Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 173

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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 173

[Ah lol which stream are we watching today?]

Before the broadcast began, posts like this were coming up.
But after Lain’s team unveiled a surprise pro player.

[??]
[Oh lol so we don’t just have to watch Wealth Disparity?]
[Taker showed up?]
[Now I’m torn. Is it Lee Dong-su or Taker?]

People were startled at first by the unexpected development, but of course they erupted in cheers.
Some had actually expected something like this might happen.
But really, pro players weren’t exactly idle streamers—what were the odds they’d show up in a tournament?
Even if it was the off-season now.
That’s what people had thought.
But they came anyway.

[I always believed in Lain!]
[Let’s repay with One Ddang Per Day, you guys]
[When did that One Ddang Per Day thing even start lol and it doesn’t even matter anyway lol]
[Either way Lain ssss. They said no personal connection. Where should I watch? lol]
[Wait guys, look at Kim Tae-woo’s stream title. He joked about bringing pro players and actually brought them?]
[And who’s Dokkaebi?]

The people praising Lain read the stream title of another streamer opening a new broadcast and were shocked once more.
As mentioned before, other players appearing was something only a tiny minority had expected.
But three additional teams showing up was something nobody had anticipated.
Not at all.

[Insane??? lol]
[How did you guys hold back from talking about this?]
[Nah lol Tae-woo looked totally shocked? Dokkaebi too? lol they were both so confused they started the broadcast early.]
[Taker who appeared on Lain’s stream is also completely shocked lol]
[This is legendary stuff ddd]

Four pro players ended up entering the streamer tournament.
For viewers, it was nothing short of a festival.
But then.
On top of that.

[Pado’s team showed up too!]
[Oh hello this is Mental’s stream]
[Baek Do-ryul? The champion?]
[??? This is like almost Shin Ha-yeon level lol]
[What? Insane lol No but is this even possible? I don’t…]
[Why have such esteemed guests come to such a humble place!]

When last year’s champion—the current champion—appeared, the already scorching reaction exploded.
Even though it was only 6 PM and people hadn’t yet flooded in at peak time.
The chat windows of each stream erupted.
The forums where people posted while watching streams erupted.
Even Seo Jun’s chat window, which wasn’t even streaming yet, started filling up rapidly.

-Room master open the door quickly!
-Come on! Hurry!
-Viewers you need to start now to get this crowd
-Now go ahead and kill each other you streamers
-We’ll be waiting here……
-You know we’re waiting right……
-Why are these bastards so endearing lol
-Loyalty!

And then.
Seo Jun sighed at the sight of them.
He sighed internally so his teammates wouldn’t see and misunderstand or get anxious, but the weight of that sigh was far from small.
‘Why are they waiting there.’
I announced that Ha Yun-ho would start streaming first anyway.
During collaboration streams, streamers usually either just have the representative broadcaster stream, or all participants stream at once—one or the other.
The former happens when one side is overwhelmingly larger, and typically requires both streamers to be visible on a single screen for content purposes.
So most of the time everyone streams.
But what happens when viewer numbers create a subtle competitive dynamic?
‘You concentrate them.’
At exactly 6 PM.
At the time they’d announced, Ha Yun-ho would stream first. He was the team leader, but more importantly, he just had the most existing viewers.
That way, the Wealth Disparity viewers would first flock to Ha Yun-ho’s stream.
They’d announced it in the notice and streamers were familiar with this culture, so Ha Yun-ho’s stream would naturally blend viewers from each channel.
‘The opening doesn’t really matter anyway.’
Once the game started and people got curious about each perspective, they’d turn on the other streams and people would naturally watch multiple feeds simultaneously.
Some people found it annoying to switch and just stayed where they were, but concentrating viewers like this was still an effective way to boost overall viewer numbers.
‘All the other teams are doing it the same way.’
That’s why Seo Jun had sighed.
Well, they’d figure it out on their own.
Anyway.
“Dong-su, I told you not to worry.”
He couldn’t figure out what Lee Dong-su was worried about.
Surely he’d handled games with far more attention pouring in, where a single mistake meant facing all sorts of criticism and abuse.
Seo Jun had no idea that Lee Dong-su was the one worrying about him.
“No, um……. Sigh. No, it’s nothing.”
“Right.”
“Lee Dong-su! Then should we start our stream the way we planned? There’s only a few minutes left anyway, so I don’t think we need to start early just because everyone else is.”
Ha Yun-ho fiddled with the settings as he asked, and Lee Dong-su nodded.
“Then let’s take our time and head to the Training Hall. I’ll send out invites.”
They entered the Training Hall upon Ha Yun-ho’s invitation.
With a few minutes of free time, Seo Jun opened the streaming platform and community again.
‘Which teams are left?’
Pado, Dokkaebi, Oxen, Kale.
Spoon’s there.
The moment he was about to search, Gong Beol-le happened to start streaming.
Gong Beol-le was the team leader of One Bite, where Spoon played, and the streamer with the highest viewer count.

[Gong Beol-le has started streaming.]
[???]

Pfft.
Rumi burst out laughing next to him.
She must have been watching too.

[Lol did Gong Beol-le get shocked?]
[Is yours the only team without a pro? lol]

It was unfortunate.
Who could have predicted this turn of events.

[Admit it Gong Beol-le worst team leader in history lol]
[Real talk everyone else is going out of their way to bring players but what are you doing?]
[So funny lol]
[But you guys this whole thing is actually a huge deal that Seo Jun threw in the air and yet you still won’t root for this bastard?]

What’s this now.
Seo Jun clicked on the most recent post that had received 30 recommendations.

[But you guys this whole thing is actually a huge deal that Seo Jun threw in the air and yet you still won’t root for this bastard?]

