Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 194

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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 194

[Lee Dong-su: Seo Jun. In about an hour this’ll all become clear, so I’m giving you a heads-up. If you win the championship, you might end up facing me. Just so you know, this is entirely our team captain’s idea, not me going rogue. Seriously, it’s not. In fact, we might even be on the same team.]

Five o’clock, before the broadcast began.
An unexpected message reached Seo Jun.
Lee Dong-su disappeared right after, telling him to do well in the group stage.
Even though Seo Jun had sent back a single question mark, there was no reply.
‘He didn’t ignore me on purpose, did he?’
Seo Jun knew that among Koreans, a single question mark was usually enough to elicit a response.

[Seo Jun: ?]

What he didn’t know was that, from the recipient’s perspective, a message like that was practically horror.
Since he wasn’t getting an answer, Seo Jun started reasoning through it on his own.
He couldn’t be stopped from turning on at the time he’d planned to anyway.
He’d probably end up seeing the annoying reverse-hype anyway, so checking now was the sensible move.
And after sitting quietly to think it through, the answer turned out surprisingly simple.
Of course, there was an obstacle.
He didn’t know who the captain of Lee Dong-su’s team was.
If the viewers or his teammates had heard this, they’d probably stone him with certainty that it was Rachel.
But Seo Jun had an open mind—he believed that nothing could be said for certain unless he’d confirmed it himself—so he genuinely didn’t know who the captain was.
He also didn’t understand why Lee Dong-su had mentioned betraying the hierarchy.
So after confirming through a search that the captain was indeed Rachel, Seo Jun figured out roughly what was going on, though the details weren’t entirely clear.
The message was condensed, but since he might face Lee Dong-su or be on the same team, it would become team versus team.
And the condition was winning the championship.
Moreover, it was Rachel’s suggestion, she said.
‘My first disciple. So you’re finally trying to surpass your master.’
Of course, the image of his counterpart having a meltdown upon hearing those words formed naturally in his mind.
‘But then again.’
Could it not also be seen that way?
Even if he’d never taught her properly, never met with her to have a real conversation.
Rachel had seen his techniques and stolen them for her own use.
In his past life too, regardless of the path, once someone learned the same martial art, he’d often treat them as disciples and work them without hesitation.
In the end, the world worked the same everywhere.

[Wow. Really? That’s crazy.]
[An opening match? This’ll be fun.]

Tae Yang and Penguin, the two former pros, were astounded.

-For real lol
-Wait, is this actually happening???
-Yo! He’s doing the opening event and his stream’s blowing up

And Bang Ju protested.

[What?! Why isn’t this in the script?! Why’d you casters keep something this fun from us!]
[Hehe. Well, that’s because I’m a caster, you see?]
[Ah, I see!]
[Indeed! Anyway, allow me to explain further for our viewers. This event match may or may not actually happen, you see.]
[Why’s that?]
[It’s only a chance offered to the championship team! If the champions say they don’t want to do it, that’s the end of it!]
[Ah. But it already feels like a request that’s become a demand, doesn’t it?]

-Lol exactly
-Win the championship then back out? And it’s not even just a match, it’s an event match? That’d be pure controversy^^
-If you’re gonna do that, don’t win in the first place!
-But there’s really no reason to refuse it

Seo Jun’s chat filled up with messages agreeing with Bang Ju’s point. Some also added that there was no real reason not to do it.
That was true enough.
“Hmm…….”
In a normal situation, yes.

-???? Am I the only one having a thousand thoughts from that ‘hmm’?
-I just imagined some crazy bastard eating the capsule that’s the prize and quitting streaming lmaooooo
-What if that guy’s a handsome college kid at a top Korean university and isn’t desperate for gaming like we are?
-His character’s exposed?
-What if he just doesn’t wanna show us something we like or finds it a pain to bother

“You folks know me a little too well.”
Seo Jun nodded and gave a thumbs-up to his viewers—proud yet embarrassed to show this side of himself anywhere else.

-You guys are hyping me up so much the streamer might actually quit lol fingers crossed
-But still… I can’t stand the boss going against a pro, especially Rachel
-Rite streamer’s physicality peak vs pro physicality peak who wins ㄷㄷㄷ
-Honestly once a streamer and pro tag are attached there’s no point watching, but it’s the boss so who knows
-He’s already proven he can beat other pros in trials and training grounds. How am I supposed to stand this!

The official broadcast was now explaining the simple rules.
After Lee Dong-su’s message, Seo Jun understood that the teams would be mixed up. That’s why Lee Dong-su had said he might end up on the same team as Seo Jun.
However, if they held the same position, they would never be on the same team—they’d definitely face off.
And the mid-laner from Freefall who coached Seo Jun’s team was Rachel.
In other words.
It was questionable whether he needed to walk into a trap laid by his own disciple.
“Insane. This’ll be fun. Our team has Freefall’s jungler? Mid? Top? That’s crazy.”
“Let’s win the championship first and talk later, Yun-ho.”
“But will everyone actually do it? If it’s an opening event for the Korean league, the interest level would be on another dimension…….”
“That’s exactly why we’ll do it, Wind Sword.”
“Why?”
“Who are we?”
Alpaca threw both arms wide open.
“Official attention-seekers! Streamers!”
“I actually stream as a hobby; my main profession is elsewhere, you know?”
“Either way, you’re half an attention-seeker.”
“Well, I suppose I don’t really mind. The others probably don’t either. But Seo Jun—what about you? You seemed to be having quite the conversation with your viewers.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?”
“I think winning the championship comes first.”
Seo Jun was vague because he had neither the urge to refuse outright nor the will to commit unconditionally.
But his teammates flinched slightly.
“If we don’t win, we might actually die…….”
“Didn’t you hear yesterday? The Best Swordsman Under Heaven gave him a year’s worth of gym membership. If we don’t win the championship, we might have to go for another year too.”
“Or if we mess up and lose, we’d have to pay back 100 million won…….”
“Or sign a body-disposal consent form.”
Flap-flap-flap-flap.
Watching the Carrot Doll Item at Rumi’s fingertips doing frantic headbanging, Seo Jun let out a hollow laugh.
“Everyone, you know I’m saying all this loudly so you can hear too, right? You know I’m not serious? That the team members are just teasing me?”

