Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 114

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

Chapter 114

Manager Han of Stream Korea, perpetually in second place, was reviewing the report on his desk.
“Lost again.”
Surface was the absolute monopoly in the virtual reality market.
With their overwhelming technological prowess, capital, and first-mover advantage, they’d crushed the traditional powerhouses with ease.
But no company could devour every market.
“Damn Antitrust Law.”
That’s how America worked.
Even the most colossal corporation could find itself on the chopping block if it stepped out of line — the entire nation would turn against it.
So the priority was maximizing consumer welfare and minimizing monopoly profits to the absolute core business only.
They had to operate carefully elsewhere, never giving anyone grounds to complain.
“Which means we’re basically abandoned children. Sigh.”
If Surface had blocked distribution through Stream Korea’s platform or imposed technical restrictions preventing them from creating virtual reality games, then they wouldn’t have to engage in these headache-inducing, cutthroat competitions every time.
“Still, I like that we have solid funding. Otherwise…….”
Manager Han.
Through that platform alone, he held a position that essentially controlled the fate of exclusive titles available only there.
This was only possible because platform competition hinged on exclusive titles.
“Our job is deciding who makes better, more interesting games — who funds them, who launches them, and who pushes them hardest.”
Manager Han genuinely loved his work.
He was someone who truly loved games.
That’s why he was one of those who believed distributors had a responsibility to help developers take diverse risks in the name of industry progress.
The type who primarily championed indie game studios.
“But the results this time aren’t great either.”
The company had plenty of money and a high reinvestment ratio, so he could support multiple games his way.
But ultimately, to prove his approach was right, he needed to beat Crown and deliver results — and the title that came out a week ago, like everything so far, had underperformed.
“Monster’s launching today.”
Two Heads are Better — a game he’d finally secured funding for after countless meetings and persuasion.
Now, at the point just before release, all he could do was genuinely pray it would go well.
Manager Han pressed his palms together.
And then the phone rang. He grimaced, uncertain whether to answer.
Pick up?
Or not?

[Kim — Crown]

His college classmate and friend who worked at the rival company Crown.
Ugh.
“Hello?”

-Hey, Seung-chul. How’s it going lately?

He already knew and asked anyway.
“Ha. You know, hanging in there. Your release last week was pretty solid though. Congratulations.”

-That one? I was involved from planning all the way through. Haha. We couldn’t miss Super Week like this.

Super Week, my ass.
It was just an empty period after the last big competition ended with no real hype — the time when packaged games sold best, that’s all.
What his friend had brought to market in that window was exactly the sort of generic, mediocre stuff that’d sell just fine.
Annoying.
“I see. Congrats.”
But.
Why did his voice sound so down?
What’s going on?
He’s clearly bragging.

-Yeah. If I pull this off, I might even make director.

Same thing again.
His voice came through trembling, as if the director position was already gone.
There was even a brief hesitation.
Manager Han felt his insides twist.
His mind told him to grit his teeth, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
So he answered flatly.
“Congratulations.”

-…….

Really now.

-Thanks.

Did he lose money gambling or something?
“So why’d you call?”

-Oh, I saw the game you guys released today. The two-player co-op one. Two players — wouldn’t that be a barrier to entry?

The exact concern his boss had raised when refusing to fund it came straight from his friend’s mouth.

-Plus, they mixed in horror elements from the start. Hmm. Seems half-baked to me. Don’t you think?

How did he even know that?
The game had only just launched — the tutorial would barely be done.
He’d definitely done his research.
Not that it was surprising.
Truth was, he and his friend had clashed over different philosophies since college days.
But it had been amplified once they started doing the same work in the same industry.
“The game turned out well. You’ll see when you play it.”

-Yeah, it does seem solid. But more than that…….

“What.”

-I saw you’re advertising it. Congrats on landing that streamer.

Ah.
That’s when Manager Han understood why his friend had called.
Was he trying to pick a fight because they’d poached a streamer?
“Thanks.”
If not that.

