The Veteran Swordmaster’s Stream (Novel) - Chapter 84
Chapter 84
The screen shifted.
A slow sword unfolded.
Yet, it felt fast.
It was simple.
It was merely simple.
It looked blockable.
It could not be blocked.
Attempting to dodge caused one to lose balance.
The video forcibly immersed the viewers into the opponent’s perspective.
Then, sentences predicting what was about to happen appeared right before the attack.
And it happened exactly as predicted.
Although rankers constantly analyzed and shared how he did that with such a slow sword, only the person himself would know for sure.
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
After clashing a few times, by the time they snapped out of it, Seo-jun’s sword had already silently slashed their neck.
*Slash.*
[Next.]
The person who showed such literally overwhelming skill looked down leisurely and spoke.
– The heavy sword is seriously scary.
– Gaslighting sword technique, shiver.
– It feels even more so seeing it well-organized in an edited video, lol.
– Next!
– No emotion shows when he’s pressing on, lol. The fact that he’s just expressionless is goosebumps-inducing, lol.
– If I were standing there, I would have definitely pissed myself. How do I know? Because I slightly pissed myself just watching this, lol.
– Ugh!
After showing him face a few more people, the video ended.
Because there was not enough time to capture all the battles in a single video.
– Next! At this hour?
– The End.
– Nice!
Seo-jun left a final chat.
– Everyone, the Demonic Sect will win this Battleground.
The premiere ended, and the video was officially uploaded.
A report card showing 30,000 views in less than a second after upload.
Perhaps Han Ji-min was also awake and watching, as a message came from her.
[Han Ji-min: The first premiere was a success!]
[Han Ji-min: I hope it rides the algorithm properly!]
[Jin Seo-jun: Indeed. Thank you for your hard work.]
[Han Ji-min: Don’t mention it. Geon-yeong must be sleeping, lol.]
Since Lee Geon-yeong always replied instantly if he was awake, they easily deduced that he was sleeping.
[Jin Seo-jun: He stayed up all night yesterday and barely rested, but edited again today, so he must have been very tired.]
[Han Ji-min: As expected of an exploitative boss, shiver.]
[Jin Seo-jun: Where else would you find someone who interferes as little as I do, haha.]
Seo-jun did not even review the videos.
Because he had decided to leave the channel to them, and it wasn’t like he knew any better.
Although the editors could easily sabotage the channel if they harbored ill feelings, what would they gain by doing so?
Indeed.
To instill a sense of ownership, you just have to let them become the owners!
[Han Ji-min: True. But how about doing at least a bit of review?]
[Han Ji-min: If we leave and you have to find other editors, you’ll have to check things yourself a lot then.]
It was true.
Seo-jun also knew that even if he had handed over the channel because he didn’t want to worry about it, staying completely ignorant about its management was not a good idea.
[Jin Seo-jun: I’ll think about it if I take a leave of absence.]
[Han Ji-min: Okay. You’re busy.]
Afterwards, Han Ji-min sent another message to the private chat.
[Han Ji-min: In my case, even if the boss tries to kick me out, I’ll cling to your leg and hold on.]
[Han Ji-min: But accidents can happen.]
[Han Ji-min: Above all, I don’t know what will happen to Geon-yeong. Maybe because the CSAT is coming up soon, he seems to have a lot on his mind.]
Seo-jun and Han Ji-min knew Lee Geon-yeong’s story.
The story that he was living on his own to prepare for his second college entrance attempt, but had stayed cooped up in his room doing nothing for a long time, before finally being able to do something thanks to Seo-jun.
It was an embarrassing story to tell others, and Lee Geon-yeong had no intention of revealing it either, but.
It was the result of Lee Geon-yeong getting drunk on the first day they had drinks, without even knowing his own limit.
‘Did he say he felt relieved?’
Lee Geon-yeong was definitely pulling his own weight, but to them, he felt like a younger brother who needed looking after.
‘He will do fine on his own.’
And Seo-jun was not the type to look after a younger sibling.
Unless they asked for help, at least.
***
The next morning.
