The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
League of Streaming.
Seo-jun looked this up on his way home.
‘An average of three hundred thousand live viewers? Isn’t this almost at the level of an official tournament?’
Seo-jun knew the tournament was somewhat popular from hearing about it from Tae-woo, but he did not know that this many people watched it.
However, after looking it up a bit more, he quickly realized that while three hundred thousand was certainly a lot, thinking it was at the level of an official tournament was strictly his misunderstanding.
‘Ah, the official tournament gets one million baseline just in Korea.’
They said that fifteen million people, including those overseas, watched the finals in real time.
The Korean league, that was.
The popularity of the capsule game exceeded Seo-jun’s imagination.
He had heard that the fever even spread to adults who could not afford the time to play games.
Seo-jun did not know the details because he had been intentionally avoiding capsule-related issues until now.
‘So many people… have ended up playing it.’
Even seven years ago, he had not been particularly interested in the virtual reality market.
However, he at least knew the fact that it had not been popular to this extent.
After arriving home, Seo-jun asked an expert.
Namely, an active streamer.
“Hey, do you know about the League of Streaming?”
It was his friend.
At Seo-jun’s question, Tae-woo, who was holding his phone on the sofa, replied.
“Huh? Of course I know. I participated last year and was instantly eliminated. Hmph. Ah, I really wanted last year’s championship prize. What a waste.”
How could he talk about winning when he had been eliminated at the speed of light?
Seo-jun clicked his tongue inwardly.
“What was it?”
“A car. On top of that, they gave a supercar to the MVP. The prizes are quite big, right? Since so many people watch, companies sponsor it.”
“Ah, I looked up how many people watch, so I know.”
“You know? Why did you suddenly look that up? You, who had absolutely no interest in virtual reality, why?”
“I don’t know either.”
He had lived well without virtual reality for the past seven years.
And he could continue to live well in the future.
Why did he look up LiOS?
‘Damn it.’
In truth, he knew.
It was just that previously, he had turned his eyes away because there was no other way.
The virtual reality he had experienced seven years ago.
Was fun. Enough to make him want to enter again.
Wasn’t that enough?
‘It’s not like I’m spending a hundred million won.’
Thanks to Oh Ji-hye’s consideration, he could rent it for free until the tournament ended.
And it wasn’t like he was wasting several years.
‘There’s no reason not to do it.’
Seo-jun sat next to Tae-woo.
From now on, he had to worry about ‘how’ rather than ‘why.’
“Tae-woo.”
Seo-jun’s eyes began to shine.
“Yeah?”
“What are the entry conditions for LiOS?”
“Why that all of a sudden? *Sigh*. First of all, the organizers haven’t revealed it, but you obviously have to be a streamer. And when applying, popular mid-tier streamers usually get in.”
“What if they aren’t popular?”
“It’s a lottery. It can’t be helped since viewers also want streamers who are somewhat known. Though that doesn’t mean they don’t pick unpopular streamers.”
“If you get in, it’s hitting the jackpot.”
Tae-woo murmured so.
“Then, what do you have to do to succeed as a streamer?”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Tae-woo was lost in thought for a moment, then stood up and sat with his back straight.
His serious expression, which he rarely showed, felt awkward.
“I don’t know either.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Hey, do you know what I hear the most?”
Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know.”
“‘I’m jealous that you earn money while playing games. You live life easily. You have no hardships.’”
“……”
“But nobody knows that I’ve been broadcasting diligently for eight hours every single day for four out of the past seven years, even when my average viewership was less than a hundred? Hmm, did I earn enough for the electricity bill in a month? I think so. And for a year after graduation, I also felt like I was freeloading on you.”
“Is that so.”
With the advent of virtual reality, the viewer pool increased, but the ratio of streamers grew by just as much, or rather, even more.
The biggest grievance of such streamers could be said to be the influx of viewers.
“Even so, I think I was very lucky. It might not have worked out even after four years. If it explodes, it’s a huge hit. But we don’t know when it will explode. Because we don’t know the way. What if it doesn’t explode even if you hold out for ten years?”
Tae-woo continued speaking.
“Even those who blew up and hit ten million in a year went through a dark age in the past where they didn’t even gain a thousand followers for five years. Even if you hold out like that, you might not rise…”
Of course, there must be various rules within that.
