The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 81

Chapter 81

– 12 consecutive wins is seriously crazy, lol.

– This is the Heavenly Demon!

– He actually did it, lol.

– Please become the Cult Leader! Please become the Cult Leader! Please become the Cult Leader!

– Ah, lol. If you’re going to play this well with that nickname, you really have to take responsibility for the Demonic Sect!!!!

– Today’s stream was also legendary.

“It’s over.”

The hands of the clock pointed to 10:10.

Seo-jun stretched and returned to his original position.

Then, Bangju, who had been waiting for the right moment, approached him.

“You really worked hard!”

“Thank you. You worked hard too, Bangju-nim.”

“All I did was just watch. Didn’t you win a whopping 12 times in a row, Seo-jun-nim? 12 consecutive wins!”

Bangju continued speaking.

“You didn’t lose once, no, not even a single round, right?”

“Yes.”

– Kya.

– A true master.

– Many people probably saw him in a new light today. I didn’t know he was this good.

Bangju and Seo-jun simultaneously turned their eyes to their respective chat windows, and their eyes met as they returned to their positions.

Both of them smiled inwardly.

“In my chat, there is an opinion that you would win if you fought a pro, Seo-jun-nim. By any chance, have you ever fought a pro?”

If it was fighting in reality, he actually had.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Ah, is that so? I’d love to see it sometime.”

“We might meet someday.”

“Right! These days, there are many former pros who became streamers, and basically, pros also turn on their streams when they play games, so there are many chances to run into them!”

Seo-jun nodded.

The biggest problem was that he was busy, but since most pros were somewhat familiar with Travel and its culture, it wasn’t like there was no interaction.

They could run into each other while playing games.

“If I happen to meet one, I will do my best.”

“Ah, by doing your best, do you mean making them lose their job?”

– Hahaha. “I will make you unemployed!”

– If you lose to a streamer, you go straight to being jobless.

– You’ll be on the same level as a Teusu, lol.

– What will actually happen?

– If it’s a new game, it’s absolutely possible to win.

“Well, that was a joke. Anyway, today’s match with the ranker, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the 12 consecutive wins, and so on—I think there was just so much to see.”

Bangju began to make his closing remarks.

He was looking for the right moment to end the stream.

Seo-jun quietly turned his head and brought up the Travel window.

[Bangju – 140,000 viewers]

[Jin Seo-jun – 18,000 viewers]

The results were amazing.

It was close to the viewer count of a major streamer’s collaboration.

It meant that most Travel viewers interested in the Battleground were watching this stream.

Wasn’t the highest number for Bangju’s Battleground content around 150,000?

It was slightly short of that, but that was only when excluding Seo-jun’s viewer count.

If his viewer count was included, it was safe to say they had set a new record.

“On top of that, Seo-jun-nim gained a total of 66,650 bonus reputation points from consecutive wins today alone. Considering the 6,000 reputation points he originally had, Seo-jun-nim is basically 14 walking rankers right now!”

Bangju said, raising his voice.

– That’s a bit scary.

– What’s with imagining a horde of zombies?

– First place is guaranteed. Even if he wins just once in the future, others will have to win 14 times, lol.

“Hehehe. Right now, the Orthodox Faction and the Unorthodox Faction are in a state of absolute panic. Because now, the Demonic Sect has the largest number of rankers! If rankers fight each other, they might lose, but the 14 rankers on this side will never lose! Thanks to Seo-jun-nim, who has become a massive variable, I think it will get even more interesting in the future.”

At the same time, Bangju expressed his condolences to Heavenly Killing Star.

“I hope Heavenly Killing Star-nim survives well. Well, then, I will end today’s stream here.”

Is it over?

Seo-jun also spoke as he watched Bangju bring his finger to the air.

“I’ll end the stream too. Travel-bye!”

– The Demonic Sect’s stock just skyrocketed.

– Ah.

– Is he going for the championship?

– Travel-bye!

– Travel-bye!

***

“Thank you for working hard on the collaboration today. Next time, instead of just broadcasting like this, I hope we can have an opportunity to collaborate properly by hosting you in my studio.”

