Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 152

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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 152

“Sorry?”
Arin was flustered. She’d known that Seo Jun was playing the villain, but she hadn’t expected him to be so blatant about it.
Bang Ju, watching Seo Jun’s performance from For the Sect, also thought this was rather bold.
As expected.
That skill for provoking the Orthofaction and Heterodox Sect hadn’t gone anywhere.
Old comments from the Assassination Guild’s chatroom came to mind.

—Should we really let this bastard loose in multiplayer?

“Haha… Well, there could be, of course.”
Bang Ju turned his head to the side. Arin, sitting in the center, had glitched again.
Arin was a veteran.
Yet Seo Jun had caught her off-guard twice.
“Mm… I haven’t properly seen the other teams’ skills yet… or rather, haven’t I? It’s The League, after all.”
There was visible effort to recover somewhat.
A decent recovery. It wouldn’t extinguish the fire entirely, but people preferred indirect language to blunt statements, and disliked them less for it.
Wasn’t there a difference between telling someone point-blank they were ugly and saying their visage was so radiant one could scarcely bear to open one’s eyes to behold it?
Fortunately, it seemed Seo Jun understood this instinctively.

[Ah, as you all saw today, everyone did so well that I can’t single out any one team. Of course.]

Seo Jun’s face filled the video chat screen as he spoke with a smile.
A warm, likable smile. And when you added his handsome features to the mix?

—Lmaooooo blatantly saying everyone did well lololol
—That’s not what you meant and you know it. You basically said they all suck lolololol
—Satan’s servants gathering, Lucifer appearing hehehehe
—Yup, Riven’s gonna blow up lololol
—Demonic Cultists! Geomsin disciples! Rise up and protect Riven!

No one believed him.
Naturally.
But both Bang Ju and Arin thought simultaneously:
‘Nice!’
Yes, this was enough.
People laughed and moved on, treating it as provocation and trash talk—a form of culture they could more easily accept.
Seo Jun truly had a gift for controlling public opinion.
He hadn’t been in the scene long and didn’t stream that often, yet he calibrated like this instinctively. Remarkable.
Bang Ju admired him again, thinking he really did have the makings of a major company player, when—

[So I’m most wary of myself.]

“Huh?”

[If I don’t make mistakes, I think our team will just take it all.]

“But you just said you were wary of all the teams…”

[Ah, I meant it’s hard to single one out because they’re all so good. I didn’t say those teams were the ones I was wary of.]

How could he say such a thing?
It now confirmed that everyone else’s skill was roughly the same—not worth singling out.
‘As expected of you, Seo Jun.’
Bang Ju recalled that day again.
Seo Jun’s figure, having made a 12-win streak after ordering everyone to stay until the end.

* * *

Riven.
The game’s community had revalidated a certain sage’s adage: when five people gather, one is garbage.
That wisdom applies in any situation.
In group projects, sports, even at work.
But it was undeniable that The League’s users had proven that saying perfectly.
Which meant at least one out of every five users in The League was strange.
And Riven was the largest gaming community.
What conclusion could you draw from combining these two facts?
That even if they weren’t garbage, there was genuinely an insane amount of aggro.
Everyone who played Riven knew this.
Other communities might exist, but this was the one that established the 4v1 formula.
And its scale was immense. There was no comparison.
The moment every streamer’s eyes in Riven converged.
The villain of the tournament had appeared.

[Crazy provocation lolololol]
[What a real man lololololol]
[How do you even think to strike once more after breaking it the first time lolol]
[Double provocation!]
[Oh lol he’s gonna win the championship]

The reaction was good.
Seo Jun’s comment was provocation aimed at other teams.
But since trash talk was considered a legitimate culture, and he’d accumulated such karma in previous tournaments without major incident, it wasn’t a serious problem.
Still, the fact that it was aggro didn’t change, so the reactions didn’t end there.

[Honestly, watching the other A-ranks get stomped, it’s obvious]
[I gotta go S-Rank solo. The other A-ranks are too weak]
[If you saw today, even the Demonic Cultists gotta admit it lol]

The problem with the aggro was in posts like this.
They intentionally hyped up Seo Jun’s comments and his team.
More precisely, they used Seo Jun as an excuse to elevate him and tear down other teams.
In other words, trolls had gotten tangled up in it.
If such posts were buried, it wouldn’t matter, but the moment even one of them got enough upvotes to rise—

[That’s crossing the line.]
[The actual tournament hasn’t even started and you’re hyping it up?]
[Dude, that’s pretty arrogant for a newcomer. And you friendly with other streamers?]
[Honestly, wasn’t he overconfident in the game too?]

A backlash from comparison erupted into controversy.
It was pushback from fans who supported other teams.
But they weren’t the only ones there.
There were also those who’d used Seo Jun as an excuse to tear down other teams.
For them, which side they were on didn’t matter.
Only bashing others mattered.
So they’d attach to this side, then that side, eagerly tearing down anyone else.
One could say it was Seo Jun who drew the aggro and caused the problem.
But trolls like this would have appeared anyway, whether Seo Jun had said anything or not.
Community users knew this well.

