Gwanjongcheonma’s Game Broadcast - Chapter 154

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 154
“Whooooooa! That was absolutely incredible!”
The man in the mini sunglasses thrust both thumbs up in the air.
Joint, who had been anxiously waiting outside with his heart in his throat.
The three who saw him broke into bright smiles.
“It was all thanks to your support.”
“Come on. You were on the edge of your seat the whole time? You don’t trust us that much?”
“Joint! We did it!”
The four exchanged high-fives in turn.
Perhaps because of the grueling hours they’d trained,
their joy felt like more than just someone else’s victory.
“I had hopes they’d do well, but seeing all three advance like this—it’s amazing! Singularity completely shut out, and only our three made it through. As a member of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I’m truly proud!”
“Ugh… everything’s great, but could you say that name a little quieter?”
Da-hong’s bright expression faltered as she recoiled in shock.
But almost immediately, she declared in a ringing voice:
“I’m in such a good mood! My treat tonight—let’s go somewhere expensive and delicious! We’ll grab hamburgers another time, Hyeon-bin.”
“Sure. That’s fine. We can have late-night snacks later anyway.”
“Ha. But you’re not saying no either.”
When Da-hong offered to treat them to dinner, Hae-rang tilted his head slightly.
“All three National Representatives advanced. Does Ms. Da-hong really need to pay for everyone alone?”
“You gave us encouragement, Hae-rang taught me, and Hyeon-bin won against me in the semi-final. Isn’t that reason enough to treat?”
She pulled her wallet from her pocket.
“I was honestly worried what would happen with advertising penalty fees after Singularity’s elimination, but not a single company has asked for their money back yet.”
“Indeed. The advertisers valued not Singularity’s Da-hong, but the pure gamer Da-hong.”
“Haha. I’m grateful you put it that way, but honestly, most sponsors are probably in wait-and-see mode.”
“Wait-and-see mode…?”
“To see whether I can secure National Team qualification or not. If I fail to make the National Team, a few companies probably would’ve contacted me demanding their money back.”
“The world of advertising is complicated.”
“To put it simply: today’s match result means I don’t have to pay out any penalty money. I essentially saved myself money. That’s what I mean.”
Before her teammates could say anything, Da-hong stepped ahead.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you that even premium Korean beef can get boring.”
* * *
Those who’ve tasted good meat know good taste.
Da-hong led them to a Korean beef restaurant in Pangyo without even opening a map app.
The interior looked refined at first glance,
and the aroma of grilling meat made mouths water even from outside.
After speaking with a staff member at the front entrance, Da-hong’s eyes widened.
“What’s going on? They said to wait a moment?”
“Is it always this crowded?”
“No. It’s a weekday and still early evening. Strange.”
“If it looks like it’ll take long, we can eat somewhere else.”
“No, apparently a large group came in just before us, so they just asked us to wait while they set up. About five minutes?”
True to her word, it wasn’t long before a staff member escorted Hae-rang’s party deeper inside.
As they headed toward a private room,
they caught sight of the ‘large group’ the staff had mentioned.
“No way. Was it you guys?”
Da-hong broke into a grin, teeth flashing.
Under normal circumstances, she might have dismissed it as bad luck and found another restaurant.
But today, she felt oddly glad instead.
The group that had arrived first was none other than Singularity.
A team where all three members had secured National Team qualification,
and a group where twenty-nine had participated without a single one achieving their goal.
There was no need to guess whose mood had hit rock bottom.
While most of Singularity wore furrowed brows,
one man in particular grinned and approached them.
“Well, well. Who do we have here?”
A man Hae-rang had crossed paths with a few times before.
Jo Sang-jin approached, twisting his long, frizzy hair with his fingers.
“Hey, Cheon Hae-rang. Win the National Team Selection and suddenly you’re a star? Now you only eat at fancy places like this?”
Hae-rang’s expression hardened as he responded.
“I was clear about it. I don’t want praise from you.”
“What?”
“I don’t think of myself as a star yet. So don’t go worshipping me on your own.”