Seo-jun spoke to Tae-woo.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go eat breakfast at my parents’ place today.”
Seo-jun’s parents’ house was next door, and they often dropped by to eat meals together.
“Suddenly? And it’s almost time to eat, so if we go all of a sudden, I don’t think it’ll be ready.”
“No, Mom said let’s just eat together for the first time in a while.”
“Really? Then we should go. But why so suddenly?”
“Is there need for a reason? Maybe she bought some meat.”
Seo-jun shrugged, opened the front door, and headed next door.
Tae-woo, watching Seo-jun leave, felt a slight sense of mismatch and tilted his head, but soon followed Seo-jun out the front door.
***
Tae-woo realized that his intuition had functioned brilliantly, to say the very least.
Although it was pointless to realize it now.
It all began with a conversation during breakfast between his damn friend and his father.
“Hey, why did you suddenly come over for breakfast? It makes me anxious.”
*Cough.*
Food got stuck in Tae-woo’s throat.
He had clearly said his mom called them, so why was Ha-jun saying that?
Right.
His mom might have called them without telling his dad.
Of course, as his mom chimed into the conversation, it was instantly revealed that this was not the case.
“Indeed, I’m curious too. Why so suddenly?”
Did birth Mrs. Jin call us?! (Wait, the thought is: Didn’t you say your mom called us!)
“Ah, well, you see…”
Tae-woo whipped his head around to glare intensely at Seo-jun, demanding an explanation, but Seo-jun didn’t even blink as he continued speaking.
“Mom, Dad. I’m thinking of taking a leave of absence from university.”
After finishing his sentence, Seo-jun picked up his chopsticks again as if nothing had happened.
*Cough.*
Getting food stuck in his throat once more, Tae-woo glared at Seo-jun even more fiercely.
Can this bastard even swallow his food right now?
Tae-woo screamed inwardly.
‘Why is he saying that now, of all times, and why did he have to drag me along!’
No matter how nonsensical he seemed, the Seo-jun Tae-woo knew was someone who always thought about the future.
If so, bringing him along now was definitely intentional.
To take the beating together? Or as a shield to suppress his mom?
Whatever it was, he was truly a gem of a friend.
*Clack.*
Seo-jun’s mother, Se-yeon, put down her chopsticks on the table with a clattering sound.
The atmosphere turned strange.
Ha-jun and Tae-woo, who were next to him, flinched simultaneously.
The culprit himself was perfectly calm.
Se-yeon spoke.
“What does that mean?”
“I want to take a break from university after finishing this semester.”
“For what reason?”
“To play games.”
*Argh.*
How could you say it like that?
“Games? …So you mean.”
“Yes.”
“Not traveling, part-time jobs, employment, studying, or building a hobby, but just playing games?”
“Games are a hobby too.”
“……”
Please, Seo-jun. My friend. Why are you doing this?
“Ah, I earn money too.”
“What money?”
“Because my streaming is doing quite well.”
“The same thing Tae-woo does?”
“Yes. Didn’t I tell you before that I was starting?”
“I just thought you were helping Tae-woo out while playing games.”
Mrs. Jin. That’s not it.
This bastard just said he thought he’d do better than Shin Ha-yeon and started it out of nowhere.
“Well, anyway, it’s doing better than expected, so I plan to give it a proper shot.”
“What, is that it? I thought you just wanted to play around without any thoughts.”
“Would I ever do that, Mom?”
Tae-woo recalled Seo-jun’s broadcasts.
Judging by his attitude toward streaming or how he treated his viewers.
His friend definitely just wanted to play around without thinking.
However, Tae-woo could not object in any way.
He was just grateful that Se-yeon was not angry.
If things escalated, the sparks would inevitably fly to him, after all.
As the culprit who had led her son down a bad path.
It was clearly due to Seo-jun’s own circumstances and Tae-woo didn’t have even a single gram of responsibility, but the important fact was that his mom didn’t know that.
“Until when?”
“I don’t know.”
“You will graduate, right?”
“Probably.”
“Okay. Then lastly…”
“Yes.”
“It is safe even if you play that much, right?”
“It’s safe.”
