The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 82
Chapter 82
“I’ll explain that to you, Seo-jun-nim. Hello. It’s my first time seeing you in the game. I’m the Third Elder, the brain of the Demonic Sect.”
A strange-looking man with a mustache attached to his young face behind them spoke to Seo-jun.
It would have been better if he had customized his avatar properly, but compared to the other first-timers behind him, he was normal enough, so Seo-jun did not add any special remarks.
The half-naked person with orange skin who looked uglier than a monster was so eye-searing that it was hard to even look at him.
He wondered what kind of item the person had applied to make their skin glow like that.
But all their IDs seemed like those he had seen in the chat room?
They had definitely seemed normal there.
“Hello. You’re the person who chats the most in the Demonic Sect chat room, right?”
Seo-jun bowed his head slightly in greeting.
“Haha, yes.”
“Hmph. I’m the brain here!”
“Be quiet.”
Dang So assimilated really well into the Demonic Sect considering he came from the Unorthodox Faction.
Impressive.
“We got sidetracked for a moment because of Dang So hyung, but anyway, Seo-jun-nim, do you know about the current situation of the Demonic Sect?”
Fortunately, when they got to the main point, Dang So fell quiet and began to listen.
“No.”
“Originally, our Demonic Sect has been short on rankers. The Battleground is content where the number of users has a huge impact. And the game company doesn’t dream of compensating for this at all. Damn Movie Soft.”
The Demonic Sect was generally evaluated to have mediocre performance.
If that was all, they might have won at least once.
However, the resulting lack of users due to poor performance was hard to overcome.
Regular users were fine.
However, it was a huge blow that the number of rankers, who gathered reputation scores like a Spirit Bomb, was short by about ten compared to other factions.
But Seo-jun filled that gap today.
In an amazing way, showing skills that surpassed all imagination.
“Although the number of regular users is still slightly low, it’s safe to say the number of rankers is on equal footing now.”
The Third Elder looked at Seo-jun with a fresh gaze.
In fact, the Demonic Sect’s first opportunity to win had arrived.
Thanks to this streamer, who had not been playing the game for very long.
And who had chosen the Demonic Sect solely because of a nickname made as a joke.
When he first heard about the streamer named Jin Seo-jun, he could not have imagined in the slightest that such a situation would unfold.
“So you’re saying we can win the championship?”
“Yes. The number of rankers is just that important.”
Unless a decisive situation like the final moment unfolded or a simple objective was set, it was impossible for regular users to coordinate in detail.
That was why the number of regular users who played the Battleground every day without fail was excessively small compared to the number of those who had participated at least once.
Because it was much more comfortable and fun to watch while eating popcorn, and then participate together at critical moments.
And just play the game occasionally when bored.
“So were you guys gathered here to draft a strategy?”
“Not really. We were just quickly finishing four matches and watching your stream, Seo-jun-nim, but that hyung kept calling us…”
The Third Elder pointed at Dang So with his eyes.
Ah.
What an unbelievable guy.
“The big picture is drafted by me and someone called Manoeja, and we mostly discuss it in the chat room.”
“Manager?”
“Manoeja.”
He had heard of Manoe.
In martial arts novels, those in charge of the administration or strategy of the Demonic Sect were called the Manoe.
For the Orthodox Faction, was it Shin-noe?
But what was the “ja” part?
Did it mean “person”?
He didn’t know.
“Haha. I see.”
Seo-jun just let it slide.
It wasn’t like there was only one or two things to nitpick in For Chivalry anyway.
“First of all, the detailed strategy will keep changing depending on the situation of each Battleground, but we do have a general framework. For the past few years, it was almost always watching those guys fight and somehow aiming to profit from the conflict to get at least second place, but…”
“But the situation changed since I arrived.”
Dang So interrupted the conversation again.
“Be quiet.”
Seo-jun snapped, but the Third Elder just ignored him and continued speaking.
He seemed to have adapted already.
“The situation changed because you won everything today, Seo-jun-nim. Very much so. So if we were to talk about our strength right now, it would be your skill.”
“My skill?”
“Yes. As Bangju-nim also said, you possess the highest level of skill, rarely losing, Seo-jun-nim. Deploying 14 rankers to one area isn’t that burdensome. But if those 14 rankers are at a level where they always win, it becomes quite a heavy burden.”
Thinking in reverse, if he lost even once, that strength would be weakened accordingly.
He didn’t have the confidence to lose, though.
The enemy would probably have to make a choice.
Leave him alone and find another way, or stop him somehow.
“Hehehehe.”
“So, what are you thinking for the basic strategy?”
“Hmm, I’m contemplating whether to reveal that to you, Seo-jun-nim.”
“Why?”
“Because if it’s you, Seo-jun-nim, I feel like you would openly announce the strategy on stream and say, ‘Try and block me if you can.’”
Then why did they call him?
“……”
“Just kidding.”
Lee Dong-soo and World’s No. 1 Swordsman behind them laughed.
“For now, we’re planning to trust you, Seo-jun-nim, and go for a battle of strength.”
“A battle of strength?”
“Yes.”
“Do you mean a frontal breakthrough?”
“Exactly. You know what happens if we occupy the rearmost area where the enemy’s base is located, right?”
The areas containing the faction bases were located at the northeast, northwest, and southernmost ends, respectively.
If they pushed in and succeeded in occupying that area.
“That faction is eliminated from the Battleground.”
He knew that too.