==
I’m room master staff and I think all streamers should be grateful for this much.
If room master hadn’t brought Lee Dong-su, you couldn’t have watched him in the first place.
Show your appreciation—in 2 minutes head into Ha Yun-ho’s stream first and boost the viewer count. Let us save face.
==

So that’s what it was.

-True
-This villain bastard just makes the tournament richer lol his mere existence is legendary
-But no way! Mental’s stream right now
└Seriously lol how does the champion hold back
└Baek Do-ryul is in a whole different tier among the pros who showed lol
└But he’s kinda lacking manners so I don’t know how the broadcast will go
└Lack of manners? That’s overflowing confidence. So come watch Mental’s stream
└You streamers don’t know gratitude?(post author)
└Then your team leader should’ve brought Shin Ha-yeon lol
└Seriously lol
└Even after watching Mental’s stream please boost our viewer count a bit (post author)
└Too lazy

It seemed like most of the aggro was being drawn to this Baek Do-ryul player.
The reaction was best to him.
Practically all other issues had been overshadowed.
“Dong-su, who is this Baek Do-ryul? The champion?”
Seo Jun felt he needed to know something about it, so he asked Lee Dong-su.
“Oh! Yes! Let me explain quickly…….”
Just as Lee Dong-su’s face brightened as if he’d found the key to the problem he’d been agonizing over.
“It’s 6 o’clock! Everyone, we’re starting the broadcast!”
Ha Yun-ho started streaming.

[Ha Yun-ho has started streaming.]
[Stream with pro players lol]

Everyone’s expressions froze.
Now.
There was only one stream left without a pro player, but if he posted the title he’d written before that……
‘Wasn’t that when he was fiddling with the settings, changing the title……?’

* * *

[Ha Yun-ho is streaming.]
[Lee Dong-su player here!]

-lol
-Immediately changed the title
-From what I see they only started streaming on time because they’re lazy lol look they didn’t even change the title
-This is the composure of a strong team lol
-Rumi fanbase assemble!

The stream had started.
And Ha Yun-ho’s broadcast instantly flooded with 100,000 viewers.
They were the core audience of their team.
After about an hour they’d scatter to their own streams, and late arrivals would come in too, probably hitting around 150,000.
The other broadcasts had similar numbers.
‘The scale of the tournament itself is enormous.’
It was just a practice session, barely started, yet each team’s individual stream was drawing numbers equal to when For the Sect users had gathered in Bang Ju’s stream during the Battlefield.
“Sorry for the late greeting! I had a message come in.”

-A message? You changed the title lol
-Yun-ho snap out of it lol
-Look at your teammates’ eyes lol

Ha Yun-ho was positioned closest to the front camera, while the others were behind, as if they were having a collaboration in a real room.
“Haha. What do you mean. Anyway, everyone, do you know where this is?”

-Obviously the Training Hall
-Are you trying to get beaten up by AIs?
-The atmosphere is nice lol

“Yes! This is the Training Hall. Today we’ve gathered here to receive guidance from a very special guest. An esteemed person……. Yes. I’m sure you’d like to see them soon too, right?”

-Honestly I want to, but I already saw it on another stream lol
-Eye contact with Baek Do-ryul
-If you get boring I’ll still keep your stream on. Even if I’m watching Baek Do-ryul
-lol

“Lee Dong-su!”
“Woo!”
They all clapped together in celebration.
“Hello. I’m Lee Dong-su, playing top for TX.”

-clap clap clap
-clap clap
-Wow this is really happening (watching Mental’s stream)
-Such an esteemed person! (watching Baek Do-ryul)
-But still Lee Dong-su’s in 2nd place lol such a harsh world where only 1st place is remembered!

‘Was that what he was worried about?’
Seo Jun noticed Lee Dong-su’s expression grew heavy when he saw the name Baek Do-ryul.
‘It’s unfortunate that attention drops off, sure.’
Fundamentally, streamers who were more attention-seeking survived better, and it was a job for attention-seekers.
So if Lee Dong-su, who had eagerly joined the tournament with interest in streaming, could be called an attention-seeker, then…
Maybe that’s why he’d realized and started worrying that he’d lose that attention to Baek Do-ryul.
Seo Jun’s sharp, perceptive gaze glinted.
He was wrong.
Regardless, Ha Yun-ho and Lee Dong-su continued the broadcast.
“Coach! Can you tell us why we’ve gathered here?”
“Speaking as a player, the difficulty progression in this Training Hall is actually incredibly well-constructed. So I want to first verify our fundamental Cold Weapon Combat skills with it.”
“Understood, Coach!”
“Then first…….”
While they filled the broadcast with casual conversation, Seo Jun checked Mental’s viewer count.

[Viewer Count – 210,000]

Double. Currently the undisputed number one.
While Mental being a large corporation played a part, he had a strong intuition that the player named Baek Do-ryul was the biggest reason.
And Seo Jun didn’t like this fact.
Even though competing over viewer numbers was meaningless and unimportant.
Was it because he was a streamer too?
But he didn’t have content ready to pull in 100,000 viewers.
Even if he prepared something, whether he could actually draw that many was uncertain.
So it was natural that he couldn’t do anything about it right now.
He just had to do things the way he always did.
Even with his rapid growth, it wasn’t like he had some special method to boost streams.
It was unfortunate but truly unavoidable.
‘Didn’t they tell me to do whatever in the Training Hall since there wasn’t anything specific to do?’
Then.
“How about I loosen up a bit and try facing a Level 10?”
Without much thought, Seo Jun summoned a Level 10 AI through the Interface.
Light gathered in front of Seo Jun.
It soon took on a human form.
And seeing that sight, Lee Dong-su shouted.
“Oh, hyung!”
Why?
What?

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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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