“That’s a relief. It’s ridiculous to tell a fully grown son what to do. Take care of it yourself.”
*Whew.*
Tae-woo and Ha-jun’s eyes met.
Thank goodness it ended well.
Surprisingly, Seo-jun was stubborn and had a personality that didn’t bend once he made a decision.
And Se-yeon was not the type to oppose things either, but this time, didn’t that bastard Seo-jun express himself so terribly?
What kind of parent would laugh and say, “Go ahead and play to your heart’s content,” if their child said they were taking a leave of absence to play games?
It would be one thing if he said he was just taking a break and then played games.
Afterwards, his father quickly finished eating and went into his room.
His mom went to clean up the kitchen.
Once only the two of them were left around, Seo-jun spoke quietly.
“What a pity.”
“What is?”
“I was planning to throw you under the bus and run away if Mom got angry.”
This bastard?
***
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Sure.”
“Why are you answering, Uncle?”
“Because it’s the meal my wife made.”
“So why…”
“Be quiet. Don’t come over anymore.”
Seo-jun put on his slippers, leaving their nonsensical conversation behind.
“Oppa, move aside. I need to get out.”
His younger sister.
Jin So-hee approached.
“Are you going to school?”
“Yeah.”
Notable detail: she was a high school senior.
As she was facing the CSAT soon.
“Is it okay to go to school wearing gym clothes?”
“Yeah, they won’t catch you anyway.”
Invincible.
At least within South Korean society, she, facing the entrance exam, was invincible.
“By the way, is your stream doing well, Oppa?”
“Yeah.”
“Sigh. It’s a regret that I couldn’t use a capsule during my school years because of you, worrying it might be dangerous. I will absolutely do it once the CSAT is over.”
“I clearly said you would be fine.”
“No, you didn’t. You said I would collapse too!”
“That was just a joke.”
Seo-jun chuckled.
“That’s true. Ultimately, the one who stopped me was Mom. If Dad had been just a bit more interested in virtual reality, he would have persuaded Mom. Sigh, Dad likes computers too much. But anyway, Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“You play games well. If I do it, I’ll be good too, right? Because of genetics? Right?”
Unless she remembered her past life, he thought that would be impossible.
“I’m in the CSAT Faction (Jeong-pa), though.”
“Whoa, why are you talking about the Orthodox Faction (Jeong-pa)?”
So-hee giggled.
“Ah, I saw that on the stream. Anyway, I’m a CSAT Faction (Jeong-pa) student.”
“Are you going to play For Chivalry? The Demonic Sect is better. Good stats and good popularity.”
Suddenly, the sound of Tae-woo clicking his tongue was heard from behind.
“Ah, so the name of that game is For Chivalry. But even if I don’t play it, I’m still CSAT Faction (Jeong-pa).”
“Why?”
“Because I ruined my school GPA.”
So the “Jeong-pa” was not that Orthodox Faction.
He suddenly became solemn.
Seeing his younger sister, who usually avoided slang, get emotional enough to use a word like “ruined,” he felt he shouldn’t say anything more.
“Whoa, So-hee. The CSAT is just around the corner, and a CSAT Fighter is watching streams?”
And Tae-woo lacked even that much tact.
Was it because the only dilemma he ever faced during exams was whether to draw a line down option 3 or option 4?
Seo-jun shook his head, and So-hee flared up.
“What are you talking about? And I didn’t watch the stream. Why would I watch Oppa’s stream in the first place?”
“Then?”
“It suddenly popped up on ITube this morning. The latest video. I only watched it because it appeared. So could you please not infiltrate my account?”
“Why does it show up for you?”
“How should I know? Ah, right. Oppa, that was on Trending, by the way.”
“Really?”
Seo-jun replied as if surprised.
“Oh, wow.”
Tae-woo, who knew what that meant, immediately opened his phone to check.
“Hey, hey. Look at this.”
And he showed it to Seo-jun.
The view count of that video, which had been uploaded for less than a day, was…
[I Became the Number One Under Heaven in the Game.]
[Trending Video in Gaming #3]
…passing 300,000.