“You crazy bastard, when did I ever——”
Before Jo Sang-jin could finish, Hae-rang brushed past him first.
Da-hong, watching the scene unfold, clutched her belly and laughed.
“Fair point. We haven’t adjusted yet either, so there’s no way you could win a shouting match.”
“Ye Da-hong……!”
“Before you ask if we should even be at a place like this, why don’t you look at yourself? Twenty-nine people all eliminated, and you’re swallowing your meat like nothing happened?”
Then Jo Sang-jin answered with a shameless grin.
“Sure it goes down great. Isn’t free food the most delicious food in the world?”
At that, Ye Da-hong lowered her head and sighed deeply.
“Sang-jin. Please, grow up a little.”
“What’s your problem?”
“How is that free food? When gamers buy game titles, a portion’s deducted for game industry promotion purposes. Government support comes from income taxes paid by gaming professionals. All that money pooled together sponsors Singularity. We’re supporting you so you’ll play well and bring honor to the nation. There’s no such thing as a free lunch here.”
“Ah, now you’re playing teacher too?”
“I’m allowed to. I’m on the National Team, and you got knocked out in round one.”
“This is really——!”
“You can lose at games. But you should know when you’re being shameful, shouldn’t you? The meat you’re eating isn’t free. It’s all debt, Mr. Round-off.”
Da-hong snorted and walked a wide arc around Jo Sang-jin.
As if even brushing his shoulder would give her chills.
Joint passed by ignoring him, and only Ma Hyeon-bin remained.
“Sang-jin.”
“What do you want? Don’t talk to me for no reason and just go.”
“If you can’t compete in the team match either, will you really get expelled?”
“What? What jackass told you that?”
“Just now, Gang Chae-chung was saying it in that room. He said if you perform badly in the team match too, it’s a hundred percent vote to expel Jo Sang-jin.”
Ma Hyeon-bin’s expression was perfectly innocent.
The most frightening thing in this world—pure evil.
It had slipped out unguarded from behind his thick brows and freckles.
“That bastard Gang Chae-chung is already spreading rumors?”
Jo Sang-jin stormed into his room, grinding his teeth.
Team Heavenly Demon Divine Cult broke into laughter throughout their meal,
while from Singularity’s room came occasional shouts and the sound of dishes breaking.
* * *
<Today’s Hot Issue!>
<Legendary reversal! Three non-Singularity players pulled it off! Iron Fist National Representative solo match victory!>
<In today’s private World Virtualgame Championship—commonly known as the Capsule Cup—a stunning upset has occurred.
Three unaffiliated players have secured all the individual competition National Team tickets.
Meanwhile, Singularity, which brought twenty-nine participants, failed to produce even a single National Team member and suffered a crushing blow to its reputation.
Two of the three newly selected National Representatives are quite familiar faces.
Ye Da-hong and Ma Hyeon-bin, who recently left Singularity.
The two competed as unaffiliated players and secured National Team qualifications with tied 1st place and 3rd place overall rankings.
Already formidable Iron Fist competitors while at Singularity, the two demonstrated their full capabilities once again.
The biggest upset, by any measure, is ‘Attention-Seeking Heavenly Demon’ Cheon Hae-rang.
Unlike the previous two, Cheon Hae-rang has no history of joining Singularity.
In fact, word has it that he only created his Iron Fist Nine account a few months ago.
A literal greenhorn, in other words.
Yet despite such limited experience, Cheon Hae-rang achieved a feat of outstanding brilliance, reaching tied 1st place without a single loss on his record.
To some a stranger and newcomer, but in certain circles he’s already being called a ‘destined star.’
He only started streaming about half a year ago.
In that time, he’s been registered on Gonau Soft’s Untouchable page,
and was selected as an ambassador for Survival Ground.
Like a needle hidden in a bag, he’s been revealing his talent across various games.
The interesting fact is that their challenge isn’t limited to individual competition alone.
Three of them have gathered with retired National Representative Joint—Byeon Tae-san—to compete in team competition under the name ‘Team Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.’