-Right. I heard you threw top-dollar at them, but is there some other secret to how you landed them?

Information gathering?
He could answer this one confidently.
“Nope. They just thought it looked fun.”
If a post on a topic someone wasn’t interested in made the top ten on Game Community Adventure, a regular user could just skip it.
But people in the industry were different.
They had to comb through every single post that appeared on the Adventure to stay on top of trends.
So no one would know better than they did when a truly skilled player appeared.
Or maybe the users of For the Sect?
Manager Han smiled slightly as he spoke.
“You wanted to land that streamer too, didn’t you?”

-Huh? What…….

“I heard you also matched them on the highest offer.”
For what it’s worth, Manager Han had done his own research on his friend too.

-Well, yeah. But we didn’t go higher. Landing a streamer doesn’t really change anything, you know? You know that, right?

That was definitely the point of his call — and annoying as it was, he was right.
A streamer who drew buzz couldn’t save a game — it was nearly impossible.
Streamer advertising was only ever for raising awareness.
For a game to be a hit, it had to become a phenomenon.
And for a game to become a phenomenon and get talked about in every household — using industry terminology — heaven itself had to smile upon you.
In other words.

-If landing a streamer made games blow up, wouldn’t big-name streamers’ income multiply several times over? Haha. Right?

His friend was saying this:
You landed that streamer?
But it probably won’t matter.

-And honestly, you probably don’t even need that partner streamer thing either.

Partner streamer.
A project that’s been mentioned sporadically of late.
“Fair point.”
Manager Han nodded in agreement.
“Let’s grab dinner sometime.”

-Yeah. I’m hanging up.

A very Korean way to end a call.
As if that dinner would ever happen.
“Right.”
He glanced at the clock and began wrapping up to head out.
He actually did have a dinner reservation.
“Though Crown seems to be putting a lot of focus on streamers lately, and yet here he’s saying the opposite? Is that just his personal opinion?”
Word had it that Crown was preparing some kind of Partner Program — a project where streamers would get earlier advertising for new releases or other support in exchange for not streaming certain competitors’ exclusives for a set period.
The streaming market had exploded in size, and whether or not a streamer could make a game blow up, it was obviously a market worth securing — so Stream would definitely jump in too.
“Wonder if competition for streamer exclusives will get more intense. Or if the whole thing falls through.”
Not sure yet, he thought, and called the CEO of Monster, the developer.
“Hello?”

-Oh, Manager. I’ll be pulling up to the office shortly.

“Ha. Take your time. CEO. By the way, how’s the game’s response? You’re watching the ad broadcast, right? I just finished up here and haven’t checked.”

-Yeah. Hmm.

What?
Why does he sound gloomy too?
“Ha. Don’t worry too much.”
What in the world was happening?
“Most games fail to become hot topics and just quietly fade. Smoothly. But——”
Manager Han smiled slightly.
They had something they believed in.
The very heart of this game.
The Chase Sequence.
“It’ll work out. Trust me. Because…….”
That Chase Sequence was truly terrifying.

-I’m not too worried either. Streamer Seo Jun will handle it somehow.

Ah.
So he wasn’t believing in the game itself.
Converted to the Demonic Cult, huh.
A slight disappointment washed over him.
“Ha ha ha……. Then I’ll see you in a bit.”
For reference, he was.
A longtime user of the great orthodox Orthofaction.

* * *

Seo Jun spoke calmly.
“And then they just left. Didn’t do anything.”
The grotesque-looking doll that had been watching them through the gap had vanished without a sound.
Its exact appearance couldn’t be made out.
The light hadn’t come in properly because they’d held its face so close.
Anyway.
Seo Jun turned his gaze and stared intently at Tae Woo.
“So how much longer is he going to be like this?”
Meanwhile, Tae Woo remained completely motionless, thinking.
It’s over.
That was the first word that came to mind as Tae Woo’s brain momentarily shut down, then restarted after thirty seconds.
The next word was this.
I let my guard down.
The developer had said the horror element was in Chapter 1, and he’d thought nothing of it — maybe between the tutorial and Chapter 1?
They say when people get really startled, they can’t even scream — they just freeze.
Today, Tae Woo felt the truth of that sentence with desperate clarity. And as a result——