“Still, if I had to pick the most important thing, wouldn’t it be entertainment value after all?”
Tae-woo began his explanation.
To succeed as a game broadcaster, one had to possess either entertainment value or skill.
But surprisingly, it was said that not many people watched broadcasts of pure skill.
This was because there were many alternatives, such as professional broadcasts or edited videos.
“So it’s difficult to succeed with skill alone. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but look at this.”
Tae-woo found an article and showed it to Seo-jun.
[Game streamers must focus on the word ‘streamer’ more than ‘game.’ Surprisingly, the game’s proportion is not that large.]
It was one of the pieces of advice from a famous streamer with a 100% objectivity rating that offered an insight into this.
As Seo-jun looked at it closely, Tae-woo asked again.
“Are you really interested in being a streamer?”
“I just became interested.”
“Pfft. After hearing what I just said? I won’t stop you, but what are you relying on?”
Seo-jun closed his eyes and fell into thought.
What was he relying on.
Even though he could not properly log into virtual reality for the past seven years, Seo-jun could be confident.
‘For the most part, they won’t be as good as me.’
For many types of games, the sword was the main element, and even if they did not use a sword, it did not matter.
Because even if it was just memories, Seo-jun had literally gone through all sorts of hardships in his past life.
He slowly opened his eyes and said while holding back his laughter.
It was because it was absurd even for him to say it himself.
“Perhaps, skill?”
“I told you, you don’t just become a streamer simply because you’re good.”
“Then, how good do I have to be?”
Tae-woo spoke after pondering deeply.
“I guess if you’re better than Shin Ha-yeon. No, if you’re better than Shin Ha-yeon, you’ll absolutely succeed. I guarantee it. You know who she is, right?”
Shin Ha-yeon.
She was a famous female professional gamer. She was more popular than most top-class celebrities, to the extent that when people thought of virtual reality, they thought of Shin Ha-yeon, and when they thought of Shin Ha-yeon, they thought of virtual reality. She was truly like an icon of virtual reality.
The reason for that was, of course, the overwhelming skill she showed in the professional league.
“I see.”
After much thought, Seo-jun reached a decision.
For now, he would give it a try.
Seo-jun sent a message to Oh Ji-hye that day, stating that he would rent the capsule.
***
“So… you bought it because you’re confident you can do better than Shin Ha-yeon?”
“Yeah.”
“You crazy bastard. Then play professionally.”
“That won’t do because it’s dangerous.”
“Are you seriously a crazy bastard.”
***
Oh Ji-hye’s reply and delivery were fast.
That was, it didn’t even take a day.
As if she had been waiting.
If there was a minor problem.
“Ugh. First, move aside for a bit since I need to connect the cables. Didn’t I tell you to call the technician who installs capsules? Or at the very least, don’t touch it first until my broadcast ends!”
Seo-jun silently bowed his head and listened to the scolding from Tae-woo, who was installing the capsule.
“Excuse me. Didn’t I tell you that you were a tech-illiterate when you washed your phone with soap because it was broken last time?”
He felt like that had happened.
“How could you fail to install this properly and almost break it! Huh! It looks expensive just by looking at it!”
Seo-jun had nothing to say in particular, so he just repeatedly stroked the capsule placed in the corner of the room with his hand.
Tae-woo glared at Seo-jun, and after plugging in the last cable, he threw himself onto the bed next to him.
“Sigh, it’s done now. The installation is finished, and what about your biometric account?”
“I have one.”
“Then you’ll probably be able to log in right now.”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“Thank me for what. By the way, it looks like a high-end model, but isn’t this kind of model too excessive for streaming?”
“Well. Don’t worry about that.”
It was rented.
“Sigh, then where are you going to stream?”
“Travel.”
Travel was a game streaming platform that currently held an unrivaled position.
“It’s the same place as me. Anyway, let’s see your record. How good were you seven years ago to be this confident? You’ve installed My VR, right?”
“Here.”
Seo-jun turned on his phone and launched the app Tae-woo mentioned.
Then, information about Seo-jun’s virtual reality ID appeared on the screen.
It was a management app that showed everything from the creation date to game play time and records.
“Huh? Is there something wrong with my eyes? I see a fresh newbie account created less than two days ago. Since when have you lived without a concept of time?”