Team Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has already swept all three National Team individual competition spots.
As a result of today’s match, ‘Team Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’ has emerged as a powerful championship favorite.
It’s welcome news for gaming fans in many ways.
Instead of Singularity, which suffered humiliating defeats whenever it competed internationally,
A new face had appeared, stirring up fresh winds in the scene.
For the first time, hope was kindling that South Korea might finally claim a victory at the Capsule Cup.

-What? An unaffiliated player became the Iron Fist National Representative?
-Lolololol what in the world
-Is today April Fools? A regular gamer beat an Singularity addict?
-Wtf lol I checked the homepage and it’s real
-How many years has it been since this happened? Shivering
-Da-hong and Hyeon-bin left Singularity??? Why on earth???
-What’s going on here even ಠ_ಠ
-Singularity’s become trash lmfao
-I know Attention-Seeking Heavenly Demon! This guy’s insanely good at games lol
-His resume is pure fantasy;; National representative just months after Iron Fist Nine???
-Even the mighty Singularity is just an ordinary person before Attention-Seeking Heavenly Demon lol
-Heaven, why! Why did you birth Singularity and then birth Attention-Seeking Heavenly Demon!
└Yoo-vuality lolololol
-How is the team name Heavenly Demon Divine Cult lollll
-Looking at the team name, Hae-rang must be the leader
-The attention seeker’s concept seems to have devoured the other three members too ಠ_ಠ
-But seriously is that appearance real?? So handsome ㅠㅠ
-Clearly different from those cosmetic surgery obsessed Singularity people lol
-Like they literally stepped out of a manga
“Wow!”
Choi Gang-sik let out an exclamation, eyes fixed on the view count and comment section.
Then he immediately broke into a cough.
“Cough, cough!”
His frail throat couldn’t contain the fullness of his joy.
Ma Hyeon-bin asked urgently.
“Are you okay, Manager?”
“Ahem. I’m fine now. Just got too excited.”
“Your complexion looks terrible. You must have pushed yourself too hard preparing for the National Team Selection Tournament. You pulled an all-nighter again yesterday, didn’t you?”
“What? I got more than nine hours of solid sleep.”
“Huh?”
A good night’s rest?
Where was he seeing that?
Ma Hyeon-bin’s eyes, reflecting “pure evil,” posed the question silently.
“Ahem. In any case, this is truly wonderful! Our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult swept the National Team solo matches—there couldn’t be a better result than this.”
The title of National Representative was genuinely impressive.
There had been a few times when Hae-rang’s news made the headlines before,
but never such an explosive reaction.
Within hours of the article going live, the view count had hit hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of comments had poured in.
It was remarkably surprising interest, especially considering Iron Fist was an unpopular event.
“This is just the beginning.”
Da-hong, gazing down at the comment section, smiled meaningfully.
“Now that he’s a National Representative, companies will be sending love calls his way. There’ll be formal sponsorship contracts with Craft, of course, plus gaming gear, sports brands—requests from all over. And since Hae-rang’s so handsome, cosmetics companies will be calling too.”
“Like you, Da-hong?”
“Huh? Ah, yes.”
There was no particular meaning behind Hae-rang’s question.
Yet Da-hong’s own response faltered slightly.
“Hae-rang. You mentioned you were planning to buy a Private Capsule soon, right?”
“Yes. I’m in the process of saving up.”
“You won’t have to worry about money anymore. Just a few advertisement deals and you’ll have enough for a Private Capsule in no time.”
There’s an old saying: don’t worry about celebrities’ troubles.
In this era, a Capsule National Representative and a celebrity enjoyed similarly massive popularity.
Da-hong’s words meant simply this: a path of flowers lay open before Hae-rang’s future.
Ding-dong!
“Oh! It’s here!”
Ma Hyeon-bin, who’d somehow ordered a hamburger right after finishing a ribeye steak.
The others had also ordered their own snacks, so everyone headed toward the kitchen.
…….
Only one remained.
Joint stood alone, his face hard as stone, staring into the comment window.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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