“If it results in an interesting picture, there’s no reason for me to refuse.”

But by that time, he would first have to find out what capsule they used.

“Haha. When that time comes, I will provide you with the best treatment I can offer as a fan.”

“A fan?”

“Yes.”

“Do you watch my stream?”

“Of course. I think I watched almost everything on live broadcasts. I even donated to your stream last time.”

Bangju was not a streamer who streamed very often.

And he considered himself a commentator and analyst.

Because of that, he had plenty of time to watch Seo-jun’s streams.

“I remember.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But I thought you only watched it back then. As you know, defeating the Magic Tower Master was quite a buzzy event where it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to tune in.”

“I did tune in back then, but I’ve been watching ever since. Your skills are so good, and the stream is entertaining.”

“Thank you.”

He wouldn’t need to dig up and perform an autopsy on his donation ID, right?

Because there were so many strange people around, every time he heard someone was a viewer, he felt a psychological urge to check if they had done something.

It was truly a deplorable thing.

“Anyway, today’s collaboration was a massive success. Usually, it’s hard to exceed 100,000. But with 150,000 viewers, it’s safe to say almost everyone interested watched it. I don’t know if you’ll actually become a major streamer at this rate.”

A major streamer.

It referred to the small number of streamers who easily drew tens of thousands of viewers on live broadcasts or had over one million subscribers on ITube.

They were truly like walking small-and-medium enterprises in their own right.

Furthermore, even though the streaming market had grown significantly, Travel was still treated as a minor culture, but major streamers had higher recognition and popularity than most celebrities, so they could not be dismissed as minor.

Even in the past when Seo-jun had completely cut off his interest in capsules, he had still known their names.

“What do you mean, major streamer? Even becoming a mid-sized streamer seems far off.”

“Haha. Well, even if it doesn’t happen right now, who knows what will happen in the future? And aren’t you already a mid-sized streamer?”

“Pardon?”

“Do you think you won’t even hit 10,000?”

“Recently, my fixed viewer count was 5,000.”

“But you hit almost 20,000 today.”

“Today was an exception.”

“That’s true, but Seo-jun-nim.”

“Yes.”

“People here are crazy about experts.”

“……”

“Seriously.”

Bangju wore a serious expression.

“I see.”

“Of course. Anyway, I’ll send you today’s share of the donation money that came into my room later.”

“Okay.”

Splitting the donation money from only Bangju’s side by half was a detail negotiated the day before.

For reference, Seo-jun had argued that his side should also be added and split in half.

“Don’t be surprised when you see the amount later. Because people here are really crazy about experts.”

***

It was just as Bangju said.

Not only did today’s streaming events dominate most of the community, but public opinion was also favorable.

[Looking at today, there’s no need to have a debate about the Number One Under Heaven anymore, lol]

[When I tried doing exactly what streamer Seo-jun backseated on those old martial forms posts, my grade actually went up. He isn’t called a Great Grandmaster for nothing]

[Being defeated by a heavy sword itself means there is a huge gap in skill level]

[Seo-jun <– why is this guy so funny???]

[Combat Analysis. NamgungFamilyWaiter Edition]

There were also posts analyzing the battles seriously.

[The leaders of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions are forced to abandon their accumulated strategies and rack their brains because of a single figure in the Demonic Sect! "How on earth can such a figure come out of the Demonic Sect?" "What have our experts been doing all this time!"]

The nickname Fanatic. It looked familiar.

The writing style did too.

Seo-jun chuckled and checked the comments.

– It's so funny that things turned out exactly as he said, lol.

– Why is his name Fanatic? No matter how you look at it, he only spoke the truth. Isn't he a truthful reporter?

– The posts this guy wrote in the middle of the fights are even more spectacular.

└ [Breaking News] To win the race against the Heavenly Demon, the 2nd place of the Orthodox Faction resorts to drugs. "It is impossible to face him without drugs." "The Demonic Sect's snow ginseng is more powerful than the Great Restoration Pill."