-Hey, you there?
-What’s he doing?
-This guy’s like frozen lol
-He yelped the second the doll popped up! I heard it clearly lol
-Is he really scared easy?
-Come to think of it, this guy never played horror games before. Should tell the CEO to check with him

The viewers deduced the situation with perfect precision, like solving a puzzle.
And Seo Jun was grinning, watching him with the expression of someone looking forward to what excuses he’d come up with.
Tae Woo’s eyes darted away, avoiding Seo Jun’s gaze.
Damn it.
What in the world was he supposed to say here?
His heart was still pounding.
As Tae Woo continued to freeze, unable to find words, Seo Jun struck first.
“Oh, is this a horror game? The developers did say the first chapter would have a somewhat spooky atmosphere.”

-Ah I see
-Horror elements? Actually kinda cool
-Ooh, a horror game from the streamer!
-Does the streamer scare easy?

“I’m not really scared of much, but it looks like someone else is pretty different, huh?”
“……What did you say.”
Tae Woo managed to squeeze out words and moved his body.
But as the tension drained from muscles that had been wound tight, Tae Woo simply collapsed.
Thud.

-lololol
-His body’s creaking?
-More than creaking, he straight up toppled over lol
-How scared was he?? lol

There was no turning back now, was there?
And on top of that, Chapter 1 was just getting started, so the road ahead looked bleak.
Still.
“That’s not true.”
Because if he admitted it now, he might have to play even more horror games down the line — Tae Woo stubbornly dug in his heels.

-But that’s literally what happened?
-We’re putting horror games in every punishment from now on lol Scaredy-cat Woo
-lol The jump scare? Admitted. Freezing? Admitted. But losing strength in your legs? That’s old age lol
-You’re done for lol

Of course no one believed him.
Tae Woo made a despairing attempt to rinse his face and tried to picture his future.
How much would he get teased?
And how terrifying would those games be?
That was his biggest worry.
Actually, the way things suddenly jump out — it’s genuinely terrifying, okay?
“Hey, if you’re this scared of things, why’d you even take this ad deal?”
Now Seo Jun was half-treating it as a foregone conclusion.
Tae Woo eventually gave up and confessed.
“I didn’t know! I didn’t know it’d be this scary!”

-Tae Woo lol
-Tae Jung-jae lol
-If you’d known you’d be scared this early lol
-Two holes in the story lol

Seo Jun laughed hard together with the viewers for a while.
“Alright, heart doing okay?”
“It’s calmed down a bit.”
“Want to go ahead then?”
The only place they could head was a dark hallway directly ahead.
They’d already confirmed that they couldn’t enter the interior through the metal mesh.
“No.”
“Found an empty box over there — want to take a look?”
“Nope, not looking at that either.”
The chat flooded with “Scared?” spam.
“No, if something pops out again, I’m seriously gonna have a heart attack, okay? No. I just don’t need to look at it.”
Right.
Seo Jun laughed hard with the viewers one more time before moving forward.

[What was that thing from before anyway?]
[Not sure. Isn’t this supposed to be a factory?]
[What? Even with the bad lighting, the doll looked that creepy? I didn’t draw it like that.]
[Well, you never finished drawing it.]
[That’s only because you kept asking me to draw it again.]

Summarizing the conversation so far.
“The two main characters in this game are basically Tae Woo 1 and Tae Woo 2.”
Developers who’d never found proper balance, arguing endlessly until things fell apart.
They’d entered this unfinished game to settle their karmic debt.
“The empty spaces seem to be filled in differently from what they originally planned.”
Tae Woo crouched down while Seo Jun leisurely walked the corridor, conversing with viewers.
Soon, something emerged from beyond the dark shadow ahead.

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