough. It’s a useless worry. It’s true that if the Fragments of Order are already gathered, there will be a setback in what we planned, but you’re the one who personally designed and put the mechanism to prevent them from gathering into the game. What’s wrong with you?”
A Fragment of Order could be obtained every time a Ruler was defeated with unrivaled gameplay.
And one of the Rulers could not be caught by skill alone, no matter how outstanding they were, and required the help of a certain skill.
They had designed it so that it would take quite a long time for users to unlock that skill, meaning there was no need to worry about it right now.
“I know that, but unexpected things can always happen. Moreover, that person was a streamer. He just beat him by simply walking up to him.”
“For an optimistic guy, you sure are…”
“It’s a hunch, a hunch.”
“Shut up and go back to work. Wait… just now? Does that mean you were watching a stream during working hours?”
“…Oops. I’ll be going now.”
“Hey!”
***
The next day.
“What are you doing?”
“Just looking at some information about game skills.”
Watching Seo-jun peer into the community in the seat next to him in the taxi, Tae-woo shook his head in disapproval.
“Don’t get sucked into things like that.”
“…Shut up. It’s because I have something to double-check for the collaboration stream.”
Because the collaboration stream had been arranged so suddenly, there wasn’t much time to discuss, but they had already agreed on how to lead the stream.
“Why are you even coming along in the first place, Tae-woo?”
“I also wanted to see that hyung after a long time.”
“What about your stream?”
“I’ll just go to a nearby capsule room and do it. It works fine there too.”
‘Sigh.’
Seo-jun let out a deep sigh.
The dignity of a veteran streamer shone brightly.
“We have arrived.”
The taxi driver announced their arrival at the destination, and after paying, they stepped outside.
“Let’s see. Follow me, since I’ve been here a few times.”
“Sure. But, what did you meet him for?”
“That hyung used to do content to discover rookies. That’s when we met. Of course, I was in my fourth year, and you are in your third day, damn it.”
He spoke that way, but he did not show any signs of genuine jealousy or self-deprecation.
For Tae-woo was also someone who had endured a long, difficult period and ultimately succeeded.
He knew that comparing oneself to others was meaningless, and that one’s self was what mattered.
Only after wandering around for about thirty minutes was Tae-woo able to reach the destination.
‘You said you’ve been here.’
Seo-jun shook his head and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
After a short while, the door opened and a person stepped out.