Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 18

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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 18

Sizzle!
Beef strips landed on the griddle, heated to a glowing red.
Garlic, mushrooms, scallions, and kimchi filled the empty spaces, joining the meat on the hot surface.
Pop and crackle.
As the meat juices thickened and reduced, it bubbled with an appetizing sound.
“I’m starving. This looks delicious.”
Tae Woo said as he sat down next to Seo Jun.
Seo Jun nodded in agreement.
After logging into Virtual Reality, Seo Jun found himself especially hungry.
‘Usually, people put on weight during their senior year of high school.’
The reason was that mental activity like studying burned surprisingly few calories.
Even when working the brain hard, it burned only about 1.5 kilocalories per minute, whereas a casual walk burned 4 kilocalories per minute. Intense exercise could burn up to 10 kilocalories.
Because exam students’ perceived energy expenditure was so high, they ate more than the energy they actually consumed.
‘Virtual Reality is
the opposite.’
It was a mental activity, but unlike studying,
the perceived calorie burn wasn’t high, so most people like Seo Jun didn’t experience severe hunger.
Seo Jun suspected the cause was his low Immersion Rate.
People with high Immersion Rates felt no fatigue even after spending entire days in Virtual Reality, he’d heard.
That meant their brains were well-suited to Virtual Reality, and their energy was used efficiently.
Which meant Seo Jun necessarily consumed more energy.
The fact that he found streaming in reality right now far more comfortable said it all.
“Hello, everyone.”
Tae Woo waved at the Broadcast Camera mounted at the end of the table.

-Tae Woo
-Looks delicious
-I’m drooling
-Give me some meat too

They each glanced at the chat on their phones.
The current viewer count was in the mid-20,000s.
Alpaca had mentioned that during peak hours, it briefly exceeded 30,000.
That meant they’d scored huge ratings.
They’d switched the category from travel broadcast to mukbang.
All that was left now was to chat casually while eating and wrap up the stream.

-So that’s why you took today off?
-Tae Woo, finish eating first. Health comes second to streaming.
-Tae Woo
-Why are you even jumping in here?

Comments from people presumed to be Tae Woo’s viewers came rolling in.
Since he was a mid-tier Streamer, many of the 20,000 current viewers were surely his audience.
Alpaca flipped the meat and spoke.
“You’re asking why Tae Woo is here? I thought fate was interesting too. I heard he and Seo Jun are close friends. The Collaboration Broadcast offer came through Tae Woo’s introduction.”

-Oh?
-Tae Woo, you should’ve gotten an amazing friend like that on your broadcast way earlier lol
-For real

“That’s right. I’m the one who led him down the path of streaming.”
Tae Woo tried to put his hand on Seo Jun’s shoulder, but Seo Jun knocked it away.

-Is the banter here too lol
-He got stunned lol
-That’s interesting. How did you two meet?

Seo Jun answered.
“We met in high school and became close. And after graduation, we’ve been living together…….”
But the reaction was strange.

-Ohhhh lol
-Wait, that roommate was Seo Jun?? lol
-‘That guy’ lol

Tae Woo’s viewers were laughing hard, while those who didn’t know him were curious why they were laughing.
And the other three all turned their heads toward Tae Woo.

-?? What is it
-Why are you laughing alone

Tae Woo looked momentarily flustered.
“No, it’s not really funny, folks. Right? Haha. Hey. You guys, read the room a little.”

[‘Not a chance’ donated 1,000 won! – travel clip]

A Video Donation came through.
It was called a Video Donation—a form of donation that played travel clips or copyright-free YouTube videos.
The clip the viewer sent was from Tae Woo’s channel.
The video started playing, and Tae Woo began speaking.

[Folks, remember I told you I have a roommate? He’s usually really calm and mature, but sometimes you see him do such weird stuff that you wonder if it’s the same person?]

Tae Woo on screen looked like he’d just turned on the stream.

[Yeah yeah. That’s the guy who washed his phone with soap, right? So yesterday he did something—*chuckles*—I’d been streaming for a long time, right?]

Alpaca and Lee Soo Han now looked at Seo Jun. Asking if such a thing really happened.

[So after I ended the stream, the Capsule was super hot, and I figured I’d need to run the cooler more, so I asked him to cool down the Capsule for me while I showered?]
[And when I came out of the shower, there he was, squatting next to the Capsule, fanning it seriously. Guys, I’m not making this up. Seriously. Maybe use a fan? I’ll admit that one.]

-Is that actually true?? lol
-Is he sick or something?
-All suspicions about donation baiting just vanished lol
-Just don’t touch anything lol
-Breaking news) Lee Soo Han went to check if his Capsule was broken lol
-He’s got more legendary stories like this lol

Beneath the table, Seo Jun pressed down hard on Tae Woo’s foot while calmly reaching for a perfectly cooked piece of meat.
“Tsk. Eat faster.”

