Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 128

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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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Chapter 128

Kim Tae-woo checked the contents of the message.
Fortunately, his worries about the horror game proved groundless.

[Ha Yun-ho: Tae-woo, after you finish streaming today, could you introduce me to your friend?]

Instead, something unexpected had popped up.
‘Why is he suddenly asking me to introduce him to that guy?’
That guy whose name he couldn’t speak aloud.
Tae-woo found himself genuinely curious about why he’d come up.
So he ended the stream right away.
His logic was airtight.
“Everyone, goodbye.”
Since nothing was going to happen anyway and he’d been planning to wrap up soon, Tae-woo closed the Streaming and replied to his boss immediately.

[Kim Tae-woo: Why him all of a sudden?]

Ha Yun-ho was both the representative and an active Streamer for the MCN company Point, which Tae-woo belonged to.
What stood out about him was that he did a lot of collaborations with many Streamer acquaintances.
So it wasn’t strange for the boss to ask him to introduce someone.
It didn’t happen often, but it wasn’t unheard of either.
Especially since he’d even mentioned wanting to meet Seo Jun once before.
Still, he needed to know the exact reason.

[Ha Yun-ho: Well, the thing is, I’ve become a Team Captain for Liios this time too……]

The boss gave it to him straight, without holding back.
He’d become a Team Captain, and Seo Jun had been recruited as well, he explained.
Tae-woo already knew this because he’d heard it directly from Seo Jun.
And apparently the boss had found out through the operations team directly.

[Kim Tae-woo: Why the operations team?]
[Ha Yun-ho: They don’t know which group to assign him to]
[Kim Tae-woo: Ah lol]

Admittedly, it was ambiguous.
For other people, anyway.

[Kim Tae-woo: So they asked you to hold an Internal Competition? They asked you?]
[Ha Yun-ho: Yep. That’s why I need you to introduce me today! We need to recruit him as soon as possible!]
[Kim Tae-woo: Got it!]

Tae-woo replied cheerfully.
But his mind had begun to grow complicated.
‘If this goes wrong, it could all fall apart.’
Tae-woo’s championship plan for this tournament was simple and certain.
Get his friend to carry him.
Jin Seo-jun.
Tae-woo’s thinking was that if he brought his friend—who suspiciously excelled at both fighting and gaming—into the Auction, he could win the championship.
‘With 100 million won on the line, even that guy should get serious.’
When Seo Jun was serious, wouldn’t almost no one be able to stop him?
Moreover, the fact that Seo Jun had played The League before was something only a few people, including Tae-woo himself, knew.
‘Silver, my ass. He definitely played well back then.’
So then.
He just had to pick him.
If assigned to Tier A, he’d bring him in while spending Points moderately.
If assigned to Tier B, he’d bring Seo Jun even if it meant using all his Points.
In the end, the value of an Auction item fluctuated based on the value assigned by the bidders.
Did the other Team Captains understand Seo Jun’s true worth?
They probably couldn’t, unless they were right beside him watching how insane he’d been.
In other words, even if the other Team Captains analyzed his performance from Streaming, their assessment of Seo Jun’s value would inevitably fall short of Tae-woo’s.
So Tae-woo just needed to profit from that difference and bring him in.
‘Looks like I have no choice but to hold the Internal Competition.’
However, if his value went up through the Internal Competition, that advantage would shrink.
That was unfortunate.
If Seo Jun dominated a Challenger in the Internal Competition, his advantage could disappear entirely.
‘Even if I tell him not to try hard, that guy won’t listen.’
Still, he had to at least try.

[Kim Tae-woo: I’ll go talk to him right now.]
[Ha Yun-ho: Got it. Thanks.]

