Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 209

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 209

MMORPGs have a notorious reputation in Korea. The reason: the monetization model.
Pay money, win the game.
On the surface, it sounds reasonable, but Western gamers didn’t see it that way.
Why on earth would they add elements that interfere with gameplay behind a paywall?
What’s so good about buying victory with money?
Well, the MMORPG companies had their own arguments.
What’s wrong with using money to skip some time? You can reach the end anyway without spending, can’t you?
Look at this.
People who run two computers a day and play for 30 hours straight, exceeding 24 hours, can still enjoy endgame content without spending a dime.
Of course, the most extreme games of this kind—what those old guys play—were a different matter entirely.
Regardless.
An MMORPG that maintained a minimum line for free-to-play users and events was certainly problematic, yet it had managed to retain popularity.
The issue was that the company continued doing this even after the Capsule era arrived.
‘What they call grinding and hunting, that heavy labor, used to only require repeatedly mashing keyboard keys, but ever since the Capsule era, it became tedious and complex work.’
Because of this, many casual players dropped out, and reduced revenue led to decreased investment, creating a vicious cycle.
Making a dream RPG with maximum freedom was still beyond reach, and now, with only the solid support base of RPG fans remaining.
He naturally expected the streamer standing before him to point out this very issue.
Unlike other streamers who at least liked RPGs (according to the report Lim Gang-san had seen, streamers like Ha Yun-ho and Rumi were already heavy cash-paying users, so there was no need to recruit them), it was obvious that the game had poor public perception among ordinary people.
So he answered confidently.
That our game is different.
“Hmm… Cash payments?”
But the other party seemed to have never even considered that.
Lim Gang-san thought it would have been nice if that was what troubled him instead.
“No, that’s not it. Well, go ahead and say it.”
“Yes, understood.”
Seo Jun nodded.
Then he took a brief sip of his drink before expressing his thought.
“I think that ultimately, if other people don’t watch that content much, I’ll lose more than I gain, no matter how much advertising revenue I receive.”
“I see. It’s a sensitive time period, after all.”
“Yes. Do I need to prepare a lot?”
“No. Since this is the first raid, if you make good use of the events, you can reach the necessary specs fairly quickly.”
Though getting a perfect clear with just the minimum specs might be tough.
Lim Gang-san swallowed his second thought.
“Still, it’ll take up a lot of time, won’t it?”
“Most advertisements only take a day, so I understand completely, streamer.”
“Then I don’t think these terms will work.”
“Hmm… What we want is a raid. It’ll be the greatest festival for RPG fans, and we’re planning to recruit other people besides you to draw a lot of attention. How could this not work?”
Seo Jun knows.
Of course he hopes it goes well, and the company will move accordingly.
But there’s no guarantee it’ll happen that way.
For the Sect isn’t guaranteed to be popular like that either, and isn’t it a game that already reached the level of failure and was rebooted?
And more than anything.
“Actually, if the game doesn’t suit me, that itself is a problem. There’s no way the broadcast will be fun.”
“You’ll know once you try it.”
“Yes, but you asked to meet today.”
“Ah…”
Damn this CEO.
Lim Gang-san, who had been pushed into action by the CEO’s pressure, let out a chuckle.
“Then how about you play once later and we talk again? There’ll be a user event when Lios ends.”
Lim Gang-san knows why this CEO spoke hastily, but since he’d already quoted top-tier corporate streamer rates, he calculated that he’d have no burden even if he checked after winning.
“That does sound good.”
Seo Jun smirked, and Lim Gang-san, thinking that if this was just preliminary groundwork, ending things today wasn’t bad, tried to rise from his seat.
That’s when Seo Jun spoke.
“But you know, I’m the type to have very little patience with games like this.”
“Yes?”
“You would’ve known if you’d looked into me.”
Lim Gang-san nodded.
And waited for what came next.
“So I’d like to propose this. Since I don’t want to show an advertisement tag anyway when doing perfect clear races—how about we reduce the amount and just do single advertisements when events happen rather than at raid updates?”
“As I said before, what we want is…”
“Ah, if the game isn’t fun, I won’t take the ad at all anyway. If it’s fun, I’ll do the perfect clear myself. I won’t be able to help it.”
“So you’re saying just reduce the amount and do single advertisements, is that it?”
“Yes.”
Then wouldn’t it be better to just not pay for ads at all?
Since he’ll do it anyway if it’s fun?
Seo Jun, seeing through what Lim Gang-san was thinking, added further.
“By the way, without an ad, I just won’t do it. For the Sect has fewer concurrent viewers than others. It’s an RPG, too.”
That’s true, Lim Gang-san conceded.
But there would be other reasons as well.
If they hadn’t made a proposal, Seo Jun might have naturally played their game and participated.
But now that they’ve already made an ad proposal, if they back out, wouldn’t he feel offended and refuse anyway?
The buyer right now is that streamer.
“I understand. So how much do you want to cut the advertising fee by?”
“Half.”
Seo Jun smiled brightly.
“30 million won?”
“No. 20 million won, and I’d like to keep the championship bonus as is.”
If he wins the championship, Seo Jun thought, he should pocket as much as a major corporation would pay.
It would have that much impact. If he wins the championship.
“Hmm… That is…”
Seo Jun asked with a faint smile.
“Surely the game isn’t the kind I’d try once and quit…”
The response came quickly.
It showed a certain confidence in the game he was directing.
“That’s right. Basic 20 million won, plus 20 million won if you win Lios. Once you give it a try, you’ll aim for it right away.”
“That sounds good.”
After that.
The two finalized the terms, stood, and shook hands.
40 million won.
The typical advertising rate for a major corporate streamer.
Not bad, but it could’ve been 60 million won.
Just playing casually for a bit, then when the final raid comes around, halfheartedly assembling a party, attempting the raid, and if it fails—earning another 20 million won.
Knowing this, Lim Gang-san asked him one last time.
“Why did you do that?”
And instead of saying he was cutting the ad period to reduce burden and secure autonomy, Seo Jun answered like this.
“If there’s a streamer doing homework broadcasts among the party members who achieved perfect clear, it kills the vibe, doesn’t it? RPGs are about romance, after all.”
Lim Gang-san laughed heartily.
Yeah, that does kill the vibe.
“Can you actually achieve a perfect clear?”
“I have to. With 120 million won on the line starting from winning Lios.”
Lim Gang-san discovered something in Seo Jun’s eyes—similar to the confidence he had about the game—and laughed in kind.
“I’ll be rooting for you too. First, let’s aim for tournament victory.”

