Chapter 116

A clattering sound echoed, and the raised bridge aligned.

To anyone looking, it was the appearance of a cleared stage.

Seeing this, Seo-jun said a word.

“See, we don’t even need two people. What a god game.”

-Why is this a god game lmaooo

-The game has freedom lolol it is indeed a god game!

-Thought I was watching Dawn of the Assassins lol

-Crazy guy. A real crazy guy lol

-You call this co-op?

“Let’s go to the next room.”

Seo-jun ignored Tae-woo and walked toward the door.

Screams were heard from inside again, and he was curious about what on earth he was doing.

Although it was frightening due to the atmosphere where something could pop out at any moment, it shouldn’t be to that extent.

He would check it when it was over.

Seo-jun read the chat and said.

“Yes, let’s leave him behind.”

He did not bother to specify what he was leaving behind.

-Wait lmaooo does he mean he’s going to do the next one alone too?

-He got abandoned lol

-Tae-woo, you just scream and solve the puzzles lol

-Everyone, don’t go over there and tell him

-Let’s coordinate lol

Next to the door, in the place he had expected, was the control panel.

Perhaps because it had spun in midair, the nail was embedded diagonally.

Actually, even if one shot a nail in a normal way, it did not fly in a straight line, so it did embed somewhat diagonally.

Though this was a bit too diagonal, to the point of almost touching the wall.

“I can’t do anything about this part. The difficulty is actually really hard.”

As he entered the next room, the bridge went down again.

Seo-jun took out two nails from his waist, loading one into the nail gun and wedging the other between his fingers.

Then, after taking a deep breath to focus his mind, he threw the nail and raised the nail gun.

Fwip!

This time, just like the first time, the door was on the left.

Normally, it should have drawn a gentle curve and embedded itself thanks to Tae-woo’s wind.

The nail Seo-jun threw flew in a straight line right next to the blocking wall, and just as it was passing the wall, it was struck by the nail flying from behind.

Clang!

The nail, which had its angle corrected as it bounced off from the collision, embedded itself properly in the control panel this time as well.

It was blocked from view and could not be seen, but he could tell.

Click.

With a low humming sound, the bridge rose.

-Did you say the difficulty is hard? lol

-It does look fcking hard, but why does he succeed on the first try every time lol

-Kya!

-I admit it’s not a fluke

-Mmm! It’s cooperation between a nail and a nail!!

-Lolol I guess it is a co-op game after all lol

“This is actually pretty fun.”

This series of actions, hitting a pre-thrown nail in midair to alter its trajectory, was of a truly high difficulty.

Seo-jun was confident that he could perform even the notoriously difficult parries in Dawn of the Assassins with his eyes closed, as long as he caught the initial movement.

However, this was different.

He had to give it his full focus at every moment.

The sensation of throwing the nail from his fingertips, the moment of aiming the nail gun and pulling the trigger—he had to concentrate at every single step.

If it was of this difficulty, and if it had this level of utility,

“Everyone, this is a secret hidden weapon technique of the Tang Clan, so you must keep it a secret.”

It was clear that the Tang Clan would come to learn it with their mouths watering!

If not, whatever.

-Did the Tang Clan have nail guns?

-How much has the Tang Clan’s fortune declined for them to use nails as weapons T_T

-Dang So… was a protagonist struggling to revive a ruined Tang Clan!

-Even going to the Demonic Sect and serving the Heavenly Demon just to revive his fallen family lolol

If Dang So were watching the stream right now, he would surely send a message saying, ‘Who served whom!’

In any case, Seo-jun wanted to try it more for no particular reason.

To him, a high difficulty was synonymous with being fun.

It was not for nothing that he picked strange traits in For Chivalry as well. Of course, if asked, Seo-jun would adamantly deny it, claiming that the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and his Great Art of Absorbing Stars tree were excellent.

Seo-jun went to the next room, threw a nail, and shot the nail gun.

And the room after that.

After passing through a total of four rooms in that manner, a place that could finally be called a proper indoor area appeared.

And when his concentration broke, Seo-jun looked at the chat and momentarily swallowed a groan.

-The advertiser is wailing so hard lmaooo

-They made all these puzzles, but fck lolol he breaks them all in this way lol

-He turned a horror atmosphere into a comedy lol

-Tae-woo can’t get out right now. He’s trapped lolol

Ah, right. This was an advertisement.