* * *

“Yo.”
“Yeah?”
“You know that MCN boss I told you about before?”
“Yeah.”
The moment Tae-woo burst into his room, Seo Jun swiveled his chair to face him and listened.
“He wants me to connect him with you.”
“Really? Why? I’m not really thinking about joining an MCN right now.”
Seo Jun’s first thought was of an MCN.
Tae-woo’s MCN—Point.
Point was an MCN where the representative was an active Streamer, and the affiliated Streamers mostly consisted of the representative’s acquaintances.
The very reason for founding the company was to help colleagues.
Even the sandbox box from back then operated the same way, and MCNs are often created out of necessity for oneself and one’s colleagues.
When the representative of such a place wants to talk, what subject could there possibly be besides business deals?
“Don’t worry. It’s not that.”
Tae-woo cut right to it.
“Then? Does he want to do a collaboration or something?”
He’d said he liked collaborations. And he knew a lot of games.
“Similar, except the scale isn’t 2, 3, or 4 people—it’s 10.”
What?
“10 people means it’s a Streamer Internal Competition, isn’t it?”
The League was five-on-five.
“Exactly.”
“Hmm……”
Is that something people actually do?
“By the way, this is also connected to Liios, so it’d be good for you to participate. The operations team probably reached out to them too.”
Seo Jun looked at Tae-woo as if to ask what on earth he was talking about.
“The operations team says they can’t assign you to a group.”
Seo Jun took a moment to parse the meaning of that, then looked up as understanding dawned.
“Oh, so they’re asking them to handle it?”
“Yeah. That hyung is a Team Captain like me. So I guess he asked me because it’s the easiest way to reach you.”
And that hyung asked Tae-woo because Tae-woo, being the one who lived with him, was the easiest way to contact him.
“Got it. Give me his contact info.”
Tae-woo sent a message to Seo Jun.
“Here. And one piece of advice: for this Internal Competition, you might want to hold back your skill as much as possible.”
“How do I hold back?”
“You can be in Tier A, just don’t be the top commodity within Tier A. If you get Tier B and still play at Tier A level, you, the team, and the operations team will all get flak for it.”
“I see how that could happen.”
“But if you get placed in Tier A first, they can’t complain no matter whether you play at S, SSS, or EX level. They’ll just think they got a lucky find. Of course, for you to be a lucky find, you can’t be too expensive, so you can’t show your full skill either. Do you get what I’m saying? This is really important.”
Tae-woo’s tone was serious.
More serious than when he’d first told Seo Jun about reality back when he wanted to become a Streamer.
“I get it.”
Seo Jun smiled slightly and nodded.
Tae-woo’s intention was transparent.

* * *

When he actually checked his email, he found a message from a place that had tried to recruit him before.
The content was, as expected, a request to participate in the Internal Competition to assess his skills.
They said if he really didn’t want to, they could even do a one-on-one private showcase, but Seo Jun decided to just go with the Internal Competition.

[Jin Seo-jun: Hello.]
[Ha Yun-ho: Hello! Did Tae-woo tell you about it?]
[Jin Seo-jun: Yes.]
[Ha Yun-ho: Haha. The schedule is pretty tight, so I’ll get straight to the point.]
[Ha Yun-ho: The operations team over there needs to select participants, so they’re saying they’d like the Internal Competition to happen as soon as possible.]
[Jin Seo-jun: I see.]
[Ha Yun-ho: So it probably needs to be done by tomorrow or the day after. When would work for you?]
[Jin Seo-jun: Let’s do it tomorrow.]
[Ha Yun-ho: Understood. Then just keep that day clear! I’ll handle the rest.]
[Jin Seo-jun: Thank you.]

After that, Seo Jun and Ha Yun-ho exchanged some casual chitchat.
It was clear why Ha Yun-ho did so many collaborations with various Streamers—he talked a lot.

[Ha Yun-ho: Hehe. I think the Internal Competition’s going to be fun!]
[Ha Yun-ho: So, is there anything else you’d like to say? Like a preferred Tier for your opponent, maybe? I can’t always arrange collaborations exactly as I’d like, but I’ll do my best!]

There were three possible Tiers for Seo Jun’s opponent.
Master, Grandmaster, Challenger.
No matter who he faced, if the result came out ambiguous, it would be harder to analyze Seo Jun’s skill level, so the best approach was to play many games.
Still, the odds were high that the results wouldn’t be too ambiguous, so roughly his level could be assessed no matter which Tier he faced.
So Seo Jun didn’t care who came.
The more pressing issue was something else.

[Jin Seo-jun: I don’t care about that, but I have another favor to ask.]
[Ha Yun-ho: What is it?]
[Jin Seo-jun: You said you were recruited as a Team Captain, right?]
[Ha Yun-ho: Yes yes. Same Team Captain as Tae-woo.]
[Jin Seo-jun: So how about putting me on your team?]
[Ha Yun-ho: What???]
[Ha Yun-ho: lololol Why?]