* * *

[Wow! Scream undefeated today, 8-0!]
==
Is it okay to be this dominant?
Keril’s a god! Today’s Orders were insane!
Teammates following up were insane too!
==

-Underdogs are gods! Underdogs are gods! Underdogs are gods! Underdogs are gods!
-Keril is really not ordinary
-When Keril called Orders during yesterday’s Group Stage match, he had Scream’s permission and the management team was blown away by how perfectly it worked out
└For real, spot on
└Dokkaebi winning against that too, so it’s definitely not easy.
└That’s true. So Pado pushing hard was legendary

[Is Scream the first team to choose Management in Lios?]
==
A team dismissed as weaklings choosing the hardest path and winning the championship? That’s a whole movie right there
==

-Why is Management the hardest path ㅋㅋㅋ
└It’s the hardest. Usually it’s just feeding the Ace
└But since their Ace is Support, Management’s actually the easiest path for them tbh
└True that ㄷㄷ
-They’re not even the first team to choose Management lol

[What about that other team?]
==
Today too, they got Carrot ^^ entering the gallery lmaooo
==

-What the hell are you doing, Seo Jun!
-These guys are just comedians lol
-Today we played well too, signing off (Wealth Gap members, all)
-ㅋㅋㅋ But their broadcast is the most fun. Streamers just messing around
└True. And they won 2 games, right?

[Why Wealth Gap can’t make it]
==
Eric? Top ADC?
Luck and shallow tactics won’t work anymore.
Keril, the strategist of this league, will see through everything
==

-Keril is a real schemer, unlike Spoon or Beast
└Talking trash about Korea University
└Just Korea U types ㅎㅎ Does graduating from Korea U help with employment these days? Now people make more money doing crypto, becoming streamers, or pro gamers
└That guy’s a streamer anyway
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seems like he’s just into character

[Underdog fans are going crazy ㅎㅋㅋ]
==
No matter how I think about it, I could never bet on Scream, but they’re doing it and running hopium, huh?
==

-Fandom war on
-We Spoon fans all support Scream
-Beast fans too
└Isn’t calling yourself Beast fans the same as not being Hwang So’s fans?
└Toxic troll lol

[Pado crashing the Scream party lololol]
==
Pado’s hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ says he got Early Eliminated so at least he’ll show up in Scream’s broadcast ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
==

-Lol if he got knocked out, he should go on other surviving teams’ broadcasts to save face
-Gotta be the clown

After skimming through numerous related posts from the past two days, Seo Jun turned his gaze toward the camera.
“Well, did you all post something over there?”

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㄴ
-Leading questions, c’mon
-Surely not in that warzone ㅋㅋ

Warzone. An apt comparison.
“Until the finals are over, they’ll keep fighting, right?”
Unless a final victor is determined.

-Obviously
-Upsets happen!!
-You never know what’ll happen, lol

“But I keep seeing posts like ‘Strength vs. Strategy.’ Can’t let that slide. I’ll fight with my head too. Carry-type heroes like Kael and Eric? Not using them.”

-Now that’s an upset lmaooo
-Abbot, you know what Split is, right?
-We’re doomed! Wealth Gap shareholders emergency status!
-Nah. Just in case. And then
-And then what?
-If Eric doesn’t ban, we catch him and beat him to death ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Real talk, that’s bluffing ㅋㅋ

[Concurrent Viewers – 45,000]

They waited for the Semi-finals starting at 7 PM.
The Semi-finals were single-elimination.
There would be three matches total today.
Two Semi-final matches, one third-place match.
And tomorrow was the finals. Best of 3.
“By the way, this person insulted us, then definitely put a voodoo curse saying we’d lose, and now they’re just writing endlessly. Do they have that much time?”

-For real, seeing that nickname a lot
-Time Gates lol
-Gonna memorize that nickname at this rate
-tyghbd, just looks like mashing a keyboard?
-Account creation date was 2 days ago lolol Did they gamble their whole fortune and now wallet’s empty?
-Oh lol so they say they lost, gotta lose more

“Ah, surely not that second-place guy? That one with heavy Mental issues?”

-For reallll
-Probably just a regular troll
-Supporting then insulting, having multiple personalities is common in our industry lol
-But honestly, if I lost my entire fortune I’d go mental too
-Cry first then flip straight into villain mode ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Soon 7 PM came.

[Hello everyone!]

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————