-No
-So what’re you gonna do
-Gonna become a Rachel slayer!!
-Who knows. Rachel might actually be able to stop the boss!!
-When did ‘Rachel’ start coming with the word ‘might’? lmaooo
-Because it’s the boss’s room
-Rite and the boss has a track record!!

Whether or not Seo Jun’s viewers and those from each individual stream hyped things up or not, the explanation ended and they moved on to the next topic.

[Hahaha! At any rate, with such a fun opportunity now included in the championship prize, all the players seem to be brimming with enthusiasm! Now then, let’s take a look at the closed point betting results!]

* * *

[Ah. First place is Heavy Metal! This is the team where player Baek Do-ryul claimed from start to finish that he knew exactly how to counter Binbugyeokcha! And also…….]

In Freefall’s conditioning facility.
A single person there was listening intently to the broadcast through earbuds while running hard on a treadmill.

[The team with the second-highest points bet on is Binbugyeokcha! There’s not much difference from first place. Though often classified as an underdog team, the display put on by their ace, player Seo Jun, has…….]

A steady walk or run is humanity’s greatest exercise.
Because that’s how humans have always lived.
From the first appearance of mankind until civilization blossomed—a span of nearly three million years.

[If one of these two teams wins the championship, the opening ceremony event afterward would be highly anticipated as well. But these are interesting teams in that an overwhelmingly point-leading number one would emerge.]

Then it happened.
Ding.
A message came through.
She let out a sigh and shifted her gaze from the treadmill ahead to the phone resting on its stand, reading the message.

[Baek Do-ryul: You watching the broadcast? lol Our team’s definitely gonna win.]

Ding.

[Baek Do-ryul: lololol I heard it was you who suggested the event match. So it does bother you, huh? But what can you do. I’ll beat that guy first—even indirectly. And if that happens, you won’t even get to face him in the event match.]

The treadmill stopped.

[Baek Do-ryul: Sorry about that. I’ll break him first directly too lol]

She hesitated briefly at his needless chatter, then sent a reply.
“Shut it.”

[Rachel: stfu]

This time, she actually blocked him.

* * *

The roulette wheel spun.

[First game is Group A!]

The first random roulette decided whether it’d be Group A or Group B.
What came next?
A second roulette spun according to each group.

[So will the first game of the main stage and group stage be Geomsin versus Bull? Geomsin versus Spoon? Or Spoon versus Bull? How exciting!]

There would be six matches total today.
Three per group.
Each team would play two matches.
And now the roulette spinning on the broadcast screen stopped, determining the first match.

[Here it is! Binbugyeokcha versus Han Ipman! Today’s first match, and Group A’s first match, will be between these two!]

“Hmm. Having Spoon’s team in the first match doesn’t seem too bad.”
“I think it’s very bad.”
Ha Yun-ho, who would be facing A-rank Challenger ADC Spoon, heaved a worried sigh.

[Next naturally would be the B group!]

The next match was drawn.
In fact, the first roulette wasn’t spun again after the first time.
To prevent one group from playing consecutively, once the first group was decided, groups alternated for the rest of the matches.
If one group played consecutively, there would inevitably be a team forced to play back-to-back, and this prevented that.
“Seo Jun. What do you think of the ADC position?”

-lol exposing your strategy?lol
-Yun-ho where the hell are you going?lol
-From what I can tell, the destruction comes more from the ADC, but the mid isn’t to be underestimated. Especially the ‘Geomsin’!
-Singlequote with hanja too lol that’s a whole production ㅋㅋㅋ

Ha Yun-ho let it slide, but actually, having Seo Jun go ADC instead of Yun-ho could be quite an effective strategy.
Of course.
“I’m just not good at ranged heroes, so there’s no helping it. But don’t worry too much.”
Seo Jun thought he’d be fine without switching that way.
He believed his overall strategy would work.
He’d endure well enough.
“Eric, you know! A ranged hero!”
“You’re not actually gonna let him live, are you?”

-That’s right lol
-The PTSD is gonna hit HARD
-But if they meet on different lanes both fed up???!
-Even with the PTSD it’d be rough. That was all prediction, if I got hit like that I’d just… the curses come out automatically
-Rite Eric’s blade training
-Why don’t you get it. If Eric lives, the boss’s personality means he’d definitely pick Eric, and maybe that’s the point?

That was true.
And if he let Eric live, that really would mean he was intentionally hunting him. In that case, should he avoid Eric instead?
Seo Jun asked himself.
And he found the answer quickly.
Obviously.
‘Eric. Gotta do it.’
Even so.
‘But what if he actually lets him live?’

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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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