* * *

A conversation between an Auction item and a bidder—not a collusion between Team Captains—couldn’t manipulate the Auction results anyway, so there was no problem.
Yet it wasn’t common for someone to appeal themselves so directly.
In fact, most participants asked the Team Captain not to pick them when they met.
Because if they got caught in bidding wars and sold expensively, it could be a disaster.
That’s why Ha Yun-ho laughed in front of his monitor.
The guy was asking him to buy him outright—not so different from what he’d seen on Streaming, was it?

[Ha Yun-ho: Do I have a reason to buy you? You seem like you’d be expensive?]

Once the Internal Competition was conducted and the Tiers assigned and the Team Captains gave their input, the picture would become clearer. But at least he didn’t think Seo Jun would be cheap.

[Jin Seo-jun: I’ll be cheap?]
[Ha Yun-ho: Not at all. lololol]
[Jin Seo-jun: Even if I’m expensive, it should be fine. My team is going to win the championship anyway.]

A burst of admiration escaped him naturally.
“Huh.”
Confidence.
No matter how friendly they’d gotten through chitchat, how good the vibe was, he was openly joking like this.
Or was it a joke?
Either way, he envied it. The skill to be able to speak with such certainty while facing Challengers.
“But why me, exactly?”
Maybe he’d made a good impression?
Of course not.

[Jin Seo-jun: The truth is, Tae-woo’s trying to buy me? But I don’t really want to join a team where he’s the Team Captain.]

Ha Yun-ho burst out laughing after reading the next message.
“Ah! Can’t help it if your friend’s trying to get a free carry! Hahaha!”
So it was a rescue request.
If Tae-woo was truly determined to buy him, he probably would, no matter the cost.
Then.

[Ha Yun-ho: lololololol]
[Ha Yun-ho: Prove it to me. With a champion other than Kayle. It’ll probably get banned anyway.]

Ha Yun-ho was a casual-fun player.
That image was fixed, and it was accurate.
But he didn’t Troll or deliberately sabotage.
He just did his best while having fun.

[Jin Seo-jun: Understood.]

There was no need to say more. The meaning had come across clearly.
Right now, Ha Yun-ho wasn’t asking for a simple victory or proof of skill.
He was asking for something worth buying even at a steep price, even if it meant competing with Tae-woo.
Unexpectedness, or growth potential.
Something.
“The thing is, there’s no perfectly suitable Tier for an opponent. I’ll just have to ask a Streamer who’s available.”
Ha Yun-ho had already filled all the other positions for the Internal Competition.
Who was he, after all?
Maybe he ran his company in a fly-by-night manner, but he was still a boss!

[Do you happen to have time?]
[What are you doing tomorrow?]
[Do you have time tomorrow?]

It felt like he was doing a cyber-door-knock survey.

[You seem to have a lot of karma]
[Do you know about Internal Competitions?]
[Internal Comp? Let’s go?]

But despite repeated attempts, finding a high-Tier Streamer available tomorrow proved difficult.
It was a matter of scheduling, and an Internal Competition was a burden of a content format.
“Ugh. This is rough.”
If I’d had three days to spare, maybe it would’ve worked out.
A moment later.
“Oh? Thank goodness.”
A positive reply came in.
Fortunately, there was at least one Streamer with the time available and an interest in Internal Competitions.
Ha Yun-ho immediately explained the situation in detail. These kinds of things required honesty.
“So he’ll be facing a Challenger. Or more accurately, a Grandmaster?”
The Streamer who would face Seo Jun had been decided.
The Streamer’s name was Spoon.
His primary Position was ADC as a Challenger, and Mid was his secondary.
However, since Spoon rarely played his secondary Position, Mid couldn’t really be said to be at Challenger level.
That said, it was definitely well above Master, making him a sufficiently suitable opponent.

[Spoon: So I just do my usual best, right?]
[Ha Yun-ho: That’s right]
[Spoon: That’s easy. But boss, if I totally crush him, won’t that Streamer end up getting ranked C?]

He sounds confident.
You could tell he thought he was the one assessing others, not being assessed himself.
“That tracks.”
Even if it’s his secondary Position, he’s still a Challenger.
His mechanics and game understanding aren’t anything to scoff at.
Still, Ha Yun-ho had a feeling Seo Jun would show something.

[Ha Yun-ho: Haha. I’m not sure about that either. Just do your best!]

So Ha Yun-ho emphasized once more the need to do his best, then posted the surprise announcement for tomorrow’s Internal Competition.

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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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