[Stop the trolling!]
[Honestly, I think he’s doing a pretty fair job playing the villain, right?]
[If he’s got that skill and a face and good character? Too perfect. It’s basically a balance patch.]
[Ah lol just let the man make us laugh!]

What mattered now was who could propagandize better. That was how opinion warfare always worked.
Many people existed in the community.
Smart people. People who propagandized. People who believed the propaganda.
It would be nice if clear information and opinions reached everyone, but not everyone read every post.
In other words, what mattered for dealing with trolls was heavier firepower.
Well, even without it, they’d naturally die out. They always did.
But if trolls evolved even slightly slower, fatigue grew.
So.
Seo Jun’s viewers—veterans in this field—began joining in.

[We’re just sorry!]

==
Our Streamer plays the game so damn well—I mean, plays it ridiculously well—that God only gave him a teaspoon of personality! He’s always been like this, so cut him some slack once! lololololol
==

Just that alone—

—The fan even intentionally wrote “plays so damn well” lolololol you’re right, our Streamer really does play damn well. Is that why he plays so well?
—Why are you guys apologizing?
└We’ve seen so many controversies involving him. We’ve learned that apology is the answer! (OP)
└Loooool
└This guy’s aggro is literally his life lololololol
└If his skill was just average, we’d have buried him ourselves long ago. You Riven bastards lololol

[Just a remarkable guy!]
[A streamer who makes his viewers apologize? lol]
[This kind of character is necessary]
[Ah lol we’ll let the Demonic Cultists slide this once because we pity them lololol]

[Lain, despite the provocation, remarks ‘That’s cool.’ How far does Korean society’s lookism go?!]

—lololol but he is cool and also handsome lol
—Damn right!

[Best friend Kim Tae-woo of controversial figure Jin Mo-someone, reportedly transmits ‘Please dunk on that bastard more!’ causing upheaval.]

—Buddy, get roasted quick!
—Ah lol they say getting cursed out makes you live longer! That’s why he’s wishing his buddy long life!

In fact, some of them even offered supportive responses that drew out the fun.
Once it became this, the trolls lost momentum, and only after the opinion warfare ended did what happened today finally properly register in Riven users’ eyes.

30–40 is already crazy high. This streamer failed only once. That failure was because Pado blocked it with the Frying Pan. You know what the numbers are?
90 lolololololol
==

└He was hiding his Headshot ratio behind the Frying Pan this whole time lololololololol insane
—Perfect accuracy?
—So we gotta re-evaluate Pado? lololololol The only man to block a Headshot. The man qualified to defy a god lololololol

—Obviously
—This is literally the first time we’ve seen defense played this outright lololol

[Pros should be made to recreate this…]
[Just everything about it is ridiculous lololololol]

Wasn’t it actually being humble?
==

—Yeah, when you think about it, that’s right
—Seo Jun re-evaluation happening in under 1 minute. Even beat the 3-minute curry. Moving!

[It’s premature to say he’ll win, but seriously looking forward to it]

[We have teammates so we don’t know lol]
[Anything can happen in The League. Don’t be so sure.]
[He literally said with his own mouth ‘If I don’t make mistakes, I think our team will just take it all.’ Remember this karma, everyone lololololol]

That’s part of it. From a team standpoint, it’s the right answer.
But for individuals, especially lower-tier users, there was another reason.
Namely:
The burden of not delivering if you sell for a high price.
In that sense, Rumi, an Unsold Draft Pick, thought the situation was better than last time.
Or rather, had thought so.
‘Oh! Why is the structure so locked in now!’

[Just trust the teammates. Ha Yun-ho, Wind Sword, Alpaca, Rumi!]
[Now that Ha Yun-ho’s team is about to decide which group they’re in, don’t you dare face a Weak Team lololol]

On Seo Jun. And on his teammates.
“If only we’d faced a Weak Team and avoided Early Elimination, no matter how much we got insulted…”
The problem was.
“Weak Team?”
“What do you mean, Rumi?”
“Since it’s come to this, let’s just keep pushing this tournament.”
Currently, they were in a meeting with the broadcast off, deciding which group they’d be in.
And.
They were unconditionally trying to face Strong Teams.
“No, Seo Jun, I get that you’re skilled, and I understand the provocation is for broadcast entertainment!”
“I don’t think it’s for broadcast…”
Alpaca muttered beside her, but Rumi ignored it and continued.
“Still, please, can’t we just form a group with a Weak Team?”
Why did they win! Why on earth!
Why were they intensely debating which team is strongest?!
Pick the team that’s easier to deal with!
‘Is it just me worrying? Just me?’
She was right.
Only Rumi was worried.
Seo Jun noticed her anxiety and opened his mouth.
“Don’t worry.”
“No, Seo Jun, it’s not your skill I’m worried about. I’m worried about my own. If I screw up and we lose, you might get insulted too…”
Of course, Seo Jun also knew what Rumi was anxious about.
So he spoke gently.
“Seriously, don’t worry. It’s impossible for you to mess up.”
In response.
Rumi, and the teammates beside her, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.
Impossible to mess up.
‘What does that mean?’
They couldn’t quite ask.
Soon enough.
After the meeting ended, the moment of group selection arrived.

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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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