└ The Demonic Sect's snow ginseng, lol, what the hell, lol.

└ It's not even South Korea's red ginseng, wtf, lol.

– This person writes articles with only the truth, without a single fabrication.

[If you win, does that mean you can talk nonsense?]

– Yes

– Yeah

– Yes

– Why ask something so obvious?

– The moment you win, it stops being nonsense, kid.

– If you're annoyed, what is it?

[The Demonic Sect guys are seriously pumped up. You guys haven't won the championship yet, lol]

[What does it matter if we haven't won the championship? Your rankers got completely wiped out]

[Honestly, if the Heavenly Demon-nim comes to the Orthodox Faction, I'm confident I'd bow my head to the ground and welcome him.]

[Upvote if you are willing to trade 14 of your own faction's rankers for the Heavenly Demon, lol]

Seo-jun thought as he walked forward.

“The reaction is definitely good.”

Eight out of the top ten real-time posts were flooded with articles related to him.

Since the community with the biggest fire power right now was Nohyeop.

“By the way, why did they call me?”

The place he was currently heading to was a pavilion located on the Demonic Sect's map.

Immediately after the stream ended, Dang So had called him to come here. Normally, he would have ignored Dang So's words, but since Lee Dong-soo and World's No. 1 Swordsman had also called him, Seo-jun was leisurely heading toward the pavilion.

As he reached the front of the door, he heard voices speaking.

“'BrickExtortionKing' and 'TrustMeBoss'. Whose IDs are these two?”

“I don't know. It doesn't seem like they belong to anyone here.”

“Then, those two mysterious IDs just had similar thoughts as us and downvoted it together?”

“It seems like it.”

“I see. Well, it doesn't matter! In any case, we successfully shot them down!”

What shooting down were they talking about?

Why did he feel an uneasy premonition?

“No, calling me just to do this kind of thing. Who do you think I am? If they only knew my main character, huh? Everyone would be shocked.”

“Be quiet, Bandit King.”

It was a feast of all kinds of nonsense.

Should he just not go in?

Seo-jun opened the door with a displeased look.

When he walked inside, Lee Dong-soo, who wore a bulky avatar and had sent him the message, Dang So, and World's No. 1 Swordsman were gathered, along with several other people.

Their only commonality was probably that they had chosen the Demonic Sect as their faction.

Dang So, who seemed to be leading this meeting, approached him first.

“Have you finally arrived? You wouldn't come even though I told you to before, but you came right away when someone else called. Well, even without you, there would have been no setback to my plan to lead the Demonic Sect to victory, though.”

You're talking nonsense from the very beginning, Dang So.

What victory for the Demonic Sect?

Seo-jun watched with narrowed eyes, as if telling him to keep talking.

“Still, we cannot ignore you, so I intend to personally assign you an important role. Will you accept it?”

If translated, those words meant "please cooperate, I beg of you."

It was truly so.

“And can the Demonic Sect actually win?”

“Of course. But since you have obtained reputation score, it seems we can win more easily if you just follow our instructions.”

“Really?”

He had planned to cooperate anyway.

However, it wasn't with this guy.

“Indeed. And since the reputation score you obtained was half due to our contribution, don't even think about backing out.”

“What on earth does that mean?”

“Do you think your 12 consecutive wins were just made out of thin air?”

“Then?”

“It was all thanks to us monitoring and controlling the posts that were disadvantageous to your winning streak in the background!”

So they gathered in a group to manipulate public opinion.

Ah.

Now he understood why Bandit King was feeling wronged.

They must have dragged a busy pro player here just to click downvote buttons, so how could he not feel wronged?

“Well, we didn't directly write posts or manipulate things by upvoting. We just did some damage control because there was a group trying to systematically slander you.”

I see. But isn't that called manipulation?

He probably felt guilty himself, which is why he claimed it wasn't manipulation, and Seo-jun silently prayed that they hadn't done anything weird.

He felt he should hear a more detailed story from Lee Dong-soo or World's No. 1 Swordsman later.

“Anyway, that's that. Can we really win the championship?”