***

Meanwhile, Tae-woo…

“Ugh, damn. I wasn’t scared that something would pop out, I was just being cautious! Well, let’s get out of here now. I wonder if that bastard Seo-jun solved the puzzle faster than me. Seeing how he hasn’t come here, I must have solved it first. I should go to his room and tease him… Huh?”

Rattle.

Rattle, rattle.

“Huh? Why won’t this open? No, was the door closed in the first place? Oh, fck. What is this?”

Tae-woo expressed his confusion as he turned the doorknob.

The moment Seo-jun smashed the control panel of the stage, the bridge rose, and the entrances to the adjacent rooms closed.

Most of the viewers watched both streams, so they easily deduced this fact, but Tae-woo did not.

Since the viewers were coordinating, how could he know?

“Why are you laughing? Why are you laughing!”

-Lolol

-Lolol

-Lolol

-You’re trapped

“Hey, Seo-jun? Hey! Are you outside right now? Did you close the door?”

It was a statement that was halfway to the correct answer.

“Don’t play around, Seo-jun.”

He was scared.

***

-Who told them to keep copying the map structure?

-If you gave the streamer an ad, you should have made it so he couldn’t figure it out lolol

-This is indeed the developer’s fault

-You should tolerate at least this much, right?

-They assigned it knowing all this, right? Lol

“Hmm…”

“…”

Han Seung-chul, a section chief of Stream Korea.

In charge of selecting indie games to support with development funds and providing assistance when there were difficulties in development, he was, in colloquial terms, the source of money, and in front of game companies, he was inevitably always in the position of power.

Such a man was currently walking on eggshells in front of Representative Lee of MONSTER.

Of course, just because he was in the position of power did not mean he abused his power, and it was his nature to read the room and show consideration normally, but the caution he felt this time had a slightly different nature.

Section Chief Han was currently in a restaurant with private rooms with Representative Lee, watching the sponsored stream in a quiet environment and sharing a conversation.

However, from the moment Seo-jun committed the unexpected action, a chilling feeling crept over him.

“…”

Section Chief Han pondered.

The puzzles and in-game worlds implemented after much deliberation, which they wanted to show and let gamers experience.

He wondered how it would feel to have those skipped all at once by a shortcut.

‘Maybe it wasn’t a shortcut…’

The dictionary definition of a shortcut was a simple and easy method.

However, he doubted whether throwing that nail first and hitting it to correct its trajectory was truly simple and easy.

In fact, there was no need to even doubt.

‘Who on earth would do something like that?’

Even from MONSTER’s perspective, it was something only Seo-jun could do, to the point that there was no need to go through the trouble of fixing it.

It was indeed the skill of the one who ultimately led the insidious yet weak Demonic Sect to victory. He could not help but acknowledge it.

So it was not a shortcut.

Moreover, since Seo-jun went back to the original way to proceed, he thought it wasn’t particularly a problem.

Just a minor incident?

[You can restart from any stage point for the users! Isn’t. This. Seriously. A. God. Game? Amazing!]

-Hyung-nim, please stop the awkward acting lolol

-His tone of voice changes completely lol

-Cynical –> Clown

-Watching the streamer act now, I realized. The toxic personality that flowed so naturally during his Heavenly Demon days was indeed the streamer’s true character.

-True lol

The situation itself was funny, so it could actually be a good thing.

However,

because Representative Lee remained silent, Section Chief Han was walking on eggshells.

Did he feel betrayed by the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Sect whom he had trusted? If so, converting to a grand and prestigious Orthodox Sect at this opportunity could be a good choice.

Representative Lee was currently looking down at the floor.

He did not harbor doubts like whether this was enough to hurt his feelings or make him discouraged.

Creators would have their own unique suffering, which he would not be able to understand.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay.”

Representative Lee raised his head and spoke.

What was this?

He was smiling.

“Hahaha! As expected, hiring him was the right call!”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes, I hired him because I fell in for that kind of display in the first place. Of course, I never expected our game to have such a loophole. So I was half-doubting, but to think he would solve the control panel in that manner.”

Was that how it was?

It was a relief that he liked it.

“Though it is quite absurd to see it in person. Hahaha.”

“His skills are certainly impressive.”

Why did he have to choose the Demonic Sect, of all things?

Oh dear.