“Ah, that? I had one before, but I deleted it and made a new one.”
“Stop lying.”
“It’s true.”
It was true.
“Unbelievable. If you are really better than Shin Ha-yeon, no, if you are better than me, I will do all the housework from now on. In exchange, if you aren’t.”
Oh?
He hadn’t even cast the fishing rod, but a big fish bit on its own.
“I have to do it?”
“How about it? If you’re scared…”
Seo-jun replied without a single moment of hesitation.
“Deal.”
As expected, it was a good idea to challenge.
“Ha! No backing out, okay? I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a newbie. You’re not starting the broadcast today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Log in right away.”
***
Seo-jun watched Kim Tae-woo’s back as he headed to his own room, then entered the capsule.
The lid closed, and Seo-jun leaned his body comfortably against the backrest.
He closed his eyes and fell into thought.
Streamer.
It was a field he knew absolutely nothing about.
He was not naturally an entertaining person, nor did he have the naive thought that everything would work out with skill alone.
Therefore, even if criticized that what he was doing now was a foolish choice that wasted time, he had no excuse.
Still.
The corners of Seo-jun’s mouth curled up.
‘People originally start in a state where there are far more things they are bad at than things they are good at.’
If he did not challenge himself because he was bad at it, there would be nowhere he could go.
[Connecting to the virtual reality world in 10 seconds.]
[10]
[9]
.
.
.
.
[1]
Flash—
At the same time his vision momentarily turned dark, a nostalgic sensation washed over Seo-jun.
Fwoosh!
A pure white light that penetrated his closed eyelids turned on.
This was the lobby, a pure white room with nothing in it.
Streamers mainly communicated with their viewers here before or after starting a game.
Because Seo-jun’s ID had just been created, nothing was placed in the lobby.
‘I’ll have to fill this place with something too.’
[#105979 requests to add you as a friend.]
While he was looking around, a message popped up.
When Seo-jun accepted the friend request, messages popped up in succession.
[Kim Tae-woo invites you to the ‘Training Ground.’]
Upon accepting, the background changed in an instant. It was an atmosphere like a martial arts dojo.
“You’re here?”
Tae-woo was coming from a short distance away, dragging a white robot-like doll.
“This is the Training Ground, a basic game installed in the capsule that you can play without downloading.”
“Something like Minesweeper? There was no such thing in my time.”
“What do you mean, in your time. Say hello, this is our dojo AI, Kim Chul-soo.”
Tae-woo held Kim Chul-soo’s hands from behind and shook them like a puppet show.
“It looks cute.”
“Hehe. Once you keep getting beaten up, you’ll piss yourself just by looking at Chul-soo’s face.”
“What bullshit are you talking about?”
Tae-woo wore a meaningful smile.
“First, get beaten up. Let’s talk after you get hit. What weapon do you want?”
Naturally.
“A sword.”
Tae-woo stood Chul-soo in front of Seo-jun, went to a place like a warehouse, and brought back a sword.
“Take it.”
Seo-jun gripped the sword.
Next, when he looked forward, a sword was likewise generated in Chul-soo’s hand.
“Should I explain now?”
“…Sure.”
“Good. Chul-soo is a sparring AI. I named him. He’s scheduled to fight you. If you fight and beat stage 7 Chul-soo, I’ll do the housework.”
“I can just fight you though?”
“I can’t go easy on you, so that won’t do. Anyway, all conditions are the same here. It’s a place where you can test your pure one-on-one skills. Chul-soo has stages 1 through 10. I’ve beaten up to stage 8. For a beginner… about stage 4 would be appropriate at first.”
Tae-woo shrugged his shoulders.
“That is, under the assumption that you really have talent. For your information, professionals beat even stage 9.”
Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and began to touch the settings window that popped up in front of his eyes.
“It will be good for warming up.”
It seemed like it would be fun.
“Pfft, I should record this. ‘A friend playing virtual reality for the first time fearlessly challenged stage 4, got beaten up, and cried.’ How about this title? If the video views turn out well, I’ll specially do a joint broadcast with you.”
Seo-jun just smiled.
“Just watch quietly.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“I’m watching. What are you doing? Aren’t you starting?”
“Hmm, it’s not working?”
“What’s not working? You just have to press 4 and start.”
“No, it’s not that, why is stage 10 locked?”
“Hey, you…”