Although it was a case that rarely occurred unless it was a very special circumstance, it had happened before.
“Yes. They are completely eliminated from the Battleground. Hehehehe.”
The Third Elder burst out laughing after saying that, even trembling slightly.
A hint of madness was felt, but it was understandable.
There had been only one faction that had been eliminated so far.
Correct. That was the Demonic Sect.
“I see.”
“How is it? Actually, no matter what strategy we bring, your cooperation is necessary, Seo-jun-nim. That’s why I asked Dang So hyung to bring you here.”
True.
Talking face-to-face like this was much better than doing it via messages.
Seo-jun shrugged and spoke.
“Well, I’ll follow along as much as possible. I don’t have any burden now anyway.”
“Ah…!”
Literally, he had no burden.
Whether he lost the game, failed to get a bonus due to a failed attack or defense position, or missed a game.
It really didn’t matter.
Because he had so many reputation points, first place was already locked in.
“A battle of strength, that sounds fun.”
The basic strategy was to his liking.
They would adjust the details on their own every day.
Those guys would.
“Hehehe. Thank you.”
The Third Elder cheered, clenching both fists.
Is he that happy?
***
The hands of the clock pointed to 12:30.
Five and a half hours had passed since 7:00, the start time of Seo-jun’s stream.
And Lee Geon-yeong, who had been sitting glued to his chair looking at the computer for those five and a half hours, took his hands off the keyboard for a moment and stretched his back.
He stretched and closed his eyes.
“Uaaah.”
He did all kinds of stretches, like rolling his neck, and then focused back on his work.
What had he done for the past five and a half hours?
While watching the stream, he had occasionally gone to the community forums to downvote posts he didn’t like, and had even sent links to his co-editor Han Ji-min asking her to downvote them together, but what he spent most of his time on was none other than editing.
Specifically, editing today’s broadcast.
“Huah.”
A hoarse sound automatically escaped his mouth.
*Gulp, gulp.*
He drank directly from the water bottle he brought from the refrigerator, rehydrating his dry mouth, and then focused on his work again.
There was no need to watch the video again.
He had already checked all the edit points while watching the stream, and had discussed how to handle everything with Han Ji-min.
His goal was to finish editing as quickly as possible and upload the video.
The reason?
“I have to upload it as quickly as possible. Before the hype dies down.”
The number of people who watched the live broadcast reached 160,000.
If even 10% of them stayed awake and watched the ITube video uploaded at dawn, the views would increase by 16,000.
16,000 itself was not high.
But 16,000 views recorded immediately after uploading carried a different value.
“Didn’t they say that the fate of a video is halfway decided within the first few hours of uploading it?”
If there were many viewers during the first few hours, the algorithm would judge that this video was worth recommending and spread recommendations further.
Therefore.
It was Lee Geon-yeong’s desire to keep the current embers alive as much as possible to benefit from it.
Four hours had passed since he began editing in earnest.
At this rate, it was nowhere near enough.
“Even though the edit points and direction were set, it’s hard to do everything in four hours.”
About half of the volume was finished.
If he finished editing three hours from now, it might be better not to upload it at all.
Because it was a time slot when most people slept, making the likelihood of getting high views low.
However.
He was not the only one editing right now.
*Ding.*
[Han Ji-min: I’m finishing up. What about you?]
A laugh escaped him.
“We did it.”
They could upload the video before 1:00.
[Lee Geon-yeong: I’m done too. Let’s merge them and upload right away if it looks good.]
The method of editing and uploading today’s broadcast within a few hours was none other than the two of them dividing and editing the parts simultaneously!
It was a secret technique.
[Han Ji-min: Good work. We are getting ground down under an exploitative boss again today…]
[Lee Geon-yeong: lol, why do you make it sound like the boss ordered us to? You were the one who agreed right away and said let’s do it.]
Han Ji-min handled the first part, and he handled the second.
They could efficiently shorten the time.
That is, if their editing styles were similar.
And surprisingly, their editing styles were similar.
“It’s thanks to learning a lot.”
He had received direct instruction, and had been indirectly influenced by watching her videos.
[Han Ji-min: I’m aligning them and it’s smooth with no sense of mismatch. I’ll polish it a bit more and upload it by 1:00.]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Yes, thank you for your hard work.]
[Han Ji-min: You too.]
“Whew.”
He had burned out completely.
Lee Geon-yeong thought.
Had he ever done something this passionately?
It seemed like he hadn’t during the last few years, when he could do nothing but avoid everything.
Though his body was tired, his mind was contrariwise comfortable.
And he liked this state of his much better.
‘Even though absolute time is lacking, I feel like I’ve caught a slight glimpse of the lives of people who live fiercely.’
This was all thanks to the boss.
With a pleasant laugh, he hummed as he washed up.
After finishing his preparations for sleep, he lay in bed.
And he waited, scrolling through his phone.
“I want to see it uploaded before I sleep.”
How much effect would it have?
Even the experienced Han Ji-min said she didn’t really know.
Where else was it common to carry such huge issues?
He was full of anticipation, which was why he wanted to confirm it before sleeping.
Slowly, his movements grew sluggish.
Was it because his body was tired?
Although the work hours were not that long, the mental fatigue was greater than usual due to the intense short-term focus.
‘I hope it does well…’
Drifting off…
His eyes closed.
*Ding.*
When it hit 1:00, the dark phone screen lit up briefly and a subscription notification rang.
A notification that a new video had been uploaded to Seo-jun’s channel.