Even though it had been years since he last participated in the Battleground due to a lack of time anyway, his thoughts kept drifting elsewhere.

This was all because he had no choice but to check the gaming communities every time, thereby knowing all the trends of the Battleground.

“Is his skill the only impressive thing? I believe Streamer Heavenly Demon had another reason for showing that unexpected behavior.”

“Yes?”

“Look at this.”

Representative Lee handed him his phone.

Ah.

So that was what he was doing looking down earlier; he was checking his phone.

The site that appeared on the phone was Nohyeop.

Among the countless posts, a few eye-catching ones made Section Chief Han realize why Representative Lee was holding onto his phone under the table.

[Tang Clan, is it possible to do it like this?]

[The Heavenly Demon is consistent even in an action-adventure horror game lolol]

[The clip of the Heavenly Demon doing Heavenly Demon things]

[Guys, I told you to call him the Sword God?]

Representative Lee said.

“That kind of play is exactly Streamer Heavenly Demon’s unique trait. And that kind of play is bound to be mentioned in the community. Right?”

“That’s true.”

“In that case, the For Chivalry viewers watching the stream will naturally write posts, and the community users who see those posts will become interested and visit the broadcast, right?”

“I suppose so.”

Indeed, the number of viewers could be seen increasing in real time.

Seo-jun’s viewership, which started at 19,000, had reached 21,000 by the time they looked, and now another thousand had just joined, making it 24,000.

“Then the upcoming final chase scene will be conducted when the audience size is maximized.”

If the part they put the most effort into was broadcast at the timing with the most people?

Although they did not know how Streamer Seo-jun knew, they could not deny that it was an extremely favorable situation from their perspective!

“That’s…!”

“Streamer Heavenly Demon is very, very smart and calculating. Think about it.”

Representative Lee was referring to the Battleground.

However, Section Chief Han recalled an incident that had occurred in the past.

‘Come to think of it.’

There was that incident before, where he intentionally revealed the Training Ground ranking to match the timing of the advertisement!

Was every single action, both then and now, a calculated design?

Really?

Section Chief Han felt goosebumps all over his body.

[Oh, this puzzle is solved like this. It’s. So. Well. Made! You’re telling me I just need to throw a nail? Please be quiet. I don’t know anything about that and can’t do it.]

-He “cannot” (nail) do it lol

-So you can do it!

-But in the midst of it, he’s fcking smart. Tae-woo in the next room is doing it again, but you finished faster than him omg

Indeed.

Seeing him deliver such silly and shameless remarks optimized for broadcasting, people would say he had ‘instinct.’

And there were only two ways to possess that instinct.

Either he was a naturally born streamer due to a truly shameless personality, or he analyzed streaming with a smart brain to establish such a concept.

If it was the latter, it meant that the amazing and dreadful personality shown on stream was also designed.

And this side was more likely.

How could a person be so shameless?

Seo-jun continued to solve the puzzles with ease.

The way he grasped the structure with a single glance and solved it smoothly was highly impressive, and Section Chief Han’s suspicion gradually turned into conviction.

“It’s slowly coming to an end.”

“True. Representative, from the moment we entered Chapter 1, you estimated the average time to the boss fight, or rather the chase scene, to be around one hour, right?”

“Yes, but he arrived in thirty minutes.”

The two watched Seo-jun enter the final chapter.

And at that moment, Representative Lee suddenly recalled the conversation they had earlier and offered Section Chief Han some invaluable advice.

“Section Chief Han. You know that partner streamer you mentioned earlier. If you have to sign that streamer after the system is established, sign him as quickly as possible.”

“…Why? Because we can never lose him to a competitor?”

“No.”

Representative Lee shook his head.

“It’s just cheaper that way.”

“Pardon? Isn’t there a bit of a bubble right now? It would be better to wait a bit before proposing. Since the contract terms will probably be renewed on an annual basis…”

With over 20,000 viewers now, wouldn’t it be a loss to step in?

However, Representative Lee’s thoughts seemed to be different.

“Then you must buy him out immediately all the more.”

“Buy him out?”

Section Chief Han, who did not know that MONSTER had repeatedly regretted not buying him out earlier while watching Seo-jun’s viewership multiply, could only wear a puzzled expression.

“Buy him now. Now.”

“Right now is the cheapest.”

Faced with the sincere look and advice stemming from experience, Section Chief Han had no choice but to nod in a daze.