* * *

Seo Jun heard various stories from Tae Woo and Alpaca about the hardships of being a Streamer.
He also heard the success story of Alpaca and Lee Soo Han.
Apparently, Lee Soo Han had been one of Alpaca’s viewers from the very beginning.
At the time, Alpaca couldn’t afford an editor and had just left the channel dormant after creating it.
He was a small-time Streamer who barely had a hundred viewers at a time. That was Alpaca’s past.
Lee Soo Han saw potential in that version of Alpaca and proposed they grow the YouTube channel together.
At the time, Lee Soo Han had been a highly regarded editor at a company.
Because Capsule Games gave viewers free perspective, which made it disorienting, and good editors who could clean that up were rare.
Since Lee Soo Han splits YouTube revenue fifty-fifty with Alpaca, he now makes far more money than he did working at the company.
But at the time, it was a big risk.
Fortunately, with the editor’s involvement, Alpaca’s YouTube channel grew, and his live viewership increased too.
“An editor.”
Lee Soo Han told Seo Jun that if he couldn’t find an editor, he’d edit Seo Jun’s videos for him.
When Seo Jun got home, he grabbed a Beer Can and stepped out onto the Balcony to clear his crowded head.
Beyond the Balcony, Seo Jun saw the Plum Tree he’d planted.
Seo Jun imagined the brilliant red blossoms that tree would produce and ran his hand across the cold floor of the Balcony.
It felt like the day he first met his master.
Not exactly a happy memory, but somehow it was calming.
“Hmm. What should I do?”
The subject of Seo Jun’s current dilemma was YouTube.
The people he’d met today naturally assumed he’d start a YouTube channel.
If you wanted to succeed as a Streamer, YouTube was absolutely necessary.
But.
Seo Jun’s plan was to enter the Rios Tournament by any means necessary, win it, get the Capsule, and then quit streaming.
That was what he’d set out to do from the beginning.
The problem was.
Streaming was fun.
Playing games with people was fun.
Having them watch his gameplay, react in different ways, tease each other, and share the experience together.
It was fun.
Crack.
Pop.
Seo Jun opened the Beer Can and chugged it down.
Then, staring out at the night, he spoke flatly.
“Was I… lonely?”
Perhaps so.
To remember a past life—
it was like having a homeland you’d spend your entire life yearning for but could never return to.
“What should I do?”
It was a night of deep thought.
In times like this, keep it simple.
“I should go to the Gym for a change.”
He needed to move his body.

* * *

Lee Dong Soo was a main player for a famous Professional Esports Team.
He woke up early one morning and arrived at a Gym frequented by celebrities.
His team had achieved second place in the recent world championship—a respectable, or rather, impressive result.
But in sports, if it wasn’t first place, it meant nothing.
The coach instructed each player to undergo the special training they each needed for the year ahead.
Lee Dong Soo’s assignment: learn how to fight in the real world.
‘Might as well build my conditioning too.’
Through careful inquiries, the team’s front office found a Gym where privacy was guaranteed enough that many celebrities trained there, and where combat fighters were also taught.
Of course, it wasn’t particularly special otherwise.
People just went about their exercise quietly, and while the athletes were noisy, they were friendly enough.
“Dong Soo’s here? Go run on the treadmill.”
The Gym manager looked down at Lee Dong Soo.
He was ridiculously tall and muscular, with a mean-looking face to match.
“Manager, again today?”
“Yeah. This isn’t Virtual Reality, so you need to build up your stamina first.”
Lee Dong Soo resented those words.
Even though he’d only been coming here for two weeks.
“Come on, even so—just doing basics and conditioning? That’s too much.”
He couldn’t endure this treatment any longer.
He was a professional.
A pro from the world’s second-strongest esports team.
Even if there was a difference between Virtual Reality and reality, someone with his skill could say he’d mastered body control.
After all, weren’t pros the ones who constantly adapted while perceiving every changing stat of their character’s body during games?
“I want to learn real, proper combat. Please?”
The manager let out a snort of ridicule.
Then, as if placating a troublesome child, he gestured and spoke.
“Fine, fine. Just do some sparring today and call it good. So get on that treadmill already.”
“All right! So I get to pick my sparring partner, right?”
“Sure, whatever. You’ll lose to everyone anyway.”
Huff, huff.
Lee Dong Soo started running with renewed enthusiasm, faster and more intensely than usual.
He was eighteen years old.
He’d dropped out of school and lived as an exceptional pro player, but fundamentally he was still a high school student—hot-blooded and spirited.
‘Bring them all on.’
His opponent today would probably be a combat fighter, but he genuinely believed he could win.
Lately, training had been going well; his body felt stronger.
As he ran, he began scanning the room. Wondering who’d be good to fight first.
‘As long as the weight difference isn’t too extreme…….’
Then.
The entrance door opened, and someone who looked oddly like a Streamer he’d seen yesterday walked in.
Annoyingly handsome face.
It wasn’t just a resemblance—it was actually him.
The Streamer whose gameplay he’d watched briefly in clips because his teammates wouldn’t shut up about how good he was.
‘But he wasn’t that good, was he?’
Thanks to a teammate and close friend, Lee Dong Soo knew more details about this Streamer than he cared to.
‘His face is exactly like his avatar. Anyway, isn’t he only on day three of streaming as a small-timer? How did he even find this place?’
Not that it mattered.
He seemed friendly with the manager from the way they greeted each other.
And his physique didn’t look particularly muscular.
‘Perfect.’
For